2018 Book Award Shortlist
A Storm of Strawberries by Jo Cotterill
About the Book:
Darby loves summer on her family’s strawberry farm – but is the weather about to turn?
Darby is twelve and has Down’s syndrome. Her favourite things are music, chocolate, and her big sister Kaydee. It’s nearly time for the annual chocolate hunt, the highlight of Darby’s year, but Kaydee has brought a friend home for the weekend. Suddenly both the chocolate hunt and her favourite person are in danger of slipping away… and to make things worse, the family’s strawberry farm is hit by a tornado. When the storm clears, what will be left? And can Darby mend what’s been broken when nobody will listen to her?
Published by Piccadilly Press
About the Author: 
Jo Cotterill has had several careers – actor, musician, teacher, newspaper seller – but is now a full-time writer in Oxfordshire. She loves writing for all ages and has published over twenty books. Jo loves going into schools and talking about books and reading, and can be found making cards and writing music w hen she’s not spending time with her husband and two young daughters.
45 responses to “A Storm of Strawberries by Jo Cotterill”
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i love Storm of Strawberries because its exiting and interesting and its one of the best books I have read .
I love Storm of Strawberries; Jo Cotterill really captures Darby’s point of view and shows things that might really happen in a non-fiction form. I definitely recommend this book.
A great read; very gripping!
This book will draw attention to many readers as it based on a realistic story.I enjoyed reading this book as I can relate to it in so many ways.I think this book will soon be a classic.I personally recommend this book mainly to children 10+,but suitable for all ages.
I am currently reading this book and love it so much! i can barely keep my eyes off it. My favorite parts are when Darby has i remember moments. The stories that she remembers are so good, funny and enjoyable. I highly recommend this book.
A Storm of Strawberries was a great and enjoyable book. I liked how it changed opinions on people who are normal thought as of different. It was a very exciting read as well, with surprising twists sprinkled through the book. I also liked how it sounded like it was actually a child writing it; I believe the words were very well chosen. I recommend this to all readers who would like to read a unique and exciting book.
Storm of Strawberries is by far my favourite book this year because is so realistic and I’ve never experienced anything like this in my life before I read this. I LOVED the fact that it had a girl with Downes Syndrome in it called Darby and it showed how people with Downes Syndrome behave. Derby’s sister, Kaydee had a girlfriend and Darby found them kissing. Kaydee didn’t want anyone to know that she was a lesbian. Thanks Jo Cotterill for writing this eye-opening book.
I love this book. i loved this book because the fact that it was about a girl with down syndrome which most books do not have. Also, i liked the fact that there was a lesbian couple. When kaydee when out of the house so late showed mystery and adventure. I also liked the vocabulary in this book as well.i defiantly recommend this book for all though adventure lovers. i would overall rate this a 10/10!
I really enjoyed A Storm Of Strawberries. It put me in someone else’s shoes and made me feel what people with down syndrome and lesbians feel like. I think that it makes you understand other people which will make you more tolerant with people. The only thing I would say is that at some points, nothing is really going on. Like when Darby is just sitting at the table, painting and listening to music. I don’t really see how that is relevant to the story. Apart from that, it was a good book and I would give it 8/10.
I love this book. I like how you use all different people that you don’t usually come across every day. Such as Darby having down syndrome and lesbians. I like this book because it has a range of emotions like at the start and in the middle it was very emotional but it had a happy ending. I would highly recommend this book.9/10
this book was good,funny and sad at the same time it made me understand what people with downs syndrome feel. This book is now my new favourite. 9/10
‘A Storm Of Strawberries’ was a brilliant book. The title was catchy and urged me to read on. Although the blurb wasn’t very strong, I gave it a chance and it turned out to be great. Definitely recommend 🙂
BEST BOOK EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It was my favourite out of all of the book! I even brought Jo Cotterill’s other book!
I loved it sooooooo much! I couldn’t put it down!
its not my type and you’ll get bored!!!
This book is so cool because is intresting and it hooks me to pick it because it realy good and it makes me feel ecstatic and happy.
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LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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This book is completely heart loving and it is also very enthusiastic. I hope that this book wins and it’s not just for girls, this book will hook the reader and hopefully declare it’s appreciation and win it’s prize.
dramatic definitely this isn’t as girly as i thought.
overall 100/10! YAY!
Storm of strawberries is an amazing book that really tells you about how people with Downs syndrome feel. People who are different to others, don’t care about what people think, as long as they’re happy. This book tells you that you shouldn’t judge anyone by how they act, but how they feel inside.
I think that this book was amazing! I liked that the book is different from other books. It also includes information about Downs Syndrome which is nice because it tells you that those people are exactly like everyone else.I really enjoyed reading this book.
This is an exciting book with loads of different emotions and characters
I thought Storm of Strawberries was an interesting book. It tells you about down’s syndrome which I thought was heart warming because you could learn about other people. The down side for me though was the blurb and the title,I don’t know why it’s called The Storm of Strawberries because it’s less about the storm on the strawberry farm and more about Kaydee and Lissa being together. So maybe include a bit more text that links with the title next time! 8 1/2 /10
A storm of strawberries is definitely a book I would recommend to any person ho is looking for something,enjoyable,exiting and an adventure with Darby.It’s a book for boys and girls;also for all ages.
