North of Nowhere by Liz Kessler

This is another of those precious little harbacks from Orion. I do love the look and feel of these books. They bring back all the charm of childhood. They're the right size for a kid's hands with beautifully illustrated dustcovers and interesting end papers and North of Nowhere with its stormy sea cover and vermilion endpapers is no exception.

 

This is the first of Liz Kessler's books that I've read and I wasn't disappointed. She has a delightful writing style which immediately sucks the reader into thirteen year old Mia's mind and then takes youoff on a fast-paced mystery adventure that has you guessing right up to the end.

 Mia's grandad has vanished and her grandma is at her wits end trying to make sense of what's happened while coping with running the pub/hotel they both own. So Mia's mum decides she has to go and help her and as it's half term Mia has to come along too. Mia is firstly furious, then horrifed and finally guilty. The prospect of a week away from her friends in the sleepy little seaside village of Porthaven where her grandparents live fills her with dread but she loves her grandparents dearly and is just as worried as everyone else about what might have happened to grandad.

Things don't quite turn out as expected though. Firstly Mia discovers a journal, written apparently by a girl of a similar age to herself, on a boat moored at the old dock. Mia christens the writer Dee because she always finishes her journal entries with the letter D, and she is so struck by the apparent similarities in their interests that she starts to write replies to Dee's journal entries. After the predicatble spat - 'Who are you, and why are you reading my PRIVATE diary?' - the two girls settle into a friendly correspondence and even make plans to meet up at the end of the week, assuming the local weather is good enough for Dee to travel to the mainland from the tiny island where she lives.

There's also a bit of potential love interest in the form of another half-term visitor to Porthaven, Peter, although Mia is struck by how comfortable she feels with him and how different that is to how she usually feels around boys.

As the week progresses Mia's relationship with both Peter and Dee strengthen and she wakes up on the Friday morning bursting with excitement about the forthcoming meeting with Dee. But disappointment comes swiftly when she discovers the boat and Dee's journal message that the seas are too dangerous and her father won't let her go with him.

At this point the plot becomes increasingly exciting as Peter and Mia try to make their own way over to the island and are nearly drowned in the process, and then it becomes even more mysterious too, although I can't explain why without revealing too much of the plot. The explanation for everything that has happened is clever and complete, although for me, the magic involved didn't sit comfortably with the totally believeable realism of the rest of the book.

That quibble aside, this is an exciting, easy to read book with great characters and some nail-biting moments. There's great poignancy in the denouement too and I'm sure it will please and delight many a young girl.

The lovely folks at Orion Books provided this review copy. If you want one for yourself, (it's out on January 17th 2013) then please click through from here and Amazon will make a small contribution to the maintenance of this blog.

Sam Silver, Undercover Pirate by Jan Burchett & Sara Vogler

You know, the lovely thing about widening the scope of my reviewing into younger fiction is that I get a chance to review fun, silly, and as the blurb says, swashbuckling stuff like the first two volumes of the Sam Silver series: Skeleton Island, and the Ghost Ship.

                        

Now, these two books have been out for a few months, but what better time, with Christmas almost upon us and stocking fillers to still find, than to tell you about them?

Sam's story kicks off with Skeleton Island. He's a totally normally kid, living in Backwater Bay above his mum and dad's fish and chip shop, and his room is full of the normal assortment of rubbish. But at the beginning of the book he's just found a new piece of junk: an old bottle with what looks like a note inside. Of course, Sam, is immediately convinced that the note is from some castaway, desperate to be rescued and that, as the resucer, Sam will become rich and famous overnight. So, he's somewhat dismayed to find that the note was written in 1705, because clearly that makes the writer too old to be rescued!

But fear not. The note is, of course, from a pirate, with instructions, of sorts, to find his hidden treasure, and it's signed by one Joseph Silver, captain of the Sea Wolf. Sam know immediately what this means. His name is Silver too. So he's decended from a pirate. What could be better? Actually becoming a pirate, of course, and that is precisely what happens when Sam tries to clean the dirty old coin that fell out of the bottle with the note. One minute he is standing in his bedroom, the smell of fried fish wafting up the stairs, and the next minute he is cowering in the hold of a ship with a knife-wielding pirate heading straight at him and threatening to make him walk the plank.

