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A review by bardicbramley
The Great (Food) Bank Heist by Onjali Q. Raúf
5.0
The plot of this book is so very Raúf - having read The Boy at the Back of the Class a little while ago, I can hear the same adventurous, child-friendly, conversational voice that I enjoyed.
However I'm going to probably outrage some people and say I prefer this book by a mile!
It's a simpler, shorter, more accessible book and, although they are obviously both about very different important issues, I think this does exactly what The Boy did, but better.
It has a diverse main cast (no paletable white saviour complex here), beautiful illustrations, the same child-led adventure and heroic community ending, and covers very intense emotions and economic unjust in a clear, empathetic and easy to discuss way. It even manages to create real world parallels for discussion (for example 'Noah Equiano' the famous footballer...) and gives explanations and ideas aboit food banks and food poverty at the back - perfect for a teacher. Although I could definitely go without ever having to read the word 's/hero' ever again please...
This would be a great book to use in a class to discuss food banks, economic disparity, actvism and Marcus Rashford - a book to hook even those who may struggle to get into reading.
Slight spoiler ahead:
I would love to discuss how the book might have ended differently, or chidrens' feelings about the thieves, if they had been stealing the food for themselves rather than to sell off... I can see a really interesting moral discussion occurring in the right classroom.
However I'm going to probably outrage some people and say I prefer this book by a mile!
It's a simpler, shorter, more accessible book and, although they are obviously both about very different important issues, I think this does exactly what The Boy did, but better.
It has a diverse main cast (no paletable white saviour complex here), beautiful illustrations, the same child-led adventure and heroic community ending, and covers very intense emotions and economic unjust in a clear, empathetic and easy to discuss way. It even manages to create real world parallels for discussion (for example 'Noah Equiano' the famous footballer...) and gives explanations and ideas aboit food banks and food poverty at the back - perfect for a teacher. Although I could definitely go without ever having to read the word 's/hero' ever again please...
This would be a great book to use in a class to discuss food banks, economic disparity, actvism and Marcus Rashford - a book to hook even those who may struggle to get into reading.
Slight spoiler ahead:
I would love to discuss how the book might have ended differently, or chidrens' feelings about the thieves, if they had been stealing the food for themselves rather than to sell off... I can see a really interesting moral discussion occurring in the right classroom.