Review: When Life Gives You Mangoes by Kereen Getten

School's out, and 12-year-old Clara is once again resigned to socialising with the handful of kids in her village. Most of the gang she can take or leave except for cool teenager Gaynah, her fair-weather best friend.

 

Lately, their chalk-and-cheese friendship has become particularly tense. Gaynah's been taunting Clara, their favourite game 'pick leaf' has become a chore and Clara has increasingly retreated to their hideout alone, eating the unspoiled fallen mangoes her parents warned her not to touch, and trying to remember why her life is falling apart. 

With the flurry of excitement around new girl Rudy, the English visitor, Clara will need to remember what happened last summer — and fast — before she finds herself with no friends at all. 

This compelling, contemporary coming-of-age story, with added suspense, was inspired by Black author Kereen Getten's childhood in Jamaica. It's rare to find a British middle-grade novel that focuses wholly on a Caribbean community, so it was especially exciting to view Getten’s debut.

The colonial relic of Fort Charlotte is featured as a setting in one of the chapters, rooting the story in a fictional village (Sycamore) near the real Jamaican coastal town of Lucea. Nothing particularly exciting ever happens in Sycamore. Everyone knows everyone else's business which, of course, is the perfect set-up for an intriguing summer mystery. 

The plot builds slowly as we're introduced to not just Clara and Gaynah but the entire local community, as is the Caribbean way. There's the motley crew of kids: surfer dude Calvin, sidekick Anton, the sporty Wilson twins, and English mischief-maker Rudy. And then the adults: Clara's concerned parents, peace-keeping Uncle Albert, holier-than-thou Pastor Brown, crotchety Ms Gee, sinister Uncle Eldorath, and many more. At times there's an overload of names, particularly during the climax which requires some reflection, but each character is carefully drawn and has a specific part to play in bringing the story to a satisfying resolution. 

As momentum gathers pace and a tropical storm erupts, an extremely clever twist makes you gasp aloud. Getten does an outstanding job of wrongfooting the reader and, feeling totally duped, I re-read from the start to check for clues I'd missed, which is a clear sign of a job well done! Fluent readers in upper KS2, who are confident in tackling more demanding texts would enjoy the layered plotline and intricate flashbacks, which might be lost on those at an earlier reading stage.

There are hints of magic and superstition. Clara's Uncle Eldorath is branded as the community witch doctor which, although a tad predictable, is thankfully not completely overplayed. The sharp, lighthearted comedy in Clara's witty asides during squabbles with her peers and the adults, contrasts with the strong themes of loss and grief tackled sensitively by the author. It might be wise to ensure the text matches your readers' levels of maturity.

As well as the vivid descriptions of the island’s landscape, rich cultural references are interwoven naturally throughout the story, giving a flavour of authentic Caribbean life. You can almost taste the sea spray, feel the humid tropical heat, hear Marley and Koffee’s music, and smell the curry goat and fresh mangoes. I love that the progressively popular Jamaican pastime of surfing is made integral to the story, debunking the myth that all Black people hate water-sports and only do track. The book would potentially make a wonderful accompaniment to a geographical study of Jamaica (geography). 

When Life Gives You Mangoes is a superbly crafted hopeful tale of heartbreak and healing. It deals insightfully with the perils of teenage friendship — having the courage to let go of your painful past to rebuild your life in the present, whatever bruised mangoes you're given. 

Guide for teachers and parents

Genre	Narrative: contemporary fiction; stories from other cultures
Child-led interests (EYFS)	N/A
Age group (EYFS, KS1, KS2)	KS2 (upper)
Curriculum links/topics (EYFS/NC)	English Reading comprehension (Y5/6) ‒continuing to read and discuss an increasingly wide range of fiction, poetry, plays, non-fiction and reference books or textbooks; increasing their familiarity with a wide range of books, including myths, legends and traditional stories, modern fiction, fiction from our literary heritage, and books from other cultures and traditions; making comparisons within and across books; checking that the book makes sense to them, discussing their understanding and exploring the meaning of words in context; asking questions to improve their understanding; drawing inferences such as inferring characters’ feelings, thoughts and motives from their actions, and justifying inferences with evidence; predicting what might happen from details stated and implied; identifying how language, structure and presentation contribute to meaning; discuss and evaluate how authors use language, including figurative language, considering the impact on the reader Geography:  Locational knowledge ‒ locate the world’s countries, using maps to focus on Europe (including the location of Russia) and North and South America, concentrating on their environmental regions, key physical and human characteristics, countries, and major cities;  Place knowledge ‒ understand geographical similarities and differences through the study of human and physical geography of a region of the United Kingdom, a region in a European country, and a region in North or South America;  Human and physical geography ‒ describe and understand key aspects of: ·     physical geography, including: climate zones, biomes and vegetation belts, rivers, mountains, volcanoes and earthquakes, and the water cycle ·     human geography, including types of settlement and land use, economic activity including trade links, and the distribution of natural resources including energy, food, minerals and water Geographical skills and fieldwork ‒ use maps, atlases, globes and digital/computer mapping to locate countries and describe features studied
Suitability	clas novel; class/school library; home reader
General features	first-person narration; flashbacks; some cliff hangers; imagery; plot twist; added mystery; layering and drip-feeding of info; familiar setting; informal dialogue

All the Black children's books that I review are checked against my Jericho Benchmark.