Nine Girls, by Stacy Gregg.            Junior Fiction.

 

            Stacy Gregg is enormously popular for her equine novels for children, but she takes a different tack his time with an exploration of her own origins, so successfully that she won first prize for this title at the New Zealand Book Awards.  And deservedly so:  it has just the right mixture of everything – comedy, pathos, friendships old and new, and most importantly, family solidarity, for we all need to be part of an enveloping, loving kinship – whether we like it or not!

            It is 1978 and Titch is wondering how she has gone from living in Remuera, Auckland’s most expensive suburb, to residing in a much humbler house next to her Nan (her Maori Mum’s Mum) in Ngaruawahia – a sorry little town halfway between Auckland and Hamilton, and all because her Geologist Dad lost his job because JBL, the company for which he worked folded in the stock market crash.  They are no longer privileged, pãkehã and rich, and instead of their own private pool they have to go to the scummy local pool or swim in the mighty Waikato river.  Which is not a good idea because of the strong currents.   And several of her many new cousins reckon there’s a Taniwha – a hungry river monster -  in there, too, so she better watch out.  Yeah, right.  They’d say anything to upset the new kid on the block, but they also say that there’s buried gold on one of the derelict old farms in the area and, despite Titch’s scornful disbelief, she can’t help but get excited over the family rumours of betrayal and heartbreak a century ago;  in fact this is her first introduction to her mother’s family History – her Whakapapa – and it is Titch’s history too.

            And the plot can only thicken when Titch releases an enormous eel from a trap in the river;  it seemed to be calling her, and sure enough, when she let him out he had plenty to say, especially about how slow she was to get him out, for naturally he was no ordinary eel, but the Taniwha of legend, and he had lots of things to fill her in on about her history, because they were part of the same family, eh!  And the stories are tragic;  treachery and deceit from the Pãkehã Governor Grey, who wanted all the Waikato land but not the Maori who farmed it, and murder and injustice that had never been forgotten, as if it ever could.

            ‘Nine Girls’ covers five years of Titch’s life admirably;  it has a glossary of Maori words and terms for those not familiar with Te Reo, and a great love for Whanau (family) and country, especially Ngaruawahia, that is evident on every page of this lovely, unforgettable book:  suitable for kids of all ages – SIX STARS!   

              

         

           

 

Wolf’s Lair, by Brian Falkner.  Katipo Joe series # 3

Junior Fiction.

 

          Once again, Brian Falkner takes us all on a dizzying World War Two ride with teen-age spy Joseph St George, embedded deep within the highest echelons of power at Berchtesgaden, Hitler’s mountain retreat – indeed, his disguise is so perfect Hitler has made him his eventual successor, a fact that makes Joe faint-headed to even think about, and a source of great, ill-concealed resentment from those more deserving and ambitious.  Joe doesn’t sleep well at night, nor does he relish betraying his fellow Hitler Youth companions, still filming their propaganda movie with Leni Riefenstahl. 

            No, Joe’s life is anything but carefree, and suspense is ratcheted up even more with Hitler’s plans to invade Russia:  Operation Barbarossa is in full swing, and Der Führer thinks it would be an excellent idea if, as his successor, Joe and his companions should travel with him on his armoured train to Wolf’s Lair, his bunker in East Prussia near the Russian front – he can have a taste of the front lines and War in all its terrible majesty.  Of course they will be perfectly safe, and Leni should get some good footage of her handsome charges as those miserable Russians are slaughtered by the invincible power and might of the German Army.

            Needless to say, the reality of Joe’s experiences at the front doesn’t match the rosy theory;  his life is saved more than once by Sergeant Misch, part of Hitler’s security detail (a real-life soldier whose photo is in the back of the book!), but worse is to come:  Joe’s handler and contact informs him that, after several botched attempts, it’s time for Joe to Do The Deed:  to assassinate Hitler.

            And how does a 15 year-old boy do that?   

Desperation can make heroes of us all, and Joe, with the assistance – knowing and otherwise – of his friends, concocts a plan.  As does Hitler:  what a stroke of genius it would be (all in a day’s work for the Führer) now that America has been drawn into the war by Japan’s attack at Pearl Harbour, to send a bright, handsome boy soundly coached in Americanisms and the American way of life to be a spy for the Reich.  Not only would Hitler be master of Europe and eventual conqueror of Britain, but he would hopefully be privy to the inner workings (with luck) of the American War Machine.  Brilliant, as always!

This excellent series is an ideal way for young  teenage readers  to  learn of the terrible history of the 20^th century as seen through the eyes of fictional characters they can identify with, and Mr Falkner is the storyteller to do just that:  every fact is authenticated, and the suspense and horror is spine-chilling:  I’m hoping that Joe’s adventures in America will give us some light relief!  FIVE STARS.

 

The Last Bear, by Hannah Gold.             Junior Fiction.

 

    

        Reading this beautiful little book was sheer pleasure, and the icing on the cake was the beautiful monochromatic illustrations by Levi Pinfold.  This story has all the necessary triggers to make us turn the pages feverishly:  a young eleven year old girl whose mother has recently died;  her scientist Dad who is ill-equipped to take up both parental roles for her as he is grieving too, and her Granny Apples (so named  because she smells of apples) is wonderfully consoling, but lives too far away from Dad’s city job to be a help.  And the awful insult to injury is not that her mum died from an illness, but by an idiot drunk driver. 

            It’s hard to get back on an even keel from such a tragedy, and April’s only consolation is the affinity she feels towards the wild animals who visit her overgrown garden.  She has quite a rapport with a family of foxes and various other creatures;  they lessen the ache in her heart a little – her mother had the same gift:  wild things trusted her.  Will life EVER get better?  It doesn’t look like it, until her Dad gets a job on a remote Norwegian Island for six months, measuring weather patterns.

            Granny Apples is horrified that April is going too, but the deed is done;  They are off to Bear Island in the Arctic Circle, where the ice-melt is already causing huge problems for the remainder of the once-flourishing wildlife – including polar bears, those magnificent, ferocious beasts who once held sway in the region;  now most of them are starving as they can’t trek across the ice to hunt seals:  the ice has melted.

