Movies Showing Nowhere

LoveReading4Kids Says

Winner of the Dutch Golden Pencil award for the year's best children's book | Shortlisted for the Flemish Boon Literature Prize | May 2024 Book of the Month

However much copycat publishing goes on, you can rely on Pushkin Children’s Books to find thoughtful, thought-provoking, singular books for young readers and that’s exactly what Movies Showing Nowhere is.

Cate’s mother died as she gave birth to her daughter. Twelve years on her father is distant and withdrawn, while Cate is considered weird by her classmates, not that she cares what they think. The arrival of a mysterious invitation from a Mrs Kano, to attend the town’s old cinema, ‘showing films you won’t find anywhere’, changes things for Cate in ways it is impossible to predict, and hard to describe.

What Mrs Kano offers movie goers is the chance to revisit a moment in their past, and she recruits first Cate as kiosk salesperson, then time travel guide. The question we are all asking of course, is Cate brave enough to travel back to meet her own mother, and who else might she encounter on her journeys into the past?

Twisty, often funny yet poignant, and with a flavour all of its own, Movies Showing Nowhere is one of the most original books you’ll read all year and for many young readers, it will be one of the most memorable.

Reviewed by Andrea Reece
Andrea Reece has spent almost her entire working life in children’s books, first as publisher, latterly as consultant, project manager and critic.
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