The Night Animals - Sarah Ann Juckes

 

Nora lives with her mum who is a paramedic but who is off work due to PTSD.  She has good days and bad days, and Nora never knows what sort of day it's going to be, but recently there seem to have been more bad days than good, with Nora coming home from school to find her mum in bed and a note on the door.  Recently Nora has started seeing ghost animals that appear to be guiding her is some way, she just doesn't quite know how.  Along with her new friend Kwame, can Nora discover exactly what the ghost animals are trying to tell her?

I'd heard great things about The Night Animals and, having loved The Hunt For The Nightingale (you can read my review here), it felt like the perfect book to start the new year, especially as it has just been announced as Waterstone's Children's Book of the Month for January.

From the start, I need to say that this is a beautifully written and heart-felt book full of love and hope in so many different guises and what started out as reading a couple of chapters whilst having a lie-in, ended up being a book I read in one sitting.  Nora clearly feels alone but doesn't want to ask for help; it can often be a difficult thing to do, especially as she feels she needs to be strong for her mum.  She is struggling at school as well as at home to keep her emotions in check and feels that isolating herself is better; 'fine' is a word she uses a lot through the book - at so many points during the story, I wanted to reach into the pages and hug Nora.  The ghost animals are her lifeline but she is the only one who can see them so she is reluctant to tell anybody about them.  That is until Kwame comes along, and it is he who I think is my favourite character: he is hiding from the school bully when we first meet him and seems determined to blend in instead of standing out, yet he is persistent in his quest to become Nora's friend.  He is kind and caring in so many ways and a real hero in my eyes.

The Night Animals is a powerful and thought-provoking journey of discovery that it brimming with empathy.  It's a book that reminds us that it's ok to ask for help and that mental health is never something to be ashamed of.  It's about family, friendship, hope and love ... lots and lots of love ... and I promise it will leave you wanting to hug the book once you have finished reading it. 

Released on the 5th January, The Night Animals was the perfect start to the new year.