No catches, no fine print just unconditional book loving for your children with their favourites saved to their own digital bookshelf.
New members get entered into our monthly draw to win £100 to spend in your local bookshop plus lots lots more...
Find out more.jpg)
Victoria Jamieson worked as a children's book designer before becoming a full-time illustrator. She has also worked as a portrait artist aboard a cruise ship, and has lived in Australia, Italy and Canada. She now lives with her family in Portland, Oregon, where she maintains a not-so-secret identity as Winnie the Pow, skater with the Rose City Rollers Roller Derby League.
In a nutshell: friendship, growing up and superheroes on skates! Roller derby, a contact sport played by teams, isn’t very well known in the UK but boy, it looks great fun in Victoria Jamieson’s graphic novel. A rough-and-tumble sport, unusually it is mostly played by girls; Astrid is hooked first game she sees, and signs up to train at summer camp. Her best friend, who prefers ballet, can’t understand this new passion and the two grow apart. In her efforts to become a real roller girl like her hero Rainbow Bite, Astrid gets knocked down countless times, but she always gets up again. She makes a new friend, and over the course of this roller skating summer discovers lots about independence and working out who you are. This is as much about friendship as roller skating, and both are depicted brilliantly in Jamieson’s bright, action-packed cartoon strips. Terrific! ~ Andrea Reece
Omar Mohammed spent his childhood at the enormous Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya after fleeing the war in Sudan with his younger brother, having seen their father killed and becoming separated from their mother. Eventually resettled to America, he was already working on his memoir for adults when he met the Newbery Honor winning author who persuaded him to turn his story into a graphic novel. This accessible format and the first-person narration create an intimate picture of a very real boy and what life in a refugee camp is really like. It importantly puts a face and a personality to the refugee crisis. We feel the hunger, the physical drudgery, the monotony and the frustrations, but also the sense of community, the love and support of friends and neighbours and the moments of joy and the passion for learning. Omar and his friends Jeri, Nima and Maryam all want to learn and aspire to escape to the West. The injustice of the lack of spaces for older children, of girls who are not allowed to study and of who gets selected for resettlement are unforgettably conveyed. The relationships between Omar and Hassan, his mute and damaged brother, and with Fatima who lost all her sons in Sudan but cares for them is beautifully and movingly portrayed. They never lose hope that they might find their mother and in the afterword we discover how that story turned out. Readers cannot help but develop empathy and compassion for people like Omar. This is an outstanding book that is truly engaging, educative and heart-breaking but ultimately a story of hope and doing the best you can. An essential purchase for schools.
In a nutshell: friendship, growing up and superheroes on skates! Roller derby, a contact sport played by teams, isn’t very well known in the UK but boy, it looks great fun in Victoria Jamieson’s graphic novel. A rough-and-tumble sport, unusually it is mostly played by girls; Astrid is hooked first game she sees, and signs up to train at summer camp. Her best friend, who prefers ballet, can’t understand this new passion and the two grow apart. In her efforts to become a real roller girl like her hero Rainbow Bite, Astrid gets knocked down countless times, but she always gets up again. She makes a new friend, and over the course of this roller skating summer discovers lots about independence and working out who you are. This is as much about friendship as roller skating, and both are depicted brilliantly in Jamieson’s bright, action-packed cartoon strips. Terrific! ~ Andrea Reece
If this is your author page then you can share your Facebook updates with your readers right here on LoveReading
Find out more
Check out the latest activities in our KidsZone.
NEW INDIE AND SELF PUBLISHED BOOK REVIEW AND PROMOTION SERVICE LAUNCHED!