The Young Lit Fix

Jamie

By L.D.Lapinski

Published by Orion

RRP £7.99

Reviewed by Nicky Mathewson

Recommended for Ages 9+

MEET Jamie Rambeau. Eleven years old, one older sibling, two best friends, two fairly supportive parents and one big problem.

So far Jamie’s experience of school has been OK and with two best friends like Ash and Daisy, who wouldn’t be happy? However, the three of them will be moving up to secondary school next term and there are two schools to choose from: Queen Elizabeth’s school for Girls or St Joseph’s school for Boys.

PERICLES, one of Shakespeare’s late and notoriously “difficult” plays, gets a vivid and exciting reimagining from Flute Theatre, who come to the Beehive centre at Honiton on Thursday 6th April.

In line with the company’s commitment to reach marginalised groups as well as mainstream audiences, there are two performances, for autistic people and those displaced by war, at 5pm, and a mainstream staging at 8pm.

Pericles, directed and adapted by Kelly Hunter, is a story of love and loss, of terrifying storms and miraculous reunions, a beautiful romantic play that combines human frailty with magical realism.

Flute Theatre premiered Pericles at Craiova International Shakespeare Festival, Romania, in May 2022. A multilingual cast of eight on stage throughout use music, dance and the sheer power of emotion to conjure storms, kidnaps and resurrections using their bodies, voices and souls.

A feast of Bach DORCHESTER

VIOLIN virtuoso and baroque music specialist Rachel Podger joins the talented Corvus Consort at St Mary’s Church, Dorchester, on Thursday 20th April, for a concert of music by Johann Sebastian Bach and his cousins, Johann Michael and Johann Christoph.

Taking full advantage of St Mary’s glorious acoustic, Rachel Podger will play two of Bach’s greatest works for solo violin. Both the Sonata No 1 and Partita No 3 showcase his masterful writing for the violin, with meticulously-constructed lines carving out soaring melodies and eloquent harmonies.

These spellbinding performances will be bookended with beautiful choral music by the three Bachs, sung by the 16 glorious voices of the Corvus Consort, directed by Freddie Crowley.

The programme features JS Bach’s most famous motet, Jesu, meine Freude, a long-standing favourite with audiences. There will also be lesser-known works by Johann Michael and Johann Christoph, including the heartrendingly beautiful Herr, ich warte auf dein Heil.

It promises to be a sublime evening, brought to St Mary’s by Dorchester Arts. The concert begins at 7pm.

Not only do the three of them have to split up, but Jamie is nonbinary, so where do they fit in a school exclusively for girls, or a school exclusively for boys?

With both head teachers unwilling to accept Jamie into their school as anything other than a girl or a boy and with zero parental support, Jamie is forced to take action into their own hands in order to have their voice heard. Along with Ash and Daisy they stage a protest to raise awareness of non-binary people which, as it wasn’t exactly planned, goes a bit wrong. The result is a whole heap of trouble for the trio, but is it possible that they have drawn enough attention to their cause to make a change?

This book gets straight to the point and concisely delivers the message that society does not accommodate everyone in the same way and lots of people get overlooked. L.D Lapinski is a passionate author who knows how to spin a good yarn. Best known for The Strangeworlds Travel Agency series, L.D is really going to make waves with this book and I loved it.

10% off for Marshwood Vale readers at The Bookshop on South Street, Bridport. 01308 422964 www.dorsetbooks.com