Growing up

It’s 1942 and Nisha has travelled a long way. Her first journey takes her from a privileged and happy childhood in Malaya to the stark, grey, frightening home of her grandmother on England’s Barrow Island. Her other journey is from a child refugee suffering from PTSD, barely able to speak, to a blossoming young girl who has found courage, hope, and honesty. Both journeys are cleverly and intricately woven together.

Kisses for Jet is a graphic novel set in the Netherlands in 1999. Jet, sixteen, is sent to live in a boarding house when their parents move abroad to (mysteriously) take care of the Millennium Bug.

This poignant and moving tale from author Jenny Pearson shows us the importance of family relationships and the virtue of perseverance. When Frank Davenport learns he is the sole beneficiary of his Grandma Nora’s vast inheritance, his mind is filled with the possibilities the cash might provide him with. However, upon learning that he must use this money to look after his estranged grandad (Frank Davenport Senior Senior) who lives in a nursing home, he quickly decides to carry out his Grandma Nora’s wish.

The Dick, Kerr girls are back and ready for another round! This time, we follow the life of Martha, younger sister to Hettie and Freddie. When Martha is invited to join the Dick, Kerr Ladies Football team for training, she can hardly believe her luck. But soon the pressure of living up to their expectations creeps up on her, and she questions herself and her abilities. The local boys are treating her differently, and life at home is becoming more complicated. Growing up is proving to be more difficult than she could have ever imagined.

This is an empowering account of how to embrace life and learn from your mistakes. The book is written by Leon Rolle, a member of the band Rudimental, and the award-winning author and poet Derek Owusu. Throughout, Rolle uses stories from his experiences growing up in Hackney to take his readers on a journey through his childhood in the hopes of passing on lessons he has earned from his life. He is clearly striving to inspire young people who are looking for the motivation to succeed.

The fourth instalment in Agent Zaiba’s illustrious case history, The Smuggler’s Secret sees the observant and deductive Zaiba, fashion enthusiast best friend Poppy, cousin and ex-rival Mariam, and little brother Ali, all give the adults a hand with another mystery that arises on a History Club excursion to the seaside. Plotty and dynamically paced, their adventure picks up threads from the previous volumes, while remaining an engaging story in its own right, littered with credible suspects, motivations, and red herrings crucial to any good mystery.

This is an adorable tale of a little toddler who wants to be like his older sibling and his Dad and to wear proper undies, colourful ones with spots and stripes! The book tells in short and snappy sentences, often in toddler-speak, the trials and tribulations of potty training. The little one progresses through the milestones: learning about wiping, teaching a toy how to use the potty, having an accident, and trying again.

A joyful romp through the complexities of socioeconomic class in colourful 1990s Nigeria, Jummy at the River School follows Jummy as she wins and accepts a place at a prestigious boarding school. She is thrilled to explore this new world of friendly faces, midnight feasts, and fierce athletic competitions, but it is a struggle leaving her best friend behind to work with her family.

Safe & Sound is a sweet bedtime picturebook in which the reader is presented with a wide variety of baby animals who are kept safe by their respective grown-ups in all sorts of different environments: chipmunks live underground, anteaters ride on their mothers’ backs, kangaroo joeys need a comfy pouch and crocodile hatchlings hide inside their mother’s mouth.