Tall Story by Candy Gourlay

Tall Story is the debut novel for Candy Gourlay, an active member of the SCBWI and is published by David Fickling - who in his recent blog compared Candy to Jacqueline Wilson. There's praise (or pressure) indeed.
The story is about a family who have been separated by the Home Office. Andi lives with her parents and is a great fan of basketball despite being very small. She has a half-brother, Bernardo, who lives in the Phillipines and who she desperately wants to join them in the UK. They are all rather shaken when Bernardo arrives and is actually 8 feet tall.
The book is a delight to read and just draws you in as you see the story either from Andi's perspective or Bernardo's. The book deals sympahtically with the potential clash of cultures with part of the book being centred in San Andres. I am not going to include any spoilers in this review because I just think you should read it. It was a feel good book without being slushy.
A great debut, can't wait for the next one Candy.(I should also point out there willbe an extended review in the November edition of Write4Children (www.write4children.org)