It’s a good book for inclusion and diversity. I like the fact that Mayowa’s mother is blind but that her blindness does not stop her from being a successful musician (or a great cook).

Mayowa’s mother has been given her big musical break and this means that Mayowa must go and stay with one of her grandfathers whilst her parents are away. Due to the different nationalities of her parents, Mayowa has grandfathers on opposite sides of the world and each has its own distinctive atmosphere, but she ends up with her Grandad in England. There she has the company of a refugee boy who is staying on the estate with his mum and they explore the place together. But there is something a little strange going on and what is it exactly that her grandfather has been forbidden to do?

The idea of jumping on books and being able to harness and be a conduit for the emotions contained within them is certainly new to me. It’s a great concept as it’s easy to imagine all the readers’ emotions being captured within the pages.
Combine that with a bit of mystery and the bravery along with the usual greed of the villain and it’s a fab book for primary to middle grades readers.

Firstly, thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing Plc for an advance copy of this book.

Whilst I liked the idea of the story, I wasn’t a firm fan by the time I had finished. The blurb described how young Mayowa used a strange skill that involved jumping on books; a power that she utilises in an undisclosed way to save the lives of many refugees. This description, coupled with the bright, decorative cover, piqued my interest. However, there are several points that caused me to develop a negative overall view of the book.
Firstly, I didn’t appreciate how the author constantly used Mayowa’s parents’ names when she was in the same scene as them. I felt it diminished their relationship and isn’t the way the intended audience would expect to read about the main character’s mum and dad. I also felt there were detailed that were included in the book for detail’s sake such as Grandpa Edward’s green hair, Mayowa’s purple strand, and much of the information about Grandpa Razak considering we were never going to meet him, we were never going to travel to Nigeria, and the parents were taking a tour of America whilst leaving Mayowa behind in London. It took far too long to get to the crux of the story by sending mum on a music tour providing Mayowa with an opportunity to harness her power. Even the way the villains were always described by their working relationship rather than a closer bond that could have been highlighted irked me.

Given that the main character is 10 years old, I would expect the audience to be around 8-12 years old. With this in mind, I was quite annoyed by the amount of politics in the book. There are themes of parliamentary votes regarding Great Britain’s stance when it comes to refugees. Personally, I don’t think this is a topic that should be flippantly put to children. The author takes a firm stance on their own political views which rightly or wrongly, is not the shared view of the nation. I also didn’t appreciate how lightly the author breezed over the likelihood of racism and labelling. It’s not a book I would share with my 9-year-old even though we have had extremely in-depth conversations about racism, prejudice, and discrimination. The book leaves unanswered queries and questions that not all members of the target audience will be mature enough to absorb, particularly if immigration and racism hasn’t touched them/crossed their path in any way.

It's not often I struggle to find anyone to whom I would recommend the book to as I think there is potential in most things even if the audience is highly niche. However, in this case I cannot think of who this book would suit in its current form. I would be inclined to suggest it be reworked for an older audience and include more pertinent details and less fluff and stuff that only appears to serve to beef up the word count. My message to anyone looking at buying this book for a youngster would be, 'proceed with caution'.

I hope that before the book was published there were a few edits, particularly describing her mum as "no longer blind" when she was in her own home...but I really enjoyed the story and footnotes!

Mayowa and the Sea of Words is a magical, thought-provoking and heart-warming adventure revealing the power of words to effect change.

Mayowa’s mother is a talented musician and, when she is offered a touring opportunity in America, Mayowa is sent to stay with her eccentric Grandpa Edward at Edgerley Hall for the summer. Grandpa Edward has a tendency to leap barefooted on books, something that Mayowa has tried at home, but which she has been banned from by her mother … but she now has the opportunity to discover the secret behind her Grandpa’s book jumping. He’s a logosalter, someone who can release emotions in books and use them to influence others’ actions. Mayowa soon discovers that she also has this unique ability and convinces her Grandpa to train her how to use and control her new-found bookish powers.

When Mayowa accidentally releases the wrong emotion and it upsets her new friend Hamza, a refugee who is staying with his mother in one of her Grandpa’s cottages, she learns that there are serious consequences and responsibilities in harnessing her gift, something that she intends only to use for the benefit of others. But, there may well be others who intend to do harm through book jumping. Can Mayowa harness her powers for the good of others and save countless refugees?

