BfK 10 – 14 Middle/Secondary continued


loses her nerve and doesn’t dare climb up to the trapeze again.


When Belle


disappears from the circus, Tansy sets out to find her, certain that her sister must have been abducted. In this she’s helped by the mysterious Rosa, who claims to be Tansy’s shadow. Together they face all sorts of perils, including the genuinely creepy and dangerous Pickingill, of Pickingill’s Marvellous Mechanical Machines. Tested over and over again, with Rosa’s help, Tansy recovers all that she’s lost, At key points throughout the book


we are reminded that people see what they expect to see, and Armour-Chelou does a very good job in creating a delightful fictional world, full of the sparkle


of circus and fairground,


everything larger than life, more vivid, more exciting. Balancing like a trapeze artist, she walks a line between the enchanting and the seriously unsettling, and if at times readers are required to accept the illusions she presents without question, they’ll do so willingly. And for all its other- worldly setting, this remains a story with a strong message about finding the strength within yourself to achieve your dreams. LS


One Shot HHHH


Tanya Landman, Barrington Stoke, 114pp., 9781781128510, £7.99,pbk


When her adored Pa dies, Maggie is only eight. It is quickly apparent


We are Blood and Thunder HHHHH


Kesia Lupo, Bloomsbury, 430pp, 9781408898055, £7.99 pbk


This is a wonderfully original fantasy by a new YA author. It is the story of two young women and how an accidental meeting changes their lives and links them together.


Lena is escaping


from the city where she has been sentenced to death for a crime she did not commit; Catherine is seeking to re- enter that same city having escaped from it several years before.


This


home for both of them is called Duke’s Forest and for years it has been cut off from the outside world because of a huge and mysterious cloud that hovers over it; but this is a cloud caused by a magic spell and magic is banned in the city, so who is responsible? This story asks so many questions about why Catherine wants to return to the city and can Lena learn to control the magical power that seems to be developing in her. What a really great story that follows


the parallel stories of these two main characters as they occasionally collide, and then diverge again.


There are


complex themes weaving their way through the book and it is difficult to know whether the two protagonists are searching for the same end, or whether they are actually searching for different conclusions. The one constant villain is the ‘Justice’, who is meant to represent the King, but has ambitions of his own; both girls find that they will have to combat this enemy if they want to succeed in their wishes. Kesia Lupo has produced a stunning book that absolutely draws you in to the world of Duke’s Forest and both girls have you rooting for them, even though you are not always sure of motives. This is an absolute must for those who love fantasy with a little bit of the macabre. Do look out for several twists and turns especially towards the end of the book, it really adds to the tension. MP


that of its Beauty Sleep HHH


Kathryn Evans, Usborne, 336pp, 978-1474954877, £7.99 pbk


This story is narrated from two viewpoints,


protagonist


Laura Henley and that of a mysterious boy named Shem. In 1986 Laura was aged sixteen. She and her five year old brother Alfie were both found to be suffering from the same terminal illness, a rare cancer. They were both put in a state of cryostasis – in other words frozen. Forty years later Laura awakes from her frozen condition. Her cancer is cured. She is in the Blackhurst clinic under the management of Miss Lily Crisp. Her Lesbian mothers have both died, as has Alfie. Laura is not permitted to see her


best friend, Stacey Flowers, who is apparently guilty of some serious offence. (She will in any case be forty years older than Laura.) Once awakened Laura is sent to live with Miss Crisp. She is given a place at Whitman’s, an elite school where Miss Crisp endows scholarships. The questions posed by Evans’s


book are how Laura may adapt to her new life – or how might she fail to do so – and what will she discover about her own life and her late brother’s. What is the role of the boy Shem in the unfolding narrative? Evans’s book includes mysterious


events and revelations. The weakness of the book however is that these interesting phenomena begin to take shape only when the reader has traversed some two hundred pages of introductory matter. There is of course a complex situation to be explored and a number of contributory threads to be woven together. When Laura awakes from her frozen state, she is quite naturally confused about herself and her environment. Unfortunately this confusion spreads itself to the reader. Some


