Raised by Wolves by Tristan Bancks

Tristan Bancks you need to know the power of your story. There is a sentence early on this story that set me up to feel so much pain. Olive leaves her home to chase after her criminal father.

"If Olive lets dad go now, they'll never see it (the money) again, which could mean very bad things for their family. ... She slides the door closed behind her and leaps over the giant puddle at the back door, splashing down at the edge of it, bare feet snap-freezing. If she goes back for shoes, she'll talk herself out of this. ... She squints her eyes shut, musters every ounce of courage she has, then closes the gate behind her and sets out into the night." pg 45

Wait a minute! Go back a re-read this. Olive has no shoes on. I think I felt every step, every rock, every horrible surface over that terrible night as Olive chases her father across the dark, rainy city. Oh, and her phone battery is nearly dead too! How will she contact Ben, her brother. Ironically, he is training to be a police officer, but things are spiraling out of control and Olive really needs his help. 

Just to back-track a little. Mum is working hard to support the family so she is often late coming home. Olive is always on the alert checking the house and locking the doors and windows. Then one day she sees her Dad - the dad who stole over $900,000 five years ago. She follows him, talks to him and even shares a donut with him. Then dad asks her for money - $10,000!

At the heart of this story there is a theme of love and belonging. Olive knows her father committed a dreadful crime and that he put their family in terrible danger but she just wants to know - does he love her?

"Do you love me?' she asks and immediately wishes she could gobble the words back up. Dad looks surprised. ... 'Course I do,' Dad says. Olive feels a rush of blood from her chest to her cheeks. She has never heard Dad say this before. Technically, he didn't actually say it, but pretty much." pg 18

"She thinks of Dad. He's a bit rough around the edges, and he smells weird, but he's nicer than she remembers. And he loves me. She feels like an idiot for thinking it. Judges and lawyers need to be good at picking lies, but she believes him. She really does." pg 23

Maybe this is why Olive offers to give her father the $10,000 and why he finds their house and why he takes the bag with all the money that mum has been hiding and why Olive then decides she has to go after him to get that money back so that she and mum and Ben can possibly, perhaps, maybe, find a happy 'normal' life.

I read Raised by Wolves late into the night and continued into the early hours of the morning. I turned to the last page at 1.21am. It is very early in the year but I am absolutely certain Raised by Wolves will be a CBCA 2027 Notable title (fingers crossed the judges agree with me that it can stand alone because there is an awards rule about sequels). I highly highly recommend you add Raised by Wolves to your library - add it to your shopping list today. 

Publisher blurb: Twelve-year-old Olive Silver knows how to check every room with a knife when she gets home from school, how to survive alone and how to keep secrets. She’s had to – ever since her criminal dad abandoned her family five years ago and let them pay for his crime. But now, he’s back.

The day she spots him outside her school, everything tilts. Olive calls her big brother Ben, who’s two days from graduating the police academy, and follows Dad through rain and darkness, across railway tracks and through wrecking yards, desperate for answers. Does Dad love her? Or is he only back for the money? As the night spins out of control, Olive faces a choice: let Dad go or hunt him down and bring him to justice. Raised by Wolves is a tense, heart-stopping thriller about loyalty, betrayal and finding out who you really are when the people you trust most let you down.

There is a scene towards the end of Raised by Wolves at the airport - I suggest you use part of this as a way to book talk this thrilling story with your students. 

Raised by Wolves is the sequel to Two Wolves (2014) but this new installment can stand alone. That said, though, your reading experience of Raised by Wolves will be a richer one if you are familiar with Two Wolves. I read Two Wolves in 2015 and so I could only remember fragments of the plot but now I am keen to go back and read it again. In the US Two Wolves has the title 'On the Run'.

I highly recommend all of these other books by Tristan Bancks - we are so lucky here in Australia to be able to share books with our readers by this very talented creator. Pop each title into my search bar or go to this post.

Middle Grade Musings writes on Instagram about Raised by Wolves: I had high expectations for this book and they have been blown away. It’s incredible that Tristan was able to fit so much into 215 pages. It’s a book of 2 tales: the non-stop thrilling action that puts lives in danger and keeps you completely hooked - dodging trains, gun toting cowboys, barefoot pursuits, vicious dogs and much much more (no spoilers here). Then there is the portrayal of Olive’s inner turmoil, as her world falls apart around her and she is completely torn in 2 by the moral dilemma that she faces. Tristan so powerfully portrays the internal struggles of Olive as she deals with the ramifications of her father’s arrival back into her life. You can feel her genuine anguish throughout. It’s a credit to Tristan that he could capture this internal battle in a storyline so fast-paced and filled with action.

