The Girl of Ink & Stars, by Kiran Millwood Hargrave, reviewed by Pippa Goodhart

This, as you can see, is a handsomely intriguing book from the off.  It demonstrates the power of a really strong cover because it caught my attention amongst the mass of new covers on display in shops and online, and it’s clearly attracted the attention of many others.  This book has been Waterstones Book of the Month, and has become a best seller in a way that few debut novels do. 

I’ll admit a personal reason for curiosity about this book too.  Kiran Millwood Hargrave acted in a play at university with one of my daughters, and I had a feeling that somebody who could ‘live’ a story as well as she did then would have the capacity to create story well too. 

I was right.

This is a story told in the first person by young Isabella, living on an island where myth and politics clash, throwing her into an action-packed adventure of danger and daring and wonder … from which not everybody returns happily ever after.  Underground tunnels, demons and giant predatory beasts, magical maps and materials, fire and water, and misunderstanding people all add-up to excitement and a touch of romance.  The final stages of this story certainly have the reader gobbling the text up to find out how things will end.

I have some quibbles, and I am aware that they may be quibbles from a hyper-critical adult and of a sort which wouldn’t bother the young reader this book is really intended for.  There’s a large cast of characters with unfamiliar names along with numerous place names, and I found it hard to keep track of them all.  I felt that continuity didn’t always work.  Isa empties her satchel, then a couple of pages later empties her satchel again; that sort of thing.  But what most annoyed me was that the maps (hooray, I love maps!) provided on the in-turned flap of back and front covers didn’t fit with what we are told in the narrative.  The tunnel is in the shape of a ‘knot’ and then ‘coils like a shell’, and yet neither of those things is evident on the map.   And so on.  So I’d advise not trying to follow routes on the maps as you read, but to regard them as decoration!

But who can resist a heroine who sets out on an adventure with a chicken … and the chicken is still there at the end?!  There’s some wonderful writing in this.  I, for one, look forward to seeing what Kiran Millwood Hargrave writes next.

Pippa Goodhart

www.pippagoodhart.co.uk

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Waiting For Callback by Perdita and Honor Cargill reviewed by Tamsin Cooke

I have to admit, I stole Waiting For Callback from my daughter.  I read it in one sitting and managed to slip it back onto her bedside table without her noticing. She is now glued to it!

Waiting For Callback by Perdita and Honor Cargill is such a fun, warm story, which will have you laughing out loud. It is about Elektra, a fifteen-year-old girl, who imagines Oscar glory to be just around the corner after being discovered by an acting agent. Yet the reality proves very different. For example, her agency isn’t some swanky LA type building but a small room above a dental practice.  Elektra soon learns that there is so much waiting about. And ‘just how many times can you be rejected for the part of ‘Dead girl number three’ without losing hope?’

Perdita and Honor have created a wonderful relatable protagonist in Elektra.  She is funny, articulate and very honest.  We live through her humiliations (of where there are plenty) her joys, and her fears. Even though she’s trying to make it as an actor, she has the same worries that most teenagers have - spots, fallouts with her best friend, annoying parents, school, and crushes…

The supporting cast are well thought out and very entertaining. I particularly like her parents – her mother’s desperation to be part of her daughter’s life, and her father’s loving indifference really shine true. Her crush is swoon worthy, her best friend great fun and her nemesis a perfect mean girl!

There are fabulous little extra details in this book. The emails from her school and her agent are incredibly witty, and I found the quotes from real actors fascinating.

Perdita and Honor have captured teenage life brilliantly, and created a great new character. I can’t wait for the next book so I can laugh even more at Elektra’s exploits.

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The Finding of Martha Lost by Caroline Wallace reviewed by Dawn Finch

Caroline Wallace – The Finding of Martha Lost

First the blurb:

Martha is lost.

She’s been lost since she was a baby, abandoned in a suitcase on the train from Paris. Ever since, she’s waited in station lost property for someone to claim her. It’s been sixteen years, but she’s still hopeful.

