reviews 10 – 14 Middle/Secondary continued


weave a past for Ellery and his family. Images linger in her mind. An old man with a stick, culled from an illustration in Ellery’s favourite German edition of Treasure Island, revisits her mind as an old man hobbling over a bridge with a woman who may be Ellery’s mother along with her husband and Ellery himself. An illustration from an old Latin text shows a different kind of refugee as Aeneas carries Anchises from ruined Troy. Flames, soldiers, the tick, tick, tick of a clock or maybe a watch, the blue cat. If such images work for readers as


they do for Columba, they will do so by releasing the shifting meanings of poetry: sometimes inconsequential, sometimes


The novel seems about to end in the sadness of


taken


and his father have disappeared, maybe


camp; but then, on the last couple of pages, another poem, printed in the original German of 1834 alongside a translation, hints that there might one day be another meeting. Maybe. So certainties remain elusive to the


end. One reader might well find the book frustrating, bewildering, even not worth finishing. A different reader might be intrigued by the otherness of the times and place. Beyond that readers might glimpse a young child’s confused experience of war; a collage perhaps, conjuring up an atmosphere of an uncertain time rather than a linear series of events. GF


charged with menace. parting as Ellery to an internment


travel that she gave up when she fell in love with Amelia’s father. Her mother’s


disappearance – Amelia


has no idea where she is – has left the young girl sad, confused and angry, while she feels an outsider on the island. Nevertheless, when her father takes her out to the mysterious Serpent’s Tooth Rock on her eleventh birthday, an islander’s


ritual, she


sparks something in it awake, releasing a magic that puts both herself and the whole of Dark Muir in mortal danger. In addition to the magic, which


seems to be trying to reunite her with her mother at any cost, Amelia also has to cope with other challenges, including starting at a new school, where a particularly spiteful bully is out to get her. Other issues covered in the story include Amelia’s dyslexia and her grandfather’s


progressive


dementia. It could almost have been too much


for the plot to sustain, but Amber Lee Dodd keeps all the elements under control creating a strong, sympathetic and very believable character


in


Amelia, and imbuing the bleak and isolated setting of the island with a feeling of genuine old magic, magic that spills over into Amelia’s school too. It all makes for an enthralling adventure, moments of tension and shock supplied both by the spell Amelia has unleashed and the truly horrible behaviour of her fellow pupil Blair. There’s a satisfying emotional resolution too in which Amelia realises that the island really is her home, but which also sees her reconciled with her mother. This is another thoughtful and positive story from the author of We Are Giants. AR


Women in Battle HHHH


Marta Breen, ill. Jenny Jordahl, Trans. by Sian Mackies, Hot Key Books, 119pp, 978 1 4714 08120, £9.99, pbk


This striking graphic book provides an interesting and accessible insight into women’s fight for freedom and


equality. Emphasising the Lightning Chase Me Home HHHH


Amber Lee Dodd, Scholastic, 978-1407191652, 320pp, £6.99 pbk


Amber Lee Dodd tells an affecting and fairly complex story of family relationships against a setting that fizzes with a sense of real magic. Amelia Hester McLeod, named in


honour of not one but two intrepid adventurers, lives on the tiny Scottish island of Dark Muir with her father, grandfather and dog.


left one year before the book opens to resume the life of exploration and


Her mother


international nature of the fight and covering roughly 150 years, its creators show how the lives of women have changed since the 1800s and the role played by key individuals in securing important


rights and


freedoms. Three important causes for the


women’s movement are addressed in detail: the right to receive an education, the right to vote and the right to ‘body integrity’ (the fight to control one’s own fertility, use contraception and have access to abortion). Individual


stories are


used to illustrate each of these. For example, in terms of education for girls, the work of groundbreakers such as Mary Wollstonecraft 18th century writer and educator is outlined as well as Malala Yousafzai, contemporary


advocate of education for girls and winner of


prize. The writers raise awareness that women have died


the 2014 Nobel Peace for


these


causes, including Iranian poet Tàhirih in 1852 and English suffragette Emily Davison in 1913. The book takes us right up to date with reference to the #MeToo movement and increased awareness


of the prevalence


sexual harassment. The graphic novel format


of and


bold design is used to good effect powerfully


conveying important


points such as the slow timescale in the introduction of votes for women across the world, from New Zealand in 1893 to Saudi Arabia 2015, the oppressive


impact of extremist


regimes on freedoms for women and girls in Afghanistan and the still very limited number of female heads of state throughout the world and throughout history. First written in Norwegian, this is an


important contribution to the number of recently published books on the role of women throughout history and the continued fight for equality and freedoms. SMc


