From acclaimed poet Nadine Aisha Jassat comes a gripping mystery... "Grandma Farida is losing her memory - but I'm going to help her remember a huge secret."
Twelve-year-old Nyla's dad died when she was four, or that's what she's been told. So when Grandma Farida insists she saw him in the supermarket, Nyla wonders if she is 'time-travelling' again - the phrase she uses when Grandma forgets.
But when Grandma asks Nyla to find her dad and bring him home, Nyla promises that she will.
As Nyla sets out on her journey, she hopes that uncovering the past will help her to understand the mystery at the heart of her family ... and to work out who she is.
A page-turning verse novel about memory and identity, and a bond that soars above all else.
That's ok, Nadine, I didn't need my heart today, which is lucky as you've broken it. (I mean, you put it back together, but still.)
This is a beautiful book, focusing on a sadly too-common theme - caring for a family member in the early stages of Alzeimer's. Grandma still has more good days than bad, but they're aware that the balance is slowly tipping, and no one is quite sure how to deal with it. This is an amazing book - I'm relatively new to found poetry and I wasn't sure how well it would lend itself, how deeply we'd be able to get into the ideas here, but actually it's almost deeper than a prose book would be.
I did think it was a bit of a coincidence that all the main players came together the way they did, but that's children's books for you! I loved the family Nyla builds up as the story goes on, too. It's such an amazing trope and I never tire of reading it.
A wonderful story that needs to be on every school bookshelf. Fantastic.
The Stories Grandma Forgot publishes on the 25th of May, 2023. I received a free copy and am giving an honest review.
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