Aniyah believes that the people with the brightest hearts never truly disappear. They become stars. When scientists discover a new star acting strangely, Aniyah knows it’s really her mum. To make sure everyone else knows, too, she embarks on the adventure of a lifetime–one that involves breaking into the Royal Observatory of London, and meeting the biggest star in Hollywood. She was named as one of the BBC 100 Women, a list and multi-format series of 100 inspiring and influential women from around the world, for 2019. [19] In December 2019 she talked about "Why children are our most powerful hope for change" at TEDxLondonWomen event. [20] I have even talked the head into a little revamp of the library so that we can display them properly!

Ten-year-old Aniyah and her little brother Noah have been put into the care of firm-but-kind Mrs Iwuchukwu. They're not exactly sure what has happened to Mum, only that she has disappeared and the police have brought them to Oxford, far away their home in London.Why children are our most powerful hope for change/Onjali Rauf/TEDxLondonWomen". YouTube. 6 January 2020 . Retrieved 18 November 2021. Reading this as an adult was probably quite a different experience to that of the target audience. Much is hinted at and the details are sparse, but they offer enough to firmly place you on the side of these kids and others like them. Armistice Day: A Collection of Remembrance - Spark Interest and Educate Children about Historical Moments

And people with the biggest, brightest hearts never end up in the ground. They end up in the sky.’ Onjali Q. Raúf There are some books that feel so personal because you relate so much to certain experiences of the protagonist and this was one such for me. The loss of a parent as a young child, is a permanent feeling of being cheated that never really goes away even if you learn to bear the pain and move on. For 10 yo Aniyah and her 5 yo kid brother Noah, it is so much worse because of the way their mother was taken away from them before they were placed in foster care. Her 2021 Barrington Stoke publication, The Great (Food) Bank Heist (illustrations by Elisa Paganelli), was a child's perspective on food poverty in the UK. [21]LoveReading4Kids exists because books change lives, and buying books through LoveReading4Kids means you get to change the lives of future generations, with 25% of the cover price donated to schools in need. Join our community to get personalised book suggestions, extracts straight to your inbox, 10% off RRPs, and to change children’s lives. On her tenth birthday, Aniyah makes a wish -- a wish for her mum. After school that same day, Aniyah and her brother are rushed out of school and driven far, far away. Aniyah and her little brother Noah are suddenly placed in foster care, after something happened to their Mum. The details of how they got here are hazy, and what happened are missing from her memory, but Aniyah knows her mother has become a star, to watch over them from the skies above. Throughout the novel, Aniyah is obsessed with the stars and is set on becoming a Star Hunter (that's an astronomer in boring adult-speak) when she grows up. Her mum once told her that the people with the biggest hearts go on to become stars in the sky watching over everyone, so when Aniyah hears a bang and later learns that her mum isn't around anymore, she's certain that her mum has gone to live up in the sky as a star. It's a beautifully poetic metaphor that masks the true circumstances of Aniyah's mum's passing without diminishing the raw emotions of loss and grief that both Aniyah and her younger brother Noah are going through. In this second part of the Street Heroes series, Layburn challenges his readers to examine serious issue of ethics and political morality.

If you have any 9+ aged child in your life, give them a hug and give them this book. And you yourself don't forget to read it. Keep tissues handy. I was looking forward to reading this book but I have unfortunately had to unhaul it due to Onjali's transphobic views that were made very clear during a speech she did in 2019, which you can read the transcript for here: https://womansplaceuk.org/2019/10/01/...What Aniyah recalls about her life before raises the ugly sceptre of domestic violence;a truth that she is too young to understand but one that as adult readers we can. Holding onto the belief that her mother's heart has turned into a star is all that Aniyah has and so when she hears of the new, unique star that is moving across the sky and is so special that a competition is being held to find a name for it, she is convinced that it is her mother looking out for her and Noah and that the star must be named for her mother. To make sure this happens, she sets out on an adventure to London with Ben and Travis, two other foster kids at the home.

Aniyah and her brother, Noah, have gone to live with Mrs I and the children she fosters. We know very little about their circumstances but can glean something major has happened. Both are traumatised by their experiences and talk of their mum becoming a star hint at what might have happened. Hello Yellow - 80 Books to Help Children Nurture Good Mental Health and Support With Anxiety and Wellbeing - The book which is told in the voice of Aniyah is written in a very simple language which is apt for the kids. Even though the telling is from a 10 year old’s perspective, the author makes sure to bring in serious issues like domestic abuse and parental death in a way that kids would process it. All the characters Aniyah, Ben, Travis and Noah have been sketched beautifully and reader would end up thinking wanting to have friends like Ben and Travis who support you whole heartedly without a hint of doubt. The best of all is the foster mum Mrs. Iwuchukwu. It’s hard to find people that loving when it comes to foster kids. I haven’t yet introduced this book to my class, and I think the way I will use it depends on what children I have at the time. I would not use the book for whole-class reading or for teaching about domestic abuse; I think it’s too sensitive a topic which needs to be covered very carefully, and a novel isn’t the best medium for such delicate teaching. As a book for my reading area though, it’s great. I hope no child ever goes through what Aniyah went through, but if a child in my class ever does go through a similar situation, then I hope it might enable them to seek help. ThemesFollowing the disappearance of her mum, 10-year-old Aniyah suddenly finds herself living in foster care. With her life in disarray, she knows just one thing for sure: her mum isn't gone for ever. Because people with the brightest hearts never truly leave. They become stars. A parallel volume to Doherty’s powerful 2009 story set in the 1860s around Jim Jarvis, Dr Barnado’s inspiration for the orphanages he set up. There is a huge range of emotions portrayed in the story through the main characters, from Aniyah and Noah’s total fear when they first arrive, to the excitement of planning their adventure with Travis and Ben to visit her mum’s star and ensure it’s given the right name. The physical and psychological effects of trauma are also shown, when Aniyah cannot speak or eat, with her throat feeling like it is closed, and Noah wetting the bed, along with Aniyah forgetting what really happened when she lost her mum for quite a long time after the event. This could lead to discussions about emotions and mental health with Year 6 children. Khan, Coco (1 May 2019). "Onjali Rauf: 'My mother said publishing was a white world, but I should always try' ". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077 . Retrieved 29 June 2020.