tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37809567516329847482024-03-13T14:44:47.446-07:00Books, bonnets & full-frontal bloggingLizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11019428433768201059noreply@blogger.comBlogger71125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3780956751632984748.post-75622820001674004792012-09-30T08:18:00.000-07:002012-09-30T08:19:36.764-07:00REVIEWS: Magical stories from Stephanie Burgis and Katherine Roberts<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Books and magic</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Reading as a child I never really considered myself on the lookout for magic. I would have said I loved books about 'real life':</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>animal real life</b>, where children worked in vets, rescued stray dogs and won gymkhanas AGAINST THE ODDS </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>sporty real life</b>, where characters set up football teams and then won the tournament in a thrilling comeback AGAINST THE ODDS </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>exciting real life</b>, where five children and a dog solved mysteries which probably involved smuggling, </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>emotional real life</b>, where Judy Blume and Jacqueline Wilson did a pretty good job as my joint agony aunts</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">and <b>historical real life</b>, where all of the above happened, but in the past.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But I realised last year, when I went to see Matilda the Musical, that I had completely forgotten that MATILDA, which I listened to on tape over and over again when I was young, had magic in it. And then I remembered a good hour spent when I was about 7 trying to move a pencil with my mind. So perhaps I was looking for magic really - I wanted to be in other worlds, be different people and do things I wouldn't otherwise be able to do (I have still never rescued a stray dog, won a football match AGAINST THE ODDS or moved a pencil with my mind). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If I could do another magical thing and go back in time, then I would read more fantasy and books with magic in them. But if you think that stories are all pretty magical anyway, then hopefully I didn't miss out too much (and I have plenty of time to catch up). Here are reviews of two books that, like MATILDA, feature feisty, remarkable girls at odds with an adult world that doesn't appreciate them. Warning: may contain magic. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>A RECKLESS MAGICK: The (Un)Ladylike Adventures of Kat Stephenson </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Stephanie Burgis</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Reckless-Magick-Unladylike-Adventures-Step/dp/1848774850/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1349007728&sr=1-1" target="_blank"><b>Amazon link</b></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>The terrifically un-ladylike Kat Stephenson returns in her third adventure negotiating manners and magic in Regency England. As Kat's family travel to the Carlyle's grand country house to prepare for her sister Angeline's wedding, Kat realises that forces scarier even that Angeline's future mother-in-law are at work. The magical Order is under threat, someone is out to stop the wedding and a mysterious marquise has Kat questioning everything she knows about her past. On top of that Kat decides that it is about time her restless brother Charles got himself a girlfriend. </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I feel like Stephanie Burgis thought to herself, now what things are great? Magic and Jane Austen-land are both pretty great. I'll put them together!! And the result is an utterly delightful series, where charming Regency England fizzes with magic and is brought to life by its feisty heroine. For me the highlight of the book is Kat. She adds a punch (literally in the previous book) to a world of manners and rules and shocks the book's grand social stalwards by forgetting to be polite and not caring a great deal about the way she looks. To them of course thirteen-year-old girls are just preparing for the time when they go out and secure a husband. Kat wants more from life - as was evident from her first appearance in book 1, where she'd cut her hair short and was running away to London. By introducing Kat's magical gift (which she has inherited from her mother and allows her to be admitted to the Order of Guardians, who protect the country from threat), Burgis has found a way for Kat to experience excitement beyond bonnets and betrothals. She writes us back into Austen's England, while at the same time giving girls like Kat room to breathe.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This book has the feel of a country house murder mystery - although thankfully Kat doesn't develop a Belgian accent and a little moustache. There are tales of secret passageways used by smugglers, characters - like the Marquise de Valmont - who are hiding something, and the knowledge that one of the people in the house is dangerous. There is also an Austen-style romance element, where the tangles of what people really feel for each other need to be worked out. The magical storyline - Guardian powers must be kept hidden from society, as must the existence of witchcraft, which is far more scandalous - adds another layer of secrets. I really enjoyed the interplay between magic and society - witches are looked down on in the same way as girls who embark on a scandalous affair or simply violate the social 'rules' in some way. And the taint of being a witch affects the whole family, as is shown by the attitude towards Kat's family because of her mother, who was exposed as a witch and shunned both by society and the Order. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I loved the chance to revisit Kat's world and in particular to get to know her brother Charles. There have been plenty of dashing Regency men in books, but less reformed drunk/gambler and effortlessly charming ones. And he is a lovely big brother - he accepts without question what Kat is capable of, seems only bemused by the magical powers of his sisters and he steps up to protect her (even if she doesn't really need him).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>LANCE OF TRUTH: Pendragon Legacy Book 2 </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Katherine Roberts</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lance-Pendragon-Legacy-Katherine-Roberts/dp/1848772718/ref=sr_1_9?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1349007550&sr=1-9" target="_blank">Amazon link</a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Rhianna Pendragon's quest to save Camelot and bring her father back to life continues. She has won Excalibur, the first of the four Lights that will revive King Arthur, and now must seek the second - the Lance of Truth. But her evil cousin Mordred has a plan. He is holding Rhianna's mother Guinevere captive in order to lure Lancelot, the bearer of the lance. Can Rhianna get there first? And will saving the mother she has never known distract her from her true quest?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">After meeting Rhianna Pendragon earlier this year in her first adventure, <a href="http://lizbankes.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/review-sword-of-light-by-katherine.html#.UGhUrJjA_Sh" target="_blank">SWORD OF LIGHT</a>, I was thrilled to discover I wouldn't have to wait too long before meeting her again. In a similar way to Kat Stephenson, Rhianna turns her world upside down by refusing to conform to the notion of what girls 'should' be like. Arthur's knights find it incredibly discomforting that Rhianna wants to joust, wear armour and wield Excalibur rather than sit in castle windows in a distressed damsel outfit and wave a hanky while they go off to fight. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The magic in this book is part of the fabric of Rhianna's world. I recently read Katherine Roberts' Branford Boase-winning SONG QUEST and found it similar in the way you arrive into a perfectly formed magical land. There is no explanation of how this world works, you are simply swept into it and the details make it feel real enough to touch. In the Rhianna Pendragon series of course there are the familiar elements of the Arthur story, but in creating the younger generation - Rhianna, her childhood best friend fairy Prince Elphin, fiercely loyal squire Cai and Rhianna's shy lady in waiting Arianrhod - Roberts has made the story feel new. And you get to explore and question those familiar parts of the story, such as, in this book, how Guinevere really feels about Lancelot and Arthur. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Underpinning Rhianna's quest to find the four Lights is her journey towards her father, who appears for tantalising moments as a ghost willing his daughter on. Arthur and Guinevere sent Rhianna away as a baby to the isle of Avalon, home of the fairies, where she was brought up by Prince Elphin's father, the Fairy King. In this book Rhianna has to work out her relationship with her mother, who seems, like everyone else, to want her to become a traditional princess. Connected, but without a shared history, it takes the two of them a great deal of feeling their way before Rhianna can show her mother who she really is, and Guinevere can finally open up to her daughter about Arthur. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">At its heart this is a story about friendship, acceptance and doing the right thing. In a place where there's magic in the air. </span></div>
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Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11019428433768201059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3780956751632984748.post-65036782309163063492012-09-18T14:08:00.000-07:002012-09-19T00:53:32.675-07:00REVIEW: NEPTUNE’S TEARS by Susan Waggoner (plus science thoughts)<br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><st1:place w:st="on">NEPTUNE</st1:place>’S TEARS by Susan
Waggoner</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Piccadilly Press</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Neptunes-Tears-Timedance-Susan-Waggoner/dp/1848122721" target="_blank">Amazon link</a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>It is 2218 and Zee McAdams is an empath, working in a <st1:city w:st="on">London</st1:city> hospital healing
people with her mind. Empaths should avoid emotional distractions like novels –
or falling in love with their patients. This is not a problem for Zee, until
she meets David, an alien with a secret. From that moment Zee’s heart is
pierced. David knows they can’t be together, but he can’t keep away. With
everything driving them apart, Zee and David need to fight for their love. </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><st1:place w:st="on">NEPTUNE</st1:place>’S TEARS combines
sci-fi and fast-paced action with a heart-achingly beautiful love story. Zee
and David fall in love at first sight, but not in a corny way. Zee feels a pull
of attraction to him when she meets him, sitting in a hospital room, and everything
that happens next – shy, interested conversation, coffeeshop dates – proves that
her first instinct was right. My favourite scene between them is a trip to the
seaside, where they can almost step out of time and just enjoy being together
(with a visit to a bookshop on the way). For me, Zee and David’s urge to treasure
every moment they have together has shades of NEVER LET ME GO. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">My favourite thing about the book is Zee. Susan Waggoner’s
blog tour began with a stop at <a href="http://girlsheartbooks.com/2012/09/17/guest-blogger-susan-waggoner/" target="_blank">Girls Heart Books</a> (which I heart) where she said
imagining Zee was the beginning of the book, and once she started writing Zee
took over. This didn’t surprise me. Zee’s liveliness and warmth light up the
pages. She is down to earth and doesn’t realise how attractive she is, but not
in that irritating way of some book heroines, where they trudge about going
‘God, it’s so weird, men keep looking at me…’ and you want to shake them and go
‘THEY FANCY YOU’, while maybe kicking them a bit. But Zee’s not like that –
she’s just frightened because she’s never been in love before and the mixture
of worry and excitement in the way she thinks about David when he’s not there is
completely relatable. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I also liked that even though Zee’s heart is swept up with
David, she keeps her friends. If, like The Doctor off of Doctor Who, the book
has two hearts, then Zee’s friendship with first-year flatmates Rani and
Jasmine is the second. One of the most touching moments for me was when Zee,
who has previously kept her relationship with David secret, realises she can
tell Rani anything. Rani is also a fantastic character – flirty, fun and with
an edge that warns people not to mess with her friends. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Another thing I find fascinating about stories set in future
worlds is the detail of that world. As well as keeping her friends, Zee still
keeps in mind the vitally important job she does as an empath. I enjoyed the
imagination behind what she does and watching her connect with her patients and
create visions to help them manage their pain. It also becomes clear that Zee
has the potential to do more than the usual empath and she has to decide
whether this is something she has the courage to do. 23<sup>rd</sup>-century
terrorism has taken a terrifying turn with shock bombs, which have no external
signs, but crush people’s organs from the inside. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Oh and also in 2218 photos have become 3d and a cinema
date is about 50 MILLION TIMES more awesome. (And I would like to know more about
the The Janeys, which are movie awards with the most recent winner being Punk
and Prejudice.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><st1:place w:st="on">NEPTUNE</st1:place>’S TEARS is a book
that intertwines a fascinating future world with a timeless love story – and both
will grip you until the end. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I thought you might like to know about some other books I’ve
enjoyed which have elements of science in. You might not, in which case you may
leave now. And by ‘elements’ I mean features, not Boron. Except for the book
ITCH by Simon Mayo where by ‘elements’ I mean Boron. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Really I just like the word Boron because it sounds like a
boring moron. When at school I thought science was for borons, because it
seemed mostly to involve </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Biology: putting bits of potato in water to see if they
changed (they didn’t) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Chemistry: lots of these</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Physics: I DON’T UNDERSTAND WHAT A MOMENT IS</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But now I love science (mostly because as an adult you can
take science to mean ‘dinosaurs and space and cool stuff’) and I find it
fascinating when fiction explores the details and limits of what we know about the
world – and then imagines <i><b>what if</b></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Science and … comedy<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY by Douglas Adams</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The five-book trilogy (recently extended by Eoin Colfer’s
AND ANOTHER THING) tells us of Arthur (in his dressing gown), Ford and the gang
as they flee an Earth demolished to make a hyper-space bypass and travel to the
(restaurant at the) end of the universe and back, taking in a few pan-galactic
gargleblasters and a dose of deathly Vogon poetry along the way. They are
accompanied throughout by a book that I really hope someone actually writes one
day – the Guide of the title. Adams includes and pokes fun at theories about
multiverses, aliens and a translating ear fish that simultaneously proves and
disproves the existence of God. But mostly, it is very funny. And harmless.
Mostly.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Science and … adventure<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>ITCH by Simon Mayo </b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzloSdahhYhzLsraToT3vPz2fpmDz7_71koychWGH_eaFt3eeyUKYHb2BReiqKs393ymcXcuV_e1zaG0KOGrsVPAijrBiLQMzRdPYXQuSJ14z_AfcKE-nbBiaou0m683UXWBdV5ZoiHs4J/s1600/Itch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzloSdahhYhzLsraToT3vPz2fpmDz7_71koychWGH_eaFt3eeyUKYHb2BReiqKs393ymcXcuV_e1zaG0KOGrsVPAijrBiLQMzRdPYXQuSJ14z_AfcKE-nbBiaou0m683UXWBdV5ZoiHs4J/s200/Itch.jpg" width="120" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Itchingham Lofte is not your average teenage boy. Unless
your average teenage boy recently burnt his eyebrows off in an explosion caused
by some of the highly reactive elements he keeps in his room. Itch is on a
mission to collect every element in the periodic table, but being an element
hunter has its perils – especially when he discovers a new one – element 126, mysterious and, in the wrong hands, deadly. The wrong hands are after
element 126 and Itch’s hobby has turned into something far more sinister – he’s
being hunted. Simon Mayo wrote this story for his science-mad son and has
clearly undertaken meticulous research to get the elements elements of the book
right. But at the heart is a thrilling adventure story with quirky and original
characters in Itch and his tomboy cousin, Jack. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Science and … tears<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>NEVER LET ME GO by Kazuo Ishiguro</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOe7482RRAEgGmG4bQOOL87fiY2ggy2Pg_lRpV_aIoFBchVSL_A63OHeu1M4I_UlaiIpSdH7SaNQP7seGEAx2XVN4GuC3KHpU2kn1Z9cRookWFybe2ZnUDmqDeukPFODZgErHOxUqt0nrN/s1600/ishiguro.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOe7482RRAEgGmG4bQOOL87fiY2ggy2Pg_lRpV_aIoFBchVSL_A63OHeu1M4I_UlaiIpSdH7SaNQP7seGEAx2XVN4GuC3KHpU2kn1Z9cRookWFybe2ZnUDmqDeukPFODZgErHOxUqt0nrN/s200/ishiguro.jpg" width="126" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The story of Kathy, Ruth and Tommy as they grow up in the
strange, sad world of Hailsham boarding school is haunting and
unforgettable. It is a story of love in the absence of hope and the power of
living in the moment. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Science and … ARGHH<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>THE STRANGE CASE OF DR JEKYLL AND MR HYDE by Robert Louis Stevenson</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNlNxnLw4u9W2QfkMCYioOm5DKQ4NU3bzjvjvrX_YYWZvRATwpTF3SfhjGqGPQdepqrZWorEGf2rwXX4-NtEXcyArg5K3xiXpa3EyjPBqf5ZaFoAcs4AqsHFSMMugmvIg64N0PylFrJ6iJ/s1600/jekyll.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNlNxnLw4u9W2QfkMCYioOm5DKQ4NU3bzjvjvrX_YYWZvRATwpTF3SfhjGqGPQdepqrZWorEGf2rwXX4-NtEXcyArg5K3xiXpa3EyjPBqf5ZaFoAcs4AqsHFSMMugmvIg64N0PylFrJ6iJ/s200/jekyll.jpg" width="130" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Speculation about what straightlaced Dr Henry Jekyll’s
transformation into his monstrous double whose crimes are decidedly creepy (he tramples a girl??) really means give this novella a uncertain chill that is never resolved - is the transformation real, does he have split personality disorder, or does he know exactly what he's doing? The book raises questions about personality and identity, illustrating how frightening it is when these things become fractured. Penguin also seem to have picked the most scary photo in the world for their front cover. </span></div>
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Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11019428433768201059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3780956751632984748.post-87053843227866561922012-09-06T12:48:00.000-07:002012-09-06T12:50:58.235-07:00TOP FIVE animals in books<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In previous posts I have been gradually assembling a new family, made up of people from books. So far I have <a href="http://lizbankes.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/top-five-book-mums.html#.UEUJRsFlTkc" target="_blank">Mrs Weasley as my new Mum</a> and the <a href="http://lizbankes.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/top-five-book-dads.html#.UEUJF8FlTkc" target="_blank">role of Dad goes jointly to Ben and Cillian</a> from the Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZZkyVyYgJL9SaQSPUnkwTDuA6g0qBtWZJQhT-8iu1Fw_qAjclGTFBLHFrIFJ35MQfLIQ-xxhx2IO-FyVGD5-nVMeIqfDrewe4MfJ8MJGp6eHSGSuWzSZzcfPc7r0I6l4ueZHT6NyIC08g/s1600/family.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZZkyVyYgJL9SaQSPUnkwTDuA6g0qBtWZJQhT-8iu1Fw_qAjclGTFBLHFrIFJ35MQfLIQ-xxhx2IO-FyVGD5-nVMeIqfDrewe4MfJ8MJGp6eHSGSuWzSZzcfPc7r0I6l4ueZHT6NyIC08g/s1600/family.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cillian (left) and Ben (right) a bit like they look like in my head. Mrs Weasley looks pleased. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I thought that a new family should really have a family pet, so I got to pondering that age-old question WHAT ARE THE BEST ANIMALS IN BOOKS EVER? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">There is something incredibly moving about human/animal friendships in books. Perhaps it is because animals can't speak (except for Narnians) (and the Animals of Farthing Wood) (and all other talking animals in books) and so can only show their affection in what they do. And getting to know them involves a whole new way of looking at the world. Ugh better stop talking because I just had a vision of Peter Andre and and Katie Price singing. I think their love story would have moved me a lot more if one of them was a badger who'd been rescued from certain death and nursed back to health by the other one. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Before I begin I shall have to rule out bears, because I have already <a href="http://lizbankes.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/boy-and-bear-and-hermit-in-book.html#.UEUUpcFlTkc" target="_blank">blogged about bears</a> and also because I don't really want a pet that might one day decide to kill and eat me, like that clown in Shakespeare. (Don't tell me you've never glimpsed murder in Rupert Bear's eyes).</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJpnCV5G-DBvP7Po_FqV8QOws0CLkNadgPa4U05ZUNV44798slTDa0DsF7Qyeg1HSh6yCV9JHpDUuwzLhAKIxEPBtl7Svm5Sh2jJ6vbaKbgSB40CJS13nVEg4RLCEdrtb-C0rABvJhhyxk/s1600/rupert.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJpnCV5G-DBvP7Po_FqV8QOws0CLkNadgPa4U05ZUNV44798slTDa0DsF7Qyeg1HSh6yCV9JHpDUuwzLhAKIxEPBtl7Svm5Sh2jJ6vbaKbgSB40CJS13nVEg4RLCEdrtb-C0rABvJhhyxk/s200/rupert.png" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So I will be choosing from traditional pets, such as horses, dogs, dolphins, small hairy sand creatures that grant wishes, and cats. I love cats. What I am probably going to do is talk about all the animals and then at the end just pick cats. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1. A horse</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvbIpAhhTwMF_cYpP1f1enLtYZrMtzR5pVNrGvlwUp6Zy9d-YluStEl8LWvD60B743G20KSwMjWugW6vZmZXSkwqGsipNVvYfSNOSXnBhkOtm7HAeXSlwSJqAoEhOl-cLQYyVllH8_rTZQ/s1600/one+dollar+horse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvbIpAhhTwMF_cYpP1f1enLtYZrMtzR5pVNrGvlwUp6Zy9d-YluStEl8LWvD60B743G20KSwMjWugW6vZmZXSkwqGsipNVvYfSNOSXnBhkOtm7HAeXSlwSJqAoEhOl-cLQYyVllH8_rTZQ/s200/one+dollar+horse.jpg" width="128" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Storm Warning from THE ONE DOLLAR HORSE by </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Lauren St John</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Orion</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/One-Dollar-Horse-Lauren-John/dp/1444002694/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1346955108&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Amazon link</a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Casey Blue’s dream is to compete in the Badminton Horse Trials. It is a dream that would seem impossible for a 15-year-old living in a
Hackney tower block with her criminal dad, especially given that her
competitors' years of experience and expensive training.
