One of our Books of the Year 2016 | April 2016 Book of the Month Finlay is articulate, an excellent Scrabble player, which makes it so frustrating that the seven letter word that defines him is stammer. He’s always found it hard to speak, but since his mum suddenly walked out on him and his dad two years ago it’s much worse, making him the target of cruel bullying.
The chance to enter a Scrabble tournament changes things: he makes a new friend in Maryam, recently arrived from Pakistan, and a real Scrabble expert. The tournament also offers Finlay new hope of finding his mum. From being about a boy struggling to express himself this grows into a tense story of truths being spelled out.
The mystery element is cleverly played out and it’s satisfying too to see Finlay take on those ready to bully their way to power.
Annabel Pitcher, Anne-Marie Conway and Aoife Walsh also write affecting contemporary stories about families. ~ Andrea Reece
'My name is Finlay McIntosh. I can see OK, can hear perfectly fine and I can write really, really well. But the thing is, I can't speak. I'm a st-st-st-stutterer. Hilarious, isn't it? It's like the word is there in my mouth, fully formed and then, just as it's ready to leave my lips ...POP! It jumps and ricochets and bounces around my gob. Except it isn't funny at all, because there's not a thing I can do about it.'
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'My name is Finlay McIntosh. I can see OK, can hear perfectly fine and I can write really, really well.
The LoveReading4Kids Editorial Team have read and reviewed A Seven Letter Word and determined it is suitable for children aged 11-14 years old
A Seven Letter Word features in the following genres: Books of the Month, Recommendations, Books Reviewed by our Reader Review Panels, Featured Books for 13+ readers, Featured Books for 11+ readers
Paperback, Hardback. Not Available.
A Seven Letter Word was written by Kim Slater and published by Macmillan Children's Books an imprint of Pan Macmillan
A Seven Letter Word has 297 pages