Seven Days by Eve Ainsworth, Reviewed by Tamsyn Murray

Jess is fourteen. She lives with her mum and younger sister, Hollie, on a housing estate and nothing is easy for her.

Then there's Kez. On the surface, she's got everything Jess wants: a pretty face, a hot boyfriend, nice house, two parents. Most of all, Kez has power, at least when she's at school. And she uses that power to make Jess miserable.

Over the course of seven days, the two girls' lives are tangled together until everything comes to a head on Saturday night and nothing will ever be the same again. How far is Kez prepared to push Jess? Does Jess have enough strength left to push back?

Seven days is an original and clever concept: a dual narrative following victim and bully over just one week (which feels like a lifetime when you're young). At the start of the story, the bullying has been going on for some time and Jess is really struggling to cope. My sympathy was instantly won as I took in her difficult home life and daily battles. Then Eve Ainsworth smartly flipped things around and retold events from the bully's point of view. From that moment on, I was torn between the two girls - on one hand, I was willing Jess to ask for help, to tell someone what was happening, to stand up for herself but on the other, I was desperate for Kez to get the support she needed too. It was a bold move to recount the same action twice but it works perfectly and for me, it's the strongest part of the book. It really made me think about events from both points of view and reminded me that bullying is never just about the victim - it says a lot about the bully too, how they're often damaged as well. Each character had their own distinct voice, ringing with authenticity and perfectly observed. Both leapt off the page and there was a host of supporting characters who were equally brilliant.

I predict teachers and teens alike will love this book. An important and thought-provoking debut.

Published by Scholastic, February 2015. I recommend it for readers of twelve years and up.

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Sam's Super Stinky Socks! written by Paul Bright & illustratrated by Ed Eaves - reviewed by Damian Harvey

Young Sam is a fearless explorer who  clearly follows in his Pa's adventuring footsteps.

After announcing that he is off to see the world, Pa offers him some words of advice that I'm sure Bear Grylls would firmly endorse - 'Be sure to wash your socks each night and hang them up to dry.' Pa also offers some slightly more dubious advice on what to do if he comes across a cheetah, a crocodile or a python. But it seems that the only thing that Pa can't help with is the most fearsome thing of all - the 'Jumbo Bumbo Fly.' which will bite you on the bum.

Sam's adventures take him around the world and as you might expect, he completely forgets all of Pa's sound advice on how to deal with wild animals... but worst of all, he never washes his socks and the terrible pong attracts a cheetah. 

Soon poor Sam finds himself being chased by a cheetah, a python and a crocodile. Just as it seems that things can't get any worse he hears a fearful noise - the dreaded Jumbo Bumbo Fly. The terrible insect bites the cheetah, the python and the crocodile, turning their bums blue, and it seems that Sam will be next. Fortunately, Sam proves himself to be more resourceful than his Pa and all ends well but you'll have to read the book to see exactly what happens.

The combination of Paul Bright's witty, rhyming text and Ed Eaves's bright, fun filled illustrations make this picture book a joy to read aloud and share. Children (and especially boys) will giggle endlessly at the references to bums an stinky socks... a sure winner. 

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The Pheonix Presents The Pirates of Pangaea Book 1 by Daniel Hartwell and Neill Cameron - reviewed by Cavan Scott

In his excellent How to Make Awesome Comics, Neill Cameron suggests mashing together different cool things to make a REALLY cool thing.

The Pirates of Pangaea is the artist and author practicing exactly what he preaches. Cameron and co-writer David Hartwell take two eternally popular staples of adventure stories and combine them with epic results.

Pirates and Dinosaurs. Need I say more?

OK, if you insist. Set during the 18th Century, The Pirates of Pangaea sees Sophie Delacourt visiting a recently discovered island that is still populated by dinosaurs. All is going swimmingly, until she is kidnapped by a band of vicious pirates, led by the blood-thirsty Captain Brookes. Can she escape before Brookes finds his heart's desire, a mystical skull hidden somewhere on Pangaea?

Along the way, we have action, intrigue and pirate ships strapped onto the back of massive sauropods. Yes, you read that right - schooners on the back of dinosaurs. Just look:

Seriously, why has no one done this before? If any comic deserves to be adapted for the big screen, it's this pre-historic page-turner.

Oh, and you've heard of horse-whisperers? Well, Sophie turns out to be a T-Rex whisperer. Far more impressive, if you ask me!

The writers' inventive world building is brought vividly to life by Cameron''s dynamic artwork, with colouring from Abigail Ryder. Best of all, there's a real sense of jeopardy here. There's no quick fixes to problems, and you begin to wonder which of the main cast will make it to the end of the book - if any!

If you like your swashes buckled and your pulse quickened, you'll love this dino-mighty adventure.

The Pirates of Pangaea is published by David Fickling books. Reviewed by Cavan Scott





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Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott reviewed by Lynda Waterhouse

This book was given to me as a gift. A Christmas present from my Godson. In fact the first present he has ever given me. After months of languishing on my ever growing ‘To be read’ pile so, with this review slot looming, I started to read it.

The full title of the book is bird by bird, Some instructions on Writing and Life. I pulled a face. This was probably not a book I would have chosen for myself. I pursed my lips and sighed. I do not consider myself to be a great reader of ‘how to’ books. Then I glanced at one of my bookshelves. In a neat row was Stephen King, Dorothea Brande, Robert McKee, Betsy Lerner and Christopher Booker. The row was rounded off by The Penguin dictionary of Jokes. Who was I trying to kid?

