I always look forward to a new Nina Stibbe novel. I know it's a perfect treat waiting to be read. She always makes me laugh, enough to make me want to be her best friend! Creepy!
In this little gem of a book, Nina lets us into her own world of Christmas, and sets out dos and donts of this festive period. Need advice on a tree? A turkey? The perfect present? Whether to throw a party? Well all this and more can be found within the pages of this hilarious autobiography/short story/advice book!
The only downside - it's too short!! I want more! Thank you Nina for yet again bringing a smile to my face.
This is Tom and Lucy's second book. Their first 'Lobsters' was shortlisted for both the YA Book Prize 2015, and The Times/Chicken House Children's Fiction Competition 2013. Not having read this first book, but hearing good things about this second one, I was keen to get hold of a copy. I was also interested in reading it because it's aimed at a slightly younger audience than 'Lobsters' (a definite teen book due to content). 'Never Evers' is aimed at the tween market (12-14yrs), which my daughter, unbeknownst to her due to unfamiliarity with this book market lingo, is part of.
After struggling through the first 30 or so pages (girls being horrid to each other, boys just thinking about 'getting off' with girls) I was starting to think I couldn't read any more, but then the humour set in and I really enjoyed it. I finished it the next day. 'Mouse' has been kicked out of ballet school for not being good enough, and has returned to her old school just in time for the school ski trip. On that trip is Lauren, who she beat into getting the place for ballet school and who has since seemed to hold a grudge. Mouse is reunited with her old friends Connie (who is just hilarious and decided to bring her pet hamster on the school trip) and Keira. Also arriving at the same ski resort from a different school is Jack, Max (who decides the main reason for the trip is to kiss a girl and buy fireworks - random) and Toddy (who has some great cool one liners).
Jack falls for Mouse immediately, but many circumstances come between them, including the horrid Lauren and the local French pop star Roland (I just kept thinking of Justin Bieber as a comparison). Misunderstandings, accidents, lies, hamster bites, snow storms - they're all in there, and they all make a perfect package. I will definitely be passing this on to my daughter.
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.
Donald can see ghosts - and talk to them. His friend Merry can just about make them out. His mum is a clairvoyant, and is sometimes hired to talk to ghosts to put them to rest. His dad is dead - but lives on as a ghost in a big house in the woods playing records.
Donald's mum hears word that there are ghostly goings on on the South West coast, so Donald and Merry accompany her to a caravan holiday park to investigate. Unfortunately, the rather unpleasant boy Danny also turns up there with his family and latches onto them. They also encounter the scary Estella, a very clever medium, who hatches an evil plan to get rid of the ghostly monsters once and for all. Donald finds himself in a life threatening situation - how will he get out of this alive?
This is a very funny story for about 10 year olds - Ally really gets you giggling on each page. Sometimes the writing and the story is a little loose and haphazard, but overall I really enjoyed it. I also loved her last book - Midnight Pirates.
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!
(Review by Megan :D)
After Tabitha's parents split up, she, her mum and her younger brother all move to London to live with Gran. Tabitha wants to make a good impression in her new school so when she makes good friends with A'isha and Emz and makes the class laugh in her first few days, things are starting to look good for her. With her school friends expecting cool things from her, Tabitha is anxious about their thoughts of her un-cool family. Gran expects Tab to walk her dog Basil with his ridiculous knitted outfits on in public, her mum is going on about her weight all the time and Luke her younger brother will not stop annoying her!
Arabella Weir has successfully captured a young teenager's mind through funny and witty narrative. It is a lively read that I found gripping and enjoyable. The book recommends for teens, but I found it 10+.
(Review by Megan :D)
This is the third book in the series from the hilarious Catherine Wilkins, who still doesn't seem to disappoint!
