North of Nowhere - Liz Kessler

North of Nowhere by Liz Kessler

Review by Chutney* (12)

North of Nowhere has been nominated for the Carnegie Medal 2014.

 

Publisher’s summary:

The sleepy seaside village of Porthaven hides a mystery....

Mia’s grandad has vanished and nobody knows why. When Mia and her mum go to support her grandma, Mia makes friends with local girl, Dee. But why does Dee seem to go out of reach? Why does she claim to be facing violent storms when Mia sees only sunny skies? And can Mia solve the mystery and find her grandad before time and tide wash away his future?

North of Nowhere was inspired by the real village of Hallsands, South Devon, that collapsed into the sea one stormy night in January 2017.

 

 

 

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Our reviewer, Chutney (age 12), used North of Nowhere to complete a school reading report. Here are her responses:

Genre: mystery, adventure

I chose to read this book because I found the cover interesting and attractive. The storyline caught my attention and it is the most recent book I have received. The story was situated in Porthaven, a fishing village where Mia tried to find the grandad.

I would give Mia an award for her determination to solve the mystery of her grandad’s disappearance. I learnt from the story that with bravery and hope you can conquer anything. I would like to invite Peter over to my house. I would invite him because there are many questions I would like to know the answers to.

There is nothing that I would change about the book because the storyline was interesting, the pace was perfect for me, I enjoy the idea of time travelling and the story captured my mind throughout.

 

Publication details: Orion Children’s Books, 2013, London, hardback
This copy: review copy from the publishers

 

*Chutney is a nickname!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

Tempest - Little M's review

Tempest by Julie Cross

Time travel, romance, action: if you like these Tempest will be right up your street.

Tempest by Julie Cross

Nineteen year old Jackson can time travel, but he can’t tell anyone, not even his girlfriend, Holly. When Jackson gets stuck in the year 2007 he can’t manage to get back to his home base, 2009. While trying to get to 2009 he finds he can only go backwards, not forwards which leads him to his sister, Courtney. Courtney died at the age of 14; she was Jackson’s twin sister. They were both without a mother because she died in childbirth. The novel is about whether Jackson can jump back into 2009 and whether he’ll choose to join the Tempest (part of the CIA) or the EOTs (time travellers who want to run the world but their time travelling will rip apart the universe).

This was the first time travel book I have ever read. Reading this made me think about the book called The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. I haven’t read it but I wondered if the time travel thing was the same. I still don’t know.  :(

This book will definitely be up in my top books. I found I liked it as much as Insignia (by SJ Kincaid) and Divergent (by Veronica Roth), which are very high on my list (at the top). I am definitely going to recommend this book to people and I can’t wait for the next book Vortex which is coming soon. I am sad to say that Tempest has beaten most of the horse books I have ever read (I think some of the horse books get boring or are a bit young).

I definitely will say people who like action, romance and time travel should love it. I think 13+ for this book partly because of language and parts of the romance but other than that it’s a great book.

After reading this I thought more about how most of the books I read now are science fiction.

Publication details: 2012, Macmillan, London, paperback

This copy: received from the publishers for review

 

 

 

 

Obsidian Mirror - M's Review & Book Giveaway

Obsidian Mirror by Catherine Fisher

Jake is holed up in a Swiss boarding school paid for by his godfather, Oberon Venn. But Jake doesn’t plan to stay there for very long. His father is dead and he thinks Oberon killed him. Jake is on a mission to confront Oberon but little does he know what he’s getting himself into. Is that a tap, tapping on the window….?

A wonderful example of teen fiction, Obsidian Mirror is quite a feast in all sorts of ways.

Obsidian Mirror by Catherine Fisher

There’s a black mirror, black holes, a great big house, a murder suspect a lot of people who’re not telling things exactly how they are, a few blasts from the past, and a wood that you really should not enter. It’s a mash-up of action, adventure, fantasy, magic, science fiction, perhaps a hint of steampunk, and a good story.

The cast of characters is plentiful. It includes a marmoset, wolves, starlings, black cats, servants, queens, Swiss boarding school teachers, missing parents, journeyers, reclusive and strange godfathers. And of course, teenagers: Jake Wilde, Sarah, Rebecca and Gideon. I didn’t become especially attached to the characters but I was riveted by the actual plot. Surprisingly, it’s not that fast-paced but the plot is packed full of surprises and disguises. It’s one of those stories where you just want to know what happens next.

While the ending for me is a bit unsatisfying (I'm hard to please) it’s not a real cliffhanger and that shouldn’t put you off reading it. If it is part of a trilogy, it is one that I will be following.

Obsidian Mirror is very entertaining and, set around Christmastime, it would be a very atmospheric winter or Christmas read for confident readers of any age (but there is a bit of Summer in it too!!). I think many 12 year olds would love it and I highly, highly recommend it. For me, it’s a shining example of what I hoped teen fiction would be: a little bit of all good sorts.

This is the first novel I’ve read by Catherine Fisher  but she’s definitely on my radar now for older tween and teen readers. Next on our reading list from her is her previous and highly acclaimed novel, Incarceron. Some of you might even have read it!

Publication details:

Hodder Children’s, October 2012, London

This copy: uncorrected proof received for review from the publishers.

Book Giveaway - UK only

Thanks to Hodder, you can win yourself a copy of Obsidian Mirror just in time for Christmas. Now that's a really good idea.....

To be in with a chance, simply leave a comment and a way for us to contact you if you win (you can e-mail your details to us if you prefer but please leave a comment to be included in the giveaway).

If you're under 13, please get your parent's or guardian's permission to enter. Or they can enter on your behalf.

The competition closes at 5pm on Friday 19 October 2012. The winner will be chosen at random. 

Best of luck!