Do You Speak Chocolate?: Perfect for fans of Jacqueline Wilson

Description

A story of friendship, laughter ... and more than a little chocolate 'Do you speak chocolate?' Jaz has found the best way to make friends with new girl Nadima, who doesn't speak any English - by offering her a chocolate bar. Nadima grins and offers back some Turkish Delight, the ice is broken, and a special friendship begins ... Jaz is outgoing, rebellious, gumptious and a little bit bolshy - but it doesn't stop her from finding it hard that she doesn't have a best friend at school any more. Not since Lily went off with Kara ... She's not one to get down about things, though - and things start to look up when Nadima comes into their classroom. Before long the girls are firm friends, even when Nadima, recently arrived from Syria, can't speak much English. The path of true friendship doesn't run smooth, though ... Jaz, ever the entrepreneur, cooks up a plan to sell Turkish Delight at school, with disastrous results. A drama project with Nadima about family history proves impossible to manage. And Charity Challenge Week puts the icing on the cake as Jaz puts every foot wrong possible. Can she find a way to put things right, and restore the wonderful and unique friendship that she has with Nadima? In a story of friendship, family and entrepreneurial wizardry, Cas Lester deftly navigates the trials and tribulations of girlhood, and examines with the lightest of touches and gentle humour the thorny and compelling issues of integration, belonging and identity.

Cas spent many years having a fabulous time, and a great deal of fun, working in children's television drama with CBBC. She developed and executive produced lots of programmes including JACKANORY, MUDDLE EARTH, THE MAGICIAN OF SAMARKAND, BIG KIDS and THE STORY OF TRACY BEAKER. Now Cas writes books for children (the HARVEY DREW series; WILFRED THE UNWISE), helps out in a primary school library (where she is Patron of Reading) and looks after her family full-time. She has four children, a daft dog called Bramble and she lives in Oxfordshire. Follow Cas on Twitter: @TheCasInTheCat

This book was so good. I really liked it because you had school life from the point of view of a dyslexic. There is so many hilarious parts of the book as well as emotional parts * Mumsnet daughter, aged 11 * Thanks for the copy Mumsnet my 10 year old sped read through this great book in 2 days and really enjoyed the story of Jaz and Nadima's blossoming friendship with some hitches along the way. Very relevant to some current affair issues with refugees from Syria and their integration in cultures different to their own but handled sensitively and without focusing too heavily. Perfect for 9+ and as a teacher I feel that reading it at schools would be great in opening up discussions about the various topics it highlights * Mumsnet parent * C. (9) thoroughly enjoyed this book. She really liked how the friendship between the two girls progressed. She found the book funny but it also had serious issues.She was so impressed with it that she read it within 2 days.I thought the book was well written. Highly recommended * Mumsnet parent * My daughter loved this book as it reflects he relationship with her best friend. They're both from very different backgrounds just like the characters, but have found a firm friendship regardless of that. She loved reading it, and has says she would recommend it and thanks you for sending her a copy * Mumsnet parent * This book is AMAZING!!! I love everything about it. It's like a real friendship. All the breakups, old friends with new friends and (of course) the chocolate. My Favourite thing about this book is how much it relates to me and my friendships. Best book ever! * Mumsnet daughter, aged 10 * I liked it as it was sad and funny. I felt I understood the characters. I would definitely recommend it especially for older children * Mumsnet son, aged 10 * My daughter really enjoyed the book. She very much got into the story line. She liked the fact that the characters were from different back grounds but still were best friends. She found it funny and heart warming that they used emojis and treats to communicate * Mumsnet parent * This book very much reminds me of Neil Gaiman's speech to the BookTrust about reading fiction to enable young people to empathise-reading opens the doors into other people's worlds, sometimes ones we hope our own children don't have to face. It is an excellent example of a book to make people think, maybe change people's thinking and make us all a bit kinder for reading it * Books For Keeps * This is a wonderful a story of friendship, communication , family support and overcoming challenges. Even with books I find moving, I tend not to actually cry. But with the later chapters of this book I found myself welling up; tears fell as the full details of Nadima's story unfolded and the friendships grew * Tanya's All Sorts * This is a wonderful story that manages to capture the highs and lows of teen friendship dramas, whilst dealing with an incredibly difficult subject in a sensitive and empathetic way. Cas very cleverly captures this fear and brutality Nadima has experienced towards the end of the story and it's incredibly powerful and moving * Book Lover Jo * worth having in the class library and also for discussion, for the many good issues that are raised and can be discussed * School Librarian Magazine * Cas Lester has created a remarkable tale in which the conflict in Syria is explained sensitivity and clearly, without being patronising or losing the narrative in an overwhelming message. This is ideal for late primary school readers and will hopefully generate discussion around some of today's big issues * Carousel Magazine * A great title for mature readers or a class story for Y5/6 that would promote plenty of discussion; around refugees, empathy and dyslexia in particular. I found it very moving * Norfolk Education Library Service *