Dan Smith - Nisha's War - Book Review Blog Tour 2022 - Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books

 

Welcome everybody to a jolly blog tour for Dan Smith's latest book Nisha's War. To find out more about this fantastic book please check out my review below. On Twitter we have a fantastic giveaway; a copy of the book, bar of chocolate and a £10 book voucher to spend on more great books. Please see our pinned tweet on Twitter @Enchantedbooks. Ends 18.02.22 UK Only.

Publisher: Chicken House (3 Feb. 2022)

Book Illustrator: Matthew Land and Cover design by Steve Wells 

Age Range: 9+ (Only a guide)

Paperback: 368 Pages - ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎978-1912626755

What makes a good story? Well, for me a good story starts from the very first page by creating a really interesting and intriguing narrative. In Dan Smith's latest book, Nisha's War, the story starts on a grey, Spring evening. Mother and daughter, hardly more than skin and bone, are weary and tired as they depart from the train. The author describes them as travellers from another time and place. By this point, I was hooked and really looking forward to reading more.

The story has so much depth; focusing on the past and the future. There are so many themes that it is a real marvel and a treat. Essentially, this is a historical English ghost story with the main characters fleeing from the WARTIME invasion of Singapore in 1942. Snippets of the character's experiences are shared by Nisha (a young girl) from her diary. However, the story also transports itself to a remote area in the North of England where a brilliantly haunting tale is introduced. There's a puzzle to solve and the introduction of a mysterious weeping tree.

The story is really written with heart and soul; pulling on different character emotions and feelings. Complex topics such as loneliness, grief, guilt, and being a refugee are all tackled creating an interesting discussion. It's a book that feels very relevant today such as coping with many changes that are beyond our control. The story is fantastically well written as it develops different backdrops that submerge you into really creative worlds. 

This has to be the best book that Dan has written to date. It's a story that will give you hope but also a chill to the heart. There is action and adventure in an abundance but also a classic dollop of mystery, and heartwarming friendship. Overall, it is a brilliant, thought-provoking story - it made me think that perhaps it is time for me to find some new friends.

Synopsis: Malaya, 1942. Nisha’s home is destroyed by war and she and her mother, Amma, flee to her father’s ancestral house in England, perched on a cliff top on the cold Northern coast.

When Amma falls gravely ill, Nisha is left to face her formidable grandmother alone. Grandmother's rules are countless, and her Anglo-Indian granddaughter is even forbidden from climbing the old weeping tree.

But when a ghost child beckons Nisha to sit under its boughs, and promises her Amma’s life in return for three truths, its pull proves irresistible ...

Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books - The Best Children's UK Book Picks February 2022

 

Lisette Auton - The Secret of Haven Point - Published by  Puffin (3 Feb. 2022) - ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0241522035 - Paperback 

I was Haven Point's first Wreckling, but I certainly wasn't the last. There are forty-two of us now, not including the mermaids. When you're a Wreckling, you mainly spend your days squabbling, eating and planning adventures. Oh, and Wrecklings also carry out wreckings, which is how we got our name . . .

Washed up as a baby beside a remote lighthouse and raised by a mermaid, Alpha Lux was the first foundling at Haven Point. Now the lighthouse is a ramshackle home for any disabled person who needs somewhere to belong. Looting from passing ships to make a living, they call themselves the Wrecklings, and for the children of Haven Point life is spent adventuring on the wild shore (and getting into trouble with the grown-ups).

But when Alpha spots a strange light up on the headland, she realizes that her beloved family are in danger of being discovered by Outsiders.

With their home under threat, the Wrecklings must decide what kind of future they want . . . and what they're willing to do to get it.

Eve Wersocki Morris - The Bird Singers - Published by Hodder Children's Books (3 Feb. 2022) - ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1444963328 - Paperback 

'The whistling had started on their first night. At first, Layah thought it was bird song - a high thin sound which became a melody, rising and falling. And each night, it returned.'

