Ilyas is stuck - worried about the implications of trying to disentangle himself, not just for himself, but also unhappily a misfit in the group. Of course, we all had those teachers at school who never seemed to smile for anyone, but there was literally only one decent teacher – Ms Mughal – whose class also happened to contain the only nice students at the school. I also loved Kelly, who is a reflection of the rich, privileged school girls and how this privilege gives them an advantage over other students.

It’s more than just a guy in a gang, but just like any teenager he has a future hen he’s given the chances, the break that he needs too. Inclusivity is about celebrating both our differences and our similarities and saying it’s OK to be different and it doesn’t make you less of a person. One night during a school gala, Gi-dong leads his entire school to a huge brawl against a local gang while Young-joon chickens out and stays behind at the party by himself. I read a few YA books but so far haven't written reviews of them, although I have featured them in a couple of book round-ups and it is true that some of the books I review are also suitable for older audiences than the primary age range I have focused on previously.Muhammad Khan is a maths teacher in a secondary school in Tooting and takes his inspiration from the children he teaches, as well as his own upbringing as a British-born Pakistani. But I also want to see minority characters allowed to be as flawed and imperfect as their white counterparts without judgement. Ilyas is stuck in detention for a week, thrown together with Kelly Matthews, a girl from a very different background to his.

Refreshingly, when Ilyas meets a kindred spirit in the form of Kelly one day in detention, we don't find ourselves in mismatch-romance territory. Imran is our villain for the novel, and he was the only one that made sense to be terrible the way he is. There were stereotypes that showed a lot about what happens within families but dealing with it and how to fight back.It feels like a real school, the language of the students could be that heard in any secondary school corridor. TWs: racism and racial profiling, sexism, revenge porn, physical violence, emotional abuse, and bullying.

But during their journey, fate befalls on them as they experience an unforgettable incident that would change the course of their lives. Facebook sets this cookie to show relevant advertisements to users by tracking user behaviour across the web, on sites that have Facebook pixel or Facebook social plugin. Muhammad Khan’s teenagers are blisteringly authentic with their street talk and casual nastiness to each other.Bravely tackling issues such as revenge porn and gang affiliation whilst shedding light on British-Pakistani culture and life in a South London school, Muhammad Khan uses the protagonist's love of comic books and art to weave a compelling narrative that many teenagers will identify with and hopefully learn from. The book doesn't seek to resolve the issue of bullying but it offers a tangible alternative of self-respect and if any young person is going through a similar experience of peer pressure etc, they might take comfort in reading Kick the Moon. He’s more interested in drawing than in the prospect of being the one to take over his father’s business in due course, but since his older brother went off to university in the States, that’s what Ilyas’ father is determined he is going to do, whether he likes it or not. In an instant, they fall headlong in love with her as Ju-ran's gleeful smile sweeps them off their feet.

Ilyas’ sister Shaista seemed far too immature to be older than Ilyas, and I found it incredibly disturbing when she chose to blackmail him with a certain video, or that she even recorded it in the first place. There was a lot of mainstream identity politics that works within teenagers of today and having brothers who are slightly older than the MC age but I can see that peer pressure and not wanting to conform with friends can be a big problem for boys. Thankfully, another ray of light comes courtesy of a cool teacher who encourages Ilyas to take his comic book creativity to the wider world.Despite my dislike for the characters, the cultural, religious and diverse representation are commendable, subtle in a way that never feels like it’s forced.