Jaden talks about how he used to have a problem with setting things on fire, for which he went to counseling. He also sometimes hurts himself when he does "aggressive running" to get his energy out. Jaden didn’t even answer. He couldn’t sit on a side. Period. “I won’t ride in the car anymore,” he said. “I’ll ride my bicycle everywhere.” He felt bitterness well up inside himself, moving up from his stomach to his mouth, and he gagged slightly. He knew he was overreacting, but he couldn’t help it. Eleven-year-old Jaden is adopted, and he knows he’s an “epic fail.” That’s why his family is traveling to Kazakhstan to adopt a new baby—to replace him, he’s sure. And he gets it. He is incapable of stopping his stealing, hoarding, lighting fires, aggressive running, and obsession with electricity. He knows his parents love him, but he feels...nothing.

My first paid writing gig was for a listings magazine in Birmingham — (Actually my first unpaid writing gig was an interview with Kitchens of Distinction for Salford Student Magazine. I can’t begin to tell you how terrible it was.) I’m looking for great characters to meet and it looks like this book has them! Fab review! I want to read it now! Kerry Hayes knows exactly who she is: a single mum, a cleaner and Mariah Carey's biggest fan. Noah Martineau thinks he knows who he is: a successful barrister, with a wife, daughter and big house in Primrose Hill. Strangers with nothing in common. Strangers living worlds apart. But it wasn't always this way...and Noah and Kerry are about to discover just who they really are....." The U.S. debut of an incredible new illustrator introduces two everyday friends whose closeness endures no matter how far apart they are. What an involving, captivating, heart-rending story. Some books fade from the memory but I know I'm never going to forget these characters - they feel like my own family. (Jill Mansell)

Christmas Gifts

He has a wonderful way of lifting the reader up while tugging at our heart strings at the same time. A lovely story about what family really means... (Fionnuala Kearney)

I also used to live in Manchester — another great city (although technically I lived in Salford which is next door but that’s sort of splitting hairs). What an involving, captivating, heart-rending story. Some books fade from the memory but I know I'm never going to forget these characters - they feel like my own family. -- Jill Mansell One of his psychologists had told him he should be grateful to Penni and Steve. The shrink didn’t understand that they didn’t adopt him for him, but for themselves. But what the guy really didn’t understand was that it was impossible for Jaden to feel grateful, for anything ever. It wasn’t personal to Penni and Steve. Jaden had a distaste for parents in general. And he knew he wasn’t alone. There were hundreds, maybe thousands, of kids in America just like him—adopted when they were older, hating their new parents. He knew this because one of his psychologists or psychiatrists had said so. He couldn’t remember at the moment which doctor it was. So he pretty much was nothing special.Steve took off his wire glasses, cleaned them, and gazed at Jaden like he wanted to see him better. “It’s unbelievable, isn’t it? In forty-eight hours or so from now we’ll be in Kazakhstan, meeting your baby brother.” Steve smiled. Jaden looked at Steve’s face. The smile looked real, not phony the way Steve’s smiles sometimes looked. Steve used to be a smiling, lovable geek. But he’d changed. That is, Jaden had changed him. The other is adopted aged 2.5 and raised by a loving, wealthy white middle class family and eventually becomes a successful criminal barrister. Noah lives with his wife and daughter in Primrose Hill. Amy and Louie are best friends and do everything together. Amy moves across the world and they miss each other. Louie calls Amy with their special call, and Amy has a dream about it. I can't believe how much a star rating can jump! Rereading this book just made me realise just how beautifully written this book is. It focuses heavily on long lost families and rekindling relationships. I did tear up at the ending at how well Mike Gayle was able to capture the raw emotion of grieving and losing a loved one, it really hit home but think it was done beautifully. Blurb: Kerry Hayes is a single mum, living on a tough south London estate. She provides for her son by cleaning houses she could never afford. Taken into care as a child, Kerry cannot forget her past.