Anne Lamott’s book is a slim volume and is divided into five parts; Writing, The Writing Frame of Mind, Help Along the Way, Publication and Other Reasons to Write and The Last Class. It is full of advice as well as being funny and brutally honest. It has a section entitled Shitty First Drafts in which she says ‘All good writers write them. This is how they end up with good second drafts and terrific third drafts.’

The section on jealousy particularly resonated with me. Anne says, ‘Jealousy is one of the occupational hazards of being a writer, and the most degrading. And I, who have been the Leona Helmsley of jealousy, have come to believe that the only things that help ease or transform it are a) getting older, b) talking about it until the fever breaks and c) using it as material. Also someone somewhere along the line is going to be able to make you start laughing about it, and then you are on your way home.’

This book is written in lively and sassy style. Anne is very open about her life experiences and her faith which makes this book a warm and generous guide.  The perfect gift.

Bird by bird is published by Anchor Books

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DEADLY LETTER by Mary Hoffman. Reviewed by Ann Turnbull.

Starting at a new school is a rite of passage that happens to everyone more than once and is rarely easy, so it's not surprising that books about this experience are always in demand.

Deadly Letter is set in the world of younger primary school children. Prity has recently come from India to start school in a London suburb in a chilly English autumn. She finds the food strange, the other children occasionally unfriendly, and the playground games puzzling - especially the one called Deadly Letter. Her understanding mother and aunt provide her with jeans, a new haircut and the right kind of lunchbox. The friendship of an older boy also helps her to fit in.

But it's not all straightforward. The kind older boy is over-protective, and Prity has to explain to him that she needs to overcome her problems on her own. She wins through - and when, a few months later, she finds she must move again, she is able to cope much better. She even teaches her new friends Deadly Letter.

This is a story that any child would relate to. Mary Hoffman does not exaggerate Prity's problems by surrounding her with spiteful children. Those who seem to be unkind are mostly shown to be simply thoughtless, and Prity comes to realise that her classmates are really quite friendly. The story deals with aspects of our multi-cultural society without ever feeling like an 'issues' book. The writing is clear and accessible, while not shying away from interesting words like paratha and churidars. It gives young readers plenty to think about.

Sophie Burrows' illustrations, with their expressive faces, relate closely to the text and add to the book's appeal.

Published by Barrington Stoke, 2014, pb, 48pp.





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Phoenix by SF Said - reviewed by Dawn Finch

First the blurb….

A BOY WITH THE POWER OF A STAR . . .

Lucky thinks he's an ordinary Human boy. But one night, he dreams that the stars are singing to him, and wakes to find an uncontrollable power rising inside him.

Now he's on the run, racing through space, searching for answers. In a galaxy at war, where Humans and Aliens are deadly enemies, the only people who can help him are an Alien starship crew – and an Alien warrior girl, with neon needles in her hair . . .

I became a reader in the 1970s and this was a golden age for Science Fiction. I had a steady diet of books by the masters of the art, and grew up in a world of aliens, distant planets and giant robots – it was a pretty good time to be a reader. Fashions come and go and, as a children’s librarian, I know that we drifted into a time when you couldn't bribe a young person to read sci-fi. Its image became tainted by a slew of poorly written dross, and cheaply made Star Wars knock-offs, and it simply fell from favour.

Superb books by writers like John Christopher became lost in the melee of ghastly fan-type fiction and, by the time the new century crept in and the Future arrived, we had almost lost the genre for younger readers. It boldly went on for adults and now we have some incredibly fine writers exploring new worlds for us – but in the world of children’s books it had all gone a bit quiet.

I genuinely don’t think that this was for want of good writers, far from it. I think that what actually happened was publishers decided that the genre was not desirable and opted not to commission it. A great shame in my opinion, and a situation that I’m very pleased to see being challenged by writers like SF Said.

I am a fan of Said’s previous work, and in Varjak Paw he challenged what publishers would normally perceive to be fashionable and created a book that seemed to have a genre all of its own. We waited a while for his new book – Phoenix – but it’s worth the wait and again he’s kicking against the genres. Phoenix  is highly accomplished Science Fiction (although I believe that Said prefers the term Space Fiction, and it is indeed set in deep space) and it is an explosive quest story that is riveting to the end. We are swept away with the most extraordinary characters and Said manages to keep them completely real and believable at all times, no matter how wild the adventure gets. We genuinely bond with them, and feel as if we are part of the crew travelling into a mysterious galaxy in search of Lucky’s absent father.

One of Dave McKean's stunning illustrations

As with Varjak Paw, Said’s text is supported by Dave McKean’s glorious inky outpourings. These never clash with the text or reveal too much, but rather act as a teaser for the imagination. They give the book a subtle graphic novel quality, without ever overwhelming the text. It is clear that McKean and Said have an almost symbiotic relationship because the text and illustrations work so well together. The book is a beautiful package of wonderful writing combined with fantastic images and everything comes together to make a book that would definitely convert any non-sci-fi reader.

Here’s hoping that publishers will sit up and notice and take greater risks when commissioning, so that young readers can once again have access to more Science Fiction of this quality.

