My Name is Jodie Jones

This incredible YA debut novel is a thing of beauty that cracks the heart and speaks to the soul. Interwoven with the sweet inner music of intertextuality and the unusual filmography of Wes Anderson, it has a vibrant, neurodiverse narrator of mixed heritage who possesses the ‘independent will’ of Jane Eyre fired with a feminist spirit. Jodie Jones, who insists on being called by her full name, revels in the rhythm of words. Sequoia. Propinquity. Mellifluous. Profound. Elixir. Perfervid. They are her refuge. She is an avid reader and a collector of sentences. She is a philosopher and analyser who embraces alliteration and onomatopoeia. She is entranced by the imagery of Fitzgerald, the sentiment of McCarthy and the word trickery of Joyce. She luxuriates in the poetry of Dickinson, Duffy and Rosetti. To her words are ‘a sky full of snowflakes, individual and free’ while sentences are ‘ribbons tied to a pole, flapping and dancing in the breeze.’

Unique, complex and traumatised, Jodie Jones takes the reader on an incredible journey through her psyche as she deals with bereavement, divisive family dynamics, painful memories, the butterfly flutterings of first love and academic choices. As she struggles with inner turmoil deliberately performing badly at school, she finds mysterious scraps of paper with wondrous words just waiting for her. But what is at the root of her trauma?

Thai Irish wordsmith, free-thinker and English teacher Emma Shevah infuses her novel with a colourful cast of accompanying characters including supportive psychiatrist Dr Kumar, empathetic Moses, loyal friend Becca and her caring family: a controlling mother, a grieving father, an irritating older brother who is hiding a secret and diverse teaching staff.

A compulsive and empowering read, My Name is Jodie Jones celebrates the lyricism of literature and its ability to illustrate the human condition. Reflecting author Sally Gardner’s belief that ‘words are sweets in the mouth of sound’, this thought-provoking book will appeal to lovers of language, students of literature and readers looking for something completely different. A triumphant tour de force with a distinctive, fierce and fresh voice, it’s one to watch.