Then Casey finds a wild, half-starved horse and rescues him from the knacker’s
yard. With the help of eccentric Mrs Smith, Casey begins to think that their
ramshackle team might have a chance. There’s also Peter, the farrier’s son with
the melty eyes, who’s willing to help – if Casey will let him. But both Casey
and Storm Warning find that the past is very hard to run away from.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I was a childhood nut for anything horse. I collected the
whole set of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruby_Ferguson#The_.22Jill.22_books" target="_blank">Ruby Ferguson's JILL books</a> and read BLACK BEAUTY over and over again. What
I really liked was the detail – the tack, the different jumps in a gymkhana,
and the very particular personalities of the horses. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In Lauren St John’s THE ONE DOLLAR HORSE you can delve into
the detail. The world of eventing, with its fierce rivalries, dramas and
painstaking hours of practice is opened up to the reader. But at the heart of
the book is a raw emotional journey for Casey and Storm Warning. Both start
from a point where everyone else has written them off and enter a world where
they are looked down on. But every step they take towards success makes Casey
realises even more that the most important thing is love. That’s the love she
has for Storm Warning and the real feeling from everyone around her in her
team. In this they are a complete contrast to Casey’s rival and one-time idol
Anna Sparks, to whom winning is everything and who has always had everything
she needs to do it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Whether Casey beats Anna or not what she has achieved is
infinitely more special. When she meets Storm Warning he has been beaten,
starved and driven nearly mad, but Casey and Mrs Smith with patience and
passion (and a few potions) rebuild his shattered confidence and calm his
fears. Without spoiling the plot I would say that the most moving bit of the
story for me was near the end, when in the middle of all the competition Casey
makes it clear that her love for Storm Warning overrides everything. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And there’s a strapping melty-eyed farrier’s son hanging
round a lot, which is always nice. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2. A dog</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The problem with dogs in books is that they often cause
crying. Obviously this can be a problem with all animals (there is just
something very teary about animal loyalty) but I seem to have had particularly
upsetting experiences involving book dogs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvpi7mqcJHv7Wc-oVDng24JAkA2FW42t3bFZjaFfauJj2ZY-o833Y3GkzxXnaBlpUHA0ZxDefkEkU74cY1G-X5VTQoOdmN4SPppGNu1CQbWBt2qBBC3RbmxOzbfBj_iX_edihBKYzfE8wO/s1600/knife-small_pbk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvpi7mqcJHv7Wc-oVDng24JAkA2FW42t3bFZjaFfauJj2ZY-o833Y3GkzxXnaBlpUHA0ZxDefkEkU74cY1G-X5VTQoOdmN4SPppGNu1CQbWBt2qBBC3RbmxOzbfBj_iX_edihBKYzfE8wO/s200/knife-small_pbk.jpg" width="130" /></a> <span style="font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">L</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">There’s also Boswell in John Connolly’s THE GATES and HELL’S BELLS, who is so loyal and brave through Samuel Johnson’s adventures with Nurd the demon, an ice-cream truck full of dwarves and Satan, that it made me extremely happysad.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisHeNo4PQNOP71uu9DDy0cuO1dpnAcHzhiD0uRNURQU7pmVcedwkiPeJp5-9rP92_b6JL7nK3LIf3XvVhPxbXYZHvLhGnX0gnRn9bZvcKDCo8731SIVwTAiUB3TylPJtyj0G8m9E4b7ypz/s1600/The+Gates.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisHeNo4PQNOP71uu9DDy0cuO1dpnAcHzhiD0uRNURQU7pmVcedwkiPeJp5-9rP92_b6JL7nK3LIf3XvVhPxbXYZHvLhGnX0gnRn9bZvcKDCo8731SIVwTAiUB3TylPJtyj0G8m9E4b7ypz/s200/The+Gates.gif" width="128" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Dogs can also be funny. Lady Bertram’s pug in MANSFIELD PARK makes me laugh just because I imagine it sitting there, being a pug, the whole time she is talking.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQGsqWNuHMUncdlAqfymX4VP4jonGW_rrkQC8hJj7Hqh-dwmSi7ue39ykOCSKjYt-l9ckqoFi8E2GbsafT6Ph3tMWOctWvZUxv0k2mNwRr40lQhQKwMmCHXjKF79JX-e6I20x8YzQExlTs/s1600/mansfield+park.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQGsqWNuHMUncdlAqfymX4VP4jonGW_rrkQC8hJj7Hqh-dwmSi7ue39ykOCSKjYt-l9ckqoFi8E2GbsafT6Ph3tMWOctWvZUxv0k2mNwRr40lQhQKwMmCHXjKF79JX-e6I20x8YzQExlTs/s200/mansfield+park.jpg" width="156" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">But my favourite dog ever has to be Barnaby Jones Pickles from <a href="http://thebloggess.com/" target="_blank">LET’S PRETEND THIS NEVER HAPPENED</a> by Jenny Lawson, which is the </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">funniest book I have ever read and from the funniest blog I have ever read. Barnaby Jones Pickles and his adventures with birds and foxen are just insanely brilliant (warning: also sad).</span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">3. A dolphin</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBwHMT6TIG-y2W_EVyviSAFtSlpcHFJrjWCF1lwwLiJWY2XO8pJBC-g-Xe7MB6cJgnZLBTZhZvLAnhvRGdoOHWv1G4oW5ODJfAiBYwXeXjde5wMogRLU5ocPubNKDTXq_xmHDsS6bInv50/s1600/G&W-cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBwHMT6TIG-y2W_EVyviSAFtSlpcHFJrjWCF1lwwLiJWY2XO8pJBC-g-Xe7MB6cJgnZLBTZhZvLAnhvRGdoOHWv1G4oW5ODJfAiBYwXeXjde5wMogRLU5ocPubNKDTXq_xmHDsS6bInv50/s200/G&W-cover.jpg" width="130" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Spirit the dolphin from GODS AND WARRIORS by Michelle Paver</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Puffin</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gods-Warriors-Michelle-Paver/dp/0141339268/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346956278&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Amazon link</a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Michelle Paver’s new series GODS AND WARRIORS is set in
the Mediterranean Bronze Age. It is the story of three characters who, for
different reasons are separated from their family. 12-year-old Hylas is a
goatherd, on the run after a tribe of savage warriors called Crows ambushed him
and kidnapped his sister. Pirra is the daughter of a high priestess, who has
fled to escape being forced into marriage. Spirit is a dolphin who gets
separated from his pod when he helps Hylas. In a world where the Sea is the
all-powerful and unpredictable force that determines life and death, and the
people that live around are equally unpredictable in their actions and
allegiances, the three must team up if they are going to survive. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">There is so much to say about this book (and I am going
to review it separately in a history-themed post) but the most unusual and
fascinating feature is of course that part of the story is told from the point
of view of a dolphin. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Michelle Paver manages to transport her reader into the mind of a dolphin. You can feel the differences between Hylas's struggles in the water and Spirit gliding through his world. You can see and hear humans from Spirit's point of view as he notes Hylas's 'odd, blunt human speech' and the 'seaweed' that grows out of his head. You also see Spirit, Hylas and Pirra trying to understand each other and learning to communicate in a way beyond words. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Also, if Spirit was my official new animal friend I would be<i> forced </i>to go an live on Crete. Or perhaps the island from MAMMA MIA. </span></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">4. A psammead</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1Jxzjkl9WGyZKqGoP_1Mqawn-QVbXf_5zIu91nf6s_zx8tB4GZ30zwc2E2JnPBDGOGfE38-56aMe71sX0W3oegiq72C0X0Ak29K6lIV0iiM_-lx4eSvF0g_Tm6PblzsVjhdgGlGQz8kHr/s1600/1343906503four.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1Jxzjkl9WGyZKqGoP_1Mqawn-QVbXf_5zIu91nf6s_zx8tB4GZ30zwc2E2JnPBDGOGfE38-56aMe71sX0W3oegiq72C0X0Ak29K6lIV0iiM_-lx4eSvF0g_Tm6PblzsVjhdgGlGQz8kHr/s200/1343906503four.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWTb4H1PpVzxIjtbaV4dj9ri0v7NYtuSvTkH2b51D4wLvKe7I6lQAVrEh5An3Q_G7X9mwz-K4hrW5gMhOJqd1TMnAU3e2BGV1ZF36b3XJAmcjYAlOe4BjnqKQ6iIcivarmz0NPBdK2xWrS/s1600/124558-ml-104312.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWTb4H1PpVzxIjtbaV4dj9ri0v7NYtuSvTkH2b51D4wLvKe7I6lQAVrEh5An3Q_G7X9mwz-K4hrW5gMhOJqd1TMnAU3e2BGV1ZF36b3XJAmcjYAlOe4BjnqKQ6iIcivarmz0NPBdK2xWrS/s200/124558-ml-104312.jpg" width="144" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">The Psammead from FIVE CHILDREN AND IT by E. Nesbitt</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">and FOUR CHILDREN AND IT by Jacqueline Wilson</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">Puffin</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Four-Children-Jacqueline-Wilson/dp/0141341424/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1346957501&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Amazon link</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Not *technically* an animal. Or a real thing. But if I could have a dolphin narrator then I could definitely have a tiny hairy man who lives in my sandpit and grants me wishes. It is actually a very fashionable time to own a psammead (you might say he's the current It-boy) because Jacqueline Wilson has just written a book about him. In her book FOUR CHILDREN AND IT, which she says could be seen as a tribute to E Nesbitt's original, the sand creature meets a modern family. I wrote a few words about <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/armadillomagazine/features1" target="_blank">retelling the classics</a> over on Armadillo, but in short I am hugely excited to get the chance to meet the psammead again, as the original had me in constant daydreams about what wishes I'd choose. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I've decided I will ask the psammead for:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1. My offer letter from Hogwarts. I won't even comment on the fact that it is FIFTEEN YEARS LATE, causing me to look a bit weird sitting in lessons with lots of year 7s. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But then actually I will have the advantage of wisdom and will know loads of the spell words already and be able to solve mysteries IMMEDIATELY without having to read any books or sit in the bath working out clues. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Hogwarts people: 'Where's the Philosopher's Stone?' Me: 'THERE'</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Hogwarts people: 'Where's the Chamber of Secrets?' Me: 'THERE'</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Hogwarts people: 'Someone's escaped from Azkaban, what do we do?' Me: 'THIS'</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Hogwarts people: 'But how are we going to win the Triwizard Tournament?' Me: 'LIKE THIS'</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">etc etc for about seven years.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And then they'll be all 'oh, thanks Liz, here's some wizard money/a swanky new broomstick/ACTUAL BUTTERBEER. SHHH Hermione, we don't care if you found something in a book. Liz JUST KNEW IT.'</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And I'll be all 'hey guys, it was nothing. Let's kick back with some ACTUAL BUTTERBEER, which I can really drink now because I actually live in Hogwarts and this is all real.'</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2. A Tardis to live in. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Plus the 10th and 11th Doctors, Amy, Rory, Rose and an Ood.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Best. Roommates. Ever. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Plus even though it is a Tardis it turns out there's not actually room for everyone to have their own room and so me and the 10th Doctor *have* to share.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAH1GVZALM6gqFcFehyphenhyphenm-mnuvk-yKUp7XgWPYAdW9ZA8Tl2LK9o0LWQdG2HuoP7iDajsc0mL7xv9FACRTn126wMRJwq_Lf32X0sj4EtNDTnStVVsSeN6iHYsIdvYfPVAaRrJMChzAjVwPb/s1600/Dr+Who.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAH1GVZALM6gqFcFehyphenhyphenm-mnuvk-yKUp7XgWPYAdW9ZA8Tl2LK9o0LWQdG2HuoP7iDajsc0mL7xv9FACRTn126wMRJwq_Lf32X0sj4EtNDTnStVVsSeN6iHYsIdvYfPVAaRrJMChzAjVwPb/s200/Dr+Who.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">NEVERMIND</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">3. For cats to be able to speak</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVnWilbdLiO_xZDu-t7AtF__ExhuxoC3XUViMLU8CDCF2grbxFjhnzoBjm3KYyz_QChgiTLVHAmBzhcuTshyphenhyphenY8alLTmtVW-FjJakrSb1JWMFDtQ6TmsIyyYe6vgIAlyjc89bK1KI-AR-pa/s1600/evil.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVnWilbdLiO_xZDu-t7AtF__ExhuxoC3XUViMLU8CDCF2grbxFjhnzoBjm3KYyz_QChgiTLVHAmBzhcuTshyphenhyphenY8alLTmtVW-FjJakrSb1JWMFDtQ6TmsIyyYe6vgIAlyjc89bK1KI-AR-pa/s200/evil.jpg" width="148" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I will hurt you</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Which leads me onto</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">5. CATS</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Even hairy wish-granting sand fairies must bow to the awesomenesses that are CATS. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">There are many to choose from: Tabby from the WORST WITCH by Jill Murphy, </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Angus and Cross-eyed Gordy from the GEORGIA NICHOLSON books by Louise Rennison and Roger from MY SISTER LIVES ON THE MANTELPIECE by Annabel Pitcher</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But my fondest cat memories are from this book:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtCEp0VViUs6-oRI4w5XZGo46RVA4pDAW444S-l2_bdqXOVLcmIVaZsZ1-Fjebxyz4r3IgAEDLvxhIAbei-Fg9k7B0rZUdeFy0m8jhTBqJXMTpaNrcXn1AYUGvjC2zn806CZUlPHMNPTHj/s1600/200px-AlchymistsCat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtCEp0VViUs6-oRI4w5XZGo46RVA4pDAW444S-l2_bdqXOVLcmIVaZsZ1-Fjebxyz4r3IgAEDLvxhIAbei-Fg9k7B0rZUdeFy0m8jhTBqJXMTpaNrcXn1AYUGvjC2zn806CZUlPHMNPTHj/s200/200px-AlchymistsCat.jpg" width="122" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Jupiter, Dab and Leech from THE ALCHYMIST'S CAT by Robin Jarvis</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Will Godwin is forced to work for <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">Dr. Elias Theophrastus Spittle after Spittle frames him for a murder he didn't commit. When Will finds a cat and her kittens in a graveyard, he persuades Spittle to keep them, suggesting he could use a cat as his 'familiar' in his quest for immortality. The kittens are two brothers named Jupiter and Leech and their sister, Dab. When Spittle chooses Jupiter to be his familiar and trains him in the dark arts, Leech becomes bitter and resentful and begins plotting against his brother. Meanwhile plague and fire are sweeping London. Death is everywhere and Spittle's immortal quest could be the only way out. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"> </span>'Fondest memories' might be an odd thing to say about a book where the cats spend a lot of time learning dark magic and trying to kill each other (except for Dab, who tries to keep the peace between her brothers). But our teacher in year 5 read this book to us at breaktimes and the whole class was absolutely transfixed. I had not read a book before where animal characters had such vivid personalities, and yet at no point seemed like humans. On his website Robin Jarvis says that he had wanted to write a story that would 'combine the world of humans and animals' and this is exactly what he does. The murky and dangerous setting of plague-ridden 17th-century London warps and moulds the minds of the rescued kittens, just as it does young Will Godwin and old evil Dr Spittle. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Warning: after reading you might look at cats in a new light and become convinced they are evil. Personally I'm cool with that and think that if they rise up and take over the world then they will probably do quite a good job.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Given this, I think I'd better pick a cat as my family pet as it is best to get on their side now. Also, they are vampires:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXOyCtZDM3RR-UYgAtsjbmmOHXRRb9dSd8RvEGuZjPxh5M3OusAQf7T808tbzZsSmmyQTndlTHQJHGcJn3XfazyylHpw_MsqvizEY_JyaKSEAiw6pqS3k3rNcAwWOImdLBO75idywgfhTP/s1600/2012-07-08+07.52.52.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXOyCtZDM3RR-UYgAtsjbmmOHXRRb9dSd8RvEGuZjPxh5M3OusAQf7T808tbzZsSmmyQTndlTHQJHGcJn3XfazyylHpw_MsqvizEY_JyaKSEAiw6pqS3k3rNcAwWOImdLBO75idywgfhTP/s200/2012-07-08+07.52.52.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">
</span>Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11019428433768201059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3780956751632984748.post-50449156373622752112012-08-30T23:58:00.003-07:002012-09-05T14:00:08.147-07:00ARABESQUE and all things YA: Chatting with Colin Mulhern<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4-ZEw4b82TUoeV72_ieI9eLLRVt8tQ16o7qMmolGFFdH5kkS8kcFfJjQwJDVXnrAxGMPsQrPn7M1dqNf26LPK_6oc_pCx5cQK2SW0aZQlNeVkzBFX3NABIzeaR46zGDkKn54tuljdvCyj/s1600/arabesque+final+full.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4-ZEw4b82TUoeV72_ieI9eLLRVt8tQ16o7qMmolGFFdH5kkS8kcFfJjQwJDVXnrAxGMPsQrPn7M1dqNf26LPK_6oc_pCx5cQK2SW0aZQlNeVkzBFX3NABIzeaR46zGDkKn54tuljdvCyj/s400/arabesque+final+full.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>ARABESQUE</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Colin Mulhern</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Catnip</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Arabesque-Colin-Mulhern/dp/1846471486/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1346273985&sr=8-8" target="_blank">Amazon link</a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>‘Sometimes, Amy, there's no prize for second place. Do you know what I mean?'</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b> can get you killed.’<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Amy would look away with a disapproving scowl. She understood exactly what he meant: second best in certain situations meant being killed.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Second place won’t do for Amy May.
She’s always been told to <i>be the best</i>, which is why, at the age of
15, she is an Olympic-standard gymnast. Those skills might come in handy when
she and her best friend Mia are kidnapped by small-time crooks. Events become
even more sinister when the kidnap goes wrong and the girls fall into far more
dangerous hands. They are separated and soon Amy has to perform the most
terrifying challenge of her life if she wants to save her friend.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">After his brutal debut novel, CLASH,
which showed an 11-year-old boy thrown into the world of cage-fighting, Colin
Mulhern has produced another story that will thrill, shock and grip you right
until the end. I was a bundle of nerves and mentalness throughout reading
ARABESQUE – mainly because the events seemed so horribly real. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This week Colin and
his editor at Catnip, Non Pratt, were in conversation about the new book, the
previous book and many other books - mostly of the YA variety. Themes in
ARABESQUE of shock, strength of character and a violent adult world led into
some fascinating discussions about boundaries, censorship and what makes a
novel YA. </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>A teen in the adult world</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Amy and Mia are only 15, but the
criminal life they become entangled in is a brutal and scary one. Colin said
that for him what makes a story YA is when a young person is thrust into the
adult world. This was the theme in CLASH, where Alex Crow is a child
cage-fighter and is pushed to the limit not just by what he experiences in the
ring, but from what he sees when the violence spills over into normal life. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">My favourite thing about ARABESQUE was that we meet Amy and Mia in their everyday setting - the rundown school gym where they train together. Amy might be an incredible athlete, but we meet her bantering with her best friend like any other 15-year-old. The two friends leave the gym and walk straight into the kidnapping. The increasingly frightening events that follow all develop from this time when things were normal and we can see how ordinary people are changed by extraordinary situations. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Of course Amy is not your average teen. Her ex-military dad has trained her in combat and instilled in her a ruthlessly competitive streak. As a result the criminal mastermind, Mr Galloway, realises she might have an aptitude for crime. Mia on the other hand has always been in Amy's shadow. She lets her terror at the kidnapping show far more than Amy and her journey to showing the bravery she is capable of is a more difficult one. I related to Mia a lot more than Amy, who, with her dad's training, keeps her emotions heavily guarded. I was never sure what Amy was going to do next, especially as she starts off training as a thief to save Mia, but becomes gradually more attracted to the job. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Colin noted
that Mia in his mind went from being the sidekick to the central figure in the
book and I felt that she did this in the book too. She begins in the
background, following Amy around, but when the two are separated Mia’s own
courage and confidence begin to shine through. </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Blood spots on the page</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Reading ARABESQUE you might notice that
the kidnappers and their associates don’t swear much for criminals. In fact
they don’t swear at all. I don’t know if I would have noticed, because while I
was reading the book I saw a link to Colin’s website to a discussion he’s
taking part in on swearing in children’s
literature. On the link he said that he’d taken all of the swearing out of
ARABESQUE at the last minute. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">When I asked
him, Colin explained that there is a moment in CLASH when the book’s other main
character, quiet, arty Kyle, swears at Alex. He then immediately freezes in
panic because he’s just sworn at the school psycho. Moments like that, Colin
said, have an effect if they are isolated – the reader has not become numb to
it and the word or scene shocks them. He likened it to a spot of blood falling
on page, standing out against the white space around it. <b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">In ARABESQUE
if there was some swearing, it would only make sense that there was swearing
throughout and so in order to isolate the shocks, it was taken out. When he
said this I realised that the bits of the book that really imprinted on my mind
were exactly those isolated moments. There is a particular incident near the
beginning where one of the kidnappers makes a threat that is completely
heart-stopping – if up until then you had thought the kidnappers were dim and
not that frightening then that single blood spot in the page changes
everything. </span><b><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Giving the option</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">Talking
about shocks, violence and effectively placed swear words led to discussion of
what is appropriate in a teen novel. With Colin experimenting with how much a
young protagonist can take, should we in turn ask how much the young reader can
deal with? His editor Non pointed out that swearing easier to spot. You could
count the bad words, if you enjoy that sort of thing, and have a warning on the
cover. For something like violence you have to actually read the book to work
out if the content is ‘too much’. And even then how do you judge? A scene of
out-and-out gore could be less upsetting than a whole story where violence
remains an unarticulated threat. <b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">Non put it
best, in my opinion, when she made the point the reader will self-censor. If
they are not mature enough to understand something then details will go over
their head and they will likely to be bored by those bits of the book. It they
do understand what’s going on, then the book offers them the chance to explore
and think about it. There are details in ARABESQUE about the place that Mia is
being kept hostage that for some readers will add to the picture of what goes
on there, but that some readers will miss. It was decided to keep them in,
Colin and Non said, so that the reader was given the option.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">The End<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">Well I
couldn’t possibly comment on the ending of ARABESQUE. You’ll just have to read
it, won’t you? But we did talk about endings in general and Colin told us how
he is usually unsatisfied with endings in which all the loose ends are tied up.
He called them ‘Diagnosis Murder endings’, when they’ve solved the case,
someone makes a clever quip, all the characters laugh and then the screen
freezes. He said he prefers a book that ends suddenly in the middle of the<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">Do you see
what I did there?<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">HAHAHHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAH<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">Freeze. <span style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Some other posts you may like:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Author Sally Prue's <a href="http://lizbankes.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/guest-post-s-by-sally-prue.html#.UD_NgcFlTkc" target="_blank">guestpost</a> on this blog about swearing in books</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Non Pratt's <a href="http://catnipbooks.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/so-all-exciting-things-happen-when-im.html" target="_blank">recent post</a> about censorship in YA</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">An <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/armadillomagsp2011/interviews1#TOC-Clashing-with-Colin-Mulhern" target="_blank">interview</a> with Colin Mulhern about his previous book CLASH in Armadillo Magazine </span></div>
</div>
Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11019428433768201059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3780956751632984748.post-15310141064207289762012-08-13T13:42:00.000-07:002012-09-05T14:00:44.313-07:00REVIEW: MY BROTHER SIMPLE by Marie Aude-Mareil<br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Simply
incredible</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>My Brother Simple<o:p></o:p></b></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Marie Aude
Mareil (translated from the French by Adriana Hunter)<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Bloomsbury, Aug
2012</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Kleber moves to
the city with his brother Simple, who has learning difficulties. Kleber is
determined, however difficult life on their own might be, that Simple is not
going to live in an institution. Their new housemates all react differently to
having Simple in their lives but it soon becomes clear that he’s changing everything
– and he’s no i-di-ot. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>My Brother Simple </i>is one of those books that when you finish
reading it, makes you feel like you are in the finale of a film. You want to
wave it aloft (probably while standing on a chair in a crowd place) and shout
THIS BOOK IS INCREDIBLE, NOW YOU MUST READ IT while triumphant music plays. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It is one of
those books that, when you meet someone else who has read it, results in this
sort of conversation: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Oh I LOVE that
book! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The bit when he– <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">YES! Oh and when
him and girl and all the–<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> <i>OH MY
GOD I LOVED THAT BIT<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I just found it
really, yeah<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">YEAH it was so you know?<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I KNOW EXACTLY
WHAT YOU MEAN<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And other people
wonder what you’re on about, so you tell them to read it and then they do and
they say OH MY GOD I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU MEAN.<i> <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It is one of
those books that reminds you that it is the way you treat people that matters.
And that small gestures and acts of kindness can change the world. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It is one of
those books that makes you very grumpy that you don’t live in Paris.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">My favourite
thing about this books is that it approaches life’s problems with humour,
whether this is living with learning difficulties or just generally living with
other people and learning to love them, understand them and treat them right.
Each character has their own set of problems, habits and oddnesses that make up
who they are and that create hilarious situations – even if they can only laugh
about them afterwards. And of course once the characters have made you laugh,
you immediately care A LOT about what happens to them. The inhabitants of the Paris flat that Kleber
and Simple move into climb up into your brain and live there, seeming utterly
real, making you laugh out loud and, at moments, making you cry. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">There’s Enzo, a
lazy and irritable literature student for whom eating Nutella with a spoon is
one of the day’s highlights – well, at least it distracts him from being
painfully in love with his housemate, and best friend’s sister, Aria. Infuriatingly
for Enzo, Aria and her boyfriend Emmanuel are the golden couple – good-looking,
in love and training to be doctors, but Simple’s arrival has them at odds,
hinting that things might not be so wonderful after all. Corentin is Enzo’s
best friend and Aria’s brother, preoccupied with losing weight and getting a
girlfriend, but can’t work out what’s holding him back. Kleber is the youngest
and still at school. He’s having to juggle work, fancying girls and being
responsible for his big brother. Simple is thrilled at his new home, living
with his two favourite people – Kleber and Mister Babbit, his talkative toy rabbit.
