The Many Worlds of Albie Bright - Christopher Edge

The Many Worlds of Albie Bright - Christopher Edge

The Many Worlds of Albie Bright is a lovely little novel packed with lots of quantum physics and a lightheartedly warm approach to dealing with the raw grief in response to the loss of a very dearly loved parent. It’ll make you chuckle perhaps a little bit more than it will make you cry (which is probably a very good thing!).

Essentially, this is a story perfect for younger readers as a roundabout way of exploring grief (and a jolly good story, full stop). Albie’s mother has recently died from cancer. His parents were both physicists, and he thinks that he might be able to find his mum alive in a parallel universe. With a little help from CERN and a slowly blackening banana, Albie sets off to do just this.

Albie is a delightful character and he meets a castful of ‘interesting’ others (Alba was my favourite). His fantastic adventures paint a trail telling us that grieving and just getting on with it can be a difficult thing to do – whatever your age – and that everyone needs a little bit of time out too. The novel also gives a very big thumbs up to kitchen dancing (of which I'm a huge fan).

If you find yourselves enamoured by 'Back To the Future' or 'Groundhog Day', the humour in The Many Worlds of Albie Bright will definitely appeal to you.

And a little warning: if your child is reading this book, you’d best beef up on your basic quantum theory, otherwise…..well, rotten bananas!

Publication details: Nosy Crow, 2016, London, paperback

This copy: review copy from the publisher

The Many Worlds of Albie Bright has been nominated for the Carnegie Medal 2017.

More of Me - Kathryn Evans

More of Me - Kathryn Evans

More of Me - Kathryn Evans

This was the first debut I’ve discovered on this year’s Carnegie nominations list and I was very impressed. Seems a silly thing to say – being impressed by a debut – but, there, I was: More of Me is a lovely solid novel that weaves a gripping and fascinating concept into time loved high school frolics and dramas.

The story concept is intriguing and it maintained my interest the whole way through. Teva is sixteen. She’s just stolen her previous self’s life both literally and not so literally. Horrifyingly and painfully, every year, a new Teva tears her way physically out of the previous Teva. So Teva lives with her mother and no siblings  - but lots of younger Teva’s. But nobody else knows. So, obviously, things are going to be socially tricky and emotionally, mentally, physically torturous for the Teva who is soon to be 17!

More of Me delivers a quietly funny sixth form school story full of boyfriend troubles, friendship circles and worries about personal statements and career choices as well as a sci-fi element exploring the essence of Teva’s being (and maybe even stretching to touch upon self-harming). By weaving the two strands together, the novel also convincingly manages to look at the different stages of childhood and captures the changing emotional and intellectual moods and swings of the teenage years very lovingly.  Talk about an identity crisis!

For all the horror that the concept involves, the novel is actually a light pageturner and probably easily suitable for readers of all ages. I really enjoyed this one. And, there is no cliffhanger!

There are some great book group questions that Kathryn Evans has posted on her website (there are spoilers though so read the book first!).

More of Me won the Edinburgh International Book Festival First Award 2016 and has been nominated for the 2017 Carnegie Medal.

Publication details: Usborne, 2016, London, paperback

This copy: review copy from the publisher

Catalyst - S.J.Kincaid

Review by Little M

Catalyst is the third and final novel in S.J.Kincaid’s Insignia trilogy. Starring Tom Raines as the main character, in his last year training for the Intrasolar Forces, Tom is on a mission to stay out of trouble and save the world at the same time. However, staying out of trouble seems to be proving difficult. With his friends Vik, Wyatt, Yuri and his plebs he discovers horrific schemes involving the Spire (training centre) and the globe.

Many third novels in trilogies seem to be a disappointment for many, some leave questions unanswered and others, theories unexplained. Contradicting this is Catalyst. Kincaid ties up the story with no loose ends and unanswered questions. For some it could be disappointing but personally I thought it was ended beautifully. It left the reader able to imagine how the society will continue with a little guidance.

Over all three novels Tom Raines has progressed as a character. Firstly he has grown up, although he still possesses the troublemaker traits; he has grown from being a boy, not fully understanding his potential, to a young man who is capable of most unimaginable things such as “break through the impossible”.

This has been one of my favourite series I have read and I fully recommend it to most teens and some adults too. However, it does contain many “teenage” events or thoughts so may not suit adults. It is most definitely suitable for both boys and girls so neither should be put off by any aspect.

