Stay A Little Longer

by Bali Rai

Aman's dad is gone, leaving her feeling lost and alone. She struggles to talk about it, but it's a fact and he isn't coming back. When a lovely man called Gurnam moves in to her street and saves Aman from some local bullies, he and Aman quickly become friends, perhaps even like family. But Gurnam has his own sadness. One that's far bigger than Aman can understand, and it's tearing his life apart. Particularly suitable for struggling, reluctant or dyslexic readers aged 13+

Genres: Fiction, Young Adult, LGBT

104 pages, Paperback

First published September 15, 2018

About the author

Bali Rai was born in 1971 and grew up in Leicester. As a child, Bali wanted to be a footballer or to write stories. Always an avid reader, he hails Sue Townsend, Douglas Adams and Robert Swindells as his writing heroes. Bali grew up reading Dr Seuss and Meg and Mog and his first book purchase was The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. He realised he wasn't good enough to play for Liverpool F.C. and after gaining a politics degree in London he returned to his home city and combined a variety of jobs in pubs and clubs with completing his first novel. Bali set about writing a story he had been thinking about for many years. He wanted to write accessible material for children of all ages and backgrounds and realising there were no British Asian authors writing for children, he saw a gap. Bali hopes his novels capture the unique ethnic mix of the UK, of which he is proud to be a part.

Bali writes stories inspired by his working class Punjabi/Sikh background, but his aim was always that his writing should be enjoyed by readers everywhere, irrespective of class or culture. His has the ability to tackle the harsh realities of growing up in the UK and blend this with humour and often a overriding optimism. Bali visits schools and libraries in every major UK city, averaging 70 school and library events a year.

His first book, (un)arranged marriage, created a huge amount of interest and won many awards, including the Angus Book Award and the Leicester Book of the Year. It was also shortlisted for the prestigious Branford Boase first novel award. Rani and Sukh and The Whisper were both shortlisted for the Booktrust Teenage Prize.

All of Bali’s teen titles have been short-listed for awards across the UK, including twice making the Booktrust Teenage Prize shortlist. His third novel Rani and Sukh has represented the UK at the International IBBY awards and this title has its own Facebook tribute group set up by fans. Bali’s first three novels appear in The Ultimate Teenage Book Guide. Bali also writes shorter novels for Barrington Stoke, his first book, Dream On, was selected for the Booktrust’s inaugural Booked Up list. He also writes the hugely popular Soccer Squad series for younger readers.

Reviews

[Cora Tea Party Princess · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 Words: Prejudice, grief, family, belonging, purpose.

Content Warnings: Suicide, grief, homophobia

Will a Bali Rai book ever not make me cry?

Stay A Little Longer was such a gorgeous read, for all that it broke my heart. Once I started I couldn't put it down.

Aman is such a lovely character. She has a lot going on in her own life, a lot of reasons to be selfish, but she's just so Good.

[Judy Wollin · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is a big hole in Aman’s life. Her father died. She misses him a lot. Milly is her new dog. Bullies frightened Aman at the local park. A stranger defends her and sends the bullies packing.
Gurnam becomes part of her family.
Aman spots a terrible grief in her new ‘grandfather’ that he doesn’t want to talk about it.
At temple she hears one of the bullies gossiping about someone and realises at it Gurnam they are talking about.
What does she hear? What is Gurnam’s grief about? Can Aman act quickly enough?

I enjoyed the characters and the cultural insights.
Recommended for MG and tweens and reluctant readers.

[Cordelia Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book a whole lot. It explored race and sexuality. This book has a very powerful message to share with anyone who has sexuality problems. The message is whether you are gay or lesbian or transgender people should treat you the same as other people. My favourite character was Aman, I liked how she cared a lot about Gurnam and she looked after him well. My favourite part was when Aman's dog Milly jumped at Gurnam and she licked him a lot. My second favourite part was when Aman and her found Lola set Lola's nan Olivia and Gurnam up on a secret date. That was a funny part. This book is for everyone to read and enjoy :)

[Leonie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow what a emotional read I really loved Aman so much she was such a sweet character to read about even though this book was dedicated for dyslexia readers because of the front and how short it was I wished it wasn’t targeted for this read because I would have loved more of the story because it was about grief, love and a bit of sexuality too but apart from that it wasn’t a bad read at all

[Ghostly Writer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was so worried about Gurnam for the entire book!! The climax at the end...

[Bev · Rating 5 out of 5]

It has to be said that I've never disliked any book by Bali Rai .....this may be an understatement!..but I certainly didn't expect the roller coaster of emotions that this short but perfectly formed story evoked. Aman is still struggling with the loss of her late father and is definitely still grieving when she meets Gurnam, an older gentleman who is struggling to deal with secrets in his past. The relationship that grows between them is just lovely and Aman starts to see Gurnam in a grandfatherly way. I was reading a scene when she nearly loses him later in the book whilst travelling on a busy train - boy was I glad I had tissues with me! The story deals with issues of homophobia and family loyalty and so much feeling is packed into this shorter title that I just want to go back and reread it to fully appreciate the masterly prose.

[OniReadsBooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

I first saw Stay A Little Longer in my local library and decided to read it, seeing it sounded interesting. The story features Aman, a teenage girl who's lost her father and deeply misses him. She meets Gurnam, who feels alone and sad, and together they form an unlikely friendship.