The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron Illustrated by Matt Phelan

Here is a word from this book which I love - splendiferousness

Lucky has never met her dad. Her mum died from a freak accident when she stepped on some electrical wires that had blown down in a severe storm. Lucky was only eight when this happened and so she has lots of unanswered questions. Lucky's father was previously married in France. When Lucky's mother dies, he asks his first wife to come and take care of Lucky. Brigitte does come but she thinks this will only be needed for a short time until a foster parent is found. Brigitte has come from France and so she faces an enormous shock when she finds herself in Hard Pan, California - population 43. This place is in the desert and Lucky and Brigitte live in a set of joined trailers. 

It is very clear Brigitte loves and cares for Lucky but Lucky is filled with doubt. She is sure Brigitte misses her own mother back in Fance and that one day, possibly very soon, Brigitte will leave. Lucky is desperate to stop this happening so she hits on a plan to run away expecting this to somehow convince Brigitte that she is needed.

Lucky has two young friends. A small boy named Miles who has been sent to live with his grandmother. Miles loves cookies and one special book - Are you my Mother?  I loved this book when I was a small child too. The trouble is Miles, aged five, cannot read and so he keeps asking Lucky and her other friend Lincoln to read it for him. Lincoln is a wise friend but his obsession is knots. Lucky does appreciate his wise words but she also is a frustrated with his focus on knots. Lucky also has a special loyal dog named HMS Beagle.

Here are some text quotes:

A breeze rattled the found object wind chimes at the Found Object Wind Chime Museum and Visitor Center, and the high desert air carried that sound in front of it, all the way across town, down to the three trailers at the very end of Hard Pan. Just the sound of those chimes made Lucky feel cooler. But she still had doubts and anxious questions in all the crevices of her brain, especially about how to find her Higher Power. If she could only find it, Lucky was pretty sure she’d be able to figure out the difference between the things she could change and the things she couldn’t, like in the little prayer of the anonymous people. Because sometimes Lucky wanted to change everything, all the bad things that had happened, and sometimes she wanted everything to stay the same forever.

Lucky got Brigitte as her Guardian when she was eight years old. The reason was that Lucille, Lucky’s mother, went outside one morning after a big rainstorm, and she touched some power lines that had blown down in the storm. She touched them with her foot.

Or, let’s say that her Guardian just gave up and quit because Lucky did something terrible. The difference between a Guardian and an actual mom is that a mom can’t resign. A mom has the job for life. But a Guardian like Brigitte could probably just say, “Well, that’s about it for this job. I’m going back to France now. Au revoir.” There poor Lucky would be, standing alone in the kitchen trailer, at rock bottom. Then she would have to search for her own Higher Power and do a fearless and searching moral inventory of herself, just like Short Sammy and all the other anonymous people had had to do.

Her eyes, skin, and hair, including her wispy straight eyebrows, were all the same color, a color Lucky thought of as sort of sandy or mushroomy. The story she told herself to explain it was that on the day before her birth, the color enzymes were sorting themselves in big vats. Unfortunately, Lucky decided to be born a little ahead of schedule, and the enzymes weren’t quite finished sorting—there was only one color-vat ready and the color in that vat was sandy-mushroom. So Lucky got dipped in it, head to toe, there being no time for nice finishing touches like green eyes or black hair, and then, wham, she was born and it was too late except for a few freckles.

Seen from a little distance, Lincoln looked better, in Lucky’s opinion—you could imagine how he’d look when he grew into his ears. Like, as he got older his head wouldn’t look as big and his neck would definitely look less scrawny. So far he didn’t look like a president, which was what his mother was hoping and which was why she named him Lincoln Clinton Carter Kennedy. Lucky knew he’d rather be president of the International Guild of Knot Tyers. Mothers have their good sides, their bad sides, and their wacky sides, but Lucky figured Lincoln’s mother had no way of knowing at the time he was born that he would turn out to be so dedicated about knots.

