Tadpole Summer

This is truly an extraordinary novel, exquisitely written, deeply moving and important. As the author says in her afterword, one in twenty children experience the death of a parent or sibling by the age of sixteen and stories like this can help children prepare for loss and work through and articulate their grief. It is also raising awareness of the dreadful disease Spinal Muscular Atrophy (called SMA-PME for short) which Frog’s younger brother Taddeus (Tad) suffers from. 

The story is told from the perspective of eleven-year-old Frances (known to all as Frog). She is one of the ‘glass children’, a sibling of a child with chronic or terminal illness, many of whom the author has encountered during her teaching career, with them showing incredible resilience and compassion, but often isolated and feeling unseen. 

Lived experience and careful research lend an unmistakable authenticity to this story, which clearly matters deeply to the author. But what is most remarkable about this story is the sheer life affirming joy and hope to be found within its pages, in the relationships within the family and with the wider community and from the solace that the natural world can bring. 

Nature had always been important to Tad and Frog, the ‘Wildlife Warriors’, aided and abetted by their Grandad, who lives with them. They always collected frogspawn to watch the tadpole transformation, but this was the year that Tad was too ill to join them. 

When he was hospitalized, Frog could not bear to sleep in their bedroom without him, and Grandad suggested a tent in the garden. When Tad comes home, he needs medical equipment and so she stays in the tent. In a short time, this simple action becomes something that involves a community and school in fundraising, whilst all the time she is sharing the magic of nature with Tad. 

It is so beautifully and delicately done without labouring the point, but we can see that observing the fragility of life, because not all tadpoles will grow into frogs, helps her to come to terms with what is happening to her beloved brother. 

As the season moves on, the inevitable ending draws closer, but it comes with a profound sense of peace and of having made every single day count. Most importantly for young readers, at the end we see Frog turning towards the future, having survived the loss, knowing that with each spring she will see the tadpoles and relive their last summer together. 

This is a profound and beautifully honest portrayal of a close-knit, loving family facing the worst of circumstances, which has not a shred of sentimentality, but which shows what resilience, love and bravery the human spirit can muster. Not since A Monster Calls has a reading experience affected me as much and this unforgettable novel absolutely deserves a similar status and recognition.