The Skylarks' War by Hilary McKay

Being a resident of Cornwall, I was drawn to this book because it's partly set in this beautiful county, as well as Plymouth and France. I haven't read any of Hilary McKay's other books (I'm ashamed to say), not even 'Saffy's Angel', for which she won the 2002 Whitbread Children's Book of the Year. But I've heard wonderful things about her stories, so was itching to read this one.

The story follows brother and sister Clarry and Peter, growing up in Plymouth in the early 1900s with their father (their mother died after giving birth to Clarry), and holidaying in Cornwall during the summer holidays with their grandparents and their cousin Rupert. Their father doesn't have a good bond with them, always preferring to sit on his own in his study rather than talking to his children, so Clarry and Peter always desperately look forward to their summer jaunts by the sea. When not in Cornwall during the holidays, Rupert goes to boarding school, and Peter is told he must go too. He is adamantly against this, and takes drastic measures to make sure he doesn't have to go. However, in the long run his plan doesn't have much effect and off he goes. He does make a very close friend while there, Simon, who is also very much in awe of Rupert. While the boys are at boarding school, Clarry battles against the sexism of the time whereby young ladies weren't meant to have ambitions, or want to learn anything other than needlecraft and cookery. She's a strong-willed and independent girl, and stands up to her father to make sure she gets her way. However the First World War is soon upon them, and the rosy dreams of endless summer holidays and laughter is brought to an abrupt end. How will the war affect the children's friendship? And will they all survive it?

McKay is very clever at how she explains the horror and pain of the war in a realistic but not over-dramatic way. After all, her audience is young children aged 9-12, so they need to be told the facts, but not in a way to give them nightmares. It was educational concerning how females were treated at the time, and also about how people rallied around doing their bit for the war effort. I was slightly disappointed that there weren't more descriptive scenes about their surroundings in either Cornwall or Plymouth, the text was more conversational. However, saying that, I enjoyed the book, I loved all the characters (Simon's sister Vanessa was slightly over-enthusiastic for me!), and it was a moving and fast-paced story.

Bookworm by Lucy Mangan

This is a must-read for all you life-long bookworms out there, you know who you are. Since the age of 6, sat on your bed or the sofa with your nose in a book, with your mum hoovering around your feet. I have holiday pics of me aged about 8 or 9 on a Greek island, my dad waterskiing, my sister frollicking in the sea, and me sitting on a rock with my hair in a scarf, sunglasses on, a book propped open on my knees, oblivious to everything going on around me. I think if I didn't give books away every now and then (yes it's true, well there are some books I read believe it or not that I'm not keen on and thus don't want to keep), my house would look how Lucy Mangan's sounds.

On the whole, I related well to most of the books Lucy talks about reading while growing up. She's about 8 years younger than me, and surpisingly that's made a difference in her teen choice of books. She talks about Sweet Valley High, but when I was a teen I was reading a whole range of adult books from Daphne du Maurier's 'Rebecca' to Jilly Cooper's 'Riders', Nevil Shute's 'A Town Like Alice', George Eliot's 'Silas Marner'. I don't remember there being a craze for reading amongst my school contemporaries - I always felt that I was the only one reading.

Also, Lucy talks about books she loved when she was less than 5, picture books and such. I don't remember anything like that. The earliest books I remember being my absolute favourites were Milly Molly Mandy (which Lucy also talks about, which I love her for) and Mrs Pepperpot. But picture books like The Very hungry Caterpillar, or Dr Seuss - nope. But that may be because my sister and I weren't read to by our parents? I don't know, I don't like to ask them in case that was the case and I make them feel guilty.

However, Lucy's whole section from Milly Molly Mandy upto about age 12 I could totally relate to, and I just adored her descriptions of them, and why she was totally in love with them. Lucy also had a great sense of humour, and had me laughing out loud in a few places. The one downside to her writing was her extremely over-long sentences. Oh my goodness, they were so long I would lose the thread and have to start it again. Hyphens, brackets, commas - gosh, as soon as I saw one coming, I'd gloss over it and start the next sentence. Not ideal.

