Bea and her older sister Riley live in London with their parents and, when Riley tells her family that she likes girls, they head to London Pride and have the most amazing day celebrating; however, soon after life changes dramatically when their dad dies. Things gets tough and, with Mum unable to cover the rent on their home, they are forced to leave and head to their Gran's for the summer in St Regent's Vale, a world away from the bustling streets of London. Riley is increasingly withdrawing into herself and both girls are dreading the long summer in such a sleepy village. But can making friends and an idea help to bring the colour back into their lives or will Rita, the local mayor who rules the village in the most selfish and strict way, thwart their plans?

Me, My Dad and the End of the Rainbow was the most wonderful book, going down very well in school and, since its release, I have been waiting with great anticipation for Benjamin's next book and it most definitely didn't disappoint. Full of life and acceptance, this book is a joy to read, although I have to say that I did shed a tear on more than one occasion (both sad and happy tears!).

I loved the idea of the family checking-in on each other by asking them what colour they are. It's an easy way to explain how you are feeling without having to go into details (and something I'm going to try in school next term!).

The acceptance of who people are and their individuality is wonderfully celebrated throughout this book, from the very beginning when Riley announces that she likes girls and right throughout the book - I don't want to say any more so as not to spoil the book but I adored Norman and loved how supportive Bea and her friends were of Noah. Family is an incredibly important part of this book and that is seen through the death of Bea and Riley's dad as well as Gran's role in the book; but friendship is just as important: from Bea having to leave her best friend, Lucas, in London, to the new friends she meets in St Regent's Vale: Noah, Robin, Harry, Ziggy and Smudge; they are fiends that every child would want in their lives and remind us all of the importance of kindness and acceptance.

I can't not mention Rita, the village's counsellor who rules with an iron fist and insists on having everything run to her precise rules (including changing your birthday celebrations if they happen to fall at the same time as the village fete!). She is wonderfully stern and angry and I rather enjoyed her, but the highlight for me was every time Gran and Rita were together - go Gran!

Overall, The Secret Sunshine Project is a joyous celebration of family, friendship, acceptance and being brave; it reminds us that it's good to be yourself and that you can celebrate Pride wherever you are!

Due for release at the end of March, The Secret Sunshine Project is available to pre-order now.

Received the first book - Me, my dad and the end of the Rainbow - in a subscription box and couldn't recommend it enough so couldn't wait to read this.
Bea had big plans for the Summer involving her friend Lucas. Riley, Bea's older sister, had been hoping to recapture the happiness of the previous Summer - a time when their Dad was alive & a time when they had, as a family, explored and experienced the end of the rainbow - Pride. Unfortunately for Bea and Riley, mum cannot keep the family home and so they are set to leave London behind for the Summer and go and live with their Gran in St Regent's Vale. Once they've arrived Bea decides to undertake a 'make Riley happy' project. What follows is a truly wondrous tale of acceptance. I laughed, smiled and cried buckets. I am a firm believer that in books we find ourselves; and in this book individuals will certainly discover themselves. A beautifully written story and one that is a must for every KS2 & KS3 classroom.
Finishing my review with words from the text:
"We mustn't forget the core values of Pride itself - to fight for the equal rights of those who aren't afforded the humanity they deserve. That we all deserve. We should be able to love whoever we love without fear, and nobody should ever have to feel like they are not worthy or valid. Because we are all important. Each and every one of us."

Huge thank you to NetGalley and Simon Schuster Children's Books  for the opportunity to read this in return for an honest review.

I loved Me, My Dad and the end of the Rainbow, so was really excited to read the next book by Benjamin Dean. It did not disappoint!
Another heartwarming story about a family mourning the loss of a parent. Bea and her sister lost their dad shortly after a family outing at London pride. Now, they travel to a village to stay with their Grandma and Bea is determined to do something to help her sister, Robyn.
Some great characters - I particularly liked grandma, Rita and Norman.
Highly recommend.

A heartwarming story of friendship and family. I adore Bea and I wish I had a sibling like her. Riley reminds of myself as a teenager, I went through the same things as her and I think this book would have helped me massively at the time. The friendships in this book are incredible, and I'd love my own little group of misfits like Bea's friends. While this story is a bit sad at times, it's also extremely wholesome and joyful.

The Secret Sunshine Project is a very sweet middle grade book, following Bea and Riley, two sisters obliged to spend their summer holiday in the small village where their grandma lives. This means they’ll miss London Pride, the first such celebration since their dad died the year before, so Bea, wanting to cheer Riley up, tries to organise a Pride of their own in the village.

As I said at the start, it’s a very sweet book. The focus of it is on family and remembrance and friendship, really. That’s much in the same vein of Me, My Dad and the End of the Rainbow (perhaps less the remembrance), and it worked just as well here. All in all, these are very kind books, I find. Even the characters you’re not meant to like are treated kindly, and become more likeable for it.