            And a bear – the last bear – is trapped on the island, starving, wounded by the horrible plastic rubbish the human race is shamefully responsible for all over our beautiful, nurturing planet:  even the Arctic Circle cannot escape our garbage.  Until April meets the huge creature, and unlikely as it sounds, forms a firm and wonderful friendship with him when she wins his trust.

            ‘The Last Bear’ should be a must-read for all children today, for they are the conservators of tomorrow:  they have to repair the damage their forebears have visited upon the world.  Hannah Gold has crafted a beautiful story of a friendship that ends on a very necessary message of hope;  the places and people she writes of are all based on sound factual research, which makes her story even better.  This precious little book should rightly become a children’s classic.  SIX STARS!! 

It’s the School holidays, it’s winter and raining, so what better place to be than your library to choose some cool books to take home – like the one below!

Chase, by Linwood Barclay.           Juvenile fiction

            Linwood Barclay is very well known for writing excellent thrillers;  now, kids, your luck is in because this is his first book for children, and I am sure adults will find this story just as unputdownable as his new young audience.

(I certainly did!)

            Border Collie Chipper lives in a cage in ‘The  Institute’, a secret government facility that trains intelligent animals to be spies – after all, who would ever suspect a docile animal supposedly asleep within earshot of secret conversations in countries like Afghanistan and other places that are not US Allies?  He is also fitted with some very advanced and sophisticated software;  a GPS that tracks his whereabouts, plus tiny cameras in his eyes which give his handlers close-ups of who he’s close to.  He’s a million-dollar+ dog – until his in-born playfulness (he loves chasing squirrels, YEAH!) causes his minders to decide to cut their losses:  this dog, despite the millions spent on him, is too unreliable for field-work.  They’re going to put him down.

            And Chipper knows this.  He’s a very smart dog anyway, but two kind previous handlers have programmed extra information into him – like the urge to escape, and the intelligence to do it, AND a compulsion to find a young boy called Jeff Conroy, who badly needs his help, for Jeff is in great danger:  Chipper has to find him before the Institute finds him – no easy task.

            Meantime, Jeff is living with his Aunt Flo at her tourist fishing camp alongside Pickerel Lake.  Aunt Flo has taken Jeff in after the recent tragic accidental death of his parents:  there are two major disadvantages to this arrangement.  Aunt Flo is a neat freak and she works Jeff relentlessly.  She also hates dogs, so Jeff’s beloved companion Pepper has had to be rehomed.  Jeff doesn’t know who he loves and misses more – his parents or Pepper.  He certainly doesn’t care for Aunt Flo, but his life is about to change in the most dramatic way when Chipper eventually finds him – and so do the ruthless assassins from the Institute.

            Mr Barclay ramps up the action to a frantic pace;  he also ends the story with a huge question mark:  what will happen next??  For this is a start of a series ( I have book two, ‘Escape’ reserved already);  Chipper and Jeff are still in danger, especially from someone they trust absolutely, but the bond of love between dog and boy never wavers.  They will be friends for life.  FIVE STARS.  Great for ages 10+.                  

The War That Saved my Life, by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley.

Junior Fiction.

         

  

          It is 1939 and war has been declared between Germany and Great Britain.  Ada Smith and her brother Jamie live in one room above a pub in London with their mother;  Mam works in the pub, Jamie is school-age, and Ava goes nowhere.  She has a crippled foot and can’t put any weight on it – she crawls everywhere in the flat and depends on Jamie to bring her news of the outside world because her mother doesn’t want her near the window;  she doesn’t want people to see ‘the idiot cripple peering out’.  Mam is always in a bad mood, and when she is feeling particularly hateful she locks Ada in a cabinet under the sink, which is infested with cockroaches. 

            Life is very hard but it becomes intolerable when Ada learns that her beloved brother is to be evacuated to a place called ‘the country’ to escape the bombs that Hitler’s Messerschmidts will surely drop:  to be left behind without him is unthinkable – she will go too, and to that end practises walking on her poor deformed foot, an agonising process but practice that serves her well when the day comes and she escapes with Jamie and his classmates to the train station.  The trip is a revelation:  Ada has never seen grass, let alone trees – the greenness of everything astounds her, as does the vastness of her surroundings, and when they arrive at a small village in Kent which is to be their destination, there are even more shocks in store:  everyone looks so clean and wholesome – well-nourished.  Which she and Jamie are not.  Eventually, as the last children left, they are forced onto a lady who did NOT want to billet children:  Susan, a woman who had lost her beloved companion Rebecca to illness and is still sorely grieving. 

            The children don’t care:  they are still together, Susan gives them a bath and hot food, and they sleep in a warm bed with sheets on it!  And behind a stone wall at the bottom of the garden is a friendly pony called Butter!  Ada, who has never learned to read or write, finds that she is not ‘slow’ or an idiot after all when Susan persuades her to learn her letters so that she can help Jamie with his homework;  she even teaches herself to ride Butter even though her foot won’t always cooperate, but best of all is the news that her foot (clubfoot, it’s called) can be fixed!  If Susan can get her mother’s consent.

            And there lies the problem:  Susan’s letters are returned;  Mam remains out of sight – until she returns one day and takes Ada and Jamie back to London to another squalid room ‘because I ain’t paying nineteen shillin’s a week to no lazy slut in a fancy house to look after my kids!’

            Then the bombing starts.

Ms Bradley has given us a wonderful brother and sister to cheer for:  narrator Ada’s journey from stupid cripple to resourceful and clever problem solver is a delight to read. This lovely story is a superb  introduction for children aged 12+ to the extraordinary bravery shown by ordinary people in the face of terrible adversity.  SIX STARS!!      

The One Dollar Horse, by Lauren St John                Junior Fiction

           Starting with Anna Sewell’s ‘Black Beauty’, there have always been children’s classic horse tales, a wealth of wonderful stories about the most beautiful animal on earth, and ‘The One Dollar Horse’ deservedly follows the tradition:  horse-loving children aged twelve and up (girls especially!) will identify with the many strong messages in this book, especially the overriding belief that if one wants it enough, nothing is beyond reach.

            This is not a new title, but the first in a trilogy about teenager Casey Blue, volunteer at a no-frills riding school in London’s East End.  Casey lives in a scruffy high-rise apartment with her beloved Dad, an ex-burglar who has zero luck finding a job after a stint inside.  Her mother died when she was two, so her Dad is everything to her – until fate steps in one day and she and her father rescue an ill and traumatised horse that has escaped from the local knacker’s yard:  from then on it is Casey’s mission to bring the dying animal back to good health – and back to life, a job much easier to imagine than to achieve. 

