The Eternal Return of Clara Hart

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The Eternal Return of Clara Hart by Louise Finch

Book of the Week: 13 April 2025

Cover by Holly Pereira

Spence wakes up on the first anniversary of his mum’s death in his car in the school car park. As he registers how awful he feels, a girl called Clara Hart bumps into his car with her own and they have an argument. He meets his friends, Anthony and Worm, in the cafeteria where Anthony yells ‘banter’ at girls and talks about the party he’s throwing while his parents are away. Spence goes to his A-level Philosophy class, has a monsyllabic conversation with his dad once he gets home, and makes his way to the party. During the evening, when everyone has drunk too much, he goes upstairs when he thinks he hears  Worm and Anthony behind the locked door of Anthony’s bedroom. When it’s opened, he catches a glimpse of a drunken Clara on Anthony’s bed, but he is quickly hustled away. Later, a distressed Clara stumbles downstairs, refuses a lift home and runs out into the road where she is knocked down and killed by a car.

The following day, Spence once again wakes up in the school car park and events repeat themselves, albeit with slight variations. He is stuck in a nightmarish time-loop where he tries desparately to alter the outcome and stop Clara Hart from dying.

This is not just a propulsive read with a cleverly constructed plot, but an exploration of issues such as consent, harassment, misogyny and grief. It is not an easy task to balance the repetiveness of a single day’s events with adding new twists, but Louise Finch succeeds admirably. The changes in viewpoint and the insights into characters keep us turning the pages and provoke a good deal of thought and hopefully discussion.

The book is suitable for older readers since the plot deals with sexual assault and uses some graphic language along with depictions of drug-taking and alcohol use.

Hey Sherlock!

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Hey Sherlock! by Simon Mason

Book of the Week: 30 March 2025

Cover design by Alice Todd

Description of Garvie Smith from the beginning of the book:

  1. Lazy, rude, golden-hearted, aggravating, economical with the truth, kind (to those who deserve it).
  2. Highest IQ ever recorded at Marsh Academy.
  3. Lowest grades.
  4. Best mates with Felix (cat burglar), Smudge (stupidest boy at school and proud of it), Alex (who’s been selling something he shouldn’t).
  5. Wouldn’t dream of telling his mother he loves her. Besides, she wants to move back to Barbados, and what’s the point of that?
  6. Smokes, mainly tobacco.
  7. Liked by girls.
  8. Hated by the police, teachers, other boring adults.
  9. Exceptionally good at maths.
  10. Scared of dogs.

Garvie is certainly less than perfect, but has the ability to spot details that others miss. Rather like Sherlock Holmes, he has a well-meaning but less clever sidekick in the figure of Smudge, a contact in the police force whom he distains and a laconic and abrupt manner (he admits he is not good with people). However, Garvie and his investigations are more like the hard-boiled adult detective stories of authors like Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett.

The story starts with the mysterious disappearence of Amy Roecastle, a teeenage rebel who comes home late one night to face her angry mother who has stayed up to remind her that she promised to be home by ten o’clock and it is now past midnight. Her mother leaves the room and when she returns, Amy has vanished. A storm is raging outside and Amy has disappeared into the woods where a van has been parked. Garvie happens to be working on the Roecastle premises, as he is now 16 and has left  school to work for Smudge’s brother’s garden fencing company. When Inspector Singh comes to investigate, Garvie finds himself drawn into the case.

I’m late to reading this series (this was published in 2019) and I’m reading them in the wrong order (this is book three in the series), but would recommend this as a good who-done-it with a fascinating central character and a plot that doesn’t go where you expect it to.

Suitable for older readers.

The Romantic Tragedies of a Drama King

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The Romantic Tragedies of a Drama King by Harry Trevaldwyn

Book of the Week: 9 February 2025

Illustration by Rachel Vale

Patrick Simmons (Patch) is starting the new school year with a plan – to find a boyfriend by the time Prom comes around. His  school, Hiverhampton High, doesn’t actually hold a prom but the Drama Club he belongs to puts on a party after their first big show of the year, so that will have to do. Aided and abetted by his endlessly supportive best friend Jean, he sets out to impress the two new members of Drama Club – Peter and Sam – who he thinks have boyfriend potential. He might not be a member of his school’s Lodge Crew (‘… what the cool group call themselves because they sometimes vape outside the Holiday Lodge in town.’) but he has style (what could be more of a statement than wearing a giant wooden surfboard necklace that he bought in a Devon giftshop to school?), he is well-read (pretends to read Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen in the local coffee shop) and has sophisticated taste (he and Jean create new recipes such as ‘mushroom, olive and Rice-Krispies blitzed on a bed of baby gem lettuce’ and ‘mashed potato sandwich with balsamic vinegar’).

Despite Patch’s alarming levels of self-confidence (often balanced out by an excrucating lack of self-awareness) is he capable of navigating Drama Club’s production of Sweeney Todd, dealing with his sworn enemies and finding a date in time for Prom? With Jean’s advice from her ‘actual committed relationship experience’ of five whole weeks, some reluctant life coaching from his former English teacher, the patience of his long-suffering Drama teacher Ms Jenkins and plenty of input from new friends, he might just succeed.

