Away With Words

by Sophie Cameron

Set in a world where words appear physically when people speak, AWAY WITH WORDS explores the importance of communication and being there for those we love.

Gala and her dad, Jordi, have just moved from home in Cataluña to a town in Scotland, to live with Jordi's boyfriend Ryan. Gala doesn't speak much English, and feels lost, lonely and unable to be her usual funny self. Until she befriends Natalie, a girl with selective mutism. The two girls find their own ways to communicate, which includes collecting other people's discarded words. They use the words to write anonymous supportive poems for their classmates, but then someone begins leaving nasty messages using the same method – and the girls are blamed. Gala has finally started adapting to her new life in Scotland and is determined to find the culprit. Can she and Natalie show the school who they really are?

An intriguing, thoughtful and lyrical exploration of how we express ourselves, for fans of Katya Balen, A POCKETFUL OF STARS and Lisa Thompson.

Genres: Middle Grade, Fantasy, Young Adult, Fiction, School, Contemporary, LGBT

205 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 11, 2023

About the author

Sophie Cameron is the author of several novels for teens and young adults. Her books have been shortlisted for the Yoto Carnegie Medal for Writing, the UKLA Book Awards, the Polari Children's & YA Prize and the Diverse Book Awards, among others, and won a Leeds Book Award in 2023. Originally from the Scottish Highlands, she now lives in Spain with her children.

Reviews

[Rosh ~catching up slowly~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a Nutshell: A touching middle-grade work focussing on the difficulties of traversing through new places and new experiences. What makes the whole story experience special is that it is set in a world where words appear physically when people speak. Good for the target age group.

Story Synopsis:

Eleven year old Gala’s dad Jordi has relocated them both from Cadaqués, Spain to Fortrose, Scotland, so that he can live with his boyfriend Ryan. Gala isn’t happy about the move as she speaks only Catalan. She feels quite lost in her new school and unable to express her feelings with words. Things begin to change the day she meets Natalie, a girl with selective mutism. With Natalie’s inability to speak in public and Gala’s inability to speak in English, the two form a strong bond based on their own special ways of communication. They even use words to write supportive poems for their classmates. But someone then begins writing poems with nasty messages. Will Gala and Natalie be able to speak up for themselves?
The story comes to us in the first person perspective of Gala.

Bookish Yays:
🌹 I loved the setting where words become real. They are not only visible but can also be collected and either kept or discarded into the trash. They come in varied hues, fonts, and sizes. It was quite surreal to picture, but I had a fun time imagining the same. I also pondered over whether I would like to live in such a world with visible words. I don’t have an answer to this query yet.

🌹 Through the visible words, the book also highlights the power of words, language and communication.

🌹 Gala’s frustration with her new school and new life in Fortrose because of her lack of ability to communication in English is portrayed well. The author had a smart way of indicating how Gala’s processing of people’s spoken English – she used squiggly lines to indicate the blanks in Gala’s comprehension. Any child who feels frustrated about not being able to communicate either because of a new location/school or because of innate shyness, will be able to identify with Gala.

🌹 At the same time, the book also highlights the importance of friendship, not just through Gala and Natalie, but also through their connection with some of the other kids in their class. The two Eilidhs were especially lovely.

🌹 The book also covers some important themes such as bullying and social anxiety disorders and how the latter can exist even in happy families. Natalie’s selective mutism lends itself to some thought-provoking scenes. The book also highlights how children can feel unhinged and helpless in the face of adult decisions, and how they need support and encouragement to make it through the change. The book also focusses on the difficulties and benefits of being multi-lingual speakers.

🌹 The bond between Jordi and Ryan comes out beautifully. I liked how the same-sex relationship was written without going over the top about the “two dads” factor. It was a realistic depiction.

🌹 Ryan has two fabulous dogs, one named Celine and one named Dion. Need I say more?

🌹 The location of Scotland is beautifully depicted, with the focus being not just on the places but also on the lifestyle and attitudes of the locals.


Bookish Nays:
🌵 The problem with having a first person perspective for this book was that we read all of Gala's thoughts and apprehensions in English, a language she wasn't fluent in and yet voicing her thoughts so well in. This created a jarring contradiction between what was being said and the language it was being said in.

🌵 I am not into poems, so while I appreciated the efforts of the two girls, I couldn’t feel as emotionally moved. Somehow, the writing kept me at a distance.

