sevenstories’ #CBR4 Reviews #53 – 60: YA Fiction

53. My Swordhand is Singing by Marcus Sedgwick

I’m a big fan of Marcus’ books, I’ve read most of his novels for teenagers and this is probably my third favourite (second is below and first is
Midwinterblood which I reviewed properly on my blog here.) This is a wintery, fast-paced story of family, myth and vampires (the scary, not sparkly, kind). Peter is a very engaging hero and his relationship with his father incredibly moving, especially at the end. There are plenty of twists and turns and some wonderful supporting characters. Marcus also directed a superb theatre experience of a section of Swordhand for the Pop Up Festival in London this year which was phenomenal – there’s a video of bits of it on his website.

54. Blood Red, Snow White by Marcus Sedgwick

As I said, this is my second favourite of Marcus’ books and another wintery setting – this time in Russia. This is the semi-true story of the author Arthur Ransome and is an intricate and moving fairy tale within a fairy tale as Ransome’s stories and his own story wind around each other and around communist Russia, politics, spies and romance. I really enjoyed the way Marcus plays with the stories within stories and found it refreshingly different for a YA novel. Marcus has visited my school a few times now and also helped me out with my dissertation but I’m pretty sure I would still have loved this if I had never met him!

55. Jimmy Coates: Killer by Joe Craig

This is the action packed first book in the series about Jimmy Coates, a kind of teenage Bourne. It’s engaging from the very start, with lots of action and suspense and is insanely popular with my students at school – particularly Y7 & 8 boys. The final action sequence is very unputdownable with some unexpected twists and lots of conflicting loyalties. Jimmy is an incredibly likeable hero – he was chosen by one boy as his literary best friend in a recent Book Club activity where we picked our literary family trees (which was so much fun). Again, Joe has visited my school and did a wonderful session for my Y7s where he asked them for ideas for stories and wove them all together in front of them, and had them in stitches whilst doing so.

56. A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

This was a re-read and I reviewed it properly when it first came out last year here. Since that review, A Monster Calls has won a whole heap of awards over here in the UK including the Red House Children’s Book Award and the Carnegie Medal, both of which I was lucky enough to be invited to take some students to. Red House is a wonderful award because it is voted for by the children and they get to be a big part of the process and also the ceremony day. We got to go to London and have lunch with all the nominated authors and illustrators and have photos taken etc. and the two Y8 girls I took had an amazing day, so thank you Red House. Carnegie is a lot more industry-y with not many children invited, which made it awesome for us to get tickets, and there were amazing canapes, but it was also a bit less child-friendly and bit more networky. It’s such a prestigious award though that me and the four students I took were just super excited to be there, we got to see the winner announced and hear Patrick’s speech and get photos with him afterwards as well as meeting the shortlisted authors who were all lovely and happy to sign books for my students (and me!).

57. Just In Case by Meg Rosoff

I’m a big fan of How I Live Now, Meg’s first novel, but thought that The Bride’s Farewell was a bit too Hardy-esque and melancholy for it’s intended audience (I reviewed it here). Whilst I didn’t love this as much as How I Live Now (even though this one won the Carnegie in 2007), I thought it was intelligent, thought-provoking and engaging. Our hero decides that Fate is wreaking havoc in his life after his baby brother nearly falls out of a window and decides to change his name and complete personality to try and give Fate the slip. Meg’s writing is wonderful in this, we here from the perspectives of several characters including his baby brother in a particularly clever and emotive way. This is a serious book that doesn’t patronise teenage readers and I imagine will really connect to their struggles in deciding who they really are.

58. What I Was by Meg Rosoff

I did like this story of friendship and first love and I always find Meg’s writing beautiful but I just wasn’t as engaged emotionally as I wanted to be. It does capture wonderfully the wistful longing and constant second guessing you get when you meet someone  and the exploration of growing up and gender is clever and subtle. It’s basically the story of a boy who goes to a stern coastal boarding school and meets Finn who lives in a cottage by the sea. It’s a lovely study of memory and freedom and self and I struggle to articulate why it didn’t quite connect with me the same way How I Live Now and Just In Case did. A key element of the story is that we don’t know a great deal about Finn because we see through our protagonist’s eyes but between that and not actually getting that much about our protagonist beyond his opinions about Finn I think I just lacking a bit of engagement with the central relationship. But the quality of Meg’s writing is undeniable and I would recommend it to fans of hers.

59. The Secret Hen House Theatre by Helen Peters

This is a perfectly serviceable family story for younger readers about a girl who dreams of writing and starring in plays whilst also dealing with the death of her mother and her family’s farm running out of money. If it had been a bit shorter I would probably be a lot more positive about it but it’s just too long for a simple story with a bit too much faffing around in the first half of the book. But, I imagine it will be enjoyed by girls between about 8 – 12, particularly those with a love of animals or drama. There’s a good balance of family drama and adventure but probably could have done without a subplot to do with some boys at school which didn’t add much. A pleasant but flawed read.

60. The True Tale of the Monster Billy Dean by David Almond

Definitely my favourite on this list; David is a phenomenal writer and Billy Dean is no exception. The story is written in very short chapters from the perspective of Billy and as Billy can’t read or write well, it is written semi-phonetically which does take a while to get used to but creates such a powerful voice for Billy. The basic plot is that Billy was born during the bombing of his town and that has allowed him to hidden away as he is the secret child of his mother and the corrupt town priest. The first third of the story is before Billy is introduced to the world and is heart breakingly beautiful as he negotiates the occasional visit from his father and wrestles with what life is all about. The rest is when he is brought back into the bomb-ruined town and forced to work for the medium contacting the dead for the bereaved. The story is incredibly powerful and jaw droppingly beautiful and I can’t recommend it highly enough. It is intricate, careful and wonderful.  It’s currently on the Carnegie longlist for 2013 and I hope to see it on the shortlist.

