On the Wall

This is a story about a whole group of Year 7 children (those in the first year of secondary school), focusing on Finley.

Finley is always content, happy and calm, wherever he is. His Year 7 teachers are mystified by this. Some wish to clone him, but they all find him weird and so inscrutable that he perplexes them.

Finley does what’s needed academically but never pushes himself and is perfectly fine about it. His classmates, many of whom have known him all through primary school, accept him and often go to him for advice, which he’s happy to calmly give.

Fin likes sitting on the wall in break times with no agenda; sometimes kids come and sit next to him. Juliet is anxious and troubled after a family tragedy, so he helped her with some great advice - which readers might also find useful. Akeem gets terribly annoyed and panicked and has been calmed by Fin just sitting next to him for years.  

Of course, the first year of secondary school is often an anxious time when children are trying to understand themselves and how to be. So this book should spark some interesting thoughts, especially around adult expectations of kids which on reflection might be somewhat unhelpful.

Within this seemingly quiet little book is quite a revolution, and it is full of groundbreaking philosophical ideas. A quiet little gem.