Bumface and co

Bumface is an astonishingly good novel by Morris Gleitzman. It's about a boy who pretends to be a pirate to keep his younger sibling amused, and his best friend, who is forced into marriage. It's set in Australia, it's brilliant and it deals with a lot of difficult issues. It also starts with the hero having to admit that he isn't drawing a penis in his book. Which he is supposed to be.

A new novel is coming out in the UK which promises to deal with the issue of forced marriage in a slightly more serious way. There's an article, if not a review of it, here. Secrets of the Henna Girl tackles a British girl who is saved by the Forced Marriage Unit, Britain's taskforce. It's important to know about because the government is considering how to tackle forced marriage. It's important because the girl who disappears from your school at half term and doesn't come back might be missing because she's been married off to someone she's never met, twice her age.

Children's books maybe, but tackling issues we should all know about.