LoveReading4Kids Says
LoveReading4Kids Says
September 2024 Book of the Month | Interest Age 9+ Reading Age 8+
We all know what it’s like to have a voice in our head telling us we’re no good, or bound to fail, or that the worst is going to happen. For Josh, that voice is always there though, and as things at home suddenly get disrupted, it gets so loud that he can’t control or escape it.
Desperate for some time to think herself, his mum sends him to stay with his grandma, who lives in a remote cottage, entirely self-sufficient. Josh has never met his grandma, but it turns out that they have a lot in common. Grandma too has struggled with mental health and through her own experiences knows what to say and to do help him take control of his brain (or Brian, as Josh knows it).
In a very short extent, Helen Rutter establishes her characters, shows readers the misery of Josh’s interior monologue and demonstrates the impact it has on his life. She also shows us a strategy we can all use if a voice in our own heads gets too loud. This is a book full of compassion and humanity, as well as humour, and highly recommended.
Andrea Reece
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About
Me and My Brian Synopsis
With help from his grandma, Josh finds a way to quieten his overactive 'Brian' in this gently humorous and empathetic tale about family and mental health by bestseller Helen Rutter.
Josh has always called his brain Brian, and Brian can sometimes be his best friend, helping Josh with tests and giving him brilliant moneymaking ideas. But he can also be Josh's worst enemy, keeping him awake at night worrying, and telling him that his family's problems are all Josh's fault.
When the arguments at home get really bad, Josh is sent to live with his grandma, who lives in a weird shack in the middle of nowhere. At first Brian's voice gets louder and louder, and Josh feels out of control. But as he helps his grandma in the garden, growing their own food, and with all the jobs that need to be done around the shack, Josh starts to realise that she understands him and Brian better than anyone.
A brilliantly unique look at the way young people can experience stress in their everyday lives and how it can make them feel overwhelmed and as if they have no control
Empathetically explores helpful ways for young people to combat stress and emphasises the support and strength that can be found in intergenerational friendships.
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9780008672928 |
| Publication date: |
12th September 2024 |
| Author: |
Helen Rutter |
| Illustrator: |
Claudia Petrazzi |
| Publisher: |
Barrington Stoke |
| Format: |
Paperback |
| Pagination: |
83 pages |
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Author
About Helen Rutter
Helen Rutter is an acclaimed author and comedian. Her debut novel, The Boy Who Made Everyone Laugh, was selected as a Waterstones Children’s Book of the Month, in addition to being nominated for the Carnegie, shortlisted for the Costa, Blue Peter and Branford Boase Awards, and winning the Teach Primary Book Award. The idea for this story came from her son, Lenny, who has a stammer: she wanted to write the book that he would love to read, starring a child like him. She hopes that children will be able to relate to feeling unheard, different from the rest and unable to find their voice.
More About Helen Rutter
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