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A Pocketful of Stars

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Safiya and her mum have never seen eye to eye. Her mum doesn’t understand Safiya’s 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 there’s a rebellious teenage girl, with a secret, who looks suspiciously familiar … Liz: An important thing is to trust your instincts – and trust your writing. With Aisha’s book, she felt that the magical element needed to change – which meant quite a lot of reworking – so it was a really brave decision to trust that feeling and go for it. Only you know the story you want to write. Another more practical thing is to push through on a first draft – it’s really easy to start second guessing yourself and want to edit as you go, but try to just write through to the end. The shaping and rethinking comes afterwards – and we’re there to help with that! anyways this is a really beautiful book about family and friendship and growing up and saying goodbye and also dealing with grief and loss.

A Pocketful of Stars by Aisha Bushby | Waterstones

Armistice Day: A Collection of Remembrance - Spark Interest and Educate Children about Historical MomentsAlongside that, I wanted there to be one constant in Safiya’s life, something to ground her and make her feel safe: Dad. A lot of Safiya’s strength comes from her father’s stability, even though her fire comes from her mother. A lot of nostalgia, for me, is tied into my formative memories of Kuwait, but it feels so distant now that it’s almost like I made it up. Whenever I discuss my early childhood, I realise it was very different to the one a lot of my peers have had.

Pocketful of Stars | NuMuKi Orisinal: Pocketful of Stars | NuMuKi

There’s a nervous energy in Safiya – we see her we see an uncertainty in her around school friends but a steady strength in her as a gamer. Her dealings with a certain less than helpful nurse in the hospital and the constantly bottling of her true emotions around Elle’s crass boyfriend are very real. Those emotions are very relatable for teens and adults. The scene in McDonald’s where she spoke up and out for the first time left my cheeks bright red – I was equal part thrilled and anxious for her. How do you see Safiya? Why do you think she may appeal to readers? We’re at a coffee shop next door to the theatre, having cake and hot chocolate while we wait to watch an afternoon performance of Rapunzel. I’m currently working on my second book, and it’s interesting to see how that has shifted. Writing is now, rather bizarrely, my job, and one I love more than I can say, but there are also expectations and deadlines and, with all of that, stress. So, I’ve tried my best to turn to other creative outlets, to help me when I’m struggling to write. That being said, the ending did make me cry quite a bit (multiple tears!) so that is a point in it's favour. The main character, Safiya, seems to mature quite a bit through the book, especially for someone her age (I believe she is around 13?), and in my opinion was a pretty solid narrator.

Four stops to King’s Cross. Four stops for me to imagine the worst. Dad must be OK. I don’t have any grandparents, or aunts and uncles, apart from Mum’s sister . . . Is it Mum? But when she suddenly falls ill, it’s up to Safiya to use her gaming skills of following clues and building stories to uncover the truth about her mum’s history and find the things about her that will bind them together forever. I love the fact that none of the mother-daughter fights in this book are one-sided - Safiya's mum genuinely says and does things she shouldn't and so does Safiya (and Safiya's grandmother, too, in the memories Safiya witnesses). They're all strong-minded, passionate women who believe strongly in their own points of view - and love each other equally strongly, which makes their arguments even more painful. But the hope and compassion in the ending is heartwrenchingly well done. The tears I cried at the end of this book were so well-earned. A member of staff approaches her and Mum’s eyes focus again. ‘No thank you,’ she says when the woman asks if she needs any help. ‘I’m just waiting for my daughter and her friend.’ Then she comments on how lovely the woman’s earrings are and her face lights up as she tells Mum that she made them herself. Soon enough they’re in a full-blown conversation about jewellery-making, even though Mum knows nothing about it.

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