Strange things have been happening to Layah and her younger sister, Izzie, ever since their mother dragged them to a rain-soaked cottage miles from anywhere in the Lake District: there is a peculiar whistling at night, a handful of unusual feathers appear on their doorstep and there are murmurings of a shadowed woman in the forest. And their mother is behaving very oddly. Layah is mourning the loss of her dear grandmother in Poland - and can almost hear her Babcia's voice telling her the old myths and fairy tales from that magical place. 

And as the holiday takes on a dark twist, Layah begins to wonder if the myths might just be real.

Mitch Johnson - Spark - Published by Orion Children's Books (3 Feb. 2022) - ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1510107632 - Paperback 

In a world struggling to exist, only the strongest will survive. The explosive, action-packed new adventure from the award-winning author of Kick and Pop!

Ash has always lived in Last Village, lonely since the day his father left and never came back.

The world is unbearably hot, water is drying up, and life is hard. After a vicious thunderstorm, Ash wakes to find that the village's water has completely run out, and all the other villagers have mysteriously disappeared.

Accompanied by the outcast Bronwyn, Ash sets off in search of water, for answers about what happened to the villagers, with hope they might find 'The Kingdom' - a rumoured land to the north where life still flourishes.

Ash and Bronwyn have to survive a journey across an arid landscape, discovering that other people out there are even more dangerous than the lightning strikes that follow them. Then they reach The Wall - beyond it, something impossible.

Lying in wait are the answers Ash is searching for, and maybe even the truth about what happened to his father. If only he could get past The Wall...

Sometimes all it takes is just one spark.

Paul Biegel - The King of Copper Mountains - Published by Pushkin Children's Books (3 Feb. 2022) - ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1782693390 - Paperback  

‘A triumphant piece of magic’ 

After a thousand-year reign, old King Mansolain is tired and his heart is slowing down. Only stories can keep it ticking while his doctor searches for the cure, so creatures from all across the kingdom come to the castle in the copper mountains to sit on the king’s long white beard and tell him their tales.

Every night a new visitor arrives to tell a story to the king: a fearsome wolf, a lonely rabbit, a fire-breathing, three-headed dragon, and many more. Each tale is more wondrous than the last, but will they be able to keep King Mansolain’s heart beating until the cure arrives?

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

 

Garry Paulsen - Northwind - Published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux (January 11, 2022) - ISBN-13: ‎978-0374314200 - Hardback 

This stunning novel from the survival story master, set along a rugged coastline centuries ago, does for the ocean what Hatchet does for the woods, as it relates the story of a young person’s battle to stay alive against the odds, where the high seas meet a coastal wilderness.

When a deadly plague reaches the small fish camp where he lives, an orphan named Leif is forced to take to the water in a cedar canoe. He flees northward, following a wild, fjord-riven shore, navigating from one danger to the next, unsure of his destination. Yet the deeper into his journey he paddles, the closer he comes to his truest self as he connects to “the heartbeat of the ocean . . . the pulse of the sea.” With hints of Nordic mythology and an irresistible narrative pull, Northwind is Gary Paulsen at his captivating, adventuresome best.

Morgan Rhodes - Echoes and Empires - Published by Razorbill (January 4, 2022) - ISBN-13 : ‎978-0593351659 - Hardback 

From the New York Times bestselling author of the Falling Kingdoms series comes the first book in a brand-new duology about forbidden magic and dangerous secrets, for readers of Victoria Aveyard and Margaret Rogerson.

Josslyn Drake knows only three things about magic: it’s rare, illegal, and always deadly.
 
So when she’s caught up in a robbery gone wrong at the Queen’s Gala and infected by a dangerous piece of magic—one that allows her to step into the memories of an infamously evil warlock—she finds herself living her worst nightmare. Joss needs the magic removed before it corrupts her soul and kills her. But in Ironport, the cost of doing magic is death, and seeking help might mean scheduling her own execution. There’s nobody she can trust.
 
