I never considered DNFing though, and I'm really looking forward to the sequel that's released next month! The perfect coming-of-age summer romance by the most spectacularly funny and original debut UKYA voice. Trotzdem sticht die Story nicht aus der Masse heraus; es gibt ein bisschen Liebesdrama und die schüchterne Protagonistin, die ja soo anders als alle anderen ist, in diesem Fall, da sie alte Musik hört und alte Filme schaut, lernt eben, dass sie was besonderes ist und wird selbstbewusster.

It’s why so few people, other than Jess, know about her playlists, her humour, her creativity, and then the backing singers she imagines in so many different situations. Then again, could this be the year that Ellie declares, Ellie Pillai is Brown, in her introduction to the substitute drama teacher, Mrs Aachara. They would also only drop off a case of books and leave us to run it – it was so lovely to have you on hand to chat to the children and recommend them books, as well as the small (but appreciated! Maybe it's the new boy at school who makes her brain explode into rainbows every time she sees him (and also happens to be going out with her best friend), or maybe it's her new drama teacher, the one who seems to have noticed she exists. Candy Gourlay introduces Wild Song, her companion novel to Bone Talk, in which Luki and Samkad leave their home in the Philippines for America.Suddenly, her misfit style, her skin colour, her songwriting and all that getting lost in the music in her head seem to be okay too. Pillainayagam’s inclusion of lyrics in the book was genius, merging medias in that way worked so well. Ellie Pillai is Brown is a warm hearted read that really perfectly captures what it feels like to be a teenager: it’s a real whirlwind of emotions and complexity. Most days, Ellie Pillai is somewhere between invisible, and not very cool – and usually she’s okay with that. It also tackles other serious topics (Loss,addiction,sexuality, mental illness and SA) in a light but effective way (although that creepy footballer guy should have been punished or reported to the school for what he did).

There were so many times I was cringing but I think that’s just because I’m not the target audience. Ellie is very much a dramatic teenager (shocker) and every time I was about to judge her for it, I remembered what I wrote in my diary back in 2011 and figured I was not one to talk. Her friends are cool, but she’s not that girl, in fact most of the time she goes about her life invisible to the rest of the school. There is cliches and then there’s a story that felt like you packed it up with cliches for the sake of having romance? There was a lot of good stuff here- Eliie has a really distinct voice and the topics discussed were great.Bronnie is so lovely with the boys and we also felt that having a man enthusing about the books set a great example. She’s one of the few brown-skinned students at her school, and best friends with the school’s ‘it’ girl, Jess. I won a giveaway copy of this ages ago and I knew I’d enjoy it, so I have no idea what took me so long, but I know myself well (at least in terms of books! I know when I was growing up there weren’t many YA books that represented POC and different religious backgrounds, so I think the fact that YA fiction is more diverse these days is amazing, and so beneficial to so many children/teens/young adults.