Tag Cath Howe

My Life on Fire

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My Life on Fire
Cath Howe
Nosy Crow

Ren, her mum, dad and younger brother Petie arrive home after spending an evening with friends and discover their house ablaze. The fire-brigade tell them it can’t be saved; “we’re so lucky” say her parents, “we’re all OK. That’s all that matters.” But what about all those toys, books, photographs and other things that make a house a home; they’ve all gone up in flames.

Having spent the first night in a B&B, the family moves in with Gran but she only has one spare room. This the children use but their parents occupy a caravan in the driveway. Nothing feels right: Mum and Dad are busy trying to keep their business going while also making an insurance claim and Gran (an ex headteacher) has lots of rules she expects the children to keep.
All of this makes Ren feel very stressed, even more so when she overhears snippets of conversations between her parents. Then Petie starts getting upset at night over the fact that Mr Softie is missing and wanting big sister to tell him stories about his beloved teddy. 

This adds to the pressure on Ren and realising she really doesn’t have a life any longer, sad and angry, she starts stealing again, mostly small items from people at school.

Enter Caspar, the second of the book’s narrators. He is in Ren’s class and is enthusiastically involved in the class project ‘My Life in a Box’ that is underway when Ren returns to school. He also lives not far from Ren’s gran and so when she and Caspar’s dad decide to share getting the children to and from school, they find themselves spending much more time together. Almost inevitably he discovers what his friend is up to and is shocked that she can be thieving. He is determined to help Ren return all the items she has taken and stashed away. What will be the outcome of his endeavours?

The way Cath Howe tells the story from two viewpoints is superbly done; one cannot help but feel for both characters, each of whom feels things deeply. Engrossing and thought-provoking, with themes of sharing problems, friendship, taking responsibility for one’s actions and the importance of family, this is another powerful piece of writing from an author who gets better and better.

The Insiders

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The Insiders
Cath Howe
Nosy Crow

This is another unmissable, wise, heartwarming story from Cath Howe; a tale of friendship, family and insecurity. It revolves around close friends Callie, Ted, Zara and Nico who are almost like family to one another, as well as Billy, with the action being narrated by Callie, Ted and Billy, three very different characters.
Callie’s mum is child-minder to her three friends until to cut back on expenses for his own mother, Ted declares he no longer needs a child-minder, little realising how much he’ll miss his pals. Then he’s humiliated during their class assembly by the very annoying Billy and becomes even more distant from the others, feeling and holding onto the pain of the torment in his mind long afterwards.

After school, an envious Ted now looks on from his hiding place next door, Callie finds a gap under the fence in her back garden leading through to the school playground and he watches as she and some of the others squeeze through to investigate, and see a light in the building. That light has been switched on by Billy whose mother is away for a few days holiday and who, having received a less than warm welcome from his father’s new family, in particular his bullying step-sister, has decided to camp out in school to await his mum’s return. When Callie discovers she can get into the school building and finds Billy hiding out, she is drawn into keeping his secret. Can she keep it until his mother is back and if not what will happen?

Ted, now overwhelmed by jealousy definitely makes matters worse by acting in a very unkind manner: with all these changes having taken place, friendships are being tested to their utmost limits.

It feels as though Cath Howe can get right inside the heads of her characters, so empathetic is her writing. As it says on the cover of this unputdownable book, “Sometimes keeping things inside is dangerous’; so many misunderstandings and misinterpretations could have been avoided or sorted out through talking.

Highly recommended for older primary readers either individually or as a class read. If the latter, there’s a wealth of creative potential offered by this superb book.