It is the next term in 'Hellfern' Juniors and it's SHOWTIME! Jessica is in her dream spot as head of set design for the school musical and has got brilliant ideas for the comic, but it's too good to be true. Harriet VanDerk is being a bigger nuisance than usual and messing up set design, her friends are too busy being wrapped up in the production to care for the comic and meeting up AND Jessica's Dad has gone to live up a tree. Fantastic.
Another five star knock-out; I absolutely loved this book. Funny, entertaining and very realistic! Would definitely recommend to 9-12 yr-olds as a gob-smacking read!
Dream on Amber
by Emma Shevah
(
Review by Megan, 11)
Amber is half Italian and half Japanese, so starting a new school and getting annoying texts from a-bit-too-eager-friends is just something she'll just have to get used to. As if her name isn't bad enough: AMBRA ALESSANDRA LEOLA KIMIKO MIYAMOTO.
When Amber (the English version of her name) reaches the point of total devastation and annoyance, she desperately needs someone to talk to. Due to her father leaving when she was only a baby, Amber uses her art and imagination skills to conjure up an EPIC replacement Dad to help her through the first year of secondary school.
A fantastic read for 10-12 year olds. Emma Shevah sure does know how to amaze! Blew me away, one of the best :)
Man at the Helm
by Nina Stibbe
At the moment, Nina Stibbe is better known for her first bestselling book Love Nina, a collection of letters written by her to her sister while Nina was a nanny in London. I really loved that book, it was very funny, she has a wicked sense of humour (in the literal and slang way), so I was looking forward to reading this book, her first foray into fiction. Her writing style is unchanged. She has a great way of using brackets in sentences to clear up confusion over meanings, and I have to smile every time she does it. It took me a couple of chapters to settle into the story, I seemed to be waiting for something big to happen, (but I do spend 90% of my time reading Young Adult/9-12 fiction, where you're wham bang straight into the adventure), but suddenly I couldn't put it down.
The story is recounted by 9-yr-old Lizzie. Her parents divorce after her father falls in love with someone else, and she (along with her older sister) decide to write a list of all the men they deem suitable to become the next 'man at the helm'. They then forge letters from their mother to these men, asking them to pop over for a drink, and then they wait to see what happens. What's funny is that the girls just want them to be 'intimate' enough times to have to get married. Most of these encounters don't end too well, but you find yourself laughing about it rather than thinking 'oh the poor woman/the poor children'. Of course the one man the mother falls for is not the best of characters and the children are aghast at what they've let themselves and their mother in for.
Just as your thinking 'oh this is hilarious, what on earth is going to happen to the poor family next', something either heartfelt or heartwrenchingly sad happens and you have to have a good old blubber and a moment away from the book to compose yourself and then get right back into it. (Well I did anyway, ask my daughter - she thoughtfully left the room when she saw my eyes filling up and my nose turning red, saying "I'll just leave you on your own for a bit").
Nina said in one interview last year that the book is semi-autobiographical ("it's about my mother's unorthodox style of parenting"). The mother in the story survives mostly on pills and drink, swears like a trooper, and basically just lets her children run wild, but is a natural beauty and makes all men she meets stop dead in their tracks.
I loved the book, loved all the characters and love Nina's style of writing.
If you like this, I also recommend the completely farcical Campari for Breakfast by Sara Crowe.
How To Be a Woman
by Caitlin Moran
Caitlin Moran is a columnist for The Times. She is also Twitter user extraordinaire. You should follow her, she really is quite funny. Be warned - she is also rather rude. In a way being one of her many followers on Twitter prepared me for her crude language in this book. She seems to have been using bad words since childhood. To her, the 'f' word and the 'c' word are just that - words, to be used in place of other words that are also just words. But that's by the by.
