_______________ 'Original, compulsive, uplifting: this is another triumph for Balen' - Alex O'Connell, The Times Children's Book of the Week 'Balen's best book yet: ambitious, funny, spirited, moving, heartfelt and bold all at once. She's a force to be reckoned with' - Ross Montgomery _______________ From the author of October, October, winner of the Yoto Carnegie Medal 2022, comes a life-affirming story about blended families and learning to find room in your heart for new life and new love. Tom is still quiet and timid, even though his dad has been gone for nearly two years now. Zofia is the opposite. Inside her theres a raging storm that makes her want to fight the whole world until she gets what she wants. And what she wants is for scaredy-cat Tom to get out of her life. Tom hates loud, unpredictable Zofia just as much, but hes moving into Zofias house. Because his mum and Zofias dad are in love and theyre having a baby. Tom and Zofia both wish the stupid baby had never happened. But then Toms mum gets ill, and it begins to look horribly like their wish might come true A story of learning to trust, trying to let go and diving into the unknown with hope in your heart, with a stunning cover illustrated by CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal winner Sydney Smith. _______________

 

 

This book has been graded for interest at 9-11 years.

This book was published in 2022 by Bloomsbury Publishing PLC .

Sydney Smith has illustrated multiple children's books, including Town is by the Sea, the winner of the 2017 Kate Greenaway Medal, The White Cat and the Monk, written by Jo Ellen Bogart, and the acclaimed Footpath Flowers, which was a New York Times Children's Book of the Year and a winner of the Governor General Award for Illustration. Born in Nova Scotia in Canada, Sydney now lives in Toronto with his wife and son. Find him online at hutten. org/sydney and on Twitter and Instagram as @sydneydraws. Katya Balen read English at university and then completed an MPhil researching the impact of stories on autistic children's behaviour. She has worked in a variety of special-needs schools and is the co-founder of Mainspring Arts - a not-for-profit organisation that provides creative opportunities for neurodivergent adults. Laura Carlin is an illustrator and ceramicist based in London. She has won numerous awards for her children's books, including a BolognaRagazzi Award and a V&A Book Illustration Award. Her favourite things to draw are dogs and sad people.