Monthly Archives: March 2018

Beyond the Bright Sea

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Beyond the Bright Sea by Lauren Wolk

Book of the Week: 25 March 2018

Cover illustration by Tan Yau Hoong with hand-lettering by Sarah J. Coleman and Anna Booth

This week sees the award ceremony for the Warwickshire Secondary School Book of the Year which our Year 7 judging team will be attending on Tuesday. One of the shortlisted books, Where the World Ends by Geraldine McCaughrean, is also on the Carnegie shortlist, along with this week’s book. The winner of the Carnegie Medal, awarded by a team of librarians, is announced in June.

My name is Crow. When I was a baby, someone tucked me into an old boat and pushed me out to sea. I washed up on a tiny island, like a seed riding the tide. It was Osh who found me and took me in. Who taught me how to put down roots, and thrive on both sun and rain, and understand what it is to bloom.

Crow lives on her island, part of the Elizabeth islands off the coast off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, helping Osh in his garden and being taught by their neighbour, Miss Maggie, until the day they go to investigate the source of a fire on the neighbouring island of Pekinese, once the site of a community of people suffering from leprosy. This sets a chain of events in motion that might satisfy Crow’s longing to know where she came from, but which may also destroy everything she holds dear.

After a leisurely start, there is plenty of excitement in this beautifully written story of self-sufficiency, identity and a sense of belonging.

The other books shortlisted are shown above. Most are already available to borrow, with Rook and Wed Wabbit coming soon.

Some of the books on the list are recommended to students of 14+ and in the case of Release, 16+ but all have been chosen for the high quality of their writing.

 

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Landscape With Invisible Hand

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Landscape With Invisible Hand by M.T. Anderson

Book of the Week: 18 March 2018

Cover illustration by Levente Szabo

When the vuuv first landed on Earth it was the 1950s and now, years later, when their colonization of the planet is complete, they still hanker after all things relating to that decade. Humans are useful drones but the vuuv are fascinated by their behaviour and many collect their art.

Adam and his girlfriend Chloe decide to cash in on this fascination and link themselves to technology that allows the space invaders to observe their love affair. Adam needs money for his family and for treatment for his severe gastric problems. Chloe needs the money and enjoys the attention. Problems arise when they grow to hate one another.

This 162-page book looks and sounds like science fiction for young teenagers but is actually a witty satire suited to older readers. It deals with exploitation, the power of money and technology and artistic integrity all condensed into a short, sharp read.

If you would like to read more by this author, the library also has Symphony for the City of the Dead in the Music section at 780.92 SHO

The Song From Somewhere Else

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The Song From Somewhere Else by A.F. Harrold with illustrations by Levi Pinfold

Book of the Week: 11 March 2018

Today is Mothering Sunday and, coincidentally, this book features a rather unusual mother, although to say more would be a spoiler.

The story starts with Frank (short for Francesca) putting up posters about her missing cat, Quintilius Minimus. The neighbourhood bully, Neil Noble, and his acolytes Rob and Roy, tear up her posters and fling her bag into a patch of nettles. This is bad enough but then Nicholas Underbridge appears on the scene. He is big and blundering and all the other kids say he has fleas and smells funny. He rescues Frank and retrieves her bag from the nettles and, once they’ve escaped from Neil Noble, he invites her home. She is horrified that she might have to become his friend but then she hears a ‘song from somewhere else’ and she realises that Nick Underbridge might be even stranger than everyone at school says he is.

This is a gentle and fantastical tale, although the bullying element is all too real. If you enjoy stories with a vein of strangeness running through them, such as Skellig by David Almond, or Neil Gaiman’s Coraline or The Ocean at the End of the Lane, then this has similarities.

The illustrations are an important part of the book’s appeal and reminiscent of those by Jim Kay in A Monster Calls. They are by Levi Pinfold and complement the story perfectly.

 

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Long Way Down

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Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds

Book of the Week: 4 March 2018

Cover illustration by Chris Priestley

This is American author Jason Reynolds‘ first book to be published in the UK and he says his aim is not to write boring ones. He has succeeded with this short, sharp and raw story of a boy’s search for the right thing to do after his brother is shot and killed.

The story is told entirely in free verse and opens a day or two after Will’s brother Shawn has been shot in the street. Their mother is distraught, and after Will shuts himself away in their shared bedroom to grieve, he notices a middle drawer of their dresser sitting awkwardly. When he investigates, he finds a gun and although he is shocked, he decides he knows who killed Shawn and sets out to get revenge.

The remainder of the plot happens extremely quickly in real time but takes longer to read. In that time, we learn about people who are important in Will’s life and about what happened to them as a result of urban violence.

As much thought has gone into the design of the print on the page, and the atmospheric drawings by Chris Priestley, as the story itself.

The violence and a sprinkling of strong language may mean unsuitability for younger readers but it is as compelling as it is simply-told.