Kitty. The worst character in the entire book. I disliked her from the beginning. I kept calling her Little Miss I should take a hint, but what is a hint? Nate clearly tells her off a few times yet she keeps on coming to him, even barging into the cottage a few times (which made more sense later on but still pissed me off). Sjeesh girl, learn some basic politeness and also get the effing hint. :| She was just soooo clingy. I also love that Lisa creates awareness of ‘taboo’ subjects in her books such as mental health, hard home life’s , loosing someone or parents separating and gives children the chance to be able to relate, feel less alone, understand and break down the barriers of these generally skirted around subjects that effect all of us in our lives at some point. The Goldfish Boy was Lisa Thompson’s bestselling debut that hit shelves early last year. It has since been nominated for a number of children’s book awards, including The CILIP Carnegie Medal 2018 and The Waterstones Children’s Book Prize. January saw the publication of her second novel, The Light Jar.

The whole story is full of suspense and mystery, And there is much darker thoughts. Did Nate's mom abandoned him in the house all alone? What about the boyfriend, what has he done? The part where Nate meets Sam, Nate‘s old imaginary friend. At first, Nate doesn’t believe that he’s there by the end he realizes that maybe he is there and it’s just a fantastic friendship between them. And there is a part that I want to spoil but I won’t because I want you guys actually to enjoy the book because it’s great!I thought this book was really gripping. I managed to read it in about a day. I loved it! At the beginning, it was really scary and I thought I might not like the book. I think that if you read it and do not like the beginning much, you would need to carry on and read some more. De spanning wordt opgebouwd: want komt Fiona terug, overleeft Nathan alleen in het tuinmanhuisje, komt Gary erachter waar ze zijn, ziet hij zijn oma weer, viert hij zijn verjaardag alleen? Lees zelf hoe dit verhaal verdergaat. Op het eind wordt alles duidelijk, ook de gloed rondom de vriendschappen en het belang van een lichtpuntje in donkere situaties. Nate is 12 years old and living with his mom. He is afraid of the dark and his mom made him a light jar as a night light. But comfort can come from the most unexpected of places – a mysterious girl trying to solve the clues of a treasure hunt and the reappearance of an old friend from his past.

I was over the moon to get my hands on an advance copy of The Light Jar, having been mesmerised, gripped and moved by Lisa Thompson’s wonderful debut novel, The Goldfish Boy, in January last year. The Goldfish Boy is now passed eagerly from child to child in my library, with cries of: “You have to read this!” The parts were Nate tells us about Gary, about his life before he ended up at the cottage. Those parts were really interesting, they pulled me in, I wanted to know more about his life, about Gary (and how terrible he was/is), about his mum. Everything! These parts were the best out of the entire book. And I wouldn't have minded if the whole book was about them.When Mum heads off for provisions, and then doesn’t return, Nate is left alone and afraid, with the dark closing in all around him. De Nachtlantaarn is een met zorg vormgegeven boek. Een aansprekende en opvallende omslag, een mooie binnenkant van de omslag en boven ieder hoofdstuk een bijpassende illustratie. In een prettig lezend lettertype, fijn papier, niet te lange hoofdstukken en voldoende dialoog, leest dit boek vlot weg door de prettige schrijfstijl. Leuk detail: in het verhaal staan diverse ‘waanzinnige weetjes’. The Freaky book thing. I just didn't care about those, if anything they also interrupted at times when it was just getting good. As time goes on he is reunited with happy and wise Sam - his long lost imaginary friend and Kitty - a determined, funny, treasure hunting girl from the woods who’s on a mission to uncover her families past. Together mysteries are solved, lessons are learnt and friendships are forged (with plenty of twists and turns along the way to keep you on your toes!)