And there’s one thing he wants to know – he wants to know about love. Will his
dysfunctional flatmates be the ones to teach him? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">At the centre of
the book is Simple. When Kleber explains to strangers, particularly ones that
Simple has just threatened with his toy gun, that his brother has learning
difficulties, Simple clarifies that he is ‘an i-di-ot’. Spelling it out like
that shows the emptiness of the word – and how ridiculous it is to apply a word
like that to the bundle of personality, experiences and details that is a
person. Anyone that thinks of Simple as an idiot, a retard, or any other word,
ignores the person and what he is capable of. The two girls Kleber fancies in
his class – Beatrice and Zahra – illustrate this. One sees Simple as an
annoyance and the other appreciates him for who he is. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Simple has a
child’s view of the world. He sees things simply. He tells a woman in the
street she is fat. He tells Aria she is beautiful, which is more than Enzo can
do. He sees Enzo and Aria fighting and tells them fighting is wrong. They
should make up. Reading it, we agree: they <i>should</i>
make up and just bloody well admit they love each other. But it’s not that
simple. However, Simple’s take on life has an effect on everyone. They think
about what really matters and each in their own way has a realisation about
their life. At the same time they realise that rather than trying to change him
and make him admit that his beloved Mister Babbit is a toy, they should accept
that he sees the world differently and let him discover things in the way that
suits him. Trying to make someone ‘normal’ doesn’t really work when you realise
that normal doesn’t really exist. It’s Simple really.</span> <o:p></o:p></div>
Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11019428433768201059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3780956751632984748.post-30601256981504252802012-07-16T05:27:00.001-07:002012-07-16T05:28:44.277-07:00REVIEWS: Andy Marino and Kate Harrison (plus some social network thoughts)<div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">In some books, having social media around would be a BAD THING, e.g. <a href="http://thehairpin.com/2012/07/texts-from-jane-eyre/" target="_blank">this</a> (which is HILARIOUS and I didn't write) and <a href="http://lizbankes.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/pride-prejudice.html" target="_blank">this</a> (which is less hilarious but I did write it)</span></div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Previously in books and life, the course of the plot could turn on a letter - a document that could carry the vital piece of information about who loves/stabbed/is the real father of who or who is really a wizard and gets to go to Hogwarts (<-- I am STILL WAITING, JK...) . Now information is everywhere. You can see hundreds of updates on the everyday lives of people, their pets, their children, their bowels (perhaps I should change my friends). And the details of your own life are reflected back at you when you see adverts based on what you have been searching for and emailing about. I have recently seen adverts for cats, fertiliser and 'cheap plants' pop up (based on an email about my cat deciding to start pooing on my chilli plant), which I like to think sums up my life nicely. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Some authors are exploring the possibilities, and dangers, this information overload offers. I have picked two books that incorporate social media, showing the way it connects what used to be separate, and at the same time can completely isolate people. Oh and they tell pretty fabulous stories along the way. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white;">Unison 3.0 by Andy Marino</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">Catnip Books</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b style="background-color: white;">Unison 3.0 gives us a future where the social network has become an alternative, and better, reality. Once plugged in, you can explore a digital world where BetterLife products, tailored to your tastes, are plentiful and where you have thousands of Friends. But not everyone can afford a log in. Mistletoe lives under the canopy – a giant ceiling that separates the rich ‘topside’ city from a very different world below. When Ambrose Truax, the son of the creator of Unison, finds himself subcanopy he and Mistletoe find that they are both haunted by the same dream. Unison is hiding a dark secret at its core and they must discover it before the next upgrade endangers everyone.</b></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white;">Soul Fire by Kate Harrison<br />Indigo (Orion)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b style="background-color: white;">When Alice got an email from her murdered sister Meggie she thought it was a sick joke. In fact it was Alice's link to Soul Beach - Facebook for the Dead. On Soul Beach everyone is young and beautiful and they live in paradise, while in the real world their deaths remain unexplained. Alice knows that if she can solve Meggie's murder, her sister will be able to move on, but can she face letting her go a second time? When the prime suspect is himself killed, Alice realises the killer must be nearby. But what she doesn't know is - she's next.</b></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />In Unison, users' thoughts are not their own. Thoughtstreams flow into the central hub to be analysed by Unison's programmers, the most prominent being 15-year-old prodigy Ambrose Truax. He is an expert at processing personal data and then using it to help create the Better Life products that keep people plugging into Unison. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So Unison users may feel they have been given power to make
things happen and claim a Better Life, but you wonder how free they really are when
their every move is predicted, broadcast and tracked. Mistletoe living under
the canopy may not have access to Better Food or hologram clothes, but she has
grown up free to be anonymous. She just hops on her scooter (Nelson) and
explores the city. This all changes when she meets Ambrose. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">In <b>Soul Fire </b>there is a murder mystery plot at work except
where once there might have been a trail of fingerprints, a letter and a
surprising confession from a maid, there are mystery websites, encrypted IP
addresses and an entire online community of unexplained dead people. Alice has
discovered a website, <a href="http://burningtruths.com/" target="_blank">Burning Truths</a>, which has been set up to vindicate the
prime suspect – Meggie’s boyfriend Tim. The person behind the website knows something and Alice wants to find them - especially when they start posting crucial pieces of evidence. Alice's cybergeek friend Lewis is on the case to track them down, while Alice's route to information is Soul Beach. As long as she doesn't ask direct questions and just allows users to tell her about their lives then she keeps her log-in. </span></div>
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<br />The hours Alice spends on Soul Beach aren't just to find clues. On Soul Beach everyone is beautiful, Alice has a boyfriend and she can see her sister. It is a dangerously addictive place and Alice is soon spending most of her time in the real world plotting when she can next log in. It is a worrying side of social media that someone could start to prefer the version of them that exists online to the person they really are. In <b>Unison 3.0</b> users 'shimmer' in to the network and feel a sense of euphoria - with an environment created to please them and the chance to make millions of connections, they feel popular and free from real-world concerns. Shimmering out, however, makes them feel nauseous and depressed - again the virtual world is an addictive escape from the real one. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">However, happy statuses can hide an unhappy person and the image someone decides to project on a social network can be a heavily edited version of the truth. When Ambrose is exploring Unison no longer as a programmer, but on his mission to discover the truth about the organisation, he meets people who are not who they say they are, or who despite their great Unison profiles are desperately lonely. The perfect faces on Soul Beach distract from the horrible ways their lives ended in the real world and Alice can no more trust what she finds there than the people around her in the real world - one of whom is a killer. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">If you can have thousands of Friends and still be glum, then clearly the crucial thing is finding real connections among all the chat, feeds, statuses and pictures of kittens wearing tiny hats. The most frightening thing about Alice's story (well, apart from being stalked by a killer) is that she can't trust anyone. In the real world any one of the people close to her could be the killer. She is also drifting away from her school friend Cara as her secret online life is taking over. In her Soul Beach life she has her sister and her boyfriend, but it is a life that she can only virtually be part of, and throughout the book you wonder if the mysterious online world is any safer. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">In <b>Unison 3.0 </b>Mistletoe meets Ambrose. They could not be more different - one from the heart of Unison, one who lives underneath the radar. And at first they struggle to understand each other - Ambrose, with no access to thoughtstreams or profile data, finds it unsettling not knowing what Mistletoe is thinking. Mistletoe thinks that Ambrose, with his fancy hologram suit, has no idea about real life. But soon they each find the other person creeping into their thoughts. What's going on is a good old-fashioned connection based on something real - and it is the thumping heartbeat of the book. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">These books made me think about reading and social media-ing in general. Sharing thoughts on stories has always been a way of getting to know someone, but now the options for sharing diverge and multiply into an insanely huge INTERCONNECTING WEB OF FUN (or 'interfun'). The private experience of just you and the book can be followed by a flurry of tweeting and commenting and blogging and clicking on stuff and finding cool stuff that links to other cool stuff. There was a recent <b>Soul Fire </b>Twitter event, for example, which took place on Soul Beach and attendees could try and pick up clues to the mystery. There is also a real<a href="http://www.burningtruths.com/" target="_blank"> Burning Truths website</a>. <b>Unison 3.0</b> makes you think about what social media might mean in the future - could we have a Facebook that you can walk around in? Or a Twitter where you actually follow people? (Which sounds a bit stalky now I've said it. They probably wouldn't let me join). </span></div>
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</div>Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11019428433768201059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3780956751632984748.post-24552603610293400442012-07-16T05:26:00.001-07:002012-07-16T05:26:45.700-07:00Pride @ Prejudice<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Mrs Bennet</b> is v excited about a UNIVERSAL TRUTH I just heard concerning two RICH men, MARRIAGE and my four beautiful daughters </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">:) </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">with </span><b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Jane Bennet</b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">, </span><b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Elizabeth Bennet</b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">, </span><b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Kitty Bennet</b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> and </span><b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Lydia Bennet</b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">(Lydia Bennet likes this)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Mary Bennet</b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> ...</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">(Lydia Bennet likes this)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b style="background-color: white;"><br /></b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Fitzwilliam Darcy</b> no thanks</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Elizabeth Bennet </b>ha!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Fitzwilliam Darcy </b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">not interested ...?</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Elizabeth Bennet </b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">And yet you keep commenting...</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">George Wickham</b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> no one else gets a look in? ;)</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>George Wickham</b> sure you should trust <b>Fitzwilliam Darcy</b>? #justsayin #youdontwanttoknow #HETOOKMYMONEY</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Lydia Bennet</b> OMFG!!!!!! :O</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Elizabeth Bennet</b> Hmmm... don't know who to believe...</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Fitzwilliam Darcy</b> have messaged you</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Elizabeth Bennet</b> know who to believe</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Lydia Bennet </b>eloped! LOLZ with <b>George Wickham</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">(Lydia Bennet likes this)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Fitzwilliam Darcy</b> has been tagged with<b> George Wickham</b> and <b>Lydia Wickham</b> at A Church</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Elizabeth Bennet</b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> thanks...x</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Fitzwilliam Darcy</b> no prob</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Jane Bennet</b> and <b>Charles Bingley</b> are in a relationship</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Elizabeth Bennet</b> and <b>Fitzwilliam Darcy</b> are in a relationship</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Mrs Bennet</b> Just need to find Kitty a man now! #proudmum</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Mary Bennet</b> </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 16px;">-_-</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 16px;">THE END</span></div>
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<br /></div>Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11019428433768201059noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3780956751632984748.post-38570159678034959962012-06-19T11:12:00.001-07:002012-06-20T03:34:14.473-07:00Lovely books about love<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I'll start with EXCITING NEWS and a WARNING. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">*EXCITING NEWS: You can win copies of TWO of the books from this list! I have a copy of I'LL BE THERE by Holly Goldberg-Sloan and a swanky new paperback of MIDWINTERBLOOD to give away. <b>Pop a comment at the end of the blog, including a way to contact you, if you would like to win.* </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">*WARNING: This post reveals the ending to the wonderful Dawson's Creek. If you watched it for a bit and then stopped but always thought you'd like to get the whole box set and watch it CONTINUOUSLY until the theme tune makes you feel a bit ill (although they change it in season three) and then feel like you may have wasted a few years of your life (or all of uni) but at least you know what happens in the end, then BEWARE!*</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">*Oh and the ending to Pride and Prejudice*</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">*And a bit of Jane Eyre*</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I have been thinking recently about love. The path of true love, rather than running smooth, more often runs embarrassingly with episodes of mild stalking. Before I aged, I was a teenager desperate to fall in love in one of the following ways: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">1. Dramatically, with moors, housefires and someone angry (like in <i>Jane Eyre</i>)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">2. Meaningfully, with lots of looks over the piano, bouncey dances and someone grumpy (like in <i>Pride and Prejudice</i>)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">3. Funnily, with owls, beards and Dave the Laugh (YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT ONE)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Sadly, real life never quite matched up to book love. My teenage love life mainly revolved around: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">1. Following people on the bus. (We didn't have Facebook or Twitter, so stalking consisted of actually following people around in a tragic manner)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">2. 'Pulling' people at 'parties' (i.e. dancing to a CD on in someone's parents' living room. Not quite a Regency ball)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">3. Awkward dating. (i.e. feeling quite posh because you are 18 and going on a real date to a restaurant, so you react by drinking too much wine, throwing a plate of satay sticks over the floor, going to the loos to phone your friend and tell her you threw a plate of satay sticks over the floor, realising you've been on the phone for 30 minutes, coming back and saying 'I wasn't throwing up', which makes it sound like you were, and then being walked/supervised home.) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It is good, then, that there are other people's stories to make us feel better, make us realise we aren't alone and finally - and most vomitily - inspire us to keep looking for love. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I have chosen five books that got me all emotional by exploring being in love in a way that seems real, possible and just plain lovely. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>1. I’LL BE THERE by Holly Goldberg-Sloan<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Piccadilly Press</b><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ill-There-Holly-Goldberg-Sloan/dp/1848122675/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1340118554&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Amazon link</a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>A chance meeting and a love song change everything for Emily
and Sam. From that moment their lives become inextricably entangled. But can it
end happily? Sam and his fragile younger brother Riddle are at the mercy of
their father, who drags them from place to place in a life of petty crime. Sam
has found something worth staying for, but his father is a ticking time-bomb
who could endanger everyone. Can the connection between Emily, Sam and Riddle
survive? </b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This book is moving and heart-warming, but with a sense
of danger running through it. Sam and Emily’s connection is beautiful – on their
first date they talk and talk, with the gradual realisation that they never
want to be apart. Most of their conversation happens off the page, which makes
it more real because you have to imagine it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">(A bit like in the ending of Jane
Austen’s <i>Emma</i>, when Emma is proposed to.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">‘What did she say? Just what she ought, of course. A lady always does</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">.' <br /><br />Keeping the scene just out of your reach makes it more powerful, I think, as it remains a secret between two people . But more Austen wittering later...)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">For Emily meeting Sam is like a black and white film suddenly changing into colour – in the High School-world of image and reputation she has found
someone who is simply himself. For Sam the connection is a life-line – the
chance to cling to something real and constant and finally have a home. But as the reader you can never relax. Clarence Border’s unstable mind has created a
completely uncertain existence for his children – Sam wants to be with Emily
but can’t face dragging her into the chaos that is his life. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It makes you realise how fragile people’s stories are – the whole trajectory of the story can be thrown off by a misunderstanding, or a comment. Trusting in connections with other people, like Sam trusting that Emily wants to be there for him, Riddle trusting that Sam will always take of him and Emily’s parents’ urge to care for Sam and Riddle, are what give people hope that things will be okay. Holly Goldberg-Sloan has told a powerful and emotional love story that will keep you guessing and hoping right until the end.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">*DON'T FORGET TO ENTER THE COMPETITION AND WIN THIS BOOK*</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>2. WHEN YOU WERE MINE by Rebecca Serle<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Simon and Schuster<o:p></o:p></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/When-Were-Mine-Rebecca-Serle/dp/0857075160/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1340122743&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Amazon link</a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-auto;">What if the greatest love story ever told was the wrong one? Rob and Rosalind are best friends and since’ that kiss’ it looks like they’ve finally fallen in love. Then Rosalind’s cousin Juliet arrives. Suddenly Rosalind is watching from the wings the story that should have been hers. Can she change the plot or will she find that an even greater adventure is waiting behind the scenes?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This took me back to the days of year nine when I was
very upset that my life was not set in Dawson’s Creek. It would have been very
nice to have bad-haired boy climb through my window and be all in love with me
and I could be all in love with him for a bit before going out with his fitter,
funnier best friend. Unfortunately the closest I got to finding my Pacey was following and no boy ever did this over me:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Not literally over me. That would be weird. And damp. This book took me back to DC in its hey day, before they thought it would be a good idea for everyone to go to uni and the tarty one to die. Right when it was
all about Dawson and Joey and then JEN arrived. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Like Jen, Juliet is flirty and
from the city and ruins the couple who were supposed to be together. And you
are meant to hate her at first. (It may turn out she’s not so bad and she’ll
end up playing Marilyn Monroe and being part of the BEST COUPLE EVER with Jason
Segel, who I love whether he is a man or a muppet).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">But this is not Juliet’s story. You get so caught up in
Rosie’s life that Rob and Juliet fade into the background. She has fiercely
loyal and hilarious friends in Charlie and Olivia and is slowly getting to know
class clown Len. And it soon becomes
clear sitting on the outside of the love story everyone knows is probably the
best place to be. Rosie might not get the fairytale ending she wanted, and
instead anything could happen. The book also shows that the strongest
relationships don’t happen because they are ‘meant to be’, but because of the
small, thoughtful acts of the people involved. Drama and intensity is all very
well, but it’s how people behave backstage that matters. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Also, drama and intensity often lead to this:</span><o:p></o:p><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>3. MIDWINTERBLOOD by Marcus Sedgwick<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Indigo<o:p></o:p></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Midwinterblood-Marcus-Sedgwick/dp/1780620209/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1340123104&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Amazon link</a></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It may seem odd to describe as lovely a book with 'blood' in the title that contains Viking vampires, but this book is full of heart-expanding (and crushing) moments of feeling between people. It is seven intertwined stories, woven together by two souls - Eric and Merle - who find each again and again, in lots of different ways. I have wittered on about this book at great length, both in person to lots of people and also</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> <a href="http://lizbankes.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/review-midwinterblood-by-marcus.html#.T-CqzxfUNmg" target="_blank">here</a>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: left;">*DON'T FORGET TO ENTER THE COMPETITION AND WIN THIS BOOK*</span>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>4. ONE DAY by David Nicholls<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Hodder</b><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/One-Day-David-Nicholls/dp/0340896981/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1340124411&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Amazon link</a></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Em and Dex! Dex and Em! This book made me want to climb
up Arthur’s Seat (which is a big hill in Edinburgh, in case you haven’t read
this book or don’t know the names of many hills and you thought that I was
saying I wanted to climb up a man’s bum). Most people probably have heard of
the Seat and the book, but in case not it is the story of Dexter Mayhew and
Emma. We meet them on the day they meet each other – St Swithin’s Day (15 July)
– and then revisit them every year on that day to see where they have got to.
Spending one day a year with Dexter and Emma makes you feel like they are your
actual friends. Your friends who are perfect for each other but take ages to
realise it until you want to beat them over the head with a stick until they
agree to kiss (which probably wouldn’t be very romantic). </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>5. All the books by Jane Austen<o:p></o:p></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Charlotte Bronte, when writing to G.H. Lewes (aka Mr George Eliot), described <i>Pride and Prejudice </i>as </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">'a carefully fenced, highly cultivated garden, with neat borders and delicate flowers; but no glance of a bright vivid physiognomy, no open country, no fresh air, no blue hill, no bonny beck.' After a rebuttal by Lewes and reading Emma, she wrote 'I read it with interest and with just the right degree of admiration which the Miss Austen herself would have thought sensible and suitable—anything like warmth or enthusiasm; anything energetic, poignant, heartfelt, is utterly out of place in commending these works [...] She does her business of delineating the surface of the lives of genteel English people curiously well; there is a Chinese fidelity, a miniature delicacy in the painting: she ruffles her reader by nothing vehement, disturbs him by nothing profound: the Passions are perfectly unknown to her; she rejects even a speaking acquaintance with that stormy Sisterhood; even to the Feelings she vouchsafes no more than an occasional graceful but distant recognition; too frequent converse with them would ruffle the smooth elegance of her progress.'<br /><br />I would respectfully disagree (respectfully, because she did introduce me to Mr Rochester and he has been my imaginary husband for 10 years. Although I have to hide him in the attic, because I am also married to Mr Darcy). For me, Austen's carefully fenced gardens and stifling conventions make the feelings going on under the the surfaces of the lives of genteel English people even more intense.<br /><br />Empty conventions can become full of meaning and feeling when two people have a connection. Lizzie will have performed the same dances on countless occasions at balls, but when she dances with Darcy everything changes. Suddenly the dance with all its prescribed moves becomes part of the very real process of two people making steps towards each other – their conversation becomes charged because on the surface everything is mapped out for them, while underneath something more confusing and turbulent is going on. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">To bring my Austen ranting to an end, I’ll talk about
