It's quite common for big movies with big-name actors to be based on a bestselling book, but in this instance it's the opposite. At the moment, there is a film out 'Big Game' starring Samuel L. Jackson, written by Jalmari Helander and Petri Jokiranta, and directed by Jalmari Helander. Barry Cunningham, from publishers Chicken House, approached children's author Dan Smith ('My Friend the Enemy', 'My Brother's Secret') and asked if he could bring the characters to life on the page. Well, what a brilliant job he's done. I couldn't put the book down - I read it in a day. It's full of adrenalin-fuelled action and adventure, you're hardly allowed to stop and draw breath. The characters are thrown from one near-death experience to another.
The story is set in Finland. It is the eve of Oskari's 13th birthday, and following tradition he has to spend one night and one day alone in the forests surrounding Mount Akka with just a bow and arrow and an emergency fire kit and a few small essentials. At the end of that time he must emerge from the forest with his prize. When his father was his age, he came out carrying a bear's head. However, the villagers don't seem to have much faith in Oskari's ability to hunt and kill anything. Oskari is soon to find out that the forest contains things more frightening than bears and elks, and he and all the villagers will discover he has more courage and heroism than anyone would have imagined.
A brilliant adventure for ages 11+.
Oh my goodness, I love Lauren St John's writing so much. I've been a huge fan since her White Giraffe series (**newsflash** there will be a new title in that series 'Operation Rhino' due out August 2015) , which was then followed by the brilliant Laura Marlin series, then the excellent One Dollar Horse series, and now there is this 'The Glory'. All I can say is that her writing is as superb as ever. I read this book in a day, it was so engrossing. Lauren has this excellent ability of describing places in such beautiful detail that you want to get straight on a plane to visit it. This happened after I'd read 'Rendezvous in Russia'. I'd always wanted to go to Russia, and after reading this I said to my daughter 'Right, we're off'. We visited St Petersburg and I was just so excited I didn't care that it rained the whole week, and I didn't care that I had to spend a week's wages to buy a ballet ticket - it was all worth it. It was beautiful.
So, now Colorado is my next port of call. I followed the trail of The Glory (a fictional month-long, 1200 mile horse and rider endurance race, with a $250,000 prize) in one of my guidebooks on the USA, and the places just sound amazing. I want to to go horseriding, I want to buy a cowboy hat, I want to go to that cafe in Boulder, I want to experience the spectacular scenery and surroundings, I want to camp out under the stars (without the rattlesnakes).
Thank you Lauren for enriching my literary and travelling life!
Robin Stevens has become another of my favourite authors. This is only her second book (the first was book one in the Wells & Wong series 'Murder Most Unladylike') and it's even better than the first.
We follow Hazel and Daisy in the school holidays where they're staying at Daisy's house with her family to celebrate her birthday. However, everyone is acting very suspiciously and when one of the party falls dead after drinking a cup of tea, thoughts turn to murder and everyone is a suspect. Who better to investigate than the young detective duo Wells & Wong?
A delicious and delightful pageturner of a read. Unputdownable!
I've only read one of David Levithan's novels, and that was co-written with Rachel Cohn 'Dash and Lily's Book of Dares'. I just loved it. I could see why fans of John Green liked his style of writing, and of course vice-versa. Even though 'Marly's Ghost' has just been released over here, it was actually first published in 2005, early on in Levithan's writing career. It's an interesting one - I don't know whether I liked it or not. It's a reworking of Charles Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol', but the reasons for the ghostly visits are not because Ben, the main character, (whose name we find out near the end is actually short for Ebenezer Scrooge) is a miser, but because he is finding it hard to move on in life after the death of his girlfriend, Marly. He withdraws himself from life, family and friends and cannot understand how life is continuing around him. The ghosts try to point out that he can keep the memory of Marly in his heart, but not like a ball and chain. He must let go, and carry on with his life.
I adore 'A Christmas Carol', and that could be the main reason why I wasn't sure about David's version. It's literally a copy, but slightly mixed up in places, so I knew what was coming and could guess the ending, which always spoils the reading of a book. David acknowledges at the end of his book that readers would either love it or hate it, but he hoped they would just go along with his version just for the pure enjoyment of it.
I'm sure true fans of Levithan will love it, but the jury's out for me.
I was a bit disappointed with this book. I've read a couple of Sally Gardner's books in the past - I loved 'Tinder' and 'I, Coriander'. This one just felt a bit of a rushed, mish-mash of a book. It's a time-travel story, but I got really confused with the characters and which time they were supposed to be living in or originally from. It was disjointed, didn't flow very well for me, and just not really Sally's usual style. It had the basics of a good storyline, but just not very well told. Sorry Sally, but a thumbs down for me.
The volatile and mysterious Leo has been transferred to Eden Park school after an incident at his previous school. There he attracts the attention of David. They both have something in common - they are keeping a big secret about their life. Leo's life is about to change drastically when his secret is found out and spread around the school. But this has a positive impact on David - it makes him reveal his secret to Leo, and as a result they realise they should be truthful to themselves and show everyone who they really are.
A wonderful story about transgender, identity, being true to yourself, standing up to bullies, and the strength of friendship. Also check out Gracefully Grayson by Ami Polonsky for slightly younger children.
Zoe Sugg is better known to her (mainly) teen followers for her online beauty vlog written under the name Zoella. She is also the girlfriend of vlogger Alfie Deyes, whose book 'Pointless' sold thousands in its first few days of publication. 'Girl Online', which is about a young girl who writes an anonymous blog, and then falls in love with an American pop star, is Zoe's first novel, but unfortunately I didn't really like it. I thought it was twee, sugary, childish - not at all for the teen market which it is aimed at. I would happily let my 12-yr-old read it (but I won't, because it's just a bit rubbish). I'm also writing this review the day after Zoe and her publishers have admitted that the book was written by a ghost writer, possibly teen author Siobhan Curham, and that Siobhan was given 6 weeks to write the novel. If that is true, then it is evident in the book. It definitely feels like a rush job.
I hope the thousand of youngsters who have bought the book already aren't too disappointed, but I definitely was.
