"A story full of compassion and humanity, as well as humour"
September 2024 Book of the Month | Interest Age 9+ Reading Age 8+
We all know what it’s like to have a voice in our head telling us we’re no good, or bound to fail, or that the worst is going to happen. For Josh, that voice is always there though, and as things at home suddenly get disrupted, it gets so loud that he can’t control or escape it.
Desperate for some time to think herself, his mum sends him to stay with his grandma, who lives in a remote cottage, entirely self-sufficient. Josh has never met his grandma, but it turns out that they have a lot in common. Grandma too has struggled with mental health and through her own experiences knows what to say and to do help him take control of his brain (or Brian, as Josh knows it).
In a very short extent, Helen Rutter establishes her characters, shows readers the misery of Josh’s interior monologue and demonstrates the impact it has on his life. She also shows us a strategy we can all use if a voice in our own heads gets too loud. This is a book full of compassion and humanity, as well as humour, and highly recommended.
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With help from his grandma, Josh finds a way to quieten his overactive 'Brian' in this gently humorous and empathetic tale about family and mental health by bestseller Helen Rutter.
Josh has always called his brain Brian, and Brian can sometimes be his best friend, helping Josh with tests and giving him brilliant moneymaking ideas. But he can also be Josh's worst enemy, keeping him awake at night worrying, and telling him that his family's problems are all Josh's fault.
When the arguments at home get really bad, Josh is sent to live with his grandma, who lives in a weird shack in the middle of nowhere. At first Brian's voice gets louder and louder, and Josh feels out of control. But as he helps his grandma in the garden, growing their own food, and with all the jobs that need to be done around the shack, Josh starts to realise that she understands him and Brian better than anyone.
A brilliantly unique look at the way young people can experience stress in their everyday lives and how it can make them feel overwhelmed and as if they have no control
Empathetically explores helpful ways for young people to combat stress and emphasises the support and strength that can be found in intergenerational friendships.
The LoveReading4Kids Editorial Team have read and reviewed Me and My Brian and determined it is suitable for children aged 9-12 years old
Me and My Brian features in the following genres: Books of the Month, Recommendations, Dyslexia Friendly Books for Interest age 11+, Dyslexia Friendly Books for Interest age 9+, Featured Books for 11+ readers, Fiction PSHE Titles, PSHE: Special educational needs and disability (SEND), Personal Social Health Economic (PSHE), Children’s, Teenage and Educational, Star Books, Stories about Family and Friends, Children's and Young Adult Fiction, Featured Books for 9+ readers
Me and My Brian is available in Paperback
Me and My Brian was written by Helen Rutter and published by Barrington Stoke
Me and My Brian has 83 pages
£7.19