endings. As I have already mentioned, Emma's final speech is hidden from us. Similarly with Darcy and Elizabeth: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">'...he expressed himself on the occasion as sensibly and as warmly as a man violently in love can be supposed to do. Had Elizabeth been able to encounter his eye, she might have seen how well the expression of heartfelt delight, diffused over his face, became him; but, though she could not look, she could listen, and he told her of feelings, which, in proving of what importance she was to him, made his affection every moment more valuable.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">'</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Elizabeth can't look at him, but listens. We see his face, but don't hear what he says. From both points of view the scene is half-hidden - there is more going on than the words on the page. And because conventions prevent them from expressing feelings like this to often, the tiniest moment can mean the whole world. They are on a nice genteel country walk, probably through a highly cultivated garden, and so when he calls her 'dearest, loveliest Elizabeth', to me it is the most romantic thing in the world. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This is probably also because that is my name and he was definitely talking about me when he said it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Well I'd better go (I can hear noises coming from the attic so Mr R must want his dinner). </span></div>
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<br /></div>Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11019428433768201059noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3780956751632984748.post-25521992954114012132012-05-24T06:01:00.000-07:002012-06-19T11:12:35.175-07:00And the geeks shall inherit the earth: GEEKHOOD by Andy Robb<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>*UPDATE!!!! GIVEAWAY!!!!*</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Since GEEKHOOD launched I was sent a SIGNED COPY of the book by those lovely Stripey people at Stripes Publishing! Now I got myself a signed book at the launch, and to have two would be immensely greedy, so I am going to give it away!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>To enter the competition leave a comment on this blog</b>, including a <b>way of contacting you </b>if you win. The closing date is June 23rd. You could even leave a geeky confession if you want to, but I don't insist. The main thing is that this book is utterly lovely and you should try and win it. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">That I DO insist on.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZV-EUP1ZGKbLcTNeS2OW3nAvC02wbpPPDKOotFePZ31YyTu2n_gsgA9BCPHJorbe3bDNxr4CqJt_BPOIXmbHRALBIGwmQ_ArRtAs9BEoyutmBuWqtKfkjMuqFDiksJtwTmBkkH2HPn5O2/s1600/Geekhood_FRONT.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZV-EUP1ZGKbLcTNeS2OW3nAvC02wbpPPDKOotFePZ31YyTu2n_gsgA9BCPHJorbe3bDNxr4CqJt_BPOIXmbHRALBIGwmQ_ArRtAs9BEoyutmBuWqtKfkjMuqFDiksJtwTmBkkH2HPn5O2/s320/Geekhood_FRONT.jpg" width="208" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>GEEKHOOD by Andy Robb </b></span></div>
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<br /><b>Archie is a Geek. (Well, he is a Level 5 Mage to be exact.) Playing RPG with his equally geeky friends gives him the escape he needs from his quite crap life, which currently includes his parents’ divorce, school bullies and not being able to talk to girls. But then a Girl talks to him. Archie’s world is thrown into chaos – girls don’t want to paint orcs and hang out at the Hovel do they? How will he be able to speak to her like a normal human being?</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Archie's embarking on a Daring Quest - will the Geek get the Girl? </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">First I will say, just casually, </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I LOOOOOVEEEEE THHHHIIIIISSSS BOOOOOK!!!!!!!!</span></div>
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And now I will write some words about it, and about geekiness in general. </div>
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</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I was a geekchild. And then a geekteen. And now a geekoldperson. But I feel like I have spent a lot of time denying this pretending to be a cool person with a ‘life’. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwbcVTJU9-xHJBb_sS_HPbH4sQbtXfhBTV4WHEilFQ-gW6kJO5TaHoZpFHMIXYZp9q8kkxnm_e5p99XZm1SUIbEaY0-n8J2ir_yp5hiDtsJvf6o_wtxw4nuWW3UWBcfEAn9L5T-bXyQtje/s1600/cool.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwbcVTJU9-xHJBb_sS_HPbH4sQbtXfhBTV4WHEilFQ-gW6kJO5TaHoZpFHMIXYZp9q8kkxnm_e5p99XZm1SUIbEaY0-n8J2ir_yp5hiDtsJvf6o_wtxw4nuWW3UWBcfEAn9L5T-bXyQtje/s400/cool.bmp" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /><br />So it is all a dirty lie and I am not a cool person with a life. Reading GEEKHOOD has inspired me to admit this and embrace my geek. A speech by Matt – Archie’s best friend and the epitome of geek – opened my mind. He points out that pretty much everyone is a geek, because being a geek is just being passionate about something down to its tiniest details. So whether your ‘thing’ is football, role-playing games or books with bonnets in (or all these things – a bonneted orc playing football) then you are a massive geek. <br /> <br />I feel like when you are young, you are a carefree geek. If you like something, you love it. You collect it and talk about it and play games that take you into its world. Here are some things I remember collecting: football stickers, pogs, weird plastic blobs with faces on, the Beano, boglins and dogs wearing nappies that you put in the fridge and the nappy would go blue or pink depending on whether the dogbaby was a boy or a girl (I feel like I could have dreamt that one). </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtqr7c2hozs80d1TGYsxpr5k-xUgz4VSeGYcnprP0X4LnvVqDEOCBPWbtUN5a_oUj0Ne9EK_VYHSVa7g0WJxrQV4b3ZMGVNvwx88u5mPbRHi4orfSA42C3Gu6pMxFyGKJ4qglPkb0YoBkl/s1600/250px-Pog_Collection.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtqr7c2hozs80d1TGYsxpr5k-xUgz4VSeGYcnprP0X4LnvVqDEOCBPWbtUN5a_oUj0Ne9EK_VYHSVa7g0WJxrQV4b3ZMGVNvwx88u5mPbRHi4orfSA42C3Gu6pMxFyGKJ4qglPkb0YoBkl/s1600/250px-Pog_Collection.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Most of these I think reflect a love of collecting, rather than a particular interest in dogs wearing nappies, but a few collections were wide-ranging obsessions. For me the main one was ‘being a male action hero’ (or just ‘being male’ – I did once ask my parents to call me John). I spent most of my childhood dressed as a Thunderbird/ Captain Scarlet / Superman and, judging by the photos, I wasn’t particularly worried that the other children at the various birthday parties were wearing normal clothes. <br /><br /> I also once wore a bear costume to my gym class for what appears to be no reason – I am not sure what that means. <br /><br /> In GEEKHOOD, Archie has spent a great deal of his life so far being interested in role-play games. He has a collection of figures, all lovingly painted and he and his friends bring the figures to each other’s houses to play The Game. The book gave me an insight into a world I knew nothing about before. It’s a world of storytelling and creativity and it offers an escape to a place where you can use your cunning and imagination to be the hero. This is quite an important escape for Archie, who is not having a great time of it now his stepdad, Tony the Tosser, has moved in. When Archie is painting his miniatures he is creating something beautiful that is completely detached from ordinary life and tossers. But as he grows up he worries that his collection is childish. <br /><br /> Archie meets Sarah. Sarah is a GIRL, which is quite an unusual thing to find in the hovel. And Sarah seems interested in getting to know him, which is both exciting and utterly terrifying. Archie’s mum and stepdad seem relieved at this ‘normal’ behaviour and Archie starts to think he needs to be ‘normal’ too. He starts to be interested in auras and spirituality, because Sarah is, and he starts finding his friends’ geekiness embarrassing. <br /> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">That is why it becomes increasingly important to seem, to other people, like we have a ‘life’. Spending time in a fantasy world of things you love, whether that is games, books or films, is not having a life. I noticed this when I looked at an early version of my CV on which under the ‘hobbies’ section I’d written ‘Socialising with friends’. AS A HOBBY. Just so the person thinking of employing me doesn’t worry that I spend Saturday nights watching Dr Who and eating twiglets. (I DO). And did I need to add ‘with friends’?? Just in case they thought by socialising I meant sitting on my own in public places staring at people. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">But I must have been thinking that actually having hobbies – things that I was really really interested in – would make me sound like a geek. So instead I thought it would be better it I sounded like a complete nob. It reminds me of my recent revelation that most of life’s truths can be derived from the totally AWESOME comedy Spaced. Tim in Spaced loves comics and Star Wars. So he works in a comic shop with Bill Bailey, shouts at children who want to buy JarJar Binks (which gets him sacked, but only for a little bit) while he works on getting his dream job – making comics. Daisy, on the other hand says she wants to be a journalist, go travelling and find herself, talk about philosophy etc etc, but most of the time she is trying to sound cool. She is me, writing ‘socialising with friends’ on a CV when what she actually likes doing is playing video games with Tim. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So I think I need to be a little less Daisy and a little more Tim (without going so far as to dig out the Thunderbird costume and change my name to John). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">We see all the conflict between being yourself and worrying what other people think of you play out in Archie’s Inner Monologue (IM), which is the voice he talks to in his head. This was my favourite thing in the book because I think it reflects the inside of most, if not all, people’s minds. His IM is the voice telling him that he is going to embarrass himself and that he has no chance. It is a pretty familiar to anyone who has ever worried or doubted themself or thought 'I am a loser'.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Archie's ensuing attempts at romance don't go as smoothly as he hopes and the book is spot on with its awkward, embarrassing and painfully real portrayal of love. Unless you are someone whose teenage lovelife is/was filled with intense angry vampires, then you will GET THIS BOOK because it confirms the age-old truth that being in love = making a tit out of yourself. <br /> <br />While Archie's story what what made me fall in love with GEEKHOOD, Matt’s view on the world was what made me punch the air and want to embrace my own personal geekhood. Being a geek is finding beauty in things – often in the most minute details. It is being excited to find other people who know as much about that thing as you do and who see the beauty in it too and so you can bang on about it for hours until other people who aren’t interested in it either get interested or decide to kill you. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So, all in all. READ GEEKHOOD. Also, get yourself over to <a href="http://www.geekhood.co.uk/">www.geekhood.co.uk</a>, where you can geek yourself! Here is me:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3R24H6_exmQVeZlJN6ffGP1rhxSCcR5vEGXnFGWdfqmdtd4cbVeUPmZUjZItZzIAe4-nkYwV-AxB62jWySejK2om0J0Cgxi5f7wU84wQrT2Fc8HkOeCOhSIIpzS4EEO0CRPkuaxBiqWkY/s1600/Geekhood_1337847827888.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3R24H6_exmQVeZlJN6ffGP1rhxSCcR5vEGXnFGWdfqmdtd4cbVeUPmZUjZItZzIAe4-nkYwV-AxB62jWySejK2om0J0Cgxi5f7wU84wQrT2Fc8HkOeCOhSIIpzS4EEO0CRPkuaxBiqWkY/s320/Geekhood_1337847827888.jpg" width="271" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11019428433768201059noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3780956751632984748.post-54810469617623649872012-05-09T01:12:00.002-07:002012-06-19T11:13:19.322-07:00CRACKS by Caroline Green (and other Liztopian thoughts)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I often wonder how I would fare in a dystopian world. Probably quite craply, if I am honest. I am quite a nervous person and not very good at lying and so if faced with the task of running for my life/fighting/evading the secret police, I would most likely freeze where I was and shout 'I AM NOT SUPPOSED TO BE HERE' until the evil people took me away. But others have done better. Here are some books set in some quite scary places, all of them asking 'what if...'</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Piccadilly Press </span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cracks-Caroline-Green/dp/1848121687/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1335724303&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Amazon link</a></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /><b>What if you found out your whole life was a lie? <br /><br />Cal’s entire world cracks up and falls to pieces around him. Everything he thought was real is gone – and he doesn’t even know who he really is. Soon Cal is on the run, surrounded by people claiming to be on his side, but finding more lies at every turn. In a world where having an identity can put you in danger, Cal is safer staying anonymous – trusting no one and running from everyone. </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><br /></b>I was hooked by this book right from the beginning. Like Caroline Green's debut novel, DARK RIDE, the main character and their home life are completely believable. As with Bella, the main character in DARK RIDE, I was completely drawn into Cal's everyday life - and so it came as a shock when Cal's reality began to disintegrate.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">As Cal steps into his new life - a fugitive in a dystopian nightmare - you take every step of the story with him, feeling as uncertain as he does about what is real and who to trust. Caroline Green cranks up the tension masterfully, making you as breathless as if you were on the run. As with all good dystopia, the settings are familiar and yet strange - there is a smog-filled Sheffield, where new hologram technology is used in constant terrorism warnings.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The action is interweaved with Cal's quest to find out who he is after he feels his whole life has been taken from him. But in his previous life Cal was constantly told by his stepfather that he was 'nothing'. In his new life he literally has no identity (all UK citzens have been implanted with an ID chip). As 'no one', Cal starts to forge his identity through the decisions he makes and the people he gets to know. His relationships with other teens - Jax and Kyla - show Cal growing in confidence and developing a sense of who he is. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">A action-fuelled, clever and engaging thriller (and a CRACKing good read).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>2. DANCING JAX II: FREAX AND REJEX by Robin Jarvis</b></span></h3>
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<b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">HarperCollins</b><br />
<b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dancing-Jax-2-Freax-Rejex/dp/0007448023/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1336418881&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Amazon link</a> </b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I was completely blown away by this book, to the extent that afterwards I felt (and looked) like I’d stuck my head in a tumble dryer. It is just insane and brilliant and horrible. <br /><br />Dancing Jax is a book about a book. Written by Austerely Fellows in 1936, it lay hidden away for decades until some teenagers discovered it in an old house. The book has a strange hold over its readers, transporting them to the world of Mooncaster – a medieval fantasy world full of beautiful and frightening creatures. Everyone in Mooncaster is ranked according to playing cards, with the Kings and Queens at the top and with servants and peasants as twos and threes. Everyone who reads the book identifies with a Mooncaster character, and this becomes their other life. Life in Mooncaster becomes an obsession, and ‘real life’ just a drab and hollow interlude between visits. <br /><br />Freax and Rejex is set five months after the book was discovered. It has now been published and everyone in Britain has fallen under the Mooncaster spell, putting them in control of the author Austerely Fellows. Well, not quite everyone. There are the aberrants – people immune to the book. To the Dancing Jax converts they are a threat to the new way of life and they must be converted or got rid of. Thirty-one young aberrants are brought on a holiday weekend arranged by Austerely Fellows to help them find their way to Mooncaster. But slowly the sinister reality of the camp is revealed. Fellows knows that one of the children has the power to bring down Mooncaster and he wants to root them out, without any regard for what happens to the rest of them. <br /><br />Reading this you feel a bit like a Dancing Jax convert, going into a trance as you are transported to Mooncaster. As with other Robin Jarvis books, there is just so much depth and texture to the world – when you are there you can completely forget it’s not real. But you can’t relax. The tension of the children’s life in the camp is turned up in excruciating degrees – always on the edge of something horrific happening. You get to know every inch of a character and suddenly they are gone.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">You must read this book. Otherwise I will assume you are an aberrant and invite you to my nice holiday camp and MAKE you read it...<br /><br /><br />
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<b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Hunger-Games-Suzanne-Collins/dp/1407109081/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1336419879&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Amazon link</a></b></div>
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One of the things I enjoyed most about HG was that Katniss could totally kick Bella Swann’s bum. You wouldn’t find Katniss toppling sadly from cliffs or getting herself kidnapped by weirdos just so an ill-looking boy would save her. Katniss doesn’t have time for crap like that. She has to survive. And shoot squirrels. And then take part in a fight to the death on TV. <br /><br />Reading Hunger Games you can imagine from the safeness of your sofa what it would be like if you had to shoot squirrels and live in trees and occasionally commit murder. (But only good murder where the people who deserve it because they did mean things and had mean faces.) (And for the one where you dropped a load of wasps on a girl's head you could just say it was an accident and the wasps 'fell'.) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">One downside of liking Katniss is knowing full well that I would be nothing like her in the same situation. My plan for the Hunger Games would be: 1. Dig a hole. 2. Sit in the hole. 3. Cry. I know this because the only time in my life I have gone paintballing I spent the entire time hidden behind a tree, too scared to shoot my gun, and then popped my head up at the end and got shot in the mouth. </span><br />
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<b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Other-Life-Susanne-Winnacker/dp/1409536084/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1336548823&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Amazon link</a></b></div>
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<br /><br />Number days since Sherry has seen daylight. Her family have been living in a bunker since things went wrong. When Sherry and her dad are forced to leave to look for food, they find a world devastated by savage mutants, the Weepers. A Weeper attack leaves Sherry terrified and alone, until she meets Joshua. He is an Avenger – determined to make the Weepers pay. <br /><br />This book made me think of this interview with Jack Heath, where he says that we shouldn’t see books and video games as being in opposition. The action and excitement of video games, and seeing yourself as the protagonist, can be combined an experimental plot and an insight into the main character’s thoughts. And there are plenty of video games that involve killing zombies. So I enjoyed watching these zombie encounters from the point of view of a normal teenage girl – someone surviving by the skin of her teeth and with no cheats to use. <br /><br />Throughout the book are flashbacks to ‘the other life’ – the life before the Weepers. Seeing Sherry chat to her best friend Izzy about boys and school has an eerie feel when you know that their whole world is about to be destroyed.<br /><br />Oh and there's Joshua. Who in my head looks a bit like this: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Which can NEVER be a bad thing. (He is looking tired because he's just killed a Weeper with his lovely arms). </span></div>
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<b>5. THE HANDMAID'S TALE by Margaret Atwood</b></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This book was the first time I came across dystopia and it
still chills me to think about it. It is set in the Republic of Gilead, a
fundamentalist Christian regime where women are categorised according to their function and their fertility. There are Wives, Handmaids, who are used for their wombs to have
babies for childless couples and Unwomen – lesbians, feminists and those who
have failed to breed healthy children. There are other types, but what all have
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Offred is a Handmaid for the Commander and his Wife. Her
name – of Fred – signifies the man she belongs to. We hear her story as a stream of conciousness, spanning her life with the Commander and her other life, with her daughter, and we never sure where she is or how she is telling the story. What is so frightening is that the book shows how quickly people's sense of what is 'normal' can be altered by context. 'Context is all' is a recurring phrase. This book also taught me the word 'palimpsest', which means parchment, or another writing surface, on which the text has been erased or written over. Offred uses it to describe the Re-education Center, where Handmaids are trained, because the center used to be a gym. The traces of hundreds of stories remain there, even after they've been written over. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The book shows that dystopian regimes write over the old life, but they can't erase the traces and echoes of what went before. </span></div>
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But still, hiding in a hole and crying is probably the safest option. </span></div>
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</div>Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11019428433768201059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3780956751632984748.post-60156293047301783702012-05-07T12:13:00.000-07:002012-06-19T11:13:48.812-07:00REVIEW & GIVEAWAY: Butterfly Summer by Anne-Marie Conway<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>GO TO THE END OF THE REVIEW FOR THE CHANCE TO WIN A SIGNED COPY! </b></div>
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<b><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Butterfly-Summer-Anne-Marie-Conway/dp/1409538591/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1336416116&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Amazon link </a></b></div>
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<b>Becky thought her summer would be dull when her Mum uprooted them to the quiet town of Oakbridge. But then she finds a photo that changes everything she thought she knew. Trying to deal with knowledge that her Mum is lying to her, Becky seeks refuge in the Butterfly Garden and her new friend Rosa May. Then Rosa May’s odd ways start Becky wondering if everyone is keeping secrets… </b></div>
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This is a book that you finish and want to read all over again. Perhaps because the first time the mystery has you tearing through the pages to reach the moment when all is revealed. Reading a second time you can enjoy the details, notice the clues and simply dwell for a while in the world of the story. A bit like sitting in the Butterfly Garden. </div>
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Becky is 12 – the age when a more comfortable world is fading and growing up is new and scary and happening whether you like it or not. I thought Anne-Marie captured this moment perfectly in Becky. She wants to escape her problems by lying in the Butterfly Garden with Rosa May, searching for the mysterious Silver-studded Blue butterfly, but is pulled back to reality by her Mum’s fragile mental state and having to play the role of parent. And her friendship with Rosa May isn’t without its complications. Rosa May is wild and unpredictable, making their friendship exciting but punctuated by angry, jealous outbursts. She seemed gripped with a fear that Becky will abandon her for someone else – perhaps Mack, the boy who has been showing Becky around the village. </div>
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The characters draw you into the story, while the mystery is the book’s driving force. Anne-Marie Conway deftly keeps you away from the truth, dropping hints that have you wondering but don’t reveal too much. The relationships between the characters are so real and interesting that the parts of the book where you get to know them are just as compelling as the unravelling of the secret. Rosa May and Becky’s friendship is intense and exciting, while Becky gets to know Mack in a quieter, but heart-warming way. Becky and her mum have the most complicated and emotionally fraught relationship – for years it has just been the two of them, but now Becky is asking questions about the past and her mum can’t cope. </div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">I went along to Butterfly World near St Albans for Anne-Marie Conway’s book signing. This is the Butterfly Garden from the story and going there made it easy to forget that the story wasn’t real. </span><span style="text-align: left;">The Butterfly Garden and Becky’s search for the Silver-studded Blue frames the story, making you think about how the tiniest moments alter the course of events. </span>
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<b>I now have a lovely signed copy of the book to give away. If you would like to put a few butterflies in your summer then just pop a comment at the bottom or send me an email on lizbankes@gmail.com. </b></div>
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<br /></div>Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11019428433768201059noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3780956751632984748.post-11133080278380835462012-04-24T14:27:00.000-07:002012-06-19T11:14:44.807-07:00TOP FIVE: Book dads<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Now some time ago I decided I would like a new book family to look after me and I <a href="http://lizbankes.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/top-five-book-mums.html#.T5ArarPUNmg" target="_blank">auditioned a second mum</a>. After a hard-fought battle Mrs Weasley won the very exciting prize of me as a new daughter. (Main winning points: makes jumpers and I think she would kill a witch for me). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Today I thought I would audition a dad to keep her company. There have been many famous literary dads, but maybe not all of them would be chaps you'd want in your house - e.g. King Lear. (OMG Reagan, Dad's outside shouting at the wind again. And he's naked. He's SOO embarrassing. Am also pretty sure he named one of us after an STD.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Or e.g. Lord Azriel. (This is partly because I read HIS DARK MATERIALS after they'd announced the film casting and so I imagined him as Daniel Craig and so it would be a bit odd to have a dad that you thought looked quite nice in little pants.) Also because he is evil. But mainly the pants. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">One last e.g. Lucius Malfoy, who would be a supremely crap dad. Mainly because of bad hair. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheLzhxxMEkRNIHZEs6_xuCP-lpmZdsPW_tGyOD6Oo1BlIipT75ZLD6d-OfsxtiXHXa_-NguBElK6C5hGqw7xNsStSGDjjHuvTWFA6p6RG1witrec4MiNdMcH-nOIJFazY6zhMXFOCymzq2/s1600/DH-Lucius-lucius-malfoy-17316925-289-468.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheLzhxxMEkRNIHZEs6_xuCP-lpmZdsPW_tGyOD6Oo1BlIipT75ZLD6d-OfsxtiXHXa_-NguBElK6C5hGqw7xNsStSGDjjHuvTWFA6p6RG1witrec4MiNdMcH-nOIJFazY6zhMXFOCymzq2/s200/DH-Lucius-lucius-malfoy-17316925-289-468.jpg" width="122" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Here are the good dads!