In the meantime, there are mysteries to solve: secret tunnels under the station, a suitcase that may have belonged to the Beatles, the roman soldier who appears at the same time every day with his packed lunch. Not to mention the stuffed monkey that someone keeps misplacing.

But there is one mystery Martha cannot solve. And now the authorities have found out about the girl in lost property. Time is running out - if Martha can’t discover who she really is, she will lose everything…

It has taken me a long time to write this review. I review lots of books and in most cases I can simply put the book down and write the review and move on. For some reason I couldn’t do that with this book. I genuinely didn’t want to let Martha go and there was a part of me that felt that once the review was done I’d have to let her go. I’ll confess that I fell in love with Martha right from the opening pages. She is the most endearing and delightful character I have read in a long time.

16 year old Martha Lost has lived her whole life in Liverpool Lime Street station and she dances and spins through her days filling the station with her joy of life, but she has never left the station and does not know who she really is. We see the world through her eyes as she puts together the missing jigsaw puzzle pieces of her life. Laced through Martha’s story we can follow a similarly lost thing; a suitcase that is possibly full of Beatles memorabilia. This piece of the puzzle is based on the real-life story of the apparent discovery of Beatles’ friend and roadie Mal Evans. The two stories interconnect and develop to creating one beautiful whole and a heartwarming and joyful novel.

Caroline Wallace is the pen-name of author Caroline Smailes and one of her bestselling books, The Drowning of Arthur Braxton, is currently being turned into a movie. This is no easy task because her writing is complex and detailed and so it will take a delicate hand to take her words from page to screen. You can follow this process on the Arthur Braxton facebook page. Wallace’s books (and those written under Caroline Smailes) are magical and extraordinary. Her writing feels to me like a harmonious blend of Alice Hoffman and John Irving, but with a distinctly British accent – well, specifically a Liverpudlian one in Martha! Wallace always seems to capture that sense of the real, but mingles it with a subtle air of magic and wonder that is utterly charming.

Be warned, if you read this book you too will fall hopelessly in love with Martha and never want to let her go. Quite simply, the most beautiful writing.

The Finding of Martha Lost is published by Doubleday (March 2016)

ISBN 978-0857523341

Review by Dawn Finch

Children's writer and librarian

President, Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals

@dawnafinch

www.dawnfinch.co.uk

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Ida, Always by Caron Levis and Charles Santoso - reviewed by Sarah Hammond

Ida, Always is a lyrical story about the friendship between two polar bears and how they come to terms with one of the animal’s terminal illness. Although this is difficult subject matter, the reader feels in safe, sure hands. We grow to love the bears, then share their grief and, ultimately, learn to heal. 

Gus and Ida, the two characters in the book, are inspired by polar bears who lived in Central Park Zoo in New York. Ida died in 2011, Gus in 2013.  Author Levis observed Gus in the zoo after Ida’s death as part of her research for the project. 

In the story, the two bears do everything together.  We see life through the senses of a zoo animal, sensitive to sound, to routine, to hearing things we cannot see. One day, Gus learns from the zookeeper that Ida is ill and will not get better.  We are reassured that Ida 'wouldn't hurt’, but her body is closing down. Levis is honest but sensitive, and takes the young reader gently through the anguish of preparing for the loss of a friend. The bears growl, whisper, cuddle, need time apart, even laugh… 

The illustrations by Santoso complement the text well. The portrayal of the bears is not overly anthropomorphised, is evocative, gentle, soft.  The landscape and the weather often reflect the mood of the moment on the page. We have a strong sense of the story world through the illustrations, and also of the way Gus perceives life.

And after Ida has gone (I have to confess that when reading the book aloud, my voice catches each time I read a certain poignant section), and as Gus grieves, his heart begins to mend. He slowly realises that a part of his friend will be with him in the memories they share, that she is with him as he sits in their favourite spots. A part of Ida is with him. Always.

