I love how there are two perspectives and we get to see the story through Dan’s eyes, who has some serious anger issues and misses his brother a lot.

Once forced together, these two sworn enemies discover that there is much more to each other than they ever knew. Then the boys’ mums arrange for them to meet up and finish building the raft that Dan started with his brother. As time goes by with the boys working together on the raft, a new empathy begins to develop and their relationship begins to grow, albeit shaped by a mixture of tension, confusion and developing compassion.

It’s a fantastic independent book seller that will actually be responsive and select appropriate books for you. An exciting depiction of how pre-teen relationships, no matter how tough, are always filled with sincerity, tenderness, and warmth--something that might be difficult to find in our adult days. Social relationships, school, bullying, personal struggles, and all of the expectations from the adults that we have to meet are several things that take up a massive portion during that period of our lives. Having a child with OCD mustn’t be easy and to see how the mother and father both react to Alex’s disease was fascinating to me.

The book could also open some important classroom discussions about the complexities of bullying and its effects. While Alex fights his OCD and his bullies, Dan fights his loneliness and all the anger that he seems to have inside him now. One notable aspect of this novel is the growth between the two characters, not just as friends, but understanding each other. You rather feel like Alex as he watches and waits for Dan, Sophie and the Georges to turn their collective gaze upon him. It could help people understand exactly why Alex is so unusual and also why Dan is so mean a lot of the time.

When given the chance to really see each other, our differences become just a small part of who we really are. I feel like the bad guys take so long to get caught and punished that the author felt to me like they were almost encouraging bullying.

You guys are such a force for good and I am a passionate supporter of Indie booksellers, so I'm so happy this worked out well (I'd love to know how many books were sold if you have it to hand - it felt like quite a lot! I’m not sure that in the early years a child could actually describe empathy, more that it comes out in their own behaviours and I’m pretty sure some of the great middle grade books are promoting this.The last thing he wants (and the last thing Alex wants) is for “that weird kid at school” to come and mess it up for him. Ross Welford, author of Time Travelling with a Hamster 'I loved it' Lisa Thompson, author of The Goldfish BoyThere are two sides to every story Dan is angry.

Much to the dislike of both boys, the mums arrange for the pair to spend time together at the weekends building a raft. If you are at Primary or Secondary school, please use it to think about your own lives and those of your fellow schoolmates and I hope there is something in the book that we can all learn from. This section included advice on OCD, exam stress, anxiety, depression and bullying, and I suddenly thought, god, the pressures we put our kids under these days. Children can often be very black and white about bullying - this book will help teachers and parents explore with children the possible causes of a bully’s behaviour.Dan is consumed by rage after his brother left, and unable to deal with his emotions he torments Alex, honing in on his weaknesses and taking out his pain on him.