Joe All Alone by Joanna Nadin reviewed by Rhian Ivory

 

 

Synopsis

No parents, no rules...No problem?

When 13-year-old Joe is left behind in Peckham while his mum flies to Spain on holiday, he decides to treat it as an adventure, and a welcome break from Dean, her latest boyfriend. Joe begins to explore his neighbourhood, making a tentative friendship with Asha, a fellow fugitive hiding out at her grandfathers’ flat. But the then food and money run out, his mum doesn’t come home, and the local thugs catch up with him. Joe realises time is running out too, and makes a decision that will change his life forever...

 

Publishing date: May 2015

Publisher: Little Brown Young Readers

Cover designer: Helen Crawford-White http://studiohelen.co.uk/

 

Review

Warning - not only will you need tissues when you read this book but you’ll also need to hug someone repeatedly and be hugged yourself. And you’re going to want to talk about it and possibly miss meals. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

 

As you can guess from the title Joe, the protagonist is indeed going to spend most of the novel alone. Jo Nadin dispenses with the adults very early on in this novel and at first Joe and the reader are both delighted, this is going to be epic! Joe can play on his Xbox all day, watch as much TV as he likes and even eat mars bars for breakfast because there isn’t anyone to stop him but the novelty soon wears off and the loneliness and uncertainty of being entirely alone set in.  Joe is a likeable character in an undesirable setting; his environment is fully realised and brought to life by vivid descriptions so that parts of the novel feel quite filmic in quality. At times I felt as if I were watching the reality show of Joe’s life but without the glamour, glitz and frighteningly applied fake tans, well there are some fake tans but you get the idea.

The story is neatly divided up into days charting Joe’s week of adventure and independence once his mum and her boyfriend, Dean have departed for Spain. But the promise of adventure is soon marred by the reality of almost empty cupboards, the electricity card eating up his last penny and the lack of any family to turn to as the fridge reveals only one last meal – left over lamb curry. Joe thinks about the budgeting lessons he’s had at school and at first deals with his predicament in an impressive fashion but as he so rightly says what they don’t teach you at school is what to do when the money runs out.

Joe’s situation is pitiful and painful until he bumps into the girl across the hall and then (thank goodness because I was getting really worried about him) everything changes but in the most believable and satisfying manner. When Joe meets Asha he finally has someone to talk to and have a laugh with and once he trusts her enough he shares the secret he’s been keeping about what Dean has hidden in the flat. But Asha is more than just a confidant, she’s someone for Joe to impress and the scenes following Joe’s attempt at a makeover are really funny and make you love Joe all the more.

The novel ends in a real adventure, high stakes chases, risk, excitement, tension and fear but most importantly of all HOPE.

 

 

About the author

Joanna is the author of more than 30 books for children and young people, including the best-selling Rachel Riley series for teens and the award-winning Penny Dreadful series for younger readers. She has been shortlisted for the Roald Dahl Funny Prize, thrice shortlisted for Queen of Teen, while Spies, Dad, Big Lauren and Me (9+) was a Richard and Judy Book Club pick. She is a former broadcast journalist and Special Adviser to the Prime Minister, and also freelances as a speechwriter.

You can follow Jo on twitter - @joannanadin   

About the reviewer

Rhian Ivory has written 4 novels published by Bloomsbury under her
maiden name Rhian Tracey including The Bad Girls Club. Her new novel The Boy who drew the Future comes out this September published by FireFly Press - Firefly Press
You can follow Rhian on twitter - @Rhian_Ivory

The Boy who drew the Future - Pinterest

 

 

Return to REVIEWS HOMEPAGE

CAITLIN MORAN'S LATEST COLUMN - An alert and a review by Penny Dolan.

Today I'm not posting a review of a book, but a review of a newspaper article,that contained some important points, and this seemed the best way to alert readers to the column. 

I am looking at a paper page from The Times supplement, written by the excellent Caitlin Moran. I picked it up from the supermarket on Saturday morning, I didn't read it until yesterday., today is Tuesday so that edition is is old and ready for fish and chips It will be somewhere in the Times Online however, behind the paywall.

So I'm posting my review of the Invisible Column here (even if that does sound like something from Terry Pratchett) in the hope you'll watch out for her words.

Caitlin Moran may not be your immediate sort of writer, although I know plenty who love her exuberant angle on life.

However, if you are interested in books, literacy. libraries and how society is informed - or not - Moran's progression of thought strikes home. Although many others have been writing and saying similar things.  the shock she feels comes across very powerfully.


