RAUF is the bestselling and multi-award-winning children's author of titles including The Star Outside My Window, The Night Bus Hero, and the Blue Peter Book Award and Waterstones Children's Book Prize-winner The Boy at the Back of the Class. When the food bank starts running low, Nelson breaks his secrecy about breakfast club and his close friends Krish and Harriet are determined to help figure out why donated food isn't reaching the bank and what they can do to make sure it does.

The Great Food Bank Heist by Onjali Q. Raúf The Great Food Bank Heist by Onjali Q. Raúf

I think it's something that a lot of people are unaware of, and that those who do know that there is poverty in this country probably don't realise how bad it is. The illustrations really do add to the story and you can see the expressions on all the characters faces.Nelson is looking after his younger sister after school when she asks him for some food because she’s hungry. Rauf, however, is that even with such a clear intent, the storytelling, character building, and enjoyment of the book makes you connect to the plot and issues and feel the message, not just be told it. I also wish that Onjali can keep writing these meaningful books to raise awareness for all kinds of problems and inequality we face in the UK or even around the globe every day. I love that it shows how the family has food insecurities on a day-to-day basis and how never feeling full affects so much of the characters' attention.

The Great (Food) Bank Heist by Onjali Q. Raúf | Goodreads The Great (Food) Bank Heist by Onjali Q. Raúf | Goodreads

The book is also filled with some great illustrations, an example of which you can see on the book's cover. We hear of families that barely have enough food to live, of children going hungry and worrying about whether or not they're going to eat the next day or not and a lot of people will imagine it happening in third world countries, of distant parts of the world that are different from our own.It tells the story of a single parent who works as much as she can, who loves her children and who will go hungry to ensure they are fed.