A Monster Calls - M's Review

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

 

A Monster Calls is about thirteen year old Conor whose divorced mother has terminal cancer. He has to sort a lot of things out for himself, there are bullies at school, and he has a controlling grandmother. On top of all this, Conor has a recurring nightmare but one night this is replaced by a new (but slightly less awful) nightmare. In this nightmare, a huge monster comes to him in the guise of a walking tree. The ‘Monster’ says there are four stories to be told before he can go away. 



A Monster Calls - Patrick Ness

Despite all the rave reviews, A Monster Calls didn’t appeal to either of us. We didn’t like the cover and we didn’t like the premise. And then it won the 2012 Carnegie medal. It still didn’t appeal to us but then Walker republished it with a different cover (the one pictured) and I thought we should give it a go.

I’m glad I did. I bought it and read it in one go. It was beautifully and cleverly written. From pretty much the start right through to the finish, this is a poignant read with quite a few chokers in it (however, the premise  does lend itself to tears so perhaps there is some borderline sentimentalism and some readers may find it a bit cloying). For me, I think that one of the charms of good middle grade fiction is that there are multiple layers so that the stories usually offer an innocence that is almost light-hearted but offers older readers poignant depth.

While this novel is very much about a young teenager having to deal with the implicit issues of living with a single mother who is battling with terminal cancer, the little issues about making mistakes, true friends, living with family and facing up to fears also come into play. Conor is a wonderful character from the very first pages. The ‘Monster’ and the telling of Four Stories provide a fairytale structure for the novel which didn’t appeal to me at first but might appeal to young readers or fantasy fans. And it does work quite well (some people will say it works beautifully). My two favourite paragraphs in the book are: an early one about what a grandmother should look like and how she should behave, and a later one featuring a note that Conor’s friend Lily sends to him.

I can see why this novel won the Carnegie. Like RJ Palacio's Wonder, this novel will appeal to young and old alike.

 

Publication details:

2012 edition, Walker, London, paperback

 

This copy: our own

The Fault In Our Stars - M's review

The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

John Green has a lot of fans. I’ve never read any of his books. But so many people recommended this book to me. So I checked it out at our local library. They didn’t have it in yet. But then, lovely Zac the children’s librarian from Christchurch, New Zealand sent me a copy.

The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

As it turns out, The Fault In Our Stars is an example of the kind of contemporary YA that I love. Basically, it’s a cancer kid story and a love story all in one. Sounds really icky – but it’s not. It is neither sentimentally gushing nor patronising. It’s not overly despairing either and while terminal cancer stories don’t tend to have wholly happy endings, this is a certainly-not-depressing story. It’ll probably make you cry; it’ll also make you laugh and smile.

Green might say that it’s an alternative cancer kid story (because he picks holes in ‘cancer-kid’ as a genre) but I don’t know because I don’t think I’ve ever read a novel about children with cancer. This is probably more a love story than anything else – and it’s a beautiful one (in a good, non-soppy way).

The Fault In Our Stars is about Hazel whose lungs are shot through with terminal cancer. She lugs an oxygen cart around with her so that she can breathe. And then she meets Augustus Waters at the cancer support group. He is gorgeous, one-legged (well, he has two but one is fake) and he is clear of cancer. The story revolves around them, their everyday trials and tribulations that come with living with cancer, wishing and a novel called An Imperial Affliction (which is written by an author who lives in Amsterdam). Hazel, to put it mildly, is totally obsessed by this novel (which in turn holds the threads of her story).

The Fault In Our Stars would probably be enjoyed best by older teens partly because of some romantic situations in the story but mostly because they’re more likely to want to lap up the philosophical questions about love, life and death that this novel raises. Philosophically, it features both Soren Kierkegaard and Disney, and it blows Maslow’s pyramid of needs out of the universe. If you’ve never heard of these, don’t worry. You don’t need a map for this book and you won’t necessarily come out of it a philosophy geek either. This is also definitely a love story for the blokes too.

Green’s writing is very moreish and I’ll certainly be coming back for more.

Publication details:

Penguin, 2012, London, hardback

This copy: ours; received as a gift from Zac the children’s librarian in Christchurch, New Zealand

M's Review - Now Is the Time For Running

Now Is the Time For Running by Michael Williams

Now Is the Time For Running

First published in South Africa as The Billion Dollar Soccer Ball, Now Is the Time For Running is a novel about the courage, bravery, despair and hope that are required by ordinary, everyday adults and children in the face of xenophobia (the fear of people from another country).

