Natalie's world is falling apart. She's just lost her mum and her brother marches the streets of Dover full of hate and anger. Swimming is her only refuge. Natalie's world has turned upside down. She's lost her mum and her brother is descending further and further into anger and violence with a far-right gang who march the streets of Dover.

a b "Awards: Costa Book Category, Aussie Prime Minister's Literary Winners". Shelf Awareness. 5 January 2022. Archived from the original on 5 January 2022 . Retrieved 8 June 2023. Sammy has fled his home and family in Eritrea for the chance of a new life in Europe. Every step he takes on his journey is a step into an unknown and unwelcoming future.A remarkably ambitious book, which expertly uses the form of a verse novel to tell an incredibly powerful story. Mann’s characters are complex and carefully crafted, allowing the reader to empathise with any of them despite – or due to – their complexities. Told from the perspective of two teenagers – one from Dover, one a refugee from Eritrea – the novel’s construction and the echoes between the protagonists’ stories is a deeply empathetic way of approaching this narrative, and to a young reader, lends a face, a voice and a heart to the global refugee crisis.

Awards: Oates Winner; Jhalak Shortlists". Shelf Awareness. 20 April 2022. Archived from the original on 24 June 2022 . Retrieved 8 June 2023. It taught me a great deal about the suffering of refugees and the brutality of oppressive regimes. It also taught me to realise how many young people are reaching out, on their own, for help from the rest of the world. The Crossing is a novel written in verse following Natalie and Sammy. Natalie has just lost her mother, who died of cancer. Her mother worked in refugee relief and always encouraged Natalie to be compassionate. Since her mother's death her family is falling apart, her brother is getting involved with anti-refugee people. Sammy is a boy from Eritrea, wanting to flee due to the forced conscription into the army where they abuse the soldiers. He wants to flee to the UK. walk down the high street. Nat is window-shopping while thinking about the homeless woman in a shop doorway and how close she is to this fate, while Mel is weighed down with bags full of the latest gear. The Crossing is the story of two young people who are living through unimaginably difficult circumstances which are totally beyond their control. Sixteen year old Natalie has lost her mother through cancer. Nat’s mother (a refugee supporter) had encouraged her in her hopes to become a professional swimmer. Now, without her, Nat is in deep grief, her father finds it difficult to cope both financially and emotionally, and her brother Ryan joins the EDL. Nat’s girlfriend Mel tries to give her sympathy and support, but it’s a heartbreaking journey.Sammy has fled his homeland of Eritrea with his best friend, looking for a chance of a new and better life in England. They reason that it is their only option as Eritrea becomes less and less free. The two boys travel across Africa, in appalling conditions, seeing awful things in an attempt to make their way to the promised land of England. Nat and Sammy complete each other's stories, the words and phrases repeating as move from one POV to the other. Mann's poetic language use, which we first became familiar with in her debut Run, Rebel, continued to create a haunting, portrait of the reality. My heart ached as I was immersed in both young protagonists' struggle for survival in a world where their humanity is being questioned.

The best books and audiobooks of 2020 so far". The Guardian. 14 May 2020. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 26 March 2023 . Retrieved 8 June 2023.

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Written in verse and from a dual perspective, the lives of Sammy and Nat seamlessly intertwine. The author cleverly toggles the points of view between the two characters within each chapter by using the same words at the end and the start of their perspectives. My daughter and I loved the use of this writing technique. a b c "Costa Book Awards 2021 category winners announced". Costa. Archived from the original on 5 January 2022 . Retrieved 5 January 2022. As they set out upon their journey, Sammy and Tesfay soon learn that their fears are to be realised; kidnapped and held to ransom, undertaking a horrific sea journey and then suffering indignity wherever they arrive, the path to Europe and then the UK is not a smooth one. Mann describes the harrowing details with both empathy but also clarity providing a hard hitting portrayal of a refugee's plight.

Described as a verse novel, The Crossing is neither prose nor poetry. It is written in very short interrupted and stark sentences. This makes it both easy and difficult to read. As a lover of the flowing sentences of English narrative prose, I found myself trying to ignore the end of line spaces and to complete each written thought in one go. After a time, though, I fell into reading the book to a different kind of rhythm, persuaded by the author’s strong narrative voice. The clipped style makes for a very fast read and is a clever structural device. I am always wanting to read more diversely and more about the refugee crisis; this was a great compassionate read. I enjoyed this more than Mann's previous novel, so am looking forward to what she writes next. Natalie Lennon, a talented 16 year old swimmer from Dover find herself facing homelessness when her family begins to unravels after her mother passes away with cancer. Her father, who is struggling with grief, can't keep them afloat and her newly adult brother Ryan is being seduced far right groups.Bestselling author Alexandra Christo, author of TikTok sensation To Kill a Kingdom, introduces her new book, The Night Hunt (Hot Key Books), a dark... Once I had worked out how the story worked I was enraptured. I adore stories told in poetic prose and I also love stories told from more than one point of view... and this is both.