Boy in the Tower was nominated for the Carnegie Medal and shortlisted for the Blue Peter Book Award and the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize. It was also longlisted for the Branford Boase Award, the Redbridge Children’s Book Awards and came runner-up in the Teach Primary New Children’s Fiction Award. This is a delightful, heartfelt, well-observed, kids' sci-fi novel set in Camberwell, which if you're anything like me will make you cry quite a lot. Ade, the little boy at its heart, is already bravely dealing with acting as a carer for his mum and feeling left out at school, and things get much worse when 21st-century Triffids turn up. Something happen to Ade’s mother that made her fear the outside, and when the outside really does become dangerous Ade is left to look after her.

Friendship is a big feature throughout the novel, as Ade and Kaia are incredibly close; finding a friend in another outcast. Even when Ade is separated from her, Kaya is always in his thoughts and he clings to fragments of forgotten conversations from the time before. When I began reading The Boy in the Tower I wasn't hooked like I thought I would be. Honestly, I carried on reading to find out more about these strange plants, and wondered what would happen to Ade and his Mum. I felt like the lead up and introduction to these plants and what was going on felt too long, and when the 'real stuff' starts to happen it felt over far too fast. I wanted to know more about the plants, the reason for their appearance, and why they did what they did. But I didn't get any of that, just that the plants are there, that they damage building and kill people. Thank you for your kind words. My class really enjoyed this book and the work linked to it. it's a great book to enjoy with them as a teacher too. Re: Wonder, I have read and planned out a 30 lesson unit but not made any resources yet. Hopefully I'll get time in the next few months. Enjoy Boy in the Tower. Hide repliesThis book is amazing! If you want a book with a lot of cliffs hangers this one is great. it makes you have a bunch of questions about what's going to happen. Or you can just read on if you want :) As the story progresses, that sense of normality slowly crumbles away, especially when the buildings in Ade's neighbourhood begin to fall. We learn the cause of Ade's mum's agoraphobia, and feel Ade's sense of powerlessness. We see how resourceful he becomes in the face of adversity. We understand that Gaia helps him through all this. But before long anxiety in the community grows to the point where Ade is left to deal with his Mum alone. From Part 2 the story is told in the present tense, drawing us into the immediacy of the situation. A whole English teaching sequence linked to the fantastic book Boy In The Tower by Polly Ho-Yen (Short-listed for the Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize and the Blue Peter Book Awards 2015).

Now on openlibrary. Worth the wait (I heard about this a few years ago.) Exciting, engaging, multi-layered. Billed in one place as a fable, but it's not as concise and pointed as fables; it's more. I loved learning, with Ade, more and more about individual neighbors, and communities, and what was up with his Mum, and the reactions of a wider world to this terror.

Second read: can confirm this remains true with a different class - they even broke into spontaneous applause at the end. TOO CUTE😭 Spelling Seeds have been designed to complement Writing Roots by providing weekly, contextualised sequences of sessions for the teaching of spelling that include open-ended investigations and opportunities to practise and apply within meaningful and purposeful contexts, linked (where relevant) to other areas of the curriculum and a suggestion of how to extend the investigation into home learning. There is a Spelling Seed session for every week of the associated Writing Root. Coverage: Word List Words I read this in one sitting because I simply could not put it down! Ho Yen's incredibly moving story follows the brave Ade as his life is turned upside down when buildings start mysteriously falling down in his London town. I was glued to this book and the incredibly real characters, picturing every event as it was happening and being truly amazed by this story.