🌵 The book offers a somewhat different perspective of bullying, one that I am still undecided about whether to agree with or not. I get what the author was trying to do, but I am not convinced by the rationale. Cant reveal more as I don’t wish to go into spoilers. But just want to say: a bully with a backstory is still a bully unless he/she stops being one. There’s no justification for bullying others.

🌵It goes mostly as expected, with no surprises along the way. This is why it didn’t work better for me, though MG fiction is among my favourite genres. Of course, the target age group might not have the same requirement of wanting surprises.


Overall, this is an impactful read for middle-graders, covering several important topics through two strong little girls. The quick and easy writing is a bonus.

Would suggest you read the physical copy to see the proper effect of the words and their appearance. The Kindle version didn’t create the same impact.

Recommended to middle-graders looking for an unusual story about the power of words and the value of friendship, especially in a new location.

3.75 stars.


My thanks to Little Tiger Group and NetGalley for the DRC of “Away With Words”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.





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[Katy Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Communication across boundaries. Friendship, family and finding your place - and voice.

I was enchanted by the idea - in Gala's world, words are visible. Parents can literally collect their babies' first words. Words can get stuck in your teeth and need to be flossed out. School cleaners sweep the corridors clear of students chatter every evening. And they come in different colours, shapes, showing emotion and character. Amazing!

Now in this world, drop two girls. Gala. Brought by her Dad from Cataluña to live with his boyfriend teacher in Scotland, the talkative girl is thrown into an unfamiliar world and a new language. Natalie. Selectively mute, she too struggles amongst her peers, who she cannot communicate with for a different reason.

Yet the two form a bond when Gala notices Natalie collecting other people's dropped words, which she discovers the girl makes into creative pieces. Learning of other students going through hard times, they decide to form their recycled language into poems to lift spirits and bring hope and kindness to others, when they struggle to express these things themselves.

How wonderful is that? Ohhh I want to exist in a world where words are visible! It was enchanting. The story moves the pair into a situation where their kind hobby shines a spotlight on them both, forcing them to have to openly speak out in a way neither would normally have confidence doing.

It might be that family and friends give them the strength they need to stand up for themselves, their actions and show the world who they both really are, and be proud of that.

Loved both the protagonists, Gala has a wonderful character, a dollop of selfishness totally appropriate to her age and situation, she's kind and brave, with Natalie adding the eccentric flair that brings out her own. Her dad's same-sex relationship is portrayed matter-of-factly and sympathetically, with the family issues she's experiencing resolved within the context of her own school story.

Uplifting and language-loving tale for ages 10-14.

With thanks to Netgalley for providing a sample reading copy.

[Gabbie Pop · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sophie Cameron has done it once again - I am always in awe at the way she can take such big, complex topics and make them approachable to young audiences while still doing them justice and never feeling like she has to dumb anything down for her audience. As someone who has previously moved from a non-English speaking country to an English speaking country with accents unlike those most familiar with via TV etc as youngin, this sure made me relive some ~trauma, which is probably the highest compliment I can give it, since the novel did such a fantastic job at capturing that experience.
Anything that explores linguistics and cultural displacement, and I love quirky takes of magical realism, so this was definitely my cup of tea even though I am nowhere near the target audience.
I'd say fans of WONDER would particularly enjoy this heartfelt story of difference and acceptance.

[bookswithnora · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was such a unique book and i think it definitely deserves more recognition. even though it’s short and relatively simple it portrays very important topics. i don’t really know what else to say about it

[charlotte, · Rating 3 out of 5]

read my review here

Galley kindly provided by publisher.

[Emily Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this, it was a really interesting perspective and I think it was a good time for me to read it because I’m in a new class with lots of people who speak other languages and aren’t fluent in English and I’ve never been in a class like that before. This book helps to understand the differences between how people are thinking and feeling and I’d really recommend it to anyone who either has trouble with speech and language, or is very good at it. The fantasy world of words was somehow hard and easy to picture at the same time, I found it difficult to imagine how that would work in real life, but also in my head I can see words in colours so I sort of get it too.
I loved the relationship between her and her dad’s partner, it felt really well expanded and it was nice to see a really positive family dynamic that grows as the book goes on, and seeing an adult who is trying their best for their child. The change in dynamic and issues with her dad felt really realistic and well touched on but I was also a little confused about her background- was she adopted by a single parent, or did her other parent die or leave? It just didn’t feel addressed enough and maybe I missed it at the start when I was still getting used to the characters, but coming back to it at the end would’ve helped. It took me a while to realise Iaia was a grandparent and not friend, but that’s probably me not knowing Catalan terms for grandparents. I also would’ve liked maybe for her to reunite with her best friends at the end , like to actually meet them, but I also get that might take away from the getting settled in her new home.
I loved the way there was a neurodivergent character and the way her situational mutism intersects with the protagonist’s struggles with language.
This book briefly touches on a lot of different, very important issues, and I would love to read a book from the perspective of each child, particularly Eilidh C with the parental illness issues and Craig with the “bad kid” reputation.
This book has given me a lot to think about in my own story writing. I decided to give it a chance because it was on the list of award-nominated books my teacher suggested reading from, and I thought the style and tone was similar enough to my own that I’d try it, even though it wasn’t about grief which was what I wanted to read more middle-grade books on. Ironically and conveniently, this book had a preview at the end of what very much looks like a book on familial grief that I will definitely be trying next.