Apart from that, this is a lovely book to read to evoke those wonderful moments when it was just you and a book. Let the world carry on around you.

The Only Story by Julian Barnes

I blow hot and cold with novels by Julian Barnes. I just loved 'Arthur & George', but was left dulled by 'The Sense of an Ending' and 'The Noise of Time'. But I wanted to give him another chance (aren't I kind!), so tried this one. I loved it - well, most of it. The book is split into 3 parts, and I think Part 3 could have been edited much more thoroughly. There was much repetition, and I was a little bored, but not enough to put me off the book.

The story is set in the 1960s in Surrey. Paul Casey is a 19 year-old student who is told by his parents to join the local tennis club. There he meets Susan Macleod, 48, married, mother of 2 children the same age as Paul. They fall madly in love and start an affair. Part one of the book is narrated by Paul as an older man, looking back at the start of the affair, and describing their feelings, and the reactions of those around them. Part two recounts their running away and starting a new life together, but the slow breakdown of their relationship as Susan becomes depressed, turns to alcohol, and starts to lose her mind. Part three is set in the present day with Paul describing his feelings now, and whether he feels guilt about what happened to Susan.

It's such an emotional read. It shows that love can jump out at anyone at anytime, and how strongly it can affect us. But also when it goes wrong, it affects us just as strongly - we can be scarred for life. There is so much of life that Paul/Julian is commenting on, you start to question whether he is right. What is the meaning of love? There is one thing for sure though - your first love stays with you for the rest of your life.

The Cactus by Sarah Haywood

I think at the moment I'm definitely liking stories involving characters with quirky personalities - slightly oddball, perhaps on the spectrum. I recently read 'Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine' by Gail Honeyman, which I absolutely loved, and then more recently 'Three Things About Elsie' by Joanna Cannon, which was also delightful. 'The Cactus' is along a similar vein, and it did not disappoint.

Susan Green likes order and logic; she does not like time-wasters, mess or emotions. She lives alone, but has a very pleasant, no-nonsense agreement with Richard, who she sees once a week for theatre, dining and ...other activities. But soon Susan's order and routine are thrown into disarray as she finds out a)she is pregnant; b)her mother has died and left the family home to her awful layabout brother Edward. Sensing something sinister is afoot, she decides to try to contest the will while at the same time going through the stages of pregnancy. All she needs to realise is that help is closer to hand than she thinks.

I loved it.

The Hoarder by Jess Kidd

Maud Drennen is a plucky, no-nonsense Irish care worker, whose latest client is Cathal Flood, a cantankerous elderly man, widowed and living alone in Bridlemere, a Victorian Grade II listed mansion in West London. Cathal is also a top-notch hoarder, a dealer in curiosities, and a keeper of secrets. Despite Cathal's efforts to frighten away Maud and her attempts to clear up his mess, he begins to soften and open little doorways into his life. But he holds too many secrets and Maud wants to know too much - what happened to his wife Mary and their daughter Maggie? Why is part of the house blocked off? Why won't he let his son Gabriel into the house? As Cathal starts to close up again, Maud finds herself taking on an investigative role, with the help of her transgender landlord, Renata, and Cathal's previous care worker, Sam Hebden. However, is Maud following red herrings, and is everyone telling the truth?

I did enjoy this book, although I found the author seemed to be trying too hard to get some laughs in. Maud is followed around by ghostly Irish saints who keep trying to point her in the right direction, and I'm not sure I like this detail - they got in the way of the story. I've previously come across the use of Irish saints as characters in a children's book (A Boy Called Hope by Lara Williamson), so this was nothing original to me. I found it took me a while to get into the story, the detail getting in the way too much, but once I'd got used to all the characters, I found it readable and enjoyable.

 

The Truth and Lies of Ella Black by Emily Barr

Emily Barr is a prolific writer of adult fiction. Her first young adult novel, The One Memory of Flora Banks, was published to critical acclaim in December 2016. This is her second young adult novel, and I think it may be my favourite.

