The Goldfish Boy

Author: Lisa Thompson

Published: 5th January 2017

Publisher: Scholastic

ISBN: 978-1407170992

Age range: 8+

Available at:The Goldfish Boy

I bought this book as part of a deal in Waterstones and it was the last book I picked up, just because I needed another book to complete the deal and the cover was bright. I am so glad I did.

This story introduces Matthew, a young boy with terrible OCD, who barely leaves his room. Matthew watches the neighbours of Chestnut Close go about their day to day life, making notes and excessively cleaning his room. Then, one day, the grandchild of his next-door neighbour goes missing and Matthew was the last one to see him. He decides  to help find the little boy and unravel the mystery despite being terrified of the germs around him.

The book opens with Matthew at his bedroom window, describing the mundane little details that normally go missed and the happenings of his neighbours. I loved how descriptive this book was from the beginning, and it really gave the feeling of being stuck in your room, looking at every tiny detail you could see just to pass the time. Quite quickly, we learn Matthew has a baby brother who died at birth and has severe OCD, which he is ashamed of but can't control.

What struck me is how true to life this book was. As a mother who has lost a baby, and as a result, suffered health anxiety and on occasion, OCD, Thompson encapsulates all of the pain and shame so perfectly.  When Matthew asks 'Why can't I stop?' (washing his hand despite the agonising pain), we really get that feeling of him being desperate for this feeling to go away and yet he can't fight the vicious cycle. He feels bad so he cleans, which in turn makes him feel bad.  To add salt to the wound, he is ostracised by not only children around him but adults in his world. I was so angry that the people who could be helping Matthew just made him feel worse, especially the GP who tells him he is a good boy and to 'stop all this messing around now'. We truly enter the desperation of his parents to help him but being unable to connect. It is only now that child mental health is really coming to the forefront of people's minds and the lack of understanding was portrayed perfectly. Matthew's grief for the loss of his brother seems to have been overlooked (we find out his was seven when his brother Callum died) and the problem is exacerbated by a pregnant neighbour. The mentality of 'You are just a child, what do you have to be depressed about?' is addressed head on. Children often know and feel more than they are given credit for.

I thought it was really clever to use OCD as Matthew's outlet for his grief. Many people don't realise that grief can manifest as other mental health conditions and it is brilliantly written. The obsession not only with cleaning but also numbers, to the point where Matthew can't even say thirteen (choosing instead tenplusthree) really shows how debilitating OCD is. The supporting characters come with their own stories and I was completely engrossed in all the activity and secrets on Chestnut Close. I loved the fact that Matthew's peers are also outsiders and I think for a book aimed at 8-12 year olds, it was a gentle reminder that everyone is fighting their own battle and to just be kind to one another but also, that it's normal not to be normal. Even bullies have their secrets, it seems! The mystery of the missing child kept me reading but I think more so, why Matthew was so frightened and what had happened to make him that way.

It's really difficult to find any flaws in this book. It is easy to read, you can't put it down, and it is executed perfectly. I felt Lisa Thompson had pulled all my feelings out and put them into this child, from my own loss. I think the one thing I would have liked to have known is more about the bully teacher and any outcome of that but otherwise this book is fantastic. I can understand to some extent the comparisons with Mark Haddon's 'The Curious Incident with the Dog in the Night Time', but for me, I connected with the characters much more in this book. There were so many twists and I was gripped from start to finish.

Overall, I can't recommend enough and for young readers, it deals with some serious issues in a sensitive and poignant manner, whilst also incorporating humour and an exciting mystery!