Usborne Facts of Life, Growing Up (All about Adolescence, body changes and sex)

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Let’s go on to the third book. Chike and the River by Chinua Achebe. Many of us know Things Fall Apart, but I don’t think as many of us know this, his first children’s story. What made you choose this book?

Eilis Lacey has come of age in small-town Ireland in the years following World War Two. Though skilled at bookkeeping, she cannot find a job in the miserable Irish economy. When an Irish priest from Brooklyn offers to sponsor Eilis in America—to live and work in a Brooklyn neighborhood ‘just like Ireland’—she decides she must go, leaving her fragile mother and her charismatic sister behind.” Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe byBenjamin Alire Sáenz Let’s move on to your final book, Refresh, Refresh by Benjamin Percy. Tell us about this collection of short stories. Culture Trips are deeply immersive 5 to 16 days itineraries, that combine authentic local experiences, exciting activities and 4-5* accommodation to look forward to at the end of each day. Our Rail Trips are our most planet-friendly itineraries that invite you to take the scenic route, relax whilst getting under the skin of a destination. Our Private Trips are fully tailored itineraries, curated by our Travel Experts specifically for you, your friends or your family. The writing is clear, with an easy view between those words to his life's career. It was mild and kept me interested because I'm old and like thinking of the past. I'm not sure this would be interesting enough to someone who wasn't like me (old, thinking of the past) or related to him or the environs in which he was raised. I think, in the West—I’ve been living in America for three and a half years—I think boyhood is changing here of course. Boys tend to develop an almost violent perception of the self while growing up, but the Millennials’ outlook on life is different. The society of today is much more aware of violence and the repercussions of these things, and is much more vocal about it. There is, like never before, awareness about feminism and women’s rights, for example, and what it means to be respectful of one another. Some of those concerns were not there a hundred years ago, and they aren’t even there today in most parts of Africa. So I think in that sense, in the moral sense, there’s a difference in boyhood today in the West.

All About Me topic resources

I wanted to write about what it means to grow up, to have to rely on your older brothers for wisdom and outlook on life.”

Antonio Marez is six years old when Ultima enters his life. She is a curandera, one who heals with herbs and magic. ‘We cannot let her live her last days in loneliness,’ says Antonio’s mother. ‘It is not the way of our people,’ agrees his father. And so Ultima comes to live with Antonio’s family in New Mexico. Soon Tony will journey to the threshold of manhood. Always, Ultima watches over him. She graces him with the courage to face childhood bigotry, diabolical possession, the moral collapse of his brother, and too many violent deaths.” A Quiet Kind of Thunder by Sara Barnard

Set in a middle-class neighborhood in Atlanta in the 1980s, the novel revolves around James Witherspoon’s two families—the public one and the secret one. When the daughters from each family meet and form a friendship, only one of them knows they are sisters. It is a relationship destined to explode when secrets are revealed and illusions shattered.” The Book Thief byMarkus Zusak The thing with the novel that I found surprising was how complex it became when it was done. I set out to do just two or three things with the book, but it became very multi-layered. On the primary level, it’s a family drama. I wanted to write about what it means to grow up, to have to rely on your older brothers for wisdom and outlook on life. But then, once I began, I discovered that I was passionate about other things. Humble, orphaned Pip is apprenticed to the dirty work of the forge but dares to dream of becoming a gentleman—and one day, under sudden and enigmatic circumstances, he finds himself in possession of ‘great expectations.'” A separate Peace by John Knowles