We Are All Made of Molecules, by Susin Nielsen

We Are All Made of Molecules is an excellent feel-good book. I read it very quickly because the story was so compelling and the characters so full of life.

Stewart and Ashley are not related, but they’re about to become brother and sister: Stewart’s dad is moving in with Ashley’s mum. Stewart’s always wanted a sister; Ashley has most definitely never wanted a brother. Stewart is extremely smart but not great at making friends; Ashley is more interested in maintaining her position at the top of the social ladder than schoolwork. Stewart’s mum died a while back and he misses her like crazy; Ashley’s father moved out after announcing he is gay and she can’t believe he spent all her life lying to her. This new family that’s being created is going to be interesting. Very interesting.

We Are All Made of Molecules reminded me at times of both Lara Williamson’s wonderful A Boy Called Hope and Holly Goldberg Sloan’s insightful Counting by 7s – but with it’s own special je ne se quoi of course. The characters are lovely, and grow brilliantly through the story – Stewart has so much to offer with his intelligence and his little insights into the world, while the changes Ashley goes through are equally as affirming.

Each chapter alternates between Stewart’s and Ashley’s viewpoints and Susin Nielsen has created two very distinct voices for each of them. Stewart is sweet and innocent, and so good-hearted. He’s decided to leave his old, exclusive school ‘Little Genius Academy’ and join Ashley’s high school. He’s not exactly clueless about the social mores, and it’s not that he doesn’t care what other people think of him – he does – it’s more that his idea of what makes him appear cool is skewed compared to Ashley’s. Can he find a way to fit in and make friends?

Ashley is hilarious – she doesn’t mean to be, but when she gets her words mixed up it’s hard for everyone not to laugh: she can’t wait, for instance, to be 16 so she can get ‘unconstipated’ (emancipated). At the start of the story she comes across as brattish and spoilt, but she knows what’s what, really, I think; it’s just that she’s so entirely focused on maintaining her social standing that her morals and empathic ability have been cast by the wayside. The question is, if she lets go of her anger and her fears, can she find what she’s lost?

And what happens when gorgeous Jared, the new boy at school, is added to the mix? Is he sent from heaven or is he just a school bully? He’s going to tangle things up even more, that’s for sure, and adds that extra, explosive quality to the story…

This is a tricky book to classify though: it’s sort of grown-up middle grade / young teen – very approachable for older middle grade readers, but some of the things that take place are more teen orientated. Jared, for instance, exerts a certain level of sexual pressure on Ashley that some parents might feel inappropriate for younger readers. Kim Slater’s Smart straddles a similar sort of boundary, and I think there’s an argument that we need more of them – readers, after all, can’t really be classified either. Personally, I would highly recommend We Are Made of Molecules to everyone and anyone aged maybe 11 to 100! It really hit the mark - or, as Stewart would say: it's quality.

Now I need to go and get two t-shirts made: one with the book's title and one that says,

"Always be yourself. Unless you can be a unicorn. Then always be a unicorn."

Think I'm a little odd? Well, you'll just have to read the book then…

A Boy Called Hope, by Lara Williamson

A Boy Called Hope is a really lovely family story that is smart, funny, warm and, of course, full of hope. It is Dan Hope’s story, following his struggles to track down his absentee dad, but along the way there are misunderstandings galore, a word ninja, a dog that will eat literally anything, an eco fashion concert thingymajig, dreams forged and broken, family lost and family gained. Lara Williamson’s writing is witty and natural, and she seems to tune in beautifully to this eleven year old boy’s mind and heart, giving clarity to both his emotions and those of the family and friends around him. It’s impossible not to be drawn into the story and root for a happy ending.

Dan Hope’s dad left four years ago; he, his mum, and his big sister Ninja Grace haven’t seen hide nor hair of him since. Until he turns up on their T.V. one evening. Dan has a mental list of wishes, including not only to become the youngest person to land on the moon and for Grace to move to the North Pole, but also for his dad to love him.  So when Dan’s dad shows up on the TV, Dan launches Operation Baskerville (aka Operation Meeting Dad). From emailing him and tracking down his new house to posing as a work experience student at the T.V. company, Dan will try anything to talk to his dad. But what if his father doesn’t want to be found? What will Dan do then?

Fortunately, Dan has plenty of people on his side: his best friend Jo, new friend Christopher, mum’s boyfriend Big Dave. His sister is looking out for him too in her own unique, angry way – because, of course, she’s been hurt pretty bad by their dad too. And they’re both trying to look out for their mum. Dan is pretty adept at making ten out of two plus two, so jumps to all sorts of conclusions during the story – like why Big Dave has a tattoo saying “Caroline 1973” on his arm and why there’s a pregnancy test in the bathroom waste bin. He never gives up hope, though, never giving up, like when he and Christopher get into a fight, or when he hears nothing from his dad.

Both the story and Lara Williamson’s writing are very engaging, laugh out loud funny in places and heartbreaking in others. There’s a bit of a shock with one of the characters at the end, which really surprised me because I’m not sure it entirely fits with the direction of the story up until that point, but (a) that’s life isn’t it? And (b) I can see that it was a good way to enable Dan to sort things out and for Williamson to draw the book to a close in a way that allows Dan to reach an emotional equilibrium.

A Boy Called Hope was a really lovely read, and a great book for the 9-12 (“middle grade”) bracket. I will definitely be looking out for her next book in 2015, The Boy Who Sailed the Ocean in an Armchair, which sounds like it’ll hit all the same marks as her debut.