reviews


Dance, an event she has been dreading, since she has neither the clothes nor the requisite social skills to cope with the charade.


Her only source of concern is the disembodied voice which has suddenly materialised and constantly pleads with her not to go on holiday – and when she does, the voice reappears, this time with a shadowy body, to warn her to avoid water at all costs. This is disconcerting, to say the least, as she cannot confide in either family or her best friends David and Rowan, for fear of being thought delusional.


Littleson cleverly weaves themes like threads – constantly there, but some more prominent than others. Lily’s concerns about going to secondary school are writ large, for she knows she will be perceived as strange and worries that Rowan, a hugely popular girl, may tire of her and find friends who are more socially adept. Lily’s mother does her best to cope, but is often overwhelmed by the demands of 5 children, a full-time job and a violent, alcoholic ex-husband. Lily and her Gran are her bedrocks – filling in the gaps she is forced to ignore.


Lily is a thoroughly engaging narrator – honest, kind and wise beyond her years and this makes the end of the book particularly moving. The almost- disembodied voice proves not to be a ghost from the past, but, as in A Christmas Carol, a warning from the future, for it is the grown-up Summer who Lily hears, telling Lily that she will drown if she does not heed her advice and describing the shocking disintegration of the family after her death. Lily heeds the warning and refuses a boat trip with her friends, only to slip on the jetty and fall into an icy sea. Rowan and David’s swift reactions save her, however, and prevent the tragedies which Summer has foretold befalling the family.


The theme of friendship is, thus, the strongest of all, saving lives and hearts and minds. This is a gently thought- provoking book, beautifully paced and cleverly structured and it should be on the shelves of every junior school library. VR


The Year It All Ended HHHH


Kirsty Murray, Allen & Unwin, 9781743319413, 243p, £6.99 pbk


World War I has ended. In Australia the four Flynn sisters get ready to celebrate. They are eagerly looking forward to welcoming their brother, Louis back from Europe. He is one of the many Australians who signed up to fight for ‘King and Country’. Their joy is tinged with sadness; their cousin, William, will not be coming back. He was killed early in the War – fighting on the German side. Then the news arrives – Louis also is dead. The effect on the family is devastating.


Our perspective on World War 1 inevitably, perhaps, is almost completely Euro-centric. It also tends to concentrate on the years of the war itself; the Trenches, Ypres, the Somme, Passchendaele – rarely Gallipoli. Young readers are not often presented with what happened after the war ended nor how its effect stretched across the world. The story of the Flynns is set


he is hatching. Holding Imi hostage the man takes her and the boy on a river voyage to the new city the King is building. King Akenaten has changed the gods the Egyptians worship and is building new palaces and a large pyramid for his burial. Thutmose the court modeller has begun a bust of the Queen and the boy is brought into the court by the Quiet Gentleman to use his gift to finish it and thereby get into the palace. The plot thickens and the story ends with the Quiet Gentleman, Imi and the boy being walled up in the King’s new tomb in the Valley of the Kings.


the plot of the book.


in Australia and the reader is quickly brought to realise how young the European part of Australia was and how close ties with the Old Country still were; the Flynns are German, and to some Germany is ‘home’; a situation that creates tensions. Against the backdrop of celebration, the trauma experienced by the returning soldiers – and its effect on their bemused families – is seen through the youngest sister Tiney’s eyes. The aftermath of war is not always joyful.


Murray has written a very accessible story with characters who are lively and believable; situations that are both recognisable and instructive without any heavy didacticism. This is history writing that, like the novels of Mary Hooper, opens a door to the past in a way that draws the reader in. The narrative follows events chronologically, presenting them like snapshots in an album, moving the story along without dragging and allowing the author to introduce background details of attitudes and society with a light touch. This is a story about a family very much in the tradition of Little Women and its sequels. Enjoyable, warm-hearted and handling its facts lightly, it is a novel that can be confidently recommended


to young readers from KS3 on. Sun Thief


Jamie Buxton, Egmont, 288pp, 9781405267991, £6.99 pbk.


