Why read My Heart & Other Breakables?

Book cover of My Heart & Other Breakables: How I lost my mum, found my dad, and made friends with catastrophe

Book description

The hilarious and deeply moving diary novel from bestselling author Alex Barclay - this might just be the funniest book ever to make you cry your eyes out.

This is the diary of me, Ellery Brown, aged fifteen and a half. I'm supposed to use it to record my feelings…

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The Republic of Ireland

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Why read it?

1 author picked My Heart & Other Breakables as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Nick Sheridan

Author

I’m a sucker for tongue-in-cheek humour, the sort of dry, straight-faced joke that is so skilfully woven into a narrative or a character’s personality that you’re almost not sure if it was meant to be funny.

Alex Barclay has that skill in truckloads, and uses it to tremendous effect in this book. It’s a ripping yarn about a young girl on the search for her dad – except, it’s about a lot more than that.

It embraces the absurd and the vividly real in equal measure, all told through the eyes of a beautifully-crafted main character.

I can’t think of…

From Nick's list on Irish children’s stories featuring zero Leprechauns.