The Best Children's Book Picks November 2022 - US Post - Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books

Jaclyn Moriarty -  The Astonishing Chronicles of Oscar from Elsewhere - Published by Levine Querido (November 15, 2022) - ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1646142026 - Hardback - Age: 9+ 

A unique blend of humor, suspense, and magic, unfolding through the instantly recognizable rivalries, affections and foibles of her characters, from Jaclyn Moriarty 
During a sleepover, a letter comes to five children begging for the urgent assistance of Esther Mettlestone-Staranise, the newly-realized Rain Weaver; she must arrive before 10am on Monday to save an entire town of elves. When they arrive, the children find two incredibly odd things: first, the town of elves, buried under layers of silver; and second, a regular-size boy who, soon after seeing the children, dies.

Oscar is that boy who skipped school in our world on Monday to skate, and found himself in the city of the elves at just the wrong moment: He fled as fast as he could, but not fast enough because the silver wave struck him and he fell down dead.

And that’s just the beginning! At breakneck pace the cousins and friends (and a six-year-old stowaway elf named Gruffudd, who’s a troublemaker) try to stop the clock and rewind the tragedy. Can they do it?

The pleasure is all in the adventure, as only Jaclyn Moriarty can tell it.

ABOUT JACLYN MORIARTY

Jaclyn Moriarty is the award-winning author of uniquely creative and readable books for adults and young readers including The Year of Secret Assignments, the Colors of Madeleine trilogy, The Extremely Inconvenient Adventures of Bronte Mettlestone, and The Stolen Prince of Cloudburst. One of the talented and popular Moriarty sisters (including Liane and Nicola), Jaclyn lives in Sydney, Australia. She is very fond of chocolate, blueberries, and sleep.

Roland Smith - The Switch - Published by Scholastic Press (November 1, 2022) - ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0545803502 - Hardback - Age: 8+

A thrilling dystopic story from Roland Smith about how far people will go to survive -- perfect for fans ofDry and Distress Signal.

On the morning of Henry Ludd's thirteenth birthday, the power goes out. No phones, no news, and planes are literally falling out of the sky. Henry's father was away from the family farm and he has not returned. It's worrisome as people descend into lawlessness.

Four months later, the electricity still hasn't come back. While Henry's family is protected in their walled compound with wind turbines fueling their electricity, the rest of their area has suffered. Henry's father still hasn’t been found. Determined to find him, Henry ventures out with a trading crew to the zoo where his dad was last seen. After the truck is hijacked and Henry is left behind, he's forced to travel alone through the unruly world of the Switch. But his journey home will lead him to cross paths with the people who took his dad and have been trying to take over his family's land and resources ever since.

Esme Symes-Smith - Sir Callie and the Champions of Helston - Published by ‎Labyrinth Road (November 8, 2022) - ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0593485774 - Hardback - Age: 8+ 

In a magical medieval world filled with dragons, shape-shifters, and witches, a twelve-year-old nonbinary hopeful knight battles for the heart of their kingdom. A thrilling middle-grade series opener that explores identity and gender amid sword fights and magic, and proves anyone can be a hero.

When their ex-hero dad is summoned back to the royal capital of Helston to train a hopeless crown prince, Callie lunges at the opportunity to finally prove themself worthy to the kingdom’s "great and powerful." Except the intolerant great and powerful look at nonbinary Callie and only see girl. But Callie has always known exactly what they want to be, and they’re not about to let anything stand in their way.

Trapped in Helston’s rigid hierarchy where girls learn magic and boys train as knights, Callie discovers they aren’t alone—there’s Elowen, the chancellor’s brilliant daughter, whose unparalleled power is being stifled; Edwyn, Elowen’s twin brother desperate to win his father’s approval; and Willow, the crown prince who was never meant to be king.

In this start to an epic series packed with action, humor, and heart, Callie and their new friends quickly find themselves embedded in an ancient war—and their only hope to defeat the threats outside the kingdom lies in first defeating the bigotry within.