I suspect that this book may well become a classic. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Caron Levis is the author of the picture book Ida, Always (Atheneum) which the New York Times Book Review calls "an example of children's books at their best." Her first picture book, Stuck with the Blooz (HMH) was selected as one of Bankstreet College's Best Children's Books of the Year. Forthcoming titles include May I Have A Word? (FSG/Macmillan, 2017) and Stop That Yawn (Atheneum, 2018). Short stories have been listed in the Best American Nonrequired Reading, published in Fence Magazine, The New Guard Review, and in anthologies by Persea Books and W.W. Norton. Caron is an adjunct professor and the advisor for The New School's Writing for Children/YA MFA program, and an MSW candidate at Hunter College. After many years as an arts educator, Caron now loves using acting and writing to teach social, emotional and literacy skills to students of all ages through her author workshops. Having trained in acting and dabbled in playwriting, Caron enjoys turning theatre techniques into writing tool through her workshop Act-Like-A-Writer. Visit her at www.caronlevis.com. Photo credit: Jan Carr


ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR:

Charles Santoso has illustrated several picture books, including I Don't Like Koala, written by Sean Ferrell, Spy Guy: The Not-So-Secret Agent written by Jessica Young, Peanut Butter & Brains written by Joe McGhee, Ida, Always written by Caron Levis. Find out more about him at www.charlessantoso.com


ABOUT THE REVIEWER: 

Sarah Hammond is a writer for young people. She has published a picture book, Mine! (Parragon), and a teen novel, The Night Sky in my Head (OUP), which was short-listed for four awards in the UK. She is a Brit abroad, now living happily in Chicago, with strong ties to the UK which regularly pull her back across the Pond. 

You can find her online at: 

Web: www.sarahhammond.org
Facebook: SarahHammondAuthorPage
Twitter: @SarahHammond9 

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RIDE by Lisa Glass, reviewed by Tamsyn Murray

"As a professional surfer, seventeen-year-old Iris has travelled the sun-kissed beaches of the globe. But after a tumultuous week in Miami leaves her heartbroken, Iris returns to her home town in the south coast of England. Putting her promising career on hold. Leaving behind Zeke, the boy who changed her world. Iris is desperate to get back to her old life, to the family and friends she grew up with. She wants to rediscover her passion for surfing. She needs to move on.

But Iris soon realises it won't be that simple. Because while a summer romance might only last the season, first loves never truly leave you."

Ride is the third and final book in Lisa Glass' surfing trilogy and sees an emotionally-battered Iris returning to her roots in Newquay. Things have moved on in the time she's been gone; her mother has a new relationship, her best friend is the same but different and her ex is engaged to someone else. Only one thing remains constant and that's the sea.

Iris struggles to find her place in Newquay again. She's a celebrity now, the very definition of a local girl made good in a town where professional surfers are rock stars: she's different. And as well as having to cope with the changed perceptions of friends and acquaintances, Iris also has to deflect questions from her loved ones - where is Zeke? Why isn't he with her?

Unwilling to admit the truth, even to herself, Iris lets her emotions overrule her head. She makes some mistakes and has to live with some unpleasant consequences. And every time she surfs, she is reminded of Zeke. The upcoming must-win competition hangs in the balance as Iris loses her edge on the waves. And then she sees Zeke again...

Ride is another perfect summer read from Lisa Glass - I was instantly transported to the beaches at Fistral, Tolcarne and Lusty Glaze in Cornwall. I was impressed at the way Cornish dialect rolls off the page too - not in an intrusive way; readers might not even notice if they don't know the speech rhythms and phrases, but for me it gave the story an added layer of authenticity. I heard Cornwall in every bit of dialogue.

The delicious Zeke is absent for most of the story, but he's written in so cleverly in flashbacks and conversations that I felt he was just off the page, ready to walk in at any moment. Iris herself is a fabulous strong MC and I loved seeing her grow and change. This book is also very much about the value of friendship and I enjoyed the way these were shown: I especially want a best friend like Kelly! Ride doesn't shy away from physical relationships; there's more sex than ever, which is only right as Iris matures and grows up. It's not all romance - there's plenty of drama and of course lots of fantastic surf detail. Be warned, though; the climax of the book will have your heart racing for an entirely different reason - it had me on the edge of my seat. Lisa Glass certainly knows how to end a chapter on a cliffhanger!

