Retro – THE INQUISITIVE NEWT

Boy Like Me by Simon James Green is honestly one of the books I remember best from 2023. The narration is sharp and witty, the romance is tender and sweet, and the cutting comments about Section 28 were deeply appreciated by my little 80s-child heart.

Boy Like Me follows Jamie (not that Jamie, or this James) through his final year of secondary school in 1994. With book bans common-place under the rules of Section 28, a kind librarian sneaks Jamie a novel which helps him to make sense of how he’s feeling, and through notes in the margins, helps him to connect with another Boy Like Him (see what I did there? 😉 )

This book is a fantastic YA offering which not only provides a deeply satisfying romance, but also explores life at a time when it was effectively illegal to speak about homosexuality in British schools. It’s something that I feel is more important now than ever, with the UK creating an increasingly hostile environment for the trans community. Looking back at the arguments made for Section 28, it’s clear to see where a lot of the anti-trans rhetoric is coming from; we’ve been here before. Equipping young people with the tools they need to see through this is essential, and Boy Like Me is a great way to open these conversations if you’ve not had them before.

As an adult reading this book, I really appreciated the 90s nostalgia, so if you’ve got older children who are past the point of being read to, this is a great book to read alongside them and discuss. When Eldest kiddo stopped asking for me to read, I found that being able to enjoy the same novels was a key way to stay connected through stories, and this one was a genuine joy.

What books would you recommend to teen readers? Are there any YA books you’ve read along with older children, and if so what are they?

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I’ve set up a ‘bookshop‘ of sorts, over on Bookshop.org, so that I can point you to somewhere to buy that isn’t Amazon. I get a small commission for any sales made there. This helps to support me running this blog. If you’d like to get your copy of Boy Like Me this way, please just click here. If you’d like to support me without buying a book, you can do so here. Thank you.

I first stumbled upon The Year at Maple Hill Farm by Alice and Martin Provensen by accident whilst rummaging through a pile of ‘3 for 99p’ books at our local charity shop. I picked it up solely to make up the numbers, but of the three I bought that day, this is the only one that’s still around.

At the time of writing this review (5/8/18), the book is out of print, but available second-hand in all the usual places you’d expect to find it. To my mind, it’s definitely worth going out of your way for.

The extract below pretty much sums up the book better than I could.

The twelve months each have a double-page spread, full of glorious illustrations which follow the inhabitants of Maple Hill Farm as they plant and harvest crops and work with livestock.

The book’s pace is sedate, but it isn’t lacking in humour. I really like the language – suitable for the very young but dry enough to leave me smiling.

And I love the artwork – I periodically toy with the idea of buying a second copy to cut up and hang on my walls.

This has been a favourite when my children have gone through phases of loving farm machinery and animals, and I usually bring it out again in the autumn (the season that speaks most of change to me). I use it to talk about where food comes from and about the months of the year – it’s a really rich book which covers many topics, making it ideal for home-ed libraries.

Which are your favourite books about the seasons? And where do you go to find your out-of-print books?

— Farn ❤