Spring Reading

What can I say - it's been a busy time and I haven't had the time to comment as much as I would have liked - but nonetheless I have kept reading....

Some recommendations for a Good read...

Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson. Set in the American colonies at the time of the revolutionary wars this is the story of Isabel and Ruth - and their slavery in New York. I found it gripping and involving - as well as feeling authentic and I felt I learned a great deal about how it might have been.

The Boy Who Fell Down Exit 43 by Harriet Goodwin. Not yet published I was lucky enough to have a proof copy. This is a new take on the boy who takes and drive away a car to escape his constant grief and guilt over his father's death - and though it deals with a hard subject - and dwells on death (most of the characters are ghosts in the Underworld) the ultimate story is both uplifting, humorous and fun - as well as being an adventure quest of sorts. A good debut novel.

The Vanishing of Katharina Linden by Helen Grant. A thriller where the detectives are a slightly misfitting boy and girl in a small German town - where their classmates are going missing. Some of the adults are totally sinister. Another new talent - well worth reading.

Malice by Chris Wooding. I love the idea of this novel - which has graphic elements as well as the usual chapters but was disappointed that it was left on such a cliff hanger ending. A sinister comic - Malice- entices young people into it's terrifying world where they may perish in their attempts to escape...

The Trouble with Wenlocks by Joel Stewart

Stanley Wells is an ordinary boy that has some extraordinary things happen to him. He is on a train when everyone else is made sleepy by the mysterious wenlocks, and then, when they awake, they appear to have some spark missing from their eyes so Stanley is drawn into investigating what has happened. This leads him on a strange adventure with his rather odd acquaintances - Dr Moon and Morecambe the talking dog - where they discover that Albert's daughter Umiko may be the cause of the problem as she is trying to help mankind by taking away their sorrow.

This is a very gentle tale illustrating the point that we are the sum of all our experience both happy and sad, and that without the sadness we are changed, somehow less.