Smashing awards and boundaries all over the place, this is a great book for a class reader for KS2 or KS3 since there are so many relevant issues brought up in this book - how families work; how refugees feel and how we react to them; life at school; bullying; friendship... so many angles. Onjali Q Rauf has a easy style, building authentic-feeling characters and great set pieces such as the hunt for the pomegranate... Those who have read Gleitzman's Two Weeks with the Queen may feel disappointed with its lack of originality (and many schools/teachers use this as a staple class reader anyway). Essential modern classic for all school libraries and homes for middle grade and KS3!

What a wonderful story! The Boy at the Back of the Class had me laughing and crying. From the garbled thoughts of a 9 year old determined to help the 'boy with lion eyes' to find his family to their new found fame from the adventures that led them to television screens across the country.
I loved how the main characters bonded and shared their stories over a love of Tintin, how 4 young children struggled to fully understand some parts of the adult world (closing the big gates at the border, and having a drawer full of used-less objects being 2 examples) and how they inspired the whole community to act. I loved how they weren't swayed by the beliefs of some narrow minded adults and wanted nothing more than for their new friend to feel safe and welcome.
I'd recommend this book to anyone, and would certainly consider reading it with older children in school.