            Fortunately, Casey has some firm friends in the tiny horsey fraternity in the East End, including Mrs Smith, an elderly lady who once had a glittering career in Dressage and Show Jumping;  Mrs Smith is a woman who understands big dreams and how to realise them, having had huge success herself.  She knows that Casey and the One Dollar horse (so named because Casey’s dad found an American dollar on the day they rescued him – it was all he had in his wallet, so the knacker accepted it!) have a special, loving bond that occurs very seldom:  if they are coached correctly, they could be eventing stars – especially at Badminton, the biggest prize of all.

            Casey’s efforts to attain the standard required to reach Badminton hit many snags on the way, not least rivalry and derision from other competitors;  she finds that there are few highs and lots of lows in her efforts to lift her game, and just when all finally seems attainable, her father betrays her by selling her horse to the father of her rival competitor.  How Casey overcomes these massive barriers to the success of her dreams is told with humour, verve and a true sense of suspense by Ms St John, who writes like she’s been there, done that on every page:  great stuff.  FIVE STARS.

Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard

The Sword of Summer (Book One) by Rick Riordan.  Junior Fiction

           Magnus Chase has been homeless for two years.  He has been living on the streets of Boston since his mother was murdered by supernatural wolves when he was fourteen:  he knows that something supremely evil is looking for him and so far, hiding in plain sight, dossing down under bridges and in parks, and fossicking in dumpsters for food feels a whole lot safer than contacting his few living relatives – all of whom could care for him, but he doesn’t want to bring mortal danger into their lives.  Until finally, it becomes unavoidable:  at an unplanned meeting with his uncle Randolph, an expert on Norse mythology, he is ordered to raise the Sword of Summer from the Charles River, where it has been submerged for a millennium – yes, it is Uncle Randolph’s firm belief that the Vikings did sail, plundering and looting, as far south on the eastern seaboard as Boston and Magnus, who is turning 16 on this very day, must call the sword forth from the river-bed, for the Sword of Summer is a vital weapon in the Doomsday War of Ragnarok, the destruction of the Gods of Asgard.

            Needless to say, Magnus wants to leave uncle as soon as it’s polite to go, especially when told he is the son of a God (!) -  but he is stopped by (yes, truly!) a gigantic fire-demon called Surt who, in his efforts to track Magnus down, has also set fire to most of the bridge they are standing on.  He wants the sword, so hand it over and he’ll promise a quick death.  Oh, Okay then.

 NOT!!!!

            So begins Magnus’s adventures  in the Nine Worlds:  he is introduced in many dangerous and undignified ways to various elves, dwarves – two of which are his firm friends from his homeless days – Valkyries (including Samirah Al-Abbas, Sam for short, of Iraqi heritage but deeply ashamed that she is a daughter of God Loki the Liar:  at the Hotel Valhalla it gets her into no end of strife) and he and his friends have to battle (or at least try to avoid) a giant, homicidal squirrel, one of the guardians of the World Tree, whose tangled branches conceal the entrances to the nine worlds, most of whom Magnus has to visit on his quest to prevent Ragnarok beginning.  The action is non-stop and the mythical beasts of Norse mythology all make an appearance, either to rescue the adventurers, impede them – or eat them.  In the meantime, the Sword of Summer gets sick of its name and decides to change it to Jack:  yep, time to be cool, dude.

            This is the first of the Gods of Asgard series, and as with Rick Riordan’s forays into Greek Mythology, he takes readers of all ages on a fabulous, action-packed ride through the old Norse tales.  It’s hard to know what is most admirable about his books;  his pinpoint accuracy of character and legend, or his wonderful humour which raises a laugh on every page (especially the chapter headings!):  either way it’s a winning formula.  FIVE STARS.      

Elephant Secret, by Eric Walters.                     Junior Fiction

           Samantha Gray and her Dad have an elephant sanctuary in the U.S.A.  They care for a herd of eleven elephants;  money is scarce on their 200-acre property and they have to spend it wisely, especially on secure fencing and good feed for their large charges.  There’s not much left over for themselves, but they wouldn’t have it any other way:  they are loved and respected members of the herd, and the herd is Sam’s family – her mother died giving birth to her and she has known no other life.  And that’s the way she wants it, for in her experience, elephants can be a lot nicer than people.

            Sam and her Dad are particularly excited as the story begins because one of their elephants is pregnant and after nearly two years (!) is about to give birth:  she has been artificially inseminated at the request of a mysterious investor in their sanctuary who has provided them with a lot more cash for food and even two trained zoo veterinarians to assist at the birth – he must have very deep pockets!  They are all thrilled to be a part of this – until everything goes wrong;  despite the vets’ best efforts to help, the mother dies and they fight to save the baby, who requires 24/7 care and feeding – and for the progeny of an Asian elephant, looks very shaggy indeed, so much so that Sam names her Woolly.

            What’s going on?

            The mysterious investor is so excited by the birth that he eventually reveals himself so that he can pay Woolly a visit, and Sam and her Dad are dumbfounded to find that he is a very famous billionaire computer genius and  conservationist who has invented a program to extract the DNA of woolly mammoths, enormous ancestors of elephants who roamed the icy planes of the earth thousands of years ago:  Woolly is a clone, an exact copy of a female mammoth who died and was frozen in the arctic ice three thousand years before.  Her life is precious beyond imagining.

            Mr Walters has given children of all ages a touching and marvellous story of conservation under stress, elephant behaviour, and the great love and loyalty they can feel for each other and their human friends.  We need more books like this to urgently promote the message that elephants are an endangered species: If we don’t stop despoiling our beautiful world they will soon be extinct, like the mammoths that used to roam the Tundra.  FIVE STARS.

Take Your Last Breath, a Ruby Redfort mystery

Junior Fiction by Lauren Child.

