Owen And The Soldier by Lisa Thompson

Owen likes to visit the local memorial garden where he talks to a stone soldier statue after losing his dad and his mum becoming withdrawn and depressed.

So when he learns the garden is to be changed and the soldier gotten rid of, an opportunity at school to speak up and tell the council and everyone how he feels may help change their minds.

He also gets the chance to get help for his mum's grief and depression as well as make a friend himself in Megan.

A powerful story about a boy channelling his grief and finding a cause to move forward and fight/live for to make his dad proud.

Dancing The Charleston by Jacqueline Wilson

In this book, Mona lives with her auntie who cares for her after her mum passed and so did her dad too when she was just a baby and he was in the war.

Her auntie is a seamstress for a lady and when the lady passes the pair worry they'll be made homeless.

Mr Benjamin the youngest son, moves in after his mum passed who's the kindest of all the Somerset's and likes Mona a lot even if he is very flamboyant with his tastes and company he keeps.

He does however turn Mona and her aunt's lives around as her aunty gets an amazing knew job for Harrod's!

However after Mona falls out with her friends after getting a trial to go to a proper high school giving her a better looking future, she befriends the Somerset children and they go on an adventure to London which a shock twist comes out there about Mona's mother everyone knew but her...

I really enjoyed this book, as someone who had a grandma who made theatre costumes I could relate to Mona's feelings about talented seamstresses and sympathise over how she felt her familial loses too being so young and we know how grief is at that age. Friendship can be fickle and that point came across well too overall this book was another great by the one and only Jacqueline Wilson.

The Benefits Of Being An Octopus by Ann Braden

Zoey is the eldest of her mum's children and since learning about octopuses from an old documentary she watched figures she could do with being one as she has to run around her siblings, Hector, Bryce and Aurora whilst their mum works.

They all live in a trailer park with Lenny, Hector's dad and their mum where they struggle for money as her mum's a waitress. Kenny is quite scathing towards their mum especially as he knows she works with Connor, a kind man at the pizza parlour she works in whom likes Zoey and the other kids.

Zoey has just started middle school with Fuchsia her friend where she learns about a debate team and her teacher insists on her taking part. Whilst in school shots are fired outside, a gunman whom Zoey later realises she knew of as he knows Fuchsia.

Neither girls home lives are secure it stable, happy ones and so each girl asks their mum about an idea they have to leave the controlling father figures in their lives well away from them but instead all survive together. They just need to speak up and out to the police and courts, if they can persuade them that is...

The book raises the issue of domestic abuse and all the spectrum of can occur from physical threats and acts to emotional abuse verbally and trying to control a person. We see how it impacts the whole family and Zoey has a lot to cope with hence her feeling comforted by her octopus passion as she knows how she could do with enough arms to do everything she has to do but envy them as they don't have to juggle school work or look after their siblings.  It was nice to see she found debate club a way for some own time and be able to connect more with other students while developing a passion.

Raw and intense look at life as a grown up but while still being a child yourself.

Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!

My Best Friend The Suffragette by Sally Morgan

Christine is brought up in a family against suffrage and makes friends with Mary who is a wannabe detective who is a suffragette as her family support it. The two communicate with letters back and forth which tell the story as the girls families suffer for the effort of getting the vote even pulling in some historic people references too.

A great way of telling a story which is unique as well as being a gripping but fun historical read children can get into easily and get a taste of the time back then with the dedication it took women to get to vote.

Other Words For Home by Jasmine Warga

Jude lives in her war torn city with her family, her brother Issa believes and fights to campaign for peace despite their father, their Baba being against it as Issa gets involved in fighting back.

As her and her mum must flee after Issa joins the fighters and her Baba refuses to leave his store life takes a huge change.

Arriving in America to her uncle and his wife and daughter Sarah who are all Americans and speak perfect English unlike them who have to learn. Her cousin Fatima doesn't write for a start making her feel more alone than ever away from everything she ever knew.

in American she becomes a woman starting her period and wearing a hijab as well as getting her first crush and gets to perform at her new school while her cousin seems uninterested in including her in anything.

From making new friends, joining school and discovering drama as well as a new baby sister, tension in family with Issa and Baba this book kept on giving drama which made this a thrilling read and a great one to show how hard it can be to be a muslim girl and cope with such a hard lot stacked against her. I liked the way the verse flowed and it suited this book to be written this way.

Secret Suffragette by Barbara Mitchelhill

When close to her family home the suffragettes appear fighting for women's rights, Daisy knows she's interested in joining and helping out even though folk around don't like them, mostly the men who feel like her dad to her mum that they won't and should control their wives.

