Surviving your first year of secondary school is already hard enough when you know someone to sit with at lunch break. But Amelia has also just moved into a new city and misses her grandmother every day. Everything in her life is new, just when she wishes the most she could have someone she knows close by.
In Amelia Power by Vilma Montoliu, the protagonist has to face this new beginning with the feeling that no one quite understands her. How do you find your way when you’re still trying to come to terms with everything you’ve lost? Between her first heart-to-heart conversations with her new friends and the pages of a journal addressed to her grandmother, Amelia begins to find a way to express her feelings, including what she struggles to say out loud.
Writing to someone who is no longer there allows her to make room for sadness and talk about the changes she is going through. As she tries to get used to secondary school, she begins to understand she can reach out to others without having all the answers or knowing exactly how to explain what is happening to her. She doesn’t need to be perfect to be worthy of companionship, understanding, and affection.
The story brings together grief, friendship, and the search for your own identity at an age when it is easy to believe that everyone else knows exactly who they are. Amelia will have to learn to be herself at the same time as she gets to know her new friends, faces her insecurities, and finds the words to talk about her grandmother. Her goal is to survive the school year; along the way, she will discover that she can also ask for help and allow others to support her.
Vilma Montoliu holds a degree in Art History, a diploma in Holistic Naturopathy, and is a coach specialized in meditation and emotional management. Since 2019, she has been creating content surrounding meditation and self-awareness on YouTube, Spotify, and Instagram, where she has built a large Catalan-speaking community. She also gives out courses, retreats, and talks, and has written several books, the latest being Viu la teva creativitat (Live Your Creativity). Through this story, she introduces young readers to subjects that play a big role in her work: recognising your emotions, listening to yourself, and giving yourself permission to not cope with everything.
We recommend Amelia Power to anyone that is starting secondary school, missing someone, or feels like they should be handling things better. Now available in Catalan and Spanish, waiting for readers who would like to join Amelia in a school year in which she will have plenty to learn, both inside and outside the classroom.
