Blog Tour - Home by Amanda Berriman

Jesikaisfourandahalf.

Shelivesinaflatwithhermotherandbabybrotherandsheknowsalot.Sheknowstheirflatishighupandthestairsaresmelly.Sheknowssheshouldn'tdrawonthepeelingwallpaperortouchthebrokenwindow.AndsheknowssheloveshermummyandbabybrotherToby.

ShedoesnotknowthattheirlandlordisthreateningtoevictthemandthatToby’scoughisgoingtogetmuchworse.OrthatPaige,hernewbestfriend,hasasecretthatwillexplodetheirworld.

Meet Jesika, aged four and a half. The most extraordinary narrator of 2018.

She lives in a flat with her mother and baby brother and she knows a lot. She knows their flat is high up and the stairs are smelly. She knows she shouldn't draw on the peeling wallpaper or touch the broken window. And she knows she loves her mummy and baby brother Toby.

She does not know that their landlord is threatening to evict them and that Toby’s cough is going to get much worse. Or that Paige, her new best friend, has a secret that will explode their world.

Each year I think that every reader reads one book that remains with them for a long time after reading. The book that when asked, the reader will suggest to anyone who asks for a suggestion, asks what your favorite book is or will manage to get into any conversation - even when the local barista asks for your morning order! It is a book that has that special something, which stays with you way past that last sentence, that gives an insight into a world that otherwise remains secret, that has a mesaage that others should hear. I think that Home is one such book!

Home has an unique narrater, Jesika. Jesika is only four and a half year olds. Jesika lives in a run down house with her mother and baby brother. They have a landlord who cares only for the monthly rent and does nothing to improve her living environment. 

Home is a very cleverly written novel, Amanda has been able to write from Jesika's point of view, capturing her thoughts and observations of the world around her. There are many difficult topics within this novel however each are dealt with sensitively and all through the eyes of Jesika. 

Home  has left me with feelings similar to when I read Kit Waal's fantastic My Name is Leon. I urge my blog readers to pick up a copy of this book and to read about Jesika and to be introduced to a world that many people do not see, do not know even exists - a hidden world that needs more Jesika's to shout about and become noticed for change to happen.

Thank you to the publishers, T4ransworld Books, and to Anne Cater, from Random Things Tours, for inviting me to take part in this blog tour and for a copy of the book in return for an honest review.