[Annette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got the first book by Sophie Cameron in a box from The Book Box Club. I absolutely adored the story, the characters and the romance. However, it was the Last Bus of Everland that I loved even more. The book broke my heart and glued it back together. Sophie Cameron is now on my auto-buy list. It doesn't matter if the book is a YA or a Middle Grade. So, when I saw the release date of this book was coming close I made sure to order it so I could dive in as soon as the book arrived.

Once more this book was incredibly special, intriguing and touching. Cameron knows how to tackle complicated and sometimes even hard to understand topics and turns them into a story that will touch everyone who reads it. And in this case that's mostly because Cameron really found a way to make something invisible visible. By making words visible. Literally. So we see when they're missing. We also experience missing parts in sentences. We understand the main character better than ever.

Gala is moving from Catalunya to England. A new language. A new school. A new life. Far from easy when you're eleven and I love how we see her grow during this book. We see how she's missing less and less words, how she's finding the confidence she used to have back and how she is slowly adapting and learning what is really important in life. Does this mean she's perfect? Far from it. She's making mistakes. She's just also learning from it.

And that's mostly because of her wonderful friendship with Natalie. Natalie has selective mutism and knows what it is to not find the right words or to not be able to speak them. They find some common ground, find a way to communicate with each other and start an amazing project. And then they learn that words are nothing but a tool. They can be used for good and for bad. And, most of all, they don't always say what the person speaking them really wants to say.

I can't wait for Sophie Cameron's next book!

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sophie Cameron knocks it out of the park again - I absolutely adored Our Sister, Again and in some ways I might even prefer Away with Words.

While the entire book was great, the first 80 or so pages in particular really resonated with me - as someone who has lived outside of my birth country for many years and in many different places, needing to learn new languages and finding your own voice in that language is so difficult. Gala's struggles with adapting to her new home, life, and language in particular were very relatable, and I loved the friendship with Natalie, someone who has selective mutism, and I found her struggles with language to be nuanced and balanced well with Gala.

Did I mention this is also basically magical realism, where words take physical shape in different fonts and colors when said aloud? BRILLIANT. I also loved when the text got a little "experimental" with swashes of words in corners and margins or went out of order or upside down - I wish we'd gotten even more of that, the book felt very fresh and creative every time it played with the text.

Cameron approaches big topics in her stories and handles them with extreme care, which is why I think her books read so well for adult readers. There's always a queer layer in her stories too - I loved seeing a pair of gay men as caring parents, and one kid in school comes out as non binary and no big fuss is made of it. Middle grade is great for creating cozy, comfortable worlds, but queer-friendly spaces in literature for younger readers is so necessary and there is so much love and compassion to be found here.

Long story short, a marvelous book. A simple story but tender, caring, and with so much heart.

[Xanthe Waite · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an excellent read this is.
Gala has moved from Spain to Scotland & she is trying to fit into a new place, new school, new people all coping with English as a second language.
The way this book is written .... it takes a moment to understand ... but then it's a thing of beauty.
Words are everywhere, they are around us, collectible, they have meaning & character.
It's so hard to describe this book but it's brilliant at giving us empathy for anyone trying to fit in somewhere new. I would highly recommend.

[Ulrika · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a lovely book! This was my first Sophie Cameron read but I will be reading her other books!

Away With Words is set in our world but has a twist of magical realism: when you speak, your words physically come out of your mouth. They have different colours and fonts depending on the person but also in what way (mood) they were spoken. We get to know Gala who has moved from Spain with her dad to go and live in Scotland. Gala is not fluent in English and is not happy about having to move. However, when she meets Natalie who is a selective mute, she makes a new friend across the language and speech barrier.

