Set in a near future which given the state of global politics is coming nearer all the time, Vera is a ten year old who is trying to make sense of everything and hold her world and family together. Vera suffers from anxiety, which to a lot of the adults in her life seems inexplicable, but to Vera, with her spiralling to do lists and the weight of responsibility on her shoulders, does not seem inexplicable at all. Told through Vera's eyes this is the story of the pressures of modern life filtered through the lens of a child who is 'only ten.' Beautiful, sometimes funny, often devastatingly sad, this is brilliant.

Vera, or Faith by Gary Shteyngart has such an appealing narrator who is just trying to figure so many things out which makes you really root for her and feel her pain.