This is a compelling story about two brothers, Deo and Innocent. It starts with a dusty game of football being played in a Zimbabwean village using an improvised soccer ball (a football). It’s around 2007 and the arrival of soldiers at the soccer game sets the novel on a dramatic and heartwrenching path.

Deo is fourteen and finds himself faced with a smattering of the biggest and scariest decisions of his life. They’re made even tougher because he shoulders responsibility for Innocent, his twenty-four year old brother who suffered brain trauma at birth.  Armed with only a broken soccer ball and a cereal box, Deo and Innocent set off on a journey. They know their lives are in danger and they need to seek refuge. But they don’t know where they’re going or how they’re going to get there.

Now Is the Time For Running is a hopeful story but it is also a deeply sad and horrifying story. There all sorts of wild and often horrible obstacles encountered by the characters in this story. But there is also a lot of goodness where you’d least expect to find it. Apart from telling a good story, this is one of those novels that might prompt some readers to go and find out more about refugees or even get involved in existing social projects. Or maybe start a new one.  Or just have a little think.

This is a book that could hook readers of soccer fiction. Soccer is a central theme and it provides key turning points in the story. It is also a much loved game in southern Africa. But for those who aren’t football fans, fear not. The story is really about Deo and Innocent’s journey for refuge. And it’s a real pageturner. The last section of the book was my least favourite but it signposted me to a couple of important things I didn’t know about so I am very pleased I read them (I’m not saying what they were because that would be a plot spoiler!). 

I think this fictional story (based on interviews with African refugees) will tug at the hearts and minds of most teenagers, youth workers and many other adults.  I think I should start a new tag for the blog: books that made me cry when I wrote the review.

The book cover warns that it is not suitable for younger readers. There is horrific violence and abuse but it is not graphic and sometimes it is simply inferred.

Publication details:

Tamarind, 2012, London, paperback

This copy: received for review from the publishers

Other reading suggestions:

For younger readers wishing to read fiction that explores issues with similar themes about democracy and refugees, I would point them towards The Other Side of Truth by Beverley Naidoo.

For older readers who are interested in genocide, refugees and human rights, Never Fall Down is the story of a teenage boy living through the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge killings in Cambodia. Never Fall Down is a much starker read than Now Is the Time For Running.

Another teen novel about contemporary Zimbabwe is Jason Wallace’s Out of Shadows. We haven’t read this but it did win the Costa in 2010.

The younger brother caring for an older brother theme also runs through My Brother Simple by Marie Aude-Murail. But that is a very different book.

Review - Silenced

Silenced by Simon Packham

Silenced by Simon Packham

Chris is in Year Eleven and his best friend’s just been killed in a car crash. Chris is so distraught by the news that he becomes unable to speak -literally! He has become mute. Silenced. Everyone is trying to get him to speak again – his parents, the psychiatrist, people at school, Ariel, and Will.

At first, Chris being mute is a bit funny.  But then you realise that the car crash or events surrounding it could be important – and maybe Chris knows something about it? Or not? He’s not saying and you’ll probably find yourself shouting “tell us, tell us” at him. From here on, Silenced becomes a bit of a thriller.

But Silenced is also very much about dealing with grief, and losing and making friends. The thing that stands out for me is that it looks at how to be a friend.  What exactly is a good friend?

Was Chris a good friend – he starts to ask himself this? Could suave Will Hunt be a new friend? Ariel? Well her off-grid, green Honesty life makes her a very interesting possibility – and she knows things that Chris doesn’t! And was Declan as fabulous as everyone’s making him out to be?

Silenced is a bit like Martyn Bedford’s Flip in some ways (maybe because it’s a teen boy character considering issues of death) but Silenced is a lighter, quicker and easier read.

This is a very readable book and most teens would probably enjoy it. I’d recommend it. Some ten years olds might be happy with it too but it does deal with themes of death, crime and suicide – although not in a dark or violent way. 

Publication details:

Piccadilly Press, 2012, London, paperback

This copy: received from the publisher



Review - Flip

Flip by Martyn Bedford

Flip by Martyn Bedford

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be somebody else? Are you really happy in your own skin? And if you're not in your own skin....well, where are you? That’s what Flip is all about.

It’s also about Alex. No, Philip.  Actually, it’s Flip. Hmm? Confused?  Yes. So is he.  They. So I’ll just call him Alex.