This book is quite short (200 odd pages) but just beautiful. I found myself going 'awww' and chuckling to myself quite a lot. Beautiful story of friendship and belonging. Excellent addition to the Carnegie shortlist.

[Jessica Rix · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was really cool and was a bit strange at the same time

[Trigger Warning Database]

Trigger & Content Warnings

Selective mutism (secondary character)

[Luke Sheldon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful book; I loved the metaphor of the snow globe and the snowflakes towards the end. A very endearing read.

[Victoria Simmons · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. The idea that people can see your words as you speak was just fascinating. I really loved seeing how Gala's relationship with the new people in her life and with the new country she'd moved to developed as she became more confident at the language. But I also love how her friendship with Natalie isn't focussed on the spoken word. I think the way Natalie and Gala find their voice through collecting other people's words shows how valuable each word is to them and how they can be so easy for other people that they get wasted. This book also shows how words can be used to lift people up or to hurt and tear people down. I definitely thinks some amazing conversations could be started by using this book in the classroom.

[Manon the Malicious · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was provided an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

In a world were spoken words can be seen, a girl uses those words to find her voice again.
Gala was just moved away from Catalonia to nowhere Scotland by her dad, Jordi. She has trouble expressing herself and is not happy. She ends up meeting a girl who also cannot talk at school and the two connect.

This was a very fast read and I really enjoyed it. I got so mad on the main character's behalf at times and I hate that her feelings were so often brushed away. She didn't get the recognition she deserved at the end in my opinion.
This was a very interesting world and I love the idea of seeing the words that are being spoken and using those to make sentences. I really loved that whole concept and I really got into the story. I really liked Gala too.
This was a great read and I really must read more from Sophie Cameron.

[Milly Reynolds · Rating 4 out of 5]

Longlisted for the 2024 Yoto Carnegie Award. Aimed at 10s and overs this is a super novel about communication and friendship with magical realism added to the mix. Imagine a world where when you speak the words also appear visibly in different colours to reflect emotions. The floor is littered with words, they get blown away on the wind, swept up and sometimes picked up and preserved. Imagine being able to pick up and frame your child's first words. There are so many levels to this idea that I can't get my head around it - I need to think about it some more. But back to the book. Eleven year old Gala has moved from Cataluna to Scotland with her father, Jordi, to set up home with Jordi's partner, Ryan. From being a girl who was loud and talkative, suddenly Gala is in a school where she struggles to understand and be understood. I loved the touch of the author's use of a wavy line to illustrate words in a sentence that Gala fails to understand - a super way of illustrating her difficulty in understanding her new classmates. One day she spots Natalie picking up and collecting dropped words and befriends her. Natalie is a selective mute, anxiety prevents her from speaking, and these two girls form a bond through their 'lack' of communication. together they use the collected word to make poems of hope, of positivity to secretly hand over to their classmates - an act that is received well until .... The two girls find that they have to speak out - a thing that they would never previously have had the confidence to do. This book is full of the importance of friendship but it also looks at bullying and social anxiety. It also considers the way that sometimes we don't have a voice - Gala The bond between the two girls is gorgeous and I liked that the relationship between Jordi and Ryan was realistically written. It also looks at the way that we sometimes lose our voice - Gala struggles with the decision to move to Scotland but was not able to communicate with her father. There was so much in this book to think about and it's a perfect book to promote conversation.

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read as part of the YOTO Carnegie Award with my Shadowing Group.

This book was interesting! Enthralled by the cover, I decided to read Away With Words. I loved the calligrams ( are they calligrams?!) throughout the book, and the abundance of unique fonts that certain words appeared in. I thought this was a really creative way to reflect the emotions and feeling behind words. The words being visible was also unusual: can everyone see the words? I was slightly confused at first, but as the story progressed I believe that everyone is able to see the words, but many wouldn't notice them.

Gala speaks fluent Catalan, and some Spanish, and she's learning English. This was an interesting plot point, and the uncertainty around English and particular words was conveyed by squiggly lines in dialogue. This did initially confuse me, but I had enough context to 'fill in' the gaps, so it still made sense. She was an excellent narrator, exploring lots of understandable feelings like homesickness and frustration, but also delight and enthusiasm.
Natalie was another enjoyable character to read about, and she was certainly dynamic throughout the story. The representation of Selective Mutism was easy-to-digest and offered a learning experience for me: whilst I've heard of this previously, I was unfamiliar with the specifics. Luckily the book presented clarity for me, and was very informative for readers.

