💛 So… the systematic practice of sentencing (sentencing?!) children to imprisonment and a lifetime of ostracization. Not the lightest of subjects, I think you’ll agree. And yet this book did it in the most endearing way possible: Through the eyes of a child. This provided some levity in the way only a kid’s thoughts can, but also a stark contrast between complete innocence and mind-bending cruelty. Consider me fascinated, moved and not a little angry.

💙 The child in question is Mary Margaret. She is, quite frankly, adorable. I believe it was Marge Simpson who once said, “I wouldn’t mind tucking that in at night” and that definitely applies here. Intelligent, funny, thoughtful, amenable, but ultimately her own person, I loved spending time with her thoughts.

🤎 I felt echoes of the film, Sleepers (1996). Admittedly that was even darker than this, but there are lots of parallels. Too young to remember that one? Okay, well there’s also Never Let Me Go (2005), a book and a film and also with lots of similarities. I highly recommend both by the way.

🧡 And if 2005 is too far back for you… I just… I need a minute.