Reviews

Windrush Child by Benjamin Zephaniah

heatherfrances's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

amiralikestoread's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I love how diverse it is and it tells a great story! It is a sad book but it tells a story about something people should know about :)

vickksx's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

emily_hunn's review

challenging emotional inspiring sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This was my year 5 classes reading book for the half term! We loved reading the story and the children got so invested in the characters and their story.

It was such a powerful, hard hitting book and I loved enjoying it along with the children. 

clairewilsonleeds's review

4.0

Great book - read in 2 sittings. Looking forward to doing this with y7.

claresbookshelf's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

4.25 out of 5

An absolute gutpunch of a book.
It genuinely made me want to cry.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Death of parent

hajfree14's review

challenging emotional sad

3.5

emma_paterson's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

bookishlou's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

"all that for tea and cakes" Leonard Said. 

We meet Leonard living in the small village of Maroon in Jamaica with his mum and Grandma. His dad had gone away on the Empire Windrush to find work, when Leonard was a baby. Leonard believes until he is 10 that his father will return, but he and his mum board another ship and travel to England to live with his Dad. 

We follow Leonard as he goes to school, and grows into a man with a family of his own.  You follow his struggles to fit it, his attacks from racists, his love for his mum, and in the end his dad. You see him become a man that is proud to be who he is. The book really pulled me into thinking we would get a happy ending. 

The ending is heartbreaking, you can feel his pain, as he is hauled away like a criminal and we leave Leonard in a detention center cell waiting to be sent back to Jamaica.

It is shocking to me that this isn't just a work of fiction, and that people were treated like Leonard at the end. 

This is a book everyone needs to read, adult or child. 

waxwwing's review

emotional informative inspiring sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0