I have discovered a “new to me,” middle grade author, Rachel Faturoti, and I love her.
I am all about relatable characters in books, and representation in children’s literature. The fact that she has carefully chosen her main characters and the heroes of her stories as kids, who find them selves in very difficult situations, and so would normally be overlooked. Turns out it is not just books that you can’t judge by the cover, but also children… their story is unique and goes so much deeper than what you see on the surface.
The Boy in the Smoke
This book is about a middle grade boy called Isaiah, he is going through a difficult time. His normal happy go lucky life has undergone a radical change, his mom has moved to study abroad, and he is staying with his dad. His dad is suffering from a degenerative disease, struggles to maintain a job and can’t pay the rent. He leans more and more on Isaiah to cope with things, and when eviction is threatened, Isaiah feels his foundations rock beneath his feet. While finances are a disaster, to make matters worse, he is battling at school not only with academics but with friends. He can’t tell anyone what is going on at home and he finds himself trapped. Until…
He meets “The Boy in the Smoke” and our author introduces time travel… as Isaiah is working on a project about the Industrial Revolution, so he meets Jacob, who is battling back in the day. Jacob has been sent to the workhouse by his mean uncle, he has no idea where his father is, would Isaiah be able to help him find his father. Two boys, in dire straights, communicating through a cloud of smoke… understanding each other across centuries… there is a bit of a race against the clock, time is running out for both boys and a hunt for answers is on. This is a lovely story of friendship, overcoming difficulties, and courage. Both boys do their best for each other… it is an uplifting read through time and trials.
Sadé and her Shadow Beasts
This book immediately grabbed my heart… Twelve year old Sadé has recently lost her mum, and she is not doing so well. Understandably. The entire family is dealing with grief in their own way and unfortunately that leaves Sade alone in a world of make believe that she and her mum created together. A magical world with lilac skies and a beautiful bird, called Nix, that she travels around on, suddenly the world is becoming filled with terrifying beasts: a frightening fox, a terrible tiger… the list goes on. The beasts are inescapable and as her difficulties at school and at home become more unbearable, so the beasts gain control.
Help is coming for Sadé, her granny has arrived from Nigeria to cook their favourite recipes and she proves to be very understanding of Sadé and all her troubles, but she has to return home… and the waves of grief and poor report cards are threatening to overwhelm Sadé, not to mention her father, who has great expectations of his daughter.
One of Sadé’s older sisters signs her up for an anonymous grief support group at school. Sadé is horrified at first, but she loves writing… and she is given a journal to record her thoughts as well as several online meetings to talk through their grief… opportunity upon opportunity, not to mention trials upon trials, and eventually (spoiler alert) our girl, Sadé gets to shine. This was a lovely book to read, with stunning illustrations and I loved the significance of the purple edging on the pages.
This book is wonderful and would be extremely helpful for a child who is experiencing a terrible grief, or a friend of that child, to read and know that there is help out there for them. This story is a triumph for Sadé, I loved her character, I loved her strength in the midst of it all, and I loved her overcoming it all.
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These books were given to us for review purposes by Jonathan Ball Publishers. This is not a sponsored post and opinions expressed are entirely our own.