Ours Are the Streets
Sunjeev Sahota
London, Macmillan, 2011, 313p
Ours Are the Streets is the story of a young man's journey to extremism. Imtiaz begins writing his story so that his daughter and wife will remember him, and tells the reader about how he met his wife, Bekah. At university in Sheffield, they become lovers, and an unexpected pregnancy results in marriage. Bekah agrees to convert to Islam for Imtiaz, and despite the challenges of their youth, they are happy.
When Imtiaz' father passes away, he travels to Lahore with his mother to bury him. At first, it feels odd to adjust to this place where everyone seems to know him, even though he has never given them a moments thought. But he remains an outsider, a foreigner, his light skin and accent giving away his British-ness.
As he starts to make friends, he settles into this place as 'home', but their travels deep into Afghanistan change the man who left England not so long ago.
Ours Are the Streets is a dark, tragic novel. From the earliest pages, you are aware something has gone wrong - Imtiaz shouldn't be writing letters for his daughter to remember him, and it soon becomes clear where he is going.
I found Imtiaz' transformation to be somewhat oversimplified. He doesn't seems dissatisfied with England; not even when he finds himself having to justify the West to his new friends in Pakistan. He comes to enjoy the feeling of being part of something in Afghanistan, though it was unclear that he felt disengaged when he was in Sheffield. And his 'decline' into extremism is articulated through paranoid rantings, which I felt belittled his decision to become a fighter.
I am not convinced that this novel is the most reliable and straightforward exploration of a young man's transition into a potential terrorist, but Sahota's novel is a bold, gripping story that I would definitely recommend.
Jessica Ennis-Hill
Roy App
London, Franklin Watts, 2013, 47p
My Book Trust school library pack arrived in the post this week, and I have been plotting great things to do with the sets of six books after half term.
As well as the book club packs, this year's box included a selection of short read titles and several short story collections. Amongst them was this - the biography of Jessica Ennis-Hill.
Written in the style of a piece of fiction, this book outlines Ennis' rise to success from her first introduction to competitive athletics as a young teenager in Sheffield to her victory at the London 2013 Olympic Games.
Because of the nature of Ennis' story, some of the language in this text is a little complicated for less able readers, including the athletics related terminology. The book could have benefited from a glossary, though it does contain pictures to illustrate some of the content.
This biography is part of the Dream to Win series - tales of success from comtemporary heroes ti inspire young readers. In terms of style, Franklin Watts have hit the nail on the head. The font is adequately large and the sentences are short and well spread out. It is a formula you see in every one of their short reads, which make them ideal for our reluctant readers.
The Forward Book of Poetry 2014
Fd. Jeanette Winterson
London, Forward, 2013, 144p
There are so many themes covered in an anthology of this size and quality that every time you open it you find something new - a new form, style or subject.
The Forward Poetry competition celebrates new poetry published each year, producing this incredible collection. Within this book, you have finalists from a number of categories and I enjoyed the variety that afforded.
In terms of some specifics, there were some individual poems that made this anthology something special for me. I am only human, and therefore cannot claim to love every poem I read.
One, called 'The International Poem of the Year' by Emily Berry, described a strange dystopia in which poems are political weapons. Nations banned them, fought over them, and launched them into space. Elsewhere, poems played a "role in pioneering eye operations, contribut[ing] to democracies and charitable works". This poem was excatly what Winterson discusses in her foreward when she describes poems as bombs, giving "us back the words we need so that we can say how we feel".
I was also impressed by the presence of two poems about Sheffield in this collection: 'In Sheffield' by Adam White and Stainless Stephen by Helen Mort. In praise of Sheffield, these poems explored the steel industry through two very different routes, with Mort personifying the industry and White engaging with the history of the city. It felt like home to read these.
Another I wanted to comment upon was Michael Symmons Robert and the two poems from him that are a brilliant addition to this collection. He has an incredible way with words, looking at universal themes of family and love with language that reaches right into your heart and plucks at your deepest dreams and fears.
Poetry is at the forefront of my life at the moment, as we celebrate the wonderful students who have won international competitions. I have high hopes for the young writers at Oxford Spires Academy, who's names will one day fill the pages of anthologies such as this.
Granny was a Buffer Girl
Berlie Doherty
London, Catnip, 2007, 168p
Reading Berlie Doherty is like going on a trip down memory lane. Whilst my sister was reading Jacqueline Wilson, I was reading Doherty. I read every copy that they had in the library - books full of beautiful characters, loving families and whirlwind romances. They were realistic, I could relate to them, unlike a lot of the strange fantasies or melodramas that were available to teenagers. And now, again, Berlie Doherty remains one of my favourites.
Granny was a Buffer Girl is a tale in which three generations of the same family share their best stories around the dinner table. It is the night before Jess' departure to France for a study year abroad, and with her brother, parents and grandparents, tales of love, loss and life are shared.
The stories told are beautifully written. They are not intended to shock, but are the kind of stories your own families might have to tell. They start with the story of how Grandpa Jack met Birdie, a romance that was forbidden due to religious differences. Then, the story of how Jess' parents met, and the short life of their disabled son, Danny. The stories make you laugh and cry, written with such poetic language and emotional investment.
First published in 1986, this book feels timeless. Perhaps it is because the stories are themselves historical, dating back to the childhoods of Jess' grandparents during the 1930s; but I think it's because these stories are universal - sitting around the dinner table, sharing, loving: these are things we have all experienced.
Set in Sheffield, the story has a special meaning for me, reminding me of the beautiful city and vast landscape in which I lived for just one short year. The city plays an important role in Doherty's novel, offering a backdrop of social change through the last century, with mines closing and the city being built up.
The stories are so real and compelling that you hope that, in some way, they might be true. Perhaps Doherty drew inspiration from her family, from their stories. These kind, loving people are just the sort you want to meet. As a child, they touched my life, shaped my outlook on the world, and reinforced what family means to me.