Publication Details: Hot Key Books, London, published in the UK in 2014 (US 2014).

This copy: Paperback copy received for review from Hot Key Books.

Station Eleven - Emily St John Mandel

Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel

 Adult fiction review by M

 

Station Eleven was pitched as being for Margaret Atwood or Hugh Howey fans.  I’m an Atwood fan but had never heard of Howey. This novel has had a huge (social media) presence, and from what I can gather, many people adore it. I didn’t.

Station Eleven is an apocalyptic novel. A virus, details unknown, kills almost everybody. There are a few survivors who have to start all over again and they’re afraid (typical apocalyptic scenario). A group of them form the Travelling Symphony, which tends to perform Shakespeare. Rather than simply exploring the now, the novel focuses on a few characters and their past, which helps to provide clues as to why survivors choose to protect and sustain certain ‘artefacts’. This held much promise for me but then the novel introduced a very coincidental ‘bad guy’ plot that I did not find very believable nor interesting.

I felt like I was reading something that wanted to be profound. But there was a disconnection for me: too many characters, none of whom were especially endearing to me; a plot that was built upon many coincidences (potentially very plausible but always unexplained, and therefore too convenient).

I couldn’t sense the ‘Atwood’ beyond post-apocalyptic similarities with the MaddAddam world (and on my current re-read of Cat’s Eye, some similar objects turn up: comics, glass ornaments etc ). As an Atwood fan, I was disappointed. The Travelling Symphony doesn’t hold the same place in my heart as God’s Gardeners. I can’t comment from the Howey camp.

 

Publication details: September 2014, Picador, London, hardback

This copy: review copy from the publisher

 

 

 

 

Kindred - Octavia E Butler

Kindred by Octavia E Butler

Adult Fiction Review by M

Counted towards Classics Club challenge

 

 

I don’t read much science fiction but am definitely one who likes the ideas more than the details or adventure that fill the plots (that probably applies to any book from any genre that I read, if I’m being honest). So, Kindred’s mix of science fiction and African American literature as a premise was irresistible for me. I’d never read Butler before, but I was definitely aware of her, most recently through Aarti’s Diversiverse blog tours which explore speculative fiction by writers ‘of color’.

 

Kindred delighted, surprised, informed, moved and disappointed me, all in one. In 1976, Dana, a black American New Yorker, finds herself back in the southern heartland of nineteenth century slavery, a dangerous place for any black person. The novel takes Dana back and forth over the course of these years. While these travel episodes seem connected to Rufus, a slave owner’s son, Dana finds that her ‘quest’ is a very long-sighted survival that will last for generations.

 

For all its enormous subject matter (north American slavery in the 1800s and time travel) – and particularly given the context of 1970s USA when it was written and published – Kindred is quietly unassuming in its exploration of love, mixed race, gender relationships and enslaved bondage. Yes, there’s the time travel aspect to the novel but this is much more a device, which presents both the writer/narrator, the characters and the reader opportunities to grapple with these psycho-social themes.

 

What the time travel element also enables is the idea of the ‘one woman’ that Rufus creates in his mind for Dana and Alice. Also interesting, to me, is how the characters of Kevin, Rufus and Tom Waylin contrast white men. I would have liked to have seen further developments in Kevin’s story but that at least shows that there is substance to the individual characters independent of the novel’s story.

 

I also liked the way Butler highlights that the pain and suffering during slavery were (and are) experienced by everyone in some form or another, and across different times and space. Of course, she highlights too how there are different levels to this experience and how some are more affecting, unequal, unacceptable and abhorrent than others. But, again, she peruses whether or not this too alters in perception across time and space. She presents no easy answers or solutions to either racial identities or historical guilt.

 

For shelving Kindred, I’d definitely put it in among the Toni Morrisons and Alice Walkers. But, for a completely different yet parallel reading experience, it would sit equally comfortably, for me, alongside Audrey Niffenegger’s The Time Traveler’s Wife. Love and time travel provide the similarities, but Kindred offers less of sweet romance and much more grounded depth. I’d recommend them both for quite different yet similar reasons.

 

Classics club verdict: It definitely makes me want to go back and read Toni Morrison's Beloved again.

 

 

Some notes for my future lack of memory (small SPOILER ALERT):

 

 

 

SPOILERS BEGIN:

 

The characters: Alice is a black slave whom Rufus loves. Kevin is Dana’s husband, Rufus is the boy she connects with, and Tom is his father. Where Dana and Alice might be seen by Rufus to embody the one woman (who is also black), the three white men might be analysed in a similar way too (Perhaps? I have not explored this)?

