The Crossing

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The Crossing is as ambitious in its structure as it is in its intertwining storylines. It is a two-voice novel from two very different protagonists. When I was writing the book I listened to the following playlist…"The Land That I Love" by Scott Ainslee, "Follow me" by Moxie Raia and Wyclef Jean, "Running" by Gregory Porter, "Common" and Keyon Harrold, "A Safe Place to Land" by Sara Bareilles and John Legend, "Émigré" by Alela Diane, "Vayan Al Norte" by Eliza Gilkyson,"Bombs Turn into Roses" by Maya Youssef, "Poor Wayfaring Stranger", an American Folk song. They took me on a journey. Which book, film or TV show would you recommend to someone who enjoyed your book? a b "Awards: Costa Book Category, Aussie Prime Minister's Literary Winners". Shelf Awareness. 5 January 2022. Archived from the original on 5 January 2022 . Retrieved 8 June 2023. Once I had worked out how the story worked I was enraptured. I adore stories told in poetic prose and I also love stories told from more than one point of view... and this is both.

Manjeet Mann is an actress and writer living in Kent, England. She also founded Run the World, "a not for profit that uses sport and theatre as a means to empower women and girls." [1] Her novel The Crossing won the 2022 Costa Book Award for Children's Book. [2] Career [ edit ] Awards: Oates Winner; Jhalak Shortlists". Shelf Awareness. 20 April 2022. Archived from the original on 24 June 2022 . Retrieved 8 June 2023. As well as individual focus on characters, the novel is expansive, capturing the essence of being a teenager, evoking a world in crisis, and helping to open up the conversation of what is important to young people in this world. In telling such a story in such a creative way, Mann highlights the importance of every story to be told, for every voice to be heard, in a way that truly brings poetry to life for children. I feel the seeds of the idea were sown in 2015 when I moved to the seaside town of Folkestone. A small town with growing tensions around refugees, unemployment and DFLs (Down From London people) causing gentrification. The unease was tangible and easily taken advantage off by right-wing political parties. This reached a crisis point in 2018 when the number of refugees seeking safety coincided with a spate of far-right protests around the UK. Boats arriving on the shores of Folkestone and Dover were a daily occurrence and the protests in Dover turned violent and brought the town to a standstill.

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I am always wanting to read more diversely and more about the refugee crisis; this was a great compassionate read. I enjoyed this more than Mann's previous novel, so am looking forward to what she writes next. Sammy has fled his homeland of Eritrea with his best friend, looking for a chance of a new and better life in England. They reason that it is their only option as Eritrea becomes less and less free. The two boys travel across Africa, in appalling conditions, seeing awful things in an attempt to make their way to the promised land of England. Described as a verse novel, The Crossing is neither prose nor poetry. It is written in very short interrupted and stark sentences. This makes it both easy and difficult to read. As a lover of the flowing sentences of English narrative prose, I found myself trying to ignore the end of line spaces and to complete each written thought in one go. After a time, though, I fell into reading the book to a different kind of rhythm, persuaded by the author’s strong narrative voice. The clipped style makes for a very fast read and is a clever structural device.

Natalie decides to undertake the Cross Channel swim that her mum had always planned to do. Knowing she is keen to continue her mum's aim of helping refugees, she decides to raise money for a refugee charity. A chance encounter, brief and from the distance in a Calais refugee camp, sees Natalie and Sammy understanding there is a link between them. Thank you Netgalley UK and Penguin Random House Children’s UK for sending me an advance reader copy in exchange of an honest review. The Crossing is heart-wrenching tale of friendship and strength even in the most adverse situations.

Believe in your voice. Don’t try and write like someone else. Don’t write what you think you "should" be writing. Write the stories YOU want to tell, in your own unique voice. I say this because recently I tied myself in knots thinking I had to change my style and write something more "commercial". I convinced myself the stories I wanted to tell were not good enough and my style wasn’t ‘clever’ enough. I didn’t write a word for six months. So, to the writers out there…don’t concern yourself with what anyone else is doing, or their success. Just do you. It’s good enough. YOU are good enough. What songs would be on a playlist for your book?The dust in question is Stardust. Stars are one of the few connections between Nat and Sammy - they both look up to the star-filled sky for inspiration and hope. The other more earthly connection is formed when they see each other on the news (Nat, who sees stories of refugees on the TV and Sammy sees an newspaper article about Nat's charity swim for Care4Calais in memory of her mother who was a refugee support worker). This connection, although more tangible, felt far more tenous for me. I would have preferred the two stories to stories to only ever intersect in anonymity, but that is just me. This novel is a fast read due to it being told in verse, so I always fear that I will not become attached to the characters due to this, even though I enjoy reading novels in verse. But I really became attached and invested in these characters, especially Sammy. This novel is so moving and gripping, with everything handled with care. How the characters are linked together and how this is written is really invented and beautiful. A remarkably ambitious book, which expertly uses the form of a verse novel to tell an incredibly powerful story. Mann’s characters are complex and carefully crafted, allowing the reader to empathise with any of them despite – or due to – their complexities. Told from the perspective of two teenagers – one from Dover, one a refugee from Eritrea – the novel’s construction and the echoes between the protagonists’ stories is a deeply empathetic way of approaching this narrative, and to a young reader, lends a face, a voice and a heart to the global refugee crisis. Folkestone also has, understandably, a huge channel swimming community and in 2018 a small festival in the town was showing a series of channel swimming films. This juxtaposed with stories of desperate people arriving in boats after crossing the same stretch of water and police reports into the far-right protest had my head swimming. I wanted to make sense of what I was seeing and I wanted to do something that would help build empathy and understanding. Which character in the book is your favourite, and why? Sherwin, Adam (10 February 2022). "Waterstones Children's Book Prize shortlist shows TikTok influencers driving sales surge". inews.co.uk. Archived from the original on 28 May 2023 . Retrieved 28 May 2023.

Natalie's world has turned upside down. She's lost her mum and her brother is descending further and further into anger and violence with a far-right gang who march the streets of Dover. The Crossing follows two teens whose stories intertwine with one another in more ways than one. Natalie has just lost her mum and clings to swimming as an escape from reality. Sammy is fleeing his country in the hope of new beginnings, but with every milestone comes a bigger challenge to face. Grief at the loss of a parent, bravery in a harsh world, and ultimately being forced to grow up too early are all expressed with heart and vivid clarity, connecting the teenagers who share common human experiences despite their wildly different circumstances. And in this, despite not saying it out loud, Mann, reminds us that "We're all built from the same dust". Hope is the strongest element bringing their two lives together and the beautiful motif of the stars is littered throughout both Nat and Sammy’s journeys providing not only a physical form of hope but also a connection between them both. THE SHORTLIST". The DB Awards. Archived from the original on 7 October 2022 . Retrieved 8 June 2023.The Crossing is a novel written in verse following Natalie and Sammy. Natalie has just lost her mother, who died of cancer. Her mother worked in refugee relief and always encouraged Natalie to be compassionate. Since her mother's death her family is falling apart, her brother is getting involved with anti-refugee people. Sammy is a boy from Eritrea, wanting to flee due to the forced conscription into the army where they abuse the soldiers. He wants to flee to the UK. Greenaway, Carnegie Medal shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 19 March 2021. Archived from the original on 19 March 2021 . Retrieved 6 June 2023.