Malamander by Thomas Taylor, reviewed by Dawn Finch

First the blurb…

Nobody visits Eerie-on-Sea in the winter. Especially not when darkness falls and the wind howls around Maw Rocks and the wreck of the battleship Leviathan, where even now some swear they have seen the unctuous malamander creep…

Herbert Lemon, Lost-and-Founder at the Grand Nautilus Hotel, knows that returning lost things to their rightful owners is not easy – especially when the lost thing is not a thing at all, but a girl. No one knows what happened to Violet Parma’s parents twelve years ago, and when she engages Herbie to help her find them, the pair discover that their disappearance might have something to do with the legendary sea-monster, the Malamander. Eerie-on-Sea has always been a mysteriously chilling place, where strange stories seem to wash up. And it just got stranger...

First off, let me get the gushing out of the way because this book is BRILLIANT! I know people say “I couldn’t put it down,” all the time, but I REALLY COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN.

Okay, I’ll calm down now.

Thomas Taylor has such a wonderful way with words and right from the start we feel that Eerie-On-Sea is a very real place. In fact, I completely believe Taylor when he says that we have “probably been to Eerie-On-Sea without ever knowing it.” This means Eerie-On-Sea feels like such a familiar place that we anything that happens there seems possible, and there are some very strange and mysterious things happening.

The characterisation is particularly strong in the novel, and all of the characters are compelling and engaging. Strange things are afoot, and with each punchy chapter (which all have great chapter headings) we creep closer and closer to finding out what’s really going on.

Brilliantly illustrated throughout by Taylor himself (and with a cracking cover by George Ermos) the book is a physically beautiful object too and one that any child would be happy to carry about like a treasure. Malamander is one of those books I loved in school. It is the kind of book I’d have on my desk and the kids would be looking forward to me reading the next chapter so much, that it would repeatedly disappear from my desk. This would read aloud so well, and I was delighted to see that Sony has snapped up the movie rights to the novel in an eight-way bidding war.

The story gently rocks along like a rising tide that creeps up on you, and then sweeps you away. We’re all going to be spending a lot more time in Eerie-On-Sea, and I’ve got my bucket and spade ready!

Malamander by Thomas Taylor is out now from Walker Books

Dawn Finch is a children’s writer and librarian.

@dawnafinch

Return to REVIEWS HOMEPAGE

A Pinch of Magic by Michelle Harrison, reviewed by Dawn Finch

Image copyright Simon and Schuster

First the blurb...

Three sisters trapped by an ancient curse.

Three magical objects with the power to change their fate.

Will they be enough to break the curse?

Or will they lead the sisters even deeper into danger? ...

Okay, so that's a pretty short blurb, but was more than enough to tempt me into reading this. Covering my tick list pretty efficiently here. An ancient curse, tick. Magical objects, tick. Sisterhood, tick. Danger and adventure, tick.

The only thing that held me back from reading this book sooner was the huge number of superlatives being thrown around in other reviews for it. "Phenomenal", "spellbinding", "brilliant", "breathtaking", "glorious"... the list goes on, and that kind of makes me hold off a bit. I hate being told I'll love something.

The trouble is.... THEY ARE ALL RIGHT!!

This book is absolutely wonderful. It is a perfect example of how to unfold a story. There is exactly the right balance of description and dialogue and every character feels well-rounded and well-placed. The dialogue is natural and at times I was so swept away by the story that I properly lost track of time. I had those wonderful times when I sat down to read and hours later I looked up and found the room in darkness and my tea cold (don't you love it when that happens?!)

I suppose I should give you more detail about the story, but I really don't want to ruin it. The story of the Widdershins sisters doesn't need a longer blurb than the one above and I hate reviews that spoiler. All you need to know is in those few lines above. This fairytale/Grimm type story feels traditional, but with a whole load of new ideas and sparkling adventure. It never veers into stuffy or dull and will make a great novel to read aloud and share. This is exactly the kind of book that you will start reading aloud, and your audience will quickly be sneaking it off to read ahead!

Another thing worth mentioning is the stunning cover of this book. The design is by illustrator Melissa Castrillón and her work also peppers the text with tiny silhouettes and a fantastic map. I love it when a cover acts as a teaser for elements of the story, and this one really does make the book the full package. It makes such a difference when a publisher takes the time to make a book a desirable physical object. Book ownership is an important part of the journey to becoming a lifelong reader, and making printed books a glorious thing to own is vital.

A Pinch of Magic has the quality and feel of a classic children's book, and I hope it will take its place among the best of them.