She suddenly understood that she’d been doing everything backward. She’d thought you looked for your Higher Power and when you found it you got special knowledge—special insight—about how the world works, and why people die, and how to keep bad things from happening. But now she knew that wasn’t the right order of things. Over and over at the anonymous meetings she’d heard people tell how their situation had gotten worse and worse and worse until they’d hit rock bottom. Only after they’d hit rock bottom did they get control of their lives. And then they found their Higher Power.

There are sad moments and moments of great tension in this story but there are also some very funny events such as the snake in the clothes drier (Brigitte is terrified of snakes); and when Lincoln decides he needs to fix the sign outside town - "Slow children at play" to say "Slow, children at play". The free government food is hideous but also utterly crazy especially the tasteless yellow cheese. 

The Higher Power of Lucky has 160 pages so it is a very quick book to read but somehow I just didn't want it to end. And I was so pleased that I totally wrongly predicted the ending. 

There has been some controversy about this book in the US because early in the story Lucky overhears one of the people speaking at the 12 Steps Program (she loves to hear the stories from people with various addictions about how they found their 'High Power' after hitting 'rock bottom'. Short Sammy's story involves his dog and a snake and includes the word 'scrotum'. Lucky listens outside the Found Object Wind Chime Museum and Visitor Center, where she works clearing up rubbish after each group comes for their meeting. Read an interview with Susan Patron here about this issue. Sadly, Susan Patron died in 2023. You can read more about the plot and find discussion questions on the publisher page. 

Publisher blurb: Lucky, age ten, can't wait another day. The meanness gland in her heart and the crevices full of questions in her brain make running away from Hard Pan, California (population 43), the rock-bottom only choice she has. It's all Brigitte's fault -- for wanting to go back to France. Guardians are supposed to stay put and look after girls in their care! Instead, Lucky is sure that she'll be abandoned to some orphanage in Los Angeles where her beloved dog, HMS Beagle, won't be allowed. She'll have to lose her friends Miles, who lives on cookies, and Lincoln, future U.S. president (maybe) and member of the International Guild of Knot Tyers. Just as bad, she'll have to give up eavesdropping on twelve-step anonymous programs where the interesting talk is all about Higher Powers. Lucky needs her own -- and quick. But she hadn't planned on a dust storm. Or needing to lug the world's heaviest survival-kit backpack into the desert.

Hard Pan may be lightly populated, but every soul is uniquely unforgettable, from 5-year-old Miles, shameless cookie hustler, to Lincoln, serious knot-tying addict. Readers will gladly give themselves over to Patron, a master of light but sure characterization and closely observed detail. A small gem. Kirkus Star review

After reading The Higher Power of Lucky please go out and find Are you my Mother?

The other two books are Lucky Breaks (2009) and Lucky for Good (2011) - the series is called Lucky's Hard Pan trilogy. The good news that book one can stand alone - it does leave the way open for the sequel but everything is beautifully resolved in this first installment. 

I have absolutely no idea how I discovered this book The Higher Power of Lucky - it is a title I recently added to my Kindle library. Maybe I saw it on a Newbery list because it was a Newbery winner in 2007. Over the Christmas week I read so many fantastic books - I will be sharing them here over the coming days - Flight of the Puffin by Ann Braden; The Wanderer by Sharon Creech; The Frindle Files by Andrew Clements; The Bletchley Riddle by Ruta Sepetys; The Might Miss Malone by Christopher Paul Curtis; Busted by Dan Gemeinhart; and Queen of Thieves by Johan Rundberg.

Raven Winter by Susanna Bailey

Billie and her mum have moved out of the family home because dad has been sent to jail following a crime involving money (sounds like a white-collar crime). Now mum has found a new partner but he is a horrible and aggressive man who holds an enormous amount of power over her mum. He has excluded their friends and he demands the house be kept spotlessly clean. He has 'hidden' all of her dad's possessions in the garage. Dad loved the outdoors and especially birds and he and Billie share a very special bond and so Billie desperately misses him and she is sure he has no idea that they have moved. She is also certain mum and dad can get back together and that dad can help mum understand Daniel is dangerous. 