However after her mum loses her job she gets up the fight to campaign harder despite the consequences after trying to get better working conditions which angers her husband and forces him to throw out their mum and move in their horrible auntie.

Daisy sticks by her mum and helps her right for women's rights despite being so young and shocked by the actions she sees the women doing around her. A courageous young girl, Daisy is a good role model of a strong girl who knows what she believes in and it was a thrilling read about an interesting time in history.

Little Pills by Melody Dodds

Charlotte is best friends with Alexis who has a troubled home life with her parents being drunk and arguing while Charlotte doesn't feel like she fits the family where her brother was always in trouble and now in the army. While she relies on the painkillers she started taking to make her feel better. There's also her little sister who's best friend admires Charlotte and looks up to get while her sister feels left out...

All about the danger of painkiller addiction, feeling lonely and lost without family around as well as being written in poetry form, this is a raw depiction of how addiction can start out and grow controlling especially when spurred on by others like Charlotte's boyfriend in the book. It was a gripping quick read and raises great awareness for health both physical and mental and how they can effect you.

Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!

Star By Star by Sheena Wilkinson

Stella lost her mother to the great flu ranging on throughout England and Ireland both, during the first world war. Setting off for where her mother used to know in Ireland and being expected there were she meets Sandy and an array of older women whom love together in a sort of lodging house together.

Sandy is an soldier of war and Stella helps him to re focus his life as he helps her garden and later helps a local couple too. As women start to be able to vote and the war ends, tragedy stills strikes....

This is a heartbreaking story about coping with illness and war and I could imagine all the grief and joy they feel over the events that happen during the book. Something that tickles me about the book is a coincidence that main character Stella Graham is actually a name comprising of both my parents first names! A coincidence which have us all a laugh but at the same time very wartime esque appropriate!

Love & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch

With her mum dying from cancer, Lina is left to go stay with Howard whom she believes is actually her father in Italy where he lives in a World War two cemetery of which when Lina goes on her morning run, meets Ren whom is also Italian American and will be attending school together.

When she gets her hands on her mums old journal she realises a lot of secrets where between them and it leaves her to trace down her real father and uncover what happened to her mum before Lina was born. Her friend from home Addie keeps in touch after Lina decides to stay despite her first nerves and Addie enjoys the drama but obviously helps Lina in any way she can as well as with Ten and his friends she meets.

It was such a great read and so different with being a mystery built into a loss story about the years before Lina would never know about along with her mum enjoying Italy as much as she is now she's settled in and soaking up the culture, places and hobbies.

Do You Speak Chocolate? by Cas Lester

Jaz is part of a friendship group she doesn't fully love as her best friend Lily becomes more distant and closer to Kara, so when Nadima arrives in her spare desk seat at school she knows they'll be great friends.

Despite Nadima not speaking a word of English!

Until a chocolate bar in exchange for a dreamy version of Turkish Delight cements that deal seemingly.

However, as she chats to Nadima via emojis on their phones and in stilted English Nadima can understand, they become great friends, staying over for tea at each others and meeting their families. They go shopping and share BFF bracelets cementing their new friendship.

Though they do have their moments of falling out as Jaz finds out she's fled Syria with her family and wants to help Nadima by giving her the money from Charity week only Nadima doesn't need charity and in causes a rift which means that Kara steals her away from Jaz.

Feeling lonely Jaz tries her best to patch things up and prove she's a good friend truly and can she also befriend Kara at last?

This is a book showing what many young people are suffering through as their families and them flee war wrecked countries. We see the horrors and emotional turmoil it can cause and Nadima's story is a critical one to be heard in young adult fiction. I have never read a refugee based ya before and found this a great first one to find, it shows how friendship can help someone as we watch Nadima become more comfortable in the school and around the others and taking part in the activities, she doesn't just sit out. Even though she misunderstands something's she is helped and we should all take note of how the characters act towards those from other countries as all to often they still face prejudice and judgement yet in this book there's none present it is idealist that way and hopefully will become true in real life.

Opal Plumstead by Jacqueline Wilson

In a tale told during suffragette times as women fight for the vote, going fourteen year old Opal is forced to leave her school scholarship after her father, a promising hopeful author to be is found guilty of stealing money from his employer after indulging in many extravagant purchases for his family.

As Opal, her sister Cassie and her mother all take on jobs to afford the rent now the man of the house is disgraced in prison, Opal suffers the eye of hopeful young Fred, Patty an awful girl and hates not seeing her best friend Olivia as she's forced to work at Fairy Glen Sweet Factory.

