Everyday by David Levithan

The premise of this book is slightly strange and initially I thought I would hate it.  However, it quite quickly gripped me. The idea of waking up in a different persons body every day and living a day of their life is fascinating. 

The character, who I assumed to be male falls in love with a girl whose boyfriends body he inhabitants for a day. Each day from then is spent trying to see the girl again. 

I did find myself frustrated by the end of the book. I wanted answers that were never given, possibly because there were no answers. 

Despite my frustration with the lack of answers as to how he existed, I did enjoy this book and would recommend it.

The Year of the Rat

'The Year of the Rat' is one of the six shortlisted books for the UKLA book awards in the 12-16 category.

It charts the year following the death of Pearl's mum.  Pearl's mum dies leaving behind her premature baby, Pearl's half sister Rose. Pearl refers to the baby as the rat.  Pearl's anger at her mum's death leads her to blame her baby sister, her dad and her mum. 

In her grief Pearl pushes everyone away even her best friend. She won't talk to anyone about her feelings and struggles to cope.

The story captures how all encompassing grief can be, to the point where you cannot see reason. It is a compelling read  that stays with you. 

Scarlet Ibis

Scarlet Ibis by Gill Lewis

This book is in the shortlist for 7-11 year olds.  Emily (year 6) came home from school with it at the same time as I began reading it for the UKLA book awards.  It has been lovely to be able to discuss it with her.  We both thouroughly enjoyed it.
It tells the story of Scarlet and Red who live with their mum.  However, their mum is not well and when a fire starts in their flat they are both taken into care.  For Scarlet and Red this is made worse by the fact that the social worker separates them.
Gill Lewis tells the story from Scarlet's point of view.  It is very easy to feel the frustration that Scarlet is feeeling when no one is listening to her as the adults make the decisions.

It is a great book that I am looking forward to sharing with my class.

Judging the 2015 UKLA Book Awards

This year I am judging the UKLA shortlists.  This is the only book award judged by teachers. It is the third time I have been fortunate enough to judge the 6 books in each shortlist. I am really enjoying reading the books and look forward to meeting to pick the winners in June.