Billie decides she needs to find her dad and this decision becomes even more urgent when she discovers letters from her dad hidden in a box under her mum's bed. When she first leaves home she finds a young raven with an injured wing. She abandons her plan and smuggles him into her room. Luckily this is the week Daniel is not home because he is a long-distance truck driver. For her second attempt to run away she decides to look in those boxes in the garage. Daniel is away again and she wants to find her dad's bird books but just as she is unpacking the boxes Daniel arrives home. His violent reaction is utterly terrible. So now Billie really does have to go. But how? Her new friend Nell has accidentally offered the perfect way to do this and Billie now has to stowaway as Nell and her grandmother drive to a market near where dad has been staying. 

Blurb: Ever since Billie’s kind and nature-loving dad went to prison, her life has lost its shine. And now, Mum’s new boyfriend has moved in and home is full of sharp-glass silences. Billie’s never felt more alone. Until one day she discovers an injured young raven and in nursing him back to life, Billie finds friendship, hope and a letter that might bring her one step closer to reuniting with Dad. Raven Winter is the story of friendship, family and the belief in a very special relationship with a young raven set against the beautiful and the wintery backdrop of the Yorkshire Dales.

This is a harrowing story, but I was sure Susanna Bailey would provide a happy ending or at least the glimpse of a better future so I kept reading Raven Winter even though at times I just had to stop, walk away and take a breath. This is a book for a very mature reader aged 11+ and not recommended for sensitive readers. Read a text sample here. 

Raven Winter does suggest domestic abuse and a parent who is absent due to being in jail – tough topics – but I think it is done sensitively and gently. ...  The bigger theme of the book in my view though is how children can find comfort in nature, how non-judgmental animals can help a child who feels alone, and how caring for someone or something outside of themselves, can be cathartic. Julia's Books

There are many strands to this powerful story and binding them together is a celebration of nature and its power to heal: what the author has achieved is a fine balance between sadness and beauty. Not everything is resolved but father and daughter are reunited and there’s hope for the future. There’s also a reassuring message to any reader in a situation similar to Billie about the importance of going to a trusted adult for help. Red Reading Hub

Companion books:

Dragon Skin

The Star outside my window

Here are other books by Susanna Bailey

Manxmouse by Paul Gallico

This book has twelve chapters and each reads like a short story. We first meet Manxmouse as he is created by a ceramic artist who specializes in making mice. On this night, however, he has been drinking and his newest mouse looks very odd. This chapter is entitled "The story of the Tiddly Mouse-Maker."

"In the first place it was not grey but an utterly mad blue. It had a fat little body like an opossum, hind feet like those of a kangaroo, the front paws of a money and instead of delicate and transparent ears, these were long and much more like those of a rabbit and what's more they were blue too, and violently orange-coloured on the inside."

And of course this little creation has no tail - just a button.

As the clock strikes thirteen, Manxmouse makes his getaway. He discovers his fate lies with meeting a manx cat and so his long adventures filled with interesting characters begins. He meets a movie star, an elephant in a circus, a greedy pet shop owner, a long-distance truck driver, a taxi driver, a tiger and a lonely child named Wendy H Troy. He flies on the back of a hawk who talks like the captain of a passenger jet and rescues a fox from a pack of hunting dogs. Every story feels like a wild ride and readers are sure to keep turning the pages anxious to know the outcome of meeting the fabled manx cat which you are sure to anticipate will end in disaster. 

Blurb: The brave little Manxmouse is one-of -a-kind creature on a special journey. But everyone knows who awaits him, for the Manxmouse belongs to the Manx Cat… The Manxmouse is one-of-a-kind. He’s the strangest little mouse you’ll ever see, with bright blue fur, huge rabbit ears and a distinct lack of tail. But Manxmouse doesn’t mind being different. He knows that destiny awaits him, and so Manxmouse sets out on an exciting adventure. He meets tigers and hawks and dastardly pet-shop owners, but there’s someone he dreads and desires to meet more than anyone else. The someone who has been waiting for him all along… the Manx Cat.

I think this book has stood the test of time even though it is quite a quirky tale. Children in Australia may be unfamiliar with some of the settings in London such as Madame Tussaud's wax museum. If this story was your own childhood favourite you could read it as a family read aloud - one chapter per night. 