There are so few good historical novels written about Ancient Egypt


this is a very welcome book indeed. Jamie Buxton has managed, within an adventure story, to give a real feel of life in Ancient Egypt, in particular how the gods ruled every aspect of life, and has chosen the period when Nefertiti was Queen. The boy, hero of the story whose real name we never know, is living with the people who plucked him out of the River Nile as a baby and set him to work in the inn they now run. He has a particular gift for modelling clay which is crucial to the part he will play in the story. Their own little daughter, Imi, is the favourite but the boy adores her. Sent to collect her after a new guest comes to the inn, he overhears a threatening conversation. The Quiet Gentleman, as the new guest comes to be known, involves the boy in the plot


that FH HHHH


Jamie Buxton does not try to imagine how the Egyptians might speak and thus avoids the pitfalls this can cause. There are twists and turns in the adventure with plenty of historical detail which gives a splendid picture of life at the time.


and god-like reverence for the King come through very clearly, and the desert, the pyramids and the River Nile make a fascinating backdrop. The boy is a strong character with a human love for Imi, and real fear in the situations he finds himself in, but also shows great courage.


The superstition


A truly funny story about the importance of friends and family, told from the point of view of the main character Chloe, it follows the ups and downs of the heroines’ lives as they try and survive life in year 9. There is the maths teacher from hell (or so it feels) and the nail- biting wait to see what role Chloe will get in the school play. These events are interspersed with the fake tan episode and the total disaster that constitutes leaving hair dye on for too long. It really does feel like the diary of a normal teenage girl and her friends. There is all the angst that young people feel when they are trying to keep up with the crowd, not to mention trying to be noticed by the boy of their dreams. Whilst this is about 13/14 year olds it is suitable for younger students as it does not contain issues with language or sex. A great and enjoyable read that will be leapt on by hordes of young girls who will relate to the characters and their lives.


MP The Sound of Whales HHHHH


Kerr Thomson, Chicken House, 320pp, 978-1-910002-27-8, £6.99, pbk


Fraser is home for the holidays on the Island of Nin near to Skye. He is helping a scientist called Ben McCaig document the arrival of various whale populations not normally seen in the area. Ben McCaig cannot work out why the various whale pods are appearing in the seas around Nin.


Fraser thinks that the holidays on Nin will be boring, but then he meets a disaffected American teenager called Hayley. Suddenly the island is engulfed in mystery. First the body of a whale is washed up and then the body of a man. Who is this man, where did he come from and what happened to him?


This is a very good novel indeed, fun to read, and great care has been taken with the design too: small silhouettes at the beginning of each chapter and different fonts for the chapter heading. There is also a very good cover by Robert M. Ball with the head of Queen Nefertiti on the back.


JF


Boywatching: it’s not just a hobby, it’s a science


HHHH


Chloe Bennet, Orchard books, 377pp, 9781408337387, £6.99pbk


Time is fast approaching for the annual school dance with the local boys school St Thomas’s. Chloe and her three friends, Sam, Amy and Gemma are determined that they will not go through the humiliation of last year and decide to keep a notebook with comment about boys they like. They create a points system to judge the boys by. Mixed in with this is home life (often difficult) and school, where they are the constant target for Maggie the ‘Queen Bee’ who enjoys making fun and bullying them. How they cope with all of this and how they get on at the school ‘Snog Fest’ forms


After this, Fraser finds a stranger in one of the caves on the beach who desperately needs his help. Together, Fraser and Hayley attempt to help this stranger. He is in danger from the men who brought him there. There is someone on the island working with these men. Someone in the community is not what they seem. But who is it? Fraser and Hayley need to find out who is pursuing their new friend. Fraser is also worried about his younger brother, Dunny. Dunny is an elective mute who seems to be communicating with the whales. He also appears to be involved in the mystery. What do all his shell messages mean, does he know about the stranger, and what is his relationship to the whales in the sea around Nin?


This is a thoughtful and thought- provoking story set on a wild and isolated Scottish island. It is both an adventure story and a mystery, but it also contains important themes such as people trafficking, illegal immigration and the relationship of the community to the environment. There


descriptions of the


and the characters are very much brought to life through their realistic relationships. The Sound of Whales is the well-deserved winner of the 2014 Times/Chickenhouse/Children’s Fiction Competition.


ARa Books for Keeps No.213 July 2015 29


are beautiful and evocative landscape,


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