Cover Image: The Good Turn

The Good Turn

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Member Reviews

This book has you hooked early from very early on. It starts as a group of friends trying to look for an adventure and ends with a fight for what is right. This is an adventure story but also shows an insight into the Windrush Scandal. This insight is covered carefully and thoughtfully and allows children reading the book to start to understand some of the issues faced by people in the past. What made this even more entertaining and emotional was the insights into the children's lives at home as all of the children had their own issues to deal with. I am looking forward to reading more from this author as I have enjoyed other books by this author.

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Love love love Sharna Jackson and this was just as good
A fabulous mystery for middle grade students that need a great book

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The Good Turn is a adventure full of mystery and intrigue. It had good characters and was fun to read.
Both adults and children will enjoy this one!.
My thanks go to the publisher, author and Netgalley in providing this arc in return for a honest review.

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For a few years when I was a teenager, I lived in Luton, a down-at-the-heel town on the outskirts of London that has been in decline ever since the car manufacturing industry shifted to foreign shores. You can think of it as the Detroit of the UK. The Good Turn by Sharna Jackson is the first time I’ve ever encountered a book set there.

Eleven-year-old Josephine has her sights set on the future. She always has a new idea in her head (often to the chagrin of her classmates as these frequently involve them ending up with extra homework) and she has already started collecting prospectuses for various universities and planning what extracurricular activities will look good for her applications. The one part of her future she is not looking forward to is the impending birth of her new baby brother. After reading about her namesake—Josephine Holloway, founder of the first Girl Scout troop for Black girls—Jo decides she will found her own community group for young people because simply joining an existing Scout group isn’t enough of a challenge. She names her group The Copseys after her street and drags in her BFF Wesley and new friend Margot to be the founding members, immediately creating badges and talking about uniforms and more.

When she sees lights on in the abandoned factory near her house, Jo wants to investigate and The Copseys quickly discover that people appear to be living in the derelict building. The kids want to help, but by blundering in and not understanding the history of their local area, will they inadvertently make things worse?

The Good Turn is a wonderful middle-grade story that tackles gentrification, the realities of living in depressed neighborhoods, unions, worker’s rights, immigration, and more. As an adult reader, I found the main character to be a little annoying and I do suspect even readers in the target audience may agree with me. Instead, I found myself drawn to Wesley, who is raising his multiple siblings and running his household while his mother is sick following his father leaving the family. Wesley has limited free time and isn’t inclined to simply go along with Jo’s more ridiculous and time-consuming ideas, although he still tries to remain supportive.

The core of the book introduces the Windrush scandal (a British immigration scandal) to young readers in a way that makes it easy to understand while centering the voices of those most impacted by the events. Yes, the whole thing is a little outlandish—I wouldn’t exactly be encouraging ‘tweens to befriend people living in abandoned factories and going to visit them behind their parents’ backs—but as this is a book, it’s all okay. I also appreciated that, while positive, the ending didn’t tie everything up with a typical middle-grade “and they all lived happily ever after” conclusion, choosing instead to keep things that bit more realistic.

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Love a Sharna book! This is jam packed with mystery, intrigue, adventure and fun. I think this is going to be a massive hit with my Year 6 class.

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A beautiful tale of friendship and the innocence of youth, and the pain of a harsh world.

The story tracks friends Josephine, Margot and Wesley as they hit the end of primary school. Josephine - the driving force of the group - begins to look for a way to have more impact on the world around her. Inspired by Josephine Holloway, she begins the Copseys - a take on the Guides - and looks for ways to help her community. In the meantime, the abandoned tower of Chicane Cars looms over their houses, until they spot a light on. With a sense of intrigue, the three children set out to find out what's going on, and they find much more than they were ever expecting.

As the three friends look to make a better world and help out people in need, they are confronted with the realities of a harsh world. This book is an excellent way of beginning discussions around fairness, equality and the treatment of people of colour within our society. It tackles those issues in a way that highlights the inherent inequalities and does not shy away from the terrible things people can do.

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My son and I really enjoyed this book, it was just the right amount of excitement with likeable characters and a good storyline!
Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for my review copy!

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Loved this story and I kniw that lots of children at school will. love Sharna's sttle of writing and how the speech is captured so that is seems so real.

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Another new-to-me author from the UK with a fun middle-grade read I will be recommending to students at my school library. This book has humor, friendship, mystery, thrills, clever chapter headings with a nod to Girl Scout badges, and deals with social injustices in a way that is entirely appropriate for the age group.

Thanks to NetGalley UK for an e-galley of this book.

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Such vivid, endearingly normal, yet engagingly charismatic young characters - disgusted by the wrong in the world, inspired by the good, and determined to make a difference.

All set against a backdrop that highlights a vitally important aspect of modern British history: Windrush

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Essential and brilliant. An engaging story of friendship, family, determination and humanity. Josephine and her friends set up The Copsey's, a kind of scout group, in a bid to explore, develop new skills and help others. Inspired by Josephine Holloway and Michelle Obama, Josie's determination to do right by others turns into something bigger than she could have imagined, right on her doorstep. Sharna's characters are wonderfully created, as always, and their own individual stories make you warm to the group even more as they discover more about each other too. Their journey leads them to a discover a desperate situation that they so desperately want to help but don't know how without causing more damage. The book culminates in a shocking display of racism and injustice but it is written in such a way that young readers can both understand, relate to and be educated by. A valuable read in helping others understand The Windrush scandal and it's long-term effects.