Here is a discover - The Manx Cat is a real breed: The Manx cat is a breed of domestic cat originating on the Isle of Man. It is one of the oldest known cat breeds. The Manx is medium-sized, stocky, and heavily boned, with sloping shoulders and full chests. It has a naturally occurring mutation that shortens the tail, and can be identified as being either a rumpy, a rumpy riser, a stumpy, or a longy. 

Manx is also a Celtic language spoken on the Isle of Man. All of the UK references in this book seem a little strange to me now that I have discovered Paul Callico is from the USA.

On my recent trip to Melbourne I visited several bookshops including a few I had not seen before. One was North Melbourne Books and it had the best back list titles and eclectic collection of children's books of any store from my visit. 

Manxmouse was published in 1968. You are sure to recognise the name Paul Gallico (1879-1976) and perhaps you read others of his famous books such as The Snow Goose (1941). I didn't realise he wrote Mrs. 'Arris Goes to Paris (1958) but I did love the recent movie. He also wrote The Poseidon Adventure (1968) and again, although it was long ago, I did love the movie. Reading about Paul Gallico I was amazed to find that in 2000, J.K. Rowling declared that Gallico's Manxmouse was one of her favorite childhood books. Again, this one has a movie adaption - this time as a Japanese Anime movie Manxmouse's Great Activity (Tondemo Nezumi Daikatsuyaku). Manxmouse even has his own Wikipedia page. 

Here are some previous cover designs (using these to talk to students about appeal and design etc can be a powerful discussion starter).

My copy of Manxmouse is from the series Collins Modern Classics - here are a few others:

Leeva at Last by Sara Pennypacker illustrated by Matthew Cordell

What are people for?

Okay, before I tell you about Leeva at Last, I want you to locate your own book wish list or library shopping list and add this book NOW! Readers aged 9+ will LOVE meeting Leeva and her friends and teachers are also sure to thoroughly enjoy reading this book as a class serial story - not with work sheets - just for the joy of a terrific story with that all important very happy ending. There are 54 short chapters in this book which has 300 pages set in a good size font with a sprinkling of illustrations by Matthew Cordell. Fans of Matilda will love meeting brave Leeva as will readers who enjoyed Flora and Ulysses -The illuminated adventures by Kate DiCamillo.

Leeva Thornblossom has the most despicable parents you will ever meet in a story unless you have met Matilda's parents from the famous book by Roald Dahl and also the parents from The Willoughbys by Lois Lowry but to me these parents seem even worse than all of those. Mayor Thornblossom and her husband Dolton only care about fame (that's the Mayor) and money (that's her dad). Now that Leeva is old enough she has become their slave. She cooks, cleans, mows the lawn and completes money problems for her father who is the town treasurer. These parents are so completely dreadful I can hardly begin to describe them. Here is an example showing how Leeva got her name:

Nurse Blackberry needs Mayor Thornblossom to fill in the birth certificate forms for her new baby. The Mayor has been so demanding.

"She was fed up, ready to snap. And now here she was, holding the birth certificate, asking what the new baby' name was and hearing in reply, 'Don't you know who I am? You do it, nurse!'. Well, Nurse Blackberry snapped. 'Look! The last name is filled in already: Thornblossom! All that's left is ... "first name. Middle name ... leave a space."

"Each time her parents related the story, they cackled in glee. But Leeva knew it wasn't funny. In fact, it was a pitiful thing to have been named so carelessly."

And here is how Leeva makes her own shoes from the packets which contain her father's daily food called Cheezaroni:

"Cheezaroni bore a glancing resemblance to macaroni and cheese, except that the macaroni and the cheese were indistinguishable from each other and they were both indistinguishable from the box, so even when you followed the instructions perfectly, what you ended up with was a flavourless cardboardy mash that smelt powerfully of feet."

"They were her sandals - a fairly new pair. She was proud of these shoes, which she fashioned by molding tinfoil Cheezaroini trays around her feet, then strapping them on with masking tape. In winter, she molded a second Cheezaroni tray over the top of each foot to keep the heat in. The shoes were never comfortable, and the tape left itchy bands around her ankles, but the silvery flash they made when they caught the light was lovely."

More about those parents:

"Now, Reader, Leeva had known her mother and father were liars, of course. According to the stories they told each other at night, lying was pretty much all they did in their jobs ... But it had never occurred to her that they would lie to her, their own daughter."

Her father is greedy and obsessed with making and saving money and her mother is vain, greedy and obsessed with becoming famous.