"Young readers will find a worthy hero in Callie, who displays boundless courage in defending both their convictions and their friends...In clear and simple terms, Sir Callie assures readers that, no matter what anyone else might say, a real fairy-tale ending means finding the space and support to thrive exactly the way you are."
—Bookpage

Marthe Jocelyn (Author), Isabelle Follath (Illustrator) - Aggie Morton, Mystery Queen: The Seaside Corpse - Published by Tundra Books (November 1, 2022) - ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0735270824 - Hardback - Age: 9+ 

For young detective Aggie Morton and her friend Hector, an opportunity to dig up fossils becomes even more thrilling when a corpse washes ashore in this fourth book in the Aggie Morton, Mystery Queen series, inspired by the life of Agatha Christie as a child and her most popular creation, Hercule Poirot. For fans of Enola Holmes.

After an invigorating but not exactly restful trip to a Yorkshire spa during which she survived a near brush with death and foiled a murderer, aspiring writer Aggie Morton and her friend Hector are thrilled to have the opportunity to stay at a camp by the sea and watch real paleontologists at work. The famed husband and wife team of the Blenningham-Crewes are about to become even more famous with the recovery of the fossilized bones of an ichthyosaur from the sea by Lyme Regis. This news has already caught the attention of an American millionaire, a British museum and a travelling circus owner, who each want the bones for their own collections. Tensions are running high throughout the camp, from the cook, to the collectors, to the Blenningham-Crewes themselves, and become downright dangerous after Aggie and Hector make a discovery of their own: a body on the beach. Not a fossil, but a human body. 

ISABELLE FOLLATH has been a freelance illustrator for advertising agencies, magazines and book publishers for over fifteen years, but her true passion lies in illustrating children's books. She uses pen and ink, watercolor and pencil alongside digital techniques to create her work. She loves drinking an alarming amount of coffee, learning new crafts and looking for the perfect greenish-gold color. Isabelle lives with her family in Switzerland.

The Best Children's Book Picks October 2022 - US Post - Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books

 

Jasmine Warga - A Rover's Story - Published by Balzer + Bray (October 4, 2022) - ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0063113923 - Hardback - Age: 8+ 

The One and Only Ivan meets The Wild Robot in this unique and deeply moving middle-grade novel about the journey of a fictional Mars rover, from the Newbery Honor-winning author of Other Words for Home. New York Times bestseller!

Meet Resilience, a Mars rover determined to live up to his name.

Res was built to explore Mars. He was not built to have human emotions. But as he learns new things from the NASA scientists who assemble him, he begins to develop human-like feelings. Maybe there’s a problem with his programming….

Human emotions or not, launch day comes, and Res blasts off to Mars, accompanied by a friendly drone helicopter named Fly. But Res quickly discovers that Mars is a dangerous place filled with dust storms and giant cliffs. As he navigates Mars’s difficult landscape, Res is tested in ways that go beyond space exploration. 

As millions of people back on Earth follow his progress, will Res have the determination, courage—and resilience—to succeed… and survive?  

Andrea Rogers (Author), Jeff Edwards (Illustrator) - Man Made Monsters - Published by ‎Levine Querido (October 4, 2022) - ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1646141791 - Hardback - Age: 12+ 

Tsalagi should never have to live on human blood, but sometimes things just happen to sixteen-year-old girls. 

Making her YA debut, Cherokee writer Andrea L. Rogers takes her place as one of the most striking voices of the horror renaissance that has swept the last decade.

Horror fans will get their thrills in this collection – from werewolves to vampires to zombies – all the time-worn horror baddies are there. But so are predators of a distinctly American variety – the horrors of empire, of intimate partner violence, of dispossession. And so to the monsters of Rogers’ imagination, that draw upon long-told Cherokee stories – of Deer Woman, fantastical sea creatures, and more.

Following one extended Cherokee family across the centuries, from the tribe’s homelands in Georgia in the 1830s to World War I, the Vietnam War, our own present, and well into the future, each story delivers a slice of a particular time period that will leave readers longing for more.

