Ellie Pillai is Brown

Product Information

The message was really gracefully delivered and the music really made it a unique experience for me. Most days, Ellie Pillai is somewhere between invisible, and not very cool – and usually she’s okay with that. I found the whole idea of using QR codes throughout the book to connect to Ellie's playlist absolutely genius! Ellie finds expressing her true emotions very hard, but by using music she can express her feelings more openly.

Yesterday a parent came over to tell me how impressed she was by the book fair and that you did a fabulous job of selling the books to the children first. This is a long book, which is the only reason I rated it down a little - the story did start to drag in a couple of places. She’s pretty much the only brown girl in her school and she’s hiding a big secret from her first generation immigrant parents (they think she took computer science GCSE when really she’s doing drama, a subject she’s actually not doing even doing well in).I loved that the reader was able to experience Ellie’s character development in such a personal way as we get access to her thoughts. This was so incredibly young-adult (YA) and thus, the perfect palate cleanser after all the heavy dystopian books. It reminded me of Never Have I Ever (which I also love) and it's different having a South Asian girl going thorough teen angst.

She’s one of the few brown-skinned students at her school, and best friends with the school’s ‘it’ girl, Jess. A beautiful tale about how those around you, especially during your fragile adolescent years, can enrich your life, shape your ambitions and ultimately, provide the love you haven't managed to give yourself yet. Few unexpected incidents that tested their friendship, a new drama teacher who suddenly seems to notice her existence, also a romance encountered when Ash the new boy transferred to her school. This is the kind of story that highlights the best of humanity, friendship, and what it really means to find your voice and confidence within.It's not often you find South Asian rep in YA fiction, and I could definitely relate to some elements of Ellie's experience. Friendships are getting complicated especially now she’s fallen in love with Ash, a new boy at school who she has a real connection with and who then immediately starts going out with her best friend. Luckily for me, this was written closer to the style of my favourite author Alice Oseman, with diverse / Queer characters and a protagonist I really connected with.

The twist towards the end completely threw me, I hadn’t expected it at all which I loved, and I marvel at how well Pillainayagam celebrates so many elements of identity.

Maybe it’s the new boy at school who makes her brain explode into rainbows every time she sees him (and also happens to be going out with her best friend), or maybe it’s her new drama teacher, the one who seems to have noticed she exists. I never considered DNFing though, and I'm really looking forward to the sequel that's released next month! The way it did turn out, though, was for the record the way I wanted it to be, and I’ve heard there’s going to be a sequel so I will absolutely be reading that so I can see some more of these characters.