Only Child

Rhiannon Navin Macmillan. Out Thursday We meet narrator Zach as he huddles in a cupboard with his teacher and some of his six-year-old class mates, sheltering from a gunman on the rampage at his primary school. His 10-year-old brother Andy is among the pupils shot dead. It’s an incredibly powerful story that charts Zach’s griefravaged family struggling to cope with their loss. It’s not easy to sustain the voice of a child, particularly with such heavy subject matter, but Navin pulls it off brilliantly. Ultimately it’s a story of forgiveness and reconciliation and this incredibly moving book will linger long in your memory.