Review: The Simple Things

When Stephen and his parents visit Aunty Lola for a whole three weeks, Stephen discovers that people you’ve never met before, even ones who are scary and grumpy, can be family. Everything Aunty Lola does is a bit unexpected, and her world seems full of secrets. When you think she’ll get mad, she hugs, and when you are just being yourself, she gets cross.

This is Stephen’s journey into the unchartered world of relationships. It’s a fact that eighty is really really old and that is how old Lola is going to turn, but how can you have a party if she doesn’t tell you who her friends are? And what about the secrets she has locked away in the back of the shed?

Stephen, Lola and the neighbours explore the simple things together. Through their adventures, they ask awkward questions, face difficult truths and find each other. The Simple Things, told in the irresistible ten-year-old voice of a boy who misses his dog is full of heart. It’s a keeper.

Title: The Simple Things
Author: Bill Condon
Publisher: Allen and Unwin, $12.99 RRP
Publication Date: March 2014
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781743317242
For ages: 8 +
Type: Junior Fiction