The Game I Will Never Forget

by Onjali Q. Raúf

From Onjali Q. Raúf, author of The Boy at the Back of the Class, comes another incredible story, told with humour and heart. This story highlights the challenges of living with a relative experiencing Dementia, alongside the unbreakable bond between a child and a grandparent.

416 pages, Paperback

Published August 28, 2025

About the author

Onjali Q. Rauf is the founder of Making Herstory, an organisation mobilising men, women and children from all walks of life to tackle the abuse and trafficking of women and girls in the UK and beyond. In her spare time she delivers emergency aid convoys for refugee families surviving in Calais and Dunkirk, and supports interfaith projects.

Her first novel, The Boy at the Back of the Class, has sold over 100,000 copies and won multiple awards. Her second book, The Star Outside My Window, publishes in October 2019.

Reviews

[Stacie-Anne Lord]

As always, Onjali tackles a tricky and heartbreaking subject and writes about it in a fun, beautiful, compassionate way.

[Chez]

7.5/10

[Daud Ahmed]

Another fantastic, book by this author, the emotions one gets from reading her books are overwhelming and heart felt,

[Emily Anne]

I read an Onjali Q. Rauf book when I’m in a writing slump because I know it’ll pick me back up with some good storytelling. I always describe her books like contemporary realism adventure stories, there’s always a quest that turns a very character driven topic into a very plot driven book that makes it extremely compelling. Nothing can beat The Star Outside My Window but this was pretty good. I was actually SO impressed with where it went, it was a great example to me because I want to write a middle grade where it’s not all sunshine and roses at the end and how close they put the sad part was really interesting. I absolutely loved how it was done.
The characters were SO childish that it was very interesting, I feel like things like the spelling mistakes brought back things about childhood that I’d forgotten. The immature things like the slime were SO immature but it worked perfectly for expressing the character’s mentality. The character being soooo different from me as a child really made it bring back childhood things I haven’t been exposed to in a long time, like I remember what I was like but not necessarily classmates etc.
I really liked how the Nani was set up as a very intelligent (and at times silly) woman, it’s so important to show children the diverse people that dementia affects, and also that the person with dementia may be different every day.
I also loved the way the parents were portrayed, they seemed very intelligent and very balanced in their parenting approaches and the dad explaining that when you listen at doors you hear things wrong which was PERFECT, explaining to children why instead of just yelling at them.
I wonder what I would’ve thought of this growing up, having a very very different experience of a granny with dementia.

[Booknerdo.O]

‎I grew up on children’s books and whenever I hit a reading slump, I still find myself reaching for one from the shelf. There’s just something comforting about them. This one’s about Zak, a boy whose life is thrown into chaos when his Nani (grandmother) moves into his bedroom and he has to shift to the attic. To win his room back, Zak and his friends draws up a full on battle plan.
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‎This book actually made me laugh out loud and, unexpectedly, it even made me tear up. The writing never felt heavy,  it just flowed. Zak’s friends - Milo, Dahlia and especially Aoife, are hilarious. Aoife had me cracking up with her habit of quoting her mum’s magazines. At one point, she tells Zak his Nani is "gaslimping" him (she meant 'gaslighting" ) and the group immediately checks Zak’s leg to see if it’s limping. I had to put the book down for a second, I was laughing so hard.
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‎And Nani isn’t just the prank target, she gives as good as she gets. Instead of ratting Zak out to his parents, she’ll quietly pull off her own mischief, like sneaking popping candy into his milk. But beneath all the fun, something deeper is going on. Zak slowly begins to notice that Nani’s memory slips aren’t just quirks and what starts off as a prank war becomes something much more meaningful.
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‎Watching Zak try to help his once-brilliant chess grandmaster Nani, by playing chess with her and even taking her to a tournament, gives the story a real emotional pull. Honestly, this book felt like a hug. It’s funny, chaotic in the best way and quietly moving in moments I didn’t see coming.
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‎Pick this up if you love stories with heart, hilarious kid logic and grandparent who steal the show.
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[Matilde Ferreira]

Another amazing story by Onjali.
I read this one with my son, and he loved it. We cried and smiled with this lovely story.
My son loves playing chess, and my mum, his nanny, also died with dementia during the pandemic :(

[Clare Marie]

Onjali has a gift, she's able to write about everyday things, enabling the reader to feel empathy and personal attachment to the characters. It was an emotional rollercoaster, that left me watching more. Highly recommended for anyone 10 and older.

[Katie Mote]

Another brilliant book by one of my favourite authors. Read it in one sitting!

[Tori Lilley]

A book I read for year 7 book group. I heart warming story with lovely insight into Bangladeshi family life and focussing on dementia. Really good read for that age group.

[Jayne Hathaway]

Beautifully and sensitively written, with humour along the way. Gorgeous.

[Juliette Barlow]

Good, took a couple chapters to really get into it but was very engrossed once I did get into it!!

[Katherine]

such a sweet read and written like a 10-11 year old would.

[Rob Hewlett]

Magnificent.

[ELLEN Thompson]

It was a very extremely good book. I love the imagination! I admire Onjali Q Rauf's work.

[Poppy Ophelia Anne]

great book, loved it