Publisher: Corgi Childrens (11 Dec. 2014)

ISBN-10: 0552571342

Reviewed by Dawn Finch

Author of Brotherhood of Shades

School Library and Literacy Consultant

Vice President CILIP

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Dancer, Daughter, Traitor, Spy by Elizabeth Kiem reviewed by Julia Jones

If you love books about the ballet (suffer from enduring nostalgia for Noel Streatfield for instance?) as well relishing thrillers and the murky history of modern Russia, then you may already have come across these two YA novels by Elizabeth Kiem. I've read them in the wrong order: first Hider, Seeker, Secret Keeper (published 2014) which I reviewed for the Bookbag and now the first volume, Dancer, Daughter, Traitor, Spy (2013). Dancer, Daughter focuses on seventeen year old Marina Dukovskaya whose mother, Svetlana, has been principal ballerina at the iconic Bolshoi Ballet for a decade and is now a National Treasure, a Soviet Cultural icon – a key Soviet asset in the celebrity Cold War.

Or is she? The story begins in Moscow, November 1982 on the day of Leonid Brezhnev's death. Aspirant ballerina Marina is, as usual, measuring out her day with a precise number of tendus, frappes and fouettes, in the advanced repertory academy where she and the other stars of the future are distorting their feet and bloodying their toes to learn their trade. Her mind is mainly full of the forthcoming results of a pop music competition and she ignores veiled hints about possible defections and the jealousy of her class mates for her gorgeous new coat, a gift, naturally, for her mother. Marina works hard for her art but takes her life of privilege for granted. On this night, however, the TV First Channel replaces its regular programmes with a film of the Bolshoi's Swan Lake. There are no explanations, no national news or results from the music competition – and Svetlana Dukovskaya doesn't come home.

Two days later Marina and her father learn that Svetlana has been institutionalised. She has apparently suffered a breakdown and has been taken into custody by the State Psychiatric Directorate. Marina's father, a scientist, makes puzzling comments about bacterial warfare and uses the word 'escape'. The word hits Marina like an electric shock or 'the jolt up your spine when you land a jump poorly […] My parents wanted to abandon the Motherland. And they were calling it “escape”?' The following day they get a call from the director of the Bolshoi – Marina has been dismissed. Her father is taken in for questioning, though he is then released. On the day of Brezhnev's funeral, they flee to America. 'I understand the system […] The rules are: if you pose a problem for the Party, if you are a risk to the People, you must be dispensed with. So we are following the rules. We are dispensing of ourselves before the KGB can do it for us.'

Elizabeth Kiem is a former dancer and a Russophile. She's a journalist who has lived in Russia and who acknowledges real life sources for much of her material. I wondered, briefly, what today's teens would make of this harking back to the post-Stalinist era before I realised that the writing in this first section of the novel – actions taken within a world bound by draconian, incomprehensible Rules – works particularly well as it is writing from within a dystopia. The subsequent, main section, following Marina and her father's attempts to make sense of their situation within the Russian emigrant population of Brooklyn, is atmospheric but more confusing as the hostile forces could equally be KGB, CIA, the bratva (Russian Mafia) – or none of them.

Dancer, Daughter has a twisting plot, where Marina's actions and reactions are as often fuelled by her teenage anger and disorientation as by tangible external threat. I wasn't sure she was quite as convincing a heroine as Lana, her daughter, in volume two and I wasn't sure that the integration of the actual dancing worked as successfully as the interpretations of Stravinky's Danse Sacrale in Hider, Seeker, Secret Keeper. I'd certainly recommend both novels – but I'd probably suggest that you read them the right way round.

Dancer, Daughter, Traitor, Spy & Hider, Seeker, Secret Keeper by Elizabeth Kiem are both published by Soho Teens. 

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BLUE MOON DAY by Anne Fine Reviewed by Adèle Geras

Yet again, I confess, I am reviewing a book by a friend of mine. This time I have a good excuse. It gives me a chance to highlight the many things about short stories which make them an excellent choice of reading matter for young people. For older people too,  if it comes to that, but by the time you've left school, you'll probably have decided whether it's a form you can cope with or not.

Many people are annoyed by short stories. They feel somehow let down by brevity. They think that there's no way that a short story can satisfy in the way a novel can. I think they're wrong, but then I've always loved short stories, both to read and to write.

The best examples are like small stones thrown into a pond. They strike the water and then the rings spread out and out. So you read something by Chekov, or Somerset Maugham, or Raymond Carver, or   MR James or a host of other writers and the echoes and possibilities and resonances fill your head and go on  reverberating in your mind for a long time after you've finished reading.

Fine has chosen a framing device for her stories, which are all about children in institutions:  various sorts of boarding school, a school for the blind and visually impaired, and even an educational unit for young offenders. It starts with a girl who really, really does not want to go to her own day school that morning having what she calls a Blue Moon Day (because it happens so rarely) and bunking off. However a condition of not going is that she has to go about in the car while her mother, a caregiver, goes from house to house seeing many different kinds of people. To pass the time while she's waiting, she reads the stories in a book called Away from Home, and we read the tales with her, one after another.

