We also completed another comprehension assessment and she had made so much progress in being able to pick out the key details and infer things from the text. It's set in a tower block community and, though it was written way beforehand, it's hard not to think of Grenfell when reading it, even though the threat in this case doesn't involve fire.

Trapped in his tower block, how can Ade survive as the Bluchers weave their deadly circle around his home? She’s still writing stories and though she doesn’t teach now, she still visit schools … only now they’re all over the country.Luckily a couple of older people in the flats downstairs are left behind as well and so the grim situation lightens, and becomes a team survival challenge. Anchored to his flat by his mum who refuses to leave, he cannot escape, and therefore has to carry on regardless. The following weeks we had structured comprehension tasks to complete (this is a set programme, not planned by me).

I didn't find it to be overly predictable, and the twists in the story always had me genuinely intrigued about what would happen next.But before long anxiety in the community grows to the point where Ade is left to deal with his Mum alone. I first heard about The Boy in the Tower at blogger brunch and when I found it on netgalley had to request it.

I wanted to know more about the plants, the reason for their appearance, and why they did what they did. Well my school teacher is reading it in class and it's really good because it's got a lot of information and it's really deatailed as well. Ho Yen's incredibly moving story follows the brave Ade as his life is turned upside down when buildings start mysteriously falling down in his London town. A whole English teaching sequence linked to the fantastic book Boy In The Tower by Polly Ho-Yen (Short-listed for the Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize and the Blue Peter Book Awards 2015).I was on edge the whole time; but found the pace of the book ideal for young readers particularly with all of the danger unfolding. Due to the sometimes distressing themes you would have to be aware of the children’s backgrounds and experiences to ensure this book was okay for the class.