So now I've finished, did this novel improve? Unfortunately no! It is entirely the fault of the narrator I think and just shows how hugely important the narrative voice is in a first person narrative. Here it is the voice of a thirteen year old boy and he just annoyed the hell out of me… Continue reading Everybody Jam, Ali Lewis
Category: Young Adult YA
The Midnight Zoo, Sonya Hartnett
A fabulous book! At its most literal level! Reading the blurb of this, the fate of Romany children in Eastern Europe during World War II was an appealing on. Then it mentioned that they come across animals in a zoo which talk to them. Talking animals have never appealed to me: Mrs Frisbee, Beatrix Potter,… Continue reading The Midnight Zoo, Sonya Hartnett
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Small Change For Stuart, Lissa Evans
A lovely and somehow old-fashioned adventure tale. Somehow reminiscent of Enid Blyton... As well as the plethora of games you can get now where you investigate various settings, find clues, use them to unlock new rooms... This is a Carnegie 2012 shortlisted tale and very much aimed at the lower end of the age bracket:… Continue reading Small Change For Stuart, Lissa Evans
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Between Shades Of Gray, Ruta Sepetys
This is a very powerful book: all the more powerful and painful as it is based on historical fact and first-hand accounts. Lina is a fifteen year old Lithuanian school girl, a talented artist, a member of a loving family. In 1941, caught between Hitler's fascism to the west and Stalin's communism to the East,… Continue reading Between Shades Of Gray, Ruta Sepetys
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A Monster Calls, Patrick Ness
Oh, this is an extraordinary book! There are very few books that make me feel genuinely emotional and (a very little bit) teary but this was one. There is something about in simplicity of the prose, the inevitability of the ending, the unflinching acceptance of extraordinary and unavoidable pain, the wonderful mythic nature of the… Continue reading A Monster Calls, Patrick Ness
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