Joshua’s Island:
(4 / 5)
Bulling is something that is so prevalent in schools. It always has been, however these days with the addition of social media we not only have bulling in the school grounds, but also when we get home and are in the relative safety of our own surroundings and family. When I saw the great ratings this book has received I was excited to read it. I have not read many stories with this subject matter before.
Joshua goes to school every day, and wishes it was holidays. He is constantly tormented both verbally, physically and by nasty rumours that have been spread about him. Eve has just been taken in by the most popular girl in school as her friend. She has been made to ditch her old “dorky” friends and live a life in the popular crowd now. When Eve gets paired up with Joshua permanently for science class, her dislike for him is evident. However when she begins to get to know Joshua, and witnesses the behaviour he is subjected to, her heart goes out to him. And then she finds herself becoming attracted to him. Will she choose being popular over love?
I must admit, when I started reading Joshua’s Island, I was anticipating it to be heavy. Bulling is a big thing that affects so many people’s lives in all sorts of negative ways , and I was afraid it was going to be a depressing story. However that was not the case at all. Joshua and Eve’s story was actually sweet (despite the bulling occurring in the story) and easy to read. Even though the subject matter was at times heavy, the book was far from it.
The description of how Joshua’s life was impacted by bullying was quite confronting and it felt like the author is quite passionate about the subject matter.
I enjoyed the change between Eve and Joshua’s viewpoints. I thought it was well done and an interesting way to look at the events of the book.
There wasn’t much I disliked about the book. Perhaps the use of violence to overcome the bullying I didn’t particularly agree with, and there was a tiny medical inaccuracy towards the end of the book (pet peeve), but overall it was a very good book with a great message and I would recommend it to young school aged readers. I am looking forward to the sequel “Ethan’s Secret”.
Thanks to author Patrick Hodges for a copy of Joshua’s Island in exchange for an honest review.
About the Author: Patrick Hodges
I guess I am the 
classic “late bloomer.” I had to sit in the front row of the class picture every year in elementary school; I didn’t reach my present, permanent height until the year I got my driver’s license. It took me a long time to “grow up” mentally, too; I was probably the least goal-oriented person you could ever meet.
I always enjoyed reading books, though I was convinced that I was not, and never would be, creative enough to come up with an original idea or story without cobbling it together from things I’d already seen.
And so, in my mid-forties, imagine my surprise when a story was born inside my head, and nine months later had grown so large that I couldn’t hold it in any more. I’m sure many writers tell similar origin stories, but I sure wouldn’t wish a three-decade gap between high school Creative Writing class and, you know, writing something actually creative.
Better a “late bloomer” than a “never bloomer,” I guess.
What else? Oh, yeah, I live in Arizona with my amazing wife Vaneza, and our kids, June and Sunshine (one is a dog and one is a cat, I’ll let you figure out which is which).
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