Month: April 2017

‘Girlhood’ – Cat Clarke

Scheduled for publication in May 2017, I have to thank NetGalley and Hachette Childrens’ Group for allowing me to read an advance copy.

First things first, though Girlhood is set in a boarding school and features a close-knit group of friends this is no Enid Blyton-style experience. Our first introduction to the girls establishes them as a group who know each other pretty well, but we can never entirely know someone and Harper’s secret about her sister is one she wants keeping.

When new girl, Kirsty, arrives at the school we watch somewhat horrified as she is subjected to The Hole – being trapped overnight in a confined dark space. However, her experience establishes a bond between Harper and Kirsty that the new girl is keen to exploit. We cannot help but ask ourselves why, and it’s not long before we get some answers.

Unfortunately, Kirsty is not quite what she sets herself up to be and the cracks in the group start to show.

The stifling atmosphere of the boarding school ensures that the issues the girls have are maintained at high intensity. Though the fluctuating dynamics between the girls did, to me, appear rather exaggerated I think teen readers will find plenty to like about this.

I certainly enjoyed the story, and was desperate to unravel the mysteries that were set up. My only real gripe was with the ending. Of course people make mistakes, and grief will affect everyone differently. However, I was surprised at how quickly the girls seemed to forgive Kirsty even after some of the things she had done.

‘Optimists Die First’ – Susin Nielsen

I loved the warmth and honesty of ‘We Are All Made of Molecules’, so I was looking forward to reading this when I was approved for an advance copy by NetGalley.

The story focuses on sixteen year old Petula, a young girl struggling to live with the guilt she feels after the death of her younger sister. Ever since this awful event, we learn that Petula has distanced herself from friends and family, and done all she can to alienate herself from everything that made her who she was prior to Maxine’s death. As with Nielsen’s previous book we focus on a family in crisis, but here the journey along this path does – on occasion – feel a little forced.

What happened is revealed slowly, so at first Petula’s anxieties seem a little unexpected. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that they are depicted unsympathetically, but at first it almost seems as if she is trying very hard to make us see her as quirky rather than someone trying to come to terms with a major loss.

I liked the honest way in which Nielsen shows how Petula’s life has been affected by what happened. She is not coping, but her resilience is evident in the way she tries to help her parents and the rather off-beat approach she takes to her art therapy classes. When newcomer Jacob is paired with her for a school project she lets him in, opening herself up to the possibility of being hurt. While there was a rather obvious romance here, I think it was a brave step to show how Petula, Jacob and the other characters deal with their friendships. Nothing is quite what we expect here, and this will definitely be a book that appeals to younger readers.

‘Sea’ – Sarah Driver

A drama-filled adventure for younger readers.

Mouse and her younger brother, Sparrow, travel the seas with their nan and her crew. We quickly get introduced to the harshness of life on board their ship, The Huntress, and I loved the accounts of the superstitions that rule their daily lives.

Both children have seemingly magical powers of some description, and from the start it is clear that they are going to get caught up in something much bigger than they imagined. After a mysterious message is received from their father, Mouse realises she has to find three missing sea opals. Unfortunately, they are not the only ones looking for the opals.

The story is full of mythical creatures, strange events and some wonderful writing. There’s a complexity to the style that might put off younger readers, but the book explores quite adult themes in an age-appropriate way.

Thanks to NetGalley for the copy in exchange for my review.

‘Stargazing for Beginners’ – Jenny McLachlan

The cover for this book is wonderful and I was intrigued by the idea of a novel featuring a female protagonist who is excited by science. Sadly, Meg is portrayed as – and I quote the review material – a ‘science geek’, which only perpetuates the idea that a girl being interested in science is something to mock. The key concept of the novel focuses on Meg’s love of science and how she is desperate to win a competition to visit NASA.

What shone through immediately was the love Meg has for her subject. She is passionate about her love of the stars, but it’s also very clear that she uses this as an escape route to avoid having to deal with the emotional realities of her life, which is chaotic to say the least.

Meg lives with her mother and baby sister, and she very much seems to have adopted the role of ‘adult’ in her family set-up. She gains some respite from the relationship she shares with her grandfather, but none of the adult figures in her life give her the support you might expect. She gets support, but not from where we might expect.