She writes, initially, about a visit to the small, local library of her childhood. Moran says that between the ages of 5 and 15 she "lived" in this particular Wolverhampton library, situated in a working class area of town. She describes it as a place that was “the delight of my life” and “with the shelving packed tight because there were so many books inside”. In her wonderful style, she sums it up as as  a “magical system to place around a penniless girl.” Yet that was a past system, a library from twenty years ago. Her byline shouts about the changes:  “Everything had gone. All that was left were racks of Andy McNab and erotica.”  I’m sure this comes as no surprise to those ABBA who use and visit libraries, 

Moran had picked up that things were different. Yes, she was aware of library cuts, Yes, she had seen book sales outside libraries in Swindon and Barnet. However, it isn't until she revisits her Wolverhampton library, she really sees that “everything has gone.” She laments the loss, partly for herself but mostly for anyone who now needs what she’d found in that past library.

Now we've come to why I've blogged about Moran's column, why I'm trying to draw it to people's eyes. I can't be the only one whose attention drops away part-way through a post or article, especially if I'm weary.

However, when you find Moran's piece, DO read on, because this isn't a jokey exercise in comedy nostalgia.

Moran is particularly angry about the discarding of so many reference books and classics and as a person working in the media, she can make this point better than many.  She draws attention to the fact that all online searching and googling is statistically driven, predicting that diametrics will herd us into a mono-knowledge, like “a million dumb buffalo”.

Reading this, I recalled a drama game where everyone in the group chooses another person and quietly follows them around a single space. Within a short while, everyone is following in the footsteps of one or two people. The game reveals social influences and groupings, which is why I’ve rarely used it. The implications are potentially scary : a bit like diametrics.

Caitlin Moran ends with her strongest argument. She speaks against the kind of populism that says “Why shouldn’t the working classes be allowed to have books they enjoy?” But she takes this to its worrying conclusion. Once the intelligence and knowledge has been taken out of a library, the library system can easily be undermined. Furthermore, when only the poorest level of books are on offer, people will stop loving or visiting libraries. The libraries will be easy to close altogether. If you simply bleed the library service to death, Moran suggests, nobody will care,

Some might say this is already happening. Moran did not have the column inches to mention the enthusiasm for "community libraries run by volunteers", now paraded by councils as the universal answer. Had she picked up on this problem, I wondered? It’s less noticeable than you’d imagine until you ask for help, despite the good and willing intentions of volunteers. These libraries aren't the panacea that beaming politicians like to suggest. not when almost all the librarians have gone.

I really, really do hope Caitlin Moran’s article will act as a wake-up call to the meeja world, and that some will read through to the end of her article. At least her words aren't some belated ministerial PR initiative offered to obfuscate voters. 

I’d really like her column to alert those who don’t use the public libraries – especially those who have research done for them, or are academics, or those who can afford private library fees -  to see the damage that’s being done by the “it’s all on computers anyway,” approach. Maybe it might encourage them to visit their local library and see what’s going on? And maybe they should start their investigation by reading Caitlin's article? But, ah yes, the problem of that Times paywall? 

Helpfully, some people are keen to have this article more widely available. I've heard rumours of Nosy Crow's website, for example.   

So many thanks for the library column, Caitlin Moran. It needed to be said. And it will need saying again, I fear. And readers - please note that this is only a review. Caitlin Moran’s argument and words are much more powerfully interesting - and amusing - than you’ve read here.  Go and look.

Penny Dolan.

ps. Awfully Big Blog Adventure's normal book review service will resume shortly.

Return to REVIEWS HOMEPAGE

Violet and the Pearl of the Orient, by Harriet Whitehorn and Becka Moor. Reviewed by Saviour Pirotta

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Books
Publication date: 12th February 2015
Illustrated by Becka Moor

I have to admit that I bought this book, Whitehorn's debut, because it was part of Waterstone's 'Buy one get one half price' promotion, and because I was quite taken by its 1950s pastiche cover. I fell in love with Violet, its feisty main character and her sidekick, the demure Rose right away.

Here's the perfect whodunnit with a cast of characters straight out of a delicious pantomime. The baddies are truly bad, ruthless and conceited, the goodies my kind of people - sincere, literate and posessing great taste. My favourite has to be the camp, fading Hollywood starlet called Dee Dee Derota who talks like Blanche out of The Golden Girls.

I should imagine most 6 to 8 year olds at whom this book is a targeted would have never read a detective story before. This would make the ideal introduction to the genre, complete with clues, red herrings and an ineffectual policeman.

I won't spoil the plot by saying too much about it. Suffice it to say the crime involves the theft of a rare and precious jewel.

The language is simple and pacey, perfect for bedtime or a holiday read on the beach. Becka Moor's colour illustrations and doodles enhance the experience. Can't wait to start on the second book of the series: Harriet and the Hidden Treasure.


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






Return to REVIEWS HOMEPAGE

The Green Sheep, by Diana Kimpton

Diana Kimpton, as many of you will know, is a prolific writer for children with over forty books published. Many of them have to do with horses, but she's also very keen on science fiction, declaring with pride that she has watched Doctor Who 'since the very first episode'.