This is a heart-warming, compassionate and moving adventure which addresses important issues relating to the treatment of refugees in a way that young readers will really engage with, opening up lots of opportunity for discussion.

Mayowa is a wonderful character who has a keen sense of justice and fairness, accepting responsibility for her actions and showing a real strength in standing up for what she feels is right, even if this sometimes puts her in friction with others.

A stunning, heart-warming and empathetic adventure which is perfect for readers of 9+.

I loved this original twist on a story about the power of books. Mayowa is portrayed as such a strong and enviable character although she clearly has her flaws and the way she navigates these makes her a wonderful model to the reader. I loved the introduction of the world of politics as well as the plight of refugees.
Overall this book covers all topics you would wish a child of 9-11 to be aware of as well as adding lots of adventure and a sprinkling of magic! A throughly enjoyable read.

What a truly amazing & delightful children's Book but also one that is great for Adults to Read too as it covers so many diverse topics within our society today. i wish we did have the power to harness the emotions held within written words to unleash the greater good just as Mayowa & her Grandad Edward do , along with some help from special friends. #NetGalley, #GoodReads, #FB, #Instagram,# Amazon.co.uk,#<img src="https://www.netgalley.com/badge/8a5b541512e66ae64954bdaab137035a5b2a89d2" width="80" height="80" alt="200 Book Reviews" title="200 Book Reviews"/>, #<img src="https://www.netgalley.com/badge/ef856e6ce35e6d2d729539aa1808a5fb4326a415" width="80" height="80" alt="Reviews Published" title="Reviews Published"/>, #<img src="https://www.netgalley.com/badge/aa60c7e77cc330186f26ea1f647542df8af8326a" width="80" height="80" alt="Professional Reader" title="Professional Reader"/>.

3.75 ⭐️

This was such a fun and interesting concept. I loved the fact that it's books that give someone a special power.
I think this book does a great job of talking about really important topics in a way that young people will understand and that's so important, especially now.
This is definitely a book that children should be reading! Very enjoyable but also educates you on important social topics in a way that's kid friendly.
I definitely recommend!

- Thankyou NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (UK & ANZ) for the eARC! -

I read this book with my seven year old daughter, and to be honest, who cares what I thought about it - she loved it! She described it as an exciting adventure, and she's keen to read the next one in the installments. From a parent perspective, the book was invaluable in explaining who the political parties in the UK are in the run up to the general election (all the campaign signs elicited a lot of questions!). The book explores important themes around politics and immigration, in a way which is accessible to a younger audience without being preachy - a tough feat to pull off!

I am honestly devastated that I can’t give this book a higher rating. It had such a strong message of acceptance and empathy and those are things I feel really strongly about. But this book was just not it.

The thing I’m most angry about is how the author treated a blind character in this book. It really should have had a sensitivity reader. Because it described the character getting home and “not being blind anymore”. Though I can understand what the author meant (that her blindness was no longer an issue because she knew where everything was), it shows such a dismissal of someone’s disabilities. It made me really uncomfortable.

There was also a weird tendency to bring up Jesus for no real reason? I could have got behind it if it was to point out that Jesus was all about compassion and empathy and accepting everyone and the other messages that the book contained. I think that would have been really effective. But it wasn’t that. It was just taking weird times to point out that we should all listen to Jesus more.

I really just couldn’t with this book.

Graphic: Xenophobia, Hate crime, Racism, and War
Moderate: Misogyny, Murder, and Violence

Thank you Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

While this had a pretty good story and message to show, I think the writing was lacking a fair bit. Everything was just super convenient and Mayowa specifically was just such a stereotypical "Chosen one". Every plan and idea worked practically without resistance and without much thought either.

The characters where pretty fun, a half Nigerian, half English family - with a blind mother. Decently diverse set of characters, though no queer people. Mayowa was a fun main character but not super complex. She had character growth for sure but she was also very much a stereotypical "chosen one" character. She was way too smart, everything she thought of just worked without issue regardless of how wild it was. The powers just came to her too naturally, too easily. She was quickly teaching her grandpa how to use the magic after very little training.

The world building was pretty interesting, but very limited. The logosalting was neat, a different form of "words have power" but whenever a different form was mentioned then it was literally just "I'll have to research that later" and never mentioned again... The history of the power mainly focused on the misogynistic rules and the war criminal/racist/etc past uses and not really anything about the origins or how it works or anything like that.