What is Race? HHHH


Claire Heuchan & Nikesh Shukla, Wayland, 48pp, 9781 526303981, £13.99, hbk


Key aspects of the topic including racism


and history, race and


representation, race and rights, skin colour and stereotyping are explored in this straightforward and accessible book and interspersed with nine accounts of first-hand experience from a range of individuals including an actor, a poet, a broadcaster and an activist starting with the authors’ own experiences. Quotes from significant individuals of colour such as writer Chimamanda


Ngozi Adichie are


incorporated throughout. A historical perspective is provided, the myth that people


refuting the impact and of


colour only arrived on British shores at the time of the Empire Windrush and pointing out


legacy of Imperialism and key events in the development of legislation and attitudes to racism such as the murder of Stephen Lawrence. Language


and are from explored, apparently ethnicity and differentiating innocuous


terminology race


concepts such as erasure and self- representation. The implications the


introducing of


‘Where


do you come from?’ is unpicked and the subtle impact of the ostensibly supportive ‘Oh I don’t see you as black’ is highlighted. Readers are invited to engage


actively in the issues raised through the inclusion of questions to think about for example the way race might shape experience. The book ends with guidance on how to unlearn racism, challenge it or how to deal with racism if experiencing it. The layout


is simple, clearly organised into chapters and with illustrated double page spreads on


the key topics and personal vignettes. The back of the book includes a glossary, index and sources of further information. This is an important addition


to Wayland’s And other


big questions series which seeks to explore significant issues, encourage reflection and prompt debate. SMc


Clownfish HHHH


Alan Durant, Walker Books, 224pp, 978 1 4063 7462 9, £6.99 pbk


When Dak’s Dad dies suddenly from a heart attack his world collapses. His mother


is consumed by grief


and everyone tells Dak he is being very brave but he does not want to be fussed over by well-meaning neighbours. To escape the house Dak visits the local aquarium where he spent many happy times with his Dad and to his astonishment he finds that his Dad is miraculously alive and is now a clownfish swimming in a tropical fish tank. Dak spends all his spare time there conversing with his Dad and enjoying his terrible jokes but he knows that he must keep this secret to himself as it might upset his Mum. And bizarre though it seems, it is entirely


believable


in the context that Dak’s Dad has become a clownfish. The aquarium owner Stephan who was a friend of Dak’s Dad’s suggests Dak helps his assistant Johnny feed the fish and Dak is delighted as it gives him a reason to be there. A few days later, Stephan’s niece


Violet arrives to stay for the holidays while her parents are away.


She is


a feisty, prickly girl with issues of her own. Gradually the two become friends bonding when the aquarium is threatened with closure after a visit by the health and safety inspectors. Violet and Dak work on a campaign to save the aquarium hoping to make the community aware of what they would lose if it had to close; for Dak it is all the more pressing as he does not want to lose his Dad again. Inevitably everything comes to a


head when Violet reveals the truth about Dak’s Dad. Dak feels betrayed and refuses to see Violet or visit the aquarium but it is only when he finally accepts her apology and returns to the aquarium to speak to his Dad that he understands the clownfish is just an ordinary fish and he finally breaks down. The story ends with a ceremony to dedicate a quote on the new aquarium wall to Dak’s Dad. This is a delightfully fresh, funny and poignant story.


Grief and loss


are handled delicately and sensitively yet the story is never mawkish or sentimental. Dak and Violet particularly


well-drawn characters


and you are rooting for them both all the way as they come to a greater understanding


of Seaglass HHHHH Books for Keeps No.234 January 2019 29 themselves and


discover a strength and resilience they didn’t know they had. This would be a great story to read in class. JC


are


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