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>1. King Arthur from SWORD OF LIGHT by Katherine Roberts</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">(Templar, 2012. <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pendragon-Legacy-Sword-Katherine-Roberts/dp/1848773900/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1335340777&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Amazon link</a>). </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhK_abwzn02vLM2x8qhvD2Ogtl0x_d4XUIWSdbqj_MpZ4_KbF92XbwuNNKt9mX8PlsOuWeQaZBoCWLd-aCeIxkxkz7FkG_rLHoaa-0AS66AIFexrH8Ll_lqFf_SQKSPN40yrck0tM4Oivt/s1600/Sword_of_Light.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhK_abwzn02vLM2x8qhvD2Ogtl0x_d4XUIWSdbqj_MpZ4_KbF92XbwuNNKt9mX8PlsOuWeQaZBoCWLd-aCeIxkxkz7FkG_rLHoaa-0AS66AIFexrH8Ll_lqFf_SQKSPN40yrck0tM4Oivt/s320/Sword_of_Light.JPG" width="222" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">You can find out more about this magical and just plain great adventure of a book by reading <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pendragon-Legacy-Sword-Katherine-Roberts/dp/1848773900" target="_blank">my review here</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Now Arthur is a bit of an absent father (this is not his fault, he is dead). He has been killed by his nephew, Mordred, and Merlin arrives with his body in the fairy realm of Avalon at the beginning of the book. The heroine of the story is Rhianna Pendragon, Arthur's secret daughter. It is up to Rhianna to find Arthur's sword Excalibur and to lead her father's knights in the battle to take back Camelot. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So it might seem an odd choice to pick a dad who barely appears in the book, but Arthur does feature in some key moments and Rhianna's connection to her famous father was, for me, one of the most interesting parts of the story. She has to take his place and continually hear about him from the people who knew him well, all the while wondering if he ever thought of her. The glimpses of Arthur she gets imply he is looking out for her - and are pretty powerful stuff. </span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">2. B</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">en and Cillian from the CHAOS WALKING trilogy by Patrick Ness</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">(Walker, 2008-2011. <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Knife-Never-Letting-Chaos-Walking/dp/1406320757/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1335298219&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Amazon link</a>)</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsSjny2fjweQE5B4_-AKzVyrSyhuAhQQB66KTUzpxZP874ubpH3UyNxYPOrOp_MzQoaFKeUGZZ5hysZ2_4g6RW_BCYyclJEs644UKcScCr7Zd9DCwrV6Dzj-GTxzhjfwGRQkcL-1ZJnn-c/s1600/knife-small_pbk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsSjny2fjweQE5B4_-AKzVyrSyhuAhQQB66KTUzpxZP874ubpH3UyNxYPOrOp_MzQoaFKeUGZZ5hysZ2_4g6RW_BCYyclJEs644UKcScCr7Zd9DCwrV6Dzj-GTxzhjfwGRQkcL-1ZJnn-c/s1600/knife-small_pbk.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Now I know it is a bit greedy to want two dads, but I very firmly feel that Ben and Cillian are the BEST DADS EVER. They would do anything for Todd and to fulfil their promise to his mother to take care of him. And even though Todd fights with Cillian you can tell how much Cillian loves him. And they have a farm. I often forget they are not real and get quite emotional talking about them. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>3. The dad from DANNY THE CHAMPION OF THE WORLD by Roald Dahl</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMicEYmEvhkE6uJATD-IdlU91yjVZhPoTDqphuBrwuXOoXymQu_-HMO_pXCYVqK1s5WX_KnGyrV3Kb-JQNztfEsSUOd3Ioo6-l76oiD87B2p5NA3QIpRmOQE7Y2ga5lSHJMJENCXPguUZP/s1600/danny+champion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMicEYmEvhkE6uJATD-IdlU91yjVZhPoTDqphuBrwuXOoXymQu_-HMO_pXCYVqK1s5WX_KnGyrV3Kb-JQNztfEsSUOd3Ioo6-l76oiD87B2p5NA3QIpRmOQE7Y2ga5lSHJMJENCXPguUZP/s320/danny+champion.jpg" width="207" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Because he is an eye-smiler:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">“I was glad my father was an eye-smiler. It meant he never gave me a fake smile because it’s impossible to make your eyes twinkle if you aren’t feeling twinkly yourself. A mouth-smile is different. You can fake a mouth-smile any time you want, simply by moving your lips. I’ve also learned that a real mouth-smile always has an eye-smile to go with it. So watch out, I say, when someone smiles at you but his eyes stay the same. It’s sure to be a phony.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>4. Mr Bennet from PRIDE AND PREJUDICE by Jane Austen</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Because of this:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>5. Uncle Gee from THE 10PM QUESTION by Kate de Goldi</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">(Templar Books, 2010. <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-10pm-Question-Kate-Goldi/dp/1848774664/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1335302381&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Amazon link</a>)</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoSknImGoWGTUL4IkrWzlQi4xoJv9nRSVOM4BxLAG14dr4WLLPD-nx3rIVxmXQ-jkylTmPQEzSXgd5dG7NJTKS33Oj8jzzYq2Cy36FpSKfd_P5nGb-gL_PA5wcjpFQICJHnZue20PYi5Rl/s1600/10pm-question1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoSknImGoWGTUL4IkrWzlQi4xoJv9nRSVOM4BxLAG14dr4WLLPD-nx3rIVxmXQ-jkylTmPQEzSXgd5dG7NJTKS33Oj8jzzYq2Cy36FpSKfd_P5nGb-gL_PA5wcjpFQICJHnZue20PYi5Rl/s320/10pm-question1.jpeg" width="210" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I have raved and raved about this book(see <a href="http://lizbankes.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/tilly-billies-book-of-week-10pm.html#.T5cZpbNSTSg" target="_blank">here</a>), but I just think it's so damn good. It is the story of Frankie and his family, who are hilarious and lovely and I would like to live with them. Frankie's dad Uncle Gee probably makes me laugh the most because he likes to go round the house wearing a t-shirt that stops just above his genitals, which his kids find really embarrassing. And I find hilarious. Oh my, we've come back round to King Lear again!</span></div>Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11019428433768201059noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3780956751632984748.post-33855575633971652762012-04-24T12:58:00.001-07:002012-06-19T11:15:09.406-07:00REVIEW: SWORD OF LIGHT by Katherine Roberts<br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>SWORD OF LIGHT: Pendragon Legacy Book 1 by Katherine Roberts</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pendragon-Legacy-Sword-Katherine-Roberts/dp/1848773900" target="_blank">Amazon link</a></b> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">King Arthur is dead. He has been killed by his nephew, Mordred (good knight gone EVIL), and Merlin has brought his body to the fairy realm of Avalon. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It would seem that the path is clear for evil Mordred (and his even EVILer and also dead Mum) to take the throne. But there is someone else with a better claim. Enter Rhianna Pendragon – Arthur’s secret daughter. So secret, in fact, that she didn’t even know who she really was. Rhianna was brought to Avalon as a baby for her safety and has been raised there by fairy king Lord Avallach. She spends most of her time with her BFF (that’s best fairy friend) Prince Elphin.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">When Merlin arrives to drop a teeny bombshell – “This is King Arthur. Your dead dad. We need you to find his sword and save the world.” – Rhianna has to leave Avalon and join the world of men. She needs to find Excalibur to fight off Mordred (as well as some quite nasty and quite hairy Saxons) and help her father’s knights win back Camelot.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This is a wonderful, magical, mythical, historical adventure. I loved Rhianna as a feisty tomboyish heroine (think Katniss on a magic horse) and her struggle to be accepted as proper leader of the knights, rather than just a figurehead while the ‘real men’ took charge. You get the idea that the knights main idea of women is of the distressed and damsely sort (or the tarty sort, like Rhianna’s mum, Guinevere, who, it is implied, is off being slightly tarty with Sir Lancelot) and Rhianna has to work hard to prove them wrong.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The knights she meets – Bors, Bedivere and Galahad – are a colourful collection of personalities, brought wittily to life. Bors is a bit rough around the edges, Galahad is grumpy, and Bedivere gets a lot of stick for his good looks. Rather than distant courtly knights, they are normal blokes. But my favourites were the even less knightly gang of friends Rhianna assembles around her. Cai, the chubby squire mocked for his lack of horse-riding skills, and Arianrhod, the shy servant girl facing an uphill battle if she wants to turn Rhianna into a demure princess. And there's the lovely Prince Elphin. His disapproval of how quickly the humans resort to violence gave a really interesting perspective on the battles in the book - and his point was proved (I thought) in the way that Rhianna relies on her wits rather than Excalibur. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">And there's King Arthur. As I've said in my <a href="http://lizbankes.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/top-five-book-dads.html#.T5etVrPUNmg" target="_blank">dad blog</a>, I found the relationship between Rhianna and her father really interesting. She has to try and 'get to know' a man who is famous, and talked about by everyone as a great leader, but who is gone. And who is her dad. Being her father's replacement, among his best friends, must be horribly difficult. But a special connection between Rhianna and Arthur begins to emerge in this book, and I think it is something that will develop through the series. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">If you are wondering how this can be when King A is less than alive, then you shall just have to read the book my curious friend! And I whole-heartedly recommend that you do leap aboard your mist horse gallop off on a magical adventure with Rhianna Pendragon. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I wish I had a mist horse. </span></div>Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11019428433768201059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3780956751632984748.post-17764921987184530452012-04-11T14:18:00.000-07:002012-04-11T14:18:50.118-07:00REVIEW: CALL ME DROG by Sue Cowing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXQN_H5BZ44Vctk_uPq2ci_Xnw5SzXiaDvZbaisQ_axmuf5R1Q8rJ28CEKVxPsXJ4-vfvs9RQ2mCRWtRsahu008up9KNVgrU5RrVajqpwFjbEXhIiSCBFQ2rpBokRuNMOyvzyOiuhXeOBk/s1600/call-me-drog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXQN_H5BZ44Vctk_uPq2ci_Xnw5SzXiaDvZbaisQ_axmuf5R1Q8rJ28CEKVxPsXJ4-vfvs9RQ2mCRWtRsahu008up9KNVgrU5RrVajqpwFjbEXhIiSCBFQ2rpBokRuNMOyvzyOiuhXeOBk/s320/call-me-drog.jpg" width="210" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>CALL ME DROG by Sue Cowing</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Usborne</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Call-Me-Drog-Sue-Cowing/dp/1409543994/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1334089888&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Amazon link</a></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Parker hasn't had the best time of it recently. His dad left, has a new family now and thinks Parker should go to military school. Of more immediate concern is the fact that he has a talking puppet stuck on his hand. Drog is grumpy, outspoken and appears to enjoy getting Parker in trouble. Parker thinks Drog is ruining his life - but might a puppet who is prepared to speak his mind be just what Parker needs?</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This book is incredible and very hard to describe apart from saying what it is not: </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Is it is not like anything I've read before. </span><br />
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</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">A coming of age tale with a Drog-shaped twist, CALL ME DROG is funny, touching and really makes you think about the toughness of being 11. The ongoing fallout of his parents' divorce and the way it affects Parker is brilliantly written - there are no big shouting matches, just small moments, like his dad's phonecalls, that take on a sharp significance when no one is saying how they really feel. While it may seem on the outside that Parker is coping, it becomes obvious that the effects of the split have seeped into his everyday life, affecting his confidence and ability to stand up for himself. Rather than telling his dad he wants to do something creative, he thinks of going to military school so his dad will be pleased with him. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I loved the characters whose stories were going on around Parker. There's Wren, his best friend, who is freaked out that Parker refuses to admit to her that Drog is just a puppet, but we wonder if their relationship is starting to shift anyway. There's also Big Boy, an older kid who has been kept back a few years and towers awkwardly over the other sixth graders. But m</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">ost of all I love Parker. I was completely with him through the whole book and desperately wanted everything to turn out all right for him. </span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">You may have noticed I have been ignoring one key character - one that is lurking at the top of this page. Well, as Parker finds, the more you try to ignore Drog the louder he gets, so I will let him have the last word. Drog enjoys the limelight, telling stories about his time spent with the emir and violence (occasionally). He is certainly not a fan of aikido, the martial arts class that Parker gets into, where self-defence and not attack is the aim. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">In some ways the book reminded me a bit of </span><a href="http://www.pauljennings.com.au/index.asp" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">Paul Jennings</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> - the story is anchored in real life, but with one thing twisted. As a result, having a talking puppet on your hand becomes normal and Drog is just a real a character as Parker or Wren. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Perhaps part of this is the uncomfortable thought that Drog is real in a way - everyone has a Drog - that little part of your mind (or hand) that says everything you think but would never say out loud. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Or perhaps that's just me and now you think I'm weird. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">WEIRD?? YOU ARE THE WEIRD ONE IF YOU DON'T BELIEVE IN DROG</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Do excuse me, that was my puppet talking - I would never be so rude to you.</span></div></div>Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11019428433768201059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3780956751632984748.post-42665561483589796872012-04-07T15:33:00.002-07:002012-04-07T15:35:19.448-07:00GIVEAWAY: DEMON'S WATCH by Conrad Mason<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">What is more exciting than Easter? (But less chocolatey) </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">That I have a SIGNED copy of this book to give away to one very lucky bunny. (Or person). (Or goblin, for that matter). </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxr2Gb2UVDmPheOvGNy5dJBMpX5EZ2yaFNMi6_0e9sT8tBpBUBIvt2PpAmtVRtGjjna-bf7S3W14EpZHO7MHUG_wTmlkBdB8DEYrL5cFznlIl-TGsqerbcUzpLhELWhu5149lrkoWlpEef/s1600/Demons-Watch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxr2Gb2UVDmPheOvGNy5dJBMpX5EZ2yaFNMi6_0e9sT8tBpBUBIvt2PpAmtVRtGjjna-bf7S3W14EpZHO7MHUG_wTmlkBdB8DEYrL5cFznlIl-TGsqerbcUzpLhELWhu5149lrkoWlpEef/s320/Demons-Watch.jpg" width="223" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">THE DEMON'S WATCH </span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">by Conrad Mason</span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">David Fickling Books</span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Amazon link</span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>'We're the Demon's Watch, son. </b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Protectors of Port Fayt. </b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Scourge of all sea scum. </b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Don't tell me you've never heard of us?'</span></span> </b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><br />
</b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Port Fayt is a place where humans, elves, imps, goblins, trolls and ogres live peacefully alongside each other. When things aren't so friendly, the Demon's Watch - Port Fayt's unoffical police force - are on hand to see off the danger. </b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><br />
</b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Half-goblin Joseph Grubb has only heard tales of the Watch and has seen little of the world beyond the floors he scrubs at the Legless Mermaid. But he ends up in possession of a mysterious package, which is the key to the most dangerous threat Port Fayt has ever faced. </b> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">If you would like to WIN a copy of the book, signed in gold pen, then just leave a comment at the end of this post, or send me an email at lizbankes@gmail.com</span></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/XzCoyiK6Hs8?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This is one of the best books I've read this year. And here are some reasons why:</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">1. the underdog</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFeSYrqs3prfm5C4X9_Q6gWFMGIaXUDJuRMAuFmB_TZlrBCZuUPD-Mdf4ECb9KxlgZtO_VjxyDYvKcd26XdeDgfPHqKCE0V0HezQtkWOSiM0MTjE1C0fSEcW3UsmhBcHcXaIpfmXNNSZyI/s1600/Untitled.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFeSYrqs3prfm5C4X9_Q6gWFMGIaXUDJuRMAuFmB_TZlrBCZuUPD-Mdf4ECb9KxlgZtO_VjxyDYvKcd26XdeDgfPHqKCE0V0HezQtkWOSiM0MTjE1C0fSEcW3UsmhBcHcXaIpfmXNNSZyI/s200/Untitled.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-auto;">I can't stand a hero who is all tall and strong and good-looking and great and generally VOMIT-MAKING. I love that Joseph Grubb is a weedy tavern boy. What's more, because he is part-goblin, he is looked down on and called mongrel by the less goblin-y characters. Conrad Mason has written a </span><a href="http://www.readaraptor.co.uk/2012/02/conrad-mason-on-goblins-and-why-he_29.html" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-auto;" target="_blank">super post on the Readaraptor blog</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-auto;"> about why he made his hero a goblin. Goblins, he says, get a bad rep compared to, say, superhot vampires. I for one would much rather read about a goblin.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">(I may also be saying this because I am short)</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">2. the girl with blue hair</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Tabitha is the youngest member of the Demon's Watch and a talented knife-thrower. She also has blue hair, is really cool and I WISH SHE WAS MY FRIEND. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">3. the gang </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">In fact, I wish the Demon's Watch were all my friends. Like the place they are protecting, the Watch are made up of different types of creatures. There are humans - Tabitha and Newton (now I know I said I don't like my heroes too attractive, but I figure it is okay if they are big and bald and slightly criminal. And probably stubbly), trolls - big green brothers Frank and Paddy, a magician - serious but seriously magical Hal, a fairy - small but vocal Slik, and an elf - Old Jon, who is old (but handy with a stick). Rag-tag bunches are the best - they make for humour, surprises and a great deal of swashbuckling. May result in unexpected crushes on bald people. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioiVIns83cuWMmlyr0fZ-BHdxekFkuBuhwHDPHCaoe5xjPBvS0od_IakIik8jj3x2FlBmomyE07k2toAMjQpOfVA5jHuJ5Cu2dHbP3A9oHOt4kJrP4Ero1ydYr72HtVNPNg0kwPtGL3W-q/s1600/Ginlane1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioiVIns83cuWMmlyr0fZ-BHdxekFkuBuhwHDPHCaoe5xjPBvS0od_IakIik8jj3x2FlBmomyE07k2toAMjQpOfVA5jHuJ5Cu2dHbP3A9oHOt4kJrP4Ero1ydYr72HtVNPNg0kwPtGL3W-q/s320/Ginlane1.jpg" width="270" /></a><span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">4. Grubbiness</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I loved that Port Fayt, with its grog, tavern-brawls and Shark Pits, was - like the name of our hero - Grubb(y). The grime and the detail made Port Fayt real and immediate - like a bustling, 18th-century scene from a picture by William Hogarth, but with far more interesting characters. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-auto;">5. completely utterly TERRIFYING witch</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I don't want to give too much away, but HER EYES and THE WAY SHE MOVES.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So, all in all, this is a swashbucking, magical, hilarious and scary adventure with quirky characters you can love, hate and wish you were friends with. I suggest that you win this book. So leave a comment below or email me to be in with a chance! </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></span></div>Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11019428433768201059noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3780956751632984748.post-70070684808873777252012-04-06T02:11:00.001-07:002012-04-06T02:19:32.934-07:00QUEEN OF TEEN<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Now I spent a great deal of my childhood wishing I was a boy. (This includes wearing boy's clothes, dressing up as various male characters, such as a Thunderbird and Captain Scarlet, and asking people to 'call me John')</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-size: 13px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Later on I reviewed the situation and decided that actually it is rather nice being a girl. (Mainly because of dresses and being named after the Queen).</span></span></div><div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-size: 13px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-size: 13px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Speaking of Queens…</span></span></div><div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-size: 13px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3h_sIK1DsDZMb7IBNWku7oBz8-Nq4Sim8lQhjPEDBjClGCzYZxbbngwIAz04gBStCw6D3_5hnBLXwGeAaN7B_qamOFT8hsgZCrjINDB7GAHBRZf7n_HWatexubLNEjxpC5l1PkKoTGRXE/s1600/logo.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3h_sIK1DsDZMb7IBNWku7oBz8-Nq4Sim8lQhjPEDBjClGCzYZxbbngwIAz04gBStCw6D3_5hnBLXwGeAaN7B_qamOFT8hsgZCrjINDB7GAHBRZf7n_HWatexubLNEjxpC5l1PkKoTGRXE/s1600/logo.gif" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #0d0e00; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">The Queen of Teen award 2012 is open for voting!</span> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-size: 13px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-size: 13px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">If you are aged between 9 and 18 you can nominate your fave author to be the Queen of Teen.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-size: 13px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-size: 13px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Just pop on over to the site to get voting:</span></span></div><div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-size: 13px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.queenofteen.co.uk/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">www.queenofteen.co.uk</a><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: small;"></span></span></div><div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-size: 13px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The last two winners were:</span></span></div><div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-size: 13px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-size: 13px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcsQpSytKTy5OQ4-8xn3KOYQfqCCUB7tchtc6C8N-DkVaptDAIp4mbiaxtloBQ90ZNjwmQcaD5BlbUYvi32u5ZsdvmhWwE5hPeiA8BZjjhcHrq_WR_9wYfgN0C5YPQdOn6xQVQ8qjMZyVA/s1600/039797-fc170.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcsQpSytKTy5OQ4-8xn3KOYQfqCCUB7tchtc6C8N-DkVaptDAIp4mbiaxtloBQ90ZNjwmQcaD5BlbUYvi32u5ZsdvmhWwE5hPeiA8BZjjhcHrq_WR_9wYfgN0C5YPQdOn6xQVQ8qjMZyVA/s200/039797-fc170.jpg" width="132" /></a><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFEHU0Ec57s6d_Pv5TdVQsl8lmN6WYhqzzH-6wVl6mdeIrMJejdQKo_Ba94K9UE1c_8gnndHIPawRv-b2lRWZiQK0n9Wm9YZzbIHcK3rwp0GSiL4JpdroFeS_9H4hd4-EYPoUbxflhBvxA/s1600/louise.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFEHU0Ec57s6d_Pv5TdVQsl8lmN6WYhqzzH-6wVl6mdeIrMJejdQKo_Ba94K9UE1c_8gnndHIPawRv-b2lRWZiQK0n9Wm9YZzbIHcK3rwp0GSiL4JpdroFeS_9H4hd4-EYPoUbxflhBvxA/s200/louise.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 12pt;"><b style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">2008: Louise Rennison</b></span></div></div><div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); text-align: -webkit-auto;"><div style="color: #222222; text-align: center;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Author of </span><a href="http://lizbankes.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/here-come-girls.html" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;" target="_blank">THE GEORGIA NICHOLSON DIARIES</a><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> and </span><a href="http://lizbankes.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/laugh-your-way-through-world-book-day.html" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;" target="_blank">THE MISADVENTURES OF TALULAH CASEY</a><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">(and my most favouritist book person)</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #0d0e00; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div></div><div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-size: 13px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">(I wonder if her acceptance speech included the line ‘I am the Queen. And Georgia did a big poo this morning’…)</span></span></div></div><div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #0d0e00; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #222222; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEireWOdPxUz-d64HSklHSyaGl3I-8Euy206Kb6ECnHq_qaLxhaeTa9daaggMnmryaekxHZSHRJNFw3AiiMpgv5ZATIOSpLDgZM9uTZxDL0trFSclVxlXaCZHoh-7MdA5rXkzZuF6BlD7sGr/s1600/botpic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEireWOdPxUz-d64HSklHSyaGl3I-8Euy206Kb6ECnHq_qaLxhaeTa9daaggMnmryaekxHZSHRJNFw3AiiMpgv5ZATIOSpLDgZM9uTZxDL0trFSclVxlXaCZHoh-7MdA5rXkzZuF6BlD7sGr/s200/botpic.jpg" width="176" /></a></div><div style="color: #222222; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwx_lLdGH70XJ5jNBPX5JFx82AvT4gSo3YikMqAZvLV17Y8aezSpCHW5vjb0m1bXUtuiLP_DhD7Gf50WvbmCSKT_LEbUTEF6UwmxXRvXy6iz6ghfdHeq9npBHJEK22146dhNKhStB-V2x0/s1600/cherrycrush.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwx_lLdGH70XJ5jNBPX5JFx82AvT4gSo3YikMqAZvLV17Y8aezSpCHW5vjb0m1bXUtuiLP_DhD7Gf50WvbmCSKT_LEbUTEF6UwmxXRvXy6iz6ghfdHeq9npBHJEK22146dhNKhStB-V2x0/s200/cherrycrush.jpg" width="147" /></a><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>2010: Cathy Cassidy</b></span></span></div></div><div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); text-align: -webkit-auto;"><div style="color: #222222; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Author of many books, including INDIGO BLUE, DIZZY and THE CHOCOLATE BOX GIRLS series</span></div><div style="color: #222222; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #0d0e00; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">She was also (as I remember clearly from years of skipping straight to the problem page when reading magazines) the agony aunt for SHOUT. </span></div><div style="color: #222222; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div></div><div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-size: 13px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-size: 13px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So whether you love pinkness and dresses and sparkly things / you like people to call you John / you actually are called John / none of the above, you just like reading, </span></span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">I think you should vote!</span></div></div><div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-size: 13px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div></div><div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-size: 13px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Except for me, I am too old.</span></span></div></div><div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-size: 13px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div></div><div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-size: 13px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">But here are some of my faves, just in case you wanted to know. If you didn’t want to know, you may leave.</span></span></div></div><div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-size: 13px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br />