           My granddaughter Ava LOVES Ruby Redfort, and after reading the second of her adventures, I can see why:  Ruby is cool!  The first book wasn’t available so it was a little difficult to fill in all the details;  suffice to say Ruby is almost the youngest secret agent ever, except for the late Bradley Baker, who was recruited when he was even younger than her (thirteen) by Spectrum, a spy agency ‘set up to foil the plots of evil geniuses capable of committing any crime’.  Since Ruby’s induction into the agency she has risked death, broken codes (she is a master code-cracker – it’s just something she does) and has had Perfect Bradley Baker rammed down her throat at every opportunity:  well, she’ll show her superiors at Spectrum that girls can do ANYTHING!

            Well, anything with some rock-solid assistance from her very best friend Clancy Drew, who is the most loyal bestie in the universe;  he is not supposed to know that she is a secret agent, but where she is concerned he is zipped up tighter than an oyster and is as reliable as the sunrise – with one exception:  he doesn’t like the ocean.  Nasty critters such as sharks  live in the ocean, and he is not convinced by Ruby’s explanation that ‘sharks are just big fish going about their business’.  As far as Clance is  concerned, their business is to eat him, and because of this aversion he is a particularly fast swimmer – when he can  be convinced, persuaded or bullied to put a toe in the water.

            Which is a definite inconvenience because Ruby’s latest adventure is to check out rumours of Pirate attacks on the local shipping in their coastal city of Twinford, and even more exciting whispers of buried treasure somewhere in the outlying islands:  Ruby needs Clance to be her partner, her offsider, not a jelly-trembler hiding under the seat of the boat – which she has commandeered from Spectrum without their knowledge.  Ruby is taking the mantra ‘Girls Can Do Anything’ to its outer limits, not to mentioned getting sacked by Spectrum boss LB if she is discovered.  Yep, Clancy will have to put his silly little phobias aside if he wants to outwit pirates and find treasure.  What’s he got to worry about?  It’ll be a stroll in the park.  Yeah, right!

            I can certainly see why Ava is so devoted to Ruby:  Ms Child has created a SuperGirl who is heaps of fun.  She has amazing talents bordering on the genius level but she still manages to have ordinary friends who do ordinary things – and they are all very, VERY funny.  The villains in this story couldn’t be more villainous, especially Count von Viscount, whom Ruby faced down in the first book – he doesn’t do too well in this story either, but I’m sure he’ll be back for Book Three.  I should think so!  FOUR STARS   

Children’s Fiction.

Here are two completely different war stories for children – though the second title is definitely more suited to teenage readers.  It is a story of The Great War, The War to End All Wars, and it deals unflinchingly with more adult themes and their consequences, including the Influenza pandemic that engulfed the world at the end of hostilities.  Despite their vast differences in time and place, both titles have in common the terrible cost that war forces upon us all, especially the children.

The Blue Cat, by Ursula Dubosarsky.

            Sydney, Australia in 1942:  Columba and her best friend Hilda watch, fascinated, as a new boy is introduced to the school by the Headmaster at assembly.  His name is Ellery and he has come from You-Rope, where they speak French and where Hitler is.  ‘The Pope lives there, too’, remarks Hilda, who is known as That Child! by Columba’s mother, because Hilda soaks up information – and gossip – like a sponge and passes it all on like the bush telegraph. 

            Ellery is the palest boy Columba has ever seen which is a worry, for the Australian sun is fierce;  they haven’t had rain for months, the big dam is nearly dry and new water restrictions have been brought in:  Ellery will be fried like a sausage if he doesn’t keep out of the sun, and despite the general urge to scoff at those who are different, Columba is curious and concerned about Ellery.  He lives in a flat with his father, but where is his mother?  She wishes he could speak English so that she could ask him, for Columbia is a naturally curious child – especially about her own name, which she knows means ‘Dove’, and she has exhausted her mother’s patience more than once with her relentless questioning.  But why does Ellery carry with him ALL the time a book written in German, ‘Die SchatzInsel’?  German is the enemy’s language in You-Rope;  they are the enemies along with Japan of King George and the British Empire, and the Australian Army is fighting them at this very minute!

            Another mysterious new arrival in the street is a large grey/blue cat, a stray who adopts two spinster ladies for a time.  They are Columba’s next-door neighbours, Miss Hazel and Miss Marguerite, and they are bereft when the cat moves on, especially Miss Marguerite, who is ‘delicate’.  Where has it gone?  Will it return?

            The questions multiply as Hilda turns up at school to announce importantly that her big brother is now a prisoner-of-war in Italy:  Hilda hopes he will be getting enough to eat.  (Her mother’s words).  And the warships in the harbour multiply, too:  the Americans have arrived to save them all!  But Columba still wants to know about Ellery.  Because she wants to be his friend.

            Ms Dubosarsky captures the times perfectly.  Her characters are exactly right, a great humorous mix of the young and old, and every chapter is accompanied by pictures and newspaper clippings of the day, which is an inspired addition to this lovely story.  Perfect for those keen young readers ten and upwards.  FIVE STARS

The Goose Road, by Rowena House.

         In Northern France in 1916, Angelique Lacroix receives the dread news that her father, who was one of the first to enlist in the French army, has been killed in the battle of Verdun.  Her mother is stunned with grief;  Angelique is not.  She hated her father, who beat her and her adored brother Pascal often, especially when he had been drinking;  she is just glad that it wasn’t Pascal who died:  now the family farm will belong to him and he will come home from war victorious, and marry Angelique’s very best friend.  She hopes.  Such are the dreams of a 14 year old.  In the meantime she and her mother must carry on and save what they have for him, even though the French army keeps passing through their district ‘requisitioning’ any livestock to feed their troops – and thanks to the troops’ rampant and brutal theft of every farm’s animals and poultry, people are beginning to starve;  Angelique hopes that the army doesn’t discover their farm, remote as it is.

            But they do, and remove their cow and pig.  Nothing is left except Pascal’s flock of magnificent Toulouse geese, hidden in the woods when the army scouts arrive.  And as if that were not enough tragedy, their father’s gambling debts surface in the shape of angry creditors demanding what is owed:  they will lose the farm and very soon be homeless unless Angelique and her mother can think of a solution, and the only solution is for Angelique and her Uncle Gustav to herd her beautiful geese across France to find the highest bidder in a country that is desperate for food, a country full of liars and profiteers, good people who are starving – and English and French Officers who will pay astronomical prices for a Christmas Goose, especially those Officers who are expecting to die in battle soon.