Speaking of characters, as with Dean’s first book, those here are characters you’ll immediately like and sympathise with (unless they’re the aforementioned ones you’re not supposed to). You’ll fall for Bea and Riley from the moment they first step onto the page, and all of their friends besides. When the book is done, you won’t want to leave it because it means leaving them too. Which, I think, is the sign of a very good book.

But if there’s anything less positive I have to say about this one, it’s that it didn’t really give me the emotional hit that Me, My Dad and the End of the Rainbow did. It was sweet and it was fun, but I just didn’t get that on top of it all. And I’m not sure why.

However, despite that, it’s a book I would recommend. And definitely, Benjamin Dean is an author I’ll be coming back to.

After reading Me, My Dad, and the End of the Rainbow I knew that I needed to read this book because that book was just so heartwarming and lovely and I so love the little glimpse of it we get in The Secret Sunshine Project.

The Secret Sunshine Project has the same wholesome vibes as Dean's previous book and has a beautiful found family/friendship dynamic that I am always a sucker for. I did feel that this book was quite fast paced; i'm not sure how many pages it is in physical but it almost felt like it could have been a little bit longer to let some dynamics be established more firmly. That said, this is a really important book and covers a really important topic and is definitely a must read!

This book is everything I hoped it would be, and then some. Filled with inspirational young people from a range of backgrounds and communities and hope. I can't recommend this book enough - such a heart-warming story and told in a way that makes it feel very real. Benjamin Dean has a real talent for writing and I can't wait to see what he writes next!

Me, My Dad and the End of the Rainbow – the author’s debut title – was one that I knew nothing about until it popped through my letterbox as part of my Reading Rocks subscription in February this year. Picking it up with only the blurb to guide me, and knowing that I had been delighted with the previous reads I had been sent, I soon found myself immersed in one of those feelgood books that stays with you for some time after the last page has been turned and thinking quite seriously about whether or not I could squeeze it in as a class read before the end of the academic year.

Sadly, that wasn’t to be as I was ill for much of the summer term but this year I have added it to my long term plan as my final choice to share with my current Year 5 class. Given the number of choices available to me, I have been unable to include all of the great books that I would love to read aloud to my children but I chose that because not only is it an uplifting read with which to finish the year, but I am hoping that those children I teach who are part of rainbow families will take delight in seeing themselves reflected in a story – something that up until now they probably haven’t. Expecting more of that inclusivity, and another heart-warming tale, I requested this as soon as it appeared on Net Galley and bumped it straight to the top of my reading pile to start my Christmas holiday with a bang, which in the current climate was exactly what I needed, and possibly what you need too.

Our story focuses on Bea, who tells us when she opens her narration that she has been to the end of the rainbow – not meteorologically speaking – but at Pride , where she found her metaphorical pot of gold. Together with her parents and older sister Riley, who had recently come out as a lesbian, she had one of the best days of her life at the event – something that now seems like a distant memory following the death of her father.

Adjusting to their loss has been hard for Bea and her remaining family, and things get even more difficult when her mother can no longer afford the rent on their home and they have to temporarily move in with the girls’ grandmother for the summer holiday in order to make ends meet, meaning that they will have to miss this year’s Pride event to which they have all been looking forward immensely. Arriving at the small village of St Regent’s Vale, they resign themselves to a quiet and unexciting few weeks ahead of their return to school, but are soon able to make friends with some of the local young people.

Less friendly, however, is resident Rita Ruckus, self-appointed queen of the village, who rules the community with a rod of iron and whose word is law almost to the point where none of the other villagers is allowed to do as much as sneeze without her say-so. With Riley feeling more and more miserable, Bea vows to organise something to fill the void left by Pride and starts to plot with her new friends. But can they keep their plans a secret from Rita Ruckus, and if they can’t just how far will she go to stop them?

When I was the age of the children I now teach, in the 1970s, I had no idea that anyone could be other than cishet – LGBTQ+ issues were not talked about as openly as they are now, and certainly not in children’s popular culture. I for one rejoice that we are living in a more enlightened time and – although there is still a very long way to go – am delighted that those children I teach who are starting to see themselves, or their families and friends, as part of the LGBTQ+ community are increasingly reflected in books such as this. If we in school are to provide a rounded education to all of our charges, then they all need to share in titles such as this one. I would argue that this is particularly important for those children who 40 years ago would’ve been considered to be part of a normal family – as I was – to allow them to see that those peers who do not fall into this category are just as normal as they are, and challenge stereotypes.

Undoubtedly, there will be readers who choose to pick up this title because of its inclusivity, but I really hope that there will be a great many more who pick it up simply because it is a lovely story – beautifully written and, like the author’s first title, one which will leave you with that lovely warm glow that so many of us crave currently. Perfect for Year 5 upwards, I know this is just one of a great many reads publishing next year which are hotly anticipated by lots of the children’s book reading community.

As always, I am hugely grateful to both publisher Simon and Schuster and to Net Galley for my virtual advance read ahead of publication on 31st March 2022. Your local independent bookshop will be delighted to pre-order this in for you.