” I am entransd. I am enchanted by the byuty of the world. I wark throu lejons of the lovely living things. I wander in the relms of lite.”

Idgiepug’s #CBR4 Review #29: My Name is Mina by David Almond

I liked David Almond’s Skellig, but I didn’t LOVE it the way some people do, and the same goes for My Name is Mina.  Mina is a pre-teen who struggles to fit in with her classmates and teachers, especially after the untimely death of her father.  After a particularly disastrous, though creative, standardized test essay, Mina’s mother decides to pull her out of school and homeschool her.  Mina begins keeping a journal, which forms the novel.  Mina is an interesting narrator, and most of us can identify with parts of her story.  She’s smart, creative, and fascinated by the natural world, but she struggles when it comes to interacting with people.  As she keeps her diary and writes about the things that have happened to her and the relationships she’s had in her life, she begins to realize that perhaps she was not so isolated and mistreated as she once thought.

Almond does a nice job of capturing that most troubling and difficult part of a person’s life.  Mina is on the cusp of adulthood but still trying to figure out how to move through the adult world, how to interact with people, and how to take all her personality and carve out a place in the world for herself.  At times, though, the book seemed almost manufactured for use in classrooms.  It felt that Almond sat down with the idea of writing a book that teachers would select for their middle-school classes.  Mina even includes helpful “activities” for her readers to try that feel custom-made for schools.  Maybe I’m being a bit paranoid here and reading too much into the book, and, to be fair, I really did enjoy the story.  My Name is Mina is a good “tweener” novel, certainly better than some other more-famous books geared for that age group.

sevenstories’ 2012 Carnegie Summary

Sorry to hijack for something that is not strictly Cannonball but I’ve been reading the eight books on the Carnegie Medal shortlist over the last six weeks or so and have reviewed them all as part of Cannonball.

I’ve just posted a summary of the shortlist on my blog with the books in my personal order with a few thoughts on which will win which I’m linking to here. So please have a look if you’re interested in children’s/YA fiction or the Carnegie medal.

I’m beside myself with excitement that I managed to get some tickets to the ceremony tomorrow in London so I’ll be tweeting about it @acaseforbooks (it’s protected, sorry, but I work in a school and use it for personal things as well but I accept anyone except students!) and will hopefully do a blog post as well, particularly if I manage to get some good photos.

Normal reviews will now continue…

sevenstories’ #CBR4 Review #43: Skellig by David Almond

“Michael was looking forward to moving house. It was all going to be wonderful. But now his baby sister’s ill, his parents are frantic and Doctor Death has come to call. Michael feels helpless. Then he steps into the crumbling garage… What is this thing beneath the spiders’ webs and dead flies? A human being, or a strange kind of beast never seen before? The only person Michael can confide in is Mina. Together, they carry the creature out into the light, and Michael’s world changes forever…”

First Line: “I found him in the garage on a Sunday afternoon.”

Why I read it: After reading My Name is Mina, the recently released prequel, I wanted to reread this.  I read it when I was much younger and didn’t really like it but I loved My Name is Mina and wanted to see if my opinion had changed, reading it as an adult.

Who I would recommend it to: If you’re after a quick read with depth and you don’t mind unsolved problems and unanswered questions.

Whilst I much preferred Skellig second time round, I can’t say it is up there as a classic for me, which it is often described as. Indeed, it won the Carnegie award when it was first published which is high praise indeed. So I didn’t like this the first time I read it, which would have been when I was around 12 or 13 but I can’t really remember any specifics about why I didn’t like it but I have grown up knowing I didn’t like it, criticising it to English teachers and not recommending it to students. I now feel bad about that. Although to me it is a good read, it didn’t transcend any boundaries for me and whilst it had some lovely moments, it is nowhere near my list of favourites. My Name is Mina is a far superior book in my opinion, although it obviously does build on themes and ideas that were first created here. I can see why this won Carnegie, even if it isn’t to my particular taste, as it is unique and carefully written, something that is all too unusual in the children’s fiction market.

The full review is on my blog.

 

sevenstories’ #CBR4 Review #42: My Name is Mina by David Almond

“Mina’s a rebel. She can’t be controlled and she won’t fit in. People say she’s weird. Some says she’s just crazy. But all she wants is to be free, to be happy, and to be herself. One night, as she sits in the moonlight, she picks up an empty notebook, and begins to write. And here is her journal, Mina’s life in Mina’s own words; her stories and dreams, experiences and thoughts, her scribblings and nonsense, poems and songs. Her vivid account of her vivid life.”

I read Skellig when I was much younger and didn’t really like it so when My Name as Mina was announced as being on the Carnegie shortlist this year, I wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about reading the prequel to Skelling. However, I was totally unprepared for how much I loved this. Almond’s writing is beautiful and Mina is a truly remarkable creation. The word I would use to sum this up is uplifting, I felt really inspired and moved reading this and I would highly recommend this. I think it is going to be a battle between this and A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness for my pick for the Carnegie win. This book is magical and wonderful. It inspired me to work harder to nurture the students I have responsibility for and to try and make sure that they see the world to be as magical a place as Mina does, filled with endless opportunities and beauty.

The full review is on my blog.

First Line: “My name is Mina and I love the night.”

Why I read it: It is on the current Carnegie Prize shortlist.

Who I would recommend it to: Fans of quirky yet lyrical writing and you don’t mind a story not driven by plot. If you don’t mind precocious child narrators.