            Ms House recounts Angelique’s journey with her beloved Uncle as suspensefully as any good thriller writer;  her characters are rock-solid and she captures all too well the desperation and despair that makes good people do terrible things – and those like Angelique’s childhood friend René, who enlists in the army despite having a withered leg from a bout of Polio:  he couldn’t bear to be called a coward.  This is a truly great book for all teen readers.  FIVE STARS      

Radio Boy and the Revenge of Grandad.                 Junior Fiction

By Christian O’Connell

            After being introduced to Spike Hughes A.K.A. Radio Boy in Book One,   I HAD to meet up with him again in Book Two and am happy to report that the sequel, continuing his adventures as DJ Radio Boy in his Dad’s garden shed, is just as entertaining – especially as a new character makes his mark, whether Spike wants him to or not.

            Now that Spike has been outed as Radio Boy, his cred (and his listeners) have increased hugely;  he still hasn’t made any impression on Katherine Robertson, The Girl He Would Love to Marry Some Day – in fact she is now going out with horrid but handsome School Bully Martin Harris – but Spike is now regarded as pretty cool and funny by his schoolmates.  And his parents, particularly his dad, are proud of him too.  Life is pretty good (even though Headmaster Fish Face Harris makes it plain every day that Radio Boy and his sidekicks Artie and Holly are his least favourite pupils and he wastes more time than he should on thinking up nasty punishments for them instead of doing his job of running the school.)  Never mind:  Radio Boy and his team can handle anything, especially when his favourite DJ announces that there will be a competition  to find a DJ to replace him when he takes a week’s holiday very soon.  COOL!!  This competition is Spike’s to lose!  He’ll nail it!  No-one else will even come close, so they may as well not bother entering.

            But they do.

            And Spike is super disgusted to learn that his very own Grandad is up against him – not to mention Fish Face Harris (WHAAAAAAT???!!!).  Even Sensei Terry, who runs a Karate class and is also the local Postman has entered.  WHAT’S WRONG WITH THEM?  Don’t they know – of course they do! – that being a DJ will be his life’s work and they shouldn’t waste their time going up against him, because no-one in the history of radio is a surer thing than Radio Boy.

            Unfortunately, his Grandad thinks the same about himself.  He has recently been thrown out of home by Nan and has come to stay at Spike’s house, thanks to an invitation from Mum;  well, that’s all very well but he’s sleeping in Spike’s bed, which means that Spike has to sleep on the World’s Most Uncomfortable Air Mattress, and to add insult to injury, Grandad SNORES.  IN SURROUND SOUND.  And because he tried to take over Radio Boy’s nightly shed broadcast, Spike and the team were forced to sack him.

            He didn’t take it well, and has turned into the Grandad from Hell, entering himself in the Radio Competition as professional singer Tony Fandango.  Spike is mortified.

            And that’s not all:  Spike’s dad and his old mates resurrected their teenage band the Pirates and have now reached the semi-finals of Simon Scowl’s TV show.  DOUBLE mortification!

            Christian O’Connell has worked his magic again, effortlessly involving readers of all ages in the ordinary lives of his characters:  these characters are you and me and the neighbours, not to mention the rellies, and once again Radio Boy is laugh-out-loud funny.  I hope Christian’s working on Radio Boy #3 – now I know he’s a DJ himself in his day job, but writing great children’s books is more important.  FIVE STARS.

Radio Boy, by Christian O’Connell                   Junior Fiction

            Spike Hughes is so average at St. Brenda’s that most of the other kids hardly notice him – except the school bully, Martin Harris, who likes to torment everyone.  Perhaps that wouldn’t be so bad, except that Martin Harris is good looking, the captain of the cricket and football teams – and is the son of the Headmaster, Fish-Face Harris, whom everyone fears and despises:  Fish-Face is a bully too;  even the teachers are anxious around him.

            Spike’s major pleasure is being an early morning  DJ at the local hospital where his mother is the Ward Manager – it’s only for an hour but he’s sure being a DJ will be his life’s work;  he has no other ambition except to wed Katherine Robertson, the Most Wonderful Girl in the School – one day.  But he is utterly betrayed by the Station Manager, who wants to give his spot to the Garden Show because ‘no-one listens to Spike’s Show between 6 and 7.  (That’s AM, not PM).  Spike is beside himself with rage and disappointment, leaving the hospital studio unusable by exploding the stink bombs he got for Christmas.  Well, it was the Station Manager’s own fault, giving his hour to someone who looked like a Garden Gnome!

            However, help may be at hand with the news that St Brenda’s is going to start its own Radio Show.  Spike is overjoyed:  he will have another chance to realise his dreams, at the same time impressing Katherine Robertson, the Girl He is Going to Marry.  Until Fish-Face Harris announces that the new Radio Show will be manned by his own dear son Martin.  BETRAYED AGAIN!!

            There’s nothing else for it but to rally the rest of the school AV club (his two friends Artie and Holly), and start a secret Radio Show of their own, broadcasting online with equipment begged, ‘borrowed’ and bought on EBay with his Dad’s assistance:  it has to be secret because if his Mum found out the sky would fall in – Mum’s pretty tough, but worries constantly about ‘what people think’.  What she doesn’t know won’t worry her, Spike reasons:  this idea can’t fail!  And he’s right.  With techno genius Holly as Producer and Artie in charge of music (Artie rescued his Dad’s vinyl collection from being dumped and is an ace music selector on a ‘borrowed’ turntable.  He lives in a huge house called The Gateau Chateau, so named because Artie’s Dad owns a chain of bakeries.  This means that there is always a supply of cakes and buns past their use-by date:  genius!)  Yep, Radio Boy/Spike, Elvis/Artie and Mystery Girl Producer can’t go wrong – until they do.  Majorly.

            Christian O’Connell has his own Breakfast Show on Britain’s Absolute Radio so he knows what he’s writing about, and how to capture hearts and minds of today’s techno-savvy kids  by making the AV Club’s exploits so laugh-out-loud funny but believable that a huge uptake of 10 year old AV students in the future will be a sure thing.  FIVE STARS    

BRILLIANT BOOKS FOR BRILLIANT KIDS! 