Nobody, that is, except wanted criminal Jericho Nox, who offers her a deal: his help extracting the magic in exchange for the magic itself. And though she’s not thrilled to be working with a thief, especially one as infuriating (and infuriatingly handsome) as Jericho, Joss is desperate enough to accept.
 
But Jericho is nothing like Joss expects. The closer she grows to Jericho and the more she sees of the world outside her pampered life in the city, the more Joss begins to question the beliefs she’s always taken for granted—beliefs about right and wrong, about power and magic, and even about herself.
 
In an empire built on lies, the truth may be her greatest weapon.

Zack Loran Clark - The Lock-Eater - Published by Dial Books (January 18, 2022) - ISBN-13 : 978-1984816887 - Hardback 

For fans of Nevermoor and Howl's Moving Castle comes an epic fantasy about a girl with the ability to unlock anything—including the empire's darkest secrets.

Melanie Gate is a foundling with a peculiar talent for opening the unopenable—any lock releases at the touch of her hand. One night, her orphanage is visited by Traveler, a gearling automaton there on behalf of his magical mistress, who needs an apprentice pronto. When Melanie is selected because of her gift, her life changes in a flash, and in more ways than she knows—because Traveler is not at all what he seems. But then, neither is Melanie Gate. 
 
So begins an epic adventure sparkling with magic, wit, secret identities, stinky cats, fierce orphan girls, impostor boys, and a foundling and gearling hotly pursued by the most powerful and dangerous wizard in the land.
 
Action-packed yet layered, The Lock-Eater is a mix of lush world-building, high stakes, humor, and emotional heft—a page-turner and so much more. 

Jake Burt - The Ghoul of Windydown - Published by Feiwel & Friends (January 25, 2022) - ISBN-13 ‏: ‎978-1250236579 - Hardback 

“Don't miss this book! It takes you to another world―and then terrifies you with surprise after surprise. Great ghoulish fun!” ―R. L. Stine, author of Goosebumps and Fear Street 

In this action-packed mystery from award-winning author Jake Burt, Copper Inskeep holds Windydown Vale's deepest and darkest secret: he is the ghoul that haunts the Vale, donning a gruesome costume to scare travelers and townsfolk away from the dangers of the surrounding swamps. When a terrified girl claims she and her father were attacked by a creature - one that could not have been Copper - it threatens not just Copper's secret, but the fate of all Windydown.

Children's Book Cover Friendly Tussle - THE FINAL WINNER 2021/22 - CHAAYA PRABHAT - Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books

This year we had an amazing book cover competition; one of the best for a long time. Therefore, we would like to thank every voter and supporter, illustrator, author, and publisher who got behind our little competition - the newly named Children's Book Cover Friendly Tussle. We've had five superb rounds of which you voted in your thousands (about six thousand votes in total) for 25 brilliant book covers. These truly reflect the wealth and talent of the many amazing illustrators who, at times, do not always get the credit they really deserve. The final managed to gather great momentum gaining an amazing 2913 votes. In the end, any of the top four book covers could have won due to the high number of votes they each received. So well done to everyone who supported the illustrators - you have done them proud. 

The final came to a fantastic conclusion last night where we found another excellent winner... I'm delighted to announce that the winning book cover that caught the wind to success was by CHAAYA PRABHAT for the debut book by Michael Mann - GHOSTCLOUD. Check out more of her brilliant work on her website HERE. The book was published by Hodder Children's Books (7 October 2021) - well done to Samuel Perrett and the team for producing such a wonderful book. It really does deserve to join the hall of fame with all the past winners across the years. Many congratulations!