I would recommend this YA book for 14+. Published by Quercus, available now!

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HORIZON ALPHA: PREDATORS OF EDEN by D.W. Vogel; reviewed by Gillian Philip

Dinosaurs in space. DINOSAURS IN SPACE!

I could just leave my review there, because let's face it, that is an awesome enough premise, but that would be doing this book a great disservice. The book opens as our protagonist Caleb sets out on a dangerous mission; but there's some unsettling history to the way his small human community met the dinosaurs.

The calamity that has destroyed Planet Earth is, for once, not the consequence of humanity's misdeeds: it's simply a giant cosmic accident. Mercury wobbles in its orbit; Jupiter's gravitational pull alters; Earth's scientists realise they have eighty years to save what's left of humanity. And that's it. From that terrifying moment, it's been a race against time to build four Horizon spaceships that will carry a small sample of humanity to distant, unknown worlds. One of the ships, Gamma, never gets out of the solar system; on the others, generations live and die without setting foot on solid ground.

Horizon Alpha is the first to reach a habitable planet, Tau Ceti e. Horizons Beta and Delta are still somewhere out there, our narrator Caleb assumes: still speeding across unimaginable distances in search of a home. That's a melancholy enough ghost in the story, but because of an explosion as the shuttles are loading, Horizon Alpha is left a wreck in space. Now it orbits Ceti, a spectral and eerie presence that Caleb can't forget – not least because his own father died there, saving as many as he could.

The sheer desperation of the survivors makes this book a nerve-shredding fight for survival from the outset. They're not well-equipped; they have no means of escape; they simply have to endure, and scavenge what they can from the planet's surface and from the wreckage of other shuttles. They can't even be sure of keeping their camp's protective electric fence powered up. And boy, do they need that electric fence...

The creatures that live on this planet aren't Earth dinosaurs, Caleb emphasises; they're what evolved on Ceti instead. Some of them are exactly like ours (what's a dinosaur story without a T-Rex or two?); others are monsters that are entirely native to Ceti. And what monsters – the highly intelligent and terrifying 'Wolves' (called that only because they're grey, and hunt in packs); the motionless, apparently somnolent Crabs, which lie perfectly camouflaged till they lunge to snap a traveller in two; Gilas, creatures that only have to bite once...

The dinosaurs clearly can't be allowed to breach Eden's fence; so fifteen-year old Caleb (who has already lost a brother as well as a father) is chosen for a military sortie, to retrieve a prized power core from a crashed shuttle. Of course, too much can go wrong on this planet; for the mission's own shuttle flight, it goes quickly, violently wrong. Only six members of the party survive the crash.

The good news: they swiftly find the old shuttle wreckage and its precious power core. The bad news: they have to make their way back to their settlement, Eden, on foot and with barely any supplies. And given the hostile environment of Ceti and its native fauna, the expedition becomes a classic, nail-biting, And-Then-There-Were-None horror story.

I was gripped throughout. Caleb has courage – it wouldn't be possible to have survived on Ceti this long without it – but he knows his shortcomings, and he is terribly afraid. His brother vanished on a similar mission, and Caleb is desperate not to become another lost son for his mother to grieve. That makes him cautious to begin with, and the reader can sympathise. The terror only increases as they get closer to Eden, and there are plenty of obstacles, inanimate and living, that threaten to stop them dead. But Caleb's is a classic Hero's Journey, and when things get critically worse, he knows he has to find it in himself to save what's left of their party.

The characters can't help but be sympathetic, given what they're up against – and what they're fighting for, which is the highest possible stakes. They're all individuals, vividly drawn, and you root for every one, from the gruff and competent General Carthage to the eager but nervous naturalist Sara Arnson. You want them all to get out alive. You know perfectly well that won't happen.

D.W. Vogel puts a great deal of care into the technical, natural and scientific detail; the Tau Ceti e ecosystem makes sense, and so does the history of humanity's remnants. There are no laser guns for fighting off alien creatures; humanity didn't have time to invent them. This is a down-and-dirty, desperate fight for survival against impossible odds; The Walking Dead, but with dinosaurs.