Ella Black lives in Kent with her parents and her cat, Humphrey. She has two best friends, Lily and Jack. But Ella has a secret - sometimes when she least expects it, loud ringing noises flood her head and even though she tries to fight it, she can't stop letting Bella through. Bella is the psychotic side of Ella and makes her do mean things.

One day at school, after being rude to her teacher, Ella is called to the head's office where her mother is anxiously waiting. Ella is immediately removed from school with no explanation, but it's not back home where her parents are taking her. What happens next will turn Ella's life upside down.

Chapter One of the book is titled '40 days until she dies', and all the following chapters count down the days to this event. But who is being talked about? Whose life are we counting down the final days of?

This was such a page turner - I read it in a couple of days. It was fast-paced and full of action and adventure. Ella is brave and fearless, even when facing the most frightening scenario. Move over Flora, there's a new girl in town!

The Golden House by Salman Rushdie

I hadn't read any Salman Rushdie books before I came to this one. I know it sounds absurd, but since The Satanic Verses and the threats on his life, I've had a slight fear over his novels. Would they be too political for me, too intelligent?

Well, in The Golden House, he certainly is the latter two things, but it didn't stop me enjoying the book immensely. He throws literary, historical, cinematic and mythological references into nearly every sentence, many of which I hadn't heard! He is certainly a well-educated man, and the book a huge literary feast. The utmost care has been taken over every sentence - no noun or adjective has been misused. Sure, I might've glazed over on some paragraphs because the descriptions were just too much for my brain to cope with on one go, but overall it is a beauty of a book.

Nero Golden arrives in America with his three sons during the period of the inauguration of Obama. They all refuse to say where they have come from and the reason they left. But they bring with them power, money and danger. The story of their downfall is told by one of their neighbours, Rene Unterlinden, who is trying to find an idea for a film - and he finds it in the Goldens. This is an epic tale of Indian and American history and politics - the appearance of presidential wannabes the Joker and Bat Girl will have you grinning and wincing at the same time.

It may be over 400 pages long, but this book will drag you in and under, and you won't come up for air until the last page.

A couple of light hearted facts for you - did you know that in his early career Salman Rushdie was a copywriter for an advertising agency, and he was the one who came up with 'irresistibubble' for Aero, 'naughty but nice' for cream cakes, and 'that'll do nicely' for American Express?

Beyond the Bright Sea by Lauren Wolk

I absolutely loved Lauren's first book 'Wolf Hollow', and this second book is almost as good, but for me hasn't quite pipped the post, but is still a joy to read. Lauren is such a beautiful writer - she is an award-winning poet, and this definitely comes through in her writing. You just have to savour every single sentence, because each word is chosen so carefully and fits so perfectly. The writing is magical and the storyline and characters are magical too. Crow is a young girl living on a tiny island with her guardian, Osh. As a baby, she was wrapped up and put in a tiny boat and sent off from one island and landed on Osh's, where he found her and has brought her up as his own. Now Crow is older, she starts wondering about the island she was cast adrift from - an old leper colony - and of her real parents. Will her curiosity spoil the wonderfully simple life she leads with Osh? Is danger lurking close by, threatening her, Osh and their close friend Maggie?

Lauren Wolk is a true talent and I very much look forward to her next book.

The Day That Went Missing by Richard Beard

In the summer of 1978, Richard (aged 11) and his family (brothers Nicky, 9, 13-yr-old Tim, 6-yr-old Jem and mum, dad and grandparents) were on holiday near Port Isaac in Cornwall. They decided to go to a nearby beach for a picnic. With the tide coming in, mum decided it was time to pack up and go, but Richard and Nicky wanted one last swim. They ran across rocks to an empty cove and jumped into the sea. Within minutes, with the tide rushing in, they were out of their depth. Richard saw his younger brother struggling to keep his head above the water, and with himself struggling he managed to swim to the beach to get help. That was the last time Richard saw his brother alive. Getting help meant running up the coastal path (about a 15 minute run) to the local farmhouse, where a call was made to the RNLI. Rescuers arrived about 40 mins after Richard left the water. Too late to help Nicky. Within the week, they'd had the funeral (which the boys didn't attend), and were back down to Cornwall finishing their paid-for holiday in the same holiday cottage, and at the same beach. Nicky wasn't spoken of again amongst the family.

