‘The Fountains of Silence’ Ruta Sepetys

This year’s Carnegie shortlist is such a strong one. I have loved everything Ruta Sepetys has published so far and ‘The Fountains of Silence’ was a shortlisted title I looked forward to trying.

The first thing to say, and forgive me for being trivial, is that it’s a big book. I mention this because for some students this will pose an immediate barrier for them. However, I found that I got absorbed into the book really quickly, and sped through it, and I know that many of our shadowers felt the same. I was fascinated by the setting of this book in Madrid in 1957. General Franco was at the height of his harsh nationalist rule at this point, and this was an area of history I realised I knew very little about. His dictatorship lasted until his death in 1975, which is shockingly recent. The scene-setting in this book is absolutely glorious, we get a really strong feel for the place and time as the writing somehow has a very visual quality. For me, this was strongly reflected in the wonderful colours of the cover, evoking the heat of the city in high summer.

Daniel is a young, wealthy American visiting the city with his parents. In his hotel he meets their maid, Ana and the two form a strong connection, although in a very delicate way as Ana cannot afford to lose the job her family depends on. Daniel is a keen photgrapher, and is hoping to put together a photographic record of what life is really like in Franco’s Spain. Through Ana, he sees beyond the tourist facade to the lives of real Spaniards, including Puri, Ana’s cousin working in an orphanage and a local up and coming bullfighter. Their lives connect in various ways as the book progresses, and we see the story unfold from each of their persepectives as the brutalities of the regime including stealing babies and murdering dissidents touch all of these characters.

This is a truly fantastic intense and evocative read, and I loved it. It’s written with a delicacy and sensitivity that I loved, and at the same time is very engaging. This is crossover fiction at its very best!

‘Rosie loves Jack’ Mel Darbon

As often seems to be the case, I came to this book after hearing lots of others enjoying it! ‘Rosie Loves Jack’ is quite unlike anything I have read before. It came in one of the Booktrust library packs and is the story of two students falling in love and wanting to be together. However, Rosie has Downs Syndrome and Jack has anger issues. Following an outburst in school, Jack is moved overnight to a residential home some way away, and both he and Rosie are totally devastated. Jack tries to keep in touch by writing lovely postcards that Rosie never receives, and terrified that this could mean the end for their relationship, Rosie decides to find him.

This is a powerful story, all the more so as it’s told from Rosie’s point of view. I did find some of the situations she found herself in to be a bit far-fetched if I’m honest, and that did take the shine off the story for me. However, that said, this is a book I will be promoting to my students as I feel very confident that they will love it.