readers will doubtless 30 Books for Keeps No.237 July 2019


that neither her mother nor her two older siblings are equipped in any way to deal with the hard life of the American West. But Maggie, even at this early age, has a talent; she can shoot with an uncanny accuracy. She also has an indomitable will. But will she survive in the face of opposition from her family and society? This is not


the story of Annie


Oakley, but it is based on what is now known about Annie and her childhood. Maggie, however, is very much her own person and her voice is immediate and alive. Landman is no stranger to the American West and its history. Here she draws the reader into


this challenging environment


with confidence. The Barrington Stoke format avoids extended descriptive passages;


with no problems. Her language is 14+ Secondary/Adult succeed, as did this reviewer, in


navigating a path through this preliminary material. But others will give up. Once the novel gathers itself and embarks on its true course, the pace and the reader’s interest are sustained. An appealing diversion is added when Laura acquires a kitten named Batfink, whose antics certainly engage the reader. The diffuse opening of this book is


something a skilled professional editor and a committed publisher might and should have detected and corrected. RB


Girl. Boy. Sea HHHHH


Chris Vick, Zephyr, 320pp, 978-1-7895-4137-3, £10.99 hbk


This rich narrative tells the story of Bill, adrift in a small boat after the yacht on which he is a passenger is destroyed in a storm off the coast of Morocco. Alone and prey to hunger, thirst and fear, he rescues Aya, a migrant Berber girl who is afloat on a barrel, barely alive. Vick writes


vividly about


privations precarious


and existence


terrors of their and


the his


attention to practical detail brings their hardships into stark relief. They learn to communicate with each other and trust builds between them. To distract themselves from their bleak situation, Aya recounts tales


from


The Arabian Nights and these weave into the fabric of their days to provide escapism, magic, wonder and a commentary on their plight. They


are overwhelmed with joy


when they reach an island, but, like some of Aya’s stories, it is a poisoned chalice, inhabited by Stephan, who trafficks migrants across the ocean in overcrowded and unseaworthy boats. Vick presents us with the irony of his situation-shipwrecked in exactly the same way as the migrants whose lives he placed in mortal danger and


mentally disturbed by his prolonged isolation. When he is killed in an attempt to rob and murder Aya, it is a relief to both protagonists and readers. At sea again, Bill and Aya are followed


by a huge shark, whose menacing shadow takes the reader back into the world of myth and legend. When Bill is badly injured whilst attempting to kill the beast it is Aya who nurses him and, when their boat is brought to land by an astonished fisherman, she slips away, like a character from one of her stories, to take her revenge on the warlord who decimated her village and her family. She leaves Bill a message and two of the jewels which are her legacy and which she has carried with her throughout her journey. When Bill has recovered, he returns


to the place of his rescue to try to find Aya, accompanied by his father and the captain of the yacht in which he set out on his original journey. Vick resists the temptation to sell the reader short by tying up loose ends so tightly that they strangle the story and leaves Bill with Aya’s letter, which points towards a possible future for them both but which leaves many paths to follow in order to achieve it. VR


I Will Not Be Erased HHHH


gal-dem, Jess Nash (illus.), Walker Books, 176pp, 978-1406386370, £7.99 pbk


gal-dem is an online site intended for women of colour and non-binary people. This paperback book is the first publication of contributions to the site. In every contribution to this collection, the writers are addressing their teenage


selves. The topics


covered include drugs, gender identity, experiences of racism, coming to terms with one’s country of origin, relationships and conflict with one’s mother. Most of the texts contain a poem or a diary extract originated by


this presents Landman


spare, concise and effective. There is no need for graphic details - the abuse experienced by Maggie is real but is handled with an economy that is all the more powerful, and this is very much the pattern; every word is made to work. Characters are lightly drawn, seen as they are through Maggie’s eyes. Some are unpleasant but


are never cardboard, others


are sympathetic - and the reader is delighted that for Maggie (as for Annie Oakley) there is a ‘happy ending’. Here is another beautifully crafted, satisfying read from one of our most accomplished


writers for young


people and produced in a format that ensures as wide a readership as possible. FH


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