A Pinch of Magic is written by Michelle Harrison (and illustrated by Melissa Castrillón). It is published by Simon and Schuster.

Review by Dawn Finch, children's author and librarian.

@dawnafinch

www.dawnfinch.com

Return to REVIEWS HOMEPAGE

THE WHITE GIRAFFE by Lauren St John REVIEWED by Sharon Tregenza

Title:  The White Giraffe

Author: Lauren St John

Publisher: Orion Children's Books

When 11 year old Martine's house burns down, killing her parents, her life changes forever. Sent to a game reserve in South Africa to live with her strange grandmother, Martine must deal with her grief and learn how to survive in a very different culture.
     She befriends an albino giraffe and her adventure begins. Along the way Martine discovers secrets and mysteries go hand in hand in her family. This is magical adventure of myth and discovery set against the searing backdrop of the African Savannah.
       The sights, sounds and smells of Africa seep through every page and it's no surprise to learn that St John spent her childhood in Zimbabwe.

      I'd recommend this book to children 8 and up and to quite a few adults too. An exciting story with intriguing threads of mystery and mythology throughout.

      'The White Giraffe' is part of a series by Lauren St John which includes 'The Dolphin Song' and 'The Elephant's Tale'.



Sharon Tregenza writes MG mysteries. Check her website here: Sharon Tregenza

Return to REVIEWS HOMEPAGE

S.C.R.E.A.M - The Mummy's Revenge by Andrew Beasley, reviewed by Dawn Finch

First some blurb...

Charlie Steel and Billy Flint are top-secret investigators of Supernatural Crimes, Rescues, Emergencies and Mysteries – aka S.C.R.E.A.M. 

In this first book of a new series they track down no ordinary burglar. This burglar is a 3,000 year old Egyptian mummy on the search for precious jewels for his evil master, and he’s out to destroy all who stand in his way....

I am a big fan of a classic adventure yarn, and this new book from Andrew Beasley ticks all the boxes. The characters are instantly likeable and believable, and the story has all the elements of adventure that will grip a young reader.

Charlie and Billy are intelligent, brave and funny, and the mystery is just enough to keep a child puzzled but not baffled. The story moves on rapidly with spooky mummies, missing jewels and lots of chasing and escaping through dark and sinister Edinburgh streets.

I feel that I should mention that one of the characters, Charlie, is in a wheelchair due to polio. I feel reluctant mentioning it because, while it is mentioned in the text, and obviously some of Charlie's movements are restricted due to her chair, it really is not a big part of the plot and certainly does not define her. I found this very positive and wish that every writer managed to include disabled characters with such subtlety and grace.

The book is not too long, and I think it would be particularly suited to any children who are perhaps less engaged as readers because the chapters are short and the pace is rapid. No waiting around ages for things to happen in this book! The mysterious events come thick and fast as Billy and Charlie are hot on the trail of the jewel thieves. That said, I think that all young readers who enjoy a fast-paced book with a more traditional feel would enjoy this a lot.

Billy is cheeky and street-smart, and Charlie is the brains of the outfit, With additional characters like Doogie the Scottish servant boy and a whole set of strange adults, mysterious butlers and maids, and shuffling stinky mummified creatures - this is cracking Victorian-period adventure that will please all fans of spooky mysteries.

S.C.R.E.A.M - The Mummy's Revenge is published in the UK by Usborne (1 April 2017)
ISBN - 978-1474906920

Reviewed by Dawn Finch
www.dawnfinch.com
@dawnafinch

Return to REVIEWS HOMEPAGE

Taken, by Rosemary Hayes, reviewed by Pauline Francis

 

I have known Rosemary Hayes – and her novels – for many years. When she published my first novel, she gave up an entire day to edit it with me. That detailed Master Class has stood me in good stead ever since.

The cover of Taken, with its butterfly motif and open hand, makes the reader think instantly about freedom – and therefore, its opposite – lack of freedom. And this freedom has as much to do with mental freedom as much as physical.

Kelly’s father disappeared four years ago, when she was ten years old. It was thought that he had committed suicide, although his body was never found. Kelly has found it very difficult to accept his death.  She has been very much a prisoner in her mind ever since.

Is her father dead? If not, where is he? Did she see him just now in the trees at the park or was it her imagination playing tricks because it’s Autumn again, the time of the year he disappeared?

Kelly confides in her best friend, Lizzie, who is dismayed.

“What if Kelly is losing it again?” she asks herself.

As soon as Kelly glimpses (or thinks she glimpses) her father, she loses her freedom again – the freedom to be honest with her mother, brother, Gran and Lizzie. They are desperate to put the past behind them. She has to go it alone, until she confides in her new friend, Jack.