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</div><div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); text-align: -webkit-auto;"><div style="color: #222222; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1Ur9tucKF2l1GYRNNavWWrvXhI5M3VkdxjoWvnCilUnwTYS_u1JLtEfh9G4jJxsRsL6dqMMuuf0ioq9mkTfx9oP-ydP-5GC1Z7JUuh4X4KDg8mD5u06EncN24jtWhQaSZzJbUfDA3eftd/s1600/joanna.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1Ur9tucKF2l1GYRNNavWWrvXhI5M3VkdxjoWvnCilUnwTYS_u1JLtEfh9G4jJxsRsL6dqMMuuf0ioq9mkTfx9oP-ydP-5GC1Z7JUuh4X4KDg8mD5u06EncN24jtWhQaSZzJbUfDA3eftd/s200/joanna.jpg" width="149" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3gKdrfxQRZ-zk6QpF1J5Lwpr_SfyPuwXgH4wfNfCcqepQd813eZvUQndbTJ2mPrD5oCC40kXk_SFa885XRfvduryMIFNrrzZjIJpp_AGI_cbAxHrvCfFSAeVeAQ_iSG9HPIO2ah_3WJox/s1600/rachel+riley.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3gKdrfxQRZ-zk6QpF1J5Lwpr_SfyPuwXgH4wfNfCcqepQd813eZvUQndbTJ2mPrD5oCC40kXk_SFa885XRfvduryMIFNrrzZjIJpp_AGI_cbAxHrvCfFSAeVeAQ_iSG9HPIO2ah_3WJox/s200/rachel+riley.jpg" width="127" /></a><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Joanna Nadin </b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="color: #222222; font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Author of THE TRAGICALLY NORMAL DIARY OF RACHEL RILEY for teens and the <a href="http://lizbankes.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/laugh-your-way-through-world-book-day.html#.T36tAJlSTSg" target="_blank">PENNY DREADFUL</a> books for younger readers.</span></span></div><span style="color: #0d0e00; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div></div><div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Because she makes me laugh. Loud and long and clear. And just normally. And because Rachel Riley's life reminds me of my own dismally ordinary upbringing without a tattoed mum.</span></div><div style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
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</div></div><div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); text-align: -webkit-auto;"><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN-QJSzYo5uM8jXvLSL9NrK5_A55lf2QGNw7TC833uSJCEdMnYJWB6qKm7r_fxzRKDIjM042Oa-_cmpK1a4V8LT5Wf9X823TUqvdDgGkwxU5epAaB5T7feQvQs4fNA7FB9ar6yxJCQ5KFI/s1600/LuisaPlajaWBD2011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN-QJSzYo5uM8jXvLSL9NrK5_A55lf2QGNw7TC833uSJCEdMnYJWB6qKm7r_fxzRKDIjM042Oa-_cmpK1a4V8LT5Wf9X823TUqvdDgGkwxU5epAaB5T7feQvQs4fNA7FB9ar6yxJCQ5KFI/s200/LuisaPlajaWBD2011.jpg" width="131" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMJ_1W4P62VNlz6cSdEB6akHRgC-GjjzEnQP70FjcBcwJoKjXMyd58sftGerR2baY-XAZ9u2E7ocZnvReqC9Srd4BNcM4raTtcgMGaycTQkJylXONyJvZlMfE7bPsJ6SuLLtYmzmd9Ss8b/s1600/KDLHfinal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMJ_1W4P62VNlz6cSdEB6akHRgC-GjjzEnQP70FjcBcwJoKjXMyd58sftGerR2baY-XAZ9u2E7ocZnvReqC9Srd4BNcM4raTtcgMGaycTQkJylXONyJvZlMfE7bPsJ6SuLLtYmzmd9Ss8b/s200/KDLHfinal.jpg" width="129" /></a><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><b>Luisa Plaja </b></span><br />
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Author of SPLIT BY A KISS, SWAPPED BY A KISS and this year's fantastic <a href="http://lizbankes.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/review-kiss-date-love-hate-by-luisa.html" target="_blank">KISS DATE LOVE HATE</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Because her books are about really cool stuff happening (in Kiss Date Love Hate there is SIMS-type game that is REAL and you can control people's love lives) but at the same time with totally normal characters who you believe are real (and maybe fancy a bit --> DREW)</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibNcyWMWadUBwFPQ2OzCsI9RVlAgYZgL7h2yQrOmGSr0RGcxiw2W68N8YPkUPR-BOkmJT-YmjugDDpcTLRmUc54ZhpgiBDOkYz0Je0cMNx17eRLhdUVM1KvhVYHuL7PU9QHNoMGfnxlv-v/s1600/Grace_dent__51045eyeR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibNcyWMWadUBwFPQ2OzCsI9RVlAgYZgL7h2yQrOmGSr0RGcxiw2W68N8YPkUPR-BOkmJT-YmjugDDpcTLRmUc54ZhpgiBDOkYz0Je0cMNx17eRLhdUVM1KvhVYHuL7PU9QHNoMGfnxlv-v/s200/Grace_dent__51045eyeR.jpg" width="148" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWDhGhhPGLQJeDMnz0qraqytgsF5UNC4fHVsNQCn-bDjr3Hqjx71JQU8GU4n-DWbcR39CKwihdF8nwQVjuYD3jaKHLy8JCryigZMw9khxkEDkK_j9MQZSlkzHFQqXdzOR1Pi5pMvF9qg8B/s1600/trainersvtiaras544.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWDhGhhPGLQJeDMnz0qraqytgsF5UNC4fHVsNQCn-bDjr3Hqjx71JQU8GU4n-DWbcR39CKwihdF8nwQVjuYD3jaKHLy8JCryigZMw9khxkEDkK_j9MQZSlkzHFQqXdzOR1Pi5pMvF9qg8B/s200/trainersvtiaras544.jpg" width="127" /></a><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><b>Grace Dent</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Author of the DIARY OF A CHAV and <a href="http://lizbankes.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/review-diary-of-snob-by-grace-dent.html" target="_blank">DIARY OF A SNOB</a> serieseseses. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Again because of funniness. And because I LOVE Shiraz Bailey-Wood. And because she was on Have I Got News For You, which I am often on (in my mind) and I say tremendously witty things and insult someone horrible and Tory. In actual fact if they let me on I would probably sit and gulp silently and then probably faint and wet myself. But Grace Dent did go on it and say witty things, so I think if she met me we'd be friends. I also like her books. </span></div><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span></div>Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11019428433768201059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3780956751632984748.post-60645053086311121072012-04-02T00:51:00.000-07:002012-04-02T00:51:39.258-07:00SPREAD THE FEVER<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFza-mpxrSkVnlzf-TkjU4x9qoRZLapbSLL-YIBergowcA6MigO0D6dvk2beWFOTTR3CzVw5vGqmLK1cc3oR00aLLh7odou1fhgURMgGLJbfWM26X_LnIhN7HqxfuLHUEQZrDJ1ALO9kjg/s1600/fever.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFza-mpxrSkVnlzf-TkjU4x9qoRZLapbSLL-YIBergowcA6MigO0D6dvk2beWFOTTR3CzVw5vGqmLK1cc3oR00aLLh7odou1fhgURMgGLJbfWM26X_LnIhN7HqxfuLHUEQZrDJ1ALO9kjg/s320/fever.jpg" width="206" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>FEVER by </b></span><b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Dee Shulman</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Puffin</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fever-Dee-Shulman/dp/0141340266/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1333270622&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Amazon link</a></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>In a love story that spans millenia, two people are brought together by a deadly disease that threatens the very fabric of both their worlds. Sethos is a Roman gladiator, lying close to death in 152 AD. Eva is a troubled teen and gifted scientist living in 2012 London. An accident in the lab sets free the fever that is going to unite them - but it could also mean the end of time itself. </b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><br />
</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Today is FEVER day. And so I am going to spread a disease to you in the shape of words (which sounds a bit gross, but it is actually a very good thing). I am very excited (feverishly so) to be able to give you a SNEAK PEAK at FEVER. Click on this link to read the first 50 pages: </span><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1D1UX00ck2_VmYrEliE4hMyEs_NiPJaIntaSD2_mGce0/edit" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">FEVER extract</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">And if that's not enough (greedy), here are some SICK videos: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">(That was meant to be sick as in good. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">And as in fever.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Shall we pretend I didn't say it? Okay.)</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Here are some VIDEOS.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The book trailer:</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">And here's an interview with the woman behind the words, Dee Shulman: </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></div>Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11019428433768201059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3780956751632984748.post-28629525982200686552012-04-01T01:16:00.001-07:002012-04-01T02:28:37.780-07:00REVIEW: STITCH HEAD: THE PIRATE'S EYE by Guy Bass<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq_izlPDDHkAmmIgMWJG5sOWe77kfrAhSv7QkdsokVbkIwHXFQbUEwEyfgHaO1DCEBXRrzlQc2Q9mfKRBiN7ZBDevcErcL51DEqsOMf1eNKszwDlu73IrePhGdvNWi_1cd3-T1LbXFG_At/s1600/9781847152282.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq_izlPDDHkAmmIgMWJG5sOWe77kfrAhSv7QkdsokVbkIwHXFQbUEwEyfgHaO1DCEBXRrzlQc2Q9mfKRBiN7ZBDevcErcL51DEqsOMf1eNKszwDlu73IrePhGdvNWi_1cd3-T1LbXFG_At/s320/9781847152282.jpg" width="207" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>STITCH HEAD: THE PIRATE'S EYE</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Author: Guy Bass</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Illustrator: Pete Williamson</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Stripes Publishing</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Pirates-Eye-Stitch-Head/dp/1847152287/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1333208062&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Amazon link</a></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Everyone's favourite mad professor's forgotten creation is about to hit the seven seas. Since the last book's debacle with the horrible Fulbert Freakfinder and his circus of freaks, Stitch Head has vowed never to leave Castle Grotteskew and his master Mad Professor Erasmus (who is mad). But one day Stitch Head, his best friend Creature (a massive combination of abnormal monster parts) and Arabella (a fearless and slightly violent human) come across The Daring Diary of Captain Flashpowder. This, plus a significant kidnapping and some mysterious letters, might just encourage Stitch Head to look at the world in a different way - through a pirate's eye.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB8T2Yf3lp55XZxdnQLGhSLNrVy-KF2-TBsf-HF9Nbuh3pFgbADgIXJ2zP00Uixh3s8lU0tqZPLhFXLf5aqC2RxGOLiOAgVMKSXADi0dBTgicFe1op71oPyTEu7xV-wjmsyMEg7-5pdAd4/s1600/image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB8T2Yf3lp55XZxdnQLGhSLNrVy-KF2-TBsf-HF9Nbuh3pFgbADgIXJ2zP00Uixh3s8lU0tqZPLhFXLf5aqC2RxGOLiOAgVMKSXADi0dBTgicFe1op71oPyTEu7xV-wjmsyMEg7-5pdAd4/s320/image.jpg" width="135" /></a></div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Guy Bass is one of those comedy geniuseseses who can make you chuckle away with characters you completely&utterly love. The timid and tiny Stitch Head, who spends his life running around sorting out the monstrous creations of a professor who doesn't even remember his name, is someone you want to pick up and hug (if that wouldn't terrify him). Creature is huge, clumsy, well-meaning and accidentally shouts a lot. You'd probably want him to do the picking up and hugging (if there wasn't a chance he might accidentally squash you). And Arabella you definitely wouldn't hug, because she might hit you. But she'd be great to have in a crisis where bravery is required. And she has a monkey-bat who chews her hair. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">That's right. A MONKEY-BAT. If I could invent and then own any animal it would be a monkey-bat. And it has a great name, but I won't spoil it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The way this book is put together is stunning. Pete Williamson's shadowy, Tim Burton-esque illustrations creep over the pages, capturing the quirky community of Grubber's Nubbin in all their gruesome hilariousness. The pages are made to look like charred parchment, which adds to the pirateyness and is just plain cool, and e</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">ach chapter is fronted by a quotation from the Daring Diary of Captain Flashheart, offering nuggets such as 'Anyone who says the pen is mightier than the sword has only ever been stabbed with a pen'.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">If this book isn't on the next Roald Dahl Funny Prize shortlist then the world is as mad as Mad Professor Erasmus (who is very mad).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Also, look at this <a href="http://lizbankes.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/spooky-special-halloween-reads.html#withinposts" target="_blank">interview</a>, in which I not only talk to Guy Bass, I also meet (and frighten) Stitch Head!</span></div>Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11019428433768201059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3780956751632984748.post-63653998574710963752012-04-01T00:04:00.001-07:002012-04-01T03:40:31.846-07:00TOP TEN Books that will make you CRY<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This week I would like to wish a happy publication woop to... </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioLYVbo95rV6aNEkxvC7CWCvsjk9FMokGNmZSAiUTBIwGCMAvwUsWdNeuK6ypA-Wm86IbNlLMVtfJq0wQmw3xOXlY1fVLR-i_twexwDbTjwsS2gXO1PgmEYjQxtnrl_MU6wU89ONuHfBjW/s1600/jasmine-skies-978144720518001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioLYVbo95rV6aNEkxvC7CWCvsjk9FMokGNmZSAiUTBIwGCMAvwUsWdNeuK6ypA-Wm86IbNlLMVtfJq0wQmw3xOXlY1fVLR-i_twexwDbTjwsS2gXO1PgmEYjQxtnrl_MU6wU89ONuHfBjW/s200/jasmine-skies-978144720518001.jpg" width="131" /></a></div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>JASMINE SKIES by Sita Brahmachari</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Macmillan Children's Books</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jasmine-Skies-Sita-Brahmachari/dp/1447205189/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1333209589&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Amazon link</a></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Stolen letters full of secrets, a flight to India and a boy she feels an instant connection to will all send fourteen-year-old Mira on the biggest adventure of her life. She visits her Aunt and cousin in Kolkata and traces her Indian heritage for the first time, and while she's there Janu, who becomes her 'guide' to the beautiful, chaotic city, is making her forget all about home. That is until she discovers a secret that could tear her family apart.</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">JASMINE SKIES is the follow-up to Sita Brahmachari's debut novel, ARTICHOKE HEARTS, which made me cry. Now, I am no stranger to weeping. I have seen The Notebook (cried solidly for an hour. Once cried while explaining why it made me cry). My best friend and I once decided we were going to put on a sad song so that we could sit and cry about boys for five minutes (Celine Dion - All Coming Back to Me Now). But a book that can make you cry is pretty special. It doesn't have sad chords or Ryan Gosling's LOVELY BEARDED FACE to do the work - it only has words. So if you get caught up in those words and really see those characters in your head to the point that you cry, I think that's some rather powerful writing. I thought I would combine my review of ARTICHOKE HEARTS with some other books that got me in the tear department.</span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzFRDCeOwLUvFnVLMesdhj8gEDHMeyCURbDNedibjrh05471l82XzT11O0_SevQBmUxXJl7p38OLDhklkpi8dE9NtfEDjgBP5TRYitquLHh_Uz2aFFocpEgx8y6F6M5wflglF90hEZftG7/s1600/Artichoke-Hearts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzFRDCeOwLUvFnVLMesdhj8gEDHMeyCURbDNedibjrh05471l82XzT11O0_SevQBmUxXJl7p38OLDhklkpi8dE9NtfEDjgBP5TRYitquLHh_Uz2aFFocpEgx8y6F6M5wflglF90hEZftG7/s200/Artichoke-Hearts.jpg" width="131" /></a></div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>1. ARTICHOKE HEARTS by Sita Brahmachari</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Macmillan Children's Books</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Artichoke-Hearts-Sita-Brahmachari/dp/0330517910/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1333204590&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Amazon link</a></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><br />
</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This is the story of Mira and her Nana Josie. Nana Josie is dying and Mira has to work out how she is going to be able to face saying goodbye. At the same time Mira, who has just turned 12, is experiencing lots of things that are new - she's feeling distanced from her best friend, she's got her first crush (on the mysterious Jid</span><span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">é Jackson), and in her school writing club she is starting to tell her own story. Among all the chaos the person Mira can talk to is Nana Josie, but she is the same person who reminds Mira of the sad and frightening truth that the people we love won't be around forever. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This book is heart-wrenchingly real. I completely agree with Mary Hoffman, <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/feb/26/artichoke-hearts-sita-brahmachari-childrens-review" target="_blank">who reviewed the book</a> in The Guardian, that the scenes in the hospice stay with you long after the book ends. The detail of Mira's school life, her crush on Jid</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: center;">é (haven't we all counted the 'x's in someone's text at some point?)</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: center;"> and her worries are also very real for anyone who has ever been 12. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: center;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: center;">But the big, emotional pull of the novel is Nana Josie. She has so much impact in the space of a book that you can quite imagine the effect her presence would have on her family over a lifetime. An artist and life-long protester, she is funny, fearless and wise. The way she explains things to Mira - such as where she gives her an artichoke heart charm, which symbolises how layers of toughness grow around your heart as you get older - seem to make huge unimaginable truths easy to understand. </span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>2. A MONSTER CALLS by Patrick Ness</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Walker Books</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/A-Monster-Calls-Patrick-Ness/dp/1406311529/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1333204773&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Amazon link</a></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><br />
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<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Like ARTICHOKE HEARTS, this book confronts the most scary thing there is: losing the people you thought would be around for ever. And like the other book, most of the sadness comes from the dread of that horrible moment. It is the story of Conor, who has been visited by a monster since his mother started her breast cancer treatments. Then another monster appears - not the one from his nightmares, but one whose going to do something far more frightening: he is going to make Conor tell the truth. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The book is beautiful, raw and very upsetting. Do not make my mistake of finishing it on a train. Unless you like to sob in public.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0DIsJvSA2DNe0fEt5JzMZ5Boxu7VYu71NOtSh_KJkEFOg0OnwBfgxxaEOmcszenan0hS3aQCfeKgEbax56NxrpOOPaXsbyZkOOvAjtZSgZRK07rjDEFnFQTMIZDiLTRA-oxEDDJRmWobe/s1600/Mockingbird-by-Erskine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0DIsJvSA2DNe0fEt5JzMZ5Boxu7VYu71NOtSh_KJkEFOg0OnwBfgxxaEOmcszenan0hS3aQCfeKgEbax56NxrpOOPaXsbyZkOOvAjtZSgZRK07rjDEFnFQTMIZDiLTRA-oxEDDJRmWobe/s200/Mockingbird-by-Erskine.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><br />
</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>3. MOCKINGBIRD by Kathryn Erskine</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Usborne</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mockingbird-Kathryn-Erskine/dp/1409538583/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1333204876&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Amazon link</a></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><br />
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<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">For Caitlin things are good or bad - the stuff in between is messy and confusing, like colours as opposed to black and white or when people don't say what they mean. Her brother Devon used to help her understand the world, but now he's dead. When Caitlin reads the definition of closure in her dictionary, she knows that is what she needs, but she doesn't know how you Get It. Without Devon, she has to face a world of colour, noise, emotions and messiness on her own.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This book is incredibly moving. It shows you inside the mind of a child with Asperger's and it is heart-breaking to see Caitlin try to do the things she has been told to do, like make friends, and not get the responses she wants. It also makes you see that there are lots of ways of looking at the world. Caitlin's interpretation of things people do and say is direct and highlights the way that people skip around the truth of what they are really saying. Often characters are uncomfortable with what Caitlin says because she states things as they are and doesn't dress up her words with politeness. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">She also does things because she wants to do them - and isn't stopped by thinking her actions might be unusual or embarrassing. The part of the book I found the most moving was her friendship with a first-grader - Michael (Caitlin is 10). This was also the funniest part of the book - Caitlin impresses Michael and his friends by burping the alphabet and then says '<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 19px;">I feel like Snow White because now I have a bunch of little dwarf friends who love me.'</span> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
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</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>4. BLACK BEAUTY by Anna Sewell</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Black-Beauty-Original-Classic-Edition/dp/1743440200/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1333205788&sr=1-5" target="_blank">Amazon link</a></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Because of GINGER</span><br />
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</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiverTPJEOJaB9gxVIobwPyLZlNfhULVppBPKjwiL4rb8A2tIM3qyun7boQt6QlMGW5DCE8Ox8OTIp4MTBJ-DvmwzVgpf-QTKOYa-H8XE_JUX66NovLfUMuF3QDdS_fQQMu_3te82sDFo7T/s1600/the-heart-and-the-bottle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiverTPJEOJaB9gxVIobwPyLZlNfhULVppBPKjwiL4rb8A2tIM3qyun7boQt6QlMGW5DCE8Ox8OTIp4MTBJ-DvmwzVgpf-QTKOYa-H8XE_JUX66NovLfUMuF3QDdS_fQQMu_3te82sDFo7T/s200/the-heart-and-the-bottle.jpg" width="191" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><br />
</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>5. THE HEART AND THE BOTTLE by Oliver Jeffers</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>HarperCollins</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Heart-Bottle-Oliver-Jeffers/dp/0007182341/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1333206153&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Amazon link</a></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><br />
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<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">If you have ever thought 'well a 32-page book could never make me cry', you are wrong. WRONG.</span></div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><br />
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</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPfra7vYW_k8sKlz7KGk0Aq8QwASshc6T93DqczRntLYJ-ugXqRSZYWDqlk7i5RgMeRojCJvRFDve50UWeIzjNOObkqT2SqtMGCtg5yWokNtMX58hVy9-9_F7vnJtgWVs5LcZZfmTc51u3/s1600/Harry_Potter_and_the_Half-Blood_Prince.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPfra7vYW_k8sKlz7KGk0Aq8QwASshc6T93DqczRntLYJ-ugXqRSZYWDqlk7i5RgMeRojCJvRFDve50UWeIzjNOObkqT2SqtMGCtg5yWokNtMX58hVy9-9_F7vnJtgWVs5LcZZfmTc51u3/s200/Harry_Potter_and_the_Half-Blood_Prince.jpg" width="130" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><br />
</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>6. HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE by J. K. Rowling</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Chicken House</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Harry-Potter-Half-blood-Prince-Childrens/dp/0747581088/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1333206274&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Amazon link</a></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><br />
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<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I was on holiday reading this book and three of my friends I was on holiday with were reading it too. I finished it first, early one morning, and my friends woke up to me crying about a certain death. I had to pretend that, at the age of 18 and away from home for one week, I was homesick. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9zYPD2nslVSWhZtSDouDsAmK2QtE1hK-5Vp9mrlD-umTKUm2MqAQx4WSxjLkqzPdxF1aFznitxTLbRVdK-losbHNMmOTo7jXhzhwHUevM02Xhq504SMq7M8p4U08psGKc7cWB8Il-MCOo/s1600/71067-_03_the_amber_spyglass.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9zYPD2nslVSWhZtSDouDsAmK2QtE1hK-5Vp9mrlD-umTKUm2MqAQx4WSxjLkqzPdxF1aFznitxTLbRVdK-losbHNMmOTo7jXhzhwHUevM02Xhq504SMq7M8p4U08psGKc7cWB8Il-MCOo/s200/71067-_03_the_amber_spyglass.jpg" width="126" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><br />
</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>7. THE AMBER SPYGLASS by Philip Pullman</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Scholastic</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Amber-Spyglass-Dark-Materials/dp/043999358X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1333206602&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Amazon link</a></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><br />
</b></span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This is the epic ending the His Dark Materials trilogy and just thinking about it makes me want to fling myself about and weep (and sit hopefully on a bench).</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE4gM_ZL0HYO2-VxevRSD34J11pbbhVMbCV60tJJcGrgrYdrdTyTi1Y7L9TGaWTKHaD_nmxxtRety-zKk7jN1JcBwOtCSJEyW_NKa9lm0OSLjK-NKnOVdd2dCYiaejATi738Ixp141mUWw/s1600/my-sister-lives-on-the-mantlepiece.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE4gM_ZL0HYO2-VxevRSD34J11pbbhVMbCV60tJJcGrgrYdrdTyTi1Y7L9TGaWTKHaD_nmxxtRety-zKk7jN1JcBwOtCSJEyW_NKa9lm0OSLjK-NKnOVdd2dCYiaejATi738Ixp141mUWw/s200/my-sister-lives-on-the-mantlepiece.jpg" width="131" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><br />
</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>8. MY SISTER LIVES ON THE MANTELPIECE by Annabel Pitcher</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Orion</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sister-Lives-Mantelpiece-Annabel-Pitcher/dp/1780620292/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1333206744&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Amazon link</a></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><br />
</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I listened to the audiobook of this and the weepy bit came on when I was out for a run. I probably looked very mad running and crying at the same time. I was very much 'got' by the story of Jamie and Sunya (or Spiderman and Girl M) who have a secret friendship because Jamie's dad says that Muslims killed his sister. Jamie's narration of his family falling apart as they try to deal with their grief is equally funny and sad - the recipe for TEARS. </span></div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6Ve3504xI5TYrt9468bnVLpEpU7B0FxShtuNSl08Wa2YRPAUrwRDULUO8S2uONH1dBcBBtw4SNxn9BsrBneSCnk3sD2qXH_nQSCTqT9NSMyWqkNMstagMf9RngphA7fWMePFVmyzwKxVm/s1600/time-travelers-wife-book.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6Ve3504xI5TYrt9468bnVLpEpU7B0FxShtuNSl08Wa2YRPAUrwRDULUO8S2uONH1dBcBBtw4SNxn9BsrBneSCnk3sD2qXH_nQSCTqT9NSMyWqkNMstagMf9RngphA7fWMePFVmyzwKxVm/s200/time-travelers-wife-book.jpeg" width="128" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><br />
</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>9. THE TIME TRAVELLER'S WIFE by Audrey Niffenegger</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Vintage</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Time-Travelers-Wife-Audrey-Niffenegger/dp/0099464462/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1333209242&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Amazon link</a></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><br />
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<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Love conquers time. This makes me very happy and also very emotional. Had I known Rachel McAdams was going to be in the film I would have cried even more. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdj2cfbsHK8LtQZ5fq_L294MXVP0KNu_Ycr7pFioxf6fTOS7cSPwfKbQzY_P8spI3XNER6cMr-_PgBiEyk5VNzLt2TyQ3wunH-Ox7EzuqRX-DtuC6EMEK-yWNYOCZ1C9yGQ5IC_sxZZxIG/s1600/Midwinterblood+marcus+sedgwick.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdj2cfbsHK8LtQZ5fq_L294MXVP0KNu_Ycr7pFioxf6fTOS7cSPwfKbQzY_P8spI3XNER6cMr-_PgBiEyk5VNzLt2TyQ3wunH-Ox7EzuqRX-DtuC6EMEK-yWNYOCZ1C9yGQ5IC_sxZZxIG/s200/Midwinterblood+marcus+sedgwick.jpg" width="142" /></a></div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><br />
