A magical middle grade book about family, friendship and finding out who you are, full of emotion and a secret fantasy world to discover. Perfect for 10 year olds and fans of Jacqueline Wilson, Ross Welford, Kiran Millwood-Hargrave and The House with Chicken Legs. From a rising star of children's books. This place is magic but it's not the sort of magic that comes from wands and spells Can piecing together the past help you change the present? Safiya and her mum have never seen eye to eye. Her mum doesnt understand Safiyas love of gaming and Safiya doesn't think they have anything in common. As Safiya struggles to fit in at school she wonders if her mum wishes she was more like her confident best friend Elle. But then her mum falls into a coma and, when Safiya waits by her bedside, she finds herself in a strange and magical world that looks a bit like one of her games. And theres a rebellious teenage girl, with a secret, who looks suspiciously familiar 'Bushby's debut is poignant and atmospheric' Guardian 'A gorgeous story of friendship and growing up' Cathy Cassidy 'Moving and heartfelt', Anna James, author of Pages and Co Aisha Bushby was selected as one of only four previously unpublished authors in the Stripes anthology for BAME writers, A Change is Gonna Come, alongside writers such as Patrice Lawrence, Tanya Byrne and Nikesh Shukla. The anthology was awarded a YA Book Prize Special Achievement Award. A Pocketful of Stars is her debut novel.

 

 

This book has been graded for interest at 9-12 years.

There are 256 pages in this book.

It is aimed at Young Adult readers. The term Young Adult (YA) is used for books which have the following characteristics: (1) aimed at ages 12-18 years, US grades 7-12, UK school years 8-15, (2) around 50-75k words long, (3) main character is aged 12-18 years, (4) topics include self-reflection, internal conflict vs external, analyzing life and its meaning, (5) point of view is often in the first person, and (6) swearing, violence, romance and sexuality are allowed.

This book was published in 2019 by HarperCollins Publishers .

Aisha Bushby was selected as one of only four previously unpublished authors in the Stripes anthology for BAME writers, A Change is Gonna Come, alongside writers such as Patrice Lawrence, Tanya Byrne and Nikesh Shukla. The anthology was awarded a YA Book Prize Special Achievement Award. Since then she has been taking part in panels, interviews and events across the UK, from Bristol Waterstones to Manchester Academy, Birmingham Literature Festival to Southbank YALW, BBC Radio 3 to Buzzfeed. A Pocketful of Stars is her debut novel.