Pre-teen and teen book reviews

Reviews: Lauren O’Connor-May

Mayowa and the Sea of Words

Chibundu Onuzo

Bloomsbury

This sweet and charming book has one of the most original ideas I’ve seen in a long time.

It tells the story of Mayowa, a British-Nigerian who discovers she has an unusual superpower.

Her paternal grandfather tells her that the power has been passed down in the family for generations and her ancestors have been using it in the background to quietly influence major events.

Mayowa is eager to hone this newly discovered talent but her reserved and elderly grandfather is reluctant to train her, saying it is difficult and dangerous.

However, when they discover that a branch of relatives long thought extinct are using the power to push through a parliamentary bill that will hurt their friends, Mayowa convinces her grandfather that it is time to break with old-fashioned traditions since the bad wielders are not abiding by the same moral code.

My children and I thoroughly enjoyed this book which we hope will spawn a series.

Six More Months of June

Daisy Garrison

Hodder

This clean friends-to-lovers young adult romance is about Mina, a nerd, and Caplan, a popular jock.

Mina has been secretly in love with her childhood best friend Caplan since forever. Caplan is oblivious to Mina’s affections until his friend asks her to the prom. As Caplan battles with unexpected jealousy, he is forced to look harder at his friendship with Mina.

I liked this book. I thought it was clever and different and I liked that it explored the friendships in the wider circle too rather than just the romantic leads.

There were some nice surprises in this book and I would recommend it, even though my teens didn’t take a shine to it.