Laugh-out-loud is an over-used description, but this book definitely deserves it.

 

Funny books with some similar themes to The Romantic Tragedies of a Drama King:

The Gifted, the Talented and Me by William Sutcliffe

The Private Blog of Joe Cowley by Ben Davis

Boys Don’t Knit by T.S. Easton

Socks Are Not Enough by Mark Lowery

The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4 by Sue Townsend

India Smythe Stands Up by Sarah Govett

For slightly older readers:

Noah Can’t Even by Simon James Green

A Totally Awkward Love Story by Tom Ellen and Lucy Iveson

The First Move

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The First Move by Jenny Ireland

Book of the Week: 20 October 2024

Cover illustration by Janelle Barone

Seventeen year old Juliet thinks there should be a disclaimer at the start of all teenage movies, telling us that real life is not like this. Despite this, she still uses them as comfort viewing to help cope with the frequent pain she endures from her psoriatic arthritis, a condition which means she has aching swollen joints for which has to take painkillers, attend frequent medical appointments and use crutches to walk. Her friends Tara and Michael encourage her to socialise, but that is hard when just trying to attend a party results in days spent recovering in bed.

When new boy Ronan starts at her school everyone is initially transfixed by his good looks and air of detachment, but Juliet decides that, although he looks as if he’s just stepped out of an American rom-com, he has a bad attitude, wears earbuds in class, skips school and seems unwilling to socialise with anyone. She is unaware that Ronan finds himself drawn to her, despite her hostility.

So far, we have seen several tropes from rom-coms: the bad-boy central character, the girl who feels herself to be an outsider, the gay best friend (Michael) and the Queen Bee (Tara). There is a further one when Juliet starts to play chess and chat with someone called ‘Alonelypawn’ on a chess forum. Without either of them knowing the identity of the other, Ronan and Juliet have connected in the online world and find themselves on the same wavelength and developing a crush on one another. (This references the plots of rom-coms such as You’ve Got Mail or The Shop Around the Corner)

Reality begins to intervene when Ronan’s family life starts to complicate matters and when other characters are revealed to have less than straighforward home lives. Will there be a romantic and happy ending for Ronan and Juliet, or is sad drama going to be a more likely conclusion?

This book won the Young Adult prize in the 2024 Diverse Book Awards. The portrayal of Juliet’s disability always rings true; the author, Jenny Ireland, mentions her own experience of arthritis in the acknowledgments. The characters are interesting and flawed as well as likeable. I particularly enjoyed the sympathetic and exuberant Michael and Juliet’s overprotective but immensely kind parents. This warmly-told story gives the reader plenty to get their teeth into.

The book contains content relating to drug abuse, some sexual references and ocassional strong language.

If you like books that compare their plots to those of romantic movies, try Holly Bourne’s It Only Happens in the Movies.

Worst. Superhero. Ever.

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Worst. Superhero. Ever. by Charlie Higson

Book of the Week: 8 September 2024

Illustrated by Warwick Johnson-Cadwell. Puffin, 2024.

We first met loveably nerdy Stan in the very funny Worst Holiday Ever by Charlie Higson.

Although Stan now has a girlfriend called Jess, whom he met on his eventful holiday with Felix, they live a hundred miles away from one another and Stan is still doubting himself, making lists about superpowers and being a keen member of Library Club, along with his friends Archie, Grace and Maximal. There are persistent rumours that their school wants to close the school library, so they are planning a fund-raising film to try and save it.

Archie is invited by Felix to watch the filming of a TV series by an actor friend of his family. She offers the boys the opportunity to be extras in a few scenes. Stan does well and is offered an audition for a new show made by the same production company. Despite being unwilling to act, he is persuaded to go along by his parents and, against the odds, is cast as a major character. The company are having to re-film most of the series because one of the teenage actors posted an inappropriate film on social media and Stan is taking over his role.

Will the self-effacing Stan be able to deal with the complications of fame or will he embarrass himself and face even more bullying in school than he does already?

If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to act in a film or TV series, there is a wealth of detail in the story about what is involved (spoiler: it is more complicated than you might imagine) and what it might be like to be famous. The author, Charlie Higson, has worked as an actor, producer and director of several successful television shows, so he writes from experience and it shows.

Almost Nothing Happened

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Almost Nothing Happened by Meg Rosoff

Book of the Week: 25 August 2024

Bloomsbury, 2024
Cover illustration by Amber Day

If this is an example of ‘nothing happening’ I’d hate to see an incidence of something more eventful. Everything happens.

