LAST KISS OF THE BUTTERFLY
Jaz is one determined teenager. Whether it’s getting that Taekwondo move just right, or investigating the latest cancer treatment to help her mum, giving up just isn’t in her vocabulary.
A year on from diagnosis, her mum’s latest tests are clear and life in London is returning to normal. Jaz is looking forward to spending time in the summer holidays with her mates, the ‘Urban Chicks’.
When her mum suddenly announces they are going to spend the whole six weeks at the family cottage in the marshes and be ‘girls together’, Jaz is downcast. Away from her urban lifestyle, she struggles, but slowly begins to tune in to her alternative summer, with its wide skies, rainbows and rare wildlife – and her deepening relationship with her mum.
But the easy-going rhythm of their existence is broken by a dark cloud of news. Jaz’s world starts to spin like the sails on the marsh wind turbines and it is her unexpected friendship with Ethan, the strange, silent son of the local ranger, which helps her face the challenges to come. Jaz’s strength is about to be tested as it never has been before and it will take more than her sightings of dolphins in the bay to help her overcome the new storm on the horizon.
Published by Orchard Books, August 2008
Nominated, Southern Schools’ Book Award 2009
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REVIEWS
‘A remarkable book and highly recommendable’ School Librarian magazine
‘With thems of family, friendship and change at the forefront of this moving, passionate and engrossing tale of a mother and daughter, Last Kiss of the Butterfly will hook you in to its pages and take you on a rollercoaster of emotions that will bring about a greater maturity both in the protagonist and the reader.’ Lovereading4Kids.co.uk
You will definitely need tissues when you read this book! For anyone who loves Jenny Downham's Before I Die, … a beautiful story. Waterstone’s review