I really liked the representation within characters, and the allegories were portrayed beautifully. I appreciated the ending, and was glad for a resolution to the various storylines. 4 stars- not usually a book I would select, but enjoyable and nice for variety.

P.S: The dogs sounded adorable, and they had the best names: Celine and Dion!

[Laura S · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is so unique and playful and creative.
The Jain character Gala has moved from Spain to Scotland and is struggling to settle in to a world with a new language and feeling incredibly home sick. She notices a girl in her school who is all alone, who has selective mutism and becomes her friend. The story is so much about friendship but primarily it’s about language and the beauty of words, it’s about how it connects people and how it can be a barrier. The magical realism of words littering our world as people say them, makes you really think about not wasting our own words and how the words we use are so important. This author is incredibly creative and incredible at immerse you in the story, her unique way of storytelling allows the reader to understand the main character even more. As a reader, you can feel and see the language barrier and frustration that comes with that but you also see it change and develop. The imagination and heart in this story is wonderful and the way words and language is explored is amazing. Honestly, this book is a great learning and yea hing tool when it comes to breaking down barriers, understanding difference and celebrating connections. I felt really immersed in the struggles for the main character due to the unique storytelling and I believe this would be a great book for children to study too!

[Andrea Barlien · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to Little Tiger, the author and NetGalley for access to this e-arc.
Last summer I really enjoyed Our Sister Again. It dealt with the difficult subject of bereavement and death of a child sensitively through the magical thinking that Joan Didion uses in her great essays from A Year if Magical Thinking.
In this new middle grade/YA Cameron has again used elements of fantasy to explore real issues that face young people.
Gala has moved from Spain where she easily moved between Catalan and Spanish to northern Scotland where she must navigate through a new life with her Dad and his boyfriend in a small community. Once exuberant she becomes silent; once gregarious she becomes lonely. She befriends Natalie, a classmate whose anxiety has isolated her. Natalie’s selective mutism and Gala’s struggle to communicate in English create a bond for the two girls. What’s beautiful about this world, however, is that words and conversations leave traces. Natalie and Gala start collecting their own and other people’s words to communicate, to reflect and to encourage.
It’s a beautiful concept and it’s naturally and authentically drawn in this otherwise thoroughly realistic world.
A lovely heartwarming story of friendship, family and belonging. A love story to words.

[Bee Jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a clever book! Sophie has used a speculative idea - this book is set in a world where, when people speak, their words appear as actual, physical things - and used it to highlight a very real problem - when people can't speak, for any reason, they are often treated as lesser than the people around them, less intelligent and less able. Sophie's two characters, one silent through anxiety and one because English is her third language and she's not very fluent yet - show this wonderfully.

It's such a fascinating world she's created, I really enjoyed thinking about it. I imagine it's harder for politicians to lie, for one thing! The detail that words come out different colours or fonts when the speaker is feeling different ways is amazing and the fact that despite this, people still have misunderstandings and make mistakes is wonderfully human.

Most kids who read this will probably have someone in their class for whom English is a second language, and I think this book should be on every classroom shelf, to teach them to be a little more patient and kind. I know I'll be thinking about it for a long time to come.

[Lucy Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a heartwarming book that considers the importance of communication for human connection and how this can be achieved in myriad ways. Centred on Gala, a young girl who has been moved from Cadaques in Spain to Scotland by her father so they can live with his long term boyfriend, she feels like a fish out of water. The unique twist of this novel is that words we speak fall out of our mouth so not only does Gala struggle to understand the words spoken around her but they also surround her constantly. When she meets another student who is selectively mute, she starts to learn there are other ways to communicate and find your place in a new world. I absolutely loved how well Cameron immerses you in the world, and her knowledge of English, Catalan and Spanish really makes the linguistic and communication side of the novel both fascinating and believable. Her prose is highly readable and smooth, and I love how she casts you as the reader into the position of an EAL learner as other character’s speech is cut off or blurred when she does not know what they are saying so we are left guessing, too. A really special and enjoyable read!

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

i came across this book in the YOTO Carnegie Shadowing Group i’m doing with my school and decided that it would be an interesting book to read as it includes topics that i haven’t found in the books i’ve read before and it was an eye opener to how difficult some people’s lives can be and how they manage to deal with them.

being a rather short book it was rather easy to get into although some areas are quite hard to understand; especially at the beginning when Gala doesn’t know much english and some words are just left blank, however i don’t think this adds the the reality of how people would have to deal with having english as a second language.

another thing that took a bit of getting used to was the ability to see the words. at first i thought only Gala could see them but then it seems that everyone could. still a little confused on how that all works but it doesn’t effect the plot at all.

over all it was interesting to read a book of this sort as they aren’t my regulars but it was insightful and definitely deserved its place on this 2024 writing medal list.