The Silver name proves to be his salvation and once Sam explains to his new found pirate friends about the treasure, it's a non-stop action as they go about finding and securing the loot. On the way, there's lots of fun to be had with Sam's continual use of modern terms: there's a nice interchange about PE, which only gets worse when Sam tries to explain the term by reference to football, for example. And there's lots of typical pirate stuff too: sea battles, storms, jagged rocks and of course, a skeleton on an island. Sam even gets to make a couple of friends in the form of Fernando, the pirate who originally found him, and Charlie, a stowaway who's trying to escape an evil step-father.

In The Ghost Ship, Sam finds himself back with his old pirate friends who have spent all the money from Joseph Silver's hoard and are now in desperate need of funds again. So, they head off on the pirate adventures once more,this time taking on a ghost ship which has been raiding all the other ships in the area.

There are more Sam Silver books to come. Indeed the third one, Kidnapped, has already been published.  If these two are anything to go by, then there will be more fun, nonsense, action and suspense to enjoy. And all of that laced with delightful little black and white illustrations by Leo Hartas too (my personal favourite is the weeping pirate in The Ghost Ship).

So, a joyous lot of nonsense, here. No messages, no preaching, just good clean fun. Perfect for little boys and maybe even some tomboy girls. And nice and short and easy to read. How refreshing is that in the run up to Christmas?

 The lovely folks at Orion Books provided these review copies. If you want one for yourself, then please click through from here and Amazon will make a small contribution to the maintenance of this blog.

  

The Gathering Dark by Leigh Bardugo

I vowed to myself a while back that I wouldn't read any more books featuring a teenage girl with an unhealthy fixation for a vampire, were-wolf, demon, fallen angel or any other mythical beast or humanoid. I'd read enough, had enough, and could rehearse the hackneyed plot lines in my sleep.

And I held true to that vow until I was sent The Gathering Dark.

Now to be fair The Gathering Dark doesn't quite fall into the 'paranormal romance' category. For starters, it's set in another world where there are humans and Grisha - semi-magical humans with individual special powers - and our heroine, Alina,turns out to be one of these magical creatures herself. In fact, to start with, I was more struck by similarities with another recent huge hit, The Hunger Games. You have the same peasant girl who gets dragged from her poor surroundings and plunged into a fantastically rich and priveleged environment, only to have to fight for her very survival shortly thereafter. You have the same fascination with food, clothing, hair and make-up. (Seriously, are teenage girls that shallow?) And you have the same ordinary guy love interest that gets left behind.


And there we were until about half way along. And then it all sort of changed. First there was a brief flirtation with Twilight territory as Alina struggled to decide between good old Mal, or the dangerously sexy Darkling. But then she starts to see the truth, the excitement levels increase and the book becomes the page turner that you had hoped it would be before the clothing, hair and make-up got in the way. From about page 200 on it's difficult to put the book down. There's violent action, then moments of true tenderness, and all set against a richly depicted imaginary world.

There's no doubt that Leigh Bardugo has created a fascinating world here and it defines the book's uniqueness. Maybe the similarities with other books are unavoidable in the current economic climate. I can see that something that could be described as The Hunger Games meets Twilight might have the dollar signs rolling in the publiher's eyes. But Bardugo does, somehow, rise above this and I'm intrigued to see what happens in the next book in the trilogy.

 The lovely people at Orion Books provided this review copy. If you would like to get your own please click below and Amazon will kindly send a small contribution towards maintaining this blog.

 

Operation Bunny by Sally Gardner

Many of you will be familiar with the name Sally Gardner, if only for all the recent media coverage for her recent book from Hot Key Books, Maggot Moon, and the huge discussions about dyslexia that surrounded its publication. You may also know her from the hugely successful I, Coriander. But did you know she also has a nice line in middle grade fiction too?

You might not, as she's been a bit quiet on that front recently, but with Operation Bunny she has hopped (excuse the pun) back onto the wagon to produce a totally mad, funny, and exciting little gem.

 Our heroine, Emily Vole, hits the headlines when she is discovered in a hat box at Standsted Airport and very nearly blown up as a suspect package. That doesn't deter the spoilt and deliciously grotesque Daisy Dashwood, who with her indulgent husband, Ronald, adopts Emily and starts to raise her as her own child. There wouldn't have been much of a story if things had stayed there, but, of course, Daisy soon discovers she's pregnant and when her triplets arrive, Emily is relegated to the role of skivvy and general dogsbody.

