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The wrong shoes

£7.99

A beautiful and sensitive exploration of the experience of child poverty from leading author/illustrator, Tom Percival, for fans of Boy at the Back of the Class and Julia and the Shark. 
 

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ISBN: 9781398527140 Category: Children's - Older Readers Tags: Children's / Teenage fiction & true stories, Children's / Teenage fiction: General fiction, Children's / Teenage personal & social issues: Bullying, violence, abuse &, Children's / Teenage personal & social issues: Friends & friendship issues, Housing & homelessness
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Description

A beautiful and urgent exploration of the experience of child poverty from Tom Percival, creator of the bestselling Big Bright Feelings series, for fans of Boy at the Back of the Class. 

‘Powerful and moving with the potential to change lives’ Hannah Gold

‘Full of empathy and most importantly, heart’ Phil Earle

There’s a bunch of kids in there and suddenly they’re all looking at me like someone who can actually do something, not just some weirdo with the wrong shoes and a rubbish coat . . .

Will has the wrong shoes – he’s always known it but doesn’t know how to change it. Navigating the difficulties of home and school when you feel you stick out is tough, but finding confidence with the help and empathy of friends can be all you need to see the way.  

Praise for The Wrong Shoes:

‘An extraordinary, powerful and moving book that has the potential to change lives.’ Hannah Gold
‘Every chapter is full of experience & empathy & most importantly, heart’ Phil Earle
‘Reading fiction is about walking in the shoes of people whose lives are very different to ours and allowing more readers to see themselves in stories. The Wrong Shoes is the perfect example of both – the right book at the right time’ Tom Palmer
‘A brilliant book – such a perfect marriage of words and illustrations and an important story told with real heart’ Christopher Edge
‘A hopeful, honest, big-hearted read. You’ll be rooting for the main character, Will, from the very first page . . . ‘ Clara Vulliamy
‘A beautifully illustrated, deeply moving, empathy-boosting story . . .’ Rashmi Sirdeshpande
‘A superbly courageous and timely book. Will is a protagonist so many children and adults will identify with, really beautiful’ Steven Lenton

Additional information

Dimensions 19.8 × 13 × 2 cm
Author

Percival, Tom

Publisher

Simon & Schuster Children's

Imprint

Simon & Schuster Children's

Cover

Paperback

Pages

318

Language

English

Edition

1st paperback ed

Dewey

823.92 (edition:23)

Readership

Children – juvenile / Code: J

Reviews

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To celebrate the launch of Take Back Big Tech, House of Books and Friend is excited to welcome science fiction author, activist, and journalist Cory Doctorow, in conversation with Jovan Owusu-Nepaul, to discuss his new book ‘The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI: How to Think About Artificial Intelligence Before It’s Too Late’.

The event will take place on Friday 11th September, and will involve a discussion, a Q&A, and a chance for you to get your book signed by Cory. Doors open at 6pm, with the event starting at 6:45pm.

PLEASE NOTE: This event will be recorded live for the podcast What’s Left, hosted by Jovan and will be found on their website after the event.

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The Global Stories Book Club!🌍

We're excited to announce the first book of our Global Stories Book Club - The Jamaica Road by Lisa Smith. 📚

limited spaces to ensure intimate conversation! ✨

About the Book:

A transformative love story about two best friends who fall for each other, fall apart, and try to find their way back together in their tight-knit British-Jamaican community.

South London, 1981: Daphne is the only Black girl in her class. All she wants is to keep her head down, preferably in a book. The easiest way to survive is to go unnoticed. 

Daphne’s attempts at invisibility are upended when a boy named Connie Small arrives from Jamaica. Connie is the opposite of small in every lanky, outgoing, and unapologetically himself. Daphne tries to keep her distance, but Connie is magnetic, and they form an intense bond. As they navigate growing up in a volatile, rapidly changing city, their families become close, and their friendship begins to shift into something more complicated. When Connie reveals that he and his mother “nuh land”—meaning they’re in England illegally—Daphne realizes that she is dangerously entangled in Connie’s fragile home life. Soon, long-buried secrets in both families threaten to tear them apart permanently.

Spanning one tumultuous decade, from the industrial docklands of the Thames to the sandy beaches of Calabash Bay, Jamaica Road is a deftly plotted and emotionally expansive debut novel about race and class, the family you’re born with and the family you choose, and the limits of what true love can really conquer.

Wednesday 2nd September | 6pm - 7pm

Get your tickets via the link in our bio! We can't wait to see you there!

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POV: Laura is leaving the bookshop and we are simply expected to carry on like nothing happened??? be so fr 😭

After MONTHS of iconic service, endless book recs, chaotic shifts, questionable coffee runs and approximately 7 million “have you seen Laura?” moments, our girl is officially OUT. 👋

The bookshop will never be the same. The vibes? Altered. The group chat? Devastated. The shelves? Personally offended. 📚

Laura, thank you for being an absolute legend. We’re gonna miss your face, your energy, your banter and your ability to somehow know exactly which book someone needs. 💛

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Introducing The Global Stories Book club, a space open to everyone interested in and who wants to celebrate stories from diverse perspectives! 🌍

Despite strides toward inclusivity in recent years, the publishing world still grapples with underrepresentation. Historically marginalised voices—those of people of colour, the LGBTQ+ community, individuals with disabilities, and various ethnic and cultural groups—have often been sidelined. The consequence is a limited perspective that fails to capture the richness and complexity of the human experience. Laviya Cooke wants to challenge this.

Reading stories that reflect our complex, multi-dimensional world, The Global Stories Book Club will embrace diversity and be a space for everyone to come together and discuss amazing novels. 📚

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WOMEN IN TRANSLATION EVENT
On 25th August at 6pm, HOBAF is welcoming Yuliana Ortiz Ruano and Madeleine Arenivar to discuss their recently translated novel, Carnaval Fever.

This novel stands as a defiant celebration of women’s resilience, collective power, and the unbreakable bonds of sisterhood that sustain communities through generations.

This event is in partnership with Instituto Cervantes, who are providing an interpreter for the evening.

Tickets are still available; ask a bookseller in-store or grab yours on our website!

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Join Typewriter Poet, Molly Ovenden at House of Books & Friends!
Want a poem? Pick a topic. Molly will write while you wait.
📆Friday 14th August
🕑12-4pm
 
Bring an idea for a topic you'd like a poem about (birthday, anniversary, moving house, graduation, in memoriam, just because, etc.)
Molly will ask you a few clarifying questions to personalise your poem.
She will write while you browse the bookshop.

You receive an original, frameable typewritten poem to cherish as a keepsake 🌟

About Molly:
Molly Ovenden, Contemplative Poet & Painter writes poems for people at their request in live settings on her vintage typewriter. Cold Wet Windy (published 30 June 2026) is her sixth poetry collection written in this way. Molly is changing the world one poem at a time with belief that Beauty is an arrow of Hope that points to Peace. Born in Minnesota, Yorkshire is home with her bearded, furniture-making Englishman husband, Max. 
@mollyovendencreativity


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