I absolutely love verse novels
Anyone who reads my blog
Knows that my writing is
Often in a poetic style
Rather than straight prose

There are a wealth of
Wonderful verse novels
For young readers
And I think I have found
One of the best
Especially if like me
You love books and
Bookshops
If like me you believe in
The power of books
To do good
To teach us and guide us
Comfort us and inspire us
If you believe that there is
A book for everyone
That the right books will
Find the right person
At just the right time

If like me and Meg Grehan
You believe in book magic
Bookshop magic
And bookshops feel like home
Then this book
The Lonely Book
Is meant for you

This book harpooned my heart
I read it in one train journey
I loved every word of the story
I loved every character
I loved the deep love between
Annie, Charlotte, Mum and Mama
I loved the deep connection between
The family and the bookshop

There is much to unpack in this book
Much to talk about with young readers
Anxiety
Selective mutism
Sign language
How we communicate

Gender identity
Self acceptance
Love in all its many forms
The power of books
And the fact that we cannot always
Fix things for the people that we love
Sometimes loving them and
Supporting them has to be enough

The Lonely Book
Is written in flowing free verse
From the perspective of Annie
A young girl with anxiety and
Selective mutism
Annie lives above the family bookshop
With her Moms and sister, Charlie
The family love one another
Fiercely but tenderly
They are always there for one another
And they have special family
Routines and rituals

Their bookshop is filled with their love
And the shop loves them back
Their magical bookshop helps the family
And it helps them to match
Brilliant and beautiful books
To their perfect reader

Every morning when the shop opens
There is a stack of new books
Waiting to be united with
Their perfect reader
The readers who needs them most

One day a book is left
One lonely book
Is left unbought

The family are confused
The shop is unsettled
And everything falls into disarray
Who is the book meant for?
And why have they not come
To the bookshop?

While anxiety builds about
The lonely book
Annie is also worried
About the shop
After seeing her Mama
With a book about money
Is their future in the shop
In trouble?

The mysterious book
Is about gender
When Annie asks her Mama
About the book
Readers share the
Wonderful explanation
Annie is given
About gender
And what it means
Mama tells Annie
And readers
The meaning of transgender and
Non- binary
She explains how we all identify differently
That there is no right or wrong way to be
We are all different
Part of a spectrum
A while beautiful rainbow of gender identities
Of possibilities
Of selves

After reading The Lonely Book
I feel so much more secure in
My own understanding of gender identity
And I want my children to read this book
So that they do understand
The gender spectrum
I want the to understand pronouns
So that they are able to honour and
Respect people’s choices

This book will help children see
That people are amazing

“We can be so many things
Express ourselves in so many ways
There’s more to gender
People who are both
People who are neither
People who feel one way one day
And differently the next”

The Lonely Book
Will make many people feel seen
Will help us all understand
The people we meet in our daily lives
Help us to have empathy for others
To be kind to others
This is a book for anyone who has ever
Sought comfort, confirmation, companionship
In the pages of a book

The Lonely Book
Celebrates the power and magic of books
To help us be better human beings
This books is a celebration of family love
Of being who we are are
Of being honest and open
True to ourselves
A story of supporting those we love
And helping one another though
New and tough times
A tale that reminds us
We are all brave and strong
Vulnerable and kind

We are all made of love

This book is EVERYTHING
And I know that it is one
I will read over and over again
A book of books
An empowering read

I wish I could do justice to
Meg Grehan’s words
With mine
But I can’t
So you must read
The Lonely Book
For yourself