[Filipa Santos · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Short)
Writing: 3
Characters: 3,5
Plot: 3
Originality: 4
Overall: 3

(Long)
I expected better from this book overall. I thought the idea had the potential for a very interesting and impactful development in terms of the message conveyed and the meaning attributed to the events and I feel that this was not achieved with great success. The writing itself is not surprising and is not only simple but also immature (which can be justified by the age of the main character tho). I finish it with a certain feeling of indifference, I don't feel that it has added or taken away anything at all. It's a beautiful story of overcoming and friendship, where communication and the way we never know what the other is going through is reflected. It's funny because of the curiosity of the idea that structures it, but its implementation actually falls far short of what it could be because it follows an approach that is too superficial for what it deserves. Still cute tho.

[Rebecca R · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gala is furious when her Dad moves them both from Spain to a small town in Scotland to live with his partner, but she can't find the words in English to express her feelings. Then she meets Natalie at school who doesn't speak and instead shows Gala how she collects the (literal) words that falls from people's lips when they talk, and collages them to create beautiful poems. But when someone starts using the same method to write anonymous bullying messages, Gala and Natalie are blamed. Can they find a way to explain themselves and discover the truth? And will Scotland ever feel like home to Gala?

This exquisitely beautiful book combines a poignant story of displacement, anxiety and loss, with a sprinkle of magical realism that is so subtle it could be pure metaphor. A strikingly unusual read! I loved this.

[Victoria-Melita Zammit · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the sweetest middle grade books I've read in a very long time. The concept is incredible - a world where words appear as a person speaks them, changing colour and shape according to the person's voice, emotions and tone - and the whole thing is seen from the perspective of somebody who speaks English as a foreign language, somebody trying to fit in to a Scottish town after moving there with her father. The book touches on some great topics - learning a new language, selective mutism, bullying, and friendship - and I think it's a great read for all ages, honestly. It's just sweet and heartwarming, and definitely a contender for winner of the Carnegie Medal this year.

[Yusra · Rating 1 out of 5]

Away With Words introduces readers to a world where language takes on a physical form, creating a landscape where words not only matter but manifest. Set in Scotland, the story centres around a young girl called Gala, with the extraordinary ability to make her words materialise. I found this book intriguing due to the descriptions of words taking physical form, however, at times felt like these concepts were aimed more towards a younger audience. Despite this, Cameron effectively highlighted how words can both harm and heal. Overall, I felt like this book offered a fresh and whimsical take on the power of language, but not the type of book that I would usually read

[L · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was hard to get into at first. I don’t know whether it was the layout on Kindle or it being a proof copy but the discarded words were hard to make sense of. I was also initially confused by the missing words in speech. Sometimes it was explained as Gala not getting the words but other times it wasn’t. As the book progressed I got used to it and accepted the gaps, seeing them as part of Gala’s challenges with a new language. It was an interesting way to look at words and how they can be used for good or bad and the difference they can make as to how others feel. I thought it was clever the way the author explained why taking and using other people’s words was seen so negatively. Natalie’s selective mutism was handled well and I loved the ending.

[Ash · Rating 4 out of 5]

• Quick read
• Relatable Main character
• Shows the difficulties of adjusting to a new home and new school
• Interesting almost fantasy like concept of words being seen as well as heard- Similar to synesthesia
• Two people become friends and they both struggle withe words in different ways
• They start making poems for onther people ro boost their moods with spoken word
•Puts a whole new meaning to spoken word poetry
• Had the audacity to end
•Shows the struggles of teenage life and trying to fit in

RATING-
4.75 stars

[Isobel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't enjoy it for two main reasons:
1: The concept with the words was really cool but wasn't explored enough, so it felt a bit flat
2: The whole bit where the bully basically has no consequences and never owns up just felt wrong. Like I get its about emphasising with people and knowing everyone has their struggles but what she did hurt a lot of people and she just got no negative consequences and the people who got those poems just will never know who sent them

[Kieran]

I found it awesome. The character development of gala was awesome. She is truly an awesome protagonist she is forgiving and friendly. The way the writing was done was genius. Us not being able to understand words at the beginning but later when she learns more english we understand more is interesting. Her becoming friends with natalie is good as for both of them their is some sort if language barrier. Would recommend.