Smashbomb

Search

Search results

All (1861)

Content

Louise (64 KP) rated The Weight of Water in Books

Jul 2, 2018

After reading One by Sarah Crossan I wanted delve into more of her works. This is Sarah's debut novel and I really enjoyed it. What makes her books unique is that they are written in verse, so you can either read it like poetry or just as a normal book.

The weight of water follows Kasienka and her mother who are Polish migrants travelling to the UK to find her father who upped and left one day never to return, all they know is that he lives in Coventry. They manage to rent a bed sit with one bed that they have to share and with little money Kasienka's mum takes on a hospital job. Kasienka's mum is determined to find her husband and as Kasi's English is better than hers she is forced to walk streets of Coventry looking for her dad. Not only does she have to contend with her mum, she also started a new school where she doesn't fit in and becomes a target to bullies. The only thing that Kasienka was good at was swimming which she loved and was also pretty good at. It was where she could escape, It was there she met William.

I loved this book, it is so realistic, raw and heart - breaking. In the UK we have thousands of Polish people come to live in the UK sometimes for work and sometimes for unknown reasons but what we forget is how hard and challenging it can be for them to arrive in a country they are not familiar with and the language barrier.You also forget how difficult it must be at school for them - due to Kasi's language barrier the teacher was not aware of how intelligent she was and enrolled her in a younger year. Kasi is 12 and a very intelligent girl who just wants to fit in at school or even better to return to Poland with her Mother and Father. You see the struggles that she has to overcome and her developing and hitting puberty. I really liked the fact that Sarah Crossan didn't shy away and told us Kasi's periods starting and her becoming more body conscious it makes it so much more real and relatable.

The bit that I really liked was when Kasienka realised that she had treated a new girl at her school back in Poland just as she was being by the bullies in her school, she wasn't perfect and she knew it.

This is a brilliant coming of age story that could be classed as middle grade though it has more depth to it as deals with Poverty, bullying, immigration and families

I definitely recommend this book for anyone that wants to read YA,Poetry or contemporary

Overall I rated 4.5 out 5 stars.

Kudos

Sofia the First Color and Play

Entertainment and Book

(0 Ratings) Rate It

App

Now available in: German, French, Italian, Castilian Spanish, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Polish and...

Quick Camera Translator

Productivity and Travel

(0 Ratings) Rate It

App

*** Get the most powerful translator application with SPECIAL price for a limited time *** *******...

Kalendarzyk Bella

Health & Fitness

(0 Ratings) Rate It

App

Do you want to know when your period starts? Or perhaps you need to know when your fertile days...

Translator 42 Languages

Travel and Reference

(0 Ratings) Rate It

App

Translator Pro is a convenient, indispensable and useful application for any individuals. It break...

Korean Dictionary & Translate

Education and Reference

(0 Ratings) Rate It

App

All information you need from Naver Dictionary & Translate can be found here! There are dictionaries...

Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2544 KP) rated Death of a Neighborhood Scrooge in Books

Dec 12, 2018

Bah Humbug Murder

Thanks to her neighbor Lance, freelance writer Jaine Austen is spending Christmas at a Bel Air mansion. It's not all luxury, however, when Jaine gets roped into helping her temporary neighbor polish his script. Scotty Parker is a former child actor best known for playing Tiny Tim in a movie version of A Christmas Carol, but now he'd be a shoe in to play Scrooge, complete with penny pinching ways and fights with neighbors. Someone has had enough, and Jaine finds Scotty's body on Christmas morning. With the police focusing on her, Jaine begins her own investigation. But which of the many suspects actually killed Scotty?

Those familiar with the series know exactly what to expect here, and they won't be disappointed. The murder may take place a little later in the book than in some series I read, but we are busy meeting suspects and getting motives, so when Scotty does die, we can jump right in. Jaine once again brings the case to a satisfactory conclusion. We also have a couple of fun sub-plots involving Jaine's on-line dating misadventures and a cruise her parents are taking with their neighbors. There are plenty of laughs, chuckles, and grins. The characters lean toward caricature, but it works for this series. The pages fly by all too quickly as always.