by Sarah Moore Fitzgerald
This was such a lovely book. The style of writing reminded me so much of John Boyne and Frank Cottrell-Boyce. It's gentle, heartfelt, emotional, a little book kooky - I just adored it. It had the feel of a 9-12yr audience, but the subject matter might deny that age group because it deals with attempted suicide which I think is a bit too adult emotionally for young children to grasp and cope with.
The story is set in Ireland. Oscar and Meg are best friends - they live next door to each other, go to the same school, they talk all day and nearly all night out of their bedroom windows. Meg's father takes a job in New Zealand for 6 months, and Meg reluctantly goes with them. While they're away, Paloma and her mother move in to Meg's old house, and Oscar befriends Paloma. But this is where Oscar's life suddenly gets turned around, from good to bad. He is hurt, ridiculed, and bullied, and due to an awful misunderstanding over a letter, Meg no longer keeps in contact with him. He feels all alone, and sees only one way out. But what Oscar doesn't realise is that there are people around who care about him, and save him from a life-threatening action.
A beautiful book about being different, about good and bad friendships, and how salvation can come from an unlikely place.
