Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books: Interview With A.P. Winter - The Boy Who Went Magic

Today, it's great to be interviewing A. P. Winter, debut author of The Boy Who Went Magic, to find out more about him and his writing. This is an amazing magical read that was recently published by Chicken House in June 2017.  I send a very warm welcome to A. P Winter - thank you for agreeing to this interview.

Let's talk about writing! How do you want your readers to react when they read the first and last page of The Boy Who Went Magic?

Really good question. I wanted the opening to tap into the excitement I always felt opening up an adventure story as a kid - that sense that anything might happen - and at the ending. I hope the reader feels they've been on a journey with Bert, with all the bittersweet feelings the end of a good journey brings. 

This is your debut book. What did you learn from writing it? 

It is my debut 9-12 novel. I think the most important thing I learned how useful it is to have a good bad guy. Prince Voss didn't exist in early drafts, but once he came to life, it really made a lot of things fall into place.  

I hear you have a discerning palette for chocolate, does this help you write a good story for children? 

I don't know about palette, but there are some complementary skills. Chocolate tasting relies heavily on a good memory, specifically a good memory for sensory experiences, and I think that does cross over with what you tap into when you're trying to create an evocative world. 

Can you remember an early experience where you learned that language had power?

I remember making a teacher cry with one of the earliest stories I wrote. It was about a ghost porpoise who'd had a sad life. I actually thought this meant I was in trouble until she explained it was a good thing. 

What’s the most difficult thing about writing characters from the opposite sex?

I don't really think about it. All my main characters are an amalgamation of people I know and aspects of myself, so I never consider writing 'a woman' or 'a man' - it's more about figuring out who they are and what they want on a character by character basis. 

What did you edit out of this book?

Honest answer - tonnes of stuff. I take editing pretty seriously, and there was a lot that got cut and changed to become the novel it is now. My saddest omission was the pirate island. There was a whole middle section of the book where they hang out with some pirates and get into scrapes, but unfortunately, everything that happened there always felt like filler instead of an essential part of the story, and the pirates had to go. The last remnant of them is a couple of comments about how flamboyantly the crew dress on the Professor's ship (they were glam pirates). I miss those guys.

Has the city of York inspired any part of this book?

I don't want to spoil too much, but York has about two miles of medieval wall that is part of my regular running route -  descriptions of one of the key locations in the book are based on the feeling of running there when it's foggy, and you feel like you're up in the clouds. I mean, I said I wasn't going to spoil anything, but that doesn't take much detective work to piece together. There's a castle in the clouds. It's ace. That was York. 

I love the cover for The Boy Who Went Magic. Do you think that the cover plays an important part in the buying process?

Definitely (it also just occurred to me that the castle in the clouds is on the cover, so I don't know what I was thinking there). I was so grateful for Manual Sumberac's art on that cover. I work part-time in a bookshop, so I know how big a difference it makes to stand out from the crowd, especially when it comes to impulse buys - I don't think there's anything like that cover on the shelves. 

You're hosting a literary dinner party, which particular authors/illustrators would you invite and why? 

I tend to avoid writers like the plague in real life (obviously with the exception of the lovely people at Chickenhouse, or anyone else I follow on twitter, or work with, or anyone else I may have offended there), but I guess it would be fun to hang out with Cervantes. I love his Don Quixote, and he did a lot of prison time, so I'm pretty sure he'd be excited about whatever I cooked. 

Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books: David Solomons - My Evil Twin Is a Supervillain - Book Review (Nosy Crow)

When Luke is confronted with Stellar, his superpowered twin from another dimension, he is highly suspicious. No one travels through time and space without a plan, and that plan is usually EVIL. So what does Stellar want? And why is he so UNBELIEVABLY IRRITATING? From his superhero hair to his rocket-powered shoes, Stellar is up to no good, and Luke must BRING HIM DOWN!

Do you know your superheroes from your supervillains? 

How about Top Trumps from your Cosmic Jenga? 

David has covered it all in the latest installment of My Brother is a Superhero series. 'My Evil Twin Is a Supervillain' is the third and thrilling installment. It is equally as brilliant and engaging as the previous two books in the series. The narrative glides across the open skies along a slipstream of subtle humour and comical adventure that will make you laugh out loud. 

David writes with a dark side that is filled with a screen-like purpose that will appeal to the inner core of every big kid, young or old. It is as if he has donned his cape and is playing top trumps with evil villains. Everybody will love this book; it's easy to read and especially great for reluctant readers. From the very first page, the parallel universes collide with explosive COSMIC capers, sibling rivalry, and Zack's mock exams. 

