Ellie Pillai is Brown

Product Information

I do think I started to loose interest in the middle of the book - nothing attention catching was going on. She’s pretty much the only brown girl in her school and she’s hiding a big secret from her first generation immigrant parents (they think she took computer science GCSE when really she’s doing drama, a subject she’s actually not doing even doing well in). I think my favourite thing about this was that it very much has the coming of age, British John Hughes-style vibe I was expecting, but kind of turns some the typical beats of that story around and subverts expectations, to the point I actually wasn’t sure who would end up with who because there were so many plausible possibilities for how things could turn out.

So the thought that Ellie is taking drama for GCSE rather than computer science, is likely to be devastating. The message was really gracefully delivered and the music really made it a unique experience for me.There were so many times I was cringing but I think that’s just because I’m not the target audience. This experience has been fantastic primarily for the children, the school and also for me (professionally). Der Schreibstil erzählt aus Ellies Sicht und das sehr leicht und flüssig, zudem sind die Kapitel meist angenehm kurz.

It was cute, and I have a feeling I would have liked it a lot more had I read it when I was younger. Your selection was perfect for our children and what really made the difference was your ability to engage with each child, discuss their interests and help them to choose a suitable book based on your extensive knowledge of the books you were selling. However, it is through the challenges of teenage life that Ellie begins to find herself, making this an extremely relatable book for upper school students. There are few YA books out there from a British Asian teenage perspective, and even less that have characters as well-written and a story/world as involving as this one. The way it did turn out, though, was for the record the way I wanted it to be, and I’ve heard there’s going to be a sequel so I will absolutely be reading that so I can see some more of these characters.

Her friends are cool, but she’s not that girl, in fact most of the time she goes about her life invisible to the rest of the school. British YA can be hit or miss, often reading much younger than the ages of it's protagonists, so this was a risky purchase but the incredible printed edges on my edition persuaded me. Candy Gourlay introduces Wild Song, her companion novel to Bone Talk, in which Luki and Samkad leave their home in the Philippines for America.

There is cliches and then there’s a story that felt like you packed it up with cliches for the sake of having romance? You guys are such a force for good and I am a passionate supporter of Indie booksellers, so I'm so happy this worked out well (I'd love to know how many books were sold if you have it to hand - it felt like quite a lot! Yesterday a parent came over to tell me how impressed she was by the book fair and that you did a fabulous job of selling the books to the children first.

This book looks at the challenges life throws us, how to be OK with being yourself, and how to show love to those that matter in your life.

This is a long book, which is the only reason I rated it down a little - the story did start to drag in a couple of places. Ellie Pillai is Brown is a warm hearted read that really perfectly captures what it feels like to be a teenager: it’s a real whirlwind of emotions and complexity.

I found the whole idea of using QR codes throughout the book to connect to Ellie's playlist absolutely genius! With classics such as Ted Hughes's The Iron Man and award-winners including Emma Carroll's Letters from the Lighthouse, Faber Children's Books brings you the best in picture books, young reads and classics.