No child should have to live through a war. No child should have to see what Alex has seen. He’s locked it all away in a secret place but, one day, the ticking time bomb in his mind has to detonate. Alex’s family want to help, but they have other problems. Only Alex’s beloved grandfather can answer his questions about family secrets. But Grandad is scarred by a war of his own - and his memories are fading fast as the effects of Alzheimer’s grip him. Time is running out for Alex. Only by unlocking the terrors of the memory cage for both of them, can he hope to escape the nightmares.

Ruth Eastham’s The Memory Cage - shortlisted for the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize - is a transfixing story about adoption, Alzheimer’s, the strength of the relationships within families through testing times, and the effects our memories have on how we live the rest of our lives.