The Guardian have published their choice of the best children’s books of 2016, and we’re absolutely thrilled that Sweet Pizza by G.R. Gemin has made the list!
A great story that has immigration at its core, Sweet Pizza is perfect for fans of Jacqueline Wilson and Michael Morpurgo – it’s got fantastic dramatic writing, strong characters, and big-hearted social realism.
Julia Eccleshare writes: “Joe’s Italian family have run the cafe in Bryn Mawr for generations but now his mother, sick of the struggle to keep it going, wants to sell up. Joe loves the cafe and believes its Italian flavour has a role to play in keeping the community together. Drawing on his sick grandfather’s memories of arriving in Wales as a young man, and with some help from his Italian cousin, Mimi, who turns up just in time, Joe turns the cafe into an irresistible centre of food, family and opera. Rich in both Welsh and Italian culture, Sweet Pizza is a delightfully heartwarming and imaginative story which also reflects the true story of Welsh-Italian integration.”
You can read The Guardian’s full list of their best children’s books of 2016 here – and if you haven’t read Sweet Pizza yet, you can take a look inside the book below:
Sweet Pizza has been nominated for the Carnegie Medal and longlisted for the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize. Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize judge Kate Saunders said of the book: “The warmth and charm of ‘Sweet Pizza’ are quite extraordinary; though there are some very moving moments, it is mainly a joyous and eccentric comedy.”
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