Carnegie Challenge: The Midnight Zoo by Sonya Hartnett

In the beginning there were storytellers. Ok, well in the actual beginning there were grunts, then words, then basic grasp of language, then eventually storytellers.... Myths, fables, legends, all these ways of telling a tale that preceded books and novels. Every now and again you come across a book that really is a story in a very pure sense of the word. I think Sonya Hartnett has storytelling running in her veins, and The Midnight Zoo is only the first of her books I've read.

Born the second of six children in Australia, Hartnett wrote her first book aged 13, and it was published two years later. She has won the extremely prestigious Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, and the Guardian Children's Book Award. From the way The Midnight Zoo reads, I would imagine that she will be around and writing timeless, thoughtful books for a long time yet.

The story follows two young boys as they cross a war-torn landscape together - one older brother, and one younger. They come across a zoo, untouched by the destruction that war has laid down all around them. A motley collection of creatures, doomed to forever be trapped behind bars, whilst the two boys roam the landscape, yet endlessly flee an unseen enemy. No details of what war is going on are revealed, whilst equally no idea of time is really given. Although the actions of the soldiers as recalled by the boys may seem to be that of Nazis to me, I get the feeling that's just my perception and you could read the tale to be set in many different worlds. The story is more about the timeless question of freedom and war - if you're in a cage but without predators are you more or less free than those being hunted outside the bars? Why do wars happen at all? Is it, as one character in the book asserts, that one person must have something their way and then they will stop at nothing to have it so? Can it be someone else's war if you are living within it?

The story was so mind meltingly beautifully written that I often read pages over for a second time, just to enjoy the turn of phrase again. In a world where all your reading is done with your face in someone's armpit on the tube, I often find myself reading at high speed, and reading stories that are high action. It almost makes the journey go quicker and mentally it sort of fits with the rush of being on the tube. So this rare joy of taking my time reading almost made me forget where I was and how long I'd been standing with an umbrella stabbing me in the elbow etc. It really is gorgeously written.

The book also reminded me slightly of The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht. In the way that powerful animals and their interaction with man in a war torn landscape is described, it certainly has similarities, but also the vividness of the descriptions.

I think this story is an incredible gift to children's books - it made me stop and wonder, it got me pondering, and it was written with an incredible richness. I can absolutely see how this book made the Carnegie shortlist - well done to Walker again for another stunning tale for children. http://www.walker.co.uk/The-Midnight-Zoo-9781406331493.aspx

Why ban books?

When I logged on to the tinterweb on Sunday morning I noticed on my online newspaper rounds that the Telegraph had posted a piece about "offensive" children's books withdrawn by libraries. I find censorship of children's books incredibly interesting, so clicked right away. I even tried to write my dissertation about it, although I have since discovered that my conclusions were, probably as with most undergrads, pretty well trod ground!

The Telegraph points out books which have been removed from UK children's libraries after complaints. This information is more regularly available in the US, with the American Libraries Association publishing a list of most challenged books every year. Each year I am amazed by the appearance of books which are, to me, quite obviously opposing the points that the complainers seem to be offended by. For example To Kill a Mockingbird is repeatedly listed, under the criticism of being racist. In this and many similar cases I suppose the question is whether the complaint is the misled belief that the content actually is racist, or if parents oppose the depiction of a realistic historical scene of racism as suitable reading material. I am not sure which is worse. The first situation supposes an entire nation of complainers who are incapable of interpreting the basic point of a great work of fiction, but the second supposes that any politically charged situation is not suitable material for literature. What will be left if we remove anything that may cause offense?

When writing my dissertation I discovered several amusing organisations such as PABBIS - Parents Against Bad Books in School. Not only does the generic "bad" make me laugh (are they going to start calling for poorly reviewed titles to be removed??) but their site conveniently lists all the books they are opposed to and pulls out the particularly nasty quotes. If you ask me, they've pretty much created their own literary porn site!

