Flour Babies by Anne Fine

The premise of this book is so odd that it shouldn't have been entertaining.  But I found myself intrigued and can sort of understand why the UK BookTrust chose this as the best book for 9-11 year olds.

The book takes you into the mind and attitudes of a teenage boy who is in a class of underachievers.  While the story is supposedly about a child development science experiment, what I found was a level of understanding for the pressures on young boys to take no interest in school work.  The main character was an underachiever in some ways but he was also sensitive and clever but no one recognised it.

As you can see from the cover the flour babies are little sacks of flour which the boys had to look after for 3 weeks.  The experiment results in some of the boys realising just how hard it had been for their parents, some being put off the idea of ever having babies and others scared stiff that they might make one by accident.

So, if this inadequate review hasn't put you off, do get this one from the library.  You might enjoy it like I did.