At this point there are nods towards Harry Potter (Emily's bed is an ironing board in the laundry room) and Lemony Snicket (ludicrously gothic characters who are as charming as they are ghastly) which might raise a wry eyebrow in the well-read but never degenerate into plagiarism. Then Emily meets the strange old lady from next door and her even stranger cat, and things start to get seriously silly. There's a bird-clawed witch with a propensity for turning people into bunnies of assorted hues, an irritable fairy and the cat, who's called Fidget, talks and walks on his hind legs. And there's a quest!

This is wonderful stuff. It moves fast, has a cast of gloriously awful villains, fairies, witches and bright pink bunnies. And it's illustrated with spiky black and white drawings by David Roberts that conjure up the characters in all their barmy glory. What more could you want?

This is the first in a series which will have Emily, Fidget and Buster (the irritable fairy) solving further cases for Wings & Co, the fairy detective agency, bringing, I am sure, lots more fantastic villains and equally fantastical stories for us to enjoy. If you have a 7+ year old who likes fun, then this would be a great little gift, and who know, might even get the odd reluctant reader interested too.

The lovely people at Orion Books provided this review copy. If you would like to get your own please click through from here and Amazon will kindly send a small contribution towards maintaining this blog.


 
 

Diamonds and Doom by Marcus Sedgwick

So, sad schmuck that I am, I only get to find out about Marcus Sedgwick's younger reader series The Raven Mysteries when the last one comes out. Not sure how that happened, but if like me you're new to these books then dive in quick because, if Diamonds and Doom is anything to go by, they are a laugh out loud riot.

Castle Otherhand is up for sale. Minty, Lord Valevine, Solstice, Cudweed and even Fellah are at their wit's end. Chaos and catastrophe reign, and there's only hours left to get rid of a mystical space time vortex tungummy, save everyone from whatever is roaming the corridors, and find a squillion or two in cash. To a noble, sulky and grumpy  raven of Edgar's abilities that almost presents a challenge worth getting out of bed for.

Diamonds and Doom starts with Edgar the Raven,the usual narrator, away on his regular, once every twelve years, two week 'holiday' and Soltice discovering that the family have run out of money leading to the banks putting the castle up for sale. We know this from Solstice's 'completely secret and totally private diary' which is quoted in full at the start of the book. Edgar soon returns to take control and is shocked to find, not only that the castle is to be sold but that a younger, more athletic, raven called Rob has appeared and is vying for Solstice's affections. And after that all hell lets loose.

Now you wouldn't think it would work would you? A raven narrator bemoaning the presence of a younger raven and getting all jealous and sulky. But then again, there's noting particularly believeable about anything that happens in Castle Otherhand. Minty, Solstice's mother, is a witch and Lord Valevine is a sort of dotty and incompetent inventor. Then there's the Solstice's little brother, Cudweed, whose need for food seriously compromises Solstices effort to use her mother's spell book, and a small cast of assorted other odds and bods. So when Solstice's food smeared spell goes wrong, setting off the aforementioned 'mystical space time vortes thingummy', you sort of expect that some seriously weird stuff is going to happen.

And it does. There are jelly staircases (something to do with Cudweed's snack?), and a space monster, people turning to stone, an upsidedown room, a room full of sheep riding motorbikes and just about anything else that you care to imagine. And, boy, oh boy, it works.

Sedgwick's style has a lot to do with it, of course. He sucks you in with his conspiratorial, chatty prose. It's easy to read, funny and exciting and so when the weird stuff happens, you just accept Edgar's take on it and move on. But then there are the spectacular illustrations by Pete Williamson as well. These are part Nightmare Before Christmas, part naive cut-outs and they work brilliantly. 

This is gothic humour for kids of the highest order and I for one will be looking for the other five books in the series the nest time I'm in a bookshop.

 The lovely people at Orion Books provided this review copy. If you would like to get your own please click through from here and Amazon will kindly send a small contribution towards maintaining this blog.

SCBWI 2012 Agents Party

It hardly seems possible that it's come around again but there we go. In a much less physically hot atmosphere than last year, the assembled masses once again gathered in the Theodore Bullfrog's upstairs room for the annual SCBWI Agents Party last night.