This book is Richard's way, now in his early 50s, of coming to terms with the death of his brother, and trying to finally grieve for him. He interviews his family members, trying to find out why they never spoke of Nicky's death, or even of Nicky himself, and he returns to Cornwall to the place where they holidayed, and to the beach itself.

Living in Cornwall myself, I am all too aware of the dangers of the sea and the quick-turning tides, and during the tourist season there are many stories in our local papers of accidents involving holiday-makers getting stranded, or worse, during high tides. What happened to Nicky was indeed tragic, but how the family dealt with the aftermath of his death was just as upsetting. Why are there no photos of Nicky around the house? Why does Richard not know the date Nicky died? Why was he not allowed at the funeral? Why did the father drive them back to Cornwall after the funeral to finish the holiday? Because Richard has never been able to openly grieve for his brother, some of the terms he uses and the way he speaks of his brother come across as very cold. He asks blunts questions of his mother, whether it's because he is unfeeling himself, or whether he is punishing her for how she handled the situation, it's not really clear. 

This is an emotional read, and I hope Richard is now finally able to grieve for the brother he wasn't able to save.

Anything is Possible by Elizabeth Strout

I read another of Elizabeth's books called 'Olive Kitteridge' on a recommendation of a colleague a few months ago, and I fell in love with her writing. It wasn't what I expected - it read like a collection of short stories, with one character, the titular Olive, being the thread running through them all. I'm not usually a fan of short stories, and I don't like to describe it as such to customers coming into our bookshop in case it puts them off for that reason, but in this case I just loved them. Elizabeth Strout the author is wonderful at character analyses and descriptions, and day to day life and relationships are described in such a realistic and truthful (and sometimes ruthless) way.

I was eager to read her next book 'Lucy Barton', and I was very disappointed. This followed Lucy being visited in hospital by her estranged mother. Even though other characters are alluded to and memories brought to the fore, it mainly deals with the strained relationship between Lucy and her mother, and I missed the other characters and descriptions from 'Olive'.

I was willing to give her another go, and thus read 'Anything Is Possible'. I loved it. It surpassed my love of 'Olive Kitteridge'. This book follows the other characters that were mentioned in 'Lucy Barton', including her brother and sister, her cousins, her aunt, her school janitor - they're all in there, with Lucy being the thread through it all, and I just adored that return to style of 'Olive'. The last chapter is especially moving. Highly recommended.

Swimming Lessons by Claire Fuller

Oh I just thought this was wonderful - I didn't want it to end. It's one of those books that you just want to be part of, you want to live in their world and live how they live. I guess in this instance it's because all the characters are very free spirited and they all enjoy their lives. I don't want to make out it's a happy book, because it isn't really. A mother has gone missing, feared drowned, so her husband and children have spent 11 years not knowing whether she'll come back into their lives or not. The book has 3 intertwined storylines - the present where it's 2004, the children are grown up and carrying on with their lives, and the father, Gil, has an out-of-control habit of collecting second hand books that have old letters or notes or doodles from past owners in them. The second storyline is from the mother, Ingrid, in 1992 where she is writing letters to an absent Gil, telling him what she and their daughters are doing with their lives, and hiding the letters inside books. The third storyline is also set within the letters - Ingrid is retelling the story from when she and Gil first met in 1976, upto the present. It is mostly through these letters that we learn all the characters, especially that of Gil, and what may have caused Ingrid to disappear.

I loved all the characters, but all in a different way. I thought they were very realistic. I just wanted it to go on and on. I'm definitely going to have to read her first novel 'Our Endless Numbered Days, which won the 2015 Desmond Elliott Prize.