Luckily, yes there is always a luckily, next door to her house Leeva discovers a library. Harry, nephew of the librarian Mrs Pauline Flowers (yes she is just like Miss Honey) gives Leeva a precious library card and the courage to step away from her parents and all their tortuous rules. Mrs Flowers also gives Leeva perfect books, delicious cookies every day, yummy lunches and later a flask of extra cold milk. Leeva also discovers toast for the first time thanks to the kind librarian.

Things that brighten Leeva's day:

• The daily newspaper - the Nutsmore Weekly and their word of the day. 
• The television soap opera - The Winds of our Tides - this is where Leeva has learnt about 'real life'.
• The program Vim and Vigor at any Age - a television exercise program
• Cookies made by Mrs Flower - chocolate chunk with toasted hazelnuts; Champurradas from Guatemala; and many more from every country in the world
• Wonderful library books such as Charlotte's Web; New Kid; Where the mountain meets the Moon; Bud, not Buddy; Other words for Home; One Crazy Summer; and Because of Winn Dixie.  By the end of her first week she has read 70 books!
• Her new "pet" Bob the badger
• Special friends - Osmund, Fern, Harry and his aunt.

There is a lot of slap-stick humour in this book BUT there are also some precious and tender moments. Leeva has never had a hug. She has never eaten hot toast with butter. She has no idea about gingersnaps. And she can only braid her her into two plaits. No mother or father have ever touched her or her hair, but she longs for a braid like her new friend Fern - a single perfect braid, with every hair in place. 

When her parents finally ban her from leaving the house ever again, Osmund arrives to find out what has happened. One lovely day some weeks ago he gave Leeva a comb - one of the first presents she had ever received.

"He pointed at the comb in Leeva's hand. 'Give it to me.' Leeva hesitated. It would hurt her to return the first thing she'd every owned all to herself. But as last she held it out. Osmund took the comb. He stood up. 'Turn around.' Although Leeva suspected Osmund would run away now, she turned around. She held her breath, waiting to hear his boots clomp out of the park. ... And then she felt him tug the rubber bands from her braids. She felt him unweave her braids and comb out her hair. She felt him divide it into three sections and lay the sections, right-over-centre, left-over-center, .... into a single braid down the middle of her back."

Read these reviews:

Splendid fun. Kirkus

Nobody’s parents are perfect, but Leeva’s are the worst. Even worse than those you might have met in Roald Dahl’s story of that long-suffering girl, Matilda.  Books for Keeps

I marvel at the variety of books written by Sara Pennypacker from the serious survival book Pax, the fun of Clementine and the powerful environmental message of Sparrow Girl.

Pax and Pax: Journey Home

Clementine

Waylon

Sparrow Girl

While the Storm Rages by Phil Earl

It is September 1939 and Britain is on the brink of being attacked by Germany. The government declares all pets, that cannot be evacuated to the countryside, must be euthanized. So as you can see the premise of this story is based on real events.

Image source

Noah is determined to save his precious dog Winn especially since as his father left for the front line Noah made a promise to look after their dog, mum and their old boat - Queen Maudie. 

"Don't let anything happen to her, you hear? ... We've been through a lot, me and Winn. And knowing that the three of you are safe is all I'll need to keep me safe. Can you do that for me, Noah?"

Noah is also worried about his best friend Clem and her old dog Frank. Noah and Clem make a plan to save their pets by taking them to the Battersea Dogs home but when they arrive hundreds of other people are in a line ahead of them. Battersea cannot help all the pet owners but then someone in the line suggests the Duchess Nina Douglas-Hamilton lives on a large estate and she cares for animals. The directions are vague but Noah, Clem and a boy from their school named Big Col decide to set off in Queen Maudie - it might be the only way to save their precious companions.

"From what I was told she lives on some estate west of London. Big old place with huge grounds."

It's Clem who suggests this lady might be connected with royalty and that surely means she lives near Windsor. 

Along the way they pick up a donkey, two crazy kittens and they find a way to cope with Big Col who viciously taunted and belittled Noah in the past. Adding to the tension Big Col has bought along an enormous python called Delilah. And yes the name Noah is of course a perfect choice for this young boy and his boat full of animals that he knows must be rescued. 

