Jaden sat on the floor, holding on to a half loaf of unsliced bread. He switched his lamp on and off, the bedroom lighting up and darkening over and over. Electricity had always relaxed him. For sure it was the most amazing thing about America. He bit off the biggest chunk of bread that could fit in his mouth. It was sourdough, which he liked because it was so chewy. Kerry Hayes is a single mother trying to earn a living house cleaning for people, because the job fits around her having a child at nursery school. I defy you not to shed a tear at this beautiful story... a touching and life-affirming read. * Prima *

As the adoptive mother of four internationally children, all of whom were placed with me at about the same age Jaden was placed, I have very divided opinions about this book. Yes .. it shows a journey to love. I would (perhaps) have preferred the story to be in Jaden's voice. (Who is clearly very bright and who speaks excellent English after 4 years in America.) But the picture of international adoption didn't work for me. His parents, for example, are still dealing with a child showing habits (e.g. food hoarding) which usually disappear after 4-6 months after placement, and desires to set fires (yes, he's in counseling for this.) He lies. OK. But ... they leave a 12-year-old with these issues (among others) alone in a new country? And even at the "orphanage" - they let him play with the toddlers without supervision? (Although they do ask him to join them in "bonding with the baby." Ask?) So this was all Steve’s idea. Jaden didn’t answer. He shook off the bitterness and stared out the side window at the rain falling hard on front lawns, at porch lamps lighting up the houses. It was hard to believe that this lit-up neighborhood existed on the same planet that he’d lived on before. If—if—he decided to go to college, he would study electricity, which he’d done a science project on at school. He’d hooked up a cocoon so that a tiny light would go on every time the future moth moved inside the cocoon. Then, when it was born, a bell would ring. He’d gotten his only A ever on that project. He didn’t get an A for the class, though. He got a C. That was because the only thing that interested him was electricity. The voice of Jaden, the main character is sweet, wonderful and completely authentic. I think this book was extremely well done in the way it handled the very real experiences of adoptees and their well-intentioned parents. Jaden didn’t even answer. He couldn’t sit on a side. Period. “I won’t ride in the car anymore,” he said. “I’ll ride my bicycle everywhere.” He felt bitterness well up inside himself, moving up from his stomach to his mouth, and he gagged slightly. He knew he was overreacting, but he couldn’t help it. Flying half way round the world, he is furious, scared and hurting. The process in Kazakhstan is not going smoothly and the parents are not given the baby promised to them. Instead, they are shown children who are biologically deformed, and/or gravely challenged.

This is the story of Kerry and Noah, two siblings separated when they were taken from their mother in early childhood. I am an adoptive mom who thinks this book should be required for any parent wanting to adopt internationally, because the challenges Jaden faces are not rare, but quite normal, and any adoption agency that claims it's rare is full of crap. I also think this book would an excellent addition to 3rd-6th grade reading lists alongside The Great Gilly Hopkins by katherine Patterson, as it gives a real glimpse into the heart of kids who've lost family and have to deal with the trauma of a new family on top of losing the first one.

Kerry Hayes is single mum, living on a tough south London estate. She provides for her son by cleaning houses she could never afford. Taken into care as a child, Kerry cannot forget her past. Steve had just gotten home from work, so he was wearing a suit and tie. His suits were all slightly too small because he’d gained weight recently. “I hear you didn’t go to school. Whatcha been up to all day?” Steve asked Jaden.I too” was exactly the kind of thing Steve said. “Perhaps” for “maybe,” “distressed” for “upset,” and so on. He was a word nerd. Jaden is a 12 year old and was adopted at the age of 8. He is a very difficult child and from the looks of it, and not a very happy one either. He steals and has a tendency to hoard things. He has also went through a phase where he set things on fire. None of this, however, portrays him as unlikeable because Jaden is very much likeable. His heartbreak really gets to you. He refuses to love his parents because of this deep-seated fear (that he himself probably doesn’t realize) that they’ll leave him just like his birth mother did. You can see his constant internal struggle to accept his adoptive parents and let go of his fear and his anger towards them. Jaden was adopted at the age of 8. Now at 12, his adoptive parents decides to adopt a new baby. He and his parents are travelling to Kazakhstan to meet the new member of their family. The problem is the baby is already adoptive by other family when they arrived. They end up choosing another baby. Meanwhile, Jaden meets a 3-year old boy and he starts to bond with him.

He got up and followed her through the house. It was a nice enough house, but not his house. He didn’t have a house. Never had—he’d only thought he had one. His mother, the only person he figured he’d ever loved, had given him up. He refused to feel love again, ever. Every day all he wanted to do was cry. He hated school, sitting there like a soldier in the army. He hated home, with Penni always trying to get through to him. He wished she would ignore him more. This is the first book I have ever read or listened to by Mike Gayle and immediately upon finishing it I used up my Audible credits and bought The Man I Think I Know and All The Lonely People.Without a doubt Mike Gayle's best book, and I've read them all, and its such a powerful but heartbreaking story,

How have I not read a Mike Gayle book before? I want to give this book all of the starts in the universe. I cried my eyes out at the end. It is touching, heart-wrenching and thought-provoking.‘ Netgalley What an involving, captivating, heart-rending story. Some books fade from the memory but I know I'm never going to forget these characters - they feel like my own family. (Jill Mansell)

This is my second novel by Mike Gayle having recently read The Man I Think I Know which I also enjoyed. I love the ease of Mike Gayle books, they are well written, well rounded characters that the reader can connect with and a plot that is thought provoking and entertaining. I write picture books, novels for young kids and also novels for slightly older readers. I've done a book about writing and also a small amount of writing for television: Bananas in Pyjamas and Magic Mountain. It isn’t easy, it is heart-wrenching, but, oh, is it worth reading. I can’t recommend this book highly enough.‘ Vine