Looking Up

by Abena Eyeson

Thirteen-year-old Esi is reluctantly on her way to London, England. After many happy years with Grandma in Ghana, she is joining Maggie, the mother she hasn’t lived with since the age of six.

Her move to London, not only forces Esi to deal with challenges she’s never faced before, but it brings up lots of questions about Solomon, her absent father, and Maggie - the answers to which in the end change her life.

A compelling, family drama about faith, friendship, relationships, overcoming difficulties and the resilience of love, Looking Up will be enjoyed by older children and adults alike.

183 pages, Paperback

Published January 16, 2019

About the author

PhD educated Abena Eyeson was born in Ghana but has lived in England since she was a child.

In July 2025, RUNNING MY OWN RACE, her debut middle grade novel, was published by Nosy Crow in the UK. Centred around eleven year old Kofi, it's a story about family, friendship, gaining courage and going for your dreams.

In 2021, she completed the Faber Academy Writing a Novel course. In the same year, she became a Faber Children’s FAB Prize Commended Text winner and was longlisted for the Jericho Prize for one of her picture books. She was longlisted for the TLC Pen Factor in 2022 and was added to the Oxford University Press’ (OUP) Primary Literacy list as a potential author. Her first book for OUP Primary, Our Family Farm, was published in 2024.

In 2019, she self-published a teen novel called Looking Up.

Since 2023, Abena has been represent by Gill McLay of Bath Literary Agency.

Reviews

[Ancillar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this debut novel by Abena that death with immigration ,faith,family and growth

[Abena · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book explores the impact of migration and loss, relationships and culture and is narrated from the voice of a teen, which I felt added a level of intimacy to the story.
I enjoyed the book because it looked at migration and loss, centred the voice of the child, tackling prejudice and racism, and used a diary-style format to do that.
I wrote a blog about my thoughts, which you can read here:
https://www.akadimagazine.com/post/a-...

[Farida Ladipo-Ajayi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Esi, a thirteen year old teenager living in Ghana suddenly has to move to London to join her mother. Esi’s mother, Maggie has lived in London for the last six years and Esi has been raised by her grandma. She’s had a very happy life in Accra with Nana Nancy, cousin Ama and Auntie Cissy. Esi’s world seems to be crashing, having to leave the good life she’s always known to start all over in London. Adjusting is hard, everything is different, and she misses Accra terribly. In all of this, Esi is nervous about building a relationship with her mother, she’s also trying to find answers to the questions she has had about the relationship between her mother and her father, Solomon who hasn’t been in her life since she was four. She gets answers alright but her life is forever changed by all of this new knowledge.

There are so many unexpected twists in this novel, just when you think nothing else can go wrong, the plot begins to thicken all over again. It’s a very compelling read that explores themes around teenage life, embracing change, family relationships, culture & diversity, friendships, bullying, racism, migration etc.

This family drama will definitely be enjoyed by a wide range of ages from pre-teens even up to adults.

[Kwabena Date-Bah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Novel had many unexpected twists, like the reluctance of the main character, the teenage girl Esi, to leave Accra in Ghana and to travel to London in the UK despite such a journey being the dream of many a Ghanaian living in Ghana or even native Africans living on the African continent. However, upon arrival in the UK, Esi becomes exposed to different cultures and foods and this broadens her life perspectives despite the complexity of her family situation involving her mother, Maggie, and her father, Solomon.