The Brilliant World of Tom Gates, by Liz Pichon

This is the first book in this great series written by Liz Pichon disguised as twelve year-old Tom Gates .  He’s really good at some things, like Art and English (sometimes) – and thinking up very clever excuses to give to his teacher as to why he hasn’t done his homework.  He can’t say the dog ate it because they haven’t got a dog, so he blames his older sister Delia (‘she spilt her coffee on it!);  in fact he blames Delia for a lot of things (I’m late because Delia hogged the bathroom!’ when in fact it’s Tom who locked himself in there to spite her), and does his level best to get her into trouble with his parents – ‘Mum, Delia’s got a boyfriend.  She had him here in the house!’ –He also hides Delia’s sunglasses regularly.  Yep, Tom is a bit of a stirrer, but he is not all bad.

            He’s best mates with his neighbour Derek;  they are both practising to be in a band when they grow up – they’re a bit rubbish yet but hey, they’re only twelve.  When they get more ‘professional’ they will call themselves the DogZombies.  Is that a cool name or what?  And he has a Megacrush on Amy Porter, who now sits next to him at the start of the new term (WOW!  Could he be any luckier??)  Yes, because Mr Fullerman has put him in the front row ‘to keep an eye on him’ (NO, NO, send me to the back again where you can’t see me!) and on the other side is none other than Measly Marcus  Meldrew, the most irritating kid in the school.  He’s totally sneaky and uncool and should be sitting somewhere far, far away.  Like Australia.

            Tom and Derek are huge fans of DUDE3, the best band on the planet, and they can hardly believe that these mighty stars will be performing in their town soon. Book One deals with their attempts to get to the concert – that turn out to be touch and go, because Derek’s new dog (called Rooster) eats the tickets!  (Truly.)

  Coupled with her great illustrations and Tom’s truly imaginative solutions to all of his everyday problems, Liz Pichon has created a great character that all kids can identify with – and all parents, too!  FIVE STARS

Brilliant, by Roddy Doyle

            When the great Roddy Doyle wrote this story for children poor old Ireland was in the middle of a very low time in its economy – and its spirits;  so many people were losing their jobs – and their houses – because they had no money to pay off their bank loans;  thousands of people were in such a bad way financially that they started to lose hope:  the old Black Dog of Depression descended on Ireland, and Dublin in particular where the story opens, like an angry, evil cloud.

            Raymond and Gloria’s Uncle Ben has had to shut his business down;  at one stage he was so busy he didn’t have time to answer his phone.  Now the phone doesn’t ring at all, and he has had to surrender his house to the bank because he can no longer pay the mortgage.  He is living with Raymond  and Gloria’s Mam and Dad and is very sad indeed.  Their Granny (who has her own little flat by the side of their house but never seems to stay there) says the Black Dog has him;  in fact the Black Dog has Dublin’s funny bone, she says, and no-one will be feeling better until Dublin’s funny bone is given back.

            Raymond and Gloria hear about this because they are hiding under the kitchen table listening to the adults talk about these adult things because they think the kids are in bed;  it has been a game they both enjoy, sneaking under the table without being seen.  They are horrified to learn of the Black Dog of Depression but because they love their Uncle Ben and want him to be happy again, they decide to search for the Black Dog and wrench back the funny bone – by force if need be!

            And what adventures they have while they pursue that evil animal, and what a surprise to find that other children, hundreds of them, are searching for him too, because they want their Mams and Dads, sisters and brothers to smile again.    Animals they meet on the search suddenly start talking, directing them where to go, until finally after a frightening showdown the horrid Black Dog is vanquished and forced to give up Dublin’s funny bone, for children are immune to his power, especially if they chant one word – ‘BRILLIANT’, and believe in it every time they say it.  ‘BRILLIANT’.

            This is a lovely story and sure proof that Ireland’s funny bone is working perfectly.  Roddy Doyle is just BRILLIANT.  FIVE STARS

Wildwitch Book One

Wildfire, by Lene Kaaberbol

Clara lives with her Mum in a flat in an apartment building.  Her Mum is a very clever free-lance journalist, and her Dad doesn’t feature much in her life – he’s a great Dad to have holidays with but she doesn’t think about him very often;  her Mum is her parent of choice.

            Her best friend is her schoolmate Oscar, and they both have to endure the predictable teasing from the other kids, usually about them snogging (which they don’t!)  But Clara and Oscar don’t care;  their friendship is too strong to be affected by such silliness.

            Life is as normal as Clara goes down to collect her bike so that she can cycle to school – until she meets a huge black cat the size of a dog on the basement stairs.  She can’t be dreaming because the cat sits on her and won’t let her go;  it smells of the sea and scratches her between her eyes.  ‘You’re mine’, it says and refuses to move until Clara manages at last to push it away and rush back to her Mum – who reacts to Clara’s account by ringing Aunt Isa, the sister she hasn’t spoken to for years, and blaming the appearance of the huge cat on her.

            And Clara’s Mum is right!  For Aunt Isa is a Wildwitch, a woman with special powers,  charged with protecting the earth and its creatures and she is the only person who can heal Clara’s ensuing illness, which is an indication that Clara has inherited the same powers, and needs to know how to manage and control them.  The huge cat has chosen her as its companion, telling her often (whether she wants to hear it or not!) ‘You’re mine.  You’re mine.’

            And she has an enemy, too, without even looking for one – a huge winged rogue witch called Chimera who is bent on enslaving Clara and the powers she doesn’t even know how to use yet. 

            What happened to her nice normal life with Mum?  She has to stay with Aunt Isa while she is an apprentice Wildwitch, learning how to protect herself and the environment:  ‘Remember, if you take from the earth, you must always give back,’ is Aunt Isa’s favourite saying.  Easier said than done, especially with an enemy like Chimera. 

            Clara’s adventures are non-stop, written with lots of humour, and with a cast of great characters in each book.  In Book two, Oblivion, we meet the Nothing, a failed experiment at cloning herself of Chimera.  The Nothing is so appealing (even though she farts and poos like a champion because she has the body of a bird – and the digestive system!) that Clara is able to rescue her and take her home to Aunt Isa – and a good thing too, I say!  Chimera is defeated and disappears, but everyone knows she will return eventually;  she is so full of hatred for Clara she won’t be able to stay away!

            I can’t wait to read Book three, ‘Life Stealer’.  This is a great series for ages 10+ - and me!  (And I’m not telling you how old I am!)   