Will the universe need saving from Luke's evil twin, Stellar?

The reader is heading for a galactic showdown like no other. This is a fantastic narrative full of action and crazy mayhem. It will sock you in the sci-fi world as you follow the young superheroes and/or villains trying to save the multi-universe from self-destruction. Nevermind Gorgon the World-Eater, but who does he think he is?

You will traverse a parallel world, in a flush of a toilet, via IKEA's bedroom department. There, you will uncover a fiendish plot (in a treehouse of cats) and be totally absorbed in a world that will lead you to another fantasy dimension. The story will twist and turn like a snake charmer wearing a scarf and the emotions bubble up like a superhero visiting a volcano. It has all the right ingredients to get you hooked and keep you there. This is another amazing installment from one of the best teenage series around and from the nose that knows a good story.....

Author bio:

David Solomons has been writing screenplays for many years. His first feature film was an adaptation of 'Five Children and It' (starring Kenneth Branagh and Eddie Izzard, with gala screenings at the Toronto and Tribeca Film Festivals). My Brother is a Superhero is his first novel for children. He was born in Glasgow and now lives in Dorset with his wife, the novelist Natasha Solomons, and their son, Luke.

Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books: Children's Middle Grade Book Picks (9-12yrs) June 2017 - US Post

N. D. Wilson - The Door Before (100 Cupboards Prequel) - Published by Random House Books for Young Readers (June 27, 2017) - 

• ISBN-13: 978-0449816776 

Readers everywhere were transported by the 100 cupboard doors leading to 100 worlds of adventure in the bestselling 100 Cupboards series! Now, whether you're new to the series or can't wait to know where the cupboards came from, you’ll want to open the cupboard door to this action-packed fantasy where friendships are forged, dark forces are challenged, and the adventure begins!

 
Hyacinth Smith can see things that others miss, stop attack dogs from attacking, and grow trees where no trees have grown before. But she’s never had a real home. When her father tells them they’ve inherited a house from their great-aunt, Hyacinth sees trouble brewing. Their great-aunt has been playing with forces beyond her control, using her lightning-tree forest to create doors to other worlds. When one door opens, two boys tumble through . . . bringing with them a battle with the undying witch-queen, Nimiane. Hyacinth, together with the boys, must use her newfound magic and all of her courage to journey straight into the witch’s kingdom in a daring plan to trap evil and kill the immortal.

Frank Cottrell Boyce - Sputnik's Guide to Life on Earth - Published by Walden Pond Press (June 20, 2017) - ISBN-13: 978-0062643629

Award-winning author Frank Cottrell Boyce returns with another one-of-a-kind story of heart, humor, and finding one’s place in the universe.

Prez knows that the best way to keep track of things is to make a list. That's important when you have a grandfather who is constantly forgetting. And it's even more important when your grandfather can't care for you anymore and you have to go live with a foster family out in the country.

Prez is still learning to fit in at his new home when he answers the door to meet Sputnik—a kid who is more than a little strange. First, he can hear what Prez is thinking. Second, he looks like a dog to everyone except Prez. Third, he can manipulate the laws of space and time. Sputnik, it turns out is an alien, and he's got a mission that requires Prez's help: the Earth has been marked for destruction, and the only way they can stop it is to come up with ten reasons why the planet should be saved.

Thus begins one of the most fun and eventful summers of Prez's life, as he and Sputnik set out on a journey to compile the most important list Prez has ever made—and discover just what makes our world so remarkable.

Corey Ann Haydu - The Someday Suitcase - Published by Katherine Tegen Books (June 27, 2017) - ISBN-13: 978-0062352750

Readers who loved  The Thing About Jellyfish and Goodbye Stranger will find a mysterious magic and unforgettable friendship in The Someday Suitcase, written by the critically acclaimed author of Rules for Stealing Stars.

Clover and Danny are the kind of best friends who make each other even better. They’re so important to each other that Clover believes they’re symbiotic: her favorite science word, which describes two beings who can’t function without the other. But when Danny comes down with a mysterious illness that won’t go away, the doctors can’t figure out what’s wrong with him. So Clover decides to take matters into her own hands by making lists—list of Danny’s symptoms, his good days, his bad days. 

As the evidence piles up, only one thing becomes clear: Danny is only better when Clover is around.

