Jane, the Fox and Me by Fanny Britt and Isabelle Arsenault - Reviewed by Kelly McCaughrain

I don’t read a lot of graphic novels, mainly because they’re hard to find and seem to be mostly about superheroes, sci-fi, horror or fantasy, which I’m not really into. So when I saw Jane, the Fox and Me, I grabbed it. 

This is a Middle Grade/YA story and, as with all Walker books, beautifully produced. It’s a lovely physical object, and it’s a treat to turn the pages. And the story is completely charming.

Helene is bullied by the Mean Girls at her school, who comment on her weight and ostracise her. When she has to go to nature camp with them, things just get worse. Her only solace is reading Jane Eyre, which is about a girl who is also alone, unloved, sent to a horrible school, and yet grows up to be ‘clever, slender and wise’ and loved by Mr Rochester.

It’s a simple story, with zero superheroes, but one of the things I like about graphic novels is that there are so few words that the writing has to be incredibly beautiful and efficient, and this is both.

The illustrations are just as essential to the story as the words, and they’re beautiful to look at. The use of colour is really effective, with Helene’s world rendered in greys and browns, while the world of Jane Eyre has strong reds and blues and black.

 

But little touches of colour start to bleed into Helene’s life, beginning with a red fox she encounters at camp, and suggest that there might be hope after all. 

I think this is a story that lots of kids (and probably lots of adults) will relate to, and its simple realism is made magical by the Jane Eyre references and the encounter with the fox. I loved that the ending is quiet, subtle and undramatic. There’s no big finale or showdown. The trees simply start to turn green, a Mean Girl waves as Helene passes, and we know that she’s going to be OK.

Based on this one, I’m definitely going to read Britt and Arsenault’s other collaboration, Louis Undercover. If you like graphic novels, you should check out Jane, the Fox and Me. Or if you’ve never read one before, this is a lovely place to start.

Kelly McCaughrain is the author of the Children's Books Ireland Book of the Year,
Flying Tips for Flightless Birds. 

She is the Children's Writing Fellow for Northern Ireland #CWFNI

She also blogs at The Blank Page

@KMcCaughrain

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Deeplight by Frances Hardinge - Review by Kelly McCaughrain

This was a bit of a departure for me because I’m not a big fantasy reader at all. I typically find fantasy novels very long, plot-heavy, detail-heavy and lacking in humour (total opposite of all my fav things), so I generally avoid them. I was given a copy of Deeplight by Frances Hardinge at a conference and I admit I probably wouldn’t have read it except that I’ve heard such amazing things about her writing, and then lockdown started and it seemed like a good time to try something different.

Boy am I glad I did! I absolutely loved this. The writing was a pleasure, the characters were so believable and relatable, the concept was fascinating, the plot was exciting without being overcomplicated, the world was fully realised without becoming overly detailed, and I was completely rooting for the main characters. I thought the relationship between Hark and his best friend really gave the book heart and emotional depth and that kept me hooked all the way through.

14 year old Hark lives in a world that was ruled by gods, until the gods destroyed each other, and now his island community lives on the proceeds of ‘godware’, the detritus of their corpses salvaged from the sea.

Hark is an orphaned, homeless, petty criminal, surviving on his wits and protected by a best friend, Jelt, whom he doesn’t completely trust. When Jelt gets him arrested and sentenced to indentured servitude to a godware scientist, it might be a new start for Hark. If only Jelt would leave him out of the extremely dangerous plan he has for the godware he’s stolen from the scariest woman in the criminal underworld…

I will definitely be reading more of Hardinge’s books, and I really recommend this for a riveting summer read. If you can’t get to the beach, the island chain of Myriad is a worthy substitute!

Kelly McCaughrain is the author of the Children's Books Ireland Book of the Year,

Flying Tips for Flightless Birds. 

She is the Children's Writing Fellow for Northern Ireland #CWFNI

She also blogs at The Blank Page
@KMcCaughrain

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The Places I've Cried in Public by Holly Bourne, reviewed by Dawn Finch

First the blurb...

Amelie loved Reese. And she thought he loved her. But she’s starting to realise love isn’t supposed to hurt like this. So now she’s retracing their story and untangling what happened by revisiting all the places he made her cry. Because if she works out what went wrong, perhaps she can finally learn to get over him.

Note - Trigger warnings in this book for abusive relationships and mental health issues

Amelie thought she was in love. Well, it certainly seemed like love and she imagined a future that was all about Reese and their life together, but what did she mean to him? She genuinely thought he loved her right back but is real love meant to hurt this badly? Does real love have so many tears, and so many places marked by crying? Amelie retraces the steps of her relationship with Reese to try to understand how she ended up here, and in doing so sees things with clarity for the first time.

As an adult reader, this book is full of all the terrible warning signs of an abusive relationship, but seeing this is perhaps something that comes to us with age. Amelie doesn't know what Reese is doing to her and doesn't have the tools to see the warning signs. Like many girls (and women) her love blinds her to the obvious. It's only when she gets help, therapy, and distance from the abusive relationship that she can begin to see the harm that has been done to her.

This is an incredibly powerful book about the subtle slide from devotion to obsession and from adoration to abuse. It is at times a traumatic read, but also one of gentle humour, sensitivity and caring. It's not a book that preaches, despite it delivering some very powerful life lessons. I wanted to be able to rescue Amelie. I wanted to sweep her away from her situation, and hug her, and give her a good talking to, and keep her safe. I think we have all had friends that we want to rescue, and have at times, maybe, needed rescuing ourselves. My hope is that if all young women have access to books like this, maybe they’ll be better placed to rescue themselves and others.