Events in this novel gather pace quickly, as secrets and lies pile up, forcing Kelly to go in search of the truth. But, as so often in real life, the truth hurts.

Hayes weaves the ups and downs of teenage life into this mystery story and it is uplifting to see the increasing closeness between Kelly and her family. I found the scenes with brother Nat tender and convincing. Kelly’s Gran is an especially intriguing and well drawn character.  Although Kelly calls her “a neurotic temperamental nightmare,” it is Lizzie who leads us to the heart of her character. Cleverly, Kelly’s absent father is constantly present in everybody’s thoughts – especially the reader’s. There is an ever-increasing contrast between the gentle artist father Kelly remembers and the person she doesn’t know at all.

Taken is a well-constructed story told by a very experienced author who knows just when – and how- to increase the tension. The twist at the end is clever and poignant - and offers some hope and stability at last for Kelly. But it does mean that she will have to live with some degree of uncertainty – as will the reader.

Hayes says: “Ransom are selling it as YA (12+) which I think is about right. Although it is (I hope) very easy to read, there is some violence towards the end – and some kissing, too.”

This is a timely novel, reminding us of the threat of terrorism that we all face. Kelly’s sacrifice is as great as her father’s and all those who are working to make our world safe. We should not forget that there must be many Kellys in the real world.

Pauline Francis www.paulinefrancis.co.uk

 

Return to REVIEWS HOMEPAGE

What I Couldn't Tell You by Faye Bird, reviewed by Dawn Finch

First the blurb....

When love turns to jealousy, when jealousy turns to rage, when rage turns to destruction...

Laura was head over heels in love with Joe. But now Laura lies in a coma and Joe has gone missing. Was he the one who attacked her?

Laura's sister Tessie is selectively mute. She can't talk but she can listen. And as people tell her their secrets, she thinks she's getting close to understanding what happened on that fateful night.



YA books about young people with "issues" are very on-trend at the moment and so, when a friend recommended this book to me, I must confess to some resistance as I've read far too many "worthy" books recently and was becoming a little jaded with them. Don't get me wrong, many of these books are important, but there are an awful lot that are not. I was wrong to dump this book in with the masses, Faye Bird has given us quite a different thing. This is a book about a girl who is caught up in a terrible event, a girl who desperately wants to know what happened to her sister, a girl who wants more than anything for her life to go back to what it was before the attack, a girl who like all teens just wants to be happy and to have friends - and this girl happens to be selectively mute. 

Faye Bird has achieved a remarkable thing here, she has managed to deliver to the reader a very detailed understanding of the life of a SM young person, without ever being patronising or giving us infodumps. She does this by putting us firmly in Tessie's shoes. The prologue sets the scene by introducing us to Joe and Laura, but when we move on to the next chapter we are with Tessie. Bit by bit details of the attack on Laura trickle into our laps but, just like Tessie, we are mute. As readers we want to shout out to Tessie, to warn her, to tell her what we think, to tell her what is really going on... but we can't. We want to tell Tessie to go to someone, we want to share what she knows but we too are mute and can't be heard.

Characterisation is so well handled in this novel that I bonded quickly with Tessie as she is incredibly likeable. I became so fond of her and found myself missing her when I finally closed the book. Her frustrations and confusions become ours, we feel her struggle and I know that YA readers will find a great deal to identify with in the twisting and turning sub-plots.

I particularly like the fact that Bird does not neatly solve everything with a perfect happy ending. Life isn't like that and not every broken thing can, or should, be fixed.


What I Couldn't Tell You by Faye Bird was published by Usborne in May 2016 and is available in both print and e formats. You can find out more about the author on her website www.fayebirdauthor.com

Review by Dawn Finch, children's author and librarian. www.dawnfinch.com





Return to REVIEWS HOMEPAGE

THE DEVIL IN THE CORNER by Patricia Elliott. Reviewed by Adèle Geras

Over the years, at both Arvon and Ty Newydd, I've taught courses where I met writers who were very talented.  There were a few who, I could see, would be published sooner or later. I'm very happy to be part of the beginning of their writing lives, and every time one of them brings out a new book, I feel pleased all over again. I'm talking about writers like Lynda Waterhouse, Gill Vickery, Caroline Pitcher and in this review, most particularly, Patricia Elliott.  I often review books by novelists I know and I've stopped explaining and sort of apologising... You'll have to take it on trust that I wouldn't review a book I didn't genuinely think was worth drawing to people's attention. 

