Artichoke Hearts

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Her interactions with family and friends was entertaining but also gives a look into different family dynamics and how people cope with an ill relative. However, I still feel that 3 stars is enough because although the book is great and the characters are well thought out, it doesn't stand out to me as one of the best books I've read, and it was only really moving in a few parts. People who are on the ‘Y’ side of ‘YA’…but also people who don’t mind reading books with a younger protagonist.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and I will be purchasing Sita's new book Jasmine Skies with anticipation!

This is a beautiful book full of emotion and is about growing up and the challenges that come with it. It's not until you look back that you can see how the layers of your life and work are starting to fit together. When Nana Josie was dying from cancer she gave the charm to Mira for her birthday for her to wear all her life just like she had but of course just when Josie was hanging onto dear life Mira had to come along and lose the charm. Mira is only twelve and at first I thought it was going to be really difficult to relate to her, but she was such a glorious narrator….

There was a huge range in the types of people with this book and I really felt like it showed what living in England and particularly near London is like today with multicultural societies. Mira does have secrets - her beloved Nana Josie is dying, she's drifting away from her best friend, and she can't stop thinking about mysterious, confident Jide Jackson, who is definitely keeping some secrets of his own. We follow the life of Mira Levenson as she tries to avoid spreading a simple secret about her mysterious love interest and the rest of her problems that every single woman had encountered throughout the whole book.I can't wait to read the next book about Meera - and any other books that Sita Brahmachari has written. She is starting to keep secrets from even her best friend Millie, the bully's are getting worse at school, and her cheeks are turning an indiscreet shade of bright red every time the fascinating Jidé Jackson looks her way. Artichoke Heart tells the story of a time that changes Mira forever as she begins to step out of her childhood shoes and walk other paths. This is one of the best 'younger' young adult books that I have read and would certainly recommend it to any teenager. She wasn’t about to let anyone tell her no when she wanted to do something and had such a strong personality.

I feel like Nana Josie needs a subtitle of her own, seeing as the book wouldn’t exist without her and she is that awesome. I particularly liked the Grandmother who has cancer and is dying as I liked her enthusiasms for life.Winner of Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize 2011, Artichoke Hearts is a very impressive debut novel. But I didn't and it wasn't, although I would strongly recommend it for girls Mira’s age – 10-13 year olds – as they will be going through the same experiences of starting secondary school, having their first period, experiencing their first love (though I really feel she was a bit too young to have a boyfriend and felt uncomfortable reading about snogging between two twelve year olds, even if they acted much older and you often forget that they are only in Year 7). As Mira is experiencing grief for the first time, she is also discovering the wondrous and often mystical world around her.