The footnotes as well where incredibly confusing. Why did they exist? So much of them would have fit fine within the text, and other bits where either a bit aggressive or just completely nonsensical. Didn't think you could have worse footnotes in a book than Babel aha..

The messages where nice, and very topical especially at the moment with the current political climate here in the UK. But the fantasy part and the writing really needed some additional work.

Have you ever jumped on a book? Perhaps not. Ten-year-old Mayowa hadn’t until one day, she did and uncovered a huge family secret … When her grandad realised she had jumped on a book , he was very annoyed at first but Mayowa managed to convince him to teach her to book jump.

By jumping on a book, she can take emotions from it and transfer them to other people. She uses her special power alongside her grandad to do good and help refugees. But it is a very hard task as others are fighting against them. Others who want the boat bill to happen- a bill that would prevent refugees in sinking boats to be rescued. What follows is a breathtaking adventure and I’m so thrilled to have found out that it’s the first of a trilogy as it was so good.
I absolutely devoured this book and cannot wait for everyone to read it.

I give it 4.5 stars

Ella, 11 years old.

Thank you to @netgalley and @bloomsburychildrens for the e-arc in return for our honest review. Mayowa and the Sea of Words is out on June 20th- during Refugee Week.

Mayowa's grandfather jumps on books. It's just a thing he does, but her parents are not keen on the idea. When Mayowa is forced to spend the summer with her seemingly eccentric grandfather, she gets a chance to see his odd habit up close. At her insistence, Mayowa's grandfather finally unveils the family power he had inherited.. And how it relates to him jumping on books.

A children's tale about compassion, social responsibility and the power of strong emotion, this is a wonderful read. The footnotes work really well, here, and are entertaining at an adult and child level.

Some of the "lessons" felt a little heavy-handed, but the over-arching story of Mayowa and her grandfather using their power to combat feelings of spite and hatred for refugees is a lovely one. The potential familial link between the antagonist and the heroes here felt rushed and a bit of a slap-dash explanation, but I suspect it was a plot device to explain how the opposition had power. Could have explored this for a bit more of a rounded story, but perhaps that would be too heavy for the reading level this is at.

Overall, a great concept. I'd read more of Mayowa and her grandfather.

The premise and inclusivity is wonderful—and the footnotes struck me as very Roald Dahl esque—but, ultimately, this wasn’t for me. I found the political pieces a bit contrived, and I’m not sure the on-the-nose references (like the caricature villain MP) will resonate with middle grade readers. That said, I can see this starting some important family dialogues, and the cover is lovely.

I think the idea for the story is quite interesting, jumping on book to feel the emotions there. Also the moral of the story about the refugees. But unfortunately, i’ll just say that this book is not for me. I don’t feel the magic, i don’t feel any attachments to any of the characters.

Very good storyline, slightly unsure of the style of writing - the footnotes almost appear to try and be funny/humorous but in reality just lower the tone as it were. I think the book will appeal to many and will be popular amongst upper primary children.

This was such an interesting book. Magic based but not the usual tired tropes. Read it by myself on holiday and my first thought was that the children are going to love this. As the release date is soon, I think I will wait and buy a real copy to surprise them.

Before I get into my review of Mayowa and the Sea of Words by Chibundu Onuzo, I wonder one thing… Can someone review jump? If so, they’re in for a lustrous ride with this one!

Mayowa and the Sea of Words is Onuzo’s first children’s novel set to hit shelves in just over a month on 20th June. Published by Bloomsbury Children’s Books, this middle grade fantasy adventure is most certainly going to capture the minds and hearts of audiences, both young and old.

Mayowa is sent to spend the summer in the care of eccentric Grandpa Edward, a member of the House of Lords who’s chosen to work for passion, as Mum embarks on a piano tour with Dad going with her. Grandpa Edward, and his magnificent green beard, is renowned for being seen jumping on books, something he tried to encourage Mayowa’s father to do and something Mayowa has tried, despite being told not to.

Finding herself stuck up a tree after a game with newfound friend Hamza, Grandpa Edward disappears for help and returns clutching a book and taking off his shoes. What a peculiar time to demonstrate his bizarre passion for jumping on books, ey? Yet, as he bounds atop the book, Mayowa is suddenly filled with a surge of bravery, descending the tree with ease!

