Just Call Me Spaghetti-Hoop Boy

Adam is adopted, he has always known it and as much as he loves his family there is always a thought about his birth mother lurking in his mind.  When his class are asked to work on their family tree Adam decides that this is the time to find his birth mother.  This is the time not least because he suspects that his mother is expecting another baby and they are going rehouse him to make room for it.

Adam has a wonderful friend Tiny Eric, who tries to make Adam as happy as possible drawing him as a superhero, Adam‘s favourite thing, and helps Adam look for his birth mother too.  All is not well in Tiny Eric’s life but Adam fails to see this until it is too late.

This is a thoughtful story, its seriousness and sadness disguised by its title and cover illustrations.  Its themes of family break up, adoption and what love is are neatly handled and for those readers able to pick up on the clues in the text, clues that Adam fails to pick up, giving an added frisson of impending doom. The ending is happy and yet not all the strings are neatly tied up in a fairy-tale manner.  A thoughtful read about families for those who are ready to move on from Jacqueline Wilson.