Suddenly it feels like time is running out for Clover and Danny to do everything they’ve planned together—to finally see snow, to go on a trip with the suitcase they picked out together. Will science be able to save Danny, or is this the one time when magic can overcome the unthinkable?

Lisa Bunker - Felix Yz - Published by Viking Books for Young Readers (June 6, 2017) - ISBN-13: 978-0425288504

“If it wasn’t for the fused-with-Zyx thing, I suppose I would just be normal—whatever that means.”
 
When Felix Yz was three years old, a hyperintelligent fourth-dimensional being became fused inside him after one of his father’s science experiments went terribly wrong. The creature is friendly, but Felix—now thirteen—won’t be able to grow to adulthood while they’re still melded together. So a risky Procedure is planned to separate them . . . but it may end up killing them both instead. 
 
This book is Felix’s secret blog, a chronicle of the days leading up to the Procedure. Some days it’s business as usual—time with his close-knit family, run-ins with a bully at school, anxiety about his crush. But life becomes more out of the ordinary with the arrival of an Estonian chess Grandmaster, the revelation of family secrets, and a train-hopping journey. When it all might be over in a few days, what matters most?
 
Told in an unforgettable voice full of heart and humor, Felix Yz is a groundbreaking story about how we are all separate, but all connected too.

Jaleigh Johnson - The Quest to the Uncharted Lands - Published by Delacorte Books for Young Readers (June 13, 2017) - ISBN-13: 978-1101933121

From the acclaimed author of the New York Times bestseller The Mark of the Dragonflycomes another magical and thrilling story that takes readers on an exciting new adventure.
 
Stella Glass dreams of exploring worlds beyond her home of Solace, but when her famous parents are sent on a historic mission to the Uncharted Lands, it’s simply too dangerous for her to join them. By order of the king, she is left behind.
 
Missing out on the excitement is one thing, but Stella is devastated at the thought of her parents flying into the unknown. So she takes matters into her own hands. Instead of staying with family as planned, she steals away and—right before takeoff—sneaks aboard the airship.
 
But Stella isn’t the only stowaway.
 
In the cargo bay is a boy who is also desperate to get to the Uncharted Lands. And someone else who’s determined to keep the ship from making it there at all. . . .

Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books: Children's Middle Grade Book Picks (9-12yrs) June 2017 - UK Post Two

Jacob Sager Weinstein - The City of Secret Rivers - Published by Walker Books (1 Jun. 2017) 

ISBN-13: 978-1406368857

An exciting subterranean London adventure, the first in a middle-grade trilogy. Hyacinth Hayward has recently arrived from America and is having difficulty adjusting to her new surroundings, especially being in the sole company of her eccentric mother. Everything feels strange. Very strange. And it gets stranger the day she accidentally unleashes the power of a secret river running through London. To prevent a second Great Fire, Hyacinth needs to retrieve a single, magically charged drop of water from somewhere in the city sewer system. Along the way she encounters an eclectic cast of characters - the shambling, monstrous Saltpetre Men who kidnap her mother, the Toshers who battle for control of magical artefacts and a giant pig with whom she has a tea party. The clock is ticking - will she figure out who to trust?

Stewart Foster - All The Things That Could Go Wrong - Published by Simon & Schuster Children's UK (29 Jun. 2017) - 

ISBN-13: 978-1471145421

There are two sides to every story
 Dan is angry. Nothing has been the same since his big brother left, and he’s taking it out on the
nearest and weakest target: Alex.
 Alex is struggling. His severe OCD makes it hard for him to leave the house, especially when Dan
and his gang are waiting for him at school . . .

Then the boys’ mums arrange for them to meet up and finish building the raft that Dan started with his brother. Two enemies stuck together for the whole of the school holidays – what could possibly go wrong? 

Caleb Krisp (Author), John Kelly (Illustrator) Bring Me the Head of Ivy Pocket (Ivy Pocket 3) - Published by Bloomsbury Children's (1 Jun. 2017) - ISBN-13: 978-1408858721

Our magnificently infuriating heroine is on the very brink of her greatest adventure: bound for London and Prospa House to save Anastasia Radcliff and young Rebecca Butterfield from fates worse than death. But there are difficulties at every turn. The devious Miss Always and her devilish Locks are in hot pursuit. Anastasia is gone, taken by her evil sister-in-law Estelle and hidden in a place no one will ever find her. And worst of all, the Clock Diamond is no longer working, blocking Ivy's route to Prospa. There's a mystery to be unpicked and if anyone can do it, it's Ivy Pocket. After all, she has all the natural instincts of a Russian chess master. 
Ivy Pocket's tumultuous finale is certain to involve breathtaking adventure, bone-shattering courage, and frightful danger. But what price will she have to pay?

