Upper World by Fadugba Femi

 

20212, YA, Key Stage 4, ages 14-17, maths, physics, philosophy, Socrates, free will and determinism,Fadugba Femi

Esso lives in outer London.  Life is difficult. There is gang warfare and he is caught up the middle of it  a chance accident enables him to  access the Upper World.  A note book he finds in which his father has written has notes from his father, about the Upper World.  Girlfriend  Nadia also glimpsed the Upper World and it literally drives her mad.

Fifteen years further into the future we meet Rhia, whom Esso tutors. He is here under false         pretences.  He is trying to connect with Rhia; she is Nadia’s daughter.

Both characters have a harsh background.  Tier connection with the Upper World bring some hop    

Noor’s story is partly true.  The other characters are fictional.

The story is 388 pages. There is booked text.  The font is a standard serif adult one, though it has difficult ‘a’s but simple ‘g’s.

Ay   the back of the books there are appendices which give extra information about the maths and scincne. There is also a,  little information about the author.   

    

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Pony on the Twelfth Floor by Polly Faber, illustrated by Sarah Jennings

2018   

There is almost a fantasy element in this; Kizzy finds a lost pony in a supermarket and manages to hide him in her twelfth floor apartment. Later he is hidden in a friend’s garden shed and later on the balcony of another flat.  Eventually Kizzy has to return him to his rightful owner but she is mistaken about who that is.  In fact Flapjack aka Pumpkin was on the way to a new home when he escaped.  The new home is a good one; the Under Arches Farm is a city farm and not far from where Kizzy lives.

The cast is diverse. He friend Pawel is Polish. The manager of the bock of flats, where Kizzy lives with her mother and brother, keeps bees on the roof. Miss Turney, an older resident, is a hoarder. This means she has a saddle for Kizzy.  And it is she that hides Flapjack on her balcony for a while.

The text is ragged right and double spaced so aids the reader though the font has a serif and difficult ‘a’s and ‘g’s.  The book is 256 pages long.  There are plenty of illustrations: full pages, inserted into pages and at the beginning of the chapters.  They both illustrate and tell more of the story.        

My Furry Foster Family, Apple and Annie the Hamster Duo by Debbi Michiko Florence and Melanie Demmer

2020    

emergent reader, ages 7-9, upper primary, animals, Florence  Debbi Michiko, Demmer Melanie,                                                

Kaita Takano and her family foster animals that are waiting to find their forever family.  They have themselves adopted a small dog. In this story they take on two hamsters that are waiting for a family to adopt them. They keep them in the spare room so that they won’t be disturbed by the family’s pet dog. Kaita’s friend Hannah helps Kaita to make toys for the little animals. But the stage Kaita has made enables the hamsters to climb out of their box. Dad helps to find them and to make a lid to stop them escaping again. Kata and Hannah make posters to advertise the animals and a family turns up to adopt them.

We have an engaging story here and also some hints about caring for pets well.   

The story is 65 pages long but the book has eight pages of other text at the end.  There are just five short chapters. The text is formatted ragged right. The font is large but with a serif and difficult ‘a’s an ‘g’s.

The main story and some of the notes are illustrated though illustrations are kept to a minimum and reinforce meaning rather than adding to the story. At the front of the book are some sketches of Kaita and her friends and family. These look as if they are Kaita’s work.      

At the end of the book there are activities for the reader, a useful glossary, some notes about the real Kaita and her experience of fostering animals and notes about the author and illustrator, the latter perhaps being aimed more at adults.        

There are other books in the My Furry Foster Family series.        

Find your copy here  

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A High Wind in Jamaica by Richard Hughes

 

2002 (first published 1929)

fluent reader, upper primary, Key Stage 2, ages 9-11, Hughes Richard, historical,  classic, pirates,

A group of children are sent from Jamaica to England after a hurricane strikes and ruins their home.  But on the way their ship is captured by pirates. The children befriend the pirates who later hand them over to a passing steam ship with an elaborate story that the pirates actually rescued the children. The children collude with the pirates about this.   

I’m not a great fan of trigger warnings but I will post a few here. There are some very dark sides to this story.

·       One child remains missing.

·       The parents are wrongly informed that the children have died – and seem indifferent about this.

·       A girl murders a man.

·       The pirates make mild sexual advances to the children but the children don’t realise that’s what they are.

However, there are many arguments that children should be exposed to the darker side of life. There is a little of the style of the Lemony Snicket books in this. Of course it is a much earlier text.

Robert Hughes really captures the point of view of the children. However, he seems to be writing to an adult rather than another child.

The language is quite advanced, even for the fluent reader.

This may be a text that could lead to an interesting set of discussions. It will give the discerning young reader plenty to think about.

The text is blocked in the paperback version of the novel and uses a serif font and has difficult ‘a’s and ‘g’s. It is 195 pages long.

Zoo Girl by Rebecca Elliott

 

2012  

The protagonist whose name we never learn is an orphan. She goes with the other children on a visit to the zoo. She doesn’t get on well with the others and is often alone.  She is fascinated by the animals who befriend her and manages to get left behind. Two of the zoo keepers find her. She is returned to the orphanage. Later the two zookeepers who found her adopt her.      

There are very few words in this book. The story is told mainly though the pictures.

The two main themes are isolation and adoption. The main character feels more at home with the animals than with her peers. Readers, including the caring adult who shares the book with the child, will have to suspend their disbelief. It’s probably not wise for a child to cuddle up to tigers.

Some of the pictures from the story are repeated in the end-papers. They show the protagonist playing with the animal, perhaps emphasising that this little girl is more comfortable with animals than with other humans.

She is not treated unkindly at the orphanage. The adult there looks kind.  

The few words in this text are in a lager font though do have difficult ‘a’s and ‘g’s. 

Find your copy here  

Note, this is an affiliate link and a small portion of what you pay, at no extra cost to you,  may go to Bridge House Publishing.