A Quiet Quest

A quiet revolution is taking place in this part of East Cork. A reading revolution!

That notoriously difficult group to interest in books, boys between 7 - 9 yrs, are reading and talking about a set of books that, if you do not have a boy of that age, will have passed you by. The boys are all on a Quest to read and finish the ever expanding series of Beast Quest books that currently run to a series of 36 books - with a further 6 to be published in the autumn.

My own son is in this age group and I would not call him a natural reader but Beast Quest and that other favourite 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid' are firm favourites in the playground. Whilst the books are not great literature they are chock full of good stories and characters, which is what every child needs at this age to feed their imagination. I don't know what the sales figures are for these books (if anyone who knows is reading this then please post in the comments or email me) but as parents of these boys know they are feeding the habit to the tune of 2 - 4 books a week and with the summer holidays approaching Beast Quest is likely to be the hit of the summer.

Time Riders - Alex Scarrow

Are you wondering what to do with your boys this summer? You could do alot worse that invest in a copy of Alex Scarrow's first outing in the teen/YA catagory Time Riders.

Liam, Maddy and Sal are all snatched from certain death by a mysterious man called 'Fowler' who offers them the choice: either die as you were supposed to or take my hand and become a Time Rider. I for one would would take the offered hand, and when they do each of the teens is transported from their own time to New York on 10th September 2001. Their job is to watch for any shifts in the timeline and correct them. They live in a time bubble at a pivotal point in history, endlessly repeating 10th & 11th September, endlessly watching the horror of the twin towers, which Sal must get to know intimately so that she can spot any changes that occur which point to an interruption in the timeline.

Scarrow is clearly having loads of fun with this book, to a timeline in which the Terminator is President to an AI support unit called Bob, he masterfully grabs the readers attention and holds it throughout the length of the book.

History has changed, Hitler won (with a little help from a man from the future) and New York and the world are utterly different but when Derr Fuhrer determines on a final solution for everyone there is a further more severe time shift. Fowler, Maddy and Sal have to deal with a world of devastation whilst Liam and Bob, stuck in an alternate 1957, have to get a message across time to their collegues in the hope that they can save the day.

There is no swearing or sex in the book but there is violence both of the shoot 'em up variety and of the more insidious kind, with the creepy creatures that inhabit the end of the world. With the various timelines and length of the book I would put it at a 12+ level, a good book for older teens who may be reluctant readers.

This is a ripping yarn that will keep your teens, particularly boys, enthralled for the length of the book and with Time Riders: Day of the Predator due out on 5th August there is no reason why your boys (and girls) shouldn't be riding time for the entire summer.

Summer Challenge Reading #6: Body Modification- Some Suggestions for teens

Some books that teen readers may find of interest, particularly for challenge #6 in our Summer Reading Challenge - body modification.

Scott Westerfeld's Trilogy of books dealing with body image, the idealisation of perfection and environmental issues are ready made for those interested in the way society is fixated on how people look rather than the substance of who they are. 12+

Neal Shusterman's Unwind is a gripping tale of survival which also deals with body modification, in this case transplantation. The story is set in a world where teenagers can be unwound ie all their body parts harvested and stored for use by those more deserving. Neal Shusterman challenges readers' ideas about life - not just where it begins and where it ends, but what it truly means to be alive. 12+

Kazu Ishiguro's book was shortlisted for the 2005 Booker Prize, the 2006 Arthur C Clark Award and was Time magazine's 2005 best novel of the year. Set in a dystopian Britain in which human beings are cloned to provide donor organs for transplant. This book is about love, friendship and memory.

Dean Kootz's Watchers also deals with body modification, in this case that of a dog to give it near human intelligence by government research. The same lab also created a hybrid monster known as "The Outsider", which is loose and hunting the dog... and capable of following it by a psychological link that binds them even over hundreds of miles. Dean Kootz's books are classed as horror and strictly for those 14+ but are immensely readable and compelling.

The Uninvited - Tim Wynne-Jones

What do you do if you are being stalked? For 19 old year Mimi Shapiro, who has made a disastrous mistake in her love life, the answer is to flee to a small cottage owned by her father set on a snye (look it up!). But the cottage is already occupied by Jay. Mimi and Jay negotiate a living arrangement but Mimi's problems are not over as Jay is also being stalked - someone is leaving tokens and strange sounds on his computer. As the incursions into their home increase and objects are removed Mimi and Jay begin to investigate who their intruder might be.

Mimi and Jay's perspective in this novel is interspersed with that of Cramer, a school contemporary of Jay's who is coming under pressure from working two jobs and caring for his increasingly strange mother. Cramer and Mimi finally meet but just as things look like coming good for Cramer the novel reaches it's explosive climax.

All the characters that live around the house on the snye illustrate the difficulties faced by those who live outside big conurbations - lack of jobs, lack of prospects and the attractions of crime. Mimi and Jay, both from affluent citified backgrounds with good teeth, wealthy liberal parents (Jay's mother is a lesbian) and college educations, contrast sharply with Cramer's lack of prospects. Tim Wynne-Jones brings these characters to life through good use of dialogue but fails to use the highlighted issues, around social inequality and inequality of opportunity, for anything other than contrast.

And this is where my problem with the book lies, this is a page turning thriller with an ending that Wynne-Jones manages to conceal right until a few pages before the final showdown, but I can't help thinking that it is a missed opportunity in which he could have explored so much more with the characters and their situations.

