Threads is one of those rare books that balances fun and current affairs in equal amounts!

Narrator Nonie is a 14-year-old London girl who is completely obsessed with fashion, a passion that isn’t shared by her two best buds: Edie, an academic high-achiever who wants to work for the UN, and Jenny, an accidental and ambivalent film celebrity. When Edie introduces her friends to Crow, a 12-year-old Ugandan refugee who she tutors in English, Nonie is keen to take the younger girl under her wing. Crow is a talented artist who designs and sews all her own flamboyant outfits, but who doesn’t have access to materials and a place to work. With the three girls’ help, Crow’s star begins to rise in London’s fashion scene, culminating in a solo show in London Fashion Week.

Author Sophia Bennett has created an engaging, easy-to-read, and thought-provoking tale. The teen characters are realistically and lovingly drawn, and their interactions and dialogue ring true. Crow is a fantastic character: uncompromising, gifted and tough. Her troubled past in war-torn Uganda, and indeed the ongoing uncertainty of her brother’s whereabouts are never glossed over; but Crow is always an inspiration to the three English girls.

Threads shows that fashion, far from always being a superficial or capitalist pursuit, can be a form of necessary self-expression, and a vehicle for social change.