Inspired by true events, this poignant tale is full of heart. It provides a moving insight into the everyday effects of war on young children and demonstrates the importance of compassion, friendship and determination. Beautifully balanced with moments of humour, this compelling historical novel is a joy to read. Book Trust

Here is a video where Phil Earle talks about While the Storm Rages. I picked this book out at my local bookshop because I loved a previous book by Phil Earl - When the sky Falls. 

While the Storm Rages moves slowly at times so readers (aged 11+) will need quite a lot of reading stamina. The final scenes are filled with action and there is that all important happy ending. I will give a warning that sensitive readers, especially those who love animals, may find some scenes in this story quite distressing. I did wish this book had come with a map so I could follow the children's journey along the Thames. 

Reviews - Books for Keeps; A Library Lady; and this very detailed one from The Kids Book Curator. 

Phil Earle mentions these adventure stories in his video:

The Good Thieves

The river journey (with animals) of While the Storm Rages, reminded me of this book:

The Great Elephant Chase

The Best Worst Day Ever by Sophy Henn

Arthur is having the absolutely worst day ever (but adding to the fun of his tantrums we never discover what exactly went wrong).  Arthur stamps and huffs and roars. He stomps and huffs and roars some more and then he decides to run away. He makes it as far as the end of the garden and then realises he is hungry but when he gets up off the grass and turns around he sees a huge forest is now blocking his way. 

"There's no time to go around it ... So I had better go through it instead."

After a while Arthur meets a bear.  It's a huge bear and he is stomping all over the place. Arthur joins in with the stomping and, in a delightful twist, the stomping turns into dancing. Next Arthur meets an elephant. The elephant is huffing and puffing so Arthur joins in and those huffs turn into a tune. 

Preschool children will enjoy the pattern of this story. The lion is roaring but when Arthur joins in the sound turns into a yodel. Together with his three new friends Arthur finds his way back home and, just like the magic of Where the Wild things are by Maurice Sendak, no time has passed and his hot dinner is waiting for him.

"In fact it was almost as if he'd never been gone."

Listen to an audio sample of The Best Worst day Ever here. Check out my previous post about Sophy Henn who makes book which are perfect for sharing with preschool children. If you are talking about emotions and anger management with an older child I also recommend How to recycle your Feelings. I also adore The Rabbit Listened.

Sophy Henn’s sweet, fun book about tantrums and how we might best work them out is a real winner. Presented in her familiar bright, bold illustrative style, readers immediately relate to Arthur, and the feeling we all get sometimes where everything gets a bit much and some time out is needed. Book Trust

Here are some other books by Sophy Henn:

The Week at World's End by Emma Carroll

There are two worlds in this book - the one the children are experiencing and the complex one adults are talking about. The year is 1962 and the big world event is the Cuban missile crisis.  World's End Close is where Stevie Fisher and her friend Ray live. Life is pretty dull according to Stevie but the one night she finds a body in the garden shed. Actually it is not a body, it is a young girl. Her name is Anna and she tells Stevie and Ray that she is on the run. That someone is trying to poison her.

There are lots of threads in this story:

Stevie's dad has recently died and by accident Stevie finds a letter written by her dad which she is supposed to read when she is older. In the letter dad reveals the terrible truth about the nuclear testing in the Pacific. 

Ray is keen to visit America to meet his cousin and talk about Martin Luther King and African American rights. Ray's mum is English and his dad is African American.

Ray and Stevie want to keep Anna safe. They want to protect her but there seems to be so much she is not telling them.

Near World's End Close there is an army installation and right now, even though the war is over, there seems to be a lot of activity, secret activity going on there.

"Today, inside the fence, there were twenty or more people walking about. They were all wearing overalls and measuring distances and writing things on clipboards.  ... In the distance, near the runway's end, the doors stood open on a row of aircraft hangers. We were too far away to see what was inside, but I could guess, and my heart thumped so hard I could feel it in my throat. American plans to drop American bombs on Russia. And if the Russians fought back, that would make the airbase here in Britain, just half a mile from where we lived, a target."

On the the cover you can see Stevie, Ray and Anna in a World War II pillbox. A pillbox is a type of blockhouse, or concrete dug-in guard-post, normally equipped with loopholes through which defenders can fire weapons. It is in effect a trench firing step, hardened to protect against small-arms fire and grenades, and raised to improve the field of fire. (Wikipedia) After all these years since the war it is over grown with grasses and plants and is very well camouflaged. 

