We Are All Made of Molecules

Stewart knows that he thinks differently from a lot of people, incredibly bright but socially inept, he knows that his Mum was relieved for him to get into a school with other children, where he could be himself. After his Mum loses her battle to cancer he is determined not to fall into the future she feared for him, where he struggles to fit into mainstream society so when his Dad gets together with someone new and they decide to move in together, he chooses to move to the same school as his new partner’s daughter, Ashley and even dares to dream that this is the opportunity for him to gain the sibling he so longed for. Ashley tries to be modest but knows that she is the girl others can only aspire to be. Attractive with rich, successful parents, she struggles with her father’s apparent new choice of life and is not at all happy at the prospect of the world’s biggest dweeb invading first her home and now her school. Can her life get any worse?

Beautifully scripted to enable the reader to see life from each of their perspectives, situations, which are at times agonising, are dealt with delicately and with a humour that manages to be both respectful and shine a beacon of joy in the darkest of times. An excellent source of discussion of some potentially difficult topics, so useful for PSHE, can also be used to unpick the language chosen by the author and for independent work, with the addition of questions about the text at the end of the story.