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A review by mollfie
Boy Underwater by Adam Baron
4.0
A genuinely funny and touching book. I would suggest that it is more suitable for ages 11+, depending on the child because the subject matter is quite heavy for younger readers.
Cymbeline switches between being a silly, naive nine year old, and being mature, insightful and empathetic which in my experience is true of children who have had to deal with difficulty from an early age. I loved his little jokes and observations, but in contrast I felt that sometimes his friends leant a little too far one way or the other. Veronique felt cartoonish in her genius at times, such as when at the uncle’s office, but it did add humour.
For a book about death and mental illness the story was often funny and light-hearted. The illustrations and use of bold text to emphasis points, humour and emotions were brilliant.
I thoroughly enjoyed Underwater Boy and would recommend it to anyone looking for a funny, boy centred book that examines the impact of mental health and death on a young child. It’s a tough subject matter and while I do feel that the ending was a little hand waving in it’s explanation, we do need to promote more books that tackle such subjects. Especially for boys.
I would have liked the book to go a little deeper in terms of what was wrong and how to deal with this so as to help better equip young readers who may be going through something similar.
Cymbeline switches between being a silly, naive nine year old, and being mature, insightful and empathetic which in my experience is true of children who have had to deal with difficulty from an early age. I loved his little jokes and observations, but in contrast I felt that sometimes his friends leant a little too far one way or the other. Veronique felt cartoonish in her genius at times, such as when at the uncle’s office, but it did add humour.
For a book about death and mental illness the story was often funny and light-hearted. The illustrations and use of bold text to emphasis points, humour and emotions were brilliant.
I thoroughly enjoyed Underwater Boy and would recommend it to anyone looking for a funny, boy centred book that examines the impact of mental health and death on a young child. It’s a tough subject matter and while I do feel that the ending was a little hand waving in it’s explanation, we do need to promote more books that tackle such subjects. Especially for boys.
I would have liked the book to go a little deeper in terms of what was wrong and how to deal with this so as to help better equip young readers who may be going through something similar.