BfK Car-jacked
8 – 10 Junior/Middle continued HHHH
Ali Sparkes, Oxford, 978- 0192733467, 320pp, £6.99 pbk
Jack is a twelve-year old genius with an IQ of 170. While his parents are arguing in a petrol station shop, their car is hijacked, with Jack in the back. From this gripping opening to the finale of the novel there is non-stop action as Jack and the car-jacker, Ross, travel from Northumberland to London via Leeds and Rotherham. There’s a nod to the plot of The Thirty-Nine Steps, with Jack and Ross running across countryside, hiding in a remote cottage, travelling by train and taking part in a quiz show. There’s also an enjoyable cameo role for a hard-working librarian in Kings Cross, staying late to prepare for her Chatterbooks reading club!
about where’s she’s from and what Cambodia’s like. Also her friend, Vanna, who was adopted at the same time, goes to visit Cambodia, leaving
makes
of The Sound of Music. Dara is very upset, and wonders if she didn’t get the part because she doesn’t look like the other girls at school. She was adopted as a baby from Cambodia. This
Dara start thinking
end up having to live with the rather severe and reserved Miss Saunders.
Rich seems to thrive, but Glory is very homesick. She is sure Miss Saunders doesn’t like her and her brother, and feels that the other children are laughing at them. She thinks that Rich is being teased by Jess, Lawrence and Archie. However, Glory comes to realise that first impressions aren’t always right and things are not always as they seem. The village of Thorntree that was at first so alien to Glory becomes her sanctuary and her home, and the people there she thought didn’t like her become her closest friends.
Dara with yet more questions.
Jack is a superb hero; resourceful, clever and brave. He discovers his true potential, which is far more than just having a good brain. The relationship which develops between him and Ross is heart-warming, and gives the ending a real pathos. Ali Sparkes writes with great humour, particularly when showing up Jack’s mother, Leonie, who suffocates Jack with a demanding home-school schedule and a restrictive diet. The theme of nurturing a child prodigy is interesting, especially as this is reflected in the current Channel 4 Child Genius programme. By the end of the novel Jack understands himself a lot better and has the confidence to assert himself, with positive results. A thoroughly enjoyable and satisfying adventure story.
LT
Dara Palmer’s Major Drama HHHH
Emma Shevah, Chicken House, 304pp, 978-1-910002-32-2, £6.99, pbk
Dara Palmer and her BFFEAE (best friend for ever and ever), Lacey, think that they were born to act. They are both going to be stars. Dara is just waiting for the call from Hollywood. But then she doesn’t get the lead part of Maria in the school’s production
Dara also begins to realise that maybe her acting and attitude had something to do with her not getting the part of Maria, and so she enrols in the Miss Snelling’s drama group at The Marcus Garvey Centre. This proves to be enlightening in many respects, not least in making Dara realise how mean she has been to her younger sister, Georgia. So Dara decides to do two things: one to be nicer to Georgia; and two to write a musical about her life that someone who looks like her can appear in.
This is a funny and enjoyable story that completely captures the self- absorption of the teen and pre- teenage
important issues such as adoption, prejudice and identity. I think that the story will be enjoyed by both the 10– 12 and the 8–11 age range, because although Dara is supposed to be in Year 6, making her ten, her voice, interests, attitudes and behaviour come across as being older.
ARa Catching Falling Stars HHHH
Karen McCombie, Scholastic Children’s Books, 240pp, 978-1-407138-89-3, £6.99, pbk
It is 1941. Britain is at war with Germany. Thirteen-year-old, Glory, and her younger brother, Rich, have stayed in London with their parents. Then a bomb falls in their back yard near the Andersen shelter they are hiding in. It kills their neighbour, Mrs Mann, but Glory, Rich and their mother escape with minor injuries. After this near- miss, Glory’s mother decides to send the children to the countryside to keep them safe. But the children arrive to find that they have nowhere to stay, and
26 Books for Keeps No.213 July 2015
victim of the mean girls’ bullying. Zoe
friends and discovers the secret of Rachel’s past and the reasons behind her strange behaviour.
The story could be hackneyed but in the sure hands of Jean Ure it is a very enjoyable read. The characters are well drawn and the plot centres around familiar teenage dilemmas for the most part. A good read for those who like character driven stories with a hint of moral dilemma. And a bonus to everyone who ever wanted to go to Malory Towers!
CD reluctantly continues to be years. It also looks at
Catching Falling Stars has been published to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. The ‘Falling Stars’ referred to in the title are, in fact, bullets from a rogue German plane. However, this is a heartwarming story about families, friendship and life during World War II. The majority of the novel is set in the countryside and is seen from the perspective of an evacuee. It shows how such a great change takes a period of adjustment and how it is easy for misconceptions to be formed both by the newcomers and the existing villagers. The portrait of the characters’ lives is intimate and personal, yet at the same time the historical detail gives the story context, creating a charming but realistic picture of an extremely difficult time.
Pucker Power:
The Super-powered Superpug HHHH
Kevin Stevens, Illustrated by Sheena Dempsey, Little Island Books, 120pp, 978-1-910411-30-8, £5.99, pbk
Pucker
book in the series following the misadventures of the Power family who have superpowers but don’t seem able to use them successfully. In fact, the family’s superpowers often cause mayhem which their daughter Suzie then has to sort out. This story focuses on the family’s pug, Pucker.
In the Power family’s second adventure, JP is out walking Pucker when the pug spots Penelope, a beautiful poodle. Penelope belongs to Paulette, the daughter of the rich Parfait family. It is love at first sight
Power is the second
for Pucker, but not for Penelope. Then the two dogs get kidnapped by the dastardly Ivan and Prunella D Mon. Ivan wants 10 million euro in ransom money and Prunella D Mon wants to turn the dogs into fur coats.
The Power family join forces with the owners of Penelope to rescue the dogs, but when they try to use their superpowers everything goes wrong. This means it is up to Suzie to use her secret superpowers to put everything right. However, the rescue also needs the bravery and clever planning of Pucker and the other canine prisoners (Espike a turkey-flusher; Butch a chocolate birdhound; Mitz a shitzu; twin Afghan hounds called Axel and Lexa; and Hans a miniature flugenshpugel) in order to make it work.
The book is full of slap-stick comedy and role reversals as well as farcical situations and funny stereotypes – not forgetting a clever homage to Cruella De Vil. The books are accompanied by a fun and well thought-out website.
ARa Secrets and Dreams HHHH
Jean Ure, Harper Collins, 256pp, 978 0 00 755395 2. £6.99 pbk
ARa
What would you wish for if your family won the lottery? Zoe has grown up on Gran’s copies of Enid Blyton and dreams of going to boarding school. When she gets there she finds that it is not quite how she imagined it. There are mean girls galore and very few midnight feasts. She falls into a friendship with Rachel, later
known as ‘Daffy’. Rachel’s idea of boarding school is as unrealistic as Zoe’s. While the latter seems to have the social skills to navigate the waters, Daffy just comes across as very strange and unworldly and is soon a
to be
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