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The Harder They Fall by Bali Rai (view source)
Revision as of 11:06, 12 April 2017
, 11:06, 12 April 2017no edit summary
And it feels very real. Cal might not need food banks but he does know what it feels like to be bullied. Most children will know what it's like to end up at the wrong end of a particular social pecking order at school and this part of the story was equally well-handled. All three of the protagonists here are superheroes if you ask me. I'd like to meet them in real life! I think the most important thing here, though, is that literature has the strongest power to build empathy I know. It will always be a tool of resistance.
''The Harder They Fall'' is part of Barrington Stoke's ''super-readable'' range. This means it It comes in with a low word count, carefully-selected font, double-spaced text, and is printed on thick, non-glare paper. This makes it suitable for both dyslexic and reluctant readers. But don't think this makes it in any way ''simple''. It has a complex thematic depth and fans of the current vogue for short, sharp fiction - even those who like the flash fiction format - will love it too. Barrington Stoke puts the reading age at 13+ but, a single, fairly chaste kiss and and an off-page encounter with a bully's violence aside, there's nothing in here that I'd be afraid to allow a younger child to read.
Recommended.