Early on in the book Meg finds herself alone with her baby sister, as her mother has hopped on a plane to fly to Thailand in order to help with another Big Important Cause. Her mother is described as free-spirited, but her selfishness and immaturity just made me so angry. There’s nothing to find positive in an adult who simply abandons her children as she wants to do something useful…

Unfortunately for me, the basic concept of Meg’s family set-up annoyed me so much that I fear it tainted my reading. While the story was entertaining enough, I could not believe it would have worked out like this. Meg was a likeable character, but her growth as a person was not enough to overcome the intense irritation created by the situation she was placed in. This may be one that teen readers would really enjoy since Meg is resilient and copes admirably in the circumstances. Sadly, it did not find a fan in me.

‘The Hate U Give’ – Angie Thomas

Where to start?

Yesterday I watched (somewhat perplexed) the unfolding media storm over the Pepsi advert featuring Kendall Jenner. Purportedly sharing a message of love and unity, the company have been accused of generating controversy at the expense of the Black Lives Matter movement. Whatever we may say, the suggestion that a can of soft drink could stop a riot did – quite rightly in my view – rankle. What it highlighted to me, however, was the need for some form of reflection on the events taking place across the world, and the attitudes towards race that we sometimes unconsciously perpetuate.

Thankfully I do not live in a world where the phrase “A hairbrush is not a gun” means much to me. A quick internet search of the phrase threw up many references to the murder in 2007 of Khiel Coppin by police who thought he had a gun which did, indeed, turn out to be a hairbrush. There are too many such stories that could be quoted throughout history…call me naive but when will we learn to look to our common bond of humanity to shape the way we interact with one another?

Touted as a must read YA book of 2017 already, there’s no doubt that The Hate U Give is a hard-hitting, intensely painful yet moving attempt to try and articulate some of the concerns and thoughts people around the world have about race. Whatever your personal experience, I feel this is a book in which everyone can find something to love.

We follow sixteen year old Starr through what, for many, is an unimaginable series of events but which, sadly for too many, is a stark reality.

Starr comes from a close and loving family, but not everything is so clear-cut. Her father has walked away from the gang culture that pervades their neighbourhood, and she is caught between two worlds: the poor neighbourhood where she lives and the suburban prep school she attends where she is one of two black students. These two worlds clash in a way I cannot even begin to fathom when we watch Starr witness the shooting of her best friend by a police officer.

The story quickly becomes national news, and through this main story we are given a compelling narrative exploring Starr’s experiences and the lives of those around her. I was touched by the view of Starr’s mother who said “Sometimes you can do everything right and things will still go wrong. The key is to never stop doing right.” This mantra is a hard one to abide by when the consequences are, potentially, so damaging. Yet we watch Starr gain the confidence to find her voice and start to articulate some of her feelings in an attempt to ensure that people look beyond the stereotype of Khalil the drug-dealing thug. While the events surrounding Khalil’s murder are depressingly portrayed, it was interesting to see how this event affected the lives of everyone caught up in it.

While this book does focus predominantly on attitudes to race, there was a highly developed focus on the development of Starr as a person. Watching her try to reconcile her very different experiences, and come to find her voice was compelling. During the novel Starr is asked what the point is of having a voice if, when it’s needed, you keep quiet. Nobody wants to encourage violent agitation of the type described regularly here, but seeing these characters find their voices and try to articulate their frustrations sends a powerful message.

Thank you to edelweiss for the advance copy in exchange for my thoughts. I can’t wait to see what’s made of this by other readers.

‘The Ethan I Was Before’ – Ali Standish

Published early in 2017 I received an advance copy of this from NetGalley in exchange for my review – but hadn’t got round to reading it until now.

There’s no getting away from the fact that this is a book clearly targeting 8-12 year olds. It deals with some hard-hitting issues, but never in a way that feels too scary or threatening.

When we first meet Ethan he is a rather lost soul. Feeling desperately guilty as he thinks he caused his best friend’s accident, Ethan and his family have moved across country to have a fresh start. They move to the town of Palm Knot, principally to help support Ethan’s grandfather  – but it’s all about getting a fresh start and realising that no matter how far away you run, you still have to come to terms with your actions and their consequences.

Initially we are told little detail, but the family are clearly finding it hard to live with unresolved tensions. They circle each other, desperately unhappy, but never quite certain how to move things on.

When Ethan is befriended by larger-than-life Coralee he is reminded, a little, of how to live again. But she is also hiding secrets, and these threaten to cause real problems.

Watching Ethan come to terms with what has happened, and develop his friendships with his family, is endearing. There’s some dramatic moments, but – as you might expect – everything works out okay in the end and lessons are learned.