Book Choice - Dave Shelton - A boy and a Bear in a Boat and Reading

A boy and a bear go to sea, equipped with a suitcase, a comic book and a ukulele. They are only travelling a short distance and it really shouldn't take long. But then their boat encounters 'unforeseeable anomalies'...

 Faced with turbulent stormy seas, a terrifying sea monster and the rank remains of The Very Last Sandwich, the odds soon become pitted against our unlikely heroes. Will the Harriet, their trusted vessel, withstand the violent lashings of the salty waves? And will anyone ever answer their message in a bottle?

'He looked past the bear. There was still no sign of land ahead of them. But there was no sign of the land they'd set out from behind them either. In fact in every direction all he could see was sea and sky. He looked at his watch but it showed exactly the same time now as it had when they had set off. He held it to his ear but it was silent.'

A Boy and a Bear in a Boat is a very unusual book. The storytelling is calm, rich and surprising - much like the sea on which the Harriet journeys. A sea which stretches on past the horizon but which also seems to extend and grow onwards - like the journey that the boy and the bear are making together. The boy is curious, impatient and definitely not impressed with the boat's captain. But the bear rows on, at ease with their progress and routine. Mostly. The habits that the bear relishes - taking tea, singing along to his ukelele, and ever rowing onwards - puzzle, disgust and delight the boy in turn. Their story is one of hilarity, trouble and glee. ..And then there is The Very Last Sandwich to contend with.

• Hardcover: 300 pages
• Publisher: David Fickling Books (5 Jan 2012)
• Language English
• ISBN-10: 0385618964
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Eowyn Ivey - The Snow Child - Book Review

• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: Headline Review (1 Feb 2012)
• Age - Teen
• ISBN: 978-0755380527

When I received this book through the post, from the very lovely people at Headline, my first thought was whether this book really fitted into my area of interest. The synopsis sounded bleak, and yet the book cover suggested much more. The tactile title (impressed onto the brilliant blue cover) and the image of a girl and fox in a wood suggested that I should try this. Especially as I have already admitted to judging a book by its cover in an earlier book review.

The book was slow to start. In fact it was almost like peeling an onion - the more I read, the more layers of the story I uncovered. Set in the 1920's a middle-aged couple (Jack and Mabel) move to Alaska. They leave all of their family behind in order to make a fresh start for themselves. Interestingly, they choose the harshest of surroundings; the Alaskan wilderness. Written with such amazing detail, the Alaskan wilderness, is portrayed with crisp accuracy. At times I felt like I was really there; watching the snowflakes floating to the ground and smelling the icy cold rivers. 

The story is about the seeking of happiness and belonging. Coping with the grief of a lost baby, Jack and Mabel try to make a fresh start in Alaska. However, The Snow Child (Faina) enters the story and changes their lonely, isolated existence into one of initial joy. 

At first I turned the pages with trepidation, but then I wanted to know much more about this mysterious character. Initially I thought she was a figment of their imagination or perhaps a fanciful notion from a Russian myth. As a result, the suspense (for me) came from working out what was imaginary and what was real. 

Faina was an absolute joy to read - following her life as it unfolded beneath the sky. Particularly when she met Garret, one of the Benson sons, who helped out on the homestead. This friendship soon turned into more and of course everything started to change - soon Faina and Garret began to embark on their own life. The beautiful and touching ending will have you feeling a number of emotions and a deep longing for it not to be so. 

This is a fantastic story that has been written by a debut author. She has conjured up a magical adventure that I could not leave - the natural and savage beauty of Alaska was captivating. The book has left an everlasting impression on me; I loved every minute of it. 

Ivan Brett - Casper Candlewacks in the Claws of Crime - Happy Publication Day

                                    

I’m just leaving a school event in early December when a boisterous chap who’d been in my event sticks his head out of his classroom window.

“Oy, Ivan!” he shouts. “You’re an idiot!”