This award-winning novel kept me on my toes. At first, I thought it’s a comedy. A contemporary comedy.  But, hey, waking up in somebody else’s body.  Uh no, that’s got to be some kind of science fiction – or even fantasy!  But comedy it is as Alex struggles to become Philip who is the complete opposite to him. Philip is good-looking, sporty and has girls drooling all over him. Alex – not so much.  So you see the problem. Not to mention taking a shower in someone else’s body.

As Alex battles with this new body, this new identity, this new life, his mind delves deeper and deeper into his existence. Who Am I? – in both the literal and figurative sense.  Then, thanks to the internet, the novel darkens and typical elements of a thriller emerge. There are some really, really scary bits: I bet a shiver runs down your spine more than once. And at quite a few points, I thought, how on earth is this going to end?  Pretty much what Alex must have been asking himself too.

Flip is a great teen read (and lots of adults will like it too), worthy of all the book award nominations received and won. It is probably more suitable for older teens because of the subject matter and situations in the novel.  But some mature 11 or 12 year olds may be comfortable reading it. Don’t be fooled by the seemingly light start though.  This is a deep and satisfyingly challenging read that raises (and to some extent explores) very controversial questions about life, death, and the choices we make about them.

And how about that cover! Do you know how many people looked at me curiously and said, "You've got the book upside down"?  

Publication details:

Walker Books, 2011, London, paperback

This copy: borrowed from our local public library

Review - All Fall Down

All Fall Down by Sally Nicholls

All Fall Down by Sally Nicholls

In a really bittersweet sort of way, I loved this book. 

All Fall Down is a tale about survival during the Black Death of 1349. The Black Death, or pestilence as it is referred to in the novel, was brought about by a deadly illness that spread through Europe killing at least a third of its population. Nobody knew of a cure. Once you had it, you died. That was that.  And it spread like wildfire. So the thought of it arriving in a town near you, or in your village, or in your household was horrifically terrifying.

And so fourteen year old Isabel picks up the tale in her Yorkshire village of Ingleforn. The village has heard of this pestilence – all sorts of stories and some that are most likely untrue. They’re not too sure what to believe and some of them live day by day in denial that it even exists.  And then they hear rumours that it is on the road from York, coming towards them, towards Ingleforn…

Just like the way that Isabel describes the pestilence, All Fall Down will sniff its way around your body, it will slip itself under your skin and bury itself deep in your bones and your heart.  It’s a dark and mournful story and you may well want to shake it off.  In fact, the first few pages are a bit difficult.  There are a lot of characters and place names (I got confused, mushy brain!) and a lot of unfamiliar words from the time like pestilence, murrain, solar (but there’s also a glossary at the back). But the chapters are really short so it's also easy to take a break if you want to - I didn't!

And then how can you stop when Isabel says “We knew then that 1349 would be terrible. But nobody could have imagined quite how terrible it was going to be” (p.4)? You know it’s going to be bad but you’ll want to know just how bad and how they coped with it. Because what Sally Nicholls does really well, is create an attachment between the reader and the characters. There’s Isabel, Robin, Will, Alice, Geoffrey and a good few more. I bet you will get choked up and cry a few tears for each and every one of them. Isabel is a really fine character but so are Robin, Alice, Walt and Geoffrey. Oh, and Simon too!

While All Fall Down is an historical novel about death and survival during the Black Death, there is also a wonderful coming-of-age element to the story. It explores the difficult choices that young adults are faced with as they start to realise their own individual identities and discover what love, family relationships and even romance might mean in their lives. And the Black Death was a time to ask some big moral, ethical and religious as well as practical day-to-day questions.

What do you do when a baby’s parents have died? Do you risk your own health and the health of your family to rescue it?  What about people who are going to die but haven’t been seen by a priest? Will they go to hell? Should you do something about this? Should you feed them?  How brave should you be?  How compassionate should you be? Is being brave and compassionate stupid – or maybe even selfish? Are there some things in life that a woman just shouldn’t be allowed to do? These are the sorts of things that Isabel suddenly has to deal with. Could you do this at fourteen?

And if you were fourteen and you know that you might not live for much longer, what is the one thing you would wish for? Should Isabel feel guilty about her wish?

All Fall Down is one of my favourite reads so far this year. Like RJ Palacio’s Wonder, it’s a story that almost any age could read and enjoy. However, while everything is very sensitively dealt with in this novel, there are themes of illness and death that might be unsuitable for some younger readers. Anyone who enjoyed SD Crockett’s After the Snow will probably enjoy this too.

Publication details:

Marion Lloyd Books (Scholastic), 2012, paperback

This copy: our own