In the UK, June is Pride month - a month dedicated to celebrating LGBTQ+ communities all around the world. BBC Newsround explains the history of Pride: Pride is celebrated in the month of June, as that was the month when the Stonewall riots took place. The Stonewall riots were important protests that took place in 1969 in the US, that changed gay rights for a lot of people in America and around the world. Pride is a celebration of people coming together in love and friendship, to show how far LGBTQ+ rights have come, and how in some places there's still work to be done. LGBT+ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender. The + is an inclusive symbol to mean 'and others' to include people of all identities. Pride month is about acceptance, equality, celebrating the work of LGBTQ+ people, education in LGBTQ+ history and raising awareness of issues affecting the LGBTQ+ community. It also calls for people to remember how damaging homophobia was and still can be.
All children deserve to see themselves and their family reflected in books and it is important that we help children understand the differences that exist between us all. To this end BookTrust have published lists of books that feature LGBTQ+ families and characters. Reading is a great way of developing understanding and empathy and ensuring that all children see themselves reflected in pages. Some children who grow up in a world that suggests they are ‘different’, because of their identity or that of their loved ones, need stories to remind them that they are not alone.
Picture Books that celebrate LGBT families 3-7 years: https://www.booktrust.org.uk/booklists/l/lgbt-picture-books/
Middle Grade Books with LGBT characters 8-14 years: https://www.booktrust.org.uk/booklists/l/lgbt-middle-grade/
Books with transgender and non-binary characters 4-14 years: https://www.booktrust.org.uk/booklists/t/transgender-and-non-binary-characters/
Coming Soon - new books published in June
Fellow reading champion Scott Evans reviews June’s new books here with his engaging video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYHxPoNf0K8
https://www.thereaderteacher.com/monthly-must-reads-may-2022
This week I am delighted to include a review of a book suitable for pupils in Year 6+ by one of our Year 7 pupils.
KICK by Mitch Johnson - A review by Niccolò, Year 7
The main character in this story is an Indonesian character called Budi: a football-mad eleven year old boy whose hero is an English footballer called Keiran Wakefield (who plays for Real Madrid). Budi and his friends spend all their spare time playing football, playing as their favourite players and clubs.
Budi’s dream is to go pro in football and everybody calls him after a football player: Little Lazaro. Up to this point, the lives of Budi and his friends seem very similar to that of all of us eleven year olds in this part of the world. However, the similarities end here.
The daily lives of Budi and his friends actually lie in hour-after-hour's work in a sweatshop where the conditions are extremely poor and where the manager is cruel. He exercises discipline through the use of pain, threats and punishment. Budi makes football boots that are shipped off to Europe. They work for minimum wage and, despite both Budi and his Dad working, the family still does not have enough money to eat a meal every day.
Budi’s best friend is Rochy, who lives with his mother and two sisters (his father is dead). The book tells us that Rochy is the cleverest person whom Budi knows but that he had to withdraw from school because he needed to work to support his family.
The people in the area are also threatened by corruption; a local gangster boss (the Dragon), uses protection money from local businesses and residents without worry due to his brother being head of police. Unluckily for Budi, he collides with the Dragon one day when he accidentally kicks a ball through the window of the Dragon’s apartment! The Dragon demands that Budi steal a pair of football boots for his nephew from the factory in compensation. He tells Budi that if he fails to deliver, then his family will be removed from their apartment (as the Dragon rents out every apartment there) and they will have to go and live in the slums.
Budi deems the task to be impossible…but will he escape the Dragon's flaming talons?
Best Quote: “The trouble with being a dreamer is that occasionally you will have nightmares - you’ve just gotta make sure they don’t ever spook you enough to want to wake up.”
This book is a tough, fast-paced book about friendship, the beautiful game, and keeping alive when life is dark, not to mention to never stop dreaming. Some parts of this book can make for difficult reading but the book is ultimately uplifting and teaches you a lot.
I would recommend this book to pupils from 11 years+ who enjoy gripping, twisting, unexpected turns. Also, to people who are not afraid to reflect on more important themes such as inequality, exploitation, child labour and poverty.