The story ends not on a frustrating cliffhanger, but with a development that the reader desperately wants to follow through to its consequences. I'm on tenterhooks for the next instalment.


(currently available only as Kindle edition in the UK)

Horizon Alpha: Predators of Eden by D.W. Vogel; Future House Publishing £2.04

www.gillianphilip.com






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MURDER MOST UNLADYLIKE by Robin Stevens; Review by Penny Dolan

This review was inspired by a twelve-year-old girl, waiting at the bookshop counter, and enthusiastically clutching a book to her school blazer. When I asked, she proudly showed me the title: MURDER MOST UNLADYLIKE by Robin Stevens, and her enthusiasm is why I came away with a copy for myself (and for my bookshelf for occasional young visitors.) 

MURDER MOST UNLADYLIKE, a well-paced and well-plotted crime novel is set in the 1930’s. This title takes place at Deepdean School for Girls, echoing the traditional jolly-lacrosse-sticks boarding school stories of that era. Stevens recreates a world of bells, bun-breaks, tuck-boxes, dorms, pranks and pashes, along with spinsterish teachers and the general social obligation to be “a good sport”.

The plot is, basically, one of those "who done it" puzzles, familiar to readers of Agatha Christie. The novel nips along, full of suspense, bravery and crime-solving but I felt that a particular strength of the book is that Robin Stevens does not hide the bleakness of boarding school life, nor the racism and snobbery of that life and era, possibly hinting that such matters still exist in society now.

The two third-year heroines, Hazel Wong and the Honourable Daisy Wells, have formed a secret Detective Agency. Although Daisy, with her blonde hair, wide blue eyes and energy on the lacrosse field, appears a tall and typical English Rose, she artfully conceals a Sherlockian intelligence and ruthlessness. 

 
By way of contrast, short, thoughtful Hazel Wong, with her long brown hair and dark eyes, has come all the way from Hong Kong. Sent by her wealthy father so she will have a "good English education", Hazel discovers that she must learn about the often uncomfortable “English way” of doing things, along with coping with the cold weather.  Hazel becomes Daisy's carefully observant Watson, recording their investigations in her Casebook, and we follow the twists and turns of the plot - and the oddities of school life - through her eyes and experiences. 

Daisy is admirably impulsive but shy, reliable Hazel is the one with whom the reader identifies and sympathizes. The plot starts promptly: Hazel returns alone to the “haunted” gym for her pullover but finds the body of Miss Bell lying below the balcony.  However, when Hazel and Daisy return, the science-mistress's corpse has gone. Although the headmistress reports that Miss Bell has been called away, the girls know better and set out to prove it. The short chapters whip along from one excitement to another and, for those who occasionally need to check up on who is who, or where, a helpful plan of the school grounds and list of characters is included at the front of the volume.

In true thirties-detective style, Hazel and Daisy draw up a list of suspect staff, examine their motives and whereabouts, employ clever stratagems (and lies) and pursue the case to the most surprising end. I found this book a very satisfying read, with a healthy display of bold spirits and curiosity!

MURDER MOST UNLADYLIKE is the first in a series of four crime novels (followed by ARSENIC FOR TEA, FIRST CLASS MURDER and JOLLY FOUL PLAY) and although the plots do have something slightly predictable in the solution, they all offer enjoyable escapism for 10- 13 year old readers, despite scary moments and neatly murderous contents.

(A very small worry: I am not sure that, without the enthusiasm of my bookshop friend, I’d have come away with the book. The cover art does fit the period and genre extremely well but I am not sure the covers sell the series well enough on their own. I really am hoping I am wrong here!)

Robin Stevens is also the author of one of the twelve stories in the highly-praised MYSTERY & MAYHEM anthology. She also reports on her blog that she is currently working on Book Five of the MURDER MOST UNLADYLIKE series. Jolly good show there, Stevens!

Review by Penny Dolan.

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