Diversity and inclusion

This is the second collection of poetry by Gambian British poet Sophia Thakur. Through her strong narrative voice and arresting language, this collection explores Sophia’s expressed need to understand how the women in her life became so ‘compassionate, fierce, gentle and powerful.’ Loosely grouped into themes, the collection covers a broad range of subjects, woven through with common threads of love, God, and the formidable influence of her family and friends. Her poems resonate with a powerful rhythm.

The Last Storyteller opens with a promise of a new adventure for Petra. Petra and her family are amongst a select group of people chosen to travel to a new planet to start a new life, as a comet is on track to destroy Earth. However, this journey is not what Petra is expecting. The many twists and turns in the plot will keep the reader engaged and the pages turning.

Callie, Billy and Ted are the three protagonists of the narrative and each have their own worries to contend with: Callie experiences peer pressure and the heavy impact of secrets, Billy tries to understand his changing family dynamics, and Ted faces the reality of bullying and changing friendship dynamics.

In this short but excellent novel we follow Elsie, a young Jewish girl growing up during the 1930s in Stepney, London. Elsie and her brother Mikey live in a primarily Jewish area, although there are some Irish immigrants also. The two spend much of their childhood playing games with their friends, including Nathan, whose spectacular imagination shrouds them in worlds of their own making. However, with the rise of Oswald Mosley and the British Union of Fascists, their world of make-believe soon begins to disappear as antisemitism rises and friendships fall apart.

Chloe Green has survived almost four years in her ultra-conservative high school, focused on the one thing that’s kept her going: winning valedictorian. Her fiercest rival is Shara Wheeler – it-girl, prom queen, practically perfect. But a month before graduation, Shara kisses Chloe – and vanishes.

Rowan Ellis has written a frank, inclusive and kind guide to discovering your sexuality and dealing with the good and bad stuff that comes with it. She takes on the role of the cool older sister who tells you everything you want to know, while also giving you the tools to keep yourself safe. The book provides a glossary of terms associated with the LGBTQ+ community, looks at issues such as mental health, homophobia, and consent and also celebrates people who have made a difference to the lives of queer people.

Polly Faber’s bright, colourful picture book delightfully demonstrates how one person’s actions can impact others. As the story takes readers through every floor of the Park View Rise apartments, we learn about everyone who lives there and why it is important to remember to always be kind and considerate towards our neighbours.

Following a family tragedy, Sam Shipwright is sent to live with her grandad on Draymur Isle, an island as cold as the people who inhabit it. While Sam tries her best to adjust to her new life - ignoring her classmates’ jabs about her mad grandad, trying to keep Myrtle, her chaotic pet goat, from eating her shoes, and avoiding the relentlessly cruel Major Chase - she also has to learn to accept a terrifying truth.

On the surface, Prince Jones and Danielle Ford live in separate worlds – he’s the popular kid, not just in school, but in all of Detroit, charming the city with his insight as DJ LoveJones on his uncle’s radio show. Meanwhile, Dani’s spent the last year doing everything she can to stay out of the spotlight, focused only on earning a spot in NYU’s competitive undergraduate writing programme. When they collide in the local library, they start a remix that brings out the best of both their tracks and reminds us that even though love loves to play, it doesn’t have to be a zero-sum game.