In this, Ruth Eastham’s very impressive debut novel for children/young teenagers, she takes on a variety of “big” themes, all of which revolve around suppressed memories and the risks involved in unravelling them. Our narrator is young Alex (Alexandru) who was adopted by an English family, 6 years previously, having been orphaned during the Bosnian War. It is clear that Alex has not come to terms with the trauma which preceeded his adoption and that this is hindered by his older sibling, Leonard who take great pleasure in bullying him, calling him “Bosnia Boy”" and “Charity Case”. In the midst of all this, Alex and Leonard’s grandfather keeps on forgetting things and Alex has overheard his parents discussing putting William, the grandfather, into a home. Alex takes on the mission of helping William to remember the past, especially events which took place during World War II, in the hope that, by remembering, William will avoid being taken away from the family. As the story unfolds, we gradually come closer and closer to the truth, both for William and Alex, and such revelations are destined to come at a high emotional cost for all the family members and indeed for friends and neighbours too. I thought the characterisation was spot on. Alex is a sensitive, young chap, who, on the surface, seems unscathed by past events. The family dynamic is also portrayed very well with an array of siblings, all with their own distinct personalities and busy parents who are trying to hold everything together despite William’s obvious deterioration. Alex assigns himself the daunting task of trying to “fix” things and, in so doing, uncovers a veritable nest of vipers but it quickly becomes evident that, in order to “heal”, the hurts of the past must be confronted. Perhaps his investigations are part of a displacement technique to avoid confronting his own demons, but his heart is most definitely in the right place. I was extremely impressed by this debut novel which is on a par with Michael Morpurgo’s best work, high praise indeed in a market where many try to emulate the “master” but inevitably fail miserably. I will be passing on my copy to my children and will highly recommend it to librarians and our local primary and secondary schools. This is most definitely a classic in the making and I will be keen to see what Ruth comes up with next!

READ THIS BOOK. This is a powerful and utterly compelling novel about family and loss, set against the backdrop of 2 conflicts, the Bosnian war and World War II. Young Alex only wants to forget the terrible events he witnessed before coming to the UK: in contrast his adoptive grandfather is struggling to remember his past, as Alzheimer's disease threatens to erase it forever. In his desperate fight to keep his new family together, Alex uncovers a long-buried secret - and also must confront his own awful memories. That probably sounds a bit grim and gloomy, and I defy anyone to read this without crying (especially at the climax of the story, when Alex... well, I don't want to give anything away, but there's a fantastic scene in a boat, followed by another where Alex's role as a valued, true member of the family is spelled out beautifully). But like all the best emotionally potent stories, this is an uplifting book too. Eastham weaves the multiple strands of the story together with real skill, and nothing is wasted: the recurring image of developing photographs is used effectively to symbolise the fading in and out of memory, for example, but those photographs are also crucial to the plot. I've seen this book compared to Michael Morpurgo and it more than lives up to that accolade, bringing an extra level of heart and soul to accessible, contemporary/historical pre-teen fiction. A genuinely excellent debut, which will stay with the reader for long after the last page. Can't recommend it enough!

Ruth Eastham creates an inspiring story that is so believable, it hurts! You can feel Alex's despair and frustration as he struggles to fit in to his adoptive family whilst trying to help his ailing grandfather. Alex's search for the truth was always going to be painful, but the story is full of optimism and strength of character. I was totally gripped from start to finish, and read it in super-quick time, which is sad because I didn't want it to end! More please!

Alex is from Bosnia and was adopted by his family after the War. He lives with his Mum, Dad, brother and two sisters and also his Grandfather who he loves very much. Grandad is acting strangly, he has Alzheimer's Disease and his memory is failing, sometimes he does not recognise Alex, or he gets angry, or he puts the rest of the family in danger. It's only a matter of time before Alex's parents will send Grandfather to live at the Sunflower Home and Alex is devastated at the thought of losing his ally and best friend. There has always been tension between Grandad and his son - Alex's adoptive Father. There are also people in the village who whisper about Grandad and call him terrible names. Alex knows that this has something to do with the War and the death of Tommie - Grandad's brother. It is down to Alex to find out the truth. This is a beautifully written debut novel for Young Adults that explores the effects of Alzheimer's Disease on a family, along with issues around adoption and how older siblings treat their new brother. The effect that the war has had on Alex is also cleverly explored, slowly revealing the horrors that he experienced and linking them to his current problems. This is a story that keeps the reader entranced, a fast paced plot and engaging characters.

This is such a sensitively written story for children aged 10 or over focussing on the Smith family and secrets that affect it’s foundations. Part 1 opens with the family at breakfast. We are shown how protective Alex is of his grandfather Richard. We know there is something Alex is trying to hide in connection with Richard and willing him to remember to eat. This is our first introduction to Alzheimers and straight away we are involved with the emotions that engenders. At the same time, we are made to think how children may see an adopted child (Alex) as an intrusive element into a family unit with the resultant verbal bullying (and later physical as well). I must admit, even though I could understand Leonard and his actions, I really didn’t like his character – but I did have a change of heart later in the story! I loved the relationship Alex had with his grandfather. Despite the Alzheimers and Richard scaring him a few times, there was still a feeling of these two belonging together. I felt the symptoms of Alzheimers were true-to-life. I had tears a few times when empathising with how the Smith family, including granddad, were affected. The story flips backwards in time to when Alex was being hunted as a result of the Yugoslavian wars. This is quite central to understanding Alex and how he reacts in certain situations. These flashbacks are written at just the right time, weaving around the secrets that are being uncovered. The way Ruth Eastham wrote the clues for solving the secrets were brilliantly timed and certainly made me think and try to guess where the story was taking me. Despite the many threads to this story it is so well written that at no point are you feeling ‘lost’ as the skill of Ruth Eastham has woven them into a whole. The story for me was not only about a family uncovering its secrets and becoming whole because of the revelations but also of a ‘lost’ child finding himself ……………. and also becoming whole. I love the way the story finished as it opened bringing us full circle but this time with a different thought, a different outcome. What’s your earliest memory? At the end of the story in my copy of the book, there are websites mentioning Alzheimers, adoption and the Yugoslavic conflict, all child friendly of course – what a brilliant idea!