                

                   

Michael Murpurgo Month

IT’S MICHAEL MORPURGO MONTH!

Welcome to the Children’s section of Te Takere’s Library blog, which is expanding to include the wonderful selection of fiction available for the children of the Horowhenua.  There are so many cool titles for kids here thanks to our great buyer librarians that they definitely deserve their very own section:  just as adults can access fiction choices on this blog, now, thanks to JD’s website expertise, children will also have the same ability to pick and choose.

First up as a five-star recommendation is  ‘The Elephant in the Garden’by British children’s author Michael Morpurgo.  He needs no introduction;  his stories have delighted, enthralled and moved kids of all ages, and he is always careful to get his facts right – his writing is always objective and his research impeccable.  Many of his books are set in times of war, written without specific blame for one side or the other;  rather, their stories demonstrate the futility and heartbreak of conflict and its terrible consequences – but they always have happy and hopeful endings, for no child should finish a book and feel sad. 

The following books reviewed are most suitable for ages 10 years and up.  (And really keen and clever eight year-olds!)

An Elephant in the Garden, by Michael Morpurgo.

            Karl’s mum is a nurse who works in a Rest Home.  She enjoys her work;  even though a lot of her patients are very old and nearing the end of their lives, they are all still interesting and unique people who deserve her care and respect.  Such a person is Elizabeth, who is 82 years old and swears that when she was sixteen, an elephant lived in her garden! 

            Karl’s mum rolls her eyes at this;  it is a favourite chant of Elizabeth’s and the old lady wants to tell Karl all about it – she has taken a great fancy to him, for sometimes he has to come to the rest home when mum works in the school holidays, and he likes to sit with her.  She says he reminds her of her little brother Karli, and Karl is very flattered, and even more so when he and his mum when her shift has ended, finally have the time to sit next to Elizabeth’s bed and hear her wonderful, terrible, unbelievable story:  an elephant really did stay in Elizabeth’s garden, an elephant called Marlene.

            It is February of 1945.  In the city of Dresden in Germany people are feeling lucky but scared:  so far the British bombers have left their city alone but the people know that this enchanted time cannot last;  the war is coming to an end and Germany is on its knees – the Russians are approaching from the East and the Americans are moving in from the West.  Everyone is making plans to flee, including Elizabeth’s mother, who works at the local Zoo.  Elizabeth’s Papa is a prisoner of war in Russia, and her Mutti hopes to find shelter at her sister’s farm in the country outside Dresden if bombs start to fall.  Mutti hopes also to rescue her very favourite animal from the Zoo, a young 4-year-old elephant named for sultry movie star Marlene Dietrich;  Mutti was there at her birth and can’t bear the thought that she will be shot along with all the other zoo animals if the bombers come.  Well, Marlene can come along with Mutti, Elizabeth and Karli, so there!  Mutti has lost so much already;  she’s not leaving Marlene behind if they have to become refugees.  The decision is made.

            And it happens more quickly and brutally than they can imagine;  the bombers do come, turning the beautiful city into a fireball;  tens of thousands of people die and the bombing of Dresden becomes known as one of the Second World War’s worst atrocities – but miraculously, Elizabeth, Mutti, Karli and Marlene escape the horror and eventually join the miles of refugees leaving the ruins of their lives, homes and dreams behind. 

            On their long, hazardous trip to safety they meet many people, some dangerous and some so kind and generous that they put their own lives at risk to help each other, but all of them fascinated and cheered by refugee Marlene, the last creature anyone would expect to see on their exhausting life-and-death march:  Marlene is a beacon for hope and happiness in a blighted world, a talisman to prove that people’s luck can always change for the better, and who better to write of this than Michael Morpurgo.  FIVE STARS.

Shadow, by Michael Morpurgo                        Junior Fiction

This is the third book I have read by Mr Morpurgo and he impresses me as much as ever:  in each book is a lesson for children,  couched lovingly in an adventure which is always based on fact -  both the lesson and fact being that war anywhere in the world is The Great Destroyer, a vain conflict that decimates populations and ruins countries, and wars fought in the name of religion are the worst of all, for religious fanatics are always absolute in their belief that their cause is just, righteous – and the only way to live.  Everyone must follow the Way, or die.

Aman and his mother are living in a cave in Afghanistan.  They have been driven from their home by the Taliban who murdered Aman’s father for not being properly respectful, and they lead a hand-to-mouth existence. When a shivering, wounded, filthy little dog arrives at the mouth of their cave one night Aman’s mother tries to drive it away – they don’t have enough food for themselves, let alone a mangy animal! 

But the dog won’t leave.  She stays just out of the range of missiles lobbed at her and gradually Aman comes to admire her determination to be friends.  He sneaks food to her, bathes her wounds and a true friendship is formed, and it is the dog  Aman names Shadow who eventually leads them away from the danger of the Taliban, and after a series of frightening adventures, to the safety of a British Army base hundreds of miles from where they started – for Shadow is really Polly, a very special dog indeed, trained to sniff out IED’s – Improvised Explosive Devices – and the troops, particularly her owner Sergeant Brodie are overjoyed to see her again:  she went missing after a skirmish and they thought she had died – it is truly miraculous that she has found her way back to the base, bringing two refugees with her.

There are many facets to this lovely story, not least being the plight of refugees, not only in their own country, but the uncertainties they face of a new existence in their country of choice, in this case Britain, for Aman’s mother has a brother to sponsor them on their arrival.  Aman attends school for six years, making many friends before he and his mother are finally refused residential status, then sent to a detention camp before deportation to Afghanistan.  Mr Morpurgo pulls no punches: he writes baldly of the lack of humane treatment for refugees caught in the limbo of red tape and disinterest at immigration removal centres;  once again this fact is shamefully stranger than fiction but fortunately for young readers (and me!) Aman’s story ends happily.  Friends old and new rally to help him, including Shadow, and once again Mr Morpurgo has written a heartwarming story for us all to enjoy.  FIVE STARS.

Little Manfred, by Michael Morpurgo             Children’s fiction

To most children, Michael Morpurgo needs no introduction;  he has a great body of quality work for young people which covers many different subjects, and his book ‘War Horse’ about a young man’s wonderful relationship with his horse during the 1914-18 war was filmed to much acclaim by Steven Spielberg.  Now, he visits another war, World War II, to examine once again, through the eyes of the very young and the elderly, the horrors and tragedies of a global conflict, searing and traumatic for all those who fought and a source of unforgettable memories and regrets for those who survived.

