Smoke and Mirrors – at a glance
The School Reading Lists’ five word review: Illusion and reality, responsibilities and relationships.
Children’s book title: Smoke and Mirrors.
Children’s author: Barry Jonsberg.
Genre: Children’s / teen fiction.
Published by: Allen and Unwin Children’s.
ISBN: 9781761180750.
Recommended for children aged: 10-14 year-olds.
First published: Paperback May 2024.
This children’s book is ideal for: Pre-teen and younger teens struggling to find their place in the world.
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Our review:
Smoke and Mirrors would be an ideal issues fiction title to use with Y6 students around transition, or across KS3 classes—either in English lessons or in PSHE discussions. It opens up important topics of conversation for this age group: belonging, friendships, judgments around difficult family circumstances, ill health, being a young carer, and more. However, it also manages to intersperse these matters with relatable, everyday teen life, ensuring broader appeal.
This story tells of Grace, who is naturally awkward and unsure with her peers but is further burdened by an unstable home life and her most critical support being threatened with ill health. The nature of her relationship with her own mum is complex, raising issues around addiction, but Grace has a sound relationship with her grandmother. Until, perhaps a little predictably, her grandmother’s health declines, forcing Grace to confront the plethora of other relationships in her life that she has possibly neglected.
Mixed amongst the heavier content of this title is Grace’s relationship with magic and, also, with Simon. This combination of influences means that it would be possible to have some mature and important conversations with young people about the topics raised, and also about wider values such as empathy, compassion, and tolerance. Yet, it would also be possible to share other extracts without the need for in-depth discussion—broadening the book’s use beyond the classroom and giving it a place on the shelves of any pre-teen or KS3 lending library. It certainly is a credible addition to this category, when often the content or the language can be too hard-hitting for children just navigating their way into their teenage years. That said, for schools with very strict policies around language, it is necessary to be aware that there are a few instances of low-level colourful language.
Smoke and Mirrors could help some individuals see themselves and their lives reflected in the books on offer to them at school, and this is a title worth stocking.
Our verdict:
Smoke and Mirrors is a credible title for Y6 or KS3 pupils with challenging home lives, who would derive comfort from seeing their own lives reflected in literature; equally well-placed as a title for opening up class discussion around the issues raised.
Teaching resources:
Many thanks to Allen and Unwin Children’s for the review copy.
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If you like Smoke and Mirrors by Barry Jonsberg you might also like: What the World Doesn’t See by Mel Darbon, The Final Year by Matt Goodfellow, Away With Words by Sophie Cameron, The Swifts by Beth Lincoln and The Blue Book of Nebo by Manon Steffan Ros.
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