This book is all her thoughts on the topic of being a woman - from pre-pubescent child in a poor family wearing mum's hand-me-down knickers, to overweight teenager, through drug-addled alcoholic late teen era, boyfriends, jobs, marriage, birth, miscarriage, abortion and plastic surgery. The main topic throughout is feminism, what it means to be a feminist, how to know if you are one and why we all should be. There is not one topic that we don't know her thoughts on. She lays it out for all to read, there is no holding her back. It's hard not to disagree with her. The only times I thought "Hmm, hang on a minute love" were a) when she threw in a very generalised statement "pornography is not bad, it's just sex"; and b) having unprotected sex and then being surprised she's pregnant. But I forgive her these moments of stupidity and thoughtlessness.
The chapters range from very humorous to downright tearfully sad. I defy anyone not to come away teary-eyed from the chapters on going through an awful labour before the birth of her first child, and her decision to have an abortion later in life. Though I did find the detail of the procedure very hard to read. I spent the whole time with my hand over my mouth trying not to be sick.
But that's Caitlin for you. She will tell you anything, she wants you to know everything about her and all of her thoughts. She is not embarrassed by or about anything. She is just having a good old girly talk with us all and sharing her life. You just want to go on Twitter and tell her how great she is.
'Moranthology' is definitely on my birthday list.
A Boy Called Hope
by Lara Williamson
This book was such a scream, I had a smile on my face nearly all the way through and chuckled out loud in a few places. But beware the last chapter - there's a bit of a bombshell and it's so sad it'll have you weeping. What a rollercoaster of emotions in just a few pages!
The boy called Hope is Daniel Hope who lives with his sister Grace, his mum and her boyfriend Big Dave. Daniel's dad left when he was about 4 and since then he hasn't heard anything from him, not even a birthday card. But then he and his sister see him on the local news - as a presenter. Daniel finds out where he lives and begins to formulate a plan to meet with him and finally have his dad back. Unfortunately the best laid plans often go awry, but Dan has his friends and family around to help him through.
The book is full of great characters - the awful older sister Ninja Grace, the school friend Christopher who has secrets of his own, the best friend Jo who has a love of all things saintly, and the family dog Charles Scallybones who eats and sicks up again just about everything. A great read, highly recommended for readers aged 9-12.
Love, Nina
by Nina Stibbe
There was this lady who used to come into our bookshop in Truro with her children. She normally had a massive rucksack with her and never wanted a bag, sometimes we'd see them all with cycling helmets and waterproof jackets. She was a friend of one of my colleagues. She was very chatty, very funny, you got the feeling she was probably a little scatty, she loved books (she told me she used to work in publishing). She had huge eyes and a Roman nose. Then I stopped seeing her in the shop. Then about a month ago, I read about this book being published which was a series of letters from a young lady working as a nanny in London to her sister. It had a good review, so I requested a copy. Blow me down with a feather, if the young lady on the front cover didn't bear a very close resemblance to the aforementioned customer (I never found out her name before this). Of course, it turns out she is the one and same.
My colleagues had said this is a good book to dip in and out of, but I had to read it all. It was very funny. When she was 20, Nina worked as live-in nanny to Sam (10) and Will Frears (9), sons of Mary-Kay Wilmers, editor of the London Review of Books, and Stephen Frears, director of films such as The Queen and High Fidelity. They all lived in a large house in a very literary part of London. Alan Bennett lived next door, Claire Tomalin just round the corner, Jonathan Miller up the road. But Nina was never fazed by any of this, indeed you get the impression that she didn't know who any of these people were at the time. Alan often pops over for dinner (food is mentioned in nearly every letter - Nina seemed to do most of the cooking, some a success, some not) and the conversations they have over dinner are hilarious. They all get on brilliantly, especially Nina with Sam and Will. She often mentions Sam's 'illness' and trouble with his eyes, and having to take him to Great Ormond Street Hospital. We never find out what is actually wrong with him. On researching, I found that Sam actually suffers from a rare condition called Riley-Day Syndrome - he wasn't expected to live beyond the age of 5. The condition affects the nervous system. He is going blind and cannot feel pain. But when he was 10 in this book, you wouldn't have noticed anything different, from the way the family and Nina are with him. The boys are very mature for their age, and their sense of humour is hilarious. Swearing appeared to be allowed by all in the household - funny and shocking at the same time.
