Childrens’ – Page 7 – My Good Reads

‘The Darkest Part of the Forest’ – Holly Black

The Darkest Part of the Forest

Hazel and her brother Ben have always been drawn to the faerie world, and there are mysteries surrounding them that get revealed as time passes. Their hometown of Fairfold is a rather unusual place, and people there are unusually accepting of the odd things that occur.

Since they were children, Ben and Hazel have both been in love with the horned prince who sleeps in a glass coffin in the woods. His faerie past is guaranteed to cause trouble, but Hazel is convinced that she has the skills needed to stop this.
When the horned prince is released from his glass coffin it’s clear that the Alderking is determined to reclaim his own. Hazel and Ben get caught up in a series of unusual events in order to try and restore peace to their town.

This is fairly typical Holly Black fare. If you are a fan, you will find much to like about this book although I did feel that things were not always well-linked.

‘The Creeping Shadow’ – Jonathan Stroud

The Creeping Shadow

I can’t believe that we’re onto the fourth in the series already, but I’m very pleased to see Lockwood and Co return even though their circumstances have changed a little.

Stroud quickly recaps the events of the last novel, and we can see Lucy is trying her hardest to manage without Lockwood, George and Holly. Things are not going brilliantly though, and it doesn’t take long before we get into the inevitable situation where the group have to come back together in the interests of solving a paranormal investigation.

The humour in this was to the fore, which seems an odd thing to say in a book that does have quite a gruesome element to it. This was a cracking story and I honestly cannot wait for the final part of the series.

‘Furthermore’ – Tahereh Mafi

Furthermore

Described as a fantasy adventure for middle-grade readers, this was my first experience of Mafi’s writing and it strikes me that ‘Furthermore’ is the kind of book that I think I would have loved as a younger reader.

Alice Queensmeadow lives in Ferenwood and she spends a lot of her time being ignored by her mother, and desperately keen to find out what happened to her father after he left three years earlier. In this world, magic is used with caution and Alice bitterly resents the fact that though she can change the colour of any object, she is unable to change herself.

When an old friend, Oliver, turns up and asks for Alice’s help in travelling to the mysterious land of Furthermore it is clear that her adventure is going to be like nothing she has experienced before.

This was a curious tale, full of vivid and evocative description. More than once I felt there were nods to Wonderland, but all works out okay in the end.

‘The Many Worlds of Albie Bright’ – Christopher Edge

The Many Worlds of Albie Bright

I picked this book up thinking it would be a quick read. It was, but that doesn’t mean it’s a book I won’t be thinking about for a long time afterwards.

My interest in Science is minimal, and I confess that anything linked to what I called “hard maths” (i.e. physics) in school still leaves me cold. So why did I find myself walking down the road with my head in this book desperate to finish it? It is, basically, a book I fell in love with.

Named after his parents’ favourite scientists, Albie Bright is a boy that I immediately warmed to. When we first meet him he and his father are adjusting to life without Mrs Bright, who died of cancer just two weeks earlier. Neither Albie or his father are really doing anything other than existing at the start of the novel, and Albie’s questions about what exactly has happened to his mother would – I suppose – be of comfort to any child in similar circumstances.

Due to the fact that Albie’s parents have always encouraged his natural curiosity, his father’s reluctance to talk to Albie about what has happened shows the depth of emotion these characters are feeling. Rather than dwelling on this however – which I imagine could have been very depressing – Edge takes us in a totally different direction.

When Albie’s father tries to comfort his son, things don’t quite go as you’d expect. Using quantum physics to explain that if there are parallel universes there is the possibility that, somewhere, Albie’s mother is still alive creates a sense of hope in Albie that, while naïve, is touching to watch. Fired up with determination to find his mother again, Albie creates Quantum Banana Theory which allows him to travel to a parallel universe.

This is the point at which we are well and truly in the realm of the fantastical. I found myself laughing at some of the scenes that we get to witness, but throughout there was a thoughtful exploration of Albie’s feelings and a clear focus on showing us just what Albie in each parallel universe gained, and lost. I loved how we got to see Albie slowly come to the realisation that you have to live with what you’ve got and make the most of it.