 

 

 

SPOILERS END

 

 

 

 

 

Publication details: Headline, March 2014, London, paperback (originally published 1979)

This copy: review copy from the publisher

 

 

Blindsided - Natalie Whipple

Blindsided by Natalie Whipple

 

Review by Little M
 

This is the sequel to Natalie Whipple's Transparent. Fiona McClean is a daughter of one of the most famous syndicate gang leaders. However, she is not normal like most girls. She is invisible. No one can see her and she can't even see what she looks like. A drug was made which gives humans mutant powers. In Fiona's case, she is invisible. This drug can also be given to enhance their abilities, this is where the syndicates comes into play. This time Fiona and her pack (gang) need to stop her father, the army and another syndicate from recreating this drug because the missing element has now been found.

I really liked both novels so much. Fiona really is a headstrong character.  However, my favourite characters must be Miles and Spud. Miles is Fiona's brother who has the ability to let off scents. Some are fruity others could be eggy. He can be quite funny but he is also mega protective over his sister and girlfriend, Spud.Spud is the infamous hacker who is on most of the syndicates kill or wanted lists. She is hilarious once she has hacked into something and her presence just really grew on me.

The Hot Key ring on this book says Blindsided is:

• Superpowers, I definitely agree with this;
• Romance is another, and yes this one fits too;
• Kick-Ass, this one I'm a bit confused about because I'm not sure if it means it's really actiony or adventurey though I think it should say action or mutant because this would say a bit more about the book.

Overall I really enjoyed it and I read on the 24 hour readathon.


Publication details: Hot Key Books, January 2014, London, paperback
This copy: review copy from the publisher

All Our Yesterdays - Cristin Terrill

All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill

Review by Little M

Em is in a cell and Finn is in one next to her. They haven't a clue if they will get out alive. But then she finds a piece of paper which says that she has been here before. It also says she must escape to save the world and kill the boy who she loved, the boy who is now known to them as the Doctor. Marina is a safe and very privileged girl who is falling in love with the genius James who lives next door. What she doesn't know is that her whole world will come crashing down very soon and it will destroy her life. Em has to travel back in time to save Marina and kill the boy Marina loves!

This is a time travel, action, adventure, sci-fi, romance novel and it reminds me a bit of The Tempest by Julie Cross because it involves time travel. However, I haven't read many time travel books yet so it may be very similar to some others.

I liked how All Our Yesterdays was written especially the way the author wrote it from two points of views in two different times.  I really enjoyed this novel at the beginning but towards the end events made me change my mind because I found it too predictable. I also didn’t really connect with the characters.

 

Publication Details: Bloomsbury, August 2013, London, paperback

This copy: uncorrected proof received for review from the publisher

 

Portal 24 - Meredith Stroud

Portal 24 by Meredith Stroud

Review by Little M

Portal 24 is about a secret government organisation called Oberon who only recruit teenagers as their agents. They then send them back in time to stop catastrophic events from taking place. Darius is their new recruit; he is a street-smart con-artist who has been taken from his old life to live a new one.

This book had me hooked from the very beginning. It wasn’t just a time travel novel that made me like it. It also had quite a lot of scientific explanation in it, which I really liked. Sometimes it could go a bit overboard with the sciencey bit but I think that was to show you how the characters felt and dealt with it all. If I was one of those kids I would be a bit baffled by it all.

This was a quick and easy read which I couldn’t put down. I think this is a very good book for someone who wants a quick and easy read.  I loved the idea of how the writer has created the time travel machine which is really cool.  At times I did think that the plot was missing something but I can't say what.

I think this novel is good for younger teens because the writing style is quite easy to read and the plot is easy to understand. It is perfect for younger teens who haven’t read a time travel novel yet.

If there is a sequel I would like to read it!

Publication details: Hot-Key Books, London, 2013, paperback

This copy: Received from publishers for review

Fortunately, the Milk - Neil Gaiman

Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman

 

Review by M

Little M’s read Coraline and still remembers it being scary. We have The Graveyard Book and Chris Riddell’s illustrations mesmerisingly frighten us away. We read Neil Gaiman’s poem in the A Little Aloud, For Children anthology – it was marvellous. Fortunately, the Milk came along and now I’ve read my first Neil Gaiman novel. Fortunately, the Milk is also fully illustrated by Chris Riddell. Fortunately, for me, these illustrations are dazzlingly fun. Fortunately, the Milk is too.