I really enjoyed the story, but I have given it two stars because of some of the sexist messages which are unfortunately in this novel.

Firstly, the female characters are shown to be and seen as weak and vulnerable and the male characters shown to be and seen as strong and brave. Whenever the female character gets bullied, the male character has to come to save her. Any attempts of a female character being brave and strong would go wrong.

The second thing is that the male characters who are kind and caring seem to all be muscular. The male characters described as small and/or scrawny are portrayed as mean and as bullies. This is a very common theme in teen books, where the male characters who conform to the gender stereotype of men being muscular are portrayed in a positive or mixed light and the male characters who don't conform to this stereotype are portrayed in a negative light.

I did like the part where Aman challenges Gurnam when he assumes that Aman's father must be the one who owns the tools, but felt there was little discussion on why Gurnam would make this assumption and how he learned the assumption that women don't own tools in the first place. Besides ,why were there no scenes depicting the female characters using tools and doing plumbing, building and carpentry? There also were a few unchallenged comments, such as one of the bullies telling Aman she's a "typical girl" because she called her dog Milly and a character saying that rom coms are "girly".

However I do like that the main character is a girl who likes and plays football and that the book dealt with the issues of homophobia and mental health.

[Sheereen Iqbal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, what can I say? Gurnam is such a nice man and seeing how not that many men do that in the real world shows how much reality is real.. Gurnam being seen as the father figure to Aman is so heart warming and seeing how they got along so fast was just really good. It was heartbreaking seeing how Gurnam left his family to be alone was so relatable and sometimes people need to do that for a bit. I like how he put trust into Aman’s mum and even like a husband figure to her too! The part where Gurnam turned out to be gay was crazy. It just made my jaw drop. It made sense why he was hated on. That letter Aman read out loud was so heart breaking to read I just couldn’t even get through the first line😭. But it was an amazing book. Bali Rai himself is such an amazing author and even meeting him in person always has a place in my heart. Turning real life events into something people can spread awareness about is the many things I like about him. He’s so creative and I just love his style of writing.

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book i enjoyed in years , the book that made me start getting into reading.
I will always have full respect for this book. I gave this book a little piece of my heart. And shared some tears aswell

Its about this girl that lost her father , later on she meets this man an he ends up filling in the whole not all of it but some of it. Ends up being like a Grandfather to her. But he has a past...a past he did not tell her. A past that broke him and caused him pain. A pain that this girl did not even see until the end. A twist in the end.

[annabel⭐️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short story but so powerful.
It was really sweet and kind told from a child’s perspective.

I really loved how moving the story was and how it touched on hard hitting topics that are important to educate yourself on. Trigger warnings would be suicidal thoughts and suicide in general lots of talk around mental health as well.

It also briefly covered life as an older gay person and the struggles they face.

Overall this was a short but informative read which really was amazing and emotional.

4 stars ⭐️

[Helen Crowther · Rating 4 out of 5]

This got recommended by a teacher, who'd read it with his class (secondary). He really liked it, so I gave it a go. It's YA - the younger end of YA - so would work really well with year 7, 8 kind of range. The characters are very well-drawn, and although the protagonist (first person) is a bit Mary Sue, the story and the delay in revealing the 'secret' is really well done. The adults are better written than the younger characters, I'd say. I can see this working really well if rewritten as a more mature story, actually.

[Christina Reid · Rating 5 out of 5]

So much story and feeling, packed into so few pages! This was the first book that I have read from this author, but it won't be the last. I raced through this, feeling so much sympathy for Aman and Gurnam. A beautiful, hopeful book about family and the ties that bind us.

[Mia · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a bit to easy read for me. The story was good but if it was more in detail and a bigger book I think I would have liked it more. Also quite liked the children not being white and them teaching some things about a different culture.

[Thomas Lau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written, thoughtful, and relevant. An important read for teens who are often without enough examples of kindness and compassion that sees beyond unwarranted judgement and cruelty. Well done, Bali Rai!

[Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh my goodness, what a sad but important story. Barrington Stoke, you produce the best ones!

[Claire Birrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick, yet powerful read from a child's point of view.

[Riham Sq · Rating 1 out of 5]

A big disappointment !!

[Abi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very realistic perspective on LGBTQ+ and mental health issues. Must read for all.

[Rob Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

The kids really liked it!

[Em · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was so good and the ending when he tried to commit suicide it made me cry

[Libraryliz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok, homophobic violence.

[Chloe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this in a few hours! It makes you want to keep on reading! It talks about some much that needs to be talked about in real life. Near the end nearly brought tears to my eyes! Brilliant book!

[sonataiscool · Rating 4 out of 5]

So precious and moving .Gurnam and Aman are familial soulmates <3

[Liv Odzimek · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was so emotional so good it had some humor I thought it was gunna be a sad ending but it was a happy one and sobbing.

[Shannonbilling · Rating 4 out of 5]

it was actually really good and had a very good surprise at the end

[Darcy · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Aman meets Gurnam to two soon become good friends but Gurnam is haunted by his own sadness when far more complex and bigger then Aman ever thought.

This book is great for dyslexic readers who may by struggling to come to terms with their condition I think they could easily relate to Gurnam. I love Aman Character she is so sweet with the way she cares for Gurnam and is willing to accept him for who he is. Overall a very emotional and quick read however I would have like an element of something else I don't know what but that would have added an additional problem to the story