Alongside each story, Cherokee artist and language technologist Jeff Edwards delivers haunting illustrations that incorporate Cherokee syllabary.

But don’t just take it from us – award-winning writer of The Only Good Indians and MongrelsStephen Graham Jones says that "Andrea Rogers writes like the house is on fire and her words are the only thing that can put it out."

Man Made Monsters is a masterful, heartfelt, haunting collection ripe for crossover appeal – just don’t blame us if you start hearing things that go bump in the night.

Mari Mancusi - New Dragon City - Published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (October 4, 2022) - ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0316376686 - Hardback - Age: 8

Set off on a high-stakes, action-packed adventure in this story about friendship, survival, and fighting for ones you love, perfect for fans of Wings of Fire and How to Train Your Dragon. 

No one predicted the dragon apocalypse. The dragons came suddenly and decimated the world as we knew it, including New York City. Now, three years later, Noah, his hardcore survivalist father, and a ragtag group of survivors are barely scraping by in this new reality. Kids scavenge not only for materials in abandoned homes but also for leftover books at the library. Adults spend their time establishing a make-shift society and defending their shelter... with any means available. At least for a few months, the dragons are hibernating until it’s no longer safe aboveground.

Noah has seen the damage these creatures can do firsthand. When it comes to dragons: It's kill or be killed. But a chance encounter between Noah and a young dragon forces him to question everything he thought he knew. With rumors spreading that there’s a group of survivors living in harmony with dragons instead of hiding underground, Noah teams up with his fire-breathing ally to find out if peace between humans and dragons is really possible. But the division runs deeper than scales versus skin because trying to follow his heart might just cost Noah his family too. If Noah and his father can’t see eye to eye, can he really get humans and dragons too?

‎ 

Natalie Lund - The Wolves Are Watching - Viking Books for Young Readers (October 4, 2022) - ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0593351093 - Hardback - Age: 7+ 

A fresh, compelling, and eerie exploration of small-town living, stolen children, and wolves that watch in the woods.

The night little Madison disappears from her crib, Luce sees a pair of eyes--two points of gold deep in the forest behind her house--and feels certain they belong to a wolf. Her town, Picnic, Illinois, is the kind of place where everyone knows one another and no one locks their doors. It’s not the kind of place where a toddler goes missing without a trace, where wolves lurk in the shadows.
 
In town, people are quick to blame Madison’s mom. But when Luce’s English teacher shares an original script about the disappearance of another little girl in Picnic back in 1870, Luce begins to notice similarities that she can’t ignore. Certain that something deeper is going on, Luce tracks the wolf she saw into the woods and uncovers the truth about her town: magical animal-women, who have remained hidden in shadows for centuries, have taken her cousin for their own purposes--and they have no intention of bringing her back. 
 
A chilling mystery that weaves elements of magical realism, drama, and folklore into a story of one teen’s bravery as she confronts her town’s past and tries to save the future.

Melissa Welliver - The Undying Tower (The Undying Trilogy) - Interview (Q&A) - Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books #5

 

Hello Everybody. It's time to talk YA fiction on Mr. Ripley's Enchanted Books with the debut book by Melissa Welliver. The Undying Tower is the first book in an action-packed dystopian trilogy that will be published in October 2021 by Agora Books. In this interview, we get a fantastic insight into the story, the characters, and the author's road to being published. We hope you enjoy this post. 

If you fancy finding out more or you just want to get ahead then please preorder HERE. There is a possibility that you might be able to get a signed copy and some special extras. Enjoy your week. 

1.   Can you share something with us about the story that isn’t in the blurb?

Great question! I think something major that is in there from the beginning is that Sadie is a Synaesthete – someone who has a particular cross-wiring of her brain so she associates smells and colours with certain emotions. She is an artist, and her synaesthesia informs her art just as much as her other senses. For the most part, the colour match-ups with the emotions are based on my own synaesthesia.