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

This is not a new title - the book was first published in 2008, and many of the chapters were originally published as short stories in various magazines from as early as 1992. I'm not quite sure why it was re-released, but it made an appearance as a Waterstones book of the month about 2 months ago, and has become a bit of a bestseller. In 2014 it was turned into a mini-series on HBO with Frances McDormand (of 'Fargo' fame) in the title role.

It took me a while to settle into the standalone chapters style. When I'm introduced to characters in a first chapter, I make sure I remember their names, their characteristics, I decide whether I love them or hate them, so it comes as a bit of 'slap' when suddenly they're not mentioned in the next chapter, nor the one after, and I'm introduced to a bunch of new characters and it's like starting a new book all over again. I've never been a fan of short stories, but luckily this book can't really be classed as that. The book is called 'Olive Kitteridge' because she is the main character who makes an appearance in most chapters, whether as an acquaintance, a child's teacher, a wife, a friend, a saviour, a neighbour. Many of the chapters are very moving and emotional - there was many a moment when there was a tear in my eye. They're so full of feeling and so well written that they made me take out pen and paper and write half a page of an emotional moment in my life - I guess you could call that therapy.

This is a book that you would easily want to read again, and I thoroughly recommend it.

Today Will Be Different by Maria Semple

The last book I read by Maria Semple was 'Where'd You Go, Bernadette?' which I absolutely loved. This one....meh...hmmm...not so much. A bit higgledy piggledy, a bit all over the place, some early facts I think she actually forgot until later, when she quickly had to tie it up in a few sentences, the young boy in it is only 8 but sometimes talks and acts older than his mother, and the ending is a bit too unbelievable for me.

Eleanor Flood, well known for being the Director of Animation on a famous cartoon show 'Looper Wash', is married to Joe, a well-revered hand surgeon to the stars. They are both 50 years old, and have an 8-yr-old son Timby (born Timothy), and a terrier/pug cross, Yo-Yo. Eleanor wakes up one morning determined to be different - she will give more time to her husband and son, will put on a dress and look smarter, she will be a nicer, calmer person. She walks the dog (because she has to - Joe doesn't particularly like Yo-Yo), drops Timby off at school, and goes off to her poetry class (to try to improve her memory by learning and reciting the lines). But soon the day starts to take a turn for the worse. 

Timby's school rings to say he is feeling unwell. This is the third time in a couple of weeks that he's done this, and has feigned tummy-ache, so already Eleanor's new state of calm is unravelling. She takes him to the doctor's where Timby reveals,much to Eleanor's surprise, embarrassment and shame because he hasn't told her, that he is being bullied at school. Eleanor decides to spend some time with him for the day. It is over the course of this day that Eleanor's past catches up with her, and memories which she has tried to kept hidden for years are brought back up to the surface. We learn about her parents, her sister, her brother-in-law, and she learns more about her husband in one afternoon than she wanted to - will this bring their relationship to an end? 

I felt the story didn't flow incredibly well, it felt rather clunky. We spend more time in Eleanor's past than in the present, so much so that I sometimes forgot what she was doing and where she was before we ran off down memory lane. Even the characters she was with at the time seem surprised to have her back. There's so much to-ing and fro-ing that at one point poor Yo-Yo is forgotten about - seemingly even by the author herself - abandoned outside a supermarket for hours. It's only when Timby reminds us and the author about him that he is quickly retrieved. The revelation concerning her husband at the end was, to me, complete nonsense. From what we learn about him during the story (again, from the past, he doesn't make much of appearance in the present), it doesn't fit with his character and way of thinking. Indeed, Eleanor is just as shocked as me, but the final way she responds just doesn't fit right.

It's a whirlwind of events and characters, and a story that left me feeling a little indifferent.

City on Fire by Garth Risk Hallberg

I thought A Little Life was long - this is a massive tome at over 900 pages. The main difference between the two books is that I loved A Little Life. Sorry, but I can't say the same about City On Fire. It was overlong (it's taken me over a month, perhaps two, to read it), confusing, a bit pretentious (keep a dictionary at hand if, like me, you are an ordinary person with an ordinary person's vocabulary. Not quite as bad as Will Self, but nearly there.) I totally lost the plot (literally) a number of times, I got confused over the characters (mainly the Post Humanist gang - I still don't know who has the tattoos or the green hair).