All the letters are one-sided, from Nina to her sister Victoria. Nina openly admits that she never kept any of her sister's replies, not for any other reason other than not wanting to keep more paper than necessary in the house and having a good clearout.
She talks about becoming a mature student and studying English Literature at Thames Poly, and a little about her boyfriend Nunny. You feel that perhaps it's not a serious relationship, they hardly seem to see each other, and Nunny sounds like he's having fun with other girls when he's away. You feel the relationship is doomed. You get to find out in the Afterword at the end what happened between them.
There's possibly more letters coming in the future, and even a novel by Nina. Watch this space.
Knightley & Son
by Rohan Gavin
Hot off my reading The Ultimate Truth by Kevin Brooks, comes the first in another detective drama series for 10-12yr olds, but this one has a different feel to it, slightly younger, more comical. It feels like you're reading about the mind of a young Sherlock Holmes - thoughtful, pragmatic, sensible.
Darkus Knightley's father, a private investigator of all things unexplained, has been in a coma for four years. When he suddenly wakes uttering non-sensical words, Darkus works with him to piece together clues that may link that case to one that is affecting his own family. The mysterious bestselling book 'The Code' seems to be having an ill-effect on some of those that read it. What is 'The Code', and who are the people calling themselves 'The Combination'? The eccentric tweed-wearing father and son duo put their clever and intuitive brains together to unlock the mystery.
The Chronicles of Narmo
by Caitlin Moran
Most people will have heard of Caitlin Moran, columnist in The Times and author of 'How To Be A Woman' and 'Moranthology'. She's very funny. So when I found out that she'd written a book at aged 15, I was interested to read it. Funnily enough, it's like a young Caitlin Moran. The book is semi-autobiographical. It's about a young girl living with her parents and siblings in Wolverhampton, and how they are home-schooled (in the loosest sense of the word). No education is mentioned, just amusing anecdotes on days out, visits from local education personnel, Grandma Bat, and Christmas. Even though the book is very short and a quick wizz through of a read, there are some corking one-liners and you'll find yourself giggling on most pages. Hard to believe that a 15-yr-old wrote it. She's very mature in her immaturity! I love her thoughts on boys, in that they just lose their socks and get through all the milk.
I read online that Caitlin won a Dillons Young Readers contest for an essay on 'Why I Like Books'. I'd love to read that!
After Iris - The Diaries of Bluebell Gadsby
by Natasha Farrant
What a wonderful book, I loved it. Just right for girls 10years and over. Written part film transcript and part diary, it is about young Bluebell (but she much prefers Blue) whose twin sister Iris died in a car accident 3 years earlier. Blue records her family's life on video - much to the annoyance of her eldest sister Flora. Blue, Flora and their younger brother and sister Twig and Jas live in a beautiful old, but cold, house in London. They are looked after by a Bosnian au pair Zoran, as their father spends most of the time working in Warwick, and their mother constantly travels all over the world with her job. The past few years have been an emotional struggle for them all, especially Blue, and you can sense the family slowly falling apart. Only the silent and solitary Blue, cameragirl extraordinaire, is able to show her feelings in her diaries. She thinks she's finally found someone to talk to when carefree and loveable Joss Bateman pops into her life and she finds she has a huge crush on him. However, the path of young teenage love is an unfairly rocky one, but help and friendship is not too far away...
You will laugh, and you will find a lump in your throat, but mostly you will just love this book.
Downside Up
by Hayley Long
Ronni Runnacles is in a bad place emotionally. Her dad has left, her mum is a wreck, and she just can't concentrate in school - that's if she actually goes. Add to that the very annoying Sadie Slowgrove and the gorgeous you'll-get-me-if-you're-lucky Stuart Bolan, and Ronni finds the easiest way out of all her problems is to create an imaginary world where she is the superfamous popstar Ronni Runaway. But one day, after an accident on the dodgems, Ronni starts to realise that you might not always be happy with what you wish for.