 

2.    Why do you think we should read this book?

If you’re missing the dystopian YA of the 2010s, but want something with a bit of a reboot, then you should absolutely read The Undying Tower! If that doesn’t persuade you, don’t listen to me, listen to Michael Grant, author of the Gone series: “In the spirit of The Hunger Games but deeper, more heartfelt, even profound in its examination of the downsides of eternal life. I loved The Undying Tower. Melissa Welliver has arrived on the scene and attention should be paid.” (I know, I’m still star-struck!)

3.    The book is set in a dystopian world. What does the future look like for the characters in the book? 

The future is bleak, I’m sad to say! The world has been ravaged by nuclear war, climate change disaster, and an over-population crisis. Throw into the mix that 5% of the population will never die from old age, and these issues only get worse. That said, the young heroes of the novel have good intensions and a will to do better than their forefathers, so I’m hopeful that things could get better one day (look out book 3!)

4.    Is there an underlying message you would like readers to take from this story as they read the book?

The major message is that if you have a voice, use it. The book really champions fighting for what’s right, especially when the world is against you.

5.    The Undying Tower is the first book of a trilogy. Do you know how the story is going to develop across the other two books?

While books 2 and 3 are yet to be written, I do have a plot outline for each, plus one for the overall arc of the trilogy as a whole. I’m learning a lot about myself as a writer throughout the publishing process, and those lessons are bound to affect those outlines a little! But on the whole, I know where the story ultimately needs to end up.

6.    Do you have a favourite character in the book? If so, who is it and what makes them so special to you?

I really want to be best friends with Rivers. She is the feisty right-hand-woman of our main character, Sadie, and she totally kicks butt. She also has a softer side that we see the edges of in book 1 and that I want to explore further in other books. Rivers always has your back, plus she’s pretty handy with a knife, so I definitely want her on my survival team!

7.    If your book was to be made into a movie, which celebrities would you like to star in it?

A film deal – the dream! The Undying Tower is set in the UK, so I’d love to see some British stalwarts like Patterson Joseph or Benedict Cumberbatch in there, perhaps as members of the resistance. That said, the Avalonia Zone (the new name for the British Isles) does own some overseas colonies, so there’s certainly room for some wonderful American or European actors. I’d like the younger roles to go to younger actors, perhaps even to an as-yet-unknown person – to give someone a big break like Agora Books has given me would be another dream come true!

8.    Please could you tell us a little about yourself and how you became a writer?

I’m Melissa and I live in the North of England. Like most writers, I’ve always wanted to write, but wasn’t sure how to go about it. The publishing industry can be very opaque and that can make it difficult for new writers. In the end, I did a fair few courses for creative writing and slowly the idea for The Undying Tower came together. It’s been nine years of perseverance, rejections, ups and downs, but I’m finally here. Never give up!

9.    If you had a soundtrack for this book, what would it be and why?

I listened to a lot of film soundtracks when writing The Undying Tower, funnily enough. I think a big, dramatic score by John Williams is a perfect accompaniment to the story’s punchy themes and action scenes.

10. What do you think is the main thing you have to get right when writing a book for Young Adults?

Voice. With any age group this is important, but especially so with YA. We’re competing against video games, TikTok, Netflix – a whole array of distractions that seem bigger and better than reading. If you don’t nail that voice, your teen audience won’t want to follow your character for 300 pages on their adventure. Voice helps any story come alive.

Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books: Theresa Breslin - Caged - Book Review

• 
  
• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Corgi Children's (1 Sept. 2016)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0552565229

• ISBN-13: 978-0552565226

Carnegie Medal winner Theresa Breslin explores the dangerous world of cage-fighting in this dark and powerful new novel. 

Escaping from a troubled home and struggling to survive on the streets, the abandoned tunnels of the London Underground are a perfect sanctuary for Kai. Along with other teenagers running from their pasts, he finds somewhere to belong in this strange community of outcasts.

But Kai is now facing a very different kind of fight. Every night, led by the enigmatic Spartacus, the runaways must become cage fighters, each fight broadcast to the outside world via YouTube. With gambling profits from these videos racking up, Kai and his friends hope to be able to start a new life. 