The titles picked out by The Telegraph include one or two that I find impossible to comprehend their offensiveness. This leads me to suspect that perhaps the UK is not so free of the narrow minded views that have been banning books in the US as I had thought. For example the Horrible Histories books were pulled out for trivialising violence. Well, duh. History is pretty violent and gory and yet it's part of all our blood, bones and brains so we need to learn about it. As a child I couldn't stand history but loved, LOVED these books. I had every one I could get my hands on. To this day, any historical fact I know is probably remembered from Terry Deary's ligtht hearted and humourous tales. Removing these books seems once again to stem from a desire to censor political and emotional situations from literature.

Other complaints really bordered on the faintly ridiculous - Horrid Henry encourages bad manners - really? HE'S CALLED HORRID HENRY. Of course he has bad manners! The Big Ugly Monster and Little Stone Rabbit makes ugly children feel their lives are not worth living - this might be the conclusion a very young child may reach alone, but surely any adult can see the deeper message is to treat everyone nicely because everyone needs a friend? I believe this is the real issue at hand - parents not talking through issues they come across in books with their children.

I may not be a parent myself so I can't claim to be the most accurate judge, but I hope that when I do have a child of my own I will sit down with them when they're reading picture books and if they are distressed by anything, I will talk it through with them and help them see the deeper meaning. Of course you want to protect your children from unnecessary woe but how much better is it for them to learn about something a bit tricky through a book with a parent before they come across it in real life?

I used to work in the brilliant Norwich Millennium Library and we did have some books that we were unsure if they should be left in with the other picture books. For example The Island by Australian author Armin Greder moved into our "picture books for older readers" section before it eventually moved into the graphic novel section. A distressing parable of racism it was quite clearly not for three year olds, but was a compelling and beautiful book - a tricky one to define the target audience for. This book shows that there are of course some books that need to be given out with more guidance - but this is why librarians are so important! So they can appropriately shelve materials, provide warnings where necessary. But also parents should act as a filter and judge for their own children.

If we start casting about for things to find offense in we could go on forever. I despair at the narrow beliefs and sanitisation of children's books. One of the things I adore about picture books particularly is that they really can be about anything now - that's what makes them so interesting and enriching. There is so much to be learnt from them that we should heartily resist limiting their subject matter so narrowly.

Carnegie Shortlist is here!

Yes! Sure, it was announced about three weeks ago but I've been BUSY! Books don't just publicise themselves dontchaknow and in the last six weeks I have been ALL OVER THE PLACE, including *deep breath* all over London (literally from East to West which is genuinely a long way. Just ask poor Barry Hutchison who was in the cab with me) Windsor, Bristol, Berlin (ok, that was a holiday, whatever), Preston, Lancaster, Liverpool, Bath, Southampton and Reading... Phew! No wonder my body has essentially packed it in and left me eating naught but crumpets and ricey broth stuff....

So anyway, whilst all this country spanning travel was going on, I found out the shortlist had been announced, and I was quite surprised by the result...

David Almond
MY NAME IS MINA
Hodder (9+)
READ 

Lissa Evans 
SMALL CHANGE FOR STUART
Doubleday (8+)
READ

Sonya Hartnett 
THE MIDNIGHT ZOO
Walker (9+)

Ali Lewis 
EVERYBODY JAM
Andersen (12+)
READ

Andy Mulligan 
TRASH
David Fickling (12+)
READ

Patrick Ness
A MONSTER CALLS
Walker (9+)
READ

Annabel Pitcher
MY SISTER LIVES ON THE MANTELPIECE
Orion (10+)
READ

Ruta Sepetys
BETWEEN SHADES OF GREY
Puffin (12+)

So as you can see, the only two I haven't read are Between Shades of Grey and The Midnight Zoo. At the FCBG conference this weekend I mentioned that I was surprised not to see Blood Red Road or Life: An Exploded Diagram on there, to which the reply was that the list was aimed more towards younger fiction this year. But ay me for teenage fiction! There are so few high quality prizes awarded to teenage fiction now, especially with the cutting of the BookTrust Teenage Prize that I lament this decision! Someone enlighten me if there is some other reason, except Mal being a previous winner...? 

