One: WINNER OF THE CARNEGIE MEDAL 2016 Paperback – Unabridged, 2 Jun. 2016

This is a unique and moving story told through the honest, pragmatic and unsentimental voice of Grace. Crossan's novel is written in free verse and in June it was awarded The Bookseller's YA Book Prize 2016 - just one of many prizes for which I'm sure it will be nominated."One" is the story of conjoined twins Grace and Tippi, named after Tippi Hedren and Grace Kelly - 2 of Hitchcock's biggest stars who were "so beautiful it sometimes feels like a cruel joke." They are conjoined from the hips down and have defied medical history by surviving for 16 years, although "lucky isn't really how I would describe us.""As time ticks by / the chances of us / suddenly / ceasing / to be / get / quite /high / that's just a fact / that will / never / go / away.........I suck it up."Living as a conjoined twin is described without any undue sensationalism, as to Tippi and Grace it is normal. They have adapted to their life together. They have ways of operating effectively together. Sometimes it's frustrating - for example, "I cannot watch a film in secret / and even with my headphones / on / I know that Tippi hears the tinny hissing / of my music / in her own ears." But, as with waiting for each other, "It's what happens / when / you're bound like we are / to a body too stubborn / to peel itself apart at conception," - this is just the way it is and ultimately they share everything and are everything to each other.Yet Grace tells us how she struggles to become invisible and longs to be normal and boring, not amazing."Normal is the Holy Grail / and only those without it / know its value"Sometimes she wants to speak for herself and to be seen just as Grace, not always with Tippi. She wants "eyes to focus on me without the tiniest hint of horror." What Grace tells us is at times heartbreaking and always poignant, but her voice remains candid with such a matter of fact tone, that even when her sadness and longing creep in, it doesn't become over sentimental or gratuitous. Crossan has struck a brilliant balance of exploring the emotional, physical and mental journey of teenage conjoined twins that evokes empathy and understanding without voyeurism or pity. As Grace herself says, "hatred's better than sympathy."Starting a new school, they make new friends. Yasmeen is HIV positive and the girls form a bond with her, knowing how it feels to be "burdened at birth /by a curse your mother /never knew she was under." They also meet Jon. Tippi warns Grace that they can never fall in love, but for Grace this comes too late.Half way through the book the twins decide to monetise their quite unique life to relieve the family of its financial burden. They turn to reporter Caroline who has plagued them for years and she arrives to film the family every day and reveal the inside story of living as a conjoined twins. This allows Crossan to subtly raise some thought provoking points and ask intrusive questions without making the book trite or hackneyed. Grace's voice constantly the more intelligent, more observant, more philosophic. For example, Caroline says, "You laugh a lot. It's inspiring. You embrace life." "What am I supposed to do with life other than embrace it," Grace flatly replies. These twins are girls who are well balanced and essentially happy. They are inspirational but not because of their conditions, because of their grounded perspective.Then something happens. Something they hoped would never happen. Neither of them can admit it to the other. This section of the book is painful but also reflects that actually, this is a family that is no different to any other family faced with the most devastating of decisions. I would like to quote more from these elegant and exquisite passages but will refrain- only to avoid spoilers and possibly my tears. There is some beautiful symbolism through the image of a Russian Doll which is filled with several smaller dolls, until the smallest is so tiny it is barely anything at all, but without it, the doll would never be complete.As I said, the book is written in free verse, so although it is thick and runs to over 400 pages it is actually a very quick read due to each page being one "poem". Each page is given a different heading and is about a different topic, day, incident, emotion, reflection which prevents all the ups and downs (and there are some very down bits) of such a story from becoming overwhelming, depressing or too harrowing. It keeps moving, the pace and structure carefully considered in order prevent overly dwelling on things but still providing enough detail to make the characters, emotions and events authentic and three dimensional. Words linger - in fact the visual effect of extra space at the bottom of the last stanza on each page and the new title on the next, encourage a reflective pause. Crossan's choice to write in this style is inspired and original. It makes the story fresh and completely engaging. The images, symbolism and inference are precise and affecting. The shape of the words on the page adds a whole other layer to the content and I loved the way it changed to reflect certain events and stages of the girls' lives. I also think it is important to see novels written in less conventional forms which opens up a whole new realm of self expression, creativity and imagination for teenagers.This is a novel I will read again and again and again and again and probably notice something different or deeper each time. I totally admire what Crossan has achieved. At the end of the book, Crossan says it was an honour to write it but I felt it was an honour to read it. I can only imagine what she much have gone through researching and writing this but the result is so impressive. The brevity of her words, the empty space surrounding the lines and words is so effective; what is not said becomes as interesting and resonant as what is said.I have read "The Weight of Water" (also written in free verse) and "Apple and Rain" (also nominated for prestigious awards) and thoroughly enjoyed them both. I recommend all of these three books for young adults (and fully grown ones too) who love language, issue based books, original characters and well written stories.