Yet treachery and danger are never far behind, and a new arrival threatens the order that Spartacus has worked so carefully to maintain. And then there is the looming finale, the last battle between Kai and his nemesis Leo: the Kill Fight...

As soon as you turn the first page, it will definitely have you focused on the story ahead. Crawling through the darkness will eventually lead you to page one. At this point, the mind will sharpen and flex with these powerful words "Blood has a stale taste. Brings back a memory". You will suddenly find yourself transported into a dangerous world of cage fighting. With a narrative this strong, you will be hooked in like a pro boxer and soon be rocking on the ropes of fantasy in a blink of a punch. 

This is a brilliantly written story full of highs and lows over a period of just one week. Within a very short period of time, you will meet the characters and intimately get to know most of them. Their troubled teenage lives and backgrounds pull the narrative together like a vice. Homeless, being alone and afraid, they are all in search for a place to belong, but will they find it? 

This story was inspired by an ever increasing number of young people living rough on our city streets. The author skilfully draws together her feelings and emotions into the characters very sensitively - it is a delight to read. The story is very much in keeping with the daily struggles of teenage life, for some young people. The sense of being different is evident and explored within this book; it makes you think about how our minds consider and act upon every day issues. It's a real reality check and one that every reader, regardless of age, should and will connect with. It is very thought provoking.

This is a great social story that captures the bonds of friendships. It is very topical and cool with a dark and edgy killer kick. There is a great sense of wonder and intrigue pulling together contemporary ideas and placing them underneath the mysterious streets of London. 

The fighting scenes in the story, perhaps needed a little more work, as they lacked a little bit of realism for me within the story. However, the rest of the plot was fantastic and worked really well; it was maybe a little predictable in places, but so what? The ending was climatic, explosive and tied up all the loose ends very nicely. This is a very satisfying read and one of the best books that I've read from Theresa. It is throughly engaging and is based on a great concept. Great reading and a book, I would really recommend! 

Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books: Interview with Susan Williams Beckhorn - The Wolf's Boy (Disney-Hyperion)

I'm really pleased to be sharing with you the following interview with Susan Williams Beckhorn, author and illustrator of some amazing children's books. The Wolf's Boy is her latest book which was published in June 2016 by Disney-Hyperion in the US. To find out more about this cracking read, click on the following book review link from School Library Journal. I hope this inspires you to pick up The Wolf's Boy and have a read... 

1.Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

I grew up near Boston, Massachusetts as the youngest of four in a pretty average white family. Sadly, I did not have a cruel stepmother, nor was I dressed in rags or beaten. I did however have books, which I read walking to school, under the lid of my desk during math class, brushing my teeth, and of course, under the covers by the light of my electric blanket control after the flashlight was taken away. I like to tell kids that a dreadful thing will happen if you read too much: you will become a writer. It’s sort of like inhaling and exhaling. 

After art school, I married my sweetheart, Fred, and we became hippie-back-to-the landers here in western New York. We built our own stone house, which we still live in 36 years later, and raised two very entertaining daughters, Fern and Spring. At the moment we have two dogs, two cats, two horses, and one rooster—the only survivor of a recent raccoon massacre. We grow most of our own vegetables. Fred farms and builds furniture. I manage our AirBnB rental cabin, and write. He does wood, I do words.

2. How would you describe your latest book "The Wolf's Boy" to potential new readers?

I like to say that THE WOLF’S BOY is a story that’s been waiting 20,000 years to be told. It’s about a friendship that changed history: the bond between man and dog. After writing WIND RIDER (Harper Collins 2006), a “first horse” story which takes place 6000 years ago in what is now Kazakhstan, I decided that I wanted to do a “first dog” story. During the research phase, I contacted Mark Derr, author of HOW THE DOG BECAME THE DOG, to ask where I should set my story. He answered, “The first domestication of the dog could have taken place in China, or the Middle East, or perhaps southern France—where they found the fossilized footprints of a boy and a canine, apparently walking side by side in Chauvet Cave.” Chills ran up my spine. My story of an outcast boy and a young wolf against an Ice Age winter grew out of that chance remark.