Her sister grows close to a man she met while working whom has been painting herher. As Opal progresses in her job at the sweet factory, she grows close to the owner, going to suffrage meetings and to tea with her too where she eventually meets her son, Morgan after he returns from Oxford.

Her mother grows more sour and hateful of her life now after failing to work any normal workhouse jobs. She also grows more despairing over her 'lying' daughters as she struggles to believe they have fallen for decent men after her own husbands betrayal.

As the story progresses, Opal and Morgan become fond of each other but the war comes between them both as he has to go and fight. Cassie and Daniel are a well matched couple as Cassie leaves home to be threatened never to come back by their mother. While Opal's father becomes a shadow of the former gentleman he was once before the year the novel is set over happened.

It is a taxing time war and this family goes through hell before that even gets declared. From the start I found the book hard to get into as times now are obviously very different to times then.
However, as the story unravelled and developed, I grew find of Opal and her kind character even if her family and friends didn't all stay loving and caring towards her as they were very bitter and judgemental, her story is portrayed as a tragic one eventually and for poor Opal it was sadly how things often went back then with war meaning losing loved ones and than prison changes people. It was a very honest realistic retelling of the first world war and time leading up to and into it for hard pressured families I feel.

Wave Me Goodbye by Jacqueline Wilson

When ten year old Shirley thinks she's going on holiday to the country she thinks her Mum is going too, until it dawns she's going alone, evacuated because of the imminent war.

On the train she is sat next to Jessica, a St Agatha's convent girl where they are looked after and taught by nuns to be proper ladies though the other girls on the train from that school are mean to Jessica and Shirley but they still become form friends quickly.

Upon arriving in the countryside, Jessica and Shirley have to split up as they aren't going to stay at the same places, it unsettled them but they promise to stay friends. Shirley winds up left with a few other children and so they're forced into villagers with rooms. Shirley ends up also placed with Kevin a boy who's also ten but very tall and Archie a young bald boy. They stay with the mysterious Chubby, a bossy housekeeper and her friend Lady Waverley.

In the countryside they still have to attend school and horrid Marilyn from back in London is also there though all the children are scared of their mean teacher who shouts a lot and uses threats of the cane style contraptions on the kids hands to keep them behaving.

Shirley later sends a postcard to her Mum which describes how it was on her first day and how horrible she found it, however it causes her Mum so much concern she travels to meet the women taking care of her daughter and is so horrified she wants to take Shirley to stay with her boss's relatives.

Mrs Waverly also lets Shirley in on her secret room and confides in her about why she keeps what she does in there, it is very moving only a situation involving Kevin and him then running away leads him and Shirley into a dangerous encounter.

Throughout the book, as expected from a novel set in wartime England, there's old time language and what would be considered minor swearing but time appropriate. There's mentions of objects from wartime England and the caricatures depicted the time and theme of the book tremendously. Shirley was a great character and she really earnt a place in my heart over how kind she was and cheeky when necessary!

I was super excited to read this book and it fulfilled my dreams of it being a great book once again from Jacqueline. It was an emotional journey and super realistic keep your tissues ready!

Only Ever Yours by Louise O'Neill

Freida isn't the most popular of the girls, but her friend of now drifting from friend, Isabel used to be ranked number one in this book all about being the best and most desirable girl manufactured in order to be chosen by a man.

These girls are made specially for the men, carefully designed and kept until one day their men arrive and select them to begin a life with where they need to produce only sons and never daughters as all women are manufactured. If they can't be a companion, the girls are either destined to be a chastity at the school or a concubine forever or even worse, underground experiments.

Megan is now the most popular girl ranked at the top out of all their year and despite Isabel, Frieda's old best friend only ever wanting to be on top, she soon battles with her weight which is heavily discussed in this book by all the girls as they criticise each other hardcore as they need to be perfect to the men. There is also more than meets the eye as we learn later on as to why Isabel distances herself and struggles to cope in some ways.

As the boys begin their visits to the school to spend time with potential partners, Freida feels honoured to be Darwin's choice many times as he's the best ranked number one, however Megan isn't happy about this at all but when Freida tries to hard to be accepted, the best and gives in to her feelings she ends up paying the price in the end.

This book is brutal and vain but in a great way, a bit triggering for anyone with an eating disorder  I feel but besides that it was an intriguing storyline and essential looking at real life Barbie or Brats being made in the way the girls are spoken about in the book. It was very honest in topics discussed from sex, marriage and the girls relationships with their bodies which portrays they were more human like in attitude than brainwashed into set ways of thinking though they did have rules to follow for the so called ideal life to be theirs.theirs