It is funny in a laugh out loud way (yes, I was on a train, which probably made me laugh for even longer!). It is preposterous in either a ‘eyes wide open’ or ‘I don’t believe you’ way depending on your gullibility, disposition to enjoy or propensity to question. It introduces all sorts of concepts like quantum thought and superpositions, international invasions and colonisations, and the history of language. Do not read this book if you want the bedtime light turned off soon after reading because there will be questions. Lots of them. Expect to be challenged throughout the story and possible footstamping in response the ending.



An inside page illustration by Chris Riddell

The scenario is this: mum’s gone away and dad’s in charge and of course they’ve run out of milk for breakfast (and tea!). So off he goes to the shop. When he returns, ages later, what a yarn he spins about what took so long. A time-travelling, galactic and maybe even extra-galactic adventure story. Fortunately, there is milk, a dinosaur, a grundledorfer, ponies, gloop, a sandwich box and much more.

A book that would suit almost or newly independent and curious readers, and it is a must for reading out loud.

Unfortunately, the only downside is that the dedications page is too full of clues so make sure to skip that until after reading....

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reviewed by M

Publication details: Bloomsbury, 17 September 2013, London

This copy: uncorrected digital proof received for review from the publisher.

 

Neil Gaiman: photo credit: Kimberly Butler 

 

 

Phoenix - SF Said

Phoenix by SF Said

Review by M

Phoenix is a soaring space quest story packed full of starry action, adventure, science, myth, colourful characters and wowsome illustrated pages. It’s a compelling and beautiful pageturner.

Lucky’s world on Phoenix is falling apart: he doesn’t know his dad, he’s lost his mum in more ways than one, he’s carrying some illegal kit while the sky is splitting apart and discovers that unmentionable things are happening to him when he’s asleep and dreaming. All of this happens in the middle of an ongoing inter-celestial battle between the Humans and the enemy Aliens (horn-headed, hoof-footed Axxa). On top of this, Lucky’s off on a quest to find his dad and the best way it seems to do this is to hitch a rocket ride with a bunch of very frightening Aliens. They eat eyeballs, you know! The ride is very bumpy and there are all sorts of deceptions and revelations along the way. There are numerable sad losses too.

Author SF Said writes Lucky’s space quest adventure in engaging and occasionally mesmerising words that are vividly enhanced by pages of beguiling illustrations (thanks to illustrator Dave McKean). As the quest progresses and we learn more about Lucky and his dangerous power, we also learn that there are twelve ‘gods’ who will be unable to save the celestial world from the wolf that eats the stars. A second quest ensues and yes, some aspects of the plot are a bit contrived and coincidental.



12 doublespreads like this depicting the 'gods'/Astraeus

Skirting the action-adventure of the quest and just beneath its shiny but grimy sci-fi surface, the novel explores themes of race, religion, deception, right and wrong, choice, and war. More than anything, Phoenix is a pacifist’s heaven that rings the peace message loudly: war, war is stupid......but very complicated too. Unexpectedly, the novel also injects some deep-seated and properly bittersweet romantic elements too. A satisfying but heartbreaking resolution becomes beautiful and slightly teary.

Overall, this is an exciting story weaving together multiple sub-plots and sub-texts in a way that should make much of it readily accessible to young readers. There are also many plot elements that point towards the potential for numerous allegorical interpretations. Those that sprung to mind for me were many religious stories, particularly the Age of Aquarius, and also Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. There are plenty of shadows and deceptions in Phoenix! Unravelling and linking all these allegorical clues can be a lot of fun for the readers, and even young ones will spot some of these.

For colourful characters, apart from Lucky, my heart was taken by Bixa Quicksilver, an Astral Martial Arts fighter with glowing needles in her hair; a couple of old-wizened Startalkers; and Bazooka, a phoenix.

Unusually, I’d also highly recommend watching the book trailer before reading: it’s just the opening pages of the book being read aloud but it is completely captivating and sets a beautiful, glowing tone to the novel.

Following the navigational quest theme, I don’t need an astronomer nor a mariner’s astrolabe to know that for me, Phoenix is this year’s A Boy anda Bear in a Boat. My hunch is that it will attract a much broader story loving audience, especially among newly confident readers who hunger for the thrills often housed in whopping big tomes.

