BfK 8 – 10 Junior/Middle continued New Talent Little Badman and the


Invasion of the Killer Aunties HHHHH


Humza Arshad and Henry White, illus Aleksei Bitskoff, Puffin, 9780241340608, £6.99, pbk


Humza Khan is a 12-year-old ninja- rapper-gangster with huge plans for


his future. Unfortunately, he


also suffers from debilitating stage fright and has the ‘greatest cricket coach Pakistan has ever known’ for a father, which means that his opportunities for world domination are rather limited. When not laying down rap tracks and losing vital cricket matches for their school team, Humza and his friends, Umer and Wendy, begin to notice that the teachers from their school are slowly disappearing. Even


worrying, they are being replaced by sinister aunties from the local Asian community, whose


only


objective seems to be to regularly feed the pupils a wide variety of sugary snacks. Clearly all is not as it seems, but what can Humza do when nobody will take him seriously, either as a rapper or as a detective? Little Badman, the first collaboration


between Humza


Arshad and Henry White was an absolute delight to read, and I genuinely loved it. Even though it may be their first foray into children’s fiction, the writers’ background in comedy shines through. The book features a wide range of diverse characters forgets


but, crucially, never that an entertaining and


exciting plot should always be at the centre of a good story, and not the characters’ ethnicity or religious


background. The main


characters are vibrant and easy to empathise with, and the ever-


to her, but surely he can trust Mr Katz, with whom he hopes to get a job so that his mother doesn’t force him to become a nightman, collecting the ‘night soil’ from the local population… Athan’s mother and Polly are


dressmakers, also running a shop selling fabric and ribbons, and their domesticity is contrasted with the violence that Athan encounters outside. Grandma is a very strong character, superstitious and deeply suspicious of anyone foreign, especially Mr Chen, and Beatty, although unable to move without being carried about, is intelligent and perspicacious: wondering about one


particular


customer why they really came into the shop. Athan is fiercely devoted to her, which means that her life can be threatened to make him do what his enemies want. The characters are credible, and the story is a real page- turner as Athan and his friend Tod try to


changing relationship more dynamics


between them will be familiar to all children. There were several times when I laughed out loud at Humza’s frustrations with his family and friends, as well as at the references to rappers such as Tupac. The plot inevitably veers into the realms of science-fiction in the second half of the book, but it’s done in a way that builds upon the energy of the earlier chapters and seems (almost) believable.


Little Badman reminded me


of the My Brother is a Superhero series by David Solomons, with its lively writing, contemporary setting and


over-complicated plans for world domination.


plots featuring ludicrously Children will love


for its exciting story and, just as importantly, it’s another book that will reach out to an audience who may not often see themselves represented in children’s literature. I’m already looking forward to the next book from this pair and will be recommending Little Badman at every possible opportunity. JB


keep ahead. A female character proves extremely useful in finishing the kite, and the title does give away the ending, but the reader will want to know how it all happens. There is danger and quite a lot of violence, mostly reported (or, in Grandma’s case, wildly exaggerated), as well as the death of several characters. The classification given by the publishers on the back cover as 9+ is perhaps a little low, so your reviewer has acknowledged this in placing it in 8-10, but also assesses it suitable for 10+. DB


Ellie and the Cat HHHH


Malorie Blackman, ill. Matt Robertson, Barrington Stoke, 80pp, 9781781128244, £6.99 pbk


Malorie Blackman mixes comedy


with a moral message in this sparky tale of Ellie whose rude, disagreeable


24 Books for Keeps No.235 March 2019


behaviour


at


Grandma’s


leads witchy Grandma to label her a brat and cast a spell on her.


house Ellie


discovers that she has switched bodies with Jolly the cat and has only one day to find Grandma’s lost ring otherwise she will remain a cat forever.


Ellie soon realises that a


girl trapped in a cat’s body needs some help and that she must learn some manners and make some friends fast. With the help of a brave mouse and a resourceful spider, Ellie succeeds in finding the ring, defeating the machinations of Jolly the cat and convincing her Grandma that she has learned her lesson. Ellie discovers the importance


of kindness and friendship and the satisfying ending resolves the family problems that lead to her challenging behaviour. The story is fast-paced and funny with a touch of magic and a cast of appealing characters.