Anyway, I'm THRILLED to see Small Change for Stuart on there, which used to be one of my titles, hurrah for Lissa and her beautiful little tale. Monster Calls was a dead cert really, deservedly but no surprise there... Probably same for My Sister Lives on the Mantlepiece. Everybody Jam was an interesting one - I haven't reviewed this yet, but I loved it - only problem was that the small person I know who is half Australian and would've loved it wouldn't be allowed to read it yet, simply down to a few inappropriate topics and swearwords. Difficult to know the age pitch because of that.

Well I better get on with reading the two I haven't read yet (and the rest) and do some reviewing!! I am currently on The Midnight Zoo and it's absolutely beautiful so far - absolutely escaped into it on my commute. Watch this space!

Carnegie catch up

Oh I've gone and blog failed and been away ages! But I have still been reading LOTS but I may have been distracted from Carnegie titles with work ones - I still think I'll make it eventually!!


First up I feel like I should just catch up on the books on the long list I've read so far. At some point I'll do a post about my thoughts on the ones I'd already read when the long list was announced, but for now, here they are in a boring list:
Long Lankin by Lindsey Barraclough (I would do anything to see this on the shortlist!!!)
Boys Don't Cry by Malorie Blackman
Noah Barleywater Runs Away by John Boyne
You Against Me by Jenny Downham
Small Change for Stuart by Lissa Evans
The Devil Walks by Anne Fine
Moon Pie by Simon Mason
Trash by Andy Mulligan
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
Killing Honour by Bali Rai
The Emerald Atlas by John Stephens

So I was doing quite well already! And since challenging myself to read the rest I've read:
My Name is Mina by David Almond
Flip by Martin Bedford
One Dog and His Boy by Eva Ibbotson
Caddy's World by Hilary McKay
Shadow by Michael Morpurgo
Life : An Exploded Diagram by Mal Peet
My Sister Lives on the Mantlepiece by Annabel Pitcher
Blood Red Road by Moira Young
Annexed by Sharon Dogar
Everybody Jam by Ali Lewis

So, I still have 31 books to read. Ok so I might not manage all of them by the shortlist announcement but I'm still trying for the winner announcement!!

If I had to choose the short list myself at this point I would have:
Long Lankin
One Dog and His Boy
Life: An Exploded Diagram
Boys Don't Cry
A Monster Calls

Then I would have a really tough call between You Against Me, Moon Pie, Small Change for Stuart and The Devil Walks!! But I think Blood Red Road is bound to end up on there.

What's on your list?

A bit of Book Eating down at McDonalds

*DISCLAIMER* Obviously, I am professionally linked with this, so I wouldn't be slagging it off as an initiative anyway but I promise I genuinely do think it's really interesting and in my eyes free books are definitely a good thing here. So this is really just my opinion or I wouldn't write anything about it up here. Just so that's out of the way!

A week or so ago, the news was announced that McDonald's would be serving their Happy Meals with a side of literacy - 9 million free Michael Morpurgo books will be given away in place of the usual plastic toys. As The Guardian said, not everyone found this an "appetising" deal - ho ho. Not usually known for its philanthropic, moral or indeed healthy values, like it or not McDonalds could technically be seen as January's biggest book retailer with this deal - although of course the books will be free. Indeed many would question if a fast food restaurant was the right place to promote literacy and if this was really all a cynical marketing ploy. 


Well, with positive support from the National Literacy Trust, who said - "We are very supportive of McDonald's decision to give families access to popular books, as its size and scale will be a huge leap towards encouraging more families to read together." and Booktrust who commented - "This partnership with McDonald's Happy Meals and HarperCollins sends a really powerful message that reading is for everyone," it seems that officially it's the nutritionists getting cross. The Daily Mail quoted the Children's Food Campaign, who said - "At a time when we have a childhood obesity epidemic this is clearly an inappropriate marketing strategy." Unfortunately it looks like an illiteracy epidemