by Susie Bower
Cover by Thy Bui
Published by Pushkin Children's
Pushkin Press
A Sarah Odedina Book
Ophelia! We've been waiting for you! We didn't know your name until very recently, but everyone is so excited to welcome you to the world.
This is a fantastic new publication from Pushkin Press - known for superb translated books across all age ranges.
Their Children's imprint also delivers varied & brilliant English language MG & YA stories from great authors.
This is Susie Bower's third middle-grade book & is much-anticipated after the excellent 'School for Nobodies' & 'The Three Impossibles'.
She's also written a wonderful picture book, 'Shoo!' - illustrated by Francesca Gambatesa.
100% recommended! This new story is a fantastic adventure where worlds collide & things definitely aren't what they seem.
With a town motto: *Plastic is Fantastic * Different is Dangerous* who can imagine what Stopford is going to be like? Ophelia is confused & conflicted when a mishap means they're all going to actually stay in one place for a while. She even goes to school there & has mixed feelings about new people, routines & lack of acceptance.
Ophelia has never wished for anything fancy, extravagant or crazy. She just longs for an ordinary life in an ordinary place with ordinary, sensible parents in a house that stays still.
Life for Ophelia is a bit too dramatic, in every possible sense. Her parents are both larger-than-life characters & their love for all things theatrical carries through to every element of their daily groove. Ar (Ophelia couldn't call him 'Dad') had a booming voice & spoke (SHOUTED) in CAPITAL LETTERS & used complicated words wherever possible. Ma wasn't like that. She spoke in italics, making every word sound very important!
With such an unusual family lifestyle I think Ophelia has an emotional maturity beyond her years and is very intelligent but her true inner heart longs to be closer to normal - whatever that might be!
Taking nothing at face value, Ophelia looks beyond the surface for truth & answers. She isn't afraid to stand up for what she believes to be right. She'll also face challenges regarding trust. There's no way she can see what's going on in Stopford without taking action. With interesting words from the story as chapter headings, plus their definitions, we have a creative, random-order glossary throughout the book - a unique detail I personally love.
In a book with an already excellent collection of adventurous ingredients, chapters of varying lengths also create a gripping range of pace. We especially found this to be the case when reading aloud in a group.
Along with a great story, this exciting adventure doesn't just hint at environmental issues or gloss over them with vague mentions, it stares them in the face & ignites a passion for action in Ophelia. Whatever the situation, she must find a way to temporarily separate herself from her parents' crazy travelling theatre in a HUGE, ramshackle van.
There are so many threads of this story that could be used in numerous projects, study subjects & discussions in school classrooms.
Such a great read - we hope there will be other fantastic stories from Susie Bower in the near future!
People need to know about this book & I am so glad there was a Blog Tour!
Thank you for including me, Pushkin Press.
*****
Commentaires