I speak as someone who was very happy indeed at my boarding school,  (Roedean School in Brighton) for eight years. And though I wouldn't dream of sending any child of mine to one, I can see several advantages. The most important of these, for me at any rate, was the extraordinarily high standard of the actual education. I am still enormously grateful to my teachers. I also made friends there, and  I'm still in touch with some of them. I don't recollect any serious bullying. Maybe I went round with my eyes shut but I don't think so. Girls could be spiteful. I was made miserable by several people on several occasions but nothing too traumatic.  Fine, too, in  depicting such places as they really are NOW does not resort to any of the old boys'  school  clichés of people having their heads stuck down a lavatory, and other such horrors. Her stories are much more modern than that, and even children who go to day school will recognise that they have a great deal in common with Fine's protagonists.

But this framing story does have its bleak moments, not only when we learn about the people being cared for, but also in our heroine's recounting of her family circumstances. The ending is hopeful, however, and along the way the  young reader will have been introduced to institutions and teachers that might very well make him or her look at their own school with fresh eyes.

The eccentricity of teachers is on display throughout and makes for a good deal of comedy along the way. The writing is elegant and crisp throughout. Heartstrings are pulled with no trace of sentimentality. I think readers of this book, whether they go to boarding school or not, will love it for the light it sheds on an experience which can be painful for many children.  If you're a teacher,  buy a copy for your class library and if you have a school -age child, it's required reading which you as an adult will also enjoy.

A final sad note:  the book is dedicated to Frances, whom I also knew and who used to teach at Roedean, long after I left it. She  died recently and this book would have made her very proud and happy.

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ONE OF US by Jeannie Waudby

Reviewed by Jackie Marchant

This is a timely book, about terrorism and taking sides.  It’s about prejudice and the danger of judging a whole section of society by the actions of a few.   And what it’s like to be hated because of who you are.

After surviving a terrorist bombing, K Child is full of antagonism towards those who carried out the attack – the Brotherhood.  When the enigmatic Oskar asks her to infiltrate the Brotherhood by attending their top boarding school to seek out extremists, she finds herself agreeing.  After winning her trust, Oskar gives her a completely new identity, a new set of Brotherhood clothes – and leaves her alone at the Brotherhood school gates.

At first K is terrified.  She is not only a stranger here, but a spy.  But no one seems to notice and, not only that, the people she meets are friendly.  They’re ordinary, like her.  For the first time in her lonely life, she is surrounded by people who care about her.  More than that, she’s falling in love.

At the same time, she begins to have doubts about Oskar and his true motives.  Then she witnesses the sharp end of the hatred citizens have for the Brotherhood – the same hatred she felt towards them on the day of the bombing.  But they are not all like that.

Can the two sides ever be reconciled?  This is the aim of the government, but, as K is drawn further into a web of deceit and anger, it seems increasingly unlikely – especially as K comes to realise the true horror of what Oskar wants of her. 

One thing we never learn is what the Brotherhood actually believe in.  They have longer names and wear slightly different clothes, but their doctrines remain elusive – they are hated because they are Brotherhood, but no one seems to know why.  As K learns, we are all the same – and there are people on both sides who advocate violence.

This is an exciting read, with romance and danger in equal measure.  It’s part thriller, part love-story, but all page-turner.  I can recommend it for younger teens.

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Pioneer Girl, The Annotated Autobiography, by Laura Ingalls Wilder, reviewed by Pippa Goodhart

Laura Ingalls Wilder turned me into a reader.  Her Little House books were worth the effort that reading was to me at that time.  It’s not too strong to say that I loved Laura, and still do. 

So it was with some trepidation that I approached Pioneer Girl because I knew that this book would expose the ‘real’ Laura.  Would that spoil the Laura I thought I knew?  No.  It makes her even more human and fascinating!

Laura’s daughter, Rose Wilder Lane, was a very well regarded journalist and novelist by 1929 when the economic Crash hit America.  Laura was in her sixties.  It was Rose’s suggestion that her mother should write down memories and stories from her pioneer family past, and that might raise much-needed money.  At that stage, those memories were intended for an adult audience.  So Laura got to work, writing freehand in school exercise books.  She called the work Pioneer Girl, and in the text we get much that is familiar from the fictionalised stories we already know, but more stories, much of it bleak or shocking stuff. 

The Ingalls family had already illegally tried to land-grab territory belonging to Indians before the events of Little House In The Big Woods begins.  There’s a moment when Pa packed them all into the wagon to do a midnight flit from a place where he owed money.  We learn about baby Freddy, born between Carrie and Grace, who died aged nine months.  During the desperate Long Winter when food and fuel was so scarce they burned twisted hay and risked lives in order to get more grain, the Ingalls family had another family living with them.  A young couple, keen to get away because they knew their baby was due rather too soon for decency after their marriage, landed on the Ingalls’ and got snowed in.  Ma acted midwife.  Through those desperate months, the young couple hogged the place by the stove and did nothing to help!  And, would you believe it, it was Cap Garland who Laura fancied more than she did Almanzo for quite some time!  (Actually, I think I’d sensed that all along …!)  There are more surprises to find.

We are treated to photographs of many of the people who appear in the stories, and given brief histories of what happened to them.  Arch enemy Nellie Olsen is actually an amalgamation of three girls who Laura disliked for different reasons over the years! 

We see how the stories were tidied-up and shaped for a child audience.  The back and forth editing process between mother and daughter is alternately funny and heartbreaking. 

But Laura comes through, intact as the Laura we already know, but with added grit and humour and stubbornness, and we find that other members of her family are of course more complex than their fictional counterparts.