Chauvet Cave was discovered in 1994, but never opened to the public so as not to repeat the disaster of Lascaux. As a relatively unknown children’s writer, I knew I would not be allowed inside Chauvet. Instead, I got a copy of the breath-taking book, THE DAWN OF ART which was put together by the discoverers of the cave and Werner Hertzog’s film, CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS, both of which document what are thought to be the oldest paintings in the world. Then in April of 2013, my husband and I travelled to Europe. We visited the Neanderthal Museum in Germany where I gleaned ideas for my character, Oooni. We went to the Dordogne valley where we were able to enter several caves still open to the public, view Crow Magnon art and know the mysterious aura of these sacred places. And we climbed to the opening of Chauvet, gazed at the beautiful Ardeche River Gorge with its awe-inspiring stone arch, and felt what it must have been like in Kai’s time. 

3. Is anything in your book based on real life experiences or purely all imagination?

Even though the story is prehistory, many things in it come from my own life. As one can see on the dedication page, I’ve shared my life with a lot of dogs. I think right away of the scene where Uff comes to Kai in the blackness of the cave and he doesn’t know at first if it is she or the bear. One moonless night, as a young adult, I was walking a trail in the woods in New Hampshire, trying to prove to myself that I wasn’t afraid of the dark. Suddenly I heard a big animal running toward me. There was a moment of fear until I knew in my heart that my German Shepherd, Jessica, had come after me. I put out my hand in the blackness and felt her wet nose and greeting tongue.

And the opening scene, when Kai is pinned by his brother, who threatens to spit on him by letting a string of saliva hang from his mouth—well let’s just say I had two old brothers. I can’t remember now which one was guilty. 

4. Do your characters seem to hijack the story or do you feel like you have the reigns of the story?

I have to say that I got so deeply into Kai and Uff’s story that I almost began to feel that it was true. It is true in many ways.

5. If you could cast your characters in the Hollywood film adaptation of your book, who would play your characters?

Kai should be played by a young Leonardo DiCaprio. Uff might have been played by my second German Shepherd, Genny, if she’d had a more golden coat and been a bit wolfier looking.

6. Have you written a book you love that you have not been able to get published?

I have written a sequel to WIND RIDER, but because the Laura Geringer imprint closed at Harper Collins before I finished it, it’s never been published. I love the story. It’s really more of a second generation companion piece, a clash of cultural/religious views that parallels what goes on so sadly in the world today, and a sweet little romance to boot. I still have hopes for it!

7. Which famous person, living or dead would you like to meet and why?

Aside from Jesus and Ghandi (whose October 2nd. birthday I have always felt honoured to share), I’d really love to have been able to meet and spend time with Mark Twain. I am awed by his humor, his humanity, and his genius. Oh jeepers, now I need to read him some more!

8. What are your thoughts about how to encourage more children to read?

Turn off the electronics and read to them. A lot. As long as they will let you—into adulthood if possible! Play audiobooks in the car. Always read the book before the film. Be seen reading by your child.

9. Where did your love of books/storytelling/reading/writing/etc. come from?

My parents read to us at bedtime, in the car, at camp where we had no TV. My brothers both had dyslexia, so my mother read a lot of their summer reading list books to them—which was not a bad thing at all. I listened. My oldest brother, Ted Williams, who is an environmental journalist (Audubon, Fly Rod and Reel, etc.), sometimes told my sister and me stories during our naptime on the porch at the camp in New Hampshire. That was magical. No spitting involved!

10. What project are you working on now?

At the moment I’m in the research phase of a new MG novel. I don’t like to talk about stories very much until I have something written, but sometime in prehistory there will be a dog and a girl in a canoe in the Caribbean. . .          

Mr Ripley's Book Review - Nick Cook - Cloud Riders - Three Hares Publishing

I really loved the look of this book; from the fantastic eye catching cover, designed by Jennie Rawlings, to the interesting synopsis that I did actually read. When I was asked if I wanted to review this book I did not hesitate - I was really happy to say yes and I am very glad that I did.