So now the race is on to find the truth about Anna, to save her from an unknown enemy and also to hope America and Russia can resolve their differences. See what I mean about issues big and small. 

In this video Emma talks about her book. This video 9 mins will give you some good background about the historical setting used in this book. It is very clear Emma Carroll has done an enormous amount of research for this book and then she has cleverly woven in all the global story strands. Here is a BookBag review. You can read more plot details here. 

Publisher blurb: 1962, London during the Cuban Missile Crisis. What would you do if there was a real possibility that the world might end? Ray, aware of his parents' building worry, decides to take matters into his own hands. He builds a shelter in the woods behind his house in the hope that he never has to use it. Only to discover that someone else needs it more than he does. An American girl, reported missing, has turned up there... Why is she hiding? And with neighbour turning against neighbour, will Ray be willing to help her? Set over the six days when the Cuban Missile Crisis became public knowledge, this (is a) tense, (and) clever thriller.

Read my previous posts featuring books by Emma Carroll:

Letters from the Lighthouse

In Darkling Wood

Small as an Elephant by Jennifer Richard Jacobson

Where are you from? Are you camping with your family? Where's your dad? - these are all questions Jack dreads.

Jack and his mum head off on a camping trip to Maine. They borrow the equipment they need and his mum hires a car. Mum is keen to write a list of all the things she wants to do and see in Maine. 

"These were supposed to be the best three days of his whole summer. The ones that were going to make up for the boring days he'd spent in their nothing-to-do apartment. Mom, in her exploding firecracker way had borrowed equipment, read online reviews, made lists of all the best places to visit, circled maps and even downloaded music for the car ride."

Jack joins in but when he makes suggestions of things to add to the list his mother gets mad. Jack knows he has to tread carefully. His mum has moods - highs and lows - and things can be dangerous when she is unwell. Mum has warned Jack not to tell anyone about their lives. 

"Once, Nina has asked him why he was alone so much, and he had tried to tell her - tell her about his mom's pinwheel times. How sometimes the air felt so still to her, like there wasn't any oxygen or breezes to be found. These times made his mother so prickly, she could hardly sit still."

"That's what worry did to Jack, it made him incredibly tired - tired the way his mom always was after the spinning times. She'd come home and crawl into bed, close the shades, pull up the covers, and that's where Jack would find her for days - sometimes even weeks - after a spinning time."

When Jack wakes up on the first morning of their trip the hire car is gone, his mother is gone and so is her little tent. Jack is alone and confused. The next few days will be terrible for Jack and harrowing for you, the reader, as Jack tries to find his mother, tries to stay away from the authorities and he tries to simply survive. 

Everything seems to against Jack. He accidentally swims with his phone, he breaks his little finger and is in excruciating pain and then all of his gear is stolen. Jack does need help but the warnings issued by his mother are powerful and so he keeps running and searching and trying to reach his, ever changing, destination.

"No!' he shouted. No! No! No! How could he have been so stupid? He had forgotten. Forgotten his phone was in his pocket. Forgotten and gone swimming! The phone was totally soaked. ... Totally soaked and totally dead."

"All Jack had left was a water bottle, the clothes on his back, and one small, plastic elephant."

The one thing that keeps Jack going is his desire to see a live elephant.  When he was a child he had a special experience:

"But the elephant had tapped him again and kept on tapping him until he lifted his head and looked over at her. Slowly, slowly, she'd reached out her trunk again and touched his cheek. Jack remembered giggling, remembered feeling as if the elephant tent were the safest place in the world."

If you, or your reading companion, can cope with the severe mental health issues raised in this book, then I would recommend this gripping story of survival for readers aged 11+. If you need more plot details here is a review by Book Aunt.

His love and knowledge of elephants both sustains him and pleasingly shapes the story arc. Jack’s journey to a new kind of family is inspiring and never sappy. Kirkus

I previously read two books by Jennifer Richard Jacobson -  Paper Things and The Dollar kids.

Other books which explore mental illness in a parent:

Nest

Waiting for Normal

Hurricane Child

The Secrets we Keep

Tillerman saga

Small as an Elephant reminded me of this one also about a desperate journey.

The Honest Truth