Little Brown, 2020. ISBN: 9780316418423. (Age:14+) Recommended.
Seventeen-year-old Aderyn (‘Ryn’) is a gravedigger in a small village, but with the disappearance of her father and uncle and the villagers cremating their dead, both her family and her job are in jeopardy. Meanwhile in the forest the dead, known as Bone Houses, are starting to rise and seem to get worse when Ellis, a young mapmaker, arrives in the town. When Ellis offers Ryn money to guide him through the mountains, she hopes that it will help the family’s finances and perhaps solve the problem of the Bone Houses. Together they embark on a perilous quest to find the mythical cauldron that if destroyed, could stop the dead from rising.
Fans of horror will relish The bone houses, with the descriptions of the terrifying zombies rising, but will love the zombie goat, whose appearance lightens some of the dark action. Ryn and Ellis face the dangerous journey with courage, each helping the other overcome weaknesses, and both grow in knowledge about themselves. Ryn’s loyalty and love for her family shine through the book and her hope to find her father is heart-rending. Ellis must work through the chronic pain in his shoulder as well as the emotional pain of not knowing why he was found alone as a child in the forest. Their journeys to maturity and understanding are just as riveting as the quest to find the cauldron.
The slow burning growth of feelings between the two is handled sensitively, while the perils that the two face keep the reader in suspense. Can the pair find the cauldron and stop the dead?
This is an ideal book to promote to readers who like horror mixed with mythology and was awarded a YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults in 2020. The cover with its wonderful gold skull will entice readers, who may like to read The drowned woods, a YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults in 2023 and a companion novel by Lloyd-Jones also set in Wales.
Mereid is running from the prince. The last water diviner in the kingdom of Wales, she unwittingly located wells for the prince, who had them poisoned, killing hundreds of people. She knows that she must disappear or he will use her again, but when Renfrew, the sorcerer who took her from her parents as a young child, appears and offers her one final job - destroy the prince by taking down his magic well – she cannot refuse. Renfrew gathers more allies to his cause, including the fae-cursed Fane, his Corgi, Trefor and Mer's ex-girlfriend thief Ifanna. This motley crew go on a quest to gain peace for the kingdom and freedom for themselves.
Imbued with Welsh mythology and magic, Lloyd-Jones maintains a cracking pace, as this unlikely group set out find the magic well and bring down the prince. Mer is a fascinating character, beset with guilt about how her power has been misused and determined to escape and finally settle down. The growing feeling between her and Fane, and the angst over her failed romance with Ifanna, are handled well by Lloyd-Jones, and the author brings some slippery characters to life as well. Not least is the cute little Corgi Trefor, who provides comic relief and will appeal to dog lovers.
A YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults 2023 and a great escapist read The downed woods is sure to appeal to lovers of adventure and heist novels. Readers may like to read The bone houses, a companion novel or Spindle and dagger by J. Anderson Coats which is also set in Wales.
Themes Welsh mythology, Heists, Fantasy.
Pat Pledger
This savage song by V.E. Schwab
New South, 2022. ISBN: 9781803362144. (Age:14+) Recommended.
2017 Locus Awards nominee. In a world that has been invaded by monsters, Kate Harker and August Flynn find themselves together on the run. There are three types of monsters: Malchai who drink blood and are made when there is a murder, Corsai who eat flesh and bones and are formed from violence and Sunai who feed on the souls of sinners and are formed from a major catastrophe like a school bombing. August Flynn is a Sunai, but longs to be less of a monster. His adopted father, Henry Flynn, runs one side of Verity, while Kate Harker's father runs the other side. However the truce that Flynn and Harker had made is beginning to come apart at the seams and August is sent to spy on Kate in an effort to find out what is going on.
The setting of Verity and the formation of monsters from evil acts is quite original and made reading This savage song quite different. Kate's feisty nature and need to please her crime boss father contrasted with August's attempts to be less monster-like. When they both are attacked at their school, they have to rely on each other to work out what is happening and to escape the attempts to kill them. Although there are slight hints at a Romeo and Juliet type of relationship, this is minor to the plot, which is action driven, while posing questions about morality and ethics.
There are some very thrilling and frightening scenes as the monsters chase Kate and August through the underground tunnels and Schwab manages to surprise with some unexpected twists and turns. The conclusion is satisfying but leaves plenty of opportunity for expansion in Our dark duet, the second in the series.
This was a compulsive read with unique characters and magic. Readers who enjoy Holly Black's books will want to read this collector's edition.
Original review August 2017 Updated March 2023
Themes Dystopian fiction.
