Patrice Lawrence

From the multi-award-winning author of Orangeboy, comes a YA road-trip mystery. After a fun Christmas Eve decorating the tree and singing along with his mum to Queen, fifteen-year-old Spey wakes up on Christmas morning to find the ex-prisoner father he's never met asleep on the sofa. Then he receives a mysterious package in the post: a torn envelope filled with half a collage he made with his old friend Dee on her sixth birthday. Dee bounced between schools and pupil referral units until a tragedy meant she ended up in care outside of London, drawn into the world of county lines gangs. They haven't spoken for years, but Spey is sure she must be in danger. He just doesn't know where she is. There's only one person Spey can think of who might be able to help ... On a roadtrip like no other, can Spey and his dad find Dee, and will they be ready to confront a criminal gang together?

Splinters of Sunshine

ellie chase

TWs for this story.
4.5/5 stars

"I thought about the flowers that no one notices."

Some books are not meant to be escapes from reality. Some are supposed to be reflections of the world we do live in and what that means. Splinters of Sunshine is one of those stories. It's not an escapist fantasy; it's a story about the world we live in, a harsh story, but a beautiful one at the same time.
It's not what I normally read, but I am very glad I did- it's a story of resilience and empathy and love and human kindness, and family.
Please note, there are several huge triggers for this stories, so please be cautious about whether you decide to read this.

Heidi Lowe 

Very good makes you feel connected to the characters throughout. At times it’s hard to follow and a bit slow. But overall very interesting book

Momo

YA isn't something I often find myself reading which is a shame because there's so much great content but this is a great YA mystery thriller about a young mixed race boy in search for a missing long lost friend.  The catch is, the only person there to help him is his estranged father whom he is not to keen on 

It was great and important to see the complexity of growing up mixed race as well as having that representation there for those reading.  It often seems like their experience goes ignored as with many other things.  A quote that really stood out to me was,

‘I didn’t know I was supposed to be. Every Black History 
Month in primary school, they’d wheel out Rosa Parks, 
Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King, so I kind of thought 
that prison was a good thing. When I was in Year Two, we 
were doing our assembly and I was reading out the Nelson 
Mandela bit. I finished by announcing to the kids and 
teachers and parents that my dad was always in prison. The 
kids didn’t care, but my teacher looked like she was going to 
throw up.'

Again this got me thinking about representation and the impact it can have on kids.  Especially in this instance when the lines are blurred about those fighting for good who ended up in a place we threaten children with if they're naughty; Prison.

Splinters of Sunshine

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