‘Day One’ by Abigail Dean

I really didn’t like this book – I never actually got into it at all. I finished it, but only because I rarely give up on a book.

It’s about a school shooting. The actually incident itself is never explained in detail, the book is more about the effect on individuals and the community.

It follows a couple of characters: Marty, a girl involved in the shooting (or not); and Trent, another local who believes the whole thing is a bunch of lies.

I found the book quite confusing at times, it jumps between characters and moments in time, which normally I’m ok with, but with this I never felt comfortable reading. I just found it all a bit hard work.

‘The Boy Who Made Everyone Laugh’ by Helen Rutter

It was another teenage novel.

Billy Plimpton wants to be a stand-up comedian, but he thinks something is stopping him: his stammer.

We follow Billy has he deals with bullies, a dying grandma and girls. The book culminates in an end of year talent show that doesn’t go to plan.

If I was an 11 or 12 year old, I’d love the book!

Also, each chapter starts with a joke. Nice.

The past, the present and the future walked into a bar.

It was tense.