Books I purchased to read in May:
Bored: Evie dreams big by Matt Stanton
Publisher blurb: My name is Evie and I'm making plans. Actual plans. I'm going to build my own house. I'm not talking about some silly treehouse either. I'm going to build a real house. Only it seems everyone else who lives in Turtle Place has an opinion they'd like to share. Frog and Milo want to build something totally different, Mr Santos is grumpy, Mrs Katz is spying on us, my sister is the most annoying person on earth and my parents don't believe in me at all. But I have a plan! I have big dreams when I'm bored ...
I LOVED the first instalment of this series Bored: Milo finds $105. This is actually the third book. I will keep my eye out for book two with the title Frog's Mystery Twin.
Under the Broken Sky by Mariko Nagi
This is a verse novel and you are sure to know I adore this form.
Publisher blurb: Twelve-year-old Natsu and her family live a quiet farm life in Manchuria, near the border of the Soviet Union. But the life they’ve known begins to unravel when her father is recruited to the Japanese army, and Natsu and her little sister, Cricket, are left orphaned and destitute. In a desperate move to keep her sister alive, Natsu sells Cricket to a Russian family following the 1945 Soviet occupation. The journey to redemption for Natsu's broken family is rife with struggles, but Natsu is tenacious and will stop at nothing to get her little sister back.
The pickpocket and the gargoyle by Lindsay Eager
This book has over 440 pages and very small print but the blurb just sounded so good. And of course the publisher Walker Books UK can always be relied on to produce terrific books.
Blurb: Fished from the river as an infant and raised by a roving band of street urchins who call themselves the Crowns, eight-year-old Duck keeps her head down and her mouth shut. It's a rollicking life, always thieving, always on the run - until the ragtag Crowns infiltrate an abandoned cathedral in the city of Odierne and decide to put down roots. It's all part of the bold new plan hatched by the Crowns' fearless leader, Gnat, to ensure the Crowns always have a steady supply of food and money. But no sooner is Duck apprenticed to the kindly local baker than her allegiances start to blur. Who is she really: a Crown or an apprentice baker? And who does she want to be? Meanwhile, high above the streets of Odierne, on the roof of the unfinished cathedral, an old and ugly gargoyle grows weary of waiting to fulfil his own destiny to watch and protect. Told in alternating viewpoints, this exquisite novel evokes a timeless tale of love, self-discovery, and what it means to be rescued.
Windswept by Margi Preus
I have already finished this one so it will be one of the next books I talk about here. I love the cover and a city bookstore were offering a 20% discount through the month of April so I decided to spend a little more and purchase the hardcover edition of this book which was published in 2022. The paperback is probably a long way off. Oh and this book has a Kirkus Star review.
Author blurb: In Tag’s world, children are disappearing. “Youngers” who venture Outside are windswept—vanishing in the swirling snow—Tag’s sisters among them. Many have tried to find the lost children; all have failed. And since the Other Times, the Powers That Be seem intent on keeping it that way. Little remains from those times: snippets of songs, heaps of plastic trash, and a few banned texts—including a book of fairytales. An unlikely crew of Youngers join forces—Boots, who can climb anything, Ant, who will eat anything, Ren, who will say anything, and Tag, who doesn’t appear to have any talent whatsoever. With their dubious skills, the fairytales, a possibly magic ribbon, and an unwillingness to accept “that’s impossible,” they set off to rescue their windswept siblings in this spellbinding fantasy from Newbery Honor winner Margi Preus.
The Beasts of Grimheart by Kieran Lawood
I LOVED The Legend of Podkin One-Ear which is book one from the Five Realms series. And I also loved the second book The Gift of Dark Hollow so naturally when I spied the paperback copy of book three from this series I just had to grab it. I found this book in a new independent book store called Three Sparrows. Their children's section has been very well curated (I guess you can use that word for a book shop). It is a small store but one with treasures to discover.
Book seller blurb: The bard is captured by the bonedancers and taken to their temple where he has to retell the tale that earned him a contract on his life. The story of Podkin continues . . . The Gorm have started to attack the forest, trying to flush out the Darkhollow rabbits. Podkin and the others leave for Sparrowfast warren, on the other side of the forest, to ask his uncle for help and for the use of his magic bow (one of the 12 Gifts). As they make their way through the forest, Vetch turns traitor and tries to seize the Gifts Podkin and Paz own for his masters, the Gorm. The young rabbits flee into the forest depths, where they discover a lost tribe of rabbits and a another of the sacred Gifts - a crown which lets the wearer speak to animals. With their new allies, Podkin, Paz and Pook emerge, meeting up with the others at Silver Rock warren. His uncle and the Sparrowfast rabbits are already there, as the Gorm have marched round the forest edge and taken their warren.
Rip to the rescue by Mariam Halahmy
This is a World War II novel for middle primary readers. I am always on the hunt for these. It is also good to see this is based on true events. I have read another book about a stray dog, a young boy and London during the blitz but I can't recall the title.