This book is a clever production.  It never bores with its footnotes.  It’s a handsome big book, and a great treat to read … and I know that I’ll re-read it before too long.  Thank you, Laura!

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"Succession" by Livi Michael reviewed by Pauline Chandler

Set during the tumultuous Wars of the Roses, “Succession” combines the stories of two Tudor women, royal wives and mothers, two Margarets, both used

as pawns by powerful marriage brokers, in the intricate game of politics around the English throne.

The prologue of the novel prefaces much of what is to come, touching on several of its themes. Margaret Beaufort is remembering a time, when as a four-year old child, she wandered, lost and terrified, down the long corridors of the strange house she has been brought to, the home of her new guardian, the Duke of Suffolk, and meets him by chance for the first time.  She already knows it is shameful to cry, except in penitence, and that she is female and therefore subject to a man’s control, but what she also remembers is that the Duke spoke to her about the courage and determination of a woman, the warrior Joan of Arc, whom he greatly admired.  She remembers too how the Duke met a terrible end, condemned as a traitor and savagely beheaded.  She herself is a rich heiress and mother to the future king, Henry VII.

We next meet Margaret of Anjou, the French king’s niece, who has been brought to England to marry Henry VI, in a union that should ensure closer links with France, but, as Suffolk knows, the bride brings no dowry and the match has cost England valuable French territories.  Henry himself has insisted on the match. He is weak and malleable, and as Margaret soon discovers, he is not inclined to consummate the marriage. To the earls and power brokers of the English court, a secure and stable succession is paramount. If Henry has no children, who will succeed him?  The stage is set for fascinating but terrible power games, in violent times, where torture and death are commonplace.     

This is a complex period in history, handled expertly and with conviction by Livi Michael who creates an intensely engaging narrative. The author deals with her subject in an unusual way, by interspersing her fictional scenes with material from contemporary primary sources: eye witness accounts and the testimony of medieval chroniclers. Underpinned by meticulous research, the stories of the two Margarets are vividly brought to life in beautifully described settings. I should like to thank the author for guiding me kindly through this complex period of our history.

Pauline Chandler

www.paulinechandler@virgin.net

Pauline’s latest book, "Warrior Girl", historical fiction for young adults, tells the story of Joan of Arc, alongside that of her cousin, Mariane, who has her own battle to fight. A new edition of “Warrior Girl” is pubished by Cybermouse Books.

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MARS EVACUEES by Sophia McDougal - reviewed by Cecilia Busby

"When the polar ice advanced as far as Nottingham, my school was closed and I was evacuated to Mars."

I'm a great fan of science fiction, and it's cheering to see proper sci fi (as opposed to its disguised cousin 'dystopian fiction') starting to appear once again in children's books. Sophia McDougal's MARS EVACUEES is unquestionably proper science fiction, and what's more it's clearly aimed at pulling a few more girls into the genre, or at least giving those that are there already some decent role models. McDougal's heroine, Alice Dare ('Alistair? Funny name for a girl', is the inevitable comment from anyone who asks her name...) is the daughter of an ace female fighter pilot, whose success rate in the war against the invisible aliens who have invaded Earth is legendary. The aliens - the Morror - are using technology to alter the earth's temperature so it becomes more suited to their physiology: hence the encroaching ice sheet that causes Alice, and 300 other children from important families, to be sent to Mars. But Mars is only in the early stages of being terraformed and the station where they arrive is in the middle of a dangerous wilderness.

Alice rapidly makes friends with a rather odd-ball girl called Josephine. Clever, musical, unconventional, she is the target of bullying from some of the more preppy kids and the two form an alliance, which becomes even more important when the adults disappear and the children have to fend for themselves, along with some cheerful robots who zip around after them and continue to insist that the kids learn English grammar and quadratic equations while they hunt each other, 'Lord of the Flies'-style, around the station. Eventually, Alice, Josephine and two Philippino-Australian brothers, Carl and Noel, escape, but heading out in the wilds of Mars with only a fish-shaped educational robot to help them may not be the smartest move they could have made, and the Mars wilderness turns out to be not so devoid of life as the human colonists had supposed....

I really enjoyed this book - it has fabulous characters, edge-of-the-seat suspense, and some big themes - family, friendship, love, betrayal, war, forgiveness, aliens and the importance of duct tape. Thoroughly recommended for boys and girls in the classic 9-12 bracket, and fun for older readers too!

(And for those among you with access to technological wizardry, there's even a space-fighter training app to go with the book, which you can download free from i-tunes here or Play here). 

Cecilia Busby writes fantasy adventures for children aged 7-12 as C.J. Busby. Her latest book, Dragon Amber, was published in September by Templar.

www.cjbusby.co.uk

@ceciliabusby

"Great fun - made me chortle!" (Diana Wynne Jones on Frogspell)

"A rift-hoping romp with great wit, charm and pace" (Frances Hardinge on Deep Amber)

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Marsh Road Mysteries: Diamonds And Daggers, by Elen Caldecott. Reviewed by Saviour Pirotta

Title: Marsh Road Mysteries: Diamonds And Daggers
Author: Elen Caldecott
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Publication date: 5 February 2015


I have always loved a good detective story and, as a child, read Enid Blyton and Malcolm Saville's various whodunnits several times over. It wasn't just the sleuthing that attracted me to these books but also the caramaderie of the participants and the feeling that, by reading the stories, I became an unofficial member of the club.