Patricia has written historical novels, and fantasies and whatever she publishes is always both stylish and interesting. She's good at slightly fantastical tales set in the past, like one of my favourites,  Murkmere.  In The Devil in the Corner, she's produced a book that will be enjoyed by all lovers of Victorian Gothic. It's a YA novel, and perfectly suited to that age group, but I don't think an adult reading it would feel in any way short-changed. There's enough plot to keep everyone who picks it up turning the pages, anxious to see what will happen next.

Maud, an orphan, is summoned to Windward House in Suffolk by her cousin Juliana. It's an old house, with all the appropriate shivery elements in place: slightly sinister servants, a very disabled young man called Sly who might or might not be the Devil of the title.  Then there's Edie, a fourteen year old girl whose cunning and mischief is driven by thwarted passion and whose actions and feelings constantly surprise both Maud and the reader. Then there's a painter called John, who's been commissioned by Juliana to restore the Doom Painting in the local village church.  (The painting is based, we are told by the author, on the Doom in St Peter's at Wenhaston in Suffolk. I am keen to see it.)  John and Maud meet on a train and the scene is set for a story of whispers, glances, poison, guilt, sexual assaults, drug addiction and murder. 

Many themes run through the novel, but it is mainly a love story and love wins through in the end. There is no slapdash element in Elliott's style. It is the very opposite of casual and colloquial.  Every word is both carefully chosen and appropriate. Nothing, anywhere, jars.  Elliott can also set a scene and take us into  someone's emotional turmoil better than many more well-known writers.

If you're an adult and enjoy novels like those by Essie Fox, for instance, this book is one you'd like. And any young person who relishes a spooky and  emotionally charged story will love it. Hodder Children's are to be congratulated for producing a very attractive paperback original with a cover that has more significance for the novel than you might realise at first. 

THE DEVIL IN THE CORNER: a paperback original.
published by Hodder Children's  £6.99
ISBN: 9780340956786





Return to REVIEWS HOMEPAGE

'The Bother in Burmeon' by S.P. Moss - reviewed by Rosalie Warren

 

The Bother in Burmeon is, in my opinion, an excellent children's book. But it's one that you may not otherwise have come across, and I think it deserves wider attention - so here goes!

S.P. Moss's debut novel is aimed at 9-12s. And what a tale it is! Young Billy, staying with his gran, finds a kaleidoscope in a box of toys in what used to be his mother's bedroom. Rather an interesting kaleidoscope as it happens, since, when Billy turns it, he is whisked back to 1962. There he meets a dashing young RAF pilot who turns out to be Billy's granddad and who, in the present day, has been dead for the past twelve years.

In spite of the shock, it doesn' t take Billy long to find his feet (and his wings, as it were) in 1962, and soon he's on the way with Grandpop to the depths of South East Asia, where he pilots a flying boat, rescues a captive tiger, comes face to face with an Indian cobra and pits his wits against a mad dictator...

It's all very real - certainly not a dream - and very convincing to read. S. P. Moss knows her stuff about the RAF (I know - I'm an RAF crewman's daughter) and she has the language of 1962 and the sights and smells of that long-lost age off pat (again, I know... my memory just about goes back that far!)

But in spite of the retro feel there is nothing old-fashioned about this tale - certainly nothing slow and ponderous. Billy's adventures unfold at (at least) Mach 3 - and whatever your age, you'll be chewing your knuckles with the excitement of it all long before the thrilling (and rather moving) end.

Climb aboard, hold tight, prepare for take-off... whoosh! away we go....

With Billy and Grandpop for company, flying out over enemy territory to battle with beasts, baddies and bombs, you'll have tons of fun with no need for screens, apps and computer games.

(And I should add that this adventure is great for girls as well as boys - yet another of those books I wish had been around when I was young!)

The Bother in Burmeon has its own wonderful website, too.

Well done to S. P. Moss and here's wishing her lots of success. Let's hope she has some sequels in the pipeline...


Title: The Bother in Burmeon
Author: S. P. Moss
Age-range: 9-12 approx
Publication date: 2012
Publisher: Circaidy Gregory Press
Price: £7.49 (paperback version); £4.11 (Amazon Kindle version). EPub edition
is available from Foyles, Blackwells and all the Hive Network stores - see publisher's website for detail.

 The Bother in Burmeon is also available direct from the publisher, Circaidy Gregory Press

This review first appeared on my own blogsite, Rosalie Reviews, a few weeks ago.

Happy reading
Best wishes
Ros

Follow me on Twitter @Ros_Warren

Facebook page
Blogging regularly, with reviews for young and old, at Rosalie Reviews
Website

Return to REVIEWS HOMEPAGE