Publisher blurb: It’s 1940 and Nazi bombs are raining down on London, but 13-year-old bike messenger Jack has just discovered something unbelievable: a stray dog with a surprising talent. Jack navigates the smoky, ash-covered streets of London amid air raid sirens and falling bombs, dodging shrapnel and listening for cries for help, as a bike messenger for fire crews. When Jack finds a dog, miraculously still alive after the latest Nazi bombing of London, he realizes there’s something extra special about the shaggy pup–he can smell people who are trapped under debris. With his new canine companion, nicknamed Rip because of the dog’s torn ear, maybe Jack can do more than just relay messages back-and-forth–he can actually save lives. And if Jack’s friend Paula is right about the impending Nazi invasion, he and Rip will need to do all they can to help Jewish families like hers. There’s just one problem: Jack has to convince his ill-tempered father to let him keep Rip.
Jed and the Junkyard war by Steven Bohls
The cover of this book really appeals to me and the blurb makes this book sound quite dystopian which is a genre I enjoy.
Bookseller blurb: Jed is a regular kid with a normal, loving family . . . that is, if it's normal for a loving family to drop their child off in the middle of nowhere and expect him home in time for Sunday dinner. Luckily, Jed excels at being a regular kid who-armed with wit and determination-can make his way out of any situation. At least until the morning of his twelfth birthday, when Jed wakes to discover his parents missing. Something is wrong. Really wrong. Jed just doesn't realize it's floating-city, violent-junk-storm, battling-metals, Frankensteined-scavengers kind of wrong. Yet. A cryptic list of instructions leads Jed into a mysterious world at war over . . . junk. Here, batteries and bottled water are currency, tremendously large things fall from the sky, and nothing is exactly what it seems. Resilient Jed, ready to escape this upside-down place, bargains his way onto a flying tugboat with a crew of misfit junkers. They set course to find Jed's family, but a soul-crushing revelation sends Jed spiraling out of control . . . perhaps for good.
The Summer we found a Baby by Amy Hest
I have read and really enjoyed other books by Amy Hest - Remembering Mrs Rossi; and Letters to Leo along with her picture books about Baby Duck. I also loved On the Night of the Shooting star.
Publisher blurb: Set during World War II, this poignant, briskly paced historical novel relays the events of one extraordinary summer from three engaging points of view. On the morning of the dedication of the new children’s library in Belle Beach, Long Island, eleven-year-old Julie Sweet and her six-year-old sister, Martha, find a baby in a basket on the library steps. At the same time, twelve-year-old Bruno Ben-Eli is on his way to the train station to catch the 9:15 train into New York City. He is on an important errand for his brother, who is a soldier overseas in World War II. But when Bruno spies Julie, the same Julie who hasn’t spoken to him for sixteen days, heading away from the library with a baby in her arms, he has to follow her. Holy everything, he thinks. Julie Sweet is a kidnapper. Of course, the truth is much more complicated than the children know in this heartwarming and beautifully textured family story by award-winning author Amy Hest. Told in three distinct voices, each with a different take on events, the novel captures the moments and emotions of a life-changing summer — a summer in which a baby gives a family hope and brings a community together.
The Ambassador of Nowhere Texas by Kimberly Willis Holt
This book is the sequel to When Zachary Beaver came to town - five stars from me!
Publisher blurb: Decades after the Vietnam War and Toby’s life-changing summer with Zachary Beaver, Toby’s daughter Rylee is at a crossroads—her best friend Twig has started pushing her away just as Joe, a new kid from New York, settles into their small town of Antler. Rylee befriends Joe and learns that Joe's father was a first responder on 9/11. The two unlikely friends soon embark on a project to find Zachary Beaver and hopefully reconnect him with Rylee's father almost thirty years later.
Books I picked up at a recent charity book sale:
This book was shortlisted for the CBCA Older Readers award in 2021. Here is the review by Children's Books Daily.
Publisher blurb: Lissa is home on her own after school one afternoon when a stranger turns up on the doorstep carrying a baby. Reed is on the run - surely people are looking for him? He's trying to find out who he really is and thinks Lissa's mum might have some answers. But how could he be connected to Lissa's family - and why has he been left in charge of a baby? A baby who is sick, and getting sicker ... Reed's appearance stirs up untold histories in Lissa's family, and suddenly she is having to make sense of her past in a way she would never have imagined. Meanwhile, her brother is dealing with a devastating secret of his own.
The Odyssey retold by Geraldine McCaughrean
This is from the Puffin classics series. I hope it is a fairly easy version so that gain a better understanding of this famous tale.
Books from Beachside Bookshop - Advance reader copies. Sadly this wonderful independent bookshop is closing at the end of June.
Being Jimmy Baxter by Fiona Lloyd due for publication July 2023
I have already finished this one so I will talk about it in a few days. It reminded me of Cop and Robber by Tristan Bancks and Dragon Skin by Karen Foxlee.
The Impossible Story of Hannah Kemp by Leonie Agnew published April 2023
This is a new Young Adult title from Walker Books. The author won an Award in New Zealand in 2022- the Tessa Duder Award.
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