Bewildered by the newfound boldness, Mayowa uncovers the Howard family secret… They are the illustrious book jumpers, or ‘logosalters’ as Grandpa Edward reveals. Those gifted can leap upon a book, harness the waves of emotion within its pages, and project those feelings onto others.

When a Parliamentary vote of the Boat Bill, designed to prevent helping when refugees are drowning in British waters, passes in Mayowa’s presence, she realises something’s wrong. Her newfound power senses something evil, the worst emotions imaginable used to sway the vote.

Before the vote is pushed through to law, there’s one more chance to reverse it. Can Mayowa, Hamza and Grandpa Edward work out who’s using bookjumping for evil, and can they stop them in time without losing themselves in the process?

Onuzo’s writing waves the way of drama and light-heartedness magically throughout the whole book. At the heart of this enchanting narrative is Mayowa, whose unyielding spirit and determination to challenge the status quo radiate from every page. Her journey is punctuated by laugh-out-loud footnotes and a cast of delightful characters—Grandpa Edward with his strength of will and heart, the spirited Hamza, the nurturing Nooria, and the indomitable Adut Deng—creating a world that welcomes all to join the adventure.

In the year 2024, discovering new forms of magic in literature is a rare delight, yet Onuzo conjures it effortlessly, drawing from a familiar space for readers… books! Readers will find themselves swept up in the emotional whirlwind of the characters’ lives, the gripping narrative, and the reflections of ourselves that we invest in the stories we read. The concept of bookjumping, so deftly brought to life in Mayowa will resonate with readers as an actual possibility, an art form we’ve all unknowingly practiced.

The story doesn’t shy away from pressing issues, particularly the dehumanisation of refugees. Onuzo skilfully educates and inspires, leaving readers with newfound knowledge and the realisation, “I certainly learnt something from this book.” Beyond the refugee narrative, the book delves into societal debates: the pursuit of wealth versus passion, the archaic class hierarchy, and the sense of powerlessness against forces beyond our control.

Midway through the book, I found myself yearning for a climactic showdown between Mayowa and David Hayward. However, as I got to the third act, I realised perhaps that’s a lesson I need to learn; don’t focus on the figurehead when you could be elsewhere doing good! This revelation is a testament to Onuzo’s storytelling, which not only entertains but also imparts wisdom.

Onuzo writes in footnote 49, ‘Good books are so much better the second, third or even fourth time round’ and I, for one, cannot wait to grab a physical copy in June, listen to Onuzo’s accompanying single and relish in the masterpiece that is Mayowa and the Seas of Words all over again… *runs to grab a book to jump on*

📚Mayowa and the Sea of Words by Chibundu Onuzo
A charming and original adventure with a strong message about social responsibility

Ten year old Mayowa is sent to spend the summer with her grandfather in his dilapidated mansion whilst her blind mother is touring the US with her father. There she discovers she has inherited a magical power, the jump on books and Chanel the emotions from its readings. But she and her grandfather are about to discover they aren’t the only book jumpers out there

I loved the premise of this book and the world of book jumping (don’t try it at home). It weaves in elements of social justice, support for refugees, race and identity, the power and importance of books and the importance of keeping your skin well moisturised. Mayowa is a great heroine, determined and courageous. I loved how the two different parts of her heritage - her blind musician Nigerian mother and then very old school British grandfather played a role in the story. It was fun, adventurous and full of heart. I loved it.

Also huge appreciation for the casual mention of Yoruba Girl dancing by Simi Bedford in here - I totally agree!

Mayowa and the Sea of Worlds was such a beautiful book. The concept of book jumping is so unique and fun. I would have adored this book when I was a child and I adore it now! Onuzo's writing style is so engaging, it is light hearted and oh so readable but also beautifully detailed and rich in its imagery and emotions. I especially enjoyed all the hilarious foot notes they really cracked me up and were a fun way to explain some of the more complicated ideas explored here. I love the way that it could also inspire young readers to read the other books referenced throughout.

Chibudu Onuzo touches on so many beautiful lessons and important messages in a way that never feels forced. It just feels like an honest experience of a young person moving through the world and experiencing all the colours of life. This is a book I think every young person would thoroughly enjoy and benefit from reading.

Like most readers, I love a magic system that's related to books, and this was a great one. I really loved this story, the characters, the plot and the subplots. The family dynamics were very interesting too. It was an overall great middle grade. It was fun and engaging and spoke of important topics too. I have no notes and I cannot wait for book 2.