The main premise of the story is this. It is 1970s New York. A girl is found shot in a park on New Year's Eve. That's the gist. Add into that many characters who are linked to the girl in one way or another, so you are left wondering who may have done it. But i didn't really care - even when the guilty person was revealed there was no gasp from me - nada. We have Regan and Will, son and daughter of a wealthy business man William Hamilton Sweeney, whose name is known all over New York. The snake-like and unlikeable Amory Gould, Regan and Will's step uncle from their father's second marriage to the money grabbing Felicia. Regan's husband Keith, who is having an affair with Sam, the victim in the park. Mercer, Will's black boyfriend, who also found Sam's body. Um, then we have Will's 'friends' from when he was in a short-lived punk band - Nicky Chaos, Sewer Girl, Sol, DT. Then there's the reporter Richard, his neighbour Jenny, Sam's father the firework maker, oh and not forgetting Regan and Keith's children Cate and Will. Yes, there are 3 Wills. When the story goes back and forth in time it gets mildly confusing. Then there's Charlie, who had a crush on Sam, and when he finds out she's been shot becomes Messiah-like. Oh, nearly forgot the crippled detective who has to sort out all the mess - and from what I understood, he didn't really solve it, someone showed him all the clues and led him to it. 

There are fireworks, fires, black-outs, business frauds, drugs, anarchists. I've read good reviews and bad reviews - if you have the time to spare, read it yourself and make your own mind up.

What Milo Saw by Virginia Macgregor

Milo's dad has run off with his secretary to Abu Dhabi, leaving Milo's distraught and heartbroken mum, Sandy, to cope with looking after Milo, Milo's pet pig Hamlet, and Milo's great grandma Lou. Milo has a sight problem - he suffers from retinitis pigmentosa, which means he has only pinhole vision, a condition which only gets worse and results in blindness. Lou is starting to suffer from dementia, and creates an incident at home which results in her being put into a nursing home. However, even though Milo is the one with the vision problem, he seems to see clearer than the adults around him when it comes to things happening right in front of their eyes. The nursing home is not as nice a place as the manager portrays, and Milo sets out to prove she is mistreating the residents. But no-one wants to listen to a young boy with a pig when they have problems of their own.

This is quite a sweet story, but for me it was overlong (I was skimreading large parts), and slightly confusing in places. The topics covered are rather current - dementia, the war in Syria, refugees, the lottery of choosing a nice care home, couples separated, depression, even mail order brides! I think my favourite character is Mr Overland, the man who watches everything from his bedroom window, whistling continuously. I guess that's because I'm a bit of a nosey parker myself! Milo himself is a strong boy who loves his great-gran very much, and is determined for his voice to be heard.

Contains some swearing.

Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella

Sophie Kinsella is well-known for her adult 'Shopaholic' series, but here she delves into the young adult arena - and, I think, is very successful!

Audrey has been the victim of serious bullying at her last school, as a result of which 3 girls were expelled, and Audrey now suffers from severe depression and an anxiety disorder. She no longer goes to school, she cannot leave the house (only to visit her therapist, Dr Sarah), and she constantly wears sunglasses, as she is unable to make eye contact with anyone, not even her parents.

As part of her therapy, Dr Sarah suggests Audrey films her family life, starting with her own family first, and then to film any strangers who come to the house. Audrey has 2 brothers - Frank, who's older, and Felix, who's younger. Frank is obsessed with a computer game called 'Land of Conquerors', and he plays it with his friend, Linus. Audrey likes Linus, but it's hard for her to try to talk to him, or even be near him at first, due to her stress and anxiety problems. But she soon realises that Linus understands her and her problems, and that he doesn't think she's a weirdo for wearing dark glasses indoors, and that he knows he has to take things slowly with her. One step at a time, he helps her venture into the world, encourages her to approach strangers and talk to them, and Audrey starts to improve hugely - until she goes one step too far, and it seems all the hard work may have been lost.