The Green Sheep is a story about aliens. But these are not hostile aliens. They - well, 'it', to start off
with - are sheep. And they're green. And they're great fans of a terrestrial soap opera, which is the reason they're here in the first place...

Paul Dane lives with his parents on the outskirts of a village. His father has recently got a new job with a firm called DETOPS, and as a result, he doesn't seem to have time to do things with Paul any more. One evening Paul goes for a walk by himself - and sees a strange beam of light. Next thing he knows, there's a sheep in the field where there wasn't one before. It's bright green. And It can talk.

It tells Paul that it is indeed an alien, but a friendly one. It knows what Earth is like - it knows about men in suits, and it doesn't want to be taken to anybody's leader - and so it asks Paul for help. Kind-hearted Paul agrees, and then his troubles begin. One of them is that, due to a technical malfunction (one of several), whenever the sheep falls asleep, it becomes two sheep. And so on, and so on... the alien isn't due to be picked up for a month, and Paul realises that by that time, there'll be millions of them. Where can he keep them all? How will he hide them? How can he feed them? And then the men in suits arrive - and one of them is Paul's dad.

I read this with my eight year-old grandson. It made him laugh out loud, and he didn't want me to stop. He doesn't so far read much by himself, but I think this book would be one to help him feel confident about reading alone: the language is uncomplicated, the pace is brisk, and the narrative drives you from one chapter to the next. It's funny and warm and it has a reassuring message. Just the job - for any child, but particularly for those who are a little bit worried about the tiger on the landing or the monster under the bed.

The Green Sheep is published by Kubby Bridge Books, and is available  as a paperback and as an ebook.

Return to REVIEWS HOMEPAGE

THIS IS NOT A LOVE STORY by Keren David; reviewed by Gillian Philip

Kitty reads a lot of books. And while Kitty doesn't have a great idea of where her life is going, she does have a very particular idea of where in a fictional existence it ought to be going. But as the strapline for this energetic coming-of-age novel points out: Life doesn’t come with a road map.

In This Is Not A Love Story, Keren David plays with many of the tropes of recent teenage fiction. There’s the love triangle featuring two gorgeous prospective partners (one of them a ‘bad boy’); there’s a ‘sick-lit’ element, with Kitty’s heart in constant danger of stopping just as her father’s once did. But tropes are there to be played with, to be subverted, and David has a joyful time doing just that. 

Kitty and Theo, both from North London, find themselves coincidentally moving to Amsterdam at the same time – Theo much against his will. Though they don’t know each other (surprisingly – and David is very funny and sharp when describing the tight world of Jewish North London, where everyone knows someone’s friend’s aunt and every boy has loads of friends called Jacob), they fall in with the same group of expat friends, and their attraction is instantaneous. Theo, though, is still getting over a previous romance (the cause of his exile), while Kitty wants to make quite sure he is the perfect soulmate she’s read about in so many books. The spanner-in-the-works is Ethan, an English-American but-mostly-Dutch boy who may soon become Kitty’s stepbrother. He’s acerbic, he’s blunt, he’s cynical, and Kitty doesn’t know what to make of him – except that, impending family ties notwithstanding, he’s certainly beautiful enough to qualify as another potential love interest.

Keren David herself spent time as an expat in Amsterdam, and her affection and admiration for the city are vividly expressed as Theo and Kitty explore their new home. She’s also very good on the expat existence, where friendships are almost always fleeting, but there’s a will to experience intensely a new and short-lived home. And for both Kitty and Theo, that intensity is ramped up to a pitch that teenagers need, dread and want. “Love has to be passionate,” Kitty insists, “it has to include fear and hate and longing.” 

While searching for her glittering drama of true love, Kitty perfects her life online, through YouTube vlogs and Tumblrs and her Instagram, where she constantly checks her (rising) follower count. It’s the contrast between her ideal Instagrammed life and the real one that creates much of the tension (as well as the fun) of the book.

The story does not play out as you might expect (and paradoxically, that’s just what Keren David fans will expect). As well as the romantic triangle, there’s a central nail-biting mystery, and a broad cast of characters who stay lodged in your memory. Teenagers who love John Green but are looking for something a little different will love this book. And just to be clear, there’s not a single scene involving a snog in Anne Frank’s attic. 

This Is Not A Love Story by Keren David; Atom Books 7 May 2015, £6.99

www.gillianphilip.com

Return to REVIEWS HOMEPAGE

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.

Return to REVIEWS HOMEPAGE

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. 

Return to REVIEWS HOMEPAGE

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





Return to REVIEWS HOMEPAGE

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

Return to REVIEWS HOMEPAGE

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.





Return to REVIEWS HOMEPAGE

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

Return to REVIEWS HOMEPAGE

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. 

Return to REVIEWS HOMEPAGE

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.

Return to REVIEWS HOMEPAGE

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.

Return to REVIEWS HOMEPAGE