Tag Archives: Identity

The Short Knife

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The Short Knife by Elen Caldecott

Book of the Week: 1 November 2020

Illustration by Miko Maciaszek

In this week’s book, we find ourselves in a Britain of darkness and confusion. The Romans left some years before and the invading Saxons are an ever-present danger, as Mai and her family are about to discover. When a visitation from Saxon strangers to their family farm results in Mai, her father and her sister, Haf, seeking sanctuary with Gwrtheyrn and his band of Britons in the Welsh hills, a tense, terrible and tragic series of events is set in motion.

This is a book where you can feel the hunger, smell the rot and wonder at the toughness and bravery of Mai who must try to survive in a brutal and alien environment. Expect plenty of tension and action expressed in some wonderfully lyrical writing.

If you enjoy historical adventures by writers like Rosemary Sutcliffe, or Joe Abercrombie’s Half a King then this is a must-read.

This is the 300th Book of the Week, which I started in January 2012 with This Dark Endeavour by Kenneth Oppel. For the first few years, the books were just displayed in the Library, until November 2014 when I started writing online reviews. In January 2015 the blog moved to this platform with the first choice being I Predict a Riot by Catherine Bruton. As much as I love judging book covers for their design (and I do always try to credit designers for their work) you can’t judge the contents of a book by its cover, as the old saying goes, which is why I started writing about the contents. We all need to find out a bit about a book’s plot before we decide to read it it – hence this blog and accompanying links on Twitter. If anyone has discovered a good read via this blog, then I’m happy. Endless thanks go to all the wonderful authors who write for young people and the often lovely acknowledgements they provide on social media.

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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The Art of Being Normal

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The Art of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson

Book of the Week: 7 February 2016

Art of Being Normal

Ever since he was eight years old, David has wanted to be a girl. When asked in primary school what he wanted to be when he grew up, this is was his answer. Since then, he has learned not to mention it and now he is fourteen only his best friends, Felix and Essie, know his secret. Even his affectionate and supportive parents have no idea.

David spends his time at school trying to keep a low profile and avoiding the attentions of the class bully, Harry Beaumont, who calls him ‘Freak Show’.

When Leo, who is rumoured to have been expelled from his previous school for chopping off a teacher’s finger with a hacksaw, joins David’s school he is intrigued by his surly good looks and tries unsuccessfully to make friends. David gives up until one day Leo stands up for him in a fight and the ice is broken. But something has happened in Leo’s past and his background is very different from that of most students at Eden Park School, so he is not sure that he wants to make new friends.

The story is told alternately by David and by Leo and is one of the few for young people to feature a central character who is transgender. It is to the author’s credit that this never overwhelms a sympathetically told story with sparky dialogue, identifiable situations and likeable characters.

To read more about the book and its author, Lisa Williamson’s website can be found here.