Age 13+

It may come as a surprise to learn that a book that uses the word “crap” four times in the first paragraph can be thoughtful and rewarding. But Choldenko, the author of the acclaimed Al Capone Does My Shirts, has taken up the favourite young adult theme of teenagers learning to accept who they are, and made something notably witty and observant. Alternating chapters introduce two central characters: Kirsten, who tells her story in the first person, and Walker, who is the focus of a third-person narrative. Kirsten’s parents are not speaking to each other; she is, in her own estimation, overweight, and at school her best friend has gone over to the side of the mean popular girls. Walker is the smart, African-American scholarship boy at a private school, who can’t resist intervening when he sees injustice. Kirsten and “Walk” find an unexpected connection, use their intelligence and ingenuity to resolve other people’s troubles and are reconciled to truths about themselves. This lightly written but moving novel is a cut above the usual shallow school dramas

IF A TREE FALLS AT LUNCH BREAK by Gennifer Choldenko
(Bloomsbury £5.99)

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