Elen Caldecott's first book in The Marsh Road Mysteries series evokes the same strong feelings but brings a sassy and urban vibe to the genre. Here are five juvenile detectives that reflect the socio-cultural zeitgeist: Piotr, Minnie, Flora, Andrew and Sylvie.  They live in an inncer-city environment of shops, cafes, markets stalls, lock-ups  - and a theatre.  It's the theatre that provides the backdrop to their first adventure.

A world-megastar called Betty Massino has come to Marsh Road to star in a play. A thief makes off with her hugely expensive diamond necklace and Piotr's dad, who works as the security manager at the theatre, is the main suspect. He's so distraught by the accusation that he decides to take his family back to Poland. Which means that the fabulous five have a very short time frame in which to find the real cuplrit and prove his innocence.

The story is a breathless pageturner with an ending that will have you cheking amazon to find when the next installment of the Marsh Road Mysteries is due.

Reviewed by Saviour Pirotta

Follow me on twitter @spirotta
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Website http://www.spirotta.com






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Trouble on Cable Street, by Joan Lingard: reviewed by Sue Purkiss

Anyone who was teaching English in the late 70s/early 80s - and probably after that - will remember the name of Joan Lingard. She wrote Across the Barricades, a sort of Romeo and Juliet set in Belfast during the Troubles. Kevin is Catholic and Sadie is Protestant: they really shouldn't fall in love, but they do. It worked really well in schools: the story was gripping, it dealt with emotions deeply relevant to teenagers, and there was lots to discuss and tease out - so thank you for that, Joan Lingard!

She is still writing, and her latest book is set in the east end of London in 1936. It's an unusual combination; from Dickens on, there have been lots of books set in Victorian London featuring the lives of the working class, and there are plenty set against the background of the Blitz - but I can't think of many set in this particular time and place. Trouble on Cable Street concerns Isabella, whose mother is Spanish. She has two brothers. One has chosen to fight in the Spanish Civil War for the Republicans: the other, by contrast, is attracted by Oswald Mosley's increasingly powerful Fascist movement in London.

The story sheds an interesting light on a turbulent and not particularly well-known period. We know now that fascism in England was a dead end; but it's important to remember that they didn't know that at the time. It must have been very frightening to see the Blackshirts marching through the streets and to witness the riots and the rabble-rousing speeches, particularly if, like Isabella, your mother was a foreigner and you worked for a Jewish factory owner. Isabella senses for herself the charismatic power of fascism in the person of her brother Arthur's friend, Rupert; she distrusts him, but she sees his power - and his good looks. The people she loves are in very real danger, from several different directions. By the end, no-one is left unscarred. 

The book tells us a great deal about the political state of Europe in the years leading up to the war, and it makes us feel what it must have been like to be on the streets of London in the path of a fascist demonstration. It also resonates with the present climate, where extremists whip up hatred, immigrants provide easy scapegoats, and cities have once again been scarred by riots. But at the centre of it is Isabella, strong and warm-hearted, who must negotiate a path through the danger and uncertainty and decide, as we all must do, where to place her trust and her love.

(This review first appeared on my own blog, A Fool on a Hill.)

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Wereworld: Rise of the Wolf, by Curtis Jobling; reviewed by Gillian Philip

What are you looking for when you pick up a fantasy novel? Because in Rise of the Wolf, the first in Curtis Jobling’s six-book Wereworld series, he pretty much covers all the bases for me. Young hero discovering a greater destiny than he ever imagined? Check. Exile, pursuit and deadly peril? Check. Stakes as high as you could wish for? Check. Nobility in the face of bad guys whose villainy makes you clench your jaws even as you read? Check. Attractive antiheroes who wait till the last possible moment to reveal their true natures? Oh, check.

Drew is a young farm boy living a hard, but on balance happy life with his family on the dreich Cold Coast of Lyssia; he’s good with the animals, so he’s unsettled one night when the sheep are skittish and scared around him (to the point of one ram going over a cliff rather than be rounded up). There has to be something bad in the vicinity, right? Drew suspects there’s a monstrous presence near the farm, and all his fears seem confirmed when something horrific invades his house that night, attacking his mother. The creature is the stuff of nightmares - this has to be what terrified the livestock, and now it’s come for Drew’s family.

But then the horror and the terror spark something inside Drew himself, and he feels a shocking change overtake him…

When his father and brother return from market and find a scene of carnage, they (understandably) misconstrue the situation. Fleeing his home, wracked by grief and shock, Drew escapes to the Dyrewood. And there he might remain for the rest of his life, turning more animalistic with the passing months, but for a chance encounter with the scouts of Duke Bergan the werelord…

From the moment Drew is dragged (almost literally) back to Duke Bergan’s stronghold, the story takes on a breathtaking momentum. Captivity in the Bear Lord’s castle is the least of his problems, as rapidly becomes clear when the troops of the King, Leopold the Werelion, arrive to take him into custody. The extent of the monarch’s cruelty and oppression is made very clear in a few harrowing pages, and the reader is very quickly rooting for Drew and his new allies and friends to escape and win out - but also for the overthrow of a king who may have come to the throne through very foul means indeed.

