I've enjoyed reading books by Katya Balen - 'October, October', 'Foxlight', and 'Ghostlines' has just been longlisted for the Carnegie prize - so am always interested when she brings out something new. It's taken me a while to get round to reading this book which came out in September. But now I want everyone to read it! What a beautiful story, so uplifting and encouraging.

Con lives in a block of flats with his mum. He has had anger management issues since his dad left.

After punching another boy in his class, Con is suspended from school and has to stay home alone because his mum can't afford to take time off work. 

An elderly man living in the flats takes Con under his wing and shows him a very special place on the roof of the building. Here, Gloria has made a garden and Mr Williams keeps his pigeons.

Con discovers that he can't be angry around the pigeons, and in addition to keeping him calm, the birds open up new possibilities to him, in dealing with his absent dad, his friendships at school, and how he treats neighbours in their flats.

This is such a lovely, inspirational and hopeful book. It's full of kindness, community and redemption, and who knew pigeons were so interesting? I loved it!