'The towerblocks are falling and his will be next...'
I write this having just finished the utterly gripping 'Boy in the Tower' by Polly Ho-Yen. It tells the tale of Ade who lives on the 17th floor of a tower block in South London with his mum. He loves the birds-eye view of his city but starts to notice an odd blue glow lingering over some buildings. As time passes, these buildings start to fall and strange, ferocious plants named 'Bluchers' start to grow out of control. The more they grow, the more buildings collapse. The deadly spores they spread also have dreadful ramifications.
As these events engulf the world around him, life at home for Ade takes a fractious turn too, as his mum withdraws from both the outside world and from her son. As panic descends and the city steadily empties, Ade finds himself increasingly alone with only TV news reports and the view of a city in collapse for company, trapped in the flat with very little means of escape. His mum meanwhile is also trapped twofold, both in the building and in her own head. As readers we feel Ade's loneliness and helplessness deeply. Help comes in the form of kindly neighbours, every day folk who are a delight to get to know over the course of the story and provide some much needed relief for our lovable main character.
Polly Ho-Yen covers a great deal of ground here. A tale ultimately about bravery, isolation and community is cleverly framed within a dystopian scenario. Despite being published in 2014, events are not totally unlike the life we have been living through ourselves over the past few months. The science fiction-esque Bluchers (reminiscient of the Triffids) are imagination-poppingly vivid and menacing in equal measure. Luckily we are not currently contending with poisonous, building consuming plants... but life for children across the world has been thoroughly disrupted over the past few months in a similar manner to the events that happen to Ade and his peers. Havoc is wreaked on normal life as school is cancelled, shops close and people are encouraged to stay indoors to prevent infection. The unprovoked kindess and humanity of Ade's neighbours is crucial in his survival. A post-Covid reading of this story may make for some interesting interpretations from young readers.
Moreover Ade's world is one recognisable to many young readers: as a child growing up in South London, the urban and multicultural setting will be relatable to many children and will increase the awareness of others. Ade is a perfect central character: he is a sweet, loving and sensitive kid whose confusion over the events that transpire around him and the concern and love he shows for his mum encourage a huge surge of empathy from the reader. Ultimately his capacity for kindness and patience is his ticket to freedom.
Both heart stopping and heart warming in equal measure, I would recommend 'Boy in the Tower' a hundred times over: it is packed with stimulating issues to discuss and to think about, compelling and relatable characters and a riveting plot which, without exaggeration, had me on the edge of my seat.
Recommended for ages 9 - 12.
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