I can’t wait to see what the students who select this under the BookBuzz scheme make of this one.

‘Miraculous Miranda’ – Siobhan Parkinson

Miraculous Miranda

Sometimes a book comes along that is just perfect in every way. For me, ‘Miraculous Miranda’ is one of those books – and I really hope it gets read by a wider audience than its target group of upper primary-age children.

Miranda lives with her mum, dad, gran and older sister, Gemma. She is a rather precocious individual – though her confidence and sparkiness come across as enthusiasm and interest at this age – and I loved her fascination with words and their meanings. Her older sister has a condition that Miranda is not told much about, but it means Gemma is often taken to hospital.

As an adult reading this I was trying to piece together the background to the characters and their stories, but it really is not important within these pages that we don’t know all the details. We see events through Miranda’s eyes, and her reaction to what’s going on around her is touching.

We see Miranda trying to deal with what she can see is not an ordinary situation, without being told all the details. This does lead, inevitably, to some confusion – the incident with her classmates being very concerned for Gran because they haven’t understood a word Miranda used in her journal was a little sad, while being very humorous. There is. it seems, something to be said for talking to younger children about illness and not trying to hide the truth from them completely!

This is a book that I could see myself reading again and again, without tiring of Miranda and her imaginative perception of the world around her.

A huge thank you to NetGalley and publishers Hodder Childrens’ Books for the copy in advance of publication in exchange for sharing my honest thoughts.

‘The Bronze Key’ – Cassandra Clare and Holly Black

Cassandra Clare and Holly Black waste no time in reminding us of the events of Book Two and returning us to the thick of the action. Call remains a target, and he is unsure who to trust after the revelations about who he really is.

With some hesitation, Call returns to the Magisterium for his third year. Sadly, after the horrific murder of one of their peers, it is clear that someone is out to get Call. He, Aaron and Tamara don’t get a moment to relax as they – against everyone’s wishes – hunt for the killer themselves. To mark the development of the characters we get slightly more focus on their interpersonal relationships, but this actually provides some comic relief.

There are more than one or two dramatic moments, and we get some further revelations to pique our interest for the next book. I couldn’t help but feel some reservations about the integrity of a number of the characters who feature in this story. No matter what they say, I just don’t trust those people who claim to have Call’s best interests at heart. However, I think some of these characters may well feature further on in the series so we’ll see how things develop.

Personally I was a little surprised by the route taken by the authors right at the end. If I’d read this as a younger reader, I’m not sure I’d have wanted to continue the series – although I do wonder whether Call will end up dabbling in this area and continuing Constantine’s work.

Now all that remains is to wait for another year…

‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ – J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

When we last saw Harry Potter, it was supposedly nineteen years after the Battle of Hogwarts. Harry was now the father of three children, married to Ginny and working in the Ministry of Magic. If you read the series, you know this bit.

Ten years later, the hysteria surrounding Potter returned when it was announced that the script for a play featuring a few familiar characters was to be published.

I had really mixed feelings about this. The Harry Potter series was such a phenomenon, and through my own kids I’ve gone through the books and films again. Part of me felt I’d ended with this particular set of characters, and I was a little reluctant to return to something that felt so complete. Then there was the other part of me that was really excited to see just what was going to happen in this eighth instalment.

I’d resisted a lot of the pre-publicity so knew very little of the rumours around just what would be involved. The title made me immediately think that the focus on Harry’s son might mean he was ‘cursed’ in some way, but then I also wondered whether it might be a reference to the issues faced by the adult Harry. Tying myself in knots, I decided to stop second-guessing and wait and see.

Within hours of the text being released I was hearing comments about what was involved, and I was keenly conscious of the requests by publicists to preserve the magic and not spoil it for those who hadn’t yet read it/seen it. Once my eldest son had raced through it, I knew I’d better get cracking or I’d be suffering with cryptic allusions until I did!

Concerns about revisiting something that was already finished aside, I was also wondering how this would fare being a play-script as opposed to the more wordy narrative style favoured by J.K Rowling. I know she was involved in the process, but there’s something to be said for something that is meant to be performed being seen on the stage, not simply read. Having now finished this, I have to say that I actually enjoyed the story being presented in the play format because it meant a lot was left to my imagination and I could visualise the events for myself.

