The Night Bus Hero

Another book by the talented Muslimah @onjalirauf , and I truly love every single one of her books. Though not necessarily books about Muslims, (some books do seem to contain possible side muslim characters though it is never clear) her books are universal and can be enjoyed by everyone. And they ALWAYS have a learning moral to every book, inspired by her own advocacy work, which is so powerful and inspiring!

Genre: MG

Ages: 9-12

Available: Amazon (preorder- it releases in February in the US)

Screening: quite a bit of bullying done by the main character, a statue of a greek god, the word stupid is used a lot, and stealing done by bad guys.

Hector is a bully. He trips people, steals their money, and is mean to everyone. His biggest prank involves hurtling a homeless man’s only possessions into a lake. But when he witnesses a thief stealing from a statue in London, he needs to reach out to those he has wronged to become a hero and prove he really isn’t as bad as everyone says.

I am often amazed at how this brilliant author addresses important issues in her books but seamlessly weaves it together with a middle-grade story, perfect and authentic to the age group and oh so heartwarming and innocent.

This well-written book addresses the important issue of homelessness and how the homeless are often dehumanized and not treated well by society. The ending of the book had lots of resources about homelessness and real “night bus heroes” in the UK.

The book also addresses how bullies can and may change, and what it is like to be a bully, often stemming from insecurities a bully might have about his/her own life.

I enjoyed this book and recommend it as another wonderful book by Onjali Rauf.