As has become the norm for these events the agents present on the panel opened the evening by taking turns to give us a little idea of who they were, where they came from and what they were looking for.

First up was Bryony Woods. Bryony started her career in bookselling and libraries before undertaking an MA in publishing and then joining the Caroline Sheldon agency, where she is at present but not for much longer. Bryony was unable to give us much information, but she is about to join a new agency with another agent, whose name the new agency will bear - hence the secrecy. There should be an announcement soon but in the meantime watch this space. She is very excited about the prospect of looking for new authors and will be seeking, in particular, YA and older middle-grade books which are a bit strange or different (think Neil Gaiman, Roald Dahl and Meg Rossof). She likes books that are dark, have a strong sense of space and time. She's particularly keen on the Victorian era. She also likes adventure stories with action, humour and a strong bond of friendship.

Jodie Marsh of United Agents came next. Jodie started off as an assistant to Rosemary Canter, who was the first specialist children's agent. Rosemary died eighteen months ago and Jodie took over her list. Since then Jodie has been developing the illustrator side of the list but she does handle both writers and illustrators. She believes that picture books have become more important recently because the best picture book writers can produce 7, 8 even 9 texts a year whereas the best writers rarely produce more than one.United Artists are a large and newish agency (established in 2008) and have agents representing film and TV as well as other talent. This gives them an edge in handling 'transmedia' (a word Jodie clearly disliked) which she believes is becoming an increasingly large commmercial reality in children's books.

Jodie would like to find a bestseller! She likes classic children's books and is a bit sceptical of the YA market. She prefers the teen classification. She also warns against trends, remarking that the supposedly big publisher led dystopian genre is barely out-selling the readership-led dark romance genre which is now well past its peak.

The next agent to speak was Joanna Volpe of new Leaf Literary and Media. And for those of you who are unfamiliar with that agency, it might be because it's based in New York. Fear not though because they are still willing to accept submissions from British SCBWI-ers!  Joanna has a small list and likes to look at projects from all angles. This means she likes to sign people for the long run. She represents every one frmo picture book writers to teen and likes dark fiction, dark comedy and all things quirky. She agreed with Jodie about reader trends and commented that this is why she is looking particularly for scifi.

And then it was the turn of Juliet Mushens of PFD. Juliet has been at PFD for two years and was at harper Collins for two years before that. PFD has been around since 1925 and is a full service agency covering foreign rights, talent, film and TV. Her list is broad. She has celebrity writers and YA. Her taste is broad too but all her children's books are from debut writers. She is particularly interested in epic fantasy and she also wants to find the British Judy Bloom but whichever it is it must be aimed at 12+.

Last up was Claire Wilson of RCW. Claire is building the children's list and likes quirky and odd books that are also page turners. She is looking for something arresting that will make her sit up. And she advise writers not to worry about trends but to write from the heart.



The next stage of the evening was the questions section:

Q1: Is there a gap in the market for books 7-9 year old with both boys and girls in the lead

A1: Joanna agreed, especially in the US, but commented that more girls read. Jodie added that girls will read books with boys in the lead.

Q2: Do you google people's names when they submit to you?

A2: Bryony looks to see what is out there but comments that a writer doesn't have to have a platform. Jodie has never done this. She just reads the book! Joanna does but also does not mind if a writer has no social media platform as she will work with writers to develop this as appropriate. She does check on Google though just to make sure they're not 'mad'. Juliet doesn't think it is helpful as she doesn't believe social media platforms translate to sales.

Q3: How importnat is it that a character can be franchised?

A3: Bryony doesn't think its essential but it's a nice to have. Jodie finds the idea interseting but horrifying and cites Penguin Books current efforts to find a new Peppa Pig which has them controlling all aspects of the character's development and all the rights. This can lead, for example, with a televisions company being able to change the book content. She thinks there will be more of this but believes it will be mainly important for the picture book market.

Q3a: If you found a character that you liked but it's not pitched right wuold you develop it?

A3a: Jodie will work on it if she sees potential. She advises that positioning is important in writing - you need to do your research and get the vocabulary and the style right. Joanna commented that every major publisher in the US has an Intellectual Property department. So a lot of packaging goes on. She's not looking for franchising per se but it's nice if it happens. Claire advised that most of the biggest brands in fiction were accidental. She's looking for great books that she loves not brands.

Q4: Is there a shift from YA to younger fiction?