Callum has experienced a dull and embarassing exchange trip to France. His French is rudimentary, he fell in unrequited love with his host’s daughter and spent most of his time taking the family dog for a walk. By the time he reaches Paris to catch the Eurostar home, he is glad it’s all over. Then, in a fit of spontaneity, just as his train is about to leave, he gathers up his rucksack, turns around and walks back into the city to see what life has to offer. He has very little money and no clear idea of what to do, but he knows one other person in Paris: his cousin Harrison who has been studying music there for several years. He sets off through the boiling hot streets (there’s an August heatwave) and pleads with Harrison, whom he hardly knows, to let him stay a couple of nights in his cramped flat. Harrison is hardly welcoming, but reluctantly agrees and invites him to attend his concert that evening where he is playing his oboe in the orchestra. During the concert’s interval he gets talking to Arnaud and Lilou who are sitting next to him. They are step-brother and sister and speak to him in English, which is a relief after all the struggles he has had with the language. Matters take an alarming turn when Harrison discovers that his oboe has been stolen at the end of the evening and Arnaud is the prime suspect. Callum then gets swept up in a whirlwind of events involving various stolen items and a motorbike chase through Paris, but more as terrified observer and unwilling sidekick.

This is such a fun romp and, at 231 pages, can be read in a single sitting. Seventeen year old Callum is wonderfully observant and dryly funny and if you would like to read an excerpt here is a link.

Under a Dancing Star (and 10 other summer reads)

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Under a Dancing Star by Laura Wood

Book of the Week: 18 August 2024

Under a Dancing Star by Laura Wood. Scholastic, 2019. Cover illustration by Yehrin Tong

To the despair of her parents, Beatrice is a keen amateur naturalist and not really interested in fashion or making polite chit-chat with stuffy neighbours.  However, being seventeen and an only child, she is expected to ‘keep the Langton bloodline alive’ and marry (in her words) ‘some wealthy, inbred aristocrat to prop the estate up.’ When she talks about some inappropriate subjects at a dinner party designed to introduce her to a prospective partner, whom she describes as having ‘the sort of blank gaze more typically found in grazing animals’, she is sent to stay with her Uncle Leo in Italy for the summer. This does not seem like much of a punishment to Beatrice, and indeed the Italian countryside drenched in sunshine and peopled with artistic young people at her uncle’s villa, seems to be far from a sanction. There is her younger cousin Hero, Klaus and his sister Ursula and Ben, an artist. Beatrice and Ben cannot seem to stop arguing, but are compelled to encounter one another at every turn. Will this annoying young man be the only person to spoil her idyllic summer, or will more sinister undercurrents in 1930s Europe intrude on her new-found freedom?

If you enjoy books by Eva Ibbotson, such as The Secret Countess, or I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith, then this light-hearted summer read based on Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare is one to try.

Growing up in a long, hot summer – 10 other book choices

Click on each book cover for my review or more information

Older readers

Younger readers

 

Grow

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Grow by Luke Palmer

Book of the Week: 14 July 2024

Cover design by anneglenndesign.co.uk

A powerful and convincing story about grief, isolation, racism and being radicalised.

Josh’s father was killed two years ago by a terrorist bomb, leaving him and his mother coping with grief as best they can. A couple of racist students in his schoool draw him into the frightening world of white supremicism and for a while it seems like a way to channel his anger.

This would be a good companion read with The Wolf Road by Richard Lambert. Both writers have an authentic and poetic style and portray angry, grief-stricken young men and the bullies who prey on them, vividly and convincingly. The plots are different, but the books are both outstanding.

Luke Palmer’s website is here.

Little Bang

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Litle Bang by Kelly McCaughrain

Book of the Week: 2 June 2024

Cover illustration by Andrew Bannecker

It’s New Year’s Eve in Belfast and Sid is telling his mum, Lucille, that he is going to a house party to celebrate his sixteenth birthday. Sid comes across as the archetypal ‘bad boy’ with his half-shaved head, eybrow piercings and ‘attitude’ and his mother is convinced that he’s going to be brought home in a police car, and not for the first time. What Sid doesn’t tell her is that he will be ‘up Conclare Hill seeing the New Year in with the smartest, quietest girl in school…’

Mel (‘the smartest, quietest girl in school’) is a physics geek who lives with her strict parents, her sister Leah and Leah’s husband ‘Smug Nigel’ who spends his time moralising whilst being ‘between jobs’. Mel got to know Sid in History class when the teacher moved him to sit by her to prevent him being distruptive. Surprisingly, they sparked off one another and have secretly arranged to meet up with their friends to sit in a tent with a bonfire and beers on New Year’s Eve. The evening turns into a first date, one thing leads to another and, as a result, Mel finds she is pregnant.

We hear the rest of their story from their individual points of view, from their initial dread of telling their parents, to the response of their school and their friends and the situation in Northern Ireland at the time. The story is set in 2018, when the Irish abortion referendum was being held. However, abortion was still illegal in Northern Ireland until 2019 and Mel and Sid feel they have very little support and even less useful information. The examination of their plight never gets in the way of the enjoyment of getting to know them both, plus the various well-drawn people around them. Circumstances aside, this is an involving, thoughtful, and sometimes funny look at growing up and making extremely difficult choices.

Suitable for older readers. A note in the book on content reads: ‘Please be aware that the following pages contain discussions of – and references to – teenage pregnancy, abortion and miscarriage.’

Books with similar themes include Trouble by Non Pratt. When Hannah falls pregnant, new boy Aaron offers to claim he is the baby’s father to save her revealing who he really is.

Boys Don’t Cry by Malorie Blackman. Dante is waiting for his A-level results when his ex-girlfriend turns up with their baby daughter, leaves her with him and doesn’t come back.