My Sister Lives on the Mantlepiece by Annabel Pitcher
Orion, $29.99
Every so often a children's book comes along that I think adults will find just as much pleasure in reading. Harry Potter is probably the most famous crossover kids' book. And, although this one doesn't star a boy wizard, it does feature a small boy who is likely to win your hearts.
Jamie Matthews is 10 and he's just moved to England's Lake District for a fresh start with his dad, his pink-haired sister Jasmine and his beloved cat Roger. Life has been sad and confusing ever since the death of Jasmine's twin, Rose, in a London terrorist attack. Hence the title - his sister really does live on the mantelpiece in an urn and she's the centre of the family, the perfect child, the hole in all their lives.
Except Jamie isn't really sad enough because he was only 5 when she was killed and doesn't remember his sister so well. He hasn't even cried. All his grief is saved for the loss of his mother, who has run off with a man she met at a support group and his worry for his father who is drinking way too much.
A simple first-person story about a child trying to make sense of the changes in his world, this is the most touching and sensitive novel I've read in a long time. Although there are lots of issues dealt with - from messed-up families to eating disorders, racism and school bullying - Pitcher gets the tone just right. She tackles tough topics unflinchingly but is never preachy in her messages, instead letting them unfold very naturally through the sweet and funny voice of Jamie.
At only 29, this debut novelist has produced a modern classic, a book that made me laugh and cry, and forget for a while that I was a grown-up so convincingly does it conjure up childhood. It's definitely not a story for young kids, given its themes, but children of 11 and upwards will get much out of reading it. It's a tale that rings true and is as heart-warming as it is heart-breaking. The front cover though is unappealing and the title, though original, doesn't give much more of a clue of the treasure that lies within.
If you read only one kid's book this year, let this be it.