A4: Bryony still gets mostly YA submissions, but publishers are looking for middle grade and particularly funny MG, but she advises not to worry about this and just write what's best for you. Jodie thinks the UK is best at middle grade and books that get to the hearts of children and the US at YA. Joanna and Juliet also get too much YA and want middle grade. Claire finds she mostly gets picture books. She thinks it's because people think they are easy, which they aren't.

Q5: How much editorial work do you put in?

A5: They were all prepared to edit a lot if necessary and for the right book but Joanna commented that this might mean she turns something down because she is already involved in a lot of editorial work with other clients. Bryony also added that you need to be comfortable that a prospective client will be prepared to take your advice, and Jodie mentioned that sometimes it might be better to use a literary consultancy as agents don't always have the time.

Q6: How can someone write something special but the book still be wrong?

A6: Joanna commented that sometimes the tone is wrong for the style of book but another genre would fit the tone. Claire noted that all the authors she's ever taken on have had books that didn't work. Jodie pointed out the importance of resilience and keeping going even if you've got an agent and a deal. She said that the most difficult thing to sell, she finds, are the third books. Most publishers give you two book deals and then you have to reinvent yourself to get the third. Bryony added that if an agent tells you to go away and write another book, that's a good sign.

Q7: Do you mention if you've had editorial input in a submission letter?

A7: The UK agents all thought you should but Joanna warned against it for the States as there are a lot of scam artists working there. Bryony also advised that it's not always a plus point. You might have ignored everything the editor said.

Q8: Would you be interested in polished first few chapter if the rest of the book wasn't written?

A8: This question was met with a resounding NO! and prompted the 'F-bomb' incident which so amused the audience when one of the agents cited a colleague advising 'Just finish the fucking book!'

Q9: Is there any interest in poetry for children?

A9: Jodie thought not. She said the market is small and dominated by big and famous names.

Q10: Can you give us one tip?

A10: Bryony - write from the heart.
         Jodie - read
         Joanna - write mostly about the book not yourself in your query letter
         Juliet - keep trying
         Claire - read.

And then the meeting broke up to give the brave amongst us a chance to pitch

 

and queue!

 

Many thanks to Bryony, Jodie, Joanna, Juliet and Claire for giving up their evening for us yesterday and to Liz de Jager for organising it all.

 

Ghost Knight by Cornelia Funke

You cannot imagine my excitement at being offered a proof copy of Cornelia Funke's latest children's book to review. I haven't read one of her books for a while but I knew I would be in for something special. I can still remember reading Dragon Rider to my daughter when she was little and the misty imagery of The Thief Lord will haunt my idea of Venice forever.

And I mention those two books, rather than the, perhaps, more famous Inkheart series, because this book, Ghost Knight, seems to me to be more in their style.

Here's the blurb:

Eleven year old Jon Whitcroft never expected to enjoy boarding school. He never expected to be confronted by a pack of vengeful ghosts either. And then he meets Ella, a quirky new friend with a atste for adventure... Together, Jon and Ella must work to uncover the secrets of a centuries-old murder, while being haunted by ghosts intent on revenge. So when Jon summons the ghost of the knight Longspee for his protection, there's one question - can Longspee himelf really be trusted?

So, here we have a gothic adventure in the literary sense, set amongst the architecturally gothic buildings of Salisbury Cathedral and its school. This is perfect territory for Funke. The setting is dark and mysterious and provides no end of opportunity for Funke's ability to conjure up mists and shadows and generally send a thrill down the reader's spine. But the young protagonist and his friend sail through the horror with a wry sense of humour and a pretty solid, on the part of the girl, dose of good sense. This stops the story getting too dark and keeps it well-suited to its 9+ readership.

The proof copy I have is paperback, but the real thing will be released in hardback in October 2012, and it strikes me that this will be another of Orion's little masterpieces. They seem to have a knack of producing something that you want to handle and cherish. And there will be even more reason to value this book. For Funke's delightful and thrilling, in all senses, story is superbly illustrated by Andrea Offermann in a style that steers a perfect line between that ever-present gothic horror and a childish naivete. It pleases me no end that more children's novels are being illustrated and I am glad Orion is taking a lead in this area.

 The lovely people at Orion Books provided this review copy. If you would like to get your own please click through from here and Amazon will kindly send a small contribution towards maintaining this blog.