A review by sammeehicks
Saving Daisy by Phil Earle
5.0
Since reading the fabulous Being Billy I have been looking forward to reading Daisy's story. Now that I have, Phil Earle has truly cemented himself as an author I will read simply because his name is on the cover. I absolutely loved it.
The events of Saving Daisy take place before Being Billy making this a prequel of sorts. I loved finding out all about Daisy and having the story told from her point of view - I adored her in Being Billy and loved her even more after reading this. One of the things I really liked about Being Billy was the authentic voice given to Billy and I have to say that he did it again with Daisy. She's so real you can't help but get swept up in her story and feel everything she felt. I felt so bad for her and everything she goes through. She's so convinced that everything is her fault - that she deserves to be alone. Her reaction to her mother's death is understandable - it must be very hard to deal with - and I hated that someone used that to get close to her when he shouldn't. And, of course, the accident would be hard for anyone to deal with - add it all together and it's not surprising that she finds it hard to cope.
Again it's obvious that Phil Earle has experience working with kids - it shines through in his writing. He has such an understanding of what Daisy and kids like her are going through - the whole story is just spot on and feels completely realistic. Powerfully so. I so desperately wanted Daisy to stop blaming herself - to find a way to see that none of it was her fault. And I loved Ade - her key worker - and how she manages to help Daisy see the truth.
I can't recommend this highly enough. I loved Being Billy but this managed to surpass all my expectations. An absolute must read!
The events of Saving Daisy take place before Being Billy making this a prequel of sorts. I loved finding out all about Daisy and having the story told from her point of view - I adored her in Being Billy and loved her even more after reading this. One of the things I really liked about Being Billy was the authentic voice given to Billy and I have to say that he did it again with Daisy. She's so real you can't help but get swept up in her story and feel everything she felt. I felt so bad for her and everything she goes through. She's so convinced that everything is her fault - that she deserves to be alone. Her reaction to her mother's death is understandable - it must be very hard to deal with - and I hated that someone used that to get close to her when he shouldn't. And, of course, the accident would be hard for anyone to deal with - add it all together and it's not surprising that she finds it hard to cope.
Again it's obvious that Phil Earle has experience working with kids - it shines through in his writing. He has such an understanding of what Daisy and kids like her are going through - the whole story is just spot on and feels completely realistic. Powerfully so. I so desperately wanted Daisy to stop blaming herself - to find a way to see that none of it was her fault. And I loved Ade - her key worker - and how she manages to help Daisy see the truth.
I can't recommend this highly enough. I loved Being Billy but this managed to surpass all my expectations. An absolute must read!