Craig A. Thomson - Search for the Sunlight: A Treewood Adventure -  Self Published (18 Jun. 2017) 

ISBN-13: 978-1527210479

The sunlight has mysteriously disappeared. The life-saving tea crops have failed, and a cold grey fog has descended on the land. The great forest is slowly dying… Can four naïve Treewoods (part tree and part human), and a smelly wizard cat called Brian, find the source of the trouble and save the Treewood nation from extinction? Find out as the travellers leave the safety of the forest and embark on an exciting, often dangerous, quest to look for both the missing sunlight and the old astronomer, who set off a hundred years before them and never returned. “Search for the Sunlight” 
www.craigathomson.com

Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books: Children's Middle Grade Book Picks (9-12yrs) June 2017 - UK Post

Emma Carroll - Letters from the Lighthouse - Published by Faber & Faber (1 Jun. 2017) - ISBN-13: 978-0571327584

We weren't supposed to be going to the pictures that night. We weren't even meant to be outside, not in a blackout, and definitely not when German bombs had been falling on London all month like pennies from a jar.

February, 1941. After months of bombing raids in London, twelve-year-old Olive Bradshaw and her little brother Cliff are evacuated to the Devon coast. The only person with two spare beds is Mr Ephraim, the local lighthouse keeper. But he's not used to company and he certainly doesn't want any evacuees. 

Desperate to be helpful, Olive becomes his post-girl, carrying secret messages (as she likes to think of the letters) to the villagers. But Olive has a secret of her own. Her older sister Sukie went missing in an air raid, and she's desperate to discover what happened to her. And when a sneaky peek at a letter reveals a clue, she knows she'll have to break all the rules to find her.

Jennifer Bell The Smoking Hourglass (THE UNCOMMONERS) - Published by Corgi Children's (15 Jun. 2017) - ISBN-13: 978-0552572903

 

Following Ivy Sparrow’s discoveries in The Crooked Sixpence, the adventures continue in the second instalment of The Uncommoners trilogy, The Smoking Hourglass.

As soon as Ivy and her brother Seb set foot back in the mysterious underground city of Lundinor, they know that something has changed . . . Where before there were cobbled streets, now the squares and lanes between the city’s enchanted shops are lush with spring blooms – but something dark is stirring just below the surface, and uncommon traders are uneasy. Ivy and Seb have stumbled into a plot that could condemn every uncommoner to a disastrous fate . . . With the help of Valian, their extraordinary friend – and some exceptional uncommon objects – can Ivy and Seb put a stop to the sinister Dirge’s plans?

Jess Butterworth - Running on the Roof of the World - Published by Orion Children's Books (1 Jun. 2017) - ISBN-13: 978-1510102088

Join 12-year-old Tash and her best friend Sam in a story of adventure, survival and hope, set in the vivid Himalayan landscape of Tibet and India. Filled with friendship, love and courage, this young girl's thrilling journey to save her parents is an ideal read for children aged 9-12. 

There are two words that are banned in Tibet. Two words that can get you locked in prison without a second thought. I watch the soldiers tramping away and call the words after them. 'Dalai Lama.' 

Tash has to follow many rules to survive in Tibet, a country occupied by Chinese soldiers. But when a man sets himself on fire in protest and soldiers seize Tash's parents, she and her best friend Sam must break the rules. They are determined to escape Tibet - and seek the help of the Dalai Lama himself in India. 

And so, with a backpack of Tash's father's mysterious papers and two trusty yaks by their side, their extraordinary journey across the mountains begins.

Shane Hegarty - Hero Rising (Darkmouth, Book 4) - Published by HarperCollinsChildren'sBooks (29 Jun. 2017) - ISBN-13: 978-0007545629

The edge-of-your-seat, monstrously-exciting, laugh-out-loud adventures of the most unfortunate monster-hunter ever to don armour… continue.

Things can’t get any worse. Legends are running riot. Half-hunters are out of control. Darkmouth has been taken away from Finn and Emmie, and Finn’s dad Hugo – proud Legend Hunter – is washing dogs for a living.

But something even more terrifying lurks beneath the surface: an ancient horror threatening both our world and the Infested Side.

So scratch that. Things can get worse. Much worse.

More than ever, Darkmouth is going to need a hero…

Sadly, all it’s got is Finn.