'Friendship, family and finding your way. This book perfectly captures the complex world of being twelve. I loved it.'

'Readers aged 10+ will recognise familiar characters, settings and challenges in this ode to friendship, families and libraries!'

'Every Teacher-Librarian will adore Binks' championing of the role; Leo acknowledges the significance of a caring Teacher-Librarian in a welcoming space, compared to the cold automated checkout machines in his slick new library.'

'This is a tender, nuanced and intricately-woven story of friendship and community. It broke my heart a dozen ways (you WILL need tissues) but is ultimately so full of hope.'

'Danielle has created a loving, supportive cast of characters in this book, that are beautiful and flawed like all of us, and aren’t afraid to own that. I could easily say those who love Nova Weetman, Patrick Ness, Cornelia Funke or even the films of Hayao Miyazaki will thoroughly enjoy this book. It has the perfect blend of so many themes, that are all dealt with so softly and tenderly, that have that nostalgia for something you may not have had, that are just stories about how confusing and hard but joyous growing up can be. It contains multitudes, and a very sweet dog named Rosie.'

'This book has healed me and hurt me so much in just 308 pages and I absolutely adore it. Easily one of my favourite books of this year, if not THE favourite.'

'This is a hopeful, finding-your-way story, that holds a mirror up to realities families are facing across the country ... Turning 12 is a complex age - like standing on the precipice of impactful change. Both Tash and Leo shoulder more than their fair share of pressures as Danielle Binks masterfully weaves in the very real pressures of life today. Social inequality, rising pressures with the rental and cost of living crisis, urban decline and gentrification of streets being defined by developers, addiction and rehabilitation, anxiety and agoraphobia, grief, homeschooling choices, gender identity, illness and unpredictability of treatment … there’s so much in this book that holds a mirror to times we live in now.'

'A beautifully empathetic look into adolescents managing difficult circumstances, Danielle Binks paints this narrative seamlessly.'

'Middle grade at its finest.'

'This book joins others like "All the Little Tricky Things" by Karys McEwen, "The Secrets We Share" and "Sick Bay" by Nova Weetman, "How To Spell Catastrophe" by Fiona Wood, and "The First Summer of Callie McGee" by AL Tait, which appeal so strongly to readers at the end of primary and the start of secondary - and it was excellent to see a young boy carry this story, certainly a rarer feature across this collection. Leo manages to be both intellectually mature and sweetly naive, and I’m sure will win many hearts.'

This is really a book that displays the human condition at its best and worst, and we just love the characters all the more, for it. Both Tash and Leopold are authentic kids who we care deeply about, and they live on long after the book is finished. Fabulously for a YA novel, the conclusion makes you re-open the book at the first page to read again what you have already absorbed – a genuinely brilliant inclusion. Thoroughly recommended.