This was originally published on my blog ~ A Page of Fictional Love.You can see from the blurb that this book sounds brilliant can't you? I have to say that I found this book to be an incredibly easy read and that was for 2 reason's; (1) It was a beautifully gripping storyline that just hooked you in and made you want to keep turning pages and (2) because of the format in which it was set out in. The layout of the text in this book looked a like the way in which one sees poetry written and published.What I loved about this book was that you could very easily tell that Sarah has researched the storyline with incredible detail, compassion and a level of authentic understanding. As this book is the story of conjoined twins; Tippi and Grace the story is narrated by only one twin. We learn the 'normality' of their life and the fact that they are very much aware of 'those questions' so many want to ask about their daily lives that they dare not to. Questions such as; "Is it hard to shower and see each other naked?" "What's it like when you go to the toilet?" "Will you be able to have children of your own?", "Do you wish that you were normal?". All very valid, and private questions. However what this book does spectacularly well is bring to light the true question; What is "normal"?But the reality of their life is that during their childhood, as the children growing up today, we live in a very social media focused world. We see it every day with events happening all around the world, in seconds, an event, an accident, or for teenagers today, an embarrassing moment in their life can be streamed live across the world at the touch of a button. Tippi and Grace live in this world which is hard enough for any teenager, but for conjoined twins who are prone to being looked at and treated like a circus act it is understandably difficult.Tippi and Grace are my sheroes this year. They embrace all of life's 'challenges' and they swat them away without a second thought. However, as we see in this book, being so 'medically challenged' as some would say leaves them open to all sorts of medical challenges. Challenges that not even the medical staff at the top of their game know the answers to. And I for one can completely understand just how terrifying that thought is.We see that Tippi and Grace are just normal girls, growing up, learning how to navigate their way in life and the trials of being a teenager. Subjects that we take for granted; falling in love, dating, learning to drive, recovering after an illness, and such.Without spoiling the story, I have to say that the ending utterly broke me. I lay in bed eager to finish this book before falling asleep and I sobbed my heart out. I sobbed because of the true brilliance of Sarah's talent for writing, I sobbed for Tippi, and I sobbed for Grace. But just like in recent weeks here in the UK, at times when things are really horrific and heartbreaking in the most painful of ways, we see figures of the public pull together and show true compassion and humanity. If anything, this book truly shows that no matter just how ripped apart we can be and how life can throw the most cruelest of curveballs of loss, pain, and difficult decisions, it can also bring with it unconditional love, understanding, togetherness and unity.Truly this book shows that no matter what. We are all ONE. Which is why I easily award this book 5/5 stars.I would like to dedicate this review to all the victims that have suffered here in the UK in the past few weeks; the victims of the Westminster Attack, the beautiful people who are victims of the Manchester Attack, and the victims of the awful tragedy of Grenfell Tower Fire. Each and every ONE of you are in my heart, faces and names that I promise I will never forget. My love, my thoughts, and my prayers are forever with each and every one of you.We are all ONE.