by Sarah Hagger-Holt
“Adoption isn’t part of who you are…it’s the way you and your mum found each other. It’s the journey that brought you together, not what defines you” (Ella's grandma).
Ella and her (single parent) adoptive mum have moved homes to be closer to Grandma. This means a new start for Ella, joining Year 9 at St Hilda’s girls school and, while she’s relieved to get away from the bullies, she fears that she’ll still stand out, just in a different place. Meantime, mum insists they should just seem like any other family, warning Ella, “I wouldn’t want you to put yourself in a box…”. Little does she know that Ella has some very different ‘boxes’ she wants to explore…
Ari is starting at the same school in Year 7. Whereas Ella anticipates trouble around every corner, adoptee Ari regularly finds herself in trouble but is never quite sure how she got there. Her two dads have encouraged and empowered her to celebrate their family unit. Regular attendees at the adoption families summer camp, Ari is used to being around all kinds of families and is a keen LGBTQ+ ally. Her biggest concern isn’t fitting in- it’s how she’ll ever get back to football practice following her little tree climbing mishap!
Ari and Ella are both drawn to Finding Our Voices, St Hilda’s dynamic, free-form, choir steered by the charismatic Monsieur Beaumont. Here, Ella and Ari not only tune in to themselves but also each other, discovering much later that they are even more connected than they first realised.
Twice Little Rebels Award winner, Sarah Hagger Holt, is back and she’s writing at full strength. A dual narrative, short chapter, format lends an accessibility and creates two very distinctive, memorable voices: Ella- cautious, anxious, sure in her queer identity but hesitant in claiming it publicly; Ari- younger, impulsive, irrepressible, very much herself, not yet in full control of where that self takes her.
Sarah Hagger-Holt has quickly become a firm Letterbox Library favourite. Effortlessly inclusive, her work is perfectly pitched to the middle grade age range, playing skillfully within the coming-of-age genre. Her trademark themes include early friendships, delightfully complicated (and wholly relatable!) families and young protagonists who explore their identities and, ultimately, seize them with pride. Age 9-13, Paperback 367pp
Themes: LGBTQ+ Themes: Diverse Families