I really enjoyed this book - I really liked how it approached grief and everything was believable. I felt it could probably have gone a bit deeper on the topic but I appreciate it may have been kept lighter to appeal to the younger end of readers in this age range.

This was a super read and I finished it in one sitting as I had to know how it ended. The main character, Willow, is completely believable and her struggles to find her place will certainly resonate with children of the target age group. The decisions and dilemmas she faces are certainly ones which children will find themselves facing. Throughout, you feel great empathy for Willow as she clearly wrestles with her conscience. I am looking forward to sharing this with the children at school as it would make for a fantastic story time read.

This was sweet but sadly not quite as good as I expected it to be. I found it a short and quick read which I would expect from a children's book but I found it surprisingly difficult to follow as an adult so I can imagine children would also find it quite difficult to engage with.

Willow is feeling lost after her Nanna died - Nanna was Willow's best friend, sharing her love of old musicals and cups of tea. When Willow's mum enrols her in a homework club, Willow is reluctant to go. But some of the other children seem friendly, until they start daring her to do things in prove that she should be their friend. Just how far will Willow go to make friends?

This was a lovely story looking at how loss can affect young people and exploring issues of friendship and trust. Although Willow didn't always make the right choices, there were clear signs that what she was doing was not right and that she knew it, but was struggling with her emotions.

A great read for upper key stage 2.

This is a beautiful story about loss and trying to fit in. Although Willow's loss is hard to read, it also shows a lovely grandparent relationship and I loved this.

In trying to fit in with her after school club, Willow succumbs to peer pressure and bullying. This is not easy to read, but very well written.

We see Willow battle with her conscience whilst being so desperate to fit in. I enjoyed seeing her make more positive friendships.

I loved the positive step-parent relationship. It's such a positive representation of having a step parent, which I haven't come across much in middle grade reads.

This was a lush book, I thoroughly enjoyed it

This emotional story had me feeling empowered and inspired by its main theme; it’s ok to just be you.

The light touch on the secondary themes of family relationships, grief and adults’ own battles with acceptance, were also enjoyable and had me shedding tears at the most unexpected of places.

Sadly, as a secondary school librarian, I may have a hard time convincing year 7s to read about the trials and tribulations of a student from the vastly distant primary school experience. However I’m hoping protagonist Willow’s mature insights and realisations will entice even the most reluctant reader.

Regardless, I will happily recommend to all who may need reminding of the importance of being yourself and following your morals.

My 9 year old loved this book and raced through this one and as is her way with her favourite books, she then went back and reread it days later. This is her sign to me that she loves a book.

She loved the main character Amy and the messaging in this book and said there was lots to think about in the story and it made her think about what she would do if she found herself in a similar situation. I love a book thats thought provoking and offers wisdom so delighted to see she does too! I have ordered her a copy of the authors first book Luna Rae is not Alone as she loved this one so much.

I loved this beautiful Middle Grade novel from Hayley Webster and Nosy Crow.
Willow's Nanna had just died and she misses her dreadfully. She always been a bit of a loner but that didn't matter as spending time with her Nanna, her best friend, was the best time in the world. They loved watching old musicals and the themes and music of Singing in the Rain is a thread that runs through the novel. Both the film and Nanna's voice help try and keep Willow on track when she's offered friendship with conditions.
Willow has been struggling at school and so her mum enrols her in an after school tutoring class. Here she meets the exciting and tantalising Tay and to be noticed by her Willow will do almost anything. This makes her desperate and highly susceptible. And when she's encouraged to steal small items to prove her loyalty she is tested beyond anything that she's every expected before.
Webster has mastered the characterisation; Willow's mum's depression is beautifully explored and suggested. This creates a backdrop upon which the loss of her best friend is played. Nanna provided someone that Willow could talk to; she was a person who could listen about the fears that she had for her mother and what it meant to live with a mum who was drowning. Willow is a powerful narrative voice. Listening to her inner monologue about what is right is the reason I will be sharing this with Y7/8 as part of an ethics unit. Willow explores what it means to be honest against what it means to be lonely. Great dilemmas are presented and unpacked and would allow younger readers to really understand the process of making ethical decisions.
A highly recommended read for KS3 children and read aloud for KS2.

I requested this on NetGalley because, on quick glance at the title and cover, I assumed it would be about a group of kids solving crimes, very much my type of thing. Also the setting is an after school homework club in a book shop, how could I resist? However, I quickly realised by reading the blurb in more detail that I had misunderstood - this is not a mystery-solving caper, it is a contemporary look at friendship, loneliness and figuring out who you are. Not a genre I would ordinarily tend to read so I wasn’t really looking forward to it as much, but in the end it totally won me over, to my surprise, and I absolutely loved it - 5 stars!