Pat Pledger
The Last Remains by Elly Griffiths
The Dr Ruth Galloway Mysteries: Book 15. Quercus Books, 2023. ISBN: 9781529409734. (Age:Adult - Senior secondary) Recommended.
A fan of the Ruth Galloway series, I grabbed The last remains, really wanting to know where the relationship between Ruth and DCI Nelson would go – as well as wanting to read a well-constructed and engaging mystery. I was happy with both the relationship slant and the mystery and can recommend the book to fans of the series.
In The last remains, Ruth is faced with another skeleton, that of a young woman, Emily Pickering, who has been bricked into the wall of what was a café. She had been a young archaeology student missing since 2002, a time when Ruth’s friend Cathbad was part of her student group. As Nelson and his team investigate, suspicion falls on Emily’s Cambridge lecturer and the other students, who had all been on a weekend camp when she disappeared. Then Cathbad disappears and it doesn’t look good for him. Will the truth come out as Ruth is drawn into a dangerous game in some Neolithic flint mines in her pursuit of the murderer?
In the meantime Ruth is faced with the prospect that her department may be closed and she could lose her job, while Nelson is coming to grips with his marriage as his wife and young son come back to live with him. The relationship threads are engrossing, but so is the well written mystery, with the puzzle about who committed the murder plotted so well that it is very difficult to spot the culprit.
It is best to start the series at the beginning with Crossing places, to get to know the main characters, but then the books have a stand-alone mystery in each. I hope that this is not the last in the Ruth Galloway series but fans of Elly Griffith’s mysteries could turn to the novels with Harbinder Kaur as the detective, The Stranger diaries, winner of the Edgar Award for Best Novel, 2020, The Postscript murders and Bleeding heart yard.
Themes Mystery, Crime, Archaeology.
Pat Pledger
Mila & Ivy by Katrina McKelvey and Jasmine Berry
Wombat Books, 2022. ISBN: 9781761110801. (Age:3+)
A story of sibling
rivalry wrapped around a series of cardboard cartons will intrigue readers as
they recognise disagreements that have occurred at home over the simplest of
things. Mila and Ivy reuse and reconstitute cardboard boxes to make all sorts
of things, using their engineering powers to plan and build together. They
build towers which Ivy knocks down, walls which Ivy likes to break out of, a
car in which Ivy sits in the back. They build bridges and roller coasters. One
day Mila has an idea. She gets large pieces of card and Ivy helps break them
up. Mila builds and builds and makes a catapult. The sisters use this to
catapult their cardboard cupcakes. All goes well until Ivy begins to tear the
cardboard into cardboard confetti. Mila is cross with Ivy who then runs off
while Mila begins work on a new idea. But this time it doesn’t seem to be going
well and the finished product doesn’t look right. She goes off to find Ivy but
cannot find her. Eventually she calls her back to ask her for her idea. She has
a clever plan to use the confetti she has made, so all is well.
A neatly resolved story
of sibling rivalry will have resonance for all readers who have argued with
their brothers and sisters or friends. It takes some compromise to get the
relationship right again, and for the girls to be friends again.
Cute illustrations
accompany the text, stressing the relationship between the sisters and the work
they do together.
An emphasis on building,
planning and technology will reinforce the theme of girls taking on these
sciences, while the image of the duo trying out different things is laudable.
This is the second in Matt Stanton's Bored series, where each installment is told by one of the children living on the same street, Turtle Place. This one is told by Frog; he's creative, thick-skinned and just doing his best to fit in as a Year 6 at a new school. Short on other ideas to make everyone like him he decides to do a giant tortoise ballet to bring some energy back to a bored class of kids. Trouble is, it kind of backfires. Luisa starts picking on him, Evie seems to think he is crazy and Milo is grumpy about something. Maybe telling everyone he has a twin brother would make everything better? It doesn't, but it makes for a great story!
Frog is a well-rounded and likable character from the beginning and is easily admired as he used to be bullied but is determined not to let this change his personality. Stanton is masterful at drip-feeding new details about each of the kids so we get to know them more and more throughout the book and across the series. Each character is incredibly relatable, especially when we are able to look at the world through their perspective. Each one of them have something going on in their lives under the surface and contexts that have made and are making them who they are. Luisa is clearly bullying Frog and she is a refreshing departure from stereotypical bully figure in many children's books. She is not one-dimensional and we find out later on that she is dealing with a stressful situation in her own personal life. This is a wonderful reminder to children that everyone is capable of acting out/emotional outbursts/making mistakes but that we are able to learn from them and move on. It reinforces that our circumstances and our environment affect our actions and gives strategies for understanding others and their behaviour. Fans of Stanton's Funny Kid series will be obvious readers, but this really is a series that should be put into the hands of all tweens.