This short


tale was first published in a different format as “Elaine, You’re a Brat” but this new incarnation under publisher Barrington Stoke’s “super readable” label


and with their trademark


dyslexia-friendly layout and typeface and Matt Robertson’s brilliantly lively and humorous illustrations is fully justified and should prove to be an enjoyable read for children of 8+ who prefer short chapter books. SR


The Star-spun Webb HHHHH


Sinead O’Hart, ill.Sara Mulvanny, Stripes, 352pp, 9781788950220, £6.99 pbk


When a young baby was left at the entrance to an orphanage there was no clue as to where she came from; unless you consider that there was snow on her blanket and yet there was no snow in the area. As Tess grows up she becomes fascinated by science and is allowed to have a small lab at the orphanage (Ackerbee’s), life is fairly good. Then suddenly she is whisked away by a stranger purporting to be her guardian and life begins to be less certain. Tess is accompanied by her pet tarantula Violet and by a device that was found with her as a baby; it has strange star shaped inscriptions, but what is it for? Tessa finds out when the device allows her to communicate with a boy in a parallel world and they discover a conspiracy to take over one of the worlds.


How can they prevent the


destruction of a peaceful world and what is the relationship between Tessa and Thomas? This is a magical tale of


two


versions of our world and how the misuse of scientific knowledge can lead


to danger and destruction.


The story itself is about friendship, family in its broadest sense and how science can be used for both good and bad.


The author has created


these two parallel worlds, both of which see the action taking place in their version of Dublin. There is a real sense that we know these worlds, yet they are just different enough to make us wonder about alternative


possibilities. The characters are well formed and there are some great villains in the form of Norton Cleat and the housekeeper Mrs Thistleton, so that you really long for them to get their comeuppance.


It is really good


to see an orphanage that is shown in a positive light, rather than being the stuff of nightmares.


This is Sinead


O’Hart’s second children’s story and she has produced something that is even better than the first. This is an absolute gem and hopefully will become a firm favourite for lovers of the fantastic. MP


Call Me Alastair HHHH


Cory Leonardo, Scholastic, 320pp, 978 1407 18671 9, £6.99, pbk


Cory Leonardo reveals in her


‘Acknowledgements’ that “This book was a winding eight-year, soul- searching journey. A crazy dream”; and, yes, at times it reads like that. There’s a meandering, even whimsical plot; sometimes conversations and incidents move things on, sometimes they don’t. If you settle on an African grey parrot called Alastair as your principal narrator, then who knows what sort of plot you’ll end up with? Especially if, from the moment his egg cracks, the bird has the ability to think and speak fluently as he tells his own story (and we’re not talking ‘parrotting’ here). In addition to using a young parrot as her mouthpiece, Leonardo imposes further constraints upon herself in this debut novel. We’re almost half- way through the book before the scene shifts


from the back room


of Pete’s Pet (and Parrot!) Shack. That’s not a setting likely to generate too much dynamic action, and it doesn’t. Instead, there’s a great deal of dialogue in a consistently comic American idiom, since Pete’s store is indeed somewhere in the United States. The conversations


mostly


involve Alastair, his much-loved sister Aggie and a guinea-pig called Porky. Occasionally Pete and his young part- time helper Fritz chip in, along with a rabbit named Babs, some puppies and a background chorus of gerbils and infant rabbits. At this stage, the goldfish say nothing. Things open out


when, to his delight, Fritz gets


together enough dollars to buy Aggie and take her home. Soon after, Alastair is bought by Mrs Albertina Plopky, an elderly but sparky widow, still given to writing loving letters to her late husband, Everett (her correspondence


considerably


provides another


lively narrative voice). We also get to read what Fritz calls his Medical Logbook, since he’s going to be a doctor one day, and keeps a record of his own health along with insights into the conditions of people he meets. Alastair’s a cross sort of critter, irritably plucking out his own feathers to the point where he resembles a naked


turkey. His consuming


psychological drive is to care for his sister. Time and again, he devises


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