Page Wanderers

Popcorn
Popcorn is a book about a boy called Andrew who lives with his mum and his Grandma who has Alzheimer's. Andrew struggles with anxiety, being bullied and feeling different to other people. At home he knows his mum is finding it hard to care for his grandma and hold down a job. While at school he has an incident with a rough bully who hurts him. He has a friend called Jonesy who wants him to stick up for himself but he doesn't feel able to as he often thinks it will make things worse. Andrew has OCD which means he likes everything to be clean and tidy and he sometimes has to do things many times to reassure himself. Andrew describes his anxiety through a popcorn kernel getting hotter and hotter. The author uses illustration which looks like Andrew's doodles to show how he's feeling. I found this book hard to read, especially the parts where Andrew is being attacked by his bully as he doesn't seem to be able to get himself out of the situation. The book seems like it should be a comedy book by looking at the illustrations but the words and feelings Andrew describes are not funny and were difficult to read. The author is excellent at describing anxiety and it makes you want to help Andrew and hope he finds a way through his struggles. Because Andrew is aware that his mum is also finding life difficult, he doesn't want to burden her with his troubles and so you feel like he is alone with his problems. He also doesn't have his grandma to talk to anymore as she often doesn't remember who he is and it's sad reading about how much he misses the old her. Before I read this book, I had a good understanding of what Alzheimer's was but I now have a better understanding of what it must feel like to lose someone and the love they had for you, even when you're standing in front of them. I enjoyed most aspects of the book but I did find it uncomfortable as I struggle with anxiety around school and found myself worrying about how I might feel in that situation.

Orla

Birdie
Birdie is a brilliant book which is all about a girl facing her fears with help from a spiritual pony. It explores the life of Birdie on her journey through her new life in the Yorkshire Dales. Many challenges cross her path including discrimination in her new town and bullying. Eventually she ends up in a coal mine where she will be rescued by her lifelong friend. This book is full of emotion, friendship and connection.

Orla

Chronicles of a Lizard Nobody
Chronicles of a Lizard Nobody is a very humorous book that young readers would enjoy. It is all about how a lizard named Zeke and his friends at school face some fun and quirky characters along the way. This book is full of fun and creative ideas but also plays with ideas for older children, I would suggest this book to anyone from the age 9 to 11. After discussing this book as a group we all found that as older readers we found it funny but confusing with how new topics appear. We also found that some ideas in the book were not clear where they had originated from, but the book does not lose any fun or energy. The idea of the book would mainly appeal to younger children but includes themes that encourage older readers.

Orla