Pages:
331
Publisher:
Electric
Monkey (Egmont)
Release
Date: 7th
March 2013
Edition:
UK paperback,
review copy
His
lips touched mine and for one split second the whole world stopped. Then every
cell in my body fizzed into life...
When
I decided to write a book about my life I thought I’d have to make loads of
stuff up. I mean, who wants to read about someone like me?
But
as soon as I started writing, the weirdest thing happened. I found out I wasn’t
who I thought I was. And I stopped being scared. Then everything went crazy!
Best
of all, I discovered that when you finally decide to be brave it’s like waving
a wand over your life – the most magical things can happen...
I loved Dear Dylan so I had high hopes for Siobhan’s second novel. Luckily Finding Cherokee Brown is just as
special.
Cherokee is a fantastic heroine
and I alternated between wanting to wander around Spitalfields Market with her
and giving her a big old hug so no one could hurt her! She really is my kind of
girl: loves rock and metal, detests tidying up, has piles of books everywhere
and wants to write a novel. The excerpts of the second-hand book on writing she
lives by at the beginning of each chapter was really cool and I loved seeing
how they subtly related to what went on with Cherokee in the chapter.
I think that the development
and growth of Cherokee’s character over the novel was really nicely done. Having
it stem from her dad, and even Harrison to a degree, come in to her life and
allow her to feel brave enough to take back control and fight back was so
refreshing. It’s usually a shock circumstance where the heroine has to save the
world, a family member or it just completely disappears with the introduction
of The Boy. They gave her the understanding of her that she needed.
Cherokee’s dad did worry me
though. I was so worried that he’d get scared and run off again and break her
heart. She was in such a fragile place that the bullies would have got on top
of her and goodness knows what would have happened! Her relationship with her
dad and the change in her confidence really illuminated how stifled she felt by
her mum and stepdad’s complete obliviousness to her feelings and school life. The
secrets that were kept from her only made it even worse for me. I couldn’t
believe what Cherokee’s mum had kept from her!
Finding
Cherokee Brown is
heart-warming and empowering and I think that Siobhan Curham is becoming a
staple read for teenagers with her tackling of tough issues with heart and
sensitivity.
Thanks to Electric Monkey for
sending me a copy for review.
Sophie
Really want to read this, sounds fantastic!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds fabulous - great review :D
ReplyDeleteThis sounds so good! I saw it in a bookshop yesterday and will most likely be going back to buy it soon. Lovely review! :)
ReplyDelete