Boy In The Tower

Product Information

Lots to discuss for readers of all ages. What caused his mother's withdrawal (there are hints)? Is there anything either Mum or Ade could have/ should have done earlier? Would you, dear reader, have been one of the first evacuees, or one of the holdouts? Would your decision depend on how well or poorly other refugees were being treated in your country? What does keep one going in the face of such overwhelming challenges? Etc. etc. Polly Ho-Yen is a writer based in Bristol. Her debut novel, Boy in the Tower, was shortlisted for the Blue Peter Book Award, Waterstones Children's Book Prize and the Federation of Children's Book Groups Book Award. All three of her middle-gradenovels have been nominated for the Carnegie Medal. 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). This is one of those books that is hard to review, not because I didn’t like it. I really REALLY liked Boy In The Tower – I’m just not quite sure how best to tell you about it. This is above all a story about friendship, about resilience and loyalty. Old-fashioned values in a daunting world. I think you'd like this if you enjoyed Valentine Joe by Rebecca Stevens or The Last Wild by Piers Torday.

Friendship is a big feature throughout the novel, as Ade and Kaia are incredibly close; finding a friend in another outcast. Even when Ade is separated from her, Kaya is always in his thoughts and he clings to fragments of forgotten conversations from the time before. Polly Ho-Yen writes wonderful characters, not just Ade and his mother (I grew very attached to his mother in this book). Ade’s friends are just as special as him. I thought the other tenants were perfect. I didn’t know where this story was going to take me but I loved the journey.As the story progresses, that sense of normality slowly crumbles away, especially when the buildings in Ade's neighbourhood begin to fall. We learn the cause of Ade's mum's agoraphobia, and feel Ade's sense of powerlessness. We see how resourceful he becomes in the face of adversity. We understand that Gaia helps him through all this. But before long anxiety in the community grows to the point where Ade is left to deal with his Mum alone. From Part 2 the story is told in the present tense, drawing us into the immediacy of the situation. I read this in one sitting because I simply could not put it down! 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. I was glued to this book and the incredibly real characters, picturing every event as it was happening and being truly amazed by this story. Spelling Seeds have been designed to complement Writing Roots by providing weekly, contextualised sequences of sessions for the teaching of spelling that include open-ended investigations and opportunities to practise and apply within meaningful and purposeful contexts, linked (where relevant) to other areas of the curriculum and a suggestion of how to extend the investigation into home learning.

This a perfect book for young people to read alone, but would also be an excellent choice to read aloud to Year 5 or 6. When I began reading The Boy in the Tower I wasn't hooked like I thought I would be. Honestly, I carried on reading to find out more about these strange plants, and wondered what would happen to Ade and his Mum. I felt like the lead up and introduction to these plants and what was going on felt too long, and when the 'real stuff' starts to happen it felt over far too fast. I wanted to know more about the plants, the reason for their appearance, and why they did what they did. But I didn't get any of that, just that the plants are there, that they damage building and kill people.This is athree-session spelling seed for the book Boy in the Towerby Polly Ho-Yen. Below is the coverage from Appendix 1 of the National Curriculum 2014.

This is a three-week Writing Root based upon Boy in the Tower by Polly Ho-Yen. Children will learn and revise many of the key grammar requirements of Y6 and have opportunity to apply them within short and longer written outcomes. Synopsis of Text: Now their tower isn’t safe anymore. Ade and his mum are trapped and there’s no way out . . . Links: Polly Ho-Yen was working as a primary school teacher in London when she was inspired to write Boy in the Tower. She wanted to create a story with children like the ones in her classroom at the centre of it: a fantastical story based in the reality that the children knew, in the hope that they would relate to the characters. When the Bluchers, a plant-form that dissolves buildings and releases fatal spores into the air, take over the city, everyone is forced to evacuate and Ade is left alone to face them. Ideal for Year 4, Year 5 or Year 6 children. The plot is set in a dystopian future and is a well written story about friendship and overcoming adversity. It also sensitively covers the subject of mental illness (at an appropriate level for primary children) in one of the characters.This book is amazing and adventurous, it has lots of high vocabulary and also lots of tension which made the book even better. I recommend this book to all book-lovers or even anyone who wants to read an adventure book, I think this is the right book to choose. Polly used to be a primary school teacher in London and while she was teaching there she used to get up very early in the morning to write stories. The first of those stories is now a book called Boy in the Tower. Thank you for your kind words. My class really enjoyed this book and the work linked to it. it's a great book to enjoy with them as a teacher too. Re: Wonder, I have read and planned out a 30 lesson unit but not made any resources yet. Hopefully I'll get time in the next few months. Enjoy Boy in the Tower. Hide replies

Emmett J Scanlan as DI Kieran Shaw and Michael Karim as PC Arif Johann in The Tower 2: Death Message. ITV Boy in the Tower was nominated for the Carnegie Medal and shortlisted for the Blue Peter Book Award and the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize. It was also longlisted for the Branford Boase Award, the Redbridge Children’s Book Awards and came runner-up in the Teach Primary New Children’s Fiction Award. This is a delightful, heartfelt, well-observed, kids' sci-fi novel set in Camberwell, which if you're anything like me will make you cry quite a lot. Ade, the little boy at its heart, is already bravely dealing with acting as a carer for his mum and feeling left out at school, and things get much worse when 21st-century Triffids turn up. His mum doesn't really like looking outside - but it's going outside that she hates. She prefers to sleep all day inside their tower, where it's safe.The action starts in the ordinary, urban world, and is recounted in the past tense. At this stage I was thinking the story reminded me of one of Jacqueline Wilson's stories: a child dealing with a challenging contemporary domestic situation. The familiar setting of school and home highlights the difficulties that Ade faces. His life is far from ideal with his Mum unable to leave the flat very often; but we learn that his neighbours are looking out for him. Something happen to Ade’s mother that made her fear the outside, and when the outside really does become dangerous Ade is left to look after her. I really enjoyed this book as it is a very exciting and moving book. It is set in a modern-day London and it’s about survival, loneliness and friendship.