This is my first blog post of 2026, and the first one in over a month. I hit a busy period with work, then my family stayed over Christmas and now we are into the new year! Time flies!
It seems a perfect book to begin 2026 with as Ian Eagleton states in his author note, that this book is about looking to the future. The start of a new year always brings about this ideal to alter and change, become better….but what I learned from reading William’s story is that you don’t need to change- you need to love yourself and know that you are loved.
Another blogger said this might be their favourite of Ian’s books and I wholeheartedly agree. Ian’s books have a humour, a love and a joyousness to them but this one is beyond perfect. There are so many elements to this story that I love.
William lives with his dad and they are each other’s worlds and William relies heavily on their pattern of dinners, movies and time together. When William feels overwhelmed, things happen and he struggles to deal with them. Throughout the story, there are hints at an incident involving William and his best friend, Jabari and we see William ruin Florence’s painting over jealousy.
William and Florence meet on the first day of Year 6 and it isn’t the most successful of meetings. When their Dad’s meet that afternoon, it turns out there is a history there- one that threatens both William and Florence’s futures. So they create the Dad Trap- a diabolical plan to ruin any relationship between them.
The book is heartfelt, humorous and will definitely bring tears to your eyes. It also has an incredible list of book recommendations dotted throughout- books that William loves and that helped him deal with incidents from Year 5. William is an incredible character- so brave to deal with his own strong emotions and reactions to situations.
My Shelves Are Full 