Tag: Family

The Space We’re In by Katya Balen and Laura Carlin

“We are her world and her universe and her space and her stars and her sky and her galaxy and her cosmos too.

Frank is ten. He likes cottage pie and football and cracking codes.

Max is five. He eats only Quavers and some colours are too bright for him and if he has to wear a new T-shirt he melts down down down. Sometimes Frank wishes Mum could still do huge paintings of stars and asteroids like she used to, but since Max was born she just doesn’t have time. When tragedy hits Frank and Max’s lives like a comet, can Frank piece together a universe in which he and Max aren’t light years apart?

This jaw-dropping, heartbreaking and hopeful novel from debut author Katya Balen will remind you we are all made of stardust.”

This is going to be very special!

Brilliantly told in an authentic young voice that is raw and compelling, this is a truly immersive read. Heartbreaking yet hopeful, it celebrates the power of friendship, play and imagination in finding your voice and being comfortable with your place in the world. It brings together art and science, bullying and friendship, family and loss to create something beautiful and uplifting. We can’t wait to see how Laura Carlin’s illustrations combine with  such beautiful, powerful writing. 

Brilliant for schools to promote empathy and understanding of autism and its impact on families. Readers will love deciphering the codes to read the chapter headings. The perfect read for fans of Wonder and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime.

Published 5th September by Bloomsbury, you can pre-order your copy here.

Heartstream by Tom Pollock

A taut psychological thriller about obsession, fame and betrayal, for fans of Black Mirror. Cat is in love. Always the sensible one, she can’t believe that she’s actually dating, not to mention dating a star.

But the fandom can’t know. They would eat her alive. And first at the buffet would definitely be her best friend, Evie.

Amy uses Heartstream, a social media app that allows others to feel your emotions. She broadcasted every moment of her mother’s degenerative illness, and her grief following her death. It’s the realest, rawest reality TV imaginable. But on the day of Amy’s mother’s funeral, Amy finds a strange woman in her kitchen. She’s rigged herself and the house with explosives – and she’s been waiting to talk to Amy for a long time.

Who is she? A crazed fan? What does she want? Amy and Cat are about to discover how far true obsession can go.

Tom Pollock’s previous book, White Rabbit, Red Wolf was a Book Nook favourite, so we knew we were in for a treat with Heartstream. Pollock’s work is unique and fiercely intelligent; you know you’re going to get something wildly different and fresh.

Heartstream examines obsession, online community and belonging. It imagines the future of social media and explores the concept of how much of ourselves we share online – and when it crosses the line and becomes too much. The examples of the anonymity of online bullying are brutal and wholly relevant.

Heartstream is reminiscent of Years and Years and Black Mirror and shares their tension and visions of a technological online future. But it is when it looks at the relationships between all the characters- their uncertainty and confusion and soaring, conflicting emotions – that it really holds your heart.

This is a gripping, whirlwind of a book that will play with your emotions and keep you guessing until the very last page.

You can get your copy from our online shop here.

Toffee – Sarah Crossan

I am not who I say I am, 
and Marla isn’t who she thinks she is.

I am a girl trying to forget. 
She is a woman trying to remember. 

Allison has run away from home and with nowhere to live finds herself hiding out in the shed of what she thinks is an abandoned house. But the house isn’t empty. An elderly woman named Marla, with dementia, lives there – and she mistakes Allison for an old friend from her past called Toffee.

Allison is used to hiding who she really is, and trying to be what other people want her to be. And so, Toffee is who she becomes. After all, it means she has a place to stay. There are worse places she could be. But as their bond grows, and Allison discovers how much Marla needs a real friend, she begins to ask herself -where is home? What is a family? And most importantly, who am I, really?

A captivating read that portrays domestic abuse, loneliness, abusive parents and dementia with honesty and heart. Toffee is about finding your self and creating your own family. Sarah Crossan has done it again with beautiful, emotive language and tension that builds as Allison and Marla’s stories twine together. A story that will break your heart and then hold it together again.

You can get your copy from our online shop here.

May’s Indie Book of the Month

We absolutely love A Wolf Called Wander by Rosanne Perry and are thrilled that it is the Independent Bookseller’s Children’s Book of the month for May!

Meet Swift, he lives with his pack in the mountains until rival wolves invade his home and he is forced to flee. He must decide whether to try and survive on his own on the borders of his old hunting ground or to search for a new home.

Will he find the courage to survive all by himself? Inspired by a true story, A Wolf Called Wander is about family, courage and survival.

This is a powerful story that celebrates the raw beauty of nature and survival against all odds, perfect for fans of Gill Lewis, Michael Morpurgo and Jess Butterworth. Age 9+.