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This book is clever, sensitive, thoughtful and harrowing, and its heroine is utterly charming.The story is told from the viewpoint of a four year old girl and right from the beginning her narration took me right back to the confusion and innocent curiosity of childhood. The author has got so many things exactly right; how much more children see and hear than adults realise, how unerringly they read adult moods and emotions and how baffling those moods can be. Jesika is a bright little girl but the difficulty of explaining her problems to the adults around her, her mother, struggling to bring up two children on the poverty line, the various authorities and helpers on whom Jesika must depend when her mother is in hospital, frequently almost defeats her. And her story illustrates vividly and heartbreakingly how hard it is for a child to get adults to understand when they are in danger and how hard it is for adults to see when a child needs to tell them something.Everyone who is involved in childcare should read this from parents outwards to the highest authorities. Not only does it illuminate the minds of children, it could almost be a blueprint of how to listen and understand them and how to show love and respect for them. And how quickly and genuinely they respond to the truth they see. Jesika's love and trust in her mother shines out of her narrative. It's an inspiring novel. I hope the author will write many more and I shall certainly read any that she does.

This book was incredibly useful to understanding young children and made me feel like I was really Jessica ! This unique read has an element of everything you need in a book mystery , humour and information. At times I felt the flow could have been more improved but this was just personal preference.Recommended highly.

She’s 4 and a 1/2.We read this through the eyes of a child and my oh my what a read this was.I have had this on my shelf of netgalley books which must have slipped down the net of my kindle, so I read it.It’s an emotional read and yet somehow uplifting too.Being a mom I wanted to just pick this little girl up, save her, protect her and simp,y love her and make her little life better.If you’ve not read this and this blurb and all the fab reviews then please do.The reviews are right. They are real and not hyped.I will remember this little family.

I loved this book! Four-year old Jesika is such an endearing character and the reader is rooting for her from the start as she faces increasingly threatening situations. The novel is narrated from the child's point of view, which, in the hands of a less skilled writer, could have been irritating, but has been done superbly and is one of the best narrative voices I have ever read. The occasional word is mis-spelt (new moania for pneumonia was a particular favourite as I remember thinking it was two words). It is just enough to remind us of Jesika's age and to make us smile without detracting from the plot.The subject matter is dark in places but sensitively handled and makes for a compelling read - I finished the second half in a single sitting and could not go to bed until I'd reached the end. Yet this is not a depressing read. Warmth and love shine through this story of the resilience of the human spirit, and the kindness of friends and neighbours is moving.This story is thought-provoking and so relevant to the society we live in. I urge everyone to read it.

Controversial issues, told with a Hollywood ending!!

Oh Jesika, Jesika, Jesika. How I want to dive into the words and grab you and cuddle and kiss you. I defy anyone not to love this adorable four-and-a-half-year-old little treasure.I couldn’t quite fathom how an adult could get into the mind of a child so young and use her voice to tell her story, but, by golly, she didn’t half do it well. You fall in love with Jesika right from the start: she has you in a vice-like grip from the beginning and within a very short time, you’re thinking, I don’t want this book to end.Jesika lives with her mummy and baby brother Toby in a hovel of a flat: the epitome of housing rented out by a scumbag. It’s damp, it’s cold, the bath has a crack in it, so you can’t fill it too high and the boiler pilot light keeps going out. But it’s home to Jesika. She loves preschool and very much wants to be friends with Paige. Such poignant innocence and blessed naivete. It’s all very adorable so far. About a third of the way into the story, you suddenly realise there are some red flags…and you hope beyond hope it’s not all going the way you dread. But Jesika has you hopelessly smitten by now. You’re besotted with her, and all the people in her little life, whom she loves.It’s quite an exhausting read: Jesika doesn’t speak in commas and full stops. Four-and-a-half-year-olds don't. She can speak for quite a long time without drawing breath. But don't let this fool you into thinking that the novel isn't an adult one. It is.I saw this author on Davina McCall’s programme, This Year Next Year: Berriman’s pledge was to have her first book published twelve months after her first appearance on the programme. And she did it. Successfully, brilliantly. This is without doubt my book of 2018.

Being written in the voice and from the viewpoint of a four year old child, this book intrigued me. You do become part of her world really quickly and you hold your breath as you realise what is happening before she does but are powerless to intervene. It was both moving, charming and emotive and I loved both Jesika and the simply wonderfully portrayed set of neighbours that begin to become her friends.

Really good book, it definitely had me hooked from beginning to end.