The Insiders - Cath Howe

 

Set in school, The Insiders tells the story of Callie, Ted, Zara and Nico who are best friends; however, Ted has been quieter of late and nobody quite knows why.  Then when Billy causes Ted to be publicly embarrassed in front of the whole school, he retreats even further into himself.  Then the group discover that somebody is in school after it's been closed for the night and they think they are sleeping there, and so the friends head to investigate without Ted.

I've typed that synopsis a couple of times now and have deleted it in favour of my final, shorter version as I don't want to give too much away! Safe to say that the plot unfolds brilliantly and revolves around the five main characters, with everything interlinking.  Each of the characters is different and I really like that the story is told from three different points of view: Callie's, Ted's and Billy's.  They each lead very different lives and have different backgrounds, not all of which you are aware of at the beginning of the book.  I think this serves as an important reminder that we never know everything that is happening in someone's life so judging people based on what you see can be a dangerous thing to do.  The different points of view allow the reader an insight into how the events in the book are seen through different eyes.  It creates a real empathy, something I think Cath is very good at creating in all of her books.  The other thing I think Cath is very good at doing is creating believable characters that readers can relate to - children will be able to see themselves in the book, either as an entire character, or just aspects of one of the characters.  It's through their actions as well as the dialogue that Cath manages to make this look so effortless and is what makes her books so popular in school.  She has absolutely done it again with The Insiders and I can't wait to share the book in school next term.

With themes of bullying, friendship, family separation, jealousy and school, firmly at its heart, The Insiders is going to be another huge success for Cath and I can't wait to see what she comes up with next!