Bookish and Feint

by  Cat Clarke   Jem Halliday is in love with her gay best friend.   Not exactly ideal, but she's learning to live with it. Then the unspeakable happens. Kai is outed online ...and he kills himself. Jem knows nothing she can say or do will bring him back. But she wants to know who was responsible. And she wants to take them down… ------------- First off, I think it prudent to mention that given of some of the themes that run throughout it may not be suitable for younger teens or more sensitive readers, although as ever use your own judgment. I absolutely fell in love with Jem - what a fantastic main character! Abandoned, broken and filled with a kind of Shakespearian vengeance, Jem had me simultaneously relishing the dark satisfaction of a dastardly scheme and weeping in frustration at the madness of it all. It was an emotional rollercoaster. I was completely unprepared for how engaged – how downright opini...

HAPPEE BIRTHDAE, HARRY ! Today marks the 39th birthday of Harry Potter, the eponymous hero of the series that arguably transformed children's publishing forever. Rowling’s series demonstrated that children’s fiction could surpass 300 pages and young bookworms would remain undeterred . Older book series were republished in bind-up editions as a new generation of readers became accustomed to lengthier books, and established children’s authors found they had been ‘ let off the leash ’ . What could previously only be achieved in a series of books could now be realised in fewer, or better still, the series' world-building could become more expansive. Adults who hadn’t read a children’s book since their own childhood were surreptitiously reading purloined copies (under duress, of course, to see what the fuss was about) and rediscovering what kids intrinsically understand; that the world is filled with hope and joy, sadness and fear, and none of it is half as comp...

by  Alice Oseman 'Charlie and Nick are at the same school, but they've never met ... until one day when they're made to sit together. They quickly become friends, and soon Charlie is falling hard for Nick, even though he doesn't think he has a chance.  But love works in surprising ways, and Nick is more interested in Charlie than either of them realised. Heartstopper  is about love, friendship, loyalty and mental illness. It encompasses all the small stories of Nick and Charlie's lives that together make up something larger, which speaks to all of us.' __________ Heartstopper ,   Volume 1 , collects together the first two chapters of Oseman's LGBTQ+ webcomic about teens Charlie and Nick, whom readers may recall if they have previously read Oseman's earlier YA novel,   Solitaire .   Solitaire   focuses on Charlie's sister Tori, but in   Heartstopper   Tori becomes a background character whilst Charlie ...