Don’t Cross the Line


Isabel Minhos Martins, Gecko Press, 978-1776570744, £11.99 hbk


An armed soldier, surrounded by white space, guards the line that divides the pages of the book. Characters amass on the left-hand pages: the soldier will not let them cross the line, citing the orders of The General. When two boys accidentally kick a ball across the page, they cross to retrieve it, and others follow in their wake, until the right-hand page is full of people, and the authority of The General has collapsed. This simple story elegantly introduces concepts of power and peaceful rebellion. The vivid colours and detailed illustrations in this book are gorgeous, and the use of the book’s physical format is witty and inventive. We absolutely love this book at Housmans Bookshop.


Liberty’s Fire


Lydia Syson, Hot Key Books, 978-1-4714-0367-5, £7.99pbk


Historical fiction can provide an exciting introduction to political ideas, and in Lydia Syson’s YA novel, set during the Paris Commune of 1871,


history is much more than


a backdrop. An exploration of the socialist ideals and politics of the Commune is woven into the narrative, with characters both inspired and frustrated by the politics of their time. Syson deftly portrays politics as part of the drama and fabric of everyday life—an idea with plenty of resonance today.


Girl with a White Dog


Anne Booth, Catnip Publishing Ltd. 978-1-4714-0367-5, £6.99 pbk


Jessie is learning at school about the rise of fascism in 1930s Germany. Meanwhile,


her grandmother is


behaving erratically, clearly haunted by something from her past. There are a plenty of children’s books dealing with Nazi Germany,


but


this story is particularly effective in linking the past and the present, and demonstrating that the horrors of fascism can’t always be safely confined to history. This was shortlisted for the Little Rebels Award in 2015.


10 not inspire Maggot Moon


Sally Gardner, Hot Key Books, 978- 1471400445, £6.99 pbk


At least one piece of dystopic fiction has to make it on to this list, and the 2013 Carnegie Medal winner is still one of my favourites. In a bleak alternate England in which an oppressive and violent regime routinely makes people disappear, the original, defiantly imaginative voice of fifteen-year-old Standish Treadwell offers a reminder that resistance to totalitarianism begins in the mind.


Here I Stand: Stories that Speak for Freedom


Amnesty International UK, Walker Books, 978-1406373646, £7.99 pbk


With contributors including John Boyne,


Neil Gaiman, Hardinge, Sabrina Mahfouz, Frances


Chelsea Manning and this collection


of stories exploring human rights and their various violations could be terribly worthy, but in fact


it’s a


moving, creative response to many of the humanitarian injustices of our time, made more effective by the variety of voices it contains.


The Little Bookshop and the Origami Army


Michael Foreman, Andersen Press, 978-1-7834-4208-9, £6.99 pbk


Another Little Rebels Award shortlistee. The Mayor decides to close down Joey’s favourite bookshop and replace it with a superstore: Origami Girl to the rescue. This picture book might


confidence in


government—when Origami Girl heads to Parliament for help, she finds them all literally asleep on the job—but it’s a sparky celebration of community action and standing up to power, the type of politics that everybody can be part of.


Catherine Barter, is author of the political thriller Troublemakers, and bookseller at Housmans, London’s oldest radical bookshop


Books for Keeps No.224 May 2017 11


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