I love ‘A Storm of Strawberries’, it’s a great book and is full of surprises. The cover of the book is misleading because it makes it look a bit more ‘girly’ than the story actually is. Overall it is a great book – 5 stars!
‘A storm of strawberries’ is a really good book. Although the blurb doesn’t give much of a background story it tells a bit about the character inside. The main character Darby is sweet, good , kind and special in her own way and that’s good. At the start Darby didn’t like Lissa but at the end she stands up for Kaydee and Lissa. If this book was in a shop i would buy it. Also it gives information about Down’s syndrome. I would give this book 10/10.
A storm of strawberries
The book, a storm of strawberries is about a little girl (Darby) who has Down’s-syndrome which makes her look different from other girls. She likes music, chocolate and her big sister. Her supportive sister (Kaydee) has a friend called Lisa and Lisa thinks that Darby looks weird so she doesn’t want her to be Kaydee’s best friend. Well that will be hard as Lisa is staying for the weekend and a surprise reaches her that was supposed to be a secret be will it be kept one.
I thought that Darby was very brave trying to keep that secret and when she went out in the middle of the night to find her sister, Kaydee, she was a very likeable character, in fact my favourite person in the whole book. This story was realistic and easy to imagine I like books like that and I would definitely put votes into that book.
`A storm of strawberries` is one of the best books i have read because it reflects on what happens everyday and that children and adults who have down syndrome should be treated the same as everyone else. The only thing that could be improved is the blurb as it does not give much information to what happens. In the book Darby (the 12 year old girl with down syndrome) can get ignored at home sometimes, but really shes like any other 12 year old girl. This book is good for any gender.
A Storm of Strawberries is a good book it shows how kind and loving children with down syndrome can be and it tells you not to make fun of people with down syndrome.This book has parts about a massive storm that takes away lots of their strawberries.
‘The Storm Of Strawberries’ is an interesting book to read and people who have interests in their same gender should read it! It also shows that Downs Syndrome people are just as capable as everyone else!
You’ve got my vote!
a brilliantly imaginative story, showing what it would be like to be different, and unaccepted, the blurb could use some work though.
Although I thought that a storm of strawberries was good, and that the story-line was about things that other authors don’t normally write about, I thought it was missing something. Something like a bit of a zing to the story line!
The storm of strawberry book I think is the best book i have ever read it is so detailed and you can just see in your mind what you are reading. I would not buy this book in the store by the look of it because it doesn’t look that good on the outside. If you start reading it, you will love it so much. This book shows people that people who have down syndrome are the same as everyone else.
I really like this book because it’s quite dramatic and you get to understand what it feels like to have Downs’ Syndrome. I like how the relationship between Lisa and Darby changes through the book. It makes you wonder what Lisa has against Downs’ Syndrome in the first place. I would recommend the book because it keeps you wondering what is going to happen next, all the way through.
The storm of strawberries was the best book I have ever read in my life. It teaches you all about down syndrome and helps you understand how peoples lives can be hard at times and people can feel alone and like no one is there for them, also no one is going through the same things as they are .
This book is just like real life and shows how down-syndrome people are just like everyone else. : )
This book is the most amazing book I have ever read. It is so good I wish I could take it home and put it on my bookshelf at home to read over and over again. I love how Darby reunited Kaydee and Lissa after their fall out. This book has made me want to find out more about Down ’s Syndrome so I understand it more. The imagination of this story is wonderful and I recommend everyone reads it!
A Storm of Strawberries is one of the best, most interesting books I have ever read ! If this book was in a shop, I don’t think that I would buy it , the blurb does not do the book justice, it just doesn’t seem to give any information about the book. I think it should leave you on a cliff hanger about what will happen when the storm hits the farm! It is an absolutely AMAZING book!
I really liked the main character, Darby, because even though she has Downs Syndrome, she doesn’t let it affect her life in a bad way. She has a very special relationship with her sister, Kaydee, and she is always trying to make things better for everyone around her. By the end, I realised why it was called a Storm of Strawberries and I liked that it all clicked into place. It made me realise that you should love your brothers and sisters, even when they annoy you!
Clever title – this is a story about both real and metaphorical storms! Kaydee is fiercely protective of her sister, Darby, who has Downs Syndrome, and they are inseparable, until Kaydee brings her friend home for a sleepover which ruins everything. Meanwhile, a storm threatens the strawberry farm where they live. Will the farm be destroyed? Has Kaydee outgrown Darby? You must read this book to find out. You won’t be disappointed.
This is such an original story – what a fantastic first book to read. Forget ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover”. It should be ‘Don’t judge a book by its blurb!” I didn’t see that story-line coming at all. Cotterill has done her research really well and her depiction of Darby is heartwarming. I would say that looking at life, and the world, through the eyes of a young person with Down Syndrome really is liberating and something that everyone should experience. Don’t be deceived by this review though – the book is SO much more than this but I don’t want to give anything away.