Highlights of this read: revisiting a lot of favourite characters; an interesting exploration of family dynamics; the magic and the world of Hogwarts; the relationship between Albus and Scorpius and seeing some familiar characters in a whole new light when we see them during the story.

Things I liked less: the implausibility of some of the events; the introduction of someone I wasn’t even remotely prepared for; Harry and his pig-headedness, and – just a little bit – the fact that it really does signal the end for Harry and his friends.

‘The Bone Sparrow – Zana Fraillon

A book that will speak to adults and children alike, this is a timely reminder of our common humanity and the need to show compassion for others where we can.

Nine year old Subhi is Rohingya, but has only ever known the inside of the detention centre in Australia where he lives. Through his constant questioning of others in the camp he learns their stories of life outside the centre. Subhi’s voice is distinctive, though he remains innocent of the knowledge of what is happening and how so many came to be in this compound with him. He describes – with touching simplicity – the routines of his life and slowly reveals some of the horrors that those he talks to have experienced.

This book has been likened to ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ by John Boyne, but I found it interesting that our narrator is the boy who has nothing. Witnessing the events through the eyes of Subhi means we get a real understanding of the deprivation these people are experiencing on a daily basis. However, unlike Bruno in ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ Jimmie does not come from a privileged background – she is much more an Everyman-character, and this forces us as the reader to imagine ourselves in her shoes. I enjoyed the moment when Jimmie first meets Subhi and they strike up an immediate friendship. In their own way, each has something to offer the other though their friendship is not something either can share with the people around them.

As an adult reader I turned the pages with a sense of mounting horror at what I felt was the inevitable climax to the novel. Subhi’s innocence means we are never given overly graphic details-things are explained in such a way that suggest he is making sense of what he sees, and it’s up to us to fill in the blanks. Subhi gets to save Jimmie, but he also has to come to terms with his inability to protect his friend Eli.

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read this prior to publication. It’s a book I’ll be urging people to read.

‘Time Travelling With A Hamster’ – Ross Welford

“My dad died twice. Once when he was thirty nine and again four years later when he was twelve.

The first time had nothing to do with me. The second time definitely did, but I would never even have been there if it hadn’t been for his ‘time machine’…”

When Al Chaudhury discovers his late dad’s time machine, he finds that going back to the 1980s requires daring and imagination. It also requires lies, theft, burglary, and setting his school on fire. All without losing his pet hamster, Alan Shearer…

For a childrens’ book, this packs a real emotional punch.

Here we have the story of twelve year old Al Chaudhury who is coming to terms with his dad’s shock death and moving away from everything he knows to live with his new step-family.

Al is, to put it mildly, something of a eccentric character. His curiosity is limitless, and we get to travel with him on the most amazing journey.

With a gripping opening that immediately arouses our interest, we learn that Al’s dad invented a time machine and is trusting his son to go back in time and save his dad’s life.

For someone who will always have a soft spot for Back to the Future, this novel really is fascinating. The science might be a stretch for younger readers at times, but it is about a lot more than the concept of time travel. Welford, with real humour, explores issues of grief, friendship and identity.

Definitely, a gem.

‘Everland’ – Wendy Spinale

This is a curious book, but one that I can see having its fans amongst teenage readers.

Gwen Darling and her younger siblings, Joanna and Mikey, are the only survivors of their family after London is destroyed by bombing. Most of the population has been killed by a virus, and those that remain alive are desperate to find a cure. The survivors of the bombing – who all seem to be children – are hunted by Captain Hook and his Marauders, who are desperate to find the one who has immunity to the virus.

Joanna is taken by Hook’s men, and Gwen is determined to get her back. She bumps into Pete who, along with his Lost Boys, vows to help her get to Everland to rescue her sister.

This was a well-written story, with plenty of action to entertain. My main problem was that, at least initially, I couldn’t see past the Disney images and associations…a curious blend of ideas to play with, some of which work more successfully than others. It certainly brings a refreshingly modern twist to a rather stuffy classic.