Curtis Jobling draws the world of Lyssia so vividly you can taste the air and smell the blood on the battlefield. Each danger that Drew overcomes seems to lead only to another, worse threat, bringing him finally to the stronghold of the vicious and tyrannical Leopold - and you’re rooting for him all the way. Rise of the Wolf is a thrilling page turner, piling adventure on adventure. But there’s mystery and (perhaps?) budding romance in the mix, too, as Jobling weaves in the history of the werelords, the secret of Drew’s origins, and two flinty but appealing heroines. 

The concept of the werelords is a wonderful one, bringing a new and enthralling dimension to the classic Hero’s Quest. There aren’t just werewolves and werelions in this universe: there are werestags, werebadgers, weresharks and more, and there’s huge fun in seeing how their bestial natures affect the human side of the characters (especially the wereboars and their reaction to a plate of pork stew). There can’t be many child readers who could resist this heady blend of thrills, peril, friendship, monsters and thoroughly impressive werelords. The whole series is published, so you don’t even have to wait between episodes. I for one can’t wait to find out Which Were Wins…

Wereworld: Rise of the Wolf by Curtis Jobling; Puffin, £5.99

www.gillianphilip.com

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The Dreamsnatcher by Abi Elphinstone - Reviewed by Tamsyn Murray

There is a magic, old and true, that shadowed minds seek to undo...

Twelve year old Moll Pecksniff has always known she was different from her gipsy family. There's the dream for a start - a recurring nightmare that drags her sleeping body into the Deepwood. And having her very own wildcat protector, Gryff - that's not normal either. But it isn't until Moll dares to cross the river and venture into Skull's camp that she discovers how different she is. And the mortal danger she is in...

The Dreamsnatcher starts with a dark ritual that had me on the edge of my seat, hand on mouth, and that was where I stayed for the entirety of the book. It's a breathless adventure incorporating black magic and evil deeds and heart-stopping bravery, with one of the most memorable baddies I've met for quite some time. I loved the wild feel to Moll's nature, the way that this is reflected in both her relationship with Gryff and with the woods around her. The story has a timeless quality too: it could be here - now - tucked away in the deep woods that still cover parts of our country. Or it could be five hundred years ago, or even another world entirely. I wanted to walk with Moll through the Ancientwood, Gryff at my side, unravelling riddles. And on the subject of Gryff, I rather wish I'd dreamed him up myself because who wouldn't want their very own wildcat? I also enjoyed the strong family feel to the story too; even though Moll has no direct relatives, she never really feels alone.

The character of Alfie, the mysterious boy Moll encounters in the Deepwood, had me intrigued and I'm looking forward to finding out where his story leads in the next book in the series. Overall, I thought The Dreamsnatcher was an accomplished, fabulous debut - a standout story perfect for readers aged 9+.

The witchdoctor will see you now...

The Dreamsnatcher by Abi Elphinstone, published by Simon and Schuster, out 26th February 2015




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Ms Marvel Vol 1: No Normal by G. Willow Wilson and Adrian Alphona. Reviewed by Cavan Scott

It isn't hard to see why Marvel's new eponymous hero was the breakout comic hit of 2014. And I'm going to say it right now - Ms. Marvel is the freshest super-kid on the block since the Amazing Spider-Man himself.

Like Peter Parker before her,  Kamala Khan has enough to deal with before she receives super-powers. The daughter of strict Muslim parents, Kamala struggles to fit in with her friends and just wants to be herself, even if that's an awkward 16-year-old who is happiest writing Avengers fan-fiction.

Disobeying her parents, Kamala sneaks out to a party only to get caught in a mysterious fog. Overcome by the mist, she hallucinates a visit from the Avengers and wishes she could become Ms. Marvel, complete with the super-heroine's traditionally inappropriate outfit.

When the fog clears, Kamala awakes to find that her wish has come true. Suddenly, she is white, blonde, statuesque and wearing a revealing costume. Gulp! Her parents are going to kill her!

It turns out that Kamala has become a shape-shifter, able to take other people's form and stretch, grow and shrink on demand. Returning to her original 16-year-old form, Kamala has to piece her life back together - and try to work out how to save the world without getting grounded!

Collecting the first five issues of the series, Ms. Marvel is funny, action-packed and full of heart. G. Willow Wilson's streetwise script sparkles, perfectly realised by Adrian Alphona's dynamic art. And you'll be pleased to know that the spray-on, body-hugging costumes soon disappear! In Ms. Marvel, the house of ideas has produced an exciting new role model for young comic fans.

And for older comic fans too, for that matter.

Cavan Scott

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Outlaw Pete by Bruce Springsteen and Frank Caruso reviewed by Lynda Waterhouse

THIS IS NOT A CHILDREN’S BOOK! Although you will probably find it as I did on the shelves in the children’s section. Be warned that it contains violent images that are not aimed at very young children. Inside it describes itself as an adult book and as Bruce Springsteen says in the Afterword it is partly inspired by a bedtime story ‘Brave Cowboy Bill’ that his Mom used to tell him. He also says ‘I’m not sure this is a children’s book, though I believe children instinctively understand passion and tragedy. And, a six- month-old bank-robbing baby is a pretty good protagonist.’ Frank Caruso’s cartoon style illustration of baby Pete is indeed appealing to young children but in later spreads Pete grows up and the mood shifts making it more appropriate for young adults.

I was initially drawn to this book because I am a fan of Bruce Springsteen. Although my heart did sink as I thought ‘not another celebrity doing the children’s book thang.’ This is not the case here.

