The world of Jayben and the Golden Torch is rich with lore, flitting between our modern world and an elven world with magical powers, and the threat of a sinister villain who wants to make everyone forget. Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. He will have to find out what he needs to do quickly because the residents have been waiting for him … a brutal force by the name of Null is wiping everyone’s memories to gain ultimate power.

Jayben and the Golden Torch by Thomas Leeds | Goodreads

The author creates a truly engaging world with fantastic characters but what struck me most was the way he handled the topic of memory loss and brain injury. As I learned to live with memory loss and epilepsy caused by my brain injury, I rediscovered the magic of reading and I fell in love with stories set in fantasy worlds, where the heroes were confronted with the unknown.Huge congratulations to the author, I’ve never read a novel where the hero has a disability, and I hope we’ll see much more representation of this in the future.

Jayben and the Golden Torch by Thomas Leeds | Waterstones

It’s a magical tale of courage, hope and friendship, honing in on the idea that whatever pages are missing in your story, you can be the hero on the next page. If Jayben can find his own magic and ignite the torch with its fierce violet flame, his power will be unstoppable … Can Jayben save the world before the lights go out forever?

We tried everything, but as time went on, the boy with my name in so many stories and grainy photographs remained another person in another world. The author clearly has a massive imagination, with the world he has created filled with unusual creatures, delicious sounding food and a 5 different realms.

Jayben and the Golden Torch by Thomas Leeds - Coles Books Jayben and the Golden Torch by Thomas Leeds - Coles Books

The fantasy world Thomas Leeds has created is unique and unfamiliar, and the characters that Jayben meets and the friendships that are forged have their own intrigues. The world-building and plot are complex; packed with intricate detail, engaging characters and quirky creatures like the fuzzy, green, farting skoggle.

In a ripping fantasy tale Jayben finds himself in an alternative world, but all his memories have disappeared. In the Elf world, he wakes up with a mysterious golden torch but without any clue who he is… except for the compass he pulls from his pocket, engraved with one name: JAYBEN. I hope that children living with brain injuries and epilepsy will feel encouraged by Jayben, the hero I've longed to see for many years. Then one day I heard a song from the 1980s, the decade I was born, that I somehow had not heard since my accident. I was alive, but I was not the teenager who had crossed the road and been hit by a black cab that night.

Jayben and the Golden Torch Book 1 - LoveReading4Kids Jayben and the Golden Torch Book 1 - LoveReading4Kids

Many strange things are happening and there seems to be an urgent need for Jayben to rediscover some memory. Unable to remember the places he loved as a child or to recognise faces, including those of his family, Thomas set about building a new life. Bookstart Toddler: “It’s about that bubble you create when you’re sharing a book with the child – that togetherness that you have. On my journey to recovery, I realised that I had a great imagination and I loved coming up with stories. I particularly lived the sound of Dropcorn and Gribblenuts (these gave me the same cravings as Silky's popcakes did in the Enchanted Wood when I was a child!

But when Jayben finds a curved torch in his pocket, an Elf family reveal he is the GREAT NINTH DREAMER. I note many reviewers have found this to be amazing, and loved Ben/Jayben for so much more than the mindwiping seizures part of his character, but already in the early readers are people not to have finished this, and thoughts in agreement with mine about having been rushed through an over-stuffed narrative. Books that acknowledge or explore mental health issues can help to increase awareness, encourage dialogue, reduce stigma and develop real understanding. Thomas Leeds creates a sense of the confusion and anxiety that must follow in real life when someone has a seizure. Since I woke up after my brain injury 20 years ago, it's been really encouraging to see what progress has been made on more forms of disability being positively represented in books.