*This is fine to read as a standalone, without having read the first in the series.
Themes Humorous stories, Friendship, Empathy.
Nicole Nelson
Dogs of the deadlands by Anthony McGowan
Rock the Boat, 2022. ISBN: 9780861543267. (Age:12-15) Highly recommended.
What an amazing book! Filled with heart and emotion, and with power and ferocity, this is an amazing story involving a young child’s passion for her Samoyed-cross puppy, and then its survival struggle when left behind at the time of the Chernobyl disaster. Travelling with the child through her struggles, but more particularly with the female dog and her wolf-cross puppies as they live wild in an environment that is harsh and filled with threats, we are left wide-eyed for all. There are many bleak and cruel realities for the dogs as they strive to feed themselves and save themselves from attack from a variety of wild threats. The ‘personalities’ of the dogs and their canine and lupine abilities come to the fore to enable them to grow and develop as a family unit in a harsh environment. With occasional interactions with humans, there is also an unusual ‘circle of life’ story in this life and death tale set within the dark aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster.
This is a tale that does not gloss over the violence of a wild dog's life. There is aggression and bloodshed in order to maintain hierarchies and to find food. McGowan does not hold back in his descriptions of the attacks and the wildness exhibited in the dogs’ lives. For those who are squeamish about animal attacks, this may cause distress. The story is excellent, but it is not for very young readers because of the violence. However there were many times when tears would well as we were led to ‘watch’ as loved dog-troop members faced death. This is a book written with incredible skill and it is a compelling insight into the animal world. It will resonate on many levels and will be hard to forget. Highly recommended for readers aged 12 – 15.
Hachette, 2022. ISBN: 9780733646010. (Age:Adult - Young adult)
Seattle orthopaedic surgeon Tom and his new wife Heather are visiting Australia on their way to a conference in Melbourne. Tom is recently widowed and remarried; this trip with his kids, Olivia, 14 and Owen 12 is to be a family bonding experience and they have included Sydney and Uluru in their itinerary. Before the conference the kids want their dad to take them to see some real Australian animals. “They are child soldiers in the war between generations” p. 24, especially difficult since their mother’s death, so the family drive their Porsche Cayenne rental car to the Mornington Peninsula for the day, stopping at a picnic stop where they meet a Dutch couple and a man with a koala in a cage at the back of his Toyota. Matt says he is from Dutch Island, a private Island just across the bay where there are lots of native animals. Visitors are not welcome there but he and his mate Jacko agree to take them on the 15 minute ferry trip for $900. They split the cost with the Dutch couple and they set out. Once on the island they don’t have much luck seeing animals but driving back to the ferry they have an accident that will change their lives. We are given a taste of the horror to come in a pre-chapter where Heather is murderously clutching a rusty machete while her stepdaughter lies on the ground in front of Jacko, a helpful nudge forward in the story which lacked momentum in the first half. As an Australian reader I baulked at the concept of an isolated clan, a law unto themselves (think Deliverance which is 50 years old now) living so close to Melbourne and the idea that the island was a complete communications blackspot, necessary for plot reasons but difficult to believe. It is ridiculous that they would pay money to a couple of dodgy blokes rather than visit one of the wildlife sanctuaries in the area and I wondered why the CFS didn’t turn up as soon as fire started on the island. It was hard to take seriously when the predictable encounters with spiders, sharks and snakes turned up but that said, the pace picked up in the second half with plenty of action, torture, manhunts and guns so if the reader can suspend disbelief, lovers of this genre will happily go along for the ride.
This book has been described by some reviewers as Dickensian, and it is a world of various eccentric characters, so many at times, that it is hard to keep track of them. For me it was the character of the charming independent minded Dora that kept me engaged, allowing me to let the rest just flow. Scenes and bits of stories are interleaved with Dora’s story, like small vignettes with strange seemingly unrelated people; but going with the flow, eventually all the little pieces come together to create the bigger picture. It’s a bit like looking through the apparatus in the National Museum of the Worker that Dora curates, to see the strange fragments and scenarios down the spyglass and not knowing what it all means.
Dora, a maid who takes charge of her life, and captures the heart of her ‘Lieutenant’, a university rebel in the revolution that is taking over the city, becomes the curator of the neglected Museum of the Worker, a safe place to stay at least, though what she really wanted was to work at the Society for Psykical Research, the place that she thinks is linked to the death of her brother Ambrose, a mystery she wants to solve.
