Stars: ***
Safiya lives with her dad as she finds it hard to see eye-to-eye with her mum. She’s also finding it hard to navigate her new school; her best mate Ella isn’t the same as she used to be. Especially because Safiya LOVES gaming, and feels like no-one else understands!
One day her mum becomes ill and Safiya is transported back to Kuwait; she sees this as a game, having to unlock levels and challenges to understand more about her mum.
I can see this being appealing to children in my class, but for me I found it could sometimes stop the story being as emotive as I felt it could be!
However, I loved the way Safiya navigated her old, and new, friendships. The characters were all developed really well and it felt like the relationships were realistic!
Teacher Bookworm 