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<b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">10. MIDWINTERBLOOD by Marcus Sedgewick</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Orion</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Midwinterblood-Marcus-Sedgwick/dp/1780620098/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1333209303&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Amazon link</a></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><br />
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<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">What did I just say? Love conquers time! MIDWINTERBLOOD is seven stories about the same two souls meeting, each time finding each other in a different way. I think that <a href="http://lizbankes.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/review-midwinterblood-by-marcus.html#.T3f75_BSTSg" target="_blank">my review</a> makes it very clear how I feel about this book, but just know that I LOVE Eric and Merle, in all their forms, and this book left me both uplifted and devastated.</span></div></div>Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11019428433768201059noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3780956751632984748.post-48611137905734932902012-03-31T03:40:00.003-07:002012-04-01T09:28:27.192-07:00REVIEW: HIT LIST by Jack Heath<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVVfNZeyCuKO1CnJ-T9u3JtoIbNYuVA1XRC53eQ6KJM2McoGATx1sgjaGuUVAobDuaKVUshPvDibLikqZeIKmL3mk37hq99NZQKmBLE_ZkCXNK_AXnzmk9PsZL885lt8NAhhg7m6q0lg_i/s1600/Fiction-Hit-List-196x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVVfNZeyCuKO1CnJ-T9u3JtoIbNYuVA1XRC53eQ6KJM2McoGATx1sgjaGuUVAobDuaKVUshPvDibLikqZeIKmL3mk37hq99NZQKmBLE_ZkCXNK_AXnzmk9PsZL885lt8NAhhg7m6q0lg_i/s1600/Fiction-Hit-List-196x300.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">HIT LIST by Jack Heath</span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Usborne</span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hit-List-Jack-Heath/dp/1409531104/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1333122059&sr=1-4" target="_blank">Amazon link</a></span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br />
</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Ash and Ben are teenage thieves. With Ash in the field and techno-wizard Ben behind her at every step, they hunt down stolen items and return them to their rightful owners - coming across some of the country's most dangerous criminal minds in the process. When they find an SOS message from a captured woman they are led to the headquarters of the most powerful intelligence agency in the world. But someone else is looking for the girl - the deadliest assassin Ash and Ben have encountered. And now the Ghost is after them. </span></div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
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<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Warning: this book will make you wish you were a top secret thief. </span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">You may find yourself:</span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"></div><ul><li style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Pretending that when you log into your computer you have to crack a secret code (even all you have to do is remember that your password is 'monkeybum')* </span></li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Narrating what you are doing in a secret earpiece to your accomplice. (This is actually just talking to yourself, but no one has to know.)</span></li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Hiding round corners and doing unnecessary 'drop n rolls' (i.e. when someone has asked you to pass them a doughnut)</span></li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Saving people from imminent danger (even though when imminent danger actually occurs - i.e. a wasp - you suddenly remember you have 'something very urgent' to do and leave your friends to perish). </span></li>
</ul></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">But overall you will find yourself:</span><br />
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<ul><li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: center;">Wishing you were Ash and/or Ben</span></li>
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<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">* PLEASE DON'T ROB ME</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This is a book that gets your pulse racing and will have you in a page-turning frenzy to find out what happens. It reminded me a bit of watching a boxset like 24, where you keep going straight onto the next episode because you need to know NOW. I didn't guess any of the plot twists and spent most of the time wondering how the flippin' hell Ash and Ben were going to make it out alive. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I read this guest post by Jack Heath on the <a href="http://bookzone4boys.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/guest-post-by-jack-heath-author-of.html" target="_blank">Book Zone for Boys</a> about writing for the video game generation and fiercely nodded - I am not a fan of the view that video games are in opposition to reading, when video games can have you getting involved in a world and playing the lead character in the story. Oh and they are fun. But Jack also points out all the things a book can do that video games can't (at least in their current formats). An all-round experience not limited to what you can see or hear, but to what you can imagine, intricate and imaginative ways of getting to the next part of the story and an interesting and fully-rounded main character that you want to get to know. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">In HIT LIST Jack Heath uses these elements to create a story bursting with surprises and originality - but keeping the thrills and blockbusting action from video games. Ash and Ben do some extraordinary stuff - dodging snipers in mines, creating hi-tech gadgetry for infiltrating a very famous intelligence agency - but remain completely believable teenagers. Much of the action centres around Ash, as the one doing the breaking, entering, stealing and dodging. But Ben is with her at every step, providing the necessary gadgets and maths and, most importantly, being her best friend. Their relationship, with its delicious combination of trust and tension, draws you in. But at key moments in the story you are kept from them - the characters disappear and then pop up unexpectedly with a plan in mind that you, the reader, have been excluded from. This is what keeps you guessing, perching on a seat edge, and, of course, turning the pages. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Ooh and look at this video on <a href="http://jackheath.com.au/" target="_blank">Jack Heath's website</a> where he talks about what makes a scary villain...</span></div></div>Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11019428433768201059noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3780956751632984748.post-9136768604207083752012-03-25T08:26:00.000-07:002012-03-25T08:26:23.480-07:00SPRING ARMADILLO<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The Spring Armadillo has emerged from its cosy armadillo house to tell you about books. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMN1hkecI1lNHKVQVIZFZihFfbB6YN-HhfhoqbR3gHmq_j9Gwsnsk6oia6iog42Fsry2nEDreV2eslTW-McdI7hQJ1xYxmOfrJVpIij-0IAKgvyL5Ipp7k2XvOCPJtgbmvAdb9d9feRYht/s1600/weearm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMN1hkecI1lNHKVQVIZFZihFfbB6YN-HhfhoqbR3gHmq_j9Gwsnsk6oia6iog42Fsry2nEDreV2eslTW-McdI7hQJ1xYxmOfrJVpIij-0IAKgvyL5Ipp7k2XvOCPJtgbmvAdb9d9feRYht/s1600/weearm.jpg" /></a></div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">(This means that the new issue of Armadillo Magazine is online. Obviously.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">You can check out all the reviews, interviews & children's books news <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/armadillomagazine/">here</a>, but I thought I would give you a short round up of my reviews for this issue, because the books I was sent were rather awesome. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi-lcknJb8A0m8hMUPiCwUxbGm9m2e-uD81lu2lCf3fpukTtJpp0faj0prh21tFYFHp6mBeIP8_EX90ydOmgVCg4Hilagg0jLl6n8o5FumQr5MXIp9PfvVZJvXXXAqY0yf5FURIIFreAFZ/s1600/davecousins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi-lcknJb8A0m8hMUPiCwUxbGm9m2e-uD81lu2lCf3fpukTtJpp0faj0prh21tFYFHp6mBeIP8_EX90ydOmgVCg4Hilagg0jLl6n8o5FumQr5MXIp9PfvVZJvXXXAqY0yf5FURIIFreAFZ/s320/davecousins.jpg" width="206" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>15 DAYS WITHOUT A HEAD by Dave Cousins</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Oxford University Press</b></span></div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The pages of Dave Cousins' book are packed with humour and heartbreak. It is a story of two boys' struggle to keep things normal when their mum abandons them. Here's my <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/armadillomagazine/teenage1#TOC-15-Days-Without-a-Head" target="_blank">Armadillo review</a>.</span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>THE SUPER ANIMAL ADVENTURE SQUAD by James Turner</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>David Fickling Books</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Another comic caper for the DFC Library, featuring a monkey with a jewelled bum and a gloriously dim-witted chameleon. Go on, read my <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/armadillomagazine/collections1#TOC-Super-Animal-Adventure-Squad-DFC-" target="_blank">review</a>.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>WONDER by R. J. Palacio</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Bodley Head</b></span></div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The story of the ordinary boy with the extraordinary face is one that you won't forget in a hurry. It is a humorous and emotional book that says a lot about the power of small acts of kindness. Here is my <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/armadillomagazine/junior1#TOC-Wonder" target="_blank">review</a>.</span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">CINDER by Marissa Meyer</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Puffin</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">You know the story of Cinderella, right? About the ball, and the prince, and how she lost her shoe, and how she's a cyborg in a future where Earth is threatened with an alien invasion? NO? Oh well you'd better read this book then. Why not start with my <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/armadillomagazine/junior1#TOC-Cinder-The-Lunar-Chronicles-" target="_blank">review</a>? </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://sites.google.com/site/armadillomagazine/interviews1#TOC-Stand-Up-and-Prepare-to-Laugh" target="_blank">Interviews with FUNNY PEOPLE</a> Ros Asquith, Jeanne Willis and Ciaran Murtagh, as a result of Piccadilly Press's COMEDY NITE</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://sites.google.com/site/armadillomagazine/interviews1#TOC-The-macabre-tale-of-Christopher-Edg" target="_blank">Interview with Christopher Edge</a>, author of TWELVE MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I have also reviewed this fab tale of Victorian sleuthery and spookery <a href="http://lizbankes.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/review-twelve-minutes-to-midnight-by.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="https://sites.google.com/site/armadillomagazine/events1#TOC-A-Busy-Fun-and-not-at-all-Dark-Part" target="_blank">Event report</a> from launch of DARK PARTIES by Sara Grant</b></div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Back in January I went to a not-at-all-dark-but-actually-very-nice party for the launch of Sara Grant's teen-spirited dystopian thriller. </span><br />
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</b></span>Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11019428433768201059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3780956751632984748.post-22776791759746295122012-03-25T07:08:00.000-07:002012-03-25T07:08:19.850-07:00A BOY AND A BEAR (AND A HERMIT) IN A BOOK<div class="MsoNormal"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Probably the greatest stage direction of all time is this, from Shakespeare’s </span><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">A Winter’s Tale</i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">[Exit, pursued by a bear]</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">That genius Mr Shakespeare (apologies if you are one of those people who believes Shakespeare wasn’t Shakespeare, but was in fact Rhys Ifans) and his thespy mates were among the first to realise the comedy potential of bears. Although this is a killer bear who eats a man, performed on stage with a man in a bear costume it would have been a crowd-pleasing comedy moment to break up the ‘story’ and the ‘language’ n' all that. </span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Reading two frightfully witty books containing BEARS got me thinking about BEARS. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">(I’m not very imaginative), so here are some thoughts on bears, and also reviews of:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
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</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>A Boy and a Bear in a Boat<o:p></o:p></b></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Dave Shelton</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>David Ficking Books</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><br />
</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">and...</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>The Hermit and the Bear<o:p></o:p></b></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>John Yeoman </b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Illustrated by Quentin Blake</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Published by Andre Deutsch in 1986, now out of print.</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><o:p><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So previously in bear-history, before they started chasing clowns, bears were bigger and awesomer. Grand High Dude of the Greek Gods, Zeus was once getting it on with Callisto, a young 'nymph'. So his wife, Hera, turned her into a bear. Which would be a great thing to be able to do if you were annoyed at someone. </span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Callisto the bear went gallumphing round the Ancient Greek forest (probably giggling - she was still a nymph at heart) and bumped into her son, Arcas, who tried to shoot her with an arrow. Zeus thought the best thing to do would be to turn them both into constellations - Ursa Major and Ursa Minor (the Great Bear and the Smaller Bear). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Does anyone else think he could have just turned her back into a woman?? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">But still, bear = big and awesome. In Scandinavian myths bears also had a big and awesome reputation. Scary Viking fighters called Berserkers wore bear skins when they went around going berserk (which is where we get the phrase from). And this all leads to the biggest, awesomest bear of all - Iorek Byrnison from HIS DARK MATERIALS.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">But the the bears in these two books, while awesome, are not Ioreks. Since the invention of the teddy bear, (which was sometime in the 50s I believe – they had silly haircuts and took girls out ‘jiving’) bears have had a more cuddly reputation. The classic children’s bears – Pooh, Paddington, Baloo - are loveable, gentle and a bit slow-witted. (Baloo might be Mowgli's teacher, but he does sleep a lot). </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzFoa279XeXmJaK1CCL_d93bEstt74YgcYX9aMNPZrzjWcl4vY6eAy1F7ZTXx6FnRAdA2XqvR6Y8SMA3po-bQYqi_KCcJT3FbYfAd2Xc4XRjQN5spU2W0exnkycVthMS2zCAJ2b9vVJHpP/s1600/winnie-the-pooh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzFoa279XeXmJaK1CCL_d93bEstt74YgcYX9aMNPZrzjWcl4vY6eAy1F7ZTXx6FnRAdA2XqvR6Y8SMA3po-bQYqi_KCcJT3FbYfAd2Xc4XRjQN5spU2W0exnkycVthMS2zCAJ2b9vVJHpP/s200/winnie-the-pooh.jpg" width="166" /></a></div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">There is of course Rupert, who is more quick-witted and wears clothes*, but he always struck me as more of an odd-looking, furry child than a bear.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwcjbPtYLjVyIkH4dd9AVWxxc5fR47xrN3qxwIqSITnFsTX2ypJb1_LynxId9isFnFXhJ9ANzybctwX-PgwVqvLTKTeJfOqMD6RzPFTb7bOz54D0h_6qLm21DBCWyzWY6B64EQqWrR21cx/s1600/rupert.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwcjbPtYLjVyIkH4dd9AVWxxc5fR47xrN3qxwIqSITnFsTX2ypJb1_LynxId9isFnFXhJ9ANzybctwX-PgwVqvLTKTeJfOqMD6RzPFTb7bOz54D0h_6qLm21DBCWyzWY6B64EQqWrR21cx/s200/rupert.gif" width="127" /></a></div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Bears are now our friends. Our clumsy, overgrown friends that don't always get the joke but laugh anyway. Well, maybe not Rupert - I don't trust Rupert with his beady eyes and fancy scarf. I am reviewing two books that celebrate this friendship between humans and bears. First we shall climb aboard the Harriet!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">[* A word on clothed bears. Paddington wears a hat and a duffle coat, of course, but I always assumed this is just to deal with the change in temperature when he moves here from Peru. And I am pretty sure that Winnie the Pooh was naked until Disney gave him a red t-shirt. Perhaps they felt that an unclothed Pooh would be indecent. Although I am not sure why they thought having him naked from the waist down was better. I remain quite sure that Rupert is unusual as a bear who dresses himself, but feel free to prove me wrong.]</span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>A BOY AND A BEAR IN A BOAT by Dave Shelton</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><br />
</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMLzHMALkkNDtAT2Oe53Dyx649oGzHeAsU4Stb9RAveTlRE9AeMpuBxjA7WLXT4gyFneK6dCupsaNIhnMk8goGnbx4YMcsYOamZ3Vsl_W9REN_xW1wh-qAv51hjnBiGZc1h6J4kfw3xxPB/s1600/boybearboat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMLzHMALkkNDtAT2Oe53Dyx649oGzHeAsU4Stb9RAveTlRE9AeMpuBxjA7WLXT4gyFneK6dCupsaNIhnMk8goGnbx4YMcsYOamZ3Vsl_W9REN_xW1wh-qAv51hjnBiGZc1h6J4kfw3xxPB/s200/boybearboat.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This is a joy and a delight of a book and is completelyandutterly different to anything I've read before. Starting with the cover. The cover is a page from a map (but a map showing just the sea) and has a coffee ring and a tiny insect on it. It is genius. It is also our first glimpse into the mind of the Bear. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The Boy climbs aboard the Bear's boat (The Harriet) to sail somewhere. We don't know where, we don't know why. When the Bear shows the Boy his map, which just has the sea (and a coffee ring) on it, we start to wonder if the Bear knows either... But the journey involves fishing (with mixed success), pirating, playing i-spy and lots of tea.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Dave Shelton is the author of the DFC Library comic GOOD DOG, BAD DOG, where he showed a talent for comic timing - guiding you through the panels to the punchline picture. In this book the text leads you there, with hilarious illustrations popping up at just the right moments.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj80lfbZeo9YydOM8S7o-kbEsYP3bbX3cxT6p-RNyMFQuSSuOI5CRdB5x6ZzVaqaPZPrXpGin8wrKiXioL0z_I3sITo-b14Y9_FYyxfIUkHBRrkfy_4TzePnNitKo7NwfdKfIHB7p0GYMwf/s1600/boybearboat_files_text_links_shel_9780385618960_art_p069.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj80lfbZeo9YydOM8S7o-kbEsYP3bbX3cxT6p-RNyMFQuSSuOI5CRdB5x6ZzVaqaPZPrXpGin8wrKiXioL0z_I3sITo-b14Y9_FYyxfIUkHBRrkfy_4TzePnNitKo7NwfdKfIHB7p0GYMwf/s320/boybearboat_files_text_links_shel_9780385618960_art_p069.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">He also has a knack for describing awkward pauses and tiny moments that sum up the relationship between the well-meaning but hapless and ever so slightly delusional Bear and the increasingly peeved Boy. Their hilarious friendship, like in all good comedies, is also downright lovely. And a scene involving the Bear's captain's hat will have you grinning like a moron for days. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>THE HERMIT AND THE BEAR by John Yeoman, illustrated by Quentin Blake</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><br />
</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6ghm9S69bGyOxz2AhGt8T3AuirxNej9PCTeCw7uqIaHJgg_ZsJQNHYL2cVrIrWxwokIn2uEyMffMqKb-6LrEBLQbngfup9QQ8C4KmSgkG4QOzWYnqapUGIRSFYRb6xJR06xJV3kFRQJ6i/s1600/hermit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6ghm9S69bGyOxz2AhGt8T3AuirxNej9PCTeCw7uqIaHJgg_ZsJQNHYL2cVrIrWxwokIn2uEyMffMqKb-6LrEBLQbngfup9QQ8C4KmSgkG4QOzWYnqapUGIRSFYRb6xJR06xJV3kFRQJ6i/s320/hermit.jpg" width="207" /></a></div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This gem and treat was recommended to me by a friend who remembered getting it on audiobook from the library when we were little. It is the story of a bear who can't seem to get it right (like last week when he tried to help the rabbits by blocking up all those pesky holes in their field with stones, and the rabbits just got really annoyed).</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Then he sees a sign outside the Hermit's house. The Bear can't read (but he's a lovely singer, although most of the songs consist of the word 'fmoo') and so the Hermit tells him that the sign is an advert - the Hermit is looking for a pupil to educate.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">What follows is the Bear's education. The Hermit's curriculum is made up of tasks such as housework, sports, fishing, DIY, sailing and playing cards. None of these are easy - especially when no one tells him that putting water on the heat for tea means putting it in a kettle first or that when decorating a cave you should only wallpaper the walls, rather than rocks and furniture as well. But he does learn that if you say 'SNAP' enough times, your opponent will probably give up playing and let you win. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This book chronicles another hilarious and touching bear/person friendship. The more quietly irate the Hermit becomes, the more you realise he is probably quite enjoying the company. Quentin Blake's illustrations, of course, bring out the moments of comedy delightfully.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">There we have it. I hope you have enjoyed my thoughts on bears. I must leave you now, I have a bowl of just-right porridge to eat. Oh, wait. There's a knock at the door. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Oh - that's weird. It's some sort of furry child in a scarf. With angry beady eyes. Very angry. I think he's about to go bers-- ARGHHHHHHH!</span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">[Exit, pursued by Rupert Bear]</span></div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></div>Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11019428433768201059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3780956751632984748.post-35804916417109530172012-03-13T02:26:00.000-07:002012-03-13T02:26:08.291-07:00GUESTPOST: Miriam Halahmy - Writing a cycle of books – not a trilogy, not a series<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Today I want to wish a very happy publication day to ILLEGAL by Miriam Halahmy. </span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXuOvyxkU6cfJ4_AzhbL4RDDNmFz3-6ykQXHGhaQr0GTIamyhrerFbSVDafNiJpbsRL1s3lNwkgavtZ_lqywrnpIhRAuUdakDs_Gb3nRCQfTB4WMmFMKgYLqQQSviJExha1sGp8mXCK-Wg/s1600/Illegal_front_FS.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXuOvyxkU6cfJ4_AzhbL4RDDNmFz3-6ykQXHGhaQr0GTIamyhrerFbSVDafNiJpbsRL1s3lNwkgavtZ_lqywrnpIhRAuUdakDs_Gb3nRCQfTB4WMmFMKgYLqQQSviJExha1sGp8mXCK-Wg/s320/Illegal_front_FS.jpeg" width="208" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">ILLEGAL is the follow up to Miriam's wonderful first novel HIDDEN, which has been longlisted for the Carnegie Medal. HIDDEN told the story of Alix (who, incidentally, was Leading Lady in my <a href="http://lizbankes.blogspot.com/2012/01/books-bonnets-full-frontal-blogging.html#.T18L0oEaNmg">2011 Books, Bonnets & Full-frontal Blogging awards</a>) who, along with her friend Samir, rescues an asylum seeker off the coast of Hayling Island. Then they have to decide what to do with him...</span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">ILLEGAL is Lindy's story. Lindy was a character in HIDDEN who at first seemed pretty scary - she'd sharpened one of her nails into a spear point and didn't seem afraid to use it. But you started to realise that there was far more going on under the surface - and in ILLEGAL you find out what. </span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I'd like to welcome Miriam to my blog. Here is a fantastic guestpost about how a story grew into a cycle and how characters can demand a book of their own. You can also read the post <a href="http://awfullybigblogadventure.blogspot.com/2012/02/cycle-of-novels-not-trilogy-not.html?spref=tw">here</a> over on An Awfully Big Blog Adventure, along with some interesting writerly comments! </span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Writing a cycle of books – not a trilogy, not a series.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Miriam Halahmy<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><b><u><br />
