Jamie is enjoying their last year of primary school and likes nothing better than spending time with their friends Daisy and Ash. However, when they attend a talk at school with their parents about which secondary school they will go to, everything changes as they only have two choices: Queen Elizabeth's High School for Girls or St Joseph's Academy for Boys. What Jamie wants to know is what they are going to do, as being non-binary, there seems to be no options for them. They try to talk about it but nobody seems to be really listening so they decide to take matters into their own hands. With the help of Daisy and Ash, can Jamie find a solution?
Every once in a while a book comes along and you just know it is going to be an important book, and this is how I felt once I'd read Jamie. I began reading it last Sunday evening, thinking that it may take me a few days to finish; oh how wrong I was! Once I began, I couldn't put it down and read it in one sitting. There are so many positive messages in this book and LD Lapinski manages to weave them into the plot with ease.
This book looks at some very big topics in a way that children will understand and appreciate. Making the move from primary to secondary school is a big enough move without having the added complication of feeling that there isn't a school for you. Jamie is understandably upset and confused, especially when the adults around them don't seem to be really helping. I felt for Jamie at so many different points during the book and really wanted to just reach into the book and help the adults to understand.
As well as the story, the book contains useful useful guide pages put together by Jamie to help readers understand terminology.
Jamie is a book about being yourself, about standing up for what you believe and about helping others to accept you for who you are. It's about friendship, family and about being brave. It's about identity and acceptance; it's about understanding and raising awareness. Jamie is a book that shows children that they should be proud of who they are and reminds adults that they need to listen.
Jamie needs to be in every school and is a book that deserves all the praise that I know is coming its way when it's published on the 30th March.
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