There are many dark and horrible characters in this story: the brutish Sergeant van Goor, and the sadistic Captain Anthony, are just a couple, and there are scenes of gruesome torture and death. On the other hand, there is the naive Lieutenant, simple and foolish, and Dora with her droll but caring contemplation of him. And then there is also Ike, the smart, quick-witted boy of the streets, who takes two young orphans under his wing. These characters are very likeable and help to sustain the interest of the reader through the meanders of the story.
It is world of revolution, upheaval, chaos, and cats. The cats are numerous, worshipped by some, and despised by others. Perhaps it is the cats who see all and understand all. We can only follow the threads and try to work it out. The curator is a fantastical story, completely unlike other works of fantasy, and will appeal to readers who are prepared to be baffled even until its enigmatic but romantic conclusion.
Tim Harford, British economist, journalist and presenter of BBC Radio 4's More or Less, has written his first children’s book, The Truth Detective: How To Make Sense of a World That Doesn’t Add Up. This book is described as 'an investigative adventure packed with tips and tricks to help you hunt down the truth about the world around you - using the power of numbers and your own brilliant brain.'
The book is divided into three sections: The Truth Detective Mindset, The Skills of a truth Detective and How to Crack Difficult Cases. There is a contents page and introduction preceding the sections and the book contains easily accessible information with plenty of white space surrounding the text. Throughout the book, orange, black and white are the predominant colours used, and draw the reader’s eye to bold headings, images, tables and important questions and information. The reader is encouraged to observe, deduce, look at clues, use tips, tools and tactics, look at trustworthy sources and fake news in solving or understanding the situations posed.
One of the tables presented include the Hundred-Billionaires list of four, all men of course. The author then poses the question what does that tell us about the world? After this table he introduces the Forbes Fictional 15 list -the richest people in novels and films; which includes characters such as Willy Wonka, Lara Croft and Jabba the Hutt. His conversation then involves a discussion about wealth, poverty and uses the example of the Melinda and Bill Gates Foundation and what it has achieved.
This book is not a quick read. So many examples and scenarios are shared that may interest older middle grade to secondary even adult readers. This book certainly makes the reader question and think deeply about what is going on in the world.
Themes Numbers, Data, World Events, Truth, Investigation, Curiosity, Humour, Deep Thinking, Problem Solving, Money Issues, Justice.
Kathryn Beilby
The Ivies by Alexa Donne
Ember, 2022. ISBN: 9780593303733. (Age:YA)
The Ivies is a YA boarding school murder mystery firmly set in well-to-do America. The plot hinges on the importance of excelling in entrance essays, exams and extra-curricular activities, if a student wants to gain entry into an Ivy League college.
A group of five girls at exclusive $65,000/year Clafin Academy have been plotting to ensure their admission to the colleges of their choice, mainly by sabotaging their peers’ efforts with cut-throat competitiveness. This backfires spectacularly when one of the ‘Ivies’, as they are known, is found dead after receiving notice of her acceptance into Harvard.
Feeling that the police are incompetent and school administration corrupt, Olivia the narrator teams up with her co-editor of the school magazine in an attempt to discover her friend’s killer. In the process they unearth illegal scams, IT hacks and underhand sabotages that the Ivies have perpetuated on classmates and even on members of their own group.
A number of the aspects of how the school is run border on the unbelievable if not illegal and the ultra-rich lifestyles of the students is over-the-top, but if you can overlook or revel in this, you have an easy-read thriller with so many red herrings that one-by-one most of the main characters fall under suspicion.
There are potentially interesting subplots concerning racism and class differences but these are not explored in any depth. However, having worked informally in college admissions consulting, Donne understands how high-stakes and involved this is. She has used this knowledge and experience to write a fast-paced YA novel, based on the antics of a gang of entitled girls.
Warnings: Drug use, language, death, bullying.
Themes Boarding school, Thriller, Mean girls, Murder mystery.
Margaret Crohn
Bad Grammar: a school for gentlemen by Nathan Luff
Bourkely Boys Grammar, aka Bad Grammar, is hardly a school for gentlemen, more likely a school for thugs, as Marcus soon finds out when his parents and his teacher determine to send him there, mistakenly driven to this extreme measure by Marcus's obsessive preoccupation with computer gaming. On the bus, before he even arrives at the school, he has a run-in with the hardened bully ‘Scarface’, and it is not long before Scarface has found the way to blackmail Marcus into subservience.
