Kite Day by Lisa Varchol Perron

Rating:

4 Stars

Themes:

Children's Fiction, Mental Health

Thoughts:

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is a great book to help little kids get their heads round and accept the adults in their lives. The book is marketed as addressing adults in children's lives with mental health problems but most of it also applies really well to disabled people too, especially those who have a Dynamic Disability. It’s cool to take something that is so abstract like mental health and explain it in a way that children can not only understand but have also likely experienced themselves before. I also really liked the little bit of advice at the end that not only explained a mood disorder but tells kids what they can do if they’re worried about someone they love too so they feel less hopeless in bad spells.

Favourite Quote:

“I wait, too - for my hope to build - but worry presses at my chest, anger rises in my throat, and sadness stings my face. I look for ways to show mamuś I love her, and to remind myself that she loves me.”

Comments

Mint and Murder by Carly Winter

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Shame-Sex Attraction by Lucas Wilson

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction, LGBTQ+ Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is definitely a difficult read and it took me quite a while to get through it for that very reason. It is split up into 17 different peoples experiences with a foreword and afterword. It’s definitely an important read for many as these practices are still legal in many countries, including my own, and without knowledge of the damage of the practices many may not join in the protests or sign the petitions to try to get laws in place. As a member of the community myself I found some of these stories such as the ‘Sniffing the Gay Away’ and ‘Convert’ especially difficult to read and reminded me just how lucky I was to have such a supportive and loving community around me. I appreciated that the afterword highlighted the limitations of the collection such as having little to no religious, geographical or racial diversity but that they did try to ga...

Broken Glass by Sarah Kay

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Poetry Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This collection is mixed for me, some of the poems were really good and all were definitely emotive but I think so many poems on the Hamas attack and subsequent war which is highly politically charged a little difficult to tackle. Favourite Quote: "What good is it to open my heart when in the end, you will stab it in the back?"

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