The Great (Food) Bank Heist

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Although being insightful and endearing, “the great food bank heist” follows a simple narrative with few surprises and action scenes. The story comes to us from the POV of Nelson, who lives with his mother who is a nurse, and Ashley, his younger sister. Many days the kids have nothing to eat and they have to pretend that they are eating good wholesome food which is filling. But pretensions can go only so long. The kids are so hungry that Ashley keeps crying with hunger and is unable to sleep. However, there’s a shortage of donations to the food bank and the shelves are looking bare, leaving Nelson feeling hungrier than ever. Can someone really be stealing the supplies? When Mum is forced to pawn her ring to buy food, Nelson is determined to find out. Together with his best friends Krish and Harriet, he plans a covert stakeout of the supermarket to catch the culprits.

The Great (Food) Bank Heist by Onjali Q. Raúf | Goodreads The Great (Food) Bank Heist by Onjali Q. Raúf | Goodreads

I enjoyed the moment when Nelson risks his life when standing in front of the van and found it to be a suspenseful and unexpected moment. However, the driver could have easily reversed the van and sped off. The book isn't all sadness though, as the story ends on a note of hope. It shows that people standing up and doing the right thing, of helping others and fighting against these awful things is not only the right thing to do, it's the moral thing to do. This is the story about how four classmates have a massive impact on the life of Ahmet, a boy that comes to their school as a refugee from Syria. An inspiring and sweet talethat should help children be the best they can be and realise the power of kindness. The book is also filled with some great illustrations, an example of which you can see on the book's cover. Artist Elisa Paganelli provides artwork throughout the book, and these select moments help to highlight key parts of the stories. We get to see Nelson struggling to stay positive at home with empty cupboards, we see how much he loves his family, we see the moment where he finally snaps and reveals what's going on, and we get to see the triumph the kids have at the end. These moments not only help to break up the text for younger readers, but really put you into the story too.

First of all, the illustrations are fabulous - I recognised Elisa Paganelli's work and was excited to see how it looked, such a great addition to the story. The illustrations add to the story perfectly.

The Great (Food) Bank Heist - Peters Fraser and Dunlop (PFD) Literary The Great (Food) Bank Heist - Peters Fraser and Dunlop (PFD)

Written with great empathy and Rauf's trademark humour, The Great (Food) Bank Heist is a moving story that gives a child's-eye view of the increasing problem of food poverty. Oh man, the way these kids were hungry just hurt my heart. The games Nelson plays to distract from the hunger and the way he describes not having enough food is truly humbling to those who haven’t experienced hunger.It's awful to think how many children go to school hungry and how many families that depend on food banks. This book opens up this fact of life in the UK and you can tell the story is researched and accurate. It tells the story of a single parent who works as much as she can, who loves her children and who will go hungry to ensure they are fed. This all becomes harder when the food bank has less food, what has happened to the food? Is someone stealing it? Nelson, with the help of his friends investigate further...#nospoilers.

The Great Food Bank Heist by Onjali Q. Raúf The Great Food Bank Heist by Onjali Q. Raúf

I enjoyed reading the way Nelson is so responsible and caring, and how determined he is to solve the thief problem. And as with all of Onjali Rauf’s books, the kids rise up to be heroes of the story and teach the adults, as well as learn something about themselves. Like the other two books, the kids are the heroes of this book too. Nelson's friends Krish and Harriet make for interesting characters and bring a lot of diversity into the book. They are shown to be caring and thoughtful people and it broke my heart to read how Nelson felt he had to keep the fact he had breakfast at breakfast club, from them as he was ashamed. This felt too real, and it hits hard how kids feel the need for secrets if they feel ashamed. This book is important because it highlights a key issue – food poverty. The story is told with empathy and sympathy. We share a child’s perspective on what is like to be dependent on a food bank and a breakfast club. We feel for mum who tries to provide for her children. There are heroes too, such as Mrs Bell the teacher who spends her own money buying children treats. In “The Real Hunger Games” we are shown some of the games the family plays to keep their spirits up. There is also a fun element. The children set out to find the Food Bank Thieves. The stake-out is tense and the final chapters are very exciting. The Great (Food) bank Heist doesn't shy away from this reality. It doesn't sugarcoat the issue or try to make it more palitable so as to avoid the painful truth. It shines a light on a real issue, one that is affecting so many, and it makes that reality hit home. I'm sure there will be some people who would say that this is too harsh for a children's book, that kids want to be wowed by adventure and happy stories rather than being faced with these kinds of topics; but I have to disagree with that sentiment. We all need to understand how bad this is, and hiding it from children only leads to adults ignorant of the issue. Nelson and his families unfortunate situation is narrated initially in a realistic and relatable manner. This is especially true for his experience with the food bank and breakfast club.

It's a simpler, shorter, more accessible book and, although they are obviously both about very different important issues, I think this does exactly what The Boy did, but better.

The Great (Food) Bank Heist | Book reviews | RGfE The Great (Food) Bank Heist | Book reviews | RGfE

Written with great empathy and Rauf’s trademark humour, The Great (Food) Bank Heist is a moving story that gives a child’s-eye view of the increasing problem of food poverty. Would have been better if the thief decides to drive the car towards Nelson. Nelson jumps away just in time, but not before splattering the windshield with slime. Later on, the slime on the windscreen allows police to find the criminals and capture them. This is a book that children can relate to for many reasons. For those who use food banks it’s an important reminder that you are not alone and for those that don’t it’s an important message that it could be anyone you know. Written with great empathy and Rauf’s trademark humour, The Great (Food) Bank Heist is a moving story that gives a child’s-eye view of the increasing problem of food poverty. A short sweet adventure story about a boy’s determination to save himself and his family from food shortages. “The great food bank heist” highlights the the unheard plight of hungry families and the importance of food bank donations.I was a little surprised at how dark the story got whilst reading this book. I have to admit that this is a fault of my own. I expected the story to deal with the realities of poverty in Britain, of how so many go hungry, but I was so ill educated on the severity of this issue that being faced with the reality of how bad it is for some people was painful to read. But that isn't a bad thing. I think it's something that a lot of people are unaware of, and that those who do know that there is poverty in this country probably don't realise how bad it is. Nelson hated having to pretend there was food in the house when there wasn’t, he hated that breakfast club and school dinners just didn’t fill him up enough, he hated that despite working hard his mum couldn’t afford to buy food for them. His one respite was the vouchers for the food bank and the excitement of what treats those bags could hold. Until the bags got less and less and he knew that they would probably be starving by the end of this month.