  

Publication details: David Fickling Books, August 2013, Oxford, hardback

This copy: received for review from the publisher



This video is made up of the illustrations that appear in the book! Pages and pages of them.....

Boonie - M's review

Boonie by Richard Masson

 

Reviewed by M

Boonies are outsiders. JD is a Boonie, he just doesn’t know it yet. Set in a dry almost waterless fantasy (and maybe futuristic) world, an eco-message runs like an undercurrent through the novel, which takes a typical children’s quest story: a young teenager loses both parents (one to death) and goes on a journey of search and survival. Along the way, he makes a couple of good friends and the search quickly turns into an adventurous quest to uncover dark secrets of a world JD didn't know existed, save himself and maybe even the world. The cover image featured here is for the paperback edition and it captures the setting for Boonie really well (note: the black O is not a vinyl record!).

Boonie by Richard Masson - paperback edition

Boonie begins as an edgy, gritty read for older teens. However, it quickly becomes something more likely to appeal to a younger readership and I had to reframe my reading expectations.

Although it isn’t a fully happy-ever-after novel and there are some harrowing scenes, the overall tone is warm and the characters of JD, speechless Godrum and feisty Aqua are very likeable. There is a lot of moving plot and action. Boonie manages to pack in a lot of thought-provoking elements too. The plot moves quickly from one adventurous and dangerous scene to another (sometimes I wanted it to linger a little longer to find out more about what was going on in each one).

Themes and issues raised in this novel include the earth’s resources (especially water), slavery, power and rebellion. The overall themes and ideas reminded me of SD Crockett’s After the Snow, though the two novels are quite different and Boonie may appeal more to a younger, middle grade readership than After the Snow. The warm tone reminded me in some ways of Lois Lowry’s The Giver (again, these novels are quite different and The Giver isn’t really a quest story and is more hard-hitting). 

Younger readers who like adventure and would like to explore fantasy/science fiction may enjoy Boonie. The publishers’ Hot Key Ring indicates that Boonie's content includes Danger, Dark Future, Rebellion and Friendship. I would agree and maybe add a little of Eco/Environment.

Other eco/environmental novels for teens include After the Snow by SD Crockett (weather) and Breathe by Sarah Crossan (oxygen). There are also Carbon Diaries 2015 by Saci Lloyd and Julie Bertagna’s Exodus and Zenith (which I haven’t read yet).

 

Boonie's Hot Key Ring (by Hot Key Books)

 

Publication details: Hot Key Books, London, 2013, hardback (paperback out in August 2013)

This copy: uncorrected proof received for review from the publisher

When You Reach Me - M's review

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

I wish this novel had been written when I was about ten. I’d have loved it. I loved it now but I’d have loved it so much more back then. It has everything in it – endearing characters, comedy, friendship, mystery, shock, surprises, twists and turns and an intriguing title. It's probably one of my favourite children's books I've read in a long time. Think clever and endearing Time Traveler's Wife for children....

When You Reach Me is set in New York in 1979. It starts off with Miranda having kept a box of notes from ‘you’ and we find out that her single mom (with the perfect boyfriend except for his one-shorter-than-the-other leg) is practising for a TV show competition. For a while, this seems to be the main focus of the story but then something awful happens to Miranda’s friend Sal and we realise that this novel is even more of a mystery than it seemed. Just like Miranda, we’re in the dark about so much but we both know that April 27, 1979 is the key date to everything.

Basically, Miranda keeps finding notes from ‘you’, a friend has to be saved (oh but who is it?!), Miranda’s friendships are becoming complicated and even falling apart, and some things are getting lost. All your questions will be gloriously answered by the end but, when you reach the end, don’t be surprised if you’re still trying to figure out some of the scientifically mind-bending possibilities...or if you keep looking overly curiously at mailboxes...or if you suddenly have the urge to visit New York (Rebecca Stead makes it sound somewhere like the best place for home). Genre-wise, this is a mix of contemporary realism, mystery and science-fiction. This novel is full of wonderment, suspense, surprise and tenderness.

Highly, highly recommended.

A little note: I haven’t read it, but I think Rebecca Stead thinks this novel will appeal to fans of Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time as When You Reach Me makes many references to it.

 

Publication details: Andersen Press, 2011, London, paperback (first published in USA, 2009)

This copy: ours