Can it explain the growing gap between Archie and his dad? The problem isn’t that his dad is gay, it’s that they can’t talk any more. He may just have bettered that claim to fame with his debut, Me, My Dad and the End of the Rainbow (Simon & Schuster, £7.99).Īrchie Albright and his two best friends plan a daring outing to London, armed with a crumpled rainbow flyer for something called Pride. Illustration: Levi Pinfoldīenjamin Dean is BuzzFeed’s celebrity reporter, the source who revealed that Rihanna can’t wink. One of Levi Pinfold’s illustrations for The Last Bear by Hannah Gold.

So tackling the prejudice of the magical world, sorting friend from foe – and rescuing her beloved brother – is all in a summer’s work in this beguiling debut. What’s new here is that Amari is a clever girl from a BAME neighbourhood, continually having to convince the rich racists at her fancy school that she deserves her scholarship. There are trials to pass an evil magician is sowing fear and chaos. Fans of Harry Potter may recognise the scenario: previously unaware of the supernatural world, Amari ends up at magical summer camp, where the others are wary of her. “I’ve never met a grownup who really has been able to sell adulthood to me,” muses Cora, wisely, at one point.Īmari Peters, hero of US author BB Alston’s debut, Amari and the Night Brothers (Egmont, £12.99 hardback), is another girl forced far outside her comfort zone to rescue someone she cares about. Show Us Who You Are (Knights Of, £6.99) is just terrific, an upper-middle-years thriller whose plot never sacrifices nuance. A London tech startup called Pomegranate is perfecting interactive hologram-avatars of people – to comfort the bereaved, they say.Ĭora, 12, is on the autism spectrum, and the company is keen to interview her to better understand psychological diversity. Her second outing is even more imaginative and assured. There always comes a bittersweet day when children must learn that wild animals should not be tamedĮlle McNicoll’s first book, A Kind of Spark, wondered how many non-neurotypical women were swept up in those Scottish witch purges.

Black powder by ally sherrick