2009/10 - Jon Mayhew 'Mortlock' Illustrated by Christian Lorenz Scheurer

2010/11 - Darren Shan 'Birth of a Killer' Illustrated by David Wyatt

2011/12 - Curtis Jobling 'Werewolf: Shadow of the Hawk' Illustrated by Andrew Farley

2012/13 - Thomas Taylor 'Haunters' Illustrated by Steve Wells 

2013/14 - Niel Bushnell 'Timesmith' Illustrated by James Fraser 

2014/15 - M. G. Harris/Gerry Anderson's 'Gemini Force One' Black Horizon Illustrated by Blacksheep

2015/16 -  M. G. Leonard 'Beetle Boy' Illustrated by Julia Sarda 

2016/17 - Roderick Gordon 'Summerhouse Land' - Illustrated by Stanley Donwood

2017/18 - (No Book Cover Wars) 

2018/19 - Vashti Hardy 'Brightstorm: A Sky-Ship Adventure' Illustrated by George Ermos 

2019/20 - Joan Haig - Tiger Skin Rug - Illustrated by Annie Glennie

2020/21 - Nizrana Farook - The Boy Who Met a Whale - Illustrated by David Dean

2021/22 -  Michael Mann - Ghostcloud - Illustrated by Chaaya Prabhat 

Mr. Ripley's Enchanted Books - Children's Book Cover Friendly Tussle - THE GRAND FINAL 2021/2022

Welcome everybody to the GRAND FINAL of Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books favourite book cover. We have already run five fantastic heats so all the winners/highest runners-up are now ready for your VOTES once again. This is your chance to choose your favourite to be crowned the ultimate winner. So get your finger ready as it all starts NOW. Who will win this YEAR?  

This week's voters prize is a £10 National Book Token, a book (Some Places More Than Others by Renee Watson) and a bar of chocolate. (Sorry open to the UK Only) 

If you are interested all you need to do is:

• Vote for your favourite book cover using the poll HERE  (or at the bottom of the post)
• Leave a comment through this post/poll or #RT Pinned tweet on @Enchantedbooks or do both for a better chance to win.
• This poll will end on 16th JAN 2022 at Midnight (UK). Have fun and share with the world through Twitter, Facebook, Instagram. Watch the voting develop, and wait to hear whether you've won (once the poll has closed).

So here are all seven book covers to vote for: 

BOOK ONE: Jakob Wegelius - The False Rose - Book Cover Illustrated by Jakob Wegelius - Published by Pushkin Children's Books (7 Oct. 2021) - VOTE HERE

BOOK TWO: Lindsy Littleson - The Rewilders - Book Cover Illustrated by Tatyana Komtsyan - Published by Pokey Hat (Cranachan) (3 Mar. 2022)  - VOTE HERE 

BOOK THREE: Oanis Rawbone - Whippoorwill Lane - Book Cover Illustrated by Karl James Mountford - Published by Buffalo Book Press (30 Sept. 2021) - VOTE HERE 

BOOK FOUR: Alex Mullarky - The Sky Beneath the Stone - Book Cover Illustrated by Diana Renjina - Published by Floris Books (24 Feb. 2022) - VOTE HERE

BOOK FIVE: Joe Clarke - Libby and the Parisian Puzzle - Book Cover Illustrated by Becka Moor - Published by Firefly Press Ltd (3 Mar. 2022) - VOTE HERE

BOOK SIX: Michael Mann - Ghostcloud - Book Cover Illustrated by Chaaya Prabhat - Published by Hodder Children's Books (7 Oct. 2021) - VOTE HERE

BOOK SEVEN: Hannah Gold - The Lost Whale - Book Cover Illustrated by Levi Pinfold - Published by HarperCollins Children’s Books (3 Mar. 2022) - VOTE HERE

HAPPY VOTING AND MAY THE BEST BOOK COVER WIN...

The Best Children's UK Book Picks January 2022 - Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books

Lucy Brandt (Author), Gladys Jose (Illustrator) - Leonora Bolt: Secret Inventor: BK 1 - Published by Puffin (20 Jan. 2022) - Paperback 

 'Fizzing with fun, friendship and fabulous inventions!' - Maria Kuzniar

WARNING: EPIC INVENTIONS AND SECRET SOCITIES AHEAD . . .