The basic premise is that Willow is lonely after the death of her beloved Nanna. She has a difficult relationship with her mum and is not happy when her mum signs her up for an after school homework club at the local book shop. The story examines what happens when Willow starts to consider the possibility of making friends with the other kids in the after school club, since that friendship may come at a price - she gets invited to join their “crime club” where they do various stealing dares. This is all from the blurb so no spoilers, but the way the story goes from there is unexpected, beautifully written and thoroughly engaging. I whizzed through the last third of the book as I just wanted to know what was going to happen and what choices Willow would make.

I can’t say much more without spoiling the rest of the book, so instead I’ll say that I absolutely loved the depiction of Willow’s beautiful relationship with her Nanna, based on old movies and cups of tea made just the right way. Willow was a great character, you can’t help rooting for her, which made me very anxious when it seemed like she might be making bad choices (that the choices are bad was very obvious to me as the reader and I think are clearly flagged as bad choices also for child readers). All the children are really interesting characters with a lot of realistic complexity. I also really liked the fact that Willow’s soon-to-be stepdad Rich was such a lovely character, so nice to have a really positive step-parent in terms of his relationship both with Willow and with her mum.

I definitely recommend this book if you like contemporary settings, realistic and thoughtful characters and exploration of what it means to be true to yourself. I wasn’t surprised to see that the author used to be a teacher as her writing is full of warmth and compassion for all her young characters. Thank you to Hayley Webster, Nosy Crow and NetGalley for a free copy of this, all opinions in this review are my own. The After School Crime Club will be published on August 3 and I definitely recommend it as a great middle grade read.

Any story that starts with a love letter to classic musicals is going to be ok by me - and the After School Crime Club did this beautifully, talking about Singing in the Rain with such affection and charm.
The story is about Willow, a quirky 11 year old who's always watched classic films with her gran, but her gran is sadly no longer around. Willow and her mum are feeling her loss hugely, but are finding it hard to communicate.

Alongside this, Willow's mum is worried that Willow's not doing too well at school and arranges for her to go to an after school club at the local bookshop. She meets people there who she thinks she might be friends with including Tay, the coolest girl at school. Another girl says that Willow can join their gang if she takes parts in some dares, including stealing items from home or from shops. Without her gran to guide her, Willow feels pressured to take part, but she hates the feeling that she's doing something wrong.

Its a lovely story about being true to yourself, trusting your inner voice, family bonds, and of course, musicals! It would be a welcome addition to any school library or bookshelf.

Willow’s grandma has just died and she’s finding it hard to cope. She has no friends and spends her time after school at her gran’s playing music. When she joins an after school club, she wants to fit in and will do anything to have friends.

It’s a great book that some children will relate to and shows that they are not alone. It’s a positive ending about a girl who knows she can be different.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for a copy.

I think the fact that I expected this to be some kind of mystery-solving club run by teenagers (outside of school hours) says more about the fact that I am currently reading a lot of murder mysteries than it does about the blurb on the book.

But as it's turned out, I am happy that I chose to get the book - even though it is not actually about what I thought it was! Because it turned out to be a really nice change of pace.

Willow is a teenager, who is very close to her grandmother, whom she calls Nana. In fact, she spends more time and shares more interests with her grandmother than she does with most of her peers. So when Nana dies, Willow find herself engulfed in profound loneliness.

In an attempt to make new friends, she is soon drawn into a group that she meets at an after-school club. Initially their pastime of engaging in "friendly dares" seems harmless enough, but all too soon things begin to get out of hand...

This story is a touching meditation on loneliness, grief, love and the lengths we will go to in order to try and fit in. I think it will appeal to a large cross-section of readers, so if the themes are of interest to you, go for it!

This book took me by surprise. I only looked at the title and requested it. I was expecting a light-hearted mystery novel but this is not such a book. It is a book about a girl adjusting to a world without her beloved nana. It is beautifully written. I love the description of her nana, but I do wonder if teenagers (the target readers) will know who Gene Kelly is and maybe a teeny bit less details on their movies might work better.

Willow is an outsider, she’s different but she has a best friend and that’s her Nanna. With her Nanna she doesn’t feel alone, but now Nanna is gone she doesn’t know where to turn. So when a group a children want to be her friends, she’ll do anything to gain their friendship.

This was such a lovely story of Willow trying to find her place in the world. Struggling with making friends and navigating school as well as dealing with grief. I loved the lesson that you shouldn’t change who you are or do something that doesn’t feel right just to fit in with others. It was such a quick read and I loved how sweet Willow was and you could really feel for her as we read her inner voices. A lovely middle-grade read.