The story began as a song on The Working on a Dream album. This song inspired the illustrator Frank Caruso. He was drawn to the character of Outlaw Pete and the deeper meaning that lay beneath the story of the little baby born on the Appalachian Trail who robs a bank in his diapers and goes on to cut ‘a trail of tears across the countryside.’ One night he wakes from a vison of his own death and rides off deep into the West where he marries and has a child. However Bounty Hunter Dan is on his tail. There is a tragic showdown and Dan’s last words are ‘We cannot undo these things we’ve done.’

Pete rides for forty days and forty nights until he reaches the edge of a cliff…

As Springsteen says ‘Outlaw Pete is essentially the story of a man trying to outlive and outlast his sins. He’s challenging fate by trying to outrun his poisons, his toxicity. Of course you can’t do that. Where we go, they go. You can only learn to live with it. How well or poorly we do that gauges how much grace we can bring into our lives along with our level of fortitude in body and soul.’ That surely is a story worth the telling.

ISBN 978-1-47-114279-6 published by Simon and Schuster

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THE FROZEN THAMES by Helen Humphreys. Reviewed by Ann Turnbull

"The hare is set upon the ice. Here, it does not have the shelter of the field, cannot dash between furrow and stubble, use its colours to try to match the colours of the earth. Here, it is quick brown against this long, white river. There is nowhere for it to hide or escape."

This beautiful book is a collection of vignettes about people - both royal and commoners - who lived near the Thames during the forty times that it froze between 1142 and 1895.

These are mostly glimpses of everyday life: of icy bedrooms, frozen ale, ink frozen in inkwells. A young couple become aware of how their living space has shrunk to a huddle around the fireplace. A carter gently and patiently persuades his reluctant pair of oxen to venture onto the ice. There are frost fairs and skating contests. Watermen lose their livelihoods. A boy and his mother attempt a perilous crossing on melting ice. And birds fall frozen from the sky. My favourite story is one about a miller's son who comes upon a field full of frozen birds and revives them by warming them with his hands and breath.

This is an appropriate seasonal read: a small hardback book, beautifully written and produced, and illustrated with reproductions of old paintings. The scenes of activity on the frozen river are fascinating in their detail.

It's not a children's book, though some older children and teens might enjoy it. It is a rich source of information about life in the past during periods of extreme cold. The author has drawn on many contemporary accounts, and most of the stories are based on documented events.


The Frozen Thames by Helen Humphreys, Union Books, h/b, 2007.


www.annturnbull.com






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Ghosts of Heaven by Marcus Sedgwick - review by Dawn Finch

The spiral has existed as long as time has existed.
It's there when a girl walks through the forest, the moist green air clinging to her skin. There centuries later in a pleasant greendale, hiding the treacherous waters of Golden Beck that take Anna, who they call a witch. There on the other side of the world as a mad poet watches the waves and knows the horrors the hide, and far into the future as Keir Bowman realises his destiny.
Each takes their next step in life. None will ever go back to the same place. And so, their journeys begin...

I should declare a bias before you read the rest of this review - I'm a massive fan of Sedgwick's work and have read all of his books and so I was looking forward to reading Ghosts very much. I was aware that it was a different format to his other books and I was looking forward to something new. I was not disappointed.

Ghosts of Heaven is split into four parts; four different stories interconnected by various key elements and a theme inspired by the occurrence of the spiral form. The remarkable thing about these stories is that we are encouraged by the author to read them in any order we like. I read them in the order 4, 1, 3, 2 - and was thrilled to find that the seeds of other stories are sewn in each chapter. It really is extraordinarily accomplished to make all of these stories connect in such a subtle and fluid fashion. I've certainly never read anything like it.

But it's not just clever, it's beautiful too. Each section has its own tone and voice, and is written with Sedgwick's usual deft hand. To be honest I could have read a novel based on each and every story and been wholly satisfied. Each chapter represents a very fine piece of writing alone, and the fact that they curve and spiral around each other is utterly fascinating.

However, it did raise an issue with me that I have often been baffled with. This book is listed as a YA title and yet almost all of the central characters are adults facing adult situations. The two younger characters are based in a time period when there are no "young adults" and so they behave as adults to adult situations. I am often puzzled as to why a book is marketed as YA when it is clearly an adult book. Don't get me wrong - I do think that young adults will love this book, but the type of young adult who will enjoy it will also be the type of reader who is already reading adult books. I feel that by listing it as YA there will be a lot of adults who will remain completely unaware of the existence of this book, and they will miss out. I strongly feel that Sedgwick deserves a much wider audience, and this is perfect example of a wonderful book that might not get into mainstream adult reviews and magazines simply because it's marketed as YA. I genuinely don't understand adults who lock themselves into a place where they don't read YA books. That is a great shame because in this case people are missing out on a remarkable reading experience.

Ghosts of Heaven by Marcus Sedgwick is published by Orion - isbn 9781780621982 - £10.99
On Sedgwick's website you can view the atmospheric trailer.

As of December 2014, Ghosts of Heaven has been  shortlisted for the Costa Book Awards as well as the Bookseller YA Fiction Prize
It has also been listed as a Peters Book of the Year and a Lovereading Book of the Year 2014

review written by Dawn Finch - author of Brotherhood of Shades

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