Surprising Joy

by Valerie Bloom

Joy has spent her life with her grandmother in Jamaica, steeped in Jamaican culture, sunshine and traditions. Until the day her dream comes Joy's mother, who moved to England when Joy was a baby, writes to say that she's ready for her daughter to come and join her. Joy can hardly contain her excitement. But London in December is a shock. It's cold and dark and unfriendly. Even so, it's nothing to the shock that awaits when she goes to live with her mother...

Genres: Young Adult

224 pages, Paperback

First published July 7, 2003

About the author

Valerie Bloom MBE (born 1956) is a Jamaican-born poet and a novelist based in the UK.

Born in Clarendon Parish, Jamaica, Bloom moved to England in 1979. She attended the University of Kent at Canterbury and earned an honours degree, and was later awarded an honorary Masters degree. She has been living in Kent ever since.

She was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2008 New Year Honours.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Duncan McIntyre · Rating 4 out of 5]

Moving from Jamaica to London brings unexpected problems for Joy. A well constructed story that draws on the language and culture of Jamaica as well as issues of migration. How far do you adapt to fit in or preserve your heritage?

[Sally · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a bit boring at the start but is became more enjoyable nearer the end

[Hadia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I felt like I was in Jamaica myself, even though I have no idea what thyme or plantains are. The author made the book very poetic and used a simile or metaphor on practically every single page of the book, and the book had quite a lot of food mentioned throughout the book.

[Bettie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Big Toe weekend read - toetastic!

The story iffy, however the Jamaican reggae in the background had me 'getting jiggy wiv it'

[Nat · Rating 1 out of 5]

Honestly, not that interesting of a book, cause there's only one conflict in a whole 200 pages, so, nothing special