Even though the book has the serious story of depression and acute anxiety (which is explained really well, and dealt with brilliantly), it is also immensely funny. I think most mums of teenagers will be able to relate very well with Audrey's mum. She is totally fixated with how much time Frank is spending on his computer, she tries banning him, forcing him to watch a Dickens film instead, making him spend time 'jamming' with his dad on the guitars, helping out making sandwiches for the local fete. All, of course, at Frank's horror and embarrassment. But Frank always finds a way back to the computer - until his mum throws it out the window.

The book is full of hilarious moments, mostly concerning mum getting exasperated with Frank, but also touching scenes with Audrey struggling with her illness, and desperately wanting to be have a 'normal' life.

If you like this, you should try 'We Are All Made Of Molecules' by Susin Nielsen.

It's About Love by Steven Camden

This book grew on me the more I read it, and by the second day of reading I just couldn't put it down. It's about love - just like the title says, but it's more than just boy meeting girl, it's about love of film, love of family, love of friends.

Sixteen year old Luke has just started a Film Studies course at college. We know something's not right with his life from the start - he's paranoid about people staring, he doesn't talk very much, he's withdrawn, he has another voice talking in his head to him. Then he meets Leia, who's on the course with him, and they immediately click. They both love films, they're both named after characters in Star Wars, they both think the same things at the same time. They pair up in class to work together on a film script, and they both seem to be telling each other their life stories. Luke knows there's something between them, but it's not a full-on passionate love affair, it's a tentative 'getting to know someone better'. It's chaste and it's beautiful.

Then we learn more about Luke's brother, Marc, who's just about to come out of prison. He's been in for 2 years for serious assault, and life has been strange without him. How will it be when he comes home? Why does Luke has a scar on his face? Who is Craig Miller, and why is everyone scared of him?

The film thread is kept going throughout the book. We read screenplay scene descriptions (eg, 'INT car, dark, fingers drumming on wheel), the book cover itself looks like a manuscript, the characters play film games in the book (eg, Brad Pitt to Robert de Niro in 2 moves). It's all very clever, and it all adds to the atmosphere. Is everyone's life a film? Are we all characters in someone's manuscript?

A brilliant book about love, family and revenge.

Some of the characters from the book (Luke, Zia and Tommy) are in a stage play written by Steven called 'Back Down', and is currently touring the UK.

Steven Camden is also author of another teen book 'Tape'.

Fire Colour One by Jenny Valentine

This is such an original story, and one which took me through several phases. At first, I thought it was just full of nastiness - all the characters (main character Iris, her mother Hannah, and mother's boyfriend Lowell) seemed to be full of hatred for each other. How can a mother show no sign of love at all for her daughter, even if Iris has her problems? Iris's way of coping with her home situation is by lighting fires - not just a small, outdoor, dry leaf pile sort of fire, but more of a burn your mother's wardrobe down fire, and let's start a fire in a store room at school sort of fire. The sort where people's lives are at risk, but there is no thought of that - the fire, the smell, the sound, the danger are all too attractive and addictive.

Iris at first finds help in friend Thurston, even though he doesn't really seem the ideal person. He seems a bit of a misfit, a loner, the sort of person you'd imagine wouldn't have many friends at school.

Then Hannah finds out that Iris's dad, Ernest, is gravely ill and dying. She also knows that he is incredibly rich - he owns many priceless works of art. She whisks Iris and Lowell off to visit Ernest. Iris remembers nothing of her father. Hannah has told her that he abandoned them when she was small, and was nothing but a bad father.

This part of the book set in Ernest's house was my favourite. We discover more about Ernest himself, about his love of art (one of Iris's favourite topics also), about his past, about why he was not there for Iris when she was little. Lies are uncovered, people humiliated and shamed, lost friends reunited, a true family revealed. 

