Stevie is the quiet girl at school, the one no-one wants to be friends with or sit next to. She tells herself that she isn’t bothered and that she doesn’t want nor need a friend as she doesn’t want to let anyone into her life.

Her dad died a couple of years ago and her mum fell into a deep depression unable to look after herself, never mind her daughter. She can’t go out to work and so money is tight. The pair struggle to have enough food to eat and Stevie is wearing last years, too small uniform to school.

Her only escape from her real life is through music, whether that be listening to one of the songs her father left her or playing her guitar. Music is her passion.

Hafiz has had to flee his home in war-torn Syria and travel to the UK to live with his Aunt and Uncle, leaving his parents behind. He hasn’t heard from his parents in a long time and is worried about them. He joins the local school and just wants to fit in and be accepted, but some of the children can only see him as a refugee, not a person.

He loves to play football, this is his passion, his escape from real life. He is selected for the school team. Even that has it’s own problems with some team players not liking the idea of a refugee playing for their team, even more so when it turns out that he is actually really good.

Stevie is given the task of helping Hafiz out on his first day. Together the two become inseparable, each drawn to the other via the reality of the harsh world we live in. Through their friendship, they learn to laugh, smile and find themselves again and create their own story.

Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow is one of those books that when you get to the final word you sit there going over what you have just read. You need to let it all sink in and for your brain to process just how wonderful the book really was.

The storyline is completely relevant to the world we live in today and exceptionally realistic too. It is one of those books that you can perfectly visualise all the characters and the scenes, just like watching a movie.

Both Stevie and Hafiz had their own story to share and this was done via alternative POV chapters. These chapters were short and helped to keep the flow of the story moving nicely. The secondary characters each played their own role perfectly too. Some you will laugh along with, others you will want to reach into the book and make them see the errors of their ways.

The book is so poignant and I didn’t want to put it down once I had started reading. Ms. Curham has written with so much passion and knowledge that it comes across in the reading equivalent to Ultra HD.

This is a story that will pull at your heart-string and give you empathy and compassion for others. It will make you see the world differently and gives you the mindset to be a better human being. Don’t pass this book by, give it a read. It is a book not to be missed.

About the Author

Siobhan Curham is an award-winning author, editorial consultant, motivational speaker and life coach. Her books for young adults are: Dear Dylan (winner of the Young Minds Book Award), Finding Cherokee Brown (shortlisted for Wirral Paperback of the Year), Finding Your Inner Cherokee, Shipwrecked and Dark of the Moon (currently being developed for television), True Face, The Moonlight Dreamers and the Moonlight Dreamers sequel, Tell it to the Moon.

Her books for adults are: True Love Always, The Sweet Revenge of the Football Widows, The Scene Stealers and Antenatal & Postnatal Depression.