Feather

I am not sure I can adequately convey the brilliance of this story. Feather is a beautiful piece of storytelling and the characters are so relatable. There is the beautiful backdrop of family and the untold stories which makes this beautifully captivating, and through which the themes of family, friendship, love and loss within the folds of a heartwarming story are explored. Manon Steffan Ros' writing is so unequivocally beautiful; it gets deep into the reader soul. Just exquisite
Huge thanks to @FireflyPress via @NetGalley for an early read.
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📚 Book Review 📚

This is a beautiful and powerful story about a lad named Huw and the wonderful relationship he has with his fun loving nan.

Huw visits his nan every day after school and his story progresses, we learn that his grandma is showing signs of dementia which affects him and his life deeply. He lives with his dad, who is a single parent and is clearly struggling with aspects of being alone himself.

When Huw is given his end of year project, writing about a member of the family who was around in WW2, he learns about his nan’s long lost brother. A young man who no longer figures in his family’s life for reasons that were never discussed.

This is a wonderful story suitable for upper KS2 children, particularly about relationships and communication. It also explains that not all heroes are as historical conventions describe, sometimes it takes a lot more bravery to follow your heart. Beautiful 🪶

I’d like to thank Firefly Press, NetGalley and the author for the arc and the fantastic opportunity, in exchange for my honest feedback 😊

Book released on 8th April 2025

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This is a short, but powerful story. Huw's Grandmother is a key part of his life as his dad is a single parent who is clearly not coping with life. Early on, we realise that she is suffering with dementia and Huw doesn't know what to do. She starts talking about Johnny and Huw makes it his mission to find out about Johnny before she forgets. In researching Johnny, Huw makes a new friend and realises that his best friend can be more supportive than he gave him credit for. Huw also finds his courage. He talks to his dad, really talks to him. What's lovely is that nothing changes straight away after the conversation. Its a slow, natural process as it would happen in real life. This is a truly believable book with characters that we can all relate too. There are lots of themes squeezed in here as well. Family, friendships, sadness, forgiveness. Such a beautiful book and one that I will be reading again.