</u></b></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkt7B60my1vpCYnk0Nl1YG21o-46-uXZBsEwR6zKWYewCy_EN3qygp9OQGfTozstW0l3XBOUZ0XIucyk3Rt9yngq9L6crxP8nPfGEuS3Ym6-Zp6GSmKq8V_wg9VF5mKT9OpYo2PbfNsvA1/s1600/Hidden_cover_sales.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkt7B60my1vpCYnk0Nl1YG21o-46-uXZBsEwR6zKWYewCy_EN3qygp9OQGfTozstW0l3XBOUZ0XIucyk3Rt9yngq9L6crxP8nPfGEuS3Ym6-Zp6GSmKq8V_wg9VF5mKT9OpYo2PbfNsvA1/s320/Hidden_cover_sales.jpg" width="208" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I started to write <i>Hidden, </i>the first book in my cycle of three novels set on <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Hayling</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Island</st1:placetype></st1:place>, in 2007. At the time I had no idea that I was going to write three books or that I was at the beginning of writing what I would come to call, a Cycle of books. However, I do know that very early on a character called Lindy Bellows presented herself on the page and grew and grew until I knew she needed a book all of her own.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">In <i>Hidden, </i>fourteen year old Lindy is<i> </i>an outsider at school, hostile to the other kids and the staff. And she had a nail sharpened to a spear point. Her family were notorious. Her older brother Terrence ran one of the worst gangs in town. Lindy and her family lived on an estate near the school. They didn’t live on <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Hayling</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Island</st1:placetype></st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">But when the chips were down in <i>Hidden</i>, Lindy could have given away the asylum seeker that school fellows, Alix and Samir, were hiding in a hut near the beach. However she turns out to have a heart after all. She doesn’t tell the police or her brother ( who guesses anyway and causes all kinds of trouble) and she actually protects Alix at a vulnerable moment.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Halfway through writing <i>Hidden</i> a story for Lindy began to bloom inside my head. I decided I would write a second book called <i>Illegal. </i>As an author I wanted to challenge myself to write something completely different. <i>Hidden </i>is written in the first person present tense. <i>Illegal </i>is written in the third person past tense. Both books are set on <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Hayling</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Island</st1:placetype></st1:place> and the kids go to the same school. But new characters are introduced into the second book and the story is completely stand-alone.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXuOvyxkU6cfJ4_AzhbL4RDDNmFz3-6ykQXHGhaQr0GTIamyhrerFbSVDafNiJpbsRL1s3lNwkgavtZ_lqywrnpIhRAuUdakDs_Gb3nRCQfTB4WMmFMKgYLqQQSviJExha1sGp8mXCK-Wg/s1600/Illegal_front_FS.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXuOvyxkU6cfJ4_AzhbL4RDDNmFz3-6ykQXHGhaQr0GTIamyhrerFbSVDafNiJpbsRL1s3lNwkgavtZ_lqywrnpIhRAuUdakDs_Gb3nRCQfTB4WMmFMKgYLqQQSviJExha1sGp8mXCK-Wg/s320/Illegal_front_FS.jpeg" width="208" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Illegal </span></i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">is the story of a teenage girl driven to take desperate measures when all other choices are taken away from her. It is a novel about growing up and gaining independence against the odds. Since Lindy’s baby sister died, her family have been caught in a downward spiral. Her brothers are in prison and her parents have turned to drink. Soon Lindy is out of her depth too, caught in the centre of an international drugs ring, with no way out. Then Lindy finds help from an unexpected ally: weird, mute Karl from school, and together they plan a daring and desperate escape. But when you’re in this deep, can you ever be free? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">As I was writing the second book I felt that two books felt uneven and there was a character, Jess, who had a minor role in <i>Hidden </i>and a bigger role in <i>Illegal, </i>who seemed to be asking for her own book. As Jess became more and more prominent, an idea for a story blossomed and so when I had finished the second book, it was quite natural to commence writing <i>Stuffed. </i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Stuffed </span></i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">is told in two first person present tense voices, Jess and her boyfriend Ryan, a new venture for me again. Jess and Ryan start to fall in love but both of them are keeping a terrible secret from the other. This is a story of secrets, lies, betrayal and responsibility. Will their love survive the pressure? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYBVDq2Rwdvb7GjaMrHKkYiQ1_qUNCbeqiFx_pdN_H_lZp1oMGDgmis1D1f05bV3N7pNQaXYi5rZ30iJRkj4R1KQiZ1R0X91__di36CdTbLJJgXQA7AZ6mtx0EqQrn1L9179dnkH7AuTOm/s1600/Hayling+map.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYBVDq2Rwdvb7GjaMrHKkYiQ1_qUNCbeqiFx_pdN_H_lZp1oMGDgmis1D1f05bV3N7pNQaXYi5rZ30iJRkj4R1KQiZ1R0X91__di36CdTbLJJgXQA7AZ6mtx0EqQrn1L9179dnkH7AuTOm/s320/Hayling+map.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Three books, all set on <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Hayling</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Island</st1:placetype></st1:place>, but not a trilogy where the story concludes in the third book; and not a series, with the same character in a different situation in each book. This is my Cycle of novels, taking a minor character from the previous book as the main character in the next and then putting them in a totally new situation. In a cycle of novels, the books can be read in any order. Each story is stand alone, but in my cycle the common thread is the school on the mainland and the wonderful landscape of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Hayling</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Island</st1:placetype></st1:place> as the backdrop.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">In theory my cycle could continue. There are always more stories, more places as settings on the <st1:place w:st="on">Island</st1:place> and more characters to emerge from the shadows. I have loved developing a cycle as opposed to a trilogy or a series and may well write a completely new cycle of novels set in a completely different place. But <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Hayling</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Island</st1:placetype></st1:place> will always be my first love.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Miriam Halahmy<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">January 2012</span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></span></div>Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11019428433768201059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3780956751632984748.post-22966017883108233672012-03-09T07:14:00.000-08:002012-03-09T07:14:42.245-08:00INTERVIEW: Richard Knight - THE COURT PAINTER'S APPRENTICE<div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><i><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">"Paint what you see, Johann, not what you think you see."</span></i></i></div><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span></i><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So says the court painter to his apprentice. But Johann possesses more than the power to paint a person's soul...</span></i></span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">He can alter it.</span></i></span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></i></span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirYBrOUgWh6h_Skc8hyNchTRqAzPdr2EMdVJ5iBEe2UsM2WSMoPoac0JOhjEI8QtKnmN6OuxqoOEWdEoxGmer6y_nT8ISky6AHHBNg7F94hoqViVuHMBNnI-QmADKi_-kqMz9DLafsDHuu/s1600/court+painter's+apprentice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirYBrOUgWh6h_Skc8hyNchTRqAzPdr2EMdVJ5iBEe2UsM2WSMoPoac0JOhjEI8QtKnmN6OuxqoOEWdEoxGmer6y_nT8ISky6AHHBNg7F94hoqViVuHMBNnI-QmADKi_-kqMz9DLafsDHuu/s320/court+painter's+apprentice.jpg" width="214" /></a></span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>THE COURT PAINTER'S APPRENTICE</i></span></span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Richard Knight</span></span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Catnip Books</span></span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></b></div><b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">THE</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> COURT PAINTER'S APPRENTICE is a truly beautiful book that came out at the beginning of this year. You can read my review <a href="http://lizbankes.blogspot.com/2011/12/review-court-painters-apprentice-by.html#.T1oTWMAaNmg">here</a>. It is the story of Johann, a painter's apprentice, who finds that he can alter his subject's lives by making subtle changes to their portraits. But will having such power at his fingertips change Johann too? This is a haunting and evocative mystery that combines historical fiction, fairytale, the supernatural and a fascinating insight into the power of art. </span></b><br />
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</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>As you may be able to tell, I found it really rather fantastic. Author Richard Knight was kind enough to share some words with me. Enjoy a bit of literary inspiration for the weekend...</b><br />
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<div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Where did you first get the idea for Johann’s story?</b> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
It was a combination of ideas really. I had a ‘what if?’ idea about a portrait painter being so skilled that his talent took over and produced visibly real effects on his subjects. I think that idea was partly provoked by remembering Philip Pullman’s excellent story ‘Clockwork’. I also recalled staring at myself in the mirror one day as a 12 or 13 year old and feeling I was staring at a stranger – a kind of disembodied experience – and it got me thinking about the nature of identity and how young people are deeply involved in that struggle to find out who they are. That formed the basis for the prologue and the epilogue. <br />
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<b>Have you always been interested in painting? What is it about Jan Van Eyck’s paintings that really intrigues you? </b><br />
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Yes, as an observer and no, as an artist. I wasn’t even allowed to take the GCSE course at school because I was so bad at art (or so they thought). I was dragged around plenty of art galleries as a child and I remember seeing the Arnolfini Portrait in the National Gallery (which is mentioned in the story) so that must have stuck with me. I was intrigued by the mirror on the back wall. I used Van Eyck in the story as a touchstone for Johann’s talent. He needed something to aspire to and historically and culturally Van Eyck was ideal, being the first artist to master oil painting and being active in the era just before Johann’s. I don’t have the technical vocabulary to talk about art and sound knowledgeable, but I just love his faces, they seem so real and full of life behind the eyes. Also he was the first artist to master the technique of building up layers of paint (which I tried to include in descriptions of Johann’s work) which gives his paintings such depth. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI7Pz6N_M_Jf0CxFR84nDsh4TLp-lPWOJT_GQxS47fOZt589o_PBP10YF9DLYyxZg0j4fwF73Xl7elDHhAbeDLmnkhptyEBM0QcG2v5kIsQJYPxKnvQZZHw7e36CD_yByJOH76TJZqAquT/s1600/the_arnolfini_portrait__da_tail__1_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI7Pz6N_M_Jf0CxFR84nDsh4TLp-lPWOJT_GQxS47fOZt589o_PBP10YF9DLYyxZg0j4fwF73Xl7elDHhAbeDLmnkhptyEBM0QcG2v5kIsQJYPxKnvQZZHw7e36CD_yByJOH76TJZqAquT/s320/the_arnolfini_portrait__da_tail__1_.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">The Arnolfini Portrait by Jan van Eyck</span></b></span></div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
<b> Is there one particular portrait you had in mind when writing the story? </b><br />
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Not really. I researched the Ghent Altarpiece because it’s described in the story. But other portraits became important during the writing – the Arnolfini portrait because of the mirrors and the playfulness of Van Eyck, his ‘Portrait of a Man’ which is thought to be a self-portrait and his portrait of Niccolo Albergati became my personal image of Hugo. Also the Portinari portraits by Van Der Goes helped me with thinking about the different subjects Hugo and Johann painted. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwJmd_sKxckmFJfBcke2B1IuvXJTHlowVUV-0yMA7tqpGRQlmtluuc9-w4ALiz00fknAlwSXKcpSQpZbfB4JLl_Iie8qcRaVjmeTwRoWHnnxLXp_LI0vMvbdB5StGbfN5X59U_gWpHgiyN/s1600/Portrait_of_a_Man_by_Jan_van_Eyck.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwJmd_sKxckmFJfBcke2B1IuvXJTHlowVUV-0yMA7tqpGRQlmtluuc9-w4ALiz00fknAlwSXKcpSQpZbfB4JLl_Iie8qcRaVjmeTwRoWHnnxLXp_LI0vMvbdB5StGbfN5X59U_gWpHgiyN/s200/Portrait_of_a_Man_by_Jan_van_Eyck.jpg" width="145" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Portrait of a Man by Jan van Eyck </span></b></div><br />
<b> Did you enjoy researching 16th century Holland? What was the most interesting thing you discovered? </b><br />
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Yes, I do love researching although it always feels like lost time at the start. It’s only when the story is finished that you realise the time spent on research is worth it. I studied history at university so my background knowledge is good enough to get me started and the internet is a great resource for all sorts of things. I suppose the most interesting thing I discovered was how a portrait was put together and how time-consuming it was. I found a fantastic second-hand book called The Mirror of the Artist by Craig Harbison which was very readable and gave a good overview of the techniques at the time and how workshops were organised. There is a tension in the book between Johann and Hugo because Hugo is old-fashioned and employs craftsmen to do parts of his paintings but Johann is modern – a man of the Renaissance- and prefers to be in complete control of his art. He sees art as a personal statement. <br />
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<b> Do you see any similarities in the role of the painter and the role of the writer in telling their subjects’ stories? And are there any difference? </b><br />
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Well I guess any creative act has a similarity with another. A writer uses the existing world to create non-existent characters. Somebody once said fiction is about people who don’t exist doing things that never happened, but in a sense that’s only partly correct because the characters in fiction and their actions only exist because of the world that the writer lives in and uses to create a story for them. Some creators work mostly from their imaginations (abstract painters, fantasy writers for example) whereas others are more rooted in a real world ( portrait painters, crime writers for example). I always strive for an element of both of these approaches if I can. I agree with Hugo that art must reflect the ‘truth’ of the world you see, but I think art and fiction have both moved on since then and can include the ‘unreal’ too. <br />
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<b>Did any of the characters come from figures you’ve seen in paintings? </b> <br />
To be frank, no. Except, for Hugo and Magdalena I did look at lots of Renaissance portraits when trying to imagine them. <br />
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<b>Which writers or books inspired you to become a writer? </b><br />
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I’ve been asked this a few times and my answer is that I have always been a writer, just not a published one. I used to imagine being a published writer from being quite small right up until the moment it happened. So although there are books and writers I love and admire hugely, it wasn’t them that spurred me on. It was just something inside me that I think comes from my family background where books and stories were really important. In the world of children’s and YA fiction my two heroes are Philip Pullman and David Almond, both of whom write so intelligently and perceptively. The writers who first inspired me to get serious about sitting down and writing something that I knew I would submit were Raymond Carver and Richard Ford when I first started writing short stories in the 1990s. <br />
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<b> If you could time travel anywhere, where would you go? </b><br />
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Mmm. That’s a tricky one. Do I have to stay in the place I’m sitting now or can I move countries and continents? I’m drawn to Tudor London, Imperial Rome, Ancient Greece, the Wild West, revolutionary Russia or France. But to pick one . . . probably Ancient Greece because it was so important to everything that came after it. <br />
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<b>And you’re only allowed one book to take with you! Which one do you pick? </b><br />
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I wouldn’t spend any time reading if I was propelled back in time! But as a desert island-type pick it would be something I’ve never read but think I might enjoy re-reading many times. Like Anna Karenina or Don Quixote. From children’s/YA it would be the Northern Lights trilogy in one book please. <br />
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<b>What advice do you have for young writers? </b><br />
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Do it. As often as you can. And read like there’s no tomorrow. Absorb as many writers as you can. Your own style comes in time and you won’t even notice it arrive. Get trusted people to read your writing and give you feedback. Enter competitions. Find an old story and re-read it and discover that yes, actually it’s not bad, it just needs a bit of work here and there. Keep writing, even after nobody is telling you to do it anymore. In truth, I think writers don’t often need much encouragement though. They just have to write. It’s in their blood. </span></div></div>Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11019428433768201059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3780956751632984748.post-31950524321848311372012-03-01T14:24:00.002-08:002012-04-01T09:49:22.167-07:00Laugh your way through WORLD BOOK DAY: Three Funny Books<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Today is... </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">...so go tell all your books you love them and give them a cuddle. That’s something e-readers aren’t great for isn’t it – cuddling. <br />
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To celebrate this day I will be mostly laughing. I’ll try to keep it up all day (especially on the train and among strangers), although I'll stop occasionally for eating, and it won’t be difficult because this week I’ve been reading some very hilarisome books.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This week I went to a talk about the <b><a href="http://www.philipardagh.co.uk/?tag=roald-dahl-funny-prize">Roald Dahl Funny Prize</a></b>, where funny authors made me - and more importantly lots of children - laugh. It was a great event, mostly because I didn't stalk any of the authors (am scarred by <a href="http://lizbankes.blogspot.com/2012/02/diary-of-rambling-book-moron.html#.T1CL5IcaNmg">previous author-trauma</a>). I discovered Philip Ardagh's trick for saving time, which could result in getting cereal in your beard, and that if Louise Rennison could have any superpower it would be to be 'unexpectedly bendy'. I also learnt that someone in the audience has a cat that uses the human toilet. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So I was inspired to read some funny books. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">And also to worry that my cats aren't very advanced. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Neither of them can use the human toilet. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Tilly does lie on her back with her legs stretched out like a person, though. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTCms_T7oUxCFeygouUQPqJ_LWo7Rtl0Wik4QmGMX1UwHwtwaFKPU8j53y9ykXgFiyN_NT6HzOeGyRM1y1Fj2zoPjTq1iAmJ-JGSLphZW_CNhr0RSTbWzC8WBh02BzJsAiCZt6sZUJXxtD/s1600/tilly.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTCms_T7oUxCFeygouUQPqJ_LWo7Rtl0Wik4QmGMX1UwHwtwaFKPU8j53y9ykXgFiyN_NT6HzOeGyRM1y1Fj2zoPjTq1iAmJ-JGSLphZW_CNhr0RSTbWzC8WBh02BzJsAiCZt6sZUJXxtD/s320/tilly.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">And Billie has started licking the wall, which is nice for her, but I don't think it can be described as a skill. I asked her if she would be interested in developing some more advanced skills and she looked at me with the tip of her tongue poking out. Which I think means 'no'.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So here are THREE FUNNY BOOKS to make you laugh your bum off:</span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>1. THE MISADVENTURES OF TALLULAH CASEY by Louise Rennison</b></span><br />
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</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b> </b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxMx_l7YxqYKsDRNiGKSnYF1yV2VKk4QMsCBxRaMuwEMpl01DQwt6EOLolYUHV0bLM2qCCDbfseDoHnTL1EyRcT9vHBxSVWxCwTGf7ro-5zZe4vCD5JgBYqJlh-8HtGcHBdV3KDLS0bLKj/s1600/Withering-Tights20-07-10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxMx_l7YxqYKsDRNiGKSnYF1yV2VKk4QMsCBxRaMuwEMpl01DQwt6EOLolYUHV0bLM2qCCDbfseDoHnTL1EyRcT9vHBxSVWxCwTGf7ro-5zZe4vCD5JgBYqJlh-8HtGcHBdV3KDLS0bLKj/s200/Withering-Tights20-07-10.jpg" width="128" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4uUQM6rDSf7WMaq2r_q6-Is_XNCTSMAp6uWg0BHXf93n_iTMjKoHz4xp4RchyWgtAGTpSFHJhHBMYrHsqF3yQhYn360ojJog72SN5zkVyeHmiGgrYfBG06JfT3DWBcTs8r3mb6mJe4U1N/s1600/midsummer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4uUQM6rDSf7WMaq2r_q6-Is_XNCTSMAp6uWg0BHXf93n_iTMjKoHz4xp4RchyWgtAGTpSFHJhHBMYrHsqF3yQhYn360ojJog72SN5zkVyeHmiGgrYfBG06JfT3DWBcTs8r3mb6mJe4U1N/s200/midsummer.jpg" width="143" /></a></div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>WITHERING TIGHTS</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>A MIDSUMMER TIGHTS DREAM</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Louise Rennison</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>(HarperCollins)</b></span></div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">After spending ten exceptionally marvy years with Georgia Nicolson, I was as happy as a happy hamster to find out that I was going to get to hang out with Georgia's cousin Tallulah, who is about to start at a performing arts school in Yorkshire and has long, uncontrollable legs.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">Tallulah is less confident than Georgia, but she does have her cousin (and the rest of the Ace Gang) on hand to advise her (while wearing beards for added wisdom) on such things as boys and practising snogging on the back of your friend's leg. Through her first two terms at Dother Hall (nicknamed Dither Hall by the Yorkshire locals, who aren't especially impressed by a load of drama students 'miming their way to the bus stop') Tallulah assembles her own gang of friends - including short-but-violent Jo and Flossie, who speaks in a Texas accent for no reason - and discovers a talent for comedy and improvised Irish dancing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">Louise Rennison said at the Funny Prize talk that the Georgia books were essentially her own life (a lot of the time she didn't even change people's names. Fellow fans will be glad to know that Herr Kamyer was REAL and he REALLY fell out of a train). With the Tallulah books she has used different elements of her life, including time spent at drama school, having Irish relatives that forced her to dance for them on a table, and having long, uncontrollable legs. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">And there is, of course, a decent helping of boys. In the first book Tallulah encounters floppy-haired Ben and has her first kiss - unfortunately it is like having a bat in her mouth. Tallulah's big decision, however, is between the Good (lovely Alex), the Bad (Cain Hinchcliffe, who is horrible and yet...) and the Cuddly (Charlie, who worships Tallulah's nobbly knees and just wants to be friends. Apart from the kissing.) Be sure that along the way there will be a bit of pretending to be a dancing broom, attempts at corker growing, and owls. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">Favourite bit: The line 'just a pig' made me snort. Like a pig. And also anything that Tallulah writes in her journal, which is for creative thoughts. </span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">2. PENNY DREADFUL by Joanna Nadin</b></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQDKQdimVKYTteme3-Mtu0ahU2vax-lMMew0DlsJG1vz3E3C1LjPfOorURUaHuIS9XA3fBHWM9IJjbWqk4yxz-25yZbqNRMPy06o5h5LOYFga-bv3tGtOF7yB8BfUo5Dc1k8HKCIEsDc5G/s1600/kerfuffle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQDKQdimVKYTteme3-Mtu0ahU2vax-lMMew0DlsJG1vz3E3C1LjPfOorURUaHuIS9XA3fBHWM9IJjbWqk4yxz-25yZbqNRMPy06o5h5LOYFga-bv3tGtOF7yB8BfUo5Dc1k8HKCIEsDc5G/s200/kerfuffle.jpg" width="130" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEindcEjrxSDvheG_5aHzUWjRYLI94d2b7-O2GwqHwhw6sdILxm7A3XeSV5oxzgZXiUKHbbwsZe4k0Qqyft-o_B4oYDZqshRoXkz9KHrp233p-ZPWLliYOv-nQrdrArSyijnI-oyABmaMFnb/s1600/penny-dreadful-is-a-magnet-for-disaster-book_SWBMTQwOTUyNjcyMA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEindcEjrxSDvheG_5aHzUWjRYLI94d2b7-O2GwqHwhw6sdILxm7A3XeSV5oxzgZXiUKHbbwsZe4k0Qqyft-o_B4oYDZqshRoXkz9KHrp233p-ZPWLliYOv-nQrdrArSyijnI-oyABmaMFnb/s200/penny-dreadful-is-a-magnet-for-disaster-book_SWBMTQwOTUyNjcyMA.jpg" width="131" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM3tg5Qf1hk1L6ryc41eNiRRV0HLSwa3HLo9I19vLSroUtBatCznbpqYbfPhUvEL_grqb2kWZDWiZvs-TVZFJMVxTyhcSpKw9VTLZAQZ19bj8Goa8A1tAJrFWixR7F1SFaZha0D0svLesA/s1600/Penny+Dreadful+is+a+Complete+Catastrophe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM3tg5Qf1hk1L6ryc41eNiRRV0HLSwa3HLo9I19vLSroUtBatCznbpqYbfPhUvEL_grqb2kWZDWiZvs-TVZFJMVxTyhcSpKw9VTLZAQZ19bj8Goa8A1tAJrFWixR7F1SFaZha0D0svLesA/s200/Penny+Dreadful+is+a+Complete+Catastrophe.jpg" width="130" /></a></div></div><div><br />
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</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>PENNY DREADFUL IS A MAGNET FOR DISASTER</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">PENNY DREADFUL IS A COMPLETE CATASTROPHE</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">PENNY DREADFUL CAUSES A KERFUFFLE</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Joanna Nadin</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>(Usborne)</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><br />
</b></span></div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> The third in Joanna Nadin's comically genius series, </span> <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: center;">PENNY DREADFUL CAUSES A KERFUFFLE</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><em>, </em>is out today so many hoorays, because the first two have had me chuckling away like a loon. <br />
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Penny is not actually called Penny Dreadful, she's called Penelope Jones. Penny Dreadful is her dad's idea of a joke and it makes him laugh like a honking goose. Actually her dad is one of my favourite characters because he says stuff like 'I could have been a ballet dancer if I hadn't married your mother'. My other favourite is Penny's best friend, Cosmo Moon Webster and his mum Sundance (who is actually called Barbara). <br />
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Penny is continually having great ideas, but unfortunately, as she is a magnet for disaster, her great ideas seem to turn into catastrophes. I listened to a radio programme with Joanna Nadin this week in which she said that Penny's antics are in part inspired by her own daughter and her friends doing things like deciding to give everyone on the street flowers and then proceeding to dig up the flowers from people's gardens and shove them through their letterboxes. And this is the sort of thing Penny does - she wants to do helpful and interesting things, like setting up a hairdresser's, so you can't really blame her for the consequences, like her cousin Georgia May ending up bald. <br />
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The books are full of throwaway lines and details that will have you, like Penny's dad, laughing like a honking goose, even though Penny herself is blissfully unaware of how hilarious she is. Like when she says she still owes her mum '£7.50 for the time I accidentally phoned India'. Jess Mikhail's illustrations are a brilliant combination of absurd comic characters and tiny, perfectly placed details and often provide the punchline - such as the picture of Cosmo being interrupted mid-T-rex impression by the teacher telling him they can't have one as a class pet because dinosaurs are extinct and dead. <br />
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Favourite bit: When Penny's suggestion for the school rat is Ichabod, which is what her dad wanted to call her, but her mum said 'it was too weird and also I am not a boy'.</span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>3. LETTERS FROM AN ALIEN SCHOOLBOY by Ros Asquith</b></span></div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht5fl6xdq-l9dDiBglbE7O18qJgOJ13Z2r1DfeiISB4ML4Turj0CO-QN-e0IPHu0CyPfPDt8ReT1lDxyy3iHFTF49mcZ-qyCx9dG5lF0AfUWYO5Z_OfbUC9ymUsTBmM335fH3g72mR1EE0/s1600/letters-from-an-alien-schoolboy-cosmic-custard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht5fl6xdq-l9dDiBglbE7O18qJgOJ13Z2r1DfeiISB4ML4Turj0CO-QN-e0IPHu0CyPfPDt8ReT1lDxyy3iHFTF49mcZ-qyCx9dG5lF0AfUWYO5Z_OfbUC9ymUsTBmM335fH3g72mR1EE0/s200/letters-from-an-alien-schoolboy-cosmic-custard.jpg" width="127" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7gp0WsPxVSZRE1-S5FmkUUd104bTxi6pMqWAduwz2F2fLp9IDgNUO_hMgGIO-oC3ip7ij3bkykwfNj-x-d0RJpHKAyUJOAtB9XtBYQBRK0q0okF-HYf25QBysCZRyf80ZohE2N6qhsilG/s1600/Lettters-AlienSchoolboy300dpi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7gp0WsPxVSZRE1-S5FmkUUd104bTxi6pMqWAduwz2F2fLp9IDgNUO_hMgGIO-oC3ip7ij3bkykwfNj-x-d0RJpHKAyUJOAtB9XtBYQBRK0q0okF-HYf25QBysCZRyf80ZohE2N6qhsilG/s200/Lettters-AlienSchoolboy300dpi.jpg" width="128" /></a></div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>LETTERS FROM AN ALIEN SCHOOLBOY</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>LETTERS FROM AN ALIEN SCHOOLBOY: COMIC CUSTARD</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Ros Asquith</b></span></div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">These books are like Hitchhiker's Guide books for children, with added hilarity in Ros Asquith's cartoons and also in main character Flowkwee's disdain for Earthlings and their rather measly lives.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">After saving Earth from the fearsome Threggs and their fearsome leader, Keith, Flowkwee and his family have been sent back to Earth in order to complete their mission of 'improving' earthlings (giving them extra limbs and heads and intelligence) and taking them back to their home planet Faa to be slaves. Flowkwee has been given his own mission of collecting some of Earth's best animals. This means disguising themselves as humans again (with their four useless limbs and only two eyeballs) and Flowkwee must become a normal schoolboy called </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Hoover Bogey Nigel Custard Toilet Hercules Namby Pamby Harmonica Hedgehog Coldplay Bugspray Cro-Magnon Colander Junior (Nigel Colander for short). He writes home to his best friend, Rok.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">I was constantly surprise-laughing (which is when you are shocked into a laugh noise before you are ready for it and so the noise pretty much always comes out weird) when reading this book because, like with Penny Dreadful, I could never predict what the end of a sentence would be. An alien's take on normal human life makes it clear how ridiculous most of what we do and say is. The cartoons, full of detail, arrows and notes, are self-contained jokes on their own and made me nostalgic for a teenhood classic - DIARY OF A TEENAGE WORRIER, one of the funniest (and secretly reassuring) books I read when I was growing up. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">Favourite bit: When Flowk's sister Farteeta (Farty for short) rescues a goldfish from the cold water that earthlings stupidly keep fish in and then wraps it carefully in a glove. Oh and when Flowkwee's Papa offers the postman a bit of his wife's bum. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span></div>Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11019428433768201059noreply@blogger.com0