The title, Fire Colour One, refers to the title of a famous painting by Yves Klein, made in 1962. Yves created the piece by using nude models as the 'brushes' and then firing a hose of blazing fire at the canvas, putting everyone's lives at risk. In the last decade it sold at auction in New York for $36.4 million.

The scene in the book depicting Ernest's death and Iris's emotions surrounding the death are particularly moving, especially when you know that Jenny Valentine herself recently lost her father after a grave illness (which she too suffered, but recovered from). A touching and poignant end to a brave, original story.

Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

I started to read this book with some trepidation - it's been getting quite a bit of hype in the press and from other bloggers, but recently I've been feeling a bit let down with the teen books I've read. It just seems to have been all sex, drugs, misery, death, and it's saddened me that, as the mother of a near-teen, this is what is out there for them to read. But times are a-changing and I guess I'll have to come to terms with the fact that children are growing up a lot faster than when I was a child. When I was 13 I was reading 'My Family and Other Animals' by Gerald Durrell and absolutely loved it. My daughter is currently re-reading 'Twilight' by Stephenie Meyer. See what I mean?

As testimony to the changing of attitudes and subject material in teen books, 'Simon...' is bang up to date with the current LGBT trend (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender). Simon is gay, but he hasn't told anyone yet. He is terrified of coming out to friends and especially to his parents. He forms an online friendship with Blue, who is also gay, and whose real identity is unknown, both to us and to Simon. They only know they go to the same school. Simon also uses a pseudonym when he emails Blue. It's this anonymity which makes it easier for them to open up to each other, to reveal how they both feel, to be there for each other when the time comes to tell their family and friends they are gay, even though for Simon that time is forced upon him after a very evil and vile incident. All the while we as the reader, and Simon, are trying to work out who Blue is.

It took me a couple of chapters, but I grew to love this book. You really felt for Simon when the time came to tell his parents. Even though in this modern world being gay is almost as much the norm as being straight, the author shows that there are still plenty of people who treat gays as weirdos, or someone to bully and tease for who they are. In one of Simon's e-mails to Blue, he asks "Don't you think everyone should have to come out? Why is straight the default?....It should be this big awkward thing whether you're straight, gay, bi or whatever." They decide it should be named the 'Homo Sapiens Agenda'.

The author, Becky Albertalli, is a clinical psychologist, and co-led a support group for gender nonconforming children in Washington, DC. In the book, she deals with her topics sensitively and with insight and understanding. I loved all the characters - well, nearly all - and couldn't wait to find out who Blue really was.

The It Girl by Katy Birchall

Katy Birchall is currently an Editorial Assistant at Country Life magazine. 'The It Girl' is her first book in a new series about schoolgirl Anna, her labrador Dog, and her dad. It is being marketed as 'clean teen', and for being ideal for fans of Geek Girl and Louise Rennison. Seeing as my daughter loves the former and I love the latter, I was keen to give it a go!

Anna's parents are divorced, but are still good friends. Her dad is a journalist and has fallen in love with a famous actress, Helena, who he had to interview. Helena also happens to have a daughter Marianne, who is a socialite and an It Girl, so Helena and Anna's dad are keen for the girls to get along. Will the girls manage to become friends? What will Anna's school friends think of her joining the celebrity world?

On the whole, I rather enjoyed it. It was really funny, and it just so  happens that, like Anna, my daughter also loves the Marvel characters (she knows them through all the films though, rather than the graphic novels) and Star Wars, and we also have a yellow labrador who is rather mad. I liked Anna's friends Jess, Danny and Connor, but of course none of us likes a show-off meany bad girl, of which there are many in one's life during school days, and of which there are a couple in this book. This was the part of the story which I thought let it down slightly. It was very predictable where the story was going and what was going to happen - so many school stories focus so much on the bully or the nasty girl. The book just seemed to lose its originality and its humour for quite a few pages.

However, I'd definitely read the next in the series (due out 2016), as I'd love to read more about the wonderful, funny Anna and what happens next in her rather mad world!