This was really rather funny, and a whole lot of fun with it too. I just loved Ronni's teenage language - 'whoop' is one of her favourite words, so just imagine it said in a teenage 'whatever' way. Ronni's nan is great too, with her too-tight clothes and her 'cheesemobile' yellow car. But I think my favourite character is Ronni's Russian classmate Yuri Maximovich Krolik who starts all his sentences with 'Yes' - he's hilarious.
I must admit I much preferred the first section to the second 'upside down' after-the-accident section. It definitely wasn't as funny (apart from Yuri) and I found myself skim-reading through most of it. But I'm sure once young girls have read this one they'll definitely look to read Hayley Long's other books.
I'd recommend this for girls over 10. There is some light swearing (cr*p, b*tch, bl**dy) but you can hear worse in the Harry Potter films!
Smile
by Raina Telgemeier
(Review by Megan)
This is an epic book about a girl called Raina in sixth grade, who has a disastrous fall after a meeting at Girl Scouts, where she knocks out her two front teeth! Raina's life turns into a nightmare as the orthodontist gives her braces, embarrassing head gear, and fake teeth!
Turning into a teenager makes her life harder, as she grows interested in boys, goes to high school and gets spots...
I loved this book in all ways, especially how it is laid out like a comic book, with pictures and speech bubbles that makes it a more enjoyable read.
If you like Diary of a Wimpy Kid or Geek Girl you'll love this.
Sleuth On Skates
by Clementine Beauvais
This was so funny - I actually laughed out loud in a few places. I just loved the way Sesame talks to her parents, and how exasperated they are with her and her quirkiness. I totally understood the mobile phone situation - the parents don't want Sesame to have a phone because of internet dangers, so they buy her one of those child-friendly phones with 3 main buttons - M for Mum, D for Dad, and a picture of a police car for police emergencies! A while back I had actually considered this for my own daughter!!
Sesame lives in Cambridge, more specifically in the grounds of the university, as her mother is a professor there and her father a parson. She rollerskates everywhere. She is absolutely thrilled when she hears that one of the students has gone missing, because this means she can put her detective skills to the test. But is she getting herself into something a bit too sinister for an 11-yr-old?
Great for 7-10yr olds who enjoy a bit of comedy and mystery rolled into one.
Struck by Lightning
by Chris Colfer
A very funny story about Carson Phillips, a student at Clover High School, who is desperate to become a journalist, and needs to get some literary work together from the other students as part of his application to his favoured university, Northwestern. Unfortunately, all the other students hate him, so he has to resort to blackmail to get any work out of them. Lots of bad language.
Chris Colfer began his career as an actor, starring as teen Kurt Hummel in the hit series Glee.
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 and 3/4
by Sue Townsend
I first read this at about age 13, and re-reading it now I realise a) how much of the story I'd forgotten, and b)how much I'd probably not understood at the time!
Adrian's mother has an affair and leaves his dad, whose world falls apart - not helped when he loses his job and has to sign on. All this is happening to a pubescent 13 year old, who is keen on literature, poetry and love. In other words, an angst-ridden teenage intellectual. The book was originally written for adults and you can see why - both subtly funny and dark.
This is Tom and Lucy's second book. Their first 'Lobsters' was shortlisted for both the YA Book Prize 2015, and The Times/Chicken House Children's Fiction Competition 2013. Not having read this first book, but hearing good things about this second one, I was keen to get hold of a copy. I was also interested in reading it because it's aimed at a slightly younger audience than 'Lobsters' (a definite teen book due to content). 'Never Evers' is aimed at the tween market (12-14yrs), which my daughter, unbeknownst to her due to unfamiliarity with this book market lingo, is part of.
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!
