Book Reviews 2021-2023

Genre: graphic novel, comic, fiction

Key Stage: 3+

Rating: ★★★★★

Illegal, Eoin Colfer, Andrew Donkin, Giovanni Rigano (2017)

Plot: Ebo is alone. His brother and sister have both fled their home village to try and find a better life in Europe and Ebo is left with his drunken uncle. Ebo decides to try and find his brother who has just left and join him in his desire to reach Europe. We learn about the dangers Ebo faces along the way: across deserts, gangs, armies and a perilous trip across the sea to Europe.

Positives: The artwork is lovely and paints a really good scene. The novel shows the many different journeys people take to reach Europe from Africa and the real danger they face at each stage. It is also a heart-warming story of survival and family.

Negatives: It wasn’t really clear why Ebo’s brother and sister left in the first place. There are also some quite sad parts of the book that may upset some readers.

If you like this, you might like: New Kid by Jerry Craft, Class Act by Jerry Craft, Sheets by Brenna Thummler, They Called Us Enemy by George Takei

Reviewer: Ms Carter-Dunn

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