Cloud Riders is the first book in a new series that will power your mind as it takes you on a journey that will deeply immerse you in a Sci-Fi/Steampunk fantasy. The story is told from the perspective of Dom. Living with his mom in Tornado Alley, this is the setting for the frantic action that follows.  After a year of long droughts, the family diner is on the verge of going bust, but then the first twister in months appears and, from nowhere, an airship emerges from the spout.

I was really drawn to the initial idea of the story; the chasing after and filming of a deadly twister. A tornado consisting of a violent rotating column of air that is in contact with the surface of the earth. This is a really fascinating natural phenomena and a refreshing idea that drew me into the story. However it didn't stop there as another dimension soon appeared, literally, in the form of a new world. 

As well as a fantastic idea, there are also a host of characters to intrigue the reader. There is Dom's long time best friend Jules and a feisty mysterious character known as Angelique. Both have a history with Dom that soon becomes known to the reader and allows us to relate to the emotional state of each character. We encounter a love triangle, as well as a range of mysteries and secrets with some timely twist and turns. The author is certainly not afraid to tackle the theme of tragedy within this story.

This book was a bag of tricks; it had the personality and blend of some of my favourite books. It was a very enjoyable read as it still brought something new to the literary table. Energetic spaceship battles, steampunk gadgets, and out of this world voyages have been very creatively written. The ending was incredibly frantic and explosive, which I wasn't too sure about. Nevertheless it created a great start for the next book which, I have to say, I am really looking forward to reading.

I would recommend this book, especially to readers who loved Philip Reeve's 'Mortal Engines' and Garth Nix's 'A confusion of Princess'. The only problem that you may have is being able to track down a copy, but it is out now for you to try.

Also check out his guest post, to the Moon and Beyond HERE

Published by Three Hares Publishing - (6 May 2014)

Guest Post: Debut Author M.J. Howes - Feed - Chicken House

Firstly, I’m still pinching myself, still can’t quite believe I’m a published author. When you dream about something for so long, (and I have dreamt about getting published for years, probably driving my poor family crazy in the process), it’s a weird feeling when it finally comes true. So has it been worth all the hours of writing, waiting and rejections …? Absolutely!

FEED, is my first published novel and it’s certainly changed and evolved on its journey to publication, getting darker, scarier and even more gruesome with every rewrite. And I’ve loved it!

So how did I come up with the idea for FEED? It was really just an image in my head at first, of children in a playground being sucked up by an alien spaceship (I know, don’t even ask me where that came from). The seed was then firmly planted, wouldn’t go away and kept pestering me all the time until I had no choice but to sit down at my computer and grow it into a story.

I love asking myself – What if? And that’s exactly how I developed the plot for FEED. What if a travelling convoy of aliens needed to stock up on their food supplies? What if they saw Earth and its inhabitants as just animals, theirs for the taking? 

If we were travelling through space, wouldn’t we do the same if we saw a planet full of cattle-like creatures? Probably.

A few people have asked me whether I’m a vegetarian – I’m not. I really don’t have a problem with eating meat. It’s a choice we make or don’t make. But maybe we should think more about the way we see other species, the way we treat them, the way we farm them. We think we’re superior, but how would we feel if the tables were turned, and suddenly we were the livestock?

I adore my main character, Lola. She’s strong, feisty and fiercely loyal, yet she’s flawed, just like the rest of us. That’s one of the best things about writing for me, creating characters that I hope everyone can relate to and cheer on.     

I’m so excited that FEED is finally out there and I hope readers will find it as thrilling and gripping to read as I did to write.

So I’ll stop pinching myself now and get on with writing, because I don’t want the dream to end. 

Published by Chicken House 2nd January 2014

Thanks very much M.J. This is a GREAT read. Check out my book review: http://www.mrripleysenchantedbooks.com/2014/01/mr-ripleys-book-review-m-j-howes-feed.html