Most authors would be insulted by this, but not me. “Why thank you,” I reply, give him a wave and make to leave.

But he’s not disappeared back behind his window. He wants a proper response, and I’m not going to deny him. “But compared to you, I’m nothing.”

He grins, says “Yssssss”, and then his friend’s head pops up.

“What about me? Am I an idiot?”

“Yup,” I say. Even more than your mate.”

The second boy high-fives the first and they slip back into their classroom, satisfied.

My full-time job involves calling children idiots, and I love it. How did it come to this?

The Casper Candlewacks series, my first foray into publishing, is all about glorifying the idiot. And I don’t mean stupid people – I mean all of us. I want to celebrate everything that’s wrong with us, our clumsiness, our bad decisions, the ugly bits that we usually try to tuck away and hide. When I go into schools the first thing I do is prove to the kids that I’m an idiot. Then I let them prove they’re idiots, then we sing the idiots’ national anthem (‘How Much Is That Doggy In The Window, but backwards, if you’re asking. I’ll sing it for you if you ask nicely.) and happy in our shared idiocy we get on with the rest of the session.

Once you’ve got someone to be proud of their bad bits, what is there to be scared of? Nothing, is the answer. Nothing at all. How brilliant is that?

And that’s what I try to do in Casper Candlewacks. In the village of Corne-on-the-Kobb, idiots rule. But it makes for a whole lot more fun, and lets the crazy stuff that goes on seem absolutely normal. In Casper Candlewacks in The Claws of Crime, which is out today, we’ve got French cat burglars, huge bejewelled swords, an egg-boiling lie-detector, multiple defenestration and quite a few clobs round the head with a cricket bat. Where else but in a village of idiots?

Today (5th January) sees many books being published. The question is, which book do you pick to read? Sounds easier than it is as there's so much choice to select from. However, let me make it easier for you - if you need a pick me up, perhaps with a hobnob and a cup of laughter, then this is definitely the book to seek out. As every good idiot knows (myself included, so I'm told) then you'd be idiot not to read this book. Funny, zany and totally off the wall with mad ideas, it will have you feeling much better about the dark and dreary January we find ourselves in. By the way, did I tell you that I was an Idiot too... ?


Thank you Ivan for sharing some information about your new book. I hope the 'Claws of Crime' finds itself doing time on many bookshelves, both young and old. Anyway, out today, you should be able to locate a copy in your local bookshop - so what are you waiting for? Go and grab a copy. 

Che Golden - The Feral Child - Book Review

                                       


They take human children and leave changelings in their place... stolen children go into the mound and we can't follow.'

Her parents dead, Maddy is sick of living in Ireland, sick of Blarney and sick of her cousin Danny, one of the nastiest people you could meet this side of an Asbo. Mad as hell one evening, she crawls inside the grounds of the castle, the one place she has always been forbidden to go. Once inside, she is chased by a strange feral boy, who she suspects is one of the faerie: cruel, fantastical people who live among humans and exchange local children for their own.

When the boy returns to steal her neighbour Stephen into his world, Maddy and her cousins set off on a terrifying journey into a magical wilderness, determined to bring him back home. To do so, they must face an evil as old as the earth itself... 

After having a hectic end of year it's now great to finally have a bit of time to read once more. Especially as the howling winds and battering rain beat rhythmically against my window pane! Anyway, I'd like to start with a New Year confession . . . . . at times I do judge a book by its cover and in fact I did so with this book. I depicted intriguing characters, mystical elements and an ethereal fairy realm - of which even more lurked within the pages.

Set in modern day Ireland, three children (Maddy and her cousins) find themselves entering the fairy realm on a quest to retrieve a stolen boy Stephen. Enchanted and captured by the evil fairy, he was replaced with a changeling and then taken to the fairy realm. As a result, the children have a number of dangerous encounters with evil characters, all based on traditional Celtic folklore, in their quest to return Stephen to his home in Blarney.