It is 1966.  England has just won the World Soccer Cup, defeating Germany 4-2;  the country is ecstatic!  On their Suffolk farm, Charley and her mother cannot understand what the fuss is about;  neither of them share Dad and Alex’s worshipful enthusiasm of the Beautiful Game and really couldn’t care less WHO won.  Needless to say little brother Alex thinks his sister is just being a big GIRL.  She doesn’t know what’s good.  Instead, Charley and her mum would rather that Dad would do as he said he would, and fix mum’s old childhood toy, a small wooden Dachsund called Little Manfred, which he stood on and broke – and always said he’d repair but never did.  For some reason that she never reveals, Little Manfred is very important to mum, and she is very upset that her old toy is missing a wheel.

It is not until the children visit the beach not far from their farm that many little mysteries are solved:  they meet two elderly men, an Englishman and a German, sightseers who have returned so that one of them can see once more where he was a prisoner of war, working on the very farm that Charley and Alex’s mum lived with her parents twenty years before, and where she still lives with her husband and family. 

Walter, the German, was rescued by Marty, the Englishman when his ship, the mighty battleship ‘Bismarck’ was sunk by the British navy in a huge sea battle;  Marty’s ship, HMS ‘Dorsetshire’ picked up some of the survivors from the water but nearly 2000 men drowned, abandoned to their fate because there were rumours that U-Boats with torpedoes were in the area.

Walter’s best friend Manfred and he formed a bond with Marty, who showed them kindness in many ways , but the steadfast friendship of Manfred and Walter sustained them throughout their imprisonment, and the kindness shown to them by the farming family they were sent to made their lives more bearable;  in fact Manfred became so close to their little girl that he made her a wooden toy, a Dachsund, so that she could remember them when they returned to Germany.

Twenty years later, the toy is still with her, broken but not discarded, a symbol of love, friendship and understanding that transcended fear and hatred in the midst of war. 

What a lovely story this is, simply told but full of wisdom and life lessons that we could all live by, young and old alike.  Little Manfred was truly the gift that kept on giving.  FIVE STARS.

WarHorse, by Michael Morpurgo

Children’s author Michael Morpurgo is one of the most prolific and gifted storytellers in print.  He writes on a multitude of different subjects, and for children of all ages.  (Including me!)

‘WarHorse’, his classic tale of the First World War, was published in 1982 and subsequently dramatized on the stage and in a fine movie directed by Stephen Spielberg. 

The story of Joey, a rich red bay with four white socks and a white ‘cross’ on his forehead is told by Joey himself, three parts thoroughbred and one part farmhorse, from the time he is bought by Farmer Endicott in a drunken bid to spite someone he hated, to the time he is sold as a cavalry horse to an army captain in 1914, because the farmer needed the money - ‘ a man’s got to live’- despite the fact that his son Albert loved Joey and had trained him to pull a plough and earn his keep:  Endicott’s betrayal is so underhand and shocking that Albert vows to join the army as soon as he is old enough so that he can find Joey and bring him back to England and the safety of his former life.  It is a promise he keeps, joining the Veterinary force at age 17, still in time to witness first-hand the bloodbath on the battlefields of Northern France:  boys become men overnight – and horses share strange allegiances and frightening adventures, as Joey relates with vigour and poignancy.

This is a wonderful story – beautiful and terrible, an object lesson for all in the brutality and futility of war and how it deprived millions on both sides of everything they held dear, in the end accomplishing very little.  How fortunate, though, that we have writers of the calibre of Mr Morpurgo who are unafraid to write of such things for children, for children are our future, and should know of the terrible mistakes their forbears made.  FIVE STARS

The Fox and the Ghost King by Michael Morpurgo

            The fans of Leicester City football club (and it’s really well supported) are the most loyal ever;  they call themselves The Foxes, and believe that even though their team is pretty rubbish at the moment, a miracle can always happen and who knows?  They could even go all the way in the Premier League!  Yeah, right.  And pigs might fly, too. 

            BUT!  The fans have noticed that (strange as it may be) every now and then, a family of REAL foxes turn up at the football ground to watch the game.  (WHAAAAAT?!)  And every time they do, Leicester city wins.   It’s true, the team’s real live fox mascots seem to bring them luck – why, if those little critters keep turning up enough times, Leicester City might even get to the final!

            And according to one of the little fox cubs who tells the story (which he must have repeated to Michael Morpurgo), him, his brother and his dad were out fossicking for really good things to eat one night after being to the football grounds;  they trekked home through a big carpark that was being excavated by archaeologists looking for Medieval remains, and all those heaps of soil proved irresistible – full of bugs, worms and other creepy crawlies that round off a meal of pizza and pie crusts and chips from the big game very well:  what a good time they were having – until a ghostly voice interrupted their fun and commanded them to dig deeper so that his ghostly remains might be discovered.

 Well.

Dad fox was not intimidated by the voice, even though the voice announced in booming tones that he was a King and expected instant obedience:  the voice wanted something, and while Dad fox was happy to help, he wasn’t going to work for nothing.  The King, who announced he was Richard the Third, wanted his remains to be discovered so that his spirit could finally rest in peace;  if the foxes could dig down far enough, the archaeologists would dig down too and eventually find him.  Dad fox and the two cubs didn’t mind obliging (the kids really liked digging!) but if the Ghost King was really who he said he was and was really as powerful as he reckoned he was , then surely he could arrange for Leicester City football team to get into the Premier League final.

            The deal is struck:  Dad and the kids start digging a hole so deep that it would be impossible for any archaeologist worth his spade to miss finding King Richard – and when the King is found, Leicester gives him a State Funeral and a proud resting place in Leicester Abbey, much more fitting than being buried under a car park!  And the Ghost King keeps his part of the bargain, too – Leicester City achieve the impossible and don’t just get into the final:  THEY WIN IT! 

            As always, Mr Morpurgo has woven gold out of extraordinary events – he never fails to enthrall.  Go the Foxes!  Suitable for really keen soccer fans  aged eight and up.  FOUR STARS