Book Reviews: 8th September

Franklin's Flying Bookshop by Jen Campbell is a charming story all about sharing the love of reading and books with friends.

All poor Franklin wants to do is talk about his favourite books with the people in the village, but every time he approaches someone, they run away – all because he’s a dragon!  Luckily for him, a young girl who shares his love of stories helps him hatch a plan to open Franklins very own bookshop – on his back!

We can’t talk about new books this week without mentioning that one of our favourite children’s series has a new book out. The Goth Girl series by Chris Riddell started back in 2013 and was an instant hit, and it’s back with Goth Girl and the Sinister Symphony.

There’s a music festival at Ghastly-Gorm Hall with musicians from all over the country, and Ada can’t wait for it. Unfortunately for Ada, it’s not the only thing going on, and she has to make sure everything goes to plan while dealing with a faun in her wardrobe, Maltravers up to his old tricks and her grandmother trying to find her father a new wife. Chris Riddell once again brings us a brilliant book with his beautiful illustrations (and a free mini book inside; Fable of Faun!)

Over to YA now, and Imogen couldn’t resist recommending Adam Silvera’s They Both Die at the End. Having finished one of Silvera’s books (History is all You Left Me) only a week ago, Imogen already knew that he is a wonderful storyteller who understands the nature of being human – from friendship to heartache to everything in between.

In his new book, Death-Cast call people to announce their deaths in the next 24 hours. There’s nothing you can do to stop it, nothing you can do to change it – it’s just a warning to help people live their last day properly.

Mateo Torrez and Rufus Emerterio have never met, but they have one thing in common; on September 5th, they were both called. Using an app called Last Friend, they meet for the first time and try and have one last adventure – living a lifetime in a single day.

False Lights by K.J. Whittaker is a fantastic alternative history, starting with the premise that Napoleon has won the Battle of Waterloo and invaded Britain.  With Josephine presiding in London, and the population of Cornwall in open rebellion against French rule, young heiress Hester Harewood and Wellington’s former intelligence officer Jack Crowlas are drawn into the plot to free the Duke of Wellington from his incarceration on the Isles of Scilly.

K J Whittaker draws the reader into a world full of adventure, romance, treachery, and espionage, with believable characters and wonderfully evocative settings of Scilly, Cornwall and London.

And finally, you’ve probably heard more than one of the team rave about this book in the last few weeks, is Adam Kay and his darkly hilarious This is Going to Hurt.  The book is a no-holds-barred account of Adam's time working as a junior doctor on the NHS front line.

Kay now works as a comedy writer for the BBC now, and you can tell why from reading the book;  even in the saddest of moments inside the book, his way of seeing the funny side will make you laugh out loud.  It shines a light, not only on the way our hospitals are run, but the people that deal with the darkest of moments in everyday life.

3 4 Friday - Ghostly mice, mischievous felines and baby aliens

Congratulations to Chris Riddell for being awarded the Costa Children’s Book Award with ‘Goth Girl’, particularly because it has been a particular favourite with us all. We love not just the story, but that the publishers have done such a terrific job of making a book that is beautiful to look at and to hold. 

If you haven’t get discovered this treasure of a story, about lonely Ada Goth; or the wonderful silvery gothic detailing inside this book – come and feast your eyes – and discover how Ada with a ghostly mouse called Ishmael foil a dastardly plot that Maltravers, the mysterious indoor gamekeeper, is hatching. Seriously good stuff and one of those books that would appeal to a wide age range (7-12) and just gorgeous.

For today's 3-4-Friday #FridayReads, we thought we'd tell you about three new children's books that we feel will become favourites in 2014 - for pre-school, middle-grade and teen.

It's always a joy to see a new Slinky Malinki book and in ‘Slinky Malinki Early Bird’, Slinki creeps up the stairs to wake up a family who would rather stay in bed and who don’t react in a very friendly fashion. With its familiar rhyming text and delightful pictures of Slinky Malinki going about life in his cat-way, this is a picture-book delight for fans old and new.

Another book we have been enjoying is ‘Baby Aliens Got My Teacher!’ by Pamela Butchart. Here is a review by nine year-old Alex:

      "This was a very funny book about four friends, Izzy, Zach, Maize and Jodi, whose teacher, Miss Jones, suddenly starts acting really weird (by actually being nice to them). Zach tells them that he has seen a film about a lady who is really horrible to everyone in the village but then starts acting really nice to people . . . and she has a baby alien in her ear and starts putting baby aliens into their ears and is planning an alien invasion. 
     The next day Miss Jones is still acting weird and they start sneaking around the school looking for evidence that Miss Jones may be planning an alien invasion. I really enjoyed this book and got really stuck in. It is hilarious and has lots of brilliant words and illustrations. I think this book will make the charts in no time. So all I can say is, READ IT."

For older readers who may be looking for a change of scene from the wave of dystopian fiction of late, Nicki enjoyed ‘Stella’ by Helen Eve. 

This is an engrossing modern day teen drama about a school Queen Bee and the arrival of an American girl who sets out to take her crown. It’s a world of the beautiful and successful – and the deadly. There are shocks a plenty, some good social observations about popularity and control, and a good gothic feel to this story about the rivalry that threatens a whole school. What lengths will two girls go to as they fight for the top and is there nothing they won’t stoop to not to come second? 

As always, if you are looking for something to get children reading, we are always here to help with recommendations.