I absolutely loved this book and would encourage everyone to read it! 

I would recommend the book to 8-11 year olds but I think that adults would really enjoy it also (I certainly did)!

This is a heart-warming, funny and thought provoking story about a group of friends who develop a plan to help the new boy in their class. The friends learn that the new boy, Ahmet, is a refugee who has escaped a war. The story highlights the importance of kindness, friendship and compassion in a strange and confusing world, all told from the perspective of a nine year old child.

The blurb:

There used to be an empty chair at the back of my class, but now a new boy called Ahmet is sitting in it.

He's nine years old (just like me), but he's very strange. He never talks and never smiles and doesn't like sweets - not even lemon sherbets, which are my favourite!

But then I learned the truth: Ahmet really isn't very strange at all. He's a refugee who's run away from a War. A real one. With bombs and fires and bullies that hurt people. And the more I find out about him, the more I want to help.

That's where my best friends Josie, Michael and Tom come in. Because you see, together we've come up with a plan. . .