But Marcus is not beaten. His computer gaming experience see him step up to the challenges that face him, and with his sidekicks, Fred and Trent, he sets about finding a way to escape from the prison he is in, defeat the monsters that beset him, and solve the mysteries of Bad Grammar.
This is a rollicking read for junior readers, fast paced and very funny. The chapters are titled Level 1, Level 2, etc, as the Marcus advances through the game world he creates out of his situation. In the end, Marcus, formerly Marcus No Friends, finds out what it takes to be a true warrior, leader and good friend. It’s a lot of fun, and is certain to be a winner with readers who are looking for the next level up from Luff’s Nerd Herd books.
Ant Stevenson muses on what it takes to lose your virginity if you are a boy who likes boys. There are 5 levels he defines but he muses that he has done all five, could still be a virgin and knows what loneliness means. The reader must imagine the key words in the list because they are blacked out, as he tells his friend Charlie, “It’s that kind of story. Certain words are necessary because this is real life, but you can’t actually show ‘em because we’re too young to read about the stuff we actually do, yeah?”p10. Ant, Charlie Freddie and Jack are old friends, always seated together alphabetically at St Michael’s Boys school, but Jack has recently re-joined the group in year 11 after 7 years away. Ant and Charlie play football together but Freddie is now trying to persuade Ant to play rugby with him. Jack is physically smaller and does drama and choir, falling into the stereotypical ‘camp” classification by the other boys. But all is not as it seems, Charlie and Ant have been secretly having sexual encounters; Charlie insists they are ‘just goofing around …just a release until we get girlfriends”p32 but Ant would like to kiss him, something Charlie will not allow. When Freddie keeps asking Ant to join him for Rugby training encouraged by Jack, Charlie’s jealousy gets the better of him and things fall apart. This short novella is beautifully illustrated by Tea Bendix but, disappointingly, I didn’t find the images enhanced the text. There was a nice feeling for adolescent boys and classrooms but the pictures didn’t line up with the characters except for a sulky looking Charlie. The redacted words were a bit gimmicky, a distraction as the reader imagines the forbidden words and there is no such restriction on the use of homophobic expletives. But overall this is an interesting exploration of the enduring power of friendship and acceptance in the face of jealousy and betrayal. Fans of Patrick Ness's books will embrace this one. The book treads a fine line where school libraries are concerned, the words might be removed but the story and illustrations are still about young people having sex.
My first Gruffalo: Gruffalo Growl by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler
Macmillan, 2023. ISBN: 9781035004591.
The first in the Gruffalo range of books being produced by MacMillan under the series name, My First Gruffalo, is sure to win hearts in the younger age group targeted. A strongly bound board book with a securely robust button to press to make the growl, will engage all children eager to turn the pages to find which animal makes the growl they can hear. A group of animals is represented, the question being asked on each double page whether it is that animal that makes the growl. Each is dismissed until the last page reveals the Gruffalo.
Children will love repeating the lines with the reader as it is read out loud, take turns pressing the button and join together in making the real noise which the animal on each page makes: a snake, an owl, a fox and a mouse. Each animal begs for its noise to be heard as they ask what is making the growl they can all hear. What fun when they find it is the Gruffly, with the last page asking them to growl like a Gruffalo, and leading them to Julia Donaldson’s other books about this famous creature.
The illustrator, Alex Scheffler, adds a humorous note to the images of the clutch of animals he presents and more information about this illustrator can be found here.
Information about Julia Donaldson and her work can be found here.
After a bit of a slow start, with many pages building characters and recreating issues and events of the late 1980s, the plot of McDermid’s latest novel does become more interesting as Allie, an investigative journalist, uncovers corrupt drug trials and begins to crack a kidnapping plot in East Germany. Not crime fiction as much as a depiction of the many issues of that era: the Lockerbie bombing, the response to the rise of AIDS, Western dealings behind the Iron Curtain, East Berlin on the brink of revolution, beginnings of climate change action, the Hillsborough football stampede. All of these events are viewed by a female journalist trying to assert her place in the demandingly competitive world commanded by media moguls comparable to Murdoch.
At the heart of the book, there is a mystery to be solved, and Allie is up to the challenge, ably supported by her loving partner Rona. It does all take its toll on Allie, and their relationship is stretched a little as their separate careers take them in different directions, to the point that Allie sounds like she wants to take a break from investigative journalism. But she’s said that before, and I don’t think any reader will be surprised if there is another Allie Burns story. Readers of 1979 and 1989 would expect another slow burn of a story, supported by a thorough research of the era depicted.
Themes Journalism, World events, Iron curtain, Media empires, 1980s.
