Tag: Tamsin Janu

Figgy Takes the City by Tamsin Janu

Nana was writing so quickly that he kept breaking the lead of his pencils.
But he didn’t sharpen them. That takes time.
To sharpen a pencil we have to go outside, because Principal Mensah doesn’t like pencil shavings on the classroom floor. Which is confusing, since chickens wander into the classroom and poo on the ground all the time and she never complains about that. We also have to sharpen pencils with little metal razors, which takes a lot of effort. And sometimes, when you are sharpening too quickly, the razor will cut your finger. So there is blood, and you have to go to the teacher for a plaster, and by the time you get back to your desk the test is nearly over and the cut on your finger hurts so much you cannot write anyway.
So Nana came prepared.

Figgy is back and in this third Figgy (and Nana story), the friends both win scholarships to the high school in Accra. Figgy is initially very nervous but quickly settles in and is keen to absorb all the experiences that a city can offer. Nana, however, has more trouble and Figgy can’t make him talk about what’s worrying him. Or where he disappears to. Cities are strange and wonderful, dangerous and sad. This year is going to change them forever.

‘Figgy Takes the City’ follows ‘Figgy in the World’ and ‘Figgy and the President’ and continues the story of Figgy, a Ghanian village girl with a big heart, a wonderful imagination and enough love to wrap the whole world. These adventures introduce the reader to Ghana, village and city life, to dilemmas unimaginable and familiar. The definition of ‘family’ expands and then expands again. What is family after all but individuals looking after others? Figgy and her friends are warm, fallible, true-hearted and brave. This is another adventure that should find a home in every heart. Recommended for mid-primary readers.
Figgy Takes the City, Tamsin Janu Scholastic 2017 ISBN: 9781742992006
review by Claire Saxby, Children’s author and bookseller
www.clairesaxby.com

Blossom, by Tamsin Janu

The little girl was silent, and just stared.
So Lottie asked questions. ‘What’re you up to? Are you lost?’
Silence. The little girl hadn’t blinked once.
‘Where’re your parents?’
Silence.
‘Don’t worry if you haven’t got any parents. I don’t. I live with my Uncle Bobby, who’s kind enough.’

Lottie lives with just her Uncle Bobby, and has always longed for a sister, so when a lost girl turns up on her doorstep, she’s excited. But the girl – who Lottie names Blossom – isn’t like other children. Not only doesn’t she speak, but she only eats plants, makes funny sounds, and has green liquid instead of blood. Lottie navigates the difficulties of having such an odd sister presents, until Blossom gets sick, and suddenly becomes the center of scientific interest. Only Lottie and her friends can rescue her.

Blossom is a beautiful tale of an unexpected friendship, with an equally unexpected outcome. It soon becomes apparent that Blossom may be from another world, but just how different this place is is only slowly revealed. In the meantime, Lottie draws on her own strengths as well as the help of those around her.

A beautiful, whimsy-filled story.

Blossom, by Tamsin Janu
Scholastic, 2017
ISBN 9781742991641

Figgy in The World, Tamsin Janu

I am the only person named Figgy in my village.

Probably the only Figgy in Ghana. Maybe the only one in Africa. And possibly, by the smallest chance, I might be the only person named Figgy in The World.

But that cannot be true. I don’t know much about The World. I don’t know much about the people in it either. But I do know that The World is big. Maybe there are millions of Figgys out there. Figgys who whine every day, ‘Everyone is called Figgy where I live! Figgy, Figgy, Figgy! Why can’t I have a non-Figgyish name?’

I don’t even know why my name is Figgy. My mama named me, but I cannot remember her. She left me on Grandma Ama’s doorstep eight years ago when I was a baby. Then she ran away, never to be seen again. There was a note wedged in the blanket I was wrapped in, with four words on it.

Her name is Figgy.

I am the only person named Figgy in my village.

Probably the only Figgy in Ghana. Maybe the only one in Africa. And possibly, by the smallest chance, I might be the only person named Figgy in The World.

But that cannot be true. I don’t know much about The World. I don’t know much about the people in it either. But I do know that The World is big. Maybe there are millions of Figgys out there. Figgys who whine every day, ‘Everyone is called Figgy where I live! Figgy, Figgy, Figgy! Why can’t I have a non-Figgyish name?’

I don’t even know why my name is Figgy. My mama named me, but I cannot remember her. She left me on Grandma Ama’s doorstep eight years ago when I was a baby. Then she ran away, never to be seen again. There was a note wedged in the blanket I was wrapped in, with four words on it.

Her name is Figgy.

Figgy is an eight-year old girl, living in a village in Ghana. Her Grandma Ama is sick, and the local doctor is not very useful. Figgy decides that she must travel to America to get the medicine that will make Grandma Ama better. So she sets off to America with her special goat Kwame. Along the way she wonders whether she will discover other Figgys, or whether she is the only Figgy in the world. But America is further than she could possibly have imagined and travelling there is frought with challenge. She meets good people and not-so-good people on her journey. Despite the challenges, she and Kwame travel on. She will help her Grandma Ama.

Figgy in the World is simply delightful. From the design of the front cover to the final page, the reader is introduced to an entrancing girl wrapped in both innocence and knowledge, determined to achieve her goal. She is on a quest. Figgy tells her story in first person and the reader can gauge where her knowledge and her innocence overlap and hold their breath as she gets herself into and out of trouble. She is assisted, and hindered, by Kwame and her new friend Nana. Figgy’s search for America and medicine is full of twists and turns, humour and friendship. Set in Ghana, this is a universal story about love and friendship, adventure and belonging. Highly recommended for mid-primary and beyond.

Figgy in the World, Tamsin Janu Omnibus Books 2014 ISBN: 9781742990453

review by Claire Saxby, Children’s author and bookseller

www.clairesaxby.com