The Places I've Cried in Public by Holly Bourne is published by Usborne Books.

Reviewed by Dawn Finch, author and librarian.
@dawnafinch
www.dawnfinch.com

Usborne have a link to some resources that might be useful if referring to this book in a school setting.
https://usborne.com/browse-books/catalogue/product/1/14585/the-places-ive-cried-in-public/

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Corey's Rock & That Asian Kid - Reviewed by Chitra Soundar

I recently read two books by two Asian authors – both very different in feel, different in target age-group and the topics they dealt with. But both books affected me in a way that very few books have done in a long time. I'm reminded of them at odd moments and recall thinking about the characters as if they are real.

Author: Sita Brahmachari, Illustrator: Jane Ray
Published by OtterBarry Books

I first got hold of a copy of Corey’s Rock at least a year ago. It’s written by Sita Brahmachari and illustrated by Jane Ray. The beautiful watercolour illustrations draw you into the world of the story and the text lulls you into a magical land.

Corey’s Rock is like a calm sea – you might not see the waves rising or the ripples in the water,  but it has innumerable depths like the sea. In this story, Sita and Jane have deftly handled the loss of a sibling, migrations, mixed-race families and how new communities can be not just daunting but surprisingly welcoming. It anchors the story in parental love, friendships made in classrooms and the love for a place, a place that has belonging. Sita has wonderfully woven the myths of selkies into Isla’s story and the myth not only helps with the reconciliation of Isla’s loss but also gives her hope.

Every character we see in this book gives us a sense of belonging, reminds us of someone we’ve met in our lives who brought a smile to our souls or someone we’d hope to meet when we are dealing with such difficulties on our own.

Sita does not shy away from difficult topics and with the help of the gorgeous illustrations by Jane, she has given us a story as magical as the selkies.

Written by Savita Kalhan, Published by Troika Books

And now to the second book, That Asian Kid by Savita Kalhan. It’s not a book I’d read normally. But based on the first chapter Savita read at her book launch, I bravely sat down to begin. Soon I found myself racing through the pages and even though I read only just before bedtime, I finished the book in 3 nights, each time, reluctantly closing the book as sleep took over my senses.

In this book, we see the story of Jeevan, who has a normal and regular life in a grammar school and he’s good at studies and doesn’t have any major hang-ups at home or in school. Enter English Lit and a teacher who doesn’t seem to like him. As Jeevan realises that his chances at acing his English Lit wasn’t going according to plan, because he thinks his teacher might be biased, he gets a chance to take revenge on her. You have to read the book to get the rest of the plot because I’m so worried I’d give it away.

What I wanted to share about this book, as a writer and as a reader are the characters and the dialogue. The characters are wonderfully real, fun to be around and I love the camaraderie between Jeevan and his friends. Their differing viewpoints drives Jeevan crazy but also keeps him grounded.

I love the family setting of this story – an Asian family, high-achievers, yet both pragmatic and supportive. I love the friends – old and new Jeevan gets to deal with and a new friend Ree he meets, who seems to be constantly playing devil’s advocate. In fact I’d like to see Book 2 in which Jeevan and Ree are on their own exciting adventure – perhaps another blunder that leads them towards big decisions.

These two books deal with difficult subjects of love, loss, bigotry and yet the characters are redeemed by the power of friendships. These are wonderful stories that are relevant to our times for children to cope with the various challenges and highlight the need for safe spaces – where children can discuss their worries, ask for help and find a support system.

In these two stories, the embrace of the family and the hand of a friend has been offered and accepted. But in real life many of our children suffer from anxiety and depression and have no tools to articulate their troubles. The role of these books is to provide that safe space, where children can reflect their realities in the troubles of the protagonist and figure out a way to talk about their own anxieties.

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Chitra Soundar is an author and storyteller based in London. Chitra writes fiction, non-fiction chapter books and picture books. Find out more at www.chitrasoundar.com and follow her on twitter at @csoundar.

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Every Sparrow Falling by Shirley-Anne McMillan - Kelly McCaughrain

This is Shirley-Anne McMillan’s third novel (plus one self-pubbed) and I’ve loved all three. She doesn’t shy away from difficult topics but they’re handled with sensitivity and a light touch leaving plenty of room for humour. 

Cariad is a foster kid who’s been tossed around the system and chucked out of more than one foster home for being a bad girl. At 16, she is realising that this is her last chance to make a foster home work and have a family. Unfortunately this new home is the home of a conservative evangelical Christian couple she has zero in common with. 

Her attempts to fit in with the local Youth Fellowship and the Scripture Union kids at school are frustrating and hilarious and she’d really rather be drinking on the cliffs with Brains and his boyfriend Muff, or groping Stevie B from school who she’s not even sure she really likes.

The small seaside town becomes a lot more interesting when she meets a boy from school who’s been missing, presumed dead, for weeks… 

I read this in one sitting and found the storyline about the Christian/LGBT conflict, which is a large part of the plot, realistic enough to leave me feeling physically angry and frustrated at times, and the ending was heart-breaking. 

Cariad is a really believable character in that she isn’t unrealistically good or brave. She’s a normal girl trying to keep her head down and feeling powerless but troubled by what she sees going on around her. But helping her friends means risking the only stability she’s had in her life and facing down a whole community by herself. 

And if that’s not enough to tempt you, there’s a very funny incident involving a black mass, a Ouija board, a load of drunk teens and a police raid in a National Trust monument… As you do. 

Kelly McCaughrain is the author of the Children's Books Ireland Book of the Year,

Flying Tips for Flightless Birds. 

She is the Children's Writing Fellow for Northern Ireland #CWFNI

@KMcCaughrain

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