Initially the book starts sedately, but soon picks up pace when the children enter the fairy realm. This is maintained throughout the book until the unexpected ending. Interestingly, this does not follow the traditional Irish folklore mould and instead delivers an unexpected and original punch. 

A number of interesting creatures enter the pages of this book, but my favourite character is Fachtna (meaning 'hostile' in Irish). Fachtna lives, eats, sleeps and breathes war. In fact she is never happier than when she has a knife in her hand and is ready to kill. However, even bearing all of this information in mind, I hope that we will be able to uncover more of her personality and motives within the next book ' '.

This is a strong and accomplished debut novel which, in my eyes, competes with books written by more established authors. It will both capture and captivate all ages. However, this cannot be mistaken as being a 'nice' traditional fairytale as it is steeped in darkness and elements of horror - both of which can make the read very unsettling. Nevertheless this seedling grows into a blossoming bloom.

Published by Quercus Publishing - 5 January 2012 - Fiction Age 9+

Adam Christopher - Empire State - Mr Ripley's Older Read Book Choice For January 2012

                                                                 

“’Rad’ is my kind of name, is what,” said Rad. He didn’t bother looking up at his assailants. The masks and hats were a great disguise. Kooky. Instead he stared ahead and dabbed at his bottom lip with a bloody handkerchief.

The first goon’s shoes moved into Rad’s field of vision, black wingtips shining wetly in the cast-off from the streetlamp just around the lip of the alley. The rain had collected in the punch pattern on the shoes and each step threw a fine spray, some of which collected in the man’s pinstripe turn-ups. Rad figured it was all part of the disguise, the unfashionable shoes, the unfashionable suits, the unfashionable gas masks. The name of some annual affair near the end of the year that was all about ghosts and candy and weird costumes itched at the back of Rad’s mind, but he couldn’t remember what it was and the thought slipped away as he tried to grasp it.

The goon bent down and the gas mask came into view. Two circular goggles in a rubber face, single soup-can canister bobbing over where the mouth would be. The goon’s voice was clear as a whistle despite the business that sat between his lips and Rad’s ears, but echoed in the soup-can like it was coming out of a radio set.

“What do you know about nineteen fifty?”

Rad pulled the handkerchief away and looked at it, then moved his jaw like he was chewing toffee. His teeth were all there, so he was happy. A fat lip he could live with. What he really wanted was a drink, something strong that you couldn’t buy, not legally anyway. He tongued the gash inside his mouth and the pepper-copper taste of blood filled his mouth again. That wasn’t what he had in mind.

“That’s the second time you’ve asked me that, pal,” said Rad. “And for the second time I’m gonna say I don’t know about nineteen fifty. If you’re looking for street directions then there are nicer ways of going about it.”

The gas mask disappeared upwards and Rad shook his head. He felt his own fedora shift against the brick wall behind him. At least he’d kept that on during the fight.

Not that it was much of a fight. One minute he was walking down Fifth, next an arm pulled him out of the light and into the alley, and after just one question a one-two landed with some success on his face, and he was sitting on the floor with a bruised tailbone and a wet backside and a cheekbone that alternated between needle-pain and numbness.

They weren’t after money. Once on the ground, the first goon – a tall, wide, no-neck, who seemed to be doing everything for the entertainment of his friend who just stood and watched behind his black goggles – grabbed his wallet, and together the four glass eyes stared at his ID for a while before the card and wallet were returned to Rad’s inside coat pocket. This was no mugging. It was planned, calculated. They were professionals. The fist responsible for Rad’s aching face was on the end of a trained arm. The crazy get-up wasn’t something you could pick up downtown. They’d collared Rad for nineteen hundred and fifty somethings. Nineteen fifty what? His office was five-A, thirty-four, Fourth Street. His home was five-B. Rad ran through addresses, locations, places that people in unfashionable suits and strange masks might have an interest in. No dice.

Published by Angry Robot - 5 Jan 2012