Leonora Bolt spends her days creating incredible inventions in her TOP SECRET laboratory, under the watchful eye of her terrifying uncle.

Everything changes one day when a strange boy washes up on an inflatable lobster and reveals that Uncle Luther has been stealing her inventions and selling them on the mainland. Leonora, armed with her most important inventions, must leave Crabby Island for the first time EVER to embark on an unforgettable journey that will test her brainpower to its limits.

With the help of an otter with a special skilll, a questionable cook and a singing sea captain, can Leonora dream up an invention that will defeat her evil uncle once and for all?

Ross Welford - Into the Sideways World - Published by ‎HarperCollins Children’s Books (20 Jan. 2022) - Paperback 

The moving, funny, thrilling and adventured-filled new novel for readers of 10 and up from bestselling author Ross Welford.

When twelve-year-olds Willa and Manny hear of a mysterious animal prowling their town, they are determined to prove it is real. Following the creature into a cave one full moon, they are swept into an alternate, ideal, world – one where pollution and conflict have been conquered decades ago and even their own families seem happier.

But when they return, no one believes them. So, with a global war looming in their own world, their quest for proof of the Sideways World becomes ever-more urgent, in a nail-biting race against time.

And Willa and Manny will have to make an impossible decision: because once you find a perfect world, can you ever leave it behind . . .?

Sam Copeland (Author), Sarah Horne (Illustrator) - Greta and the Ghost Hunters - Published by Puffin (20 Jan. 2022) - Paperback 

The hilarious tale of a family coming to terms with its ghosts - literally.

Greta Woebegone did not believe in ghosts until the day she was knocked over by a car and almost died. Then everything changed...

Now Greta can not only see the spirits that haunt her ancestral home, she can talk to them too - from her grumpy Grandpa Woebegone and Percy the poo-pushing plague victim to the sinister spook in the cellar.

Can Greta help the ghosts avoid being exorcised (a fate worse than undeath)? 

Can the ghosts help Greta stop her beloved Grandma being put in a home? 

And can they all help each other overcome the pain in their past that's holding them back from the future?

Lucy Strange (Author), Pam Say (Illustrator) - The Mermaid in the Millpond - Published by Barrington Stoke (6 Jan. 2022) - Paperback 

History and myth entwine in this atmospheric tale of freedom and friendship from bestselling author Lucy Strange, and acclaimed illustrator Pam Smy.

Bess has left the London workhouse behind for a job at a rural cotton mill. But life at the mill is hard and cruel– a far cry from the fresh start Bess hoped for. The only way to survive is to escape, but the mill is like a prison, with no way out. Meanwhile, rumours are spreading about a vicious creature that lurks in the millpond. Bess is sure it’s all nonsense, until one night she sees something stir in the murky water. But is it really a monster that lives in the depths of the pond? Or a creature trapped and alone, just like Bess, desperate to escape?

Mr. Ripley's Enchanted Books - Children's Book Cover Friendly Tussle - Round FIVE 2021/2022

Welcome to the 12th annual Children's Book Cover Friendly Tussle. (Previous winner HERE) We are looking once again to find your favourite book cover for 2021/2022. We do this to support the creative heroes of the children's book world; the illustrators and the creative teams behind all the books we love. Please share this exciting adventure with your friends and followers on social media. Everyone is welcome to vote and share the FUN with others. 

Mr. Ripley's Enchanted Book Cover Competition Rules 

There will be five weekly heats; each with Six books to vote for. Although, there will be 7 book covers in the final to vote for as heat winners will make the grand final plus two book covers as the highest runners up. 