Whilst there is no sex in the book it is alluded to in the reason Mimi escapes New York, there is little swearing but there are several unpleasant and threatening characters which give the book an air of menace. All in all a book for the 14+ age group.

The Vanishing of Katharina Linden - Helen Grant

Published in 2009, Helen Grant's debut novel is an interesting and welcome addition to the bookshelves. At a time when teenagers seem to be offered endless vampire/werewolf/school stories it is refreshing to find a novel that provides excellent writing and taut plotting whilst looking to our European neighbours rather than America for its setting.

10 year old Pia Kolvenbach lives in the picturesque and small town of Bad Munstereifel in Germany. When her Grandmother explodes on advent Sunday Pia is ostracized by her school friends. Being part of a small town, where everyone knows everyone, the death of her Grandmother is on the way to becoming a local legend and Pia rapidly becomes aware of the harm that spite and gossip can do in a community as closely knit and as stifling as the one in which she lives.

Katharina Linden, a school friend of Pia's, disappears during the festival of Karnaval. Pia is the last person to see her alive and she realises that whilst everyone might think that they know everyone else's business, clearly this is not the case. With 'Stinkstefan' as Batman to her Robin, the pair decide to take matters into their own hands and investigate Herr Dusterr, another victim of small town gossip and brother to Pia's friend Herr Schiller.

As more girls disappear and Pia and Stefan become more daring in their investigations, Pia discovers more about the town in which she lives, it's poisonous gossip and long held grudges, than any 10 year old has the right to know. The resolution of this thriller of a tale will have you on the edge of your seat and younger readers might want to look away towards the end of the book.

Whilst Pia in the book is 10 and her story takes place in 1999, it is an older Pia who is narrating the events of her childhood which allows Grant to use a wider vocabulary and bring a greater level of analysis to the actions of the adults around Pia - thus appealing to a wider audience. Indeed this is a book that could equally be read by adults as teens.Interspersed with Herr Schiller's grim folk tales and the break up of Pia's parents marriage, Grant has produced a multi-layered and modern novel dealing with the loss of innocence.

Longlisted for the 2009 Teenage Booktrust Award this book is a timely reminder of the richness of our European storytelling tradition with folk tales and Gothic horror mixed with modern crime.

There is no sex or swearing in the book but the creepiness of Herr Schiller's tales together with the slightly gruesome nature of the ending put this book firmly in the category of 14+ reading. The text is also interspersed with German words and a glossary is provided at the back of the book making this a slightly more challenging read.

Helen Grant's second book The Glass Demon has just been published.

CRY - Community Radio Youghal

After chatting with Ryan Tubridy last year about The Secret Scripture' and 'The Private Lives of Pippa Lee', I was delighted to be asked to talk books on Youghal's local radio station. For those who missed it or were not quick enough to catch the titles and authors here are the books I spoke about:

ADULTS
Personally I Blame My Fairy Godmother - Claudia Carroll
House Rules - Jodie Picouolt
Mother of the Bride - Marita Conlon McKenna
The Best of Times - Penny Vincenzi
The Man Who Disappeared - Clare Morrell
The Little Stranger - Sarah Waters
Ghost Light - Joseph O'Connor
Let the Great World Spin/Dancer - Column McCann
The Soldiers Song - Alan Monaghan
The Slap - Christos Tsiolkas
The Help - Katherine Stockett

TEEN FICTION

Twilight Series - Stephanie Meyer
The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner - Stephanie Meyer
Mortal Instruments Trilogy - Cassandra Clare
Hush Hush - Becca Fitzpatrick
Fallen - Lauren Kate
The Forest of Hands and Teeth - Carrie Ryan
Shiver - Maggie Stiever
Chaos Walking Trilogy - Patrick Ness
Gone/ Hunger - Michael Grant
Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins

CHILDREN'S FICTION

Adam's Pirate Adventure - Benji Bennett
What the Ladybird Heard/Troll - Julia Donaldson
Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus - Mo Willems
The Heart in the Bottle/The Great Paper Caper/The Incredible Book Eating Boy - Oliver Jeffers
Aliens Love Underpants - Clare Freedman
The Great Dog Bottom Swap - Peter Bentley
There - Marie Louise Fitzpatrick
Beast Quest Series - Adam Blade
Dragon Blood Pirates Series - Dan Jerris

As you can tell I bored everyone silly with the great books that are available this summer, particularly on the children and young adult front. My thanks to CRY for having me and they have promised to let me have a recording of the interview for the blog - what would it be worth not to subject you to this podcast, answers in the comments section below!

American Devil - Oliver Stark

I was lucky enough to receive an advance copy of this debut novel by Oliver Stark which will be a find for those who love crime fiction. At over 400 pages of densely packed type the book delivers a taut and complex storyline that will have you turning pages long after you should have turned the light out and gone to sleep.

Whilst the premise may seem tired - lone wolf cop with anger management issues and beautiful female sidekick chase serial killer - what Stark delivers is a riveting read full of dead ends and false leads that takes us into the heart of the investigation and into the mind of a killer. That Stark is able to control this length of novel at his first published outing with hardly a slip bodes well for future books from this new novelist.

There are a few moments where dialogue and prose become wooden (particularly the first chapter) but these are very few and far between and do not spoil an otherwise enjoyable read. I will definitely be looking forward to the follow up from Mr Stark.

American Devil is currently out in Hardback and tradepaperback with a paperback edition to be published on 2nd September. My thanks to Bertrams and Headline Publishing for providing an advance copy of this book.