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This was a pretty good Middle-Grade book, I enjoyed and learned from it.
Josephine is a young 6th Grader girl who is very ambitious and smart. She loves to learn new things and wants to do things that will change the world... but she often goes overboard by only listening to her thoughts and wanting to do things for her gain...reminds me of someone.
She has two best friends Wesley an artist who doesn't like danger but keeps getting into it because of Jo and Margot the new girl who likes to write everything down and is always up for excitement. Together they form the Copsey's inspired by Josephine Holloway - a woman who started the first Girl Scout Troop for Black girls in America and wants to do good for their community. Some mysterious lights are coming from the abandoned factory and someone lives there. Combined with their family dramas, especially Josephine's new upcoming baby brother they are busy...
I liked the writing style and how short the chapters were. They were all named in camp scout skills and badges and it was pretty cute. I liked Josephine's voice though she got on my nerves sometimes, it's nice she acknowledged it. Wesley was such a fun character and so was Margot. I liked how they tackled the issue of these stupid immigration rules in the UK and how sometimes bad people look good, to share burdens with people you trust, to think bigger than just yourself, how to make friendships work and how getting a new baby sibling isn't the end of the world and you didn't ask for it so can't do much about it... trust me I know. I have way too many younger siblings for my taste. 😬
Anyways, amazing book, diverse cast, and a pretty well-paced story and lessons!

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Amazing book for start to finish. I’ll be recommending this book to my year 4/5/6 class in September.

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Another author I'll read everything by is @sharnajackson! Thanks @PuffinBooks for a copy of The Good Turn, a brilliant #UKMG with a great mystery & brilliant characters. https://t.co/OC77Pb3tDp

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What a refreshing writer Sharna Jackson is! She gives a realistic voice to characters who the reader can easily relate to because they are likeable but also beleiveable, each with their own flaws. This is a clear strength of her work. As with other stories, the plot is based upon the characters solving a mystery and a sense of the Copsey Close community in Luton is clearly established. Sharna writes with humour, warmth and creates witty dialogue. It also introduces the Windrush scandal to children who may never have come across this before. This will be an important addition to my class library as a really good read.

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Jo, Wes and Margot are an unlikely trio of friends. Living on the same cul de sac and being in the same class has thrown them together and they can almost balance each other out.
Jo is the activist and main do-gooder, Wes is the busy boy with too many siblings and Margot is the only child who spends too much time alone. When Jo discovers Josephine Holloway, she becomes determined to create her own band of badge earners, named the Copseys.
Their first badge is earned by cleaning up their neighbours garden.
When Jo spots a light on in the abandoned car factory out the back of their homes, she becomes determined to know why.
What they discover is part scandal and larger issue than they has initially thought. It is not kids being bad but a couple in hiding. Their story comes out over time and the children find themselves needing more than just help in sewing on a badge!
Compelling, relevant and inspiring, I loved this story and found Jo a complete wonder! She is the type to change the world!
Sharna Jackson can do no wrong!

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A striking book. I found the main character not as charming as characters in High Rise Mystery and the scene in the headmistress' office was a little unlikely, but the racism and appalling treatment of victims of the Windrush Scandal is all too realistic and stark, so I'm willing to overlook a bit of dramatic licence. This should be on the shelves of every school library and I will make sure ours has a copy.

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I really enjoyed reading this book about three friends from Luton founding their own scout group, inspired by Josephine Holloway, who founded the first scout group for African-American girls. The friends begin investigating the mystery around a seemingly deserted old factory building - why are there lights flashing in the dark? I loved the friendship dynamics between Josephine and her friends. Josephine is a great heroine - full of compassion, driven and self-aware. I also think it's brilliant how the novel treated the Windrush scandal - a great opportunity for young readers to learn about our recent history.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Children’s UK for the digital reading copy.

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Three Y6 pupils who live near each other
Have adventures and dreams as you're about to discover.
Josephine Williams is a leader by nature so
Encourages the others to give things a do.

Wesley is the boy of this team,
He has so much more to do than it first would seem.
Margot is the latest to move nearby
An into this duo she's wanting to try.

Wesley is wary, doesn't trust Margot a bit
Her jokes aren't great and make an uncomfortable fit.
Josephine meanwhile has her own dreams to share
After learning of Josephine Holloway she's sure she dare.

As these three set themselves up with challenges to face
The story begins to pick up its pace.
The key to this story really isn't the mystery
It is more about racism, relationships, communities and history.

Disappointed after reading the blurb first, I found it an ok read
With a lead character determined to succeed.
There are many issues included as a part
With family dramas, expectations and community at its heart.

For my complementary copy, I say thank you,
And, fairly obviously, this is my honest review.

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In this story, Josie and Wesley's long standing friendship has to adjust as they include newcomer Margot in their activities, which provides for some comic moments.
Under the leadership of Josie, the trio set out to make the world a better place when they form a 'do-gooding' club, The Copseys. At first it seems fairly harmless and I was starting to think the plot was a bit tedious, but then things aren't always what they seem as The Copseys also find out, when they find themselves in a situation way beyond their abilities to resolve. I don't want to give a plot spoiler - suffice to say that it is linked to a real-life scandal that involved many innocent people.
At times, I found the thoughts and actions of the children and Josie in particular too mature for their 11 years but it's a long time since I was that age! I am sure the 11-year-olds I know in year 7 will enjoy this book and it will be no bad thing if some of Josie's ideas rub off on them!

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