Round One Winner: Hannah Gold - The Lost Whale - Book Cover Illustrated by Levi Pinfold

Round Two Winner: Michael Mann - Ghostcloud - Book Cover Illustrated by Chaaya Prabhat

Round Three Winner:  Alex Mullarky - The Sky Beneath the Stone - Book Cover Illustrated by Diana Renjina

Round Four Winner: Oanis Rawbone - Whippoorwill Lane - Book Cover Illustrated by Karl James Mountford 

Each week you vote you will be in with a chance to win an exciting prize.  This week's prize is a £10 National Book Token + a book and a bar of chocolate UK only) 

If you are interested all you need to do is:

• Vote for your favourite book cover using the poll HERE  (or at the bottom of the post)
• Leave a comment through this post/poll or #RT Pinned tweet on @Enchantedbooks or do both for a better chance to win.
• This poll will end on 14th December 2021 at Midnight (UK). 

Have fun and share with the world through Twitter, Facebook, Instagram. Watch the voting develop, and wait to hear whether you've won (once the poll has closed).

So here are the Six brilliant book covers to vote for this week: 

BOOK ONE: Julian Sedgwick - Tsunami Girl - Book Cover Illustrated by Chie Kutsuwada - Published by Guppy Books (4 Mar. 2021) - VOTE HERE

BOOK TWO: Tom Percival - The River - Book Cover Illustrated by Tom Percival - Published by Simon & Schuster Children's UK (3 Mar. 2022) - VOTE HERE 

BOOK THREE: Nicola Penfold - Between Sea and Sky - Book Cover Illustrated by Kate Forrester - Published by Stripes Publishing (8 July 2021) - VOTE HERE 

BOOK FOUR: Jakob Wegelius - The False Rose - Book Cover Illustrated by Jakob Wegelius - Published by Pushkin Children's Books (7 Oct. 2021) - VOTE HERE

BOOK FIVE: Kereen Getten - If You Read This - Book Cover Illustrated by Erik Davila - Published by  Delacorte Press (16 Aug. 2022) - VOTE HERE

BOOK SIX: Katie Cotton - The Secret of Splint Hall - Book Cover Illustrated by Becky Thorns - Book Published by Andersen Press (3 Mar. 2022) - VOTE HERE 

HAPPY VOTING!

Christopher Edge - ESCAPE ROOM - Book Review - Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books

 

Are you ready to ESCAPE to the Escape Room? This is the latest book by Christopher Edge which is due to be published by Nosy Crow Ltd on the 3rd Feb 2022. The book cover is brilliantly produced by the talented illustrator, David Dean. We arrive at the start of the book with a buzz of excitement as the main character arrives at The Escape; a reward for working so hard. We are led slowly into a fantasy adventure with the trademark qualities that you associate with this author. There's a plot full of puzzles and a deadly sting in the tale as a group of children (unknown to each other) have a race against time to battle the rooms and actually save the world. 

It's only Fantasy? 

However, the Host has other ideas as you skip and dive through this fantastic narrative escaping danger and sometimes death. The author drags you through different creative and eventful moments that will have readers gripped in a vortex of magic fantasy realism. Find the answer and you'll find the key to escape. Although, along the way, you'll visit an amazing library and battle a strange chess automaton that was built 250 years ago. If you need even more madness you'll also hurtle across an unknown galaxy in a spaceship and encounter extinct species of animals that just might eat you alive. 

The author has a great way of putting an important message into his books. There's a quirky twist whilst still managing to weave a web of epic ingredients together to create an exhilarating ending. He does this in a very imaginative way that only natural storytellers can do. This is a story that is so much more; great entertainment with a  massive thought-provoking moment that leaves you reflecting. Have you got the Answer? Find out by reading the book - enjoy!

 Other recommended books published by the author: 

The Many Worlds of Albie Bright

• The Jamie Drake Equation
• The Infinite Lives of Maisie Day
• The Longest Night of Charlie Noon
• Space Oddity 
• Twelve Minutes to Midnight