Moving on Up

This is Rosie Jones’s first foray into middle grade non-fiction. It is a self-help guide for young teens, whether they have a disability or not. Topics covered include making friends, bullying, including cyber bullying and internet safety, being a good family member, first crushes, periods, sexuality and a small amount about Jones’s disability, which is cerebral palsy.

What makes Jones’s work stand out is her ability to draw the reader in and make them feel like she is engaged in conversation with them, as a friend. When dealing with intimate topics like periods and sexuality, this is an impressive skill as Jones never sounds didactic.

There are parts in every chapter in which Jones shares anecdotes from her own life including a few highly unflattering ones – like vomiting over a Monopoly board. This further endears her to the reader.

Wells’s illustrations which are animated in style, act to break up and momentarily distract from some quite emotional topics. They complement Jones’s prose style very well.

This book could be well utilised in schools in Years 6,7 and 8.