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Find out moreWritten by Polly Ho-Yen
Illustrated by Patricia Hu
Part of the Bloomsbury Readers Series
A magical story with real-life questions at its heart
Book Band: Brown Ideal for ages 7+
Polly Ho-Yen’s story presents readers with big questions about life and what’s really important to us. Mae suffers from severe asthma and often needs to make frightening dashes to the hospital with her parents. It’s on one of these occasions that she notices a strange black hole opening – it leads to a parallel universe, one where she doesn’t have asthma. That’s not the only thing that’s different however, and Mae has a decision to make about whether being asthma free is worth the other things that would change. In the new Bloomsbury Readers series, this story is written specifically for children growing reading confidence and understanding, with short chapters and frequent illustrations. The telling is simple, effective and guaranteed to catch and hold children’s attention, while the issues the story raises are complex and important, certain to prompt discussion (and there’s a list of questions to put to children at the end to help with this).
The Bloomsbury Readers series is packed with brilliant books to get children reading independently in Key Stage 2, with book-banded stories by award-winning authors like double Carnegie Medal winner Geraldine McCaughrean and Waterstones Prize winner Patrice Lawrence, covering a wide range of genres and topics.
With charming illustrations and online guided reading notes written by the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE), this series is ideal for reading both in the classroom and at home.
For more information visit www.bloomsburyguidedreading.com.
Thought-provoking contemporary fantasy from best-selling author Polly Ho-Yen.
Mae spends a lot of time in hospitals. She's had asthma since she was little and sometimes she just can't breathe. She was in hospital the very first time she saw the hole - a tear in the universe which seems to appear only to her. Before she knows it she is drawn into a parallel world, where things aren't quite the same...
This powerful fantasy story is full of big ideas and a great way to talk about chronic illness with children. It has beautiful black-and-white illustrations from Patricia Hu throughout, and is ideal for children who are developing as readers.
Thought-provoking and original [...] Another elegantly told story that will give readers lots to think about. - Books for Keeps
| ISBN: | 9781472972576 |
| Publication date: | 9th July 2020 |
| Author: | Polly Ho-Yen |
| Illustrator: | Patricia Hu |
| Publisher: | Bloomsbury Education an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing PLC |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Pagination: | 96 pages |
| Year Groups: | Key Stage 2 |
| Topics: | Body / Health, Family / Home Stories, Personal Social Health Economic , Reading Scheme, Short Stories |
Polly Ho-Yen was born in Northampton and brought up in Buckinghamshire. After working in publishing for several years, she now works as a primary school teacher. Somewhere in between five o'clock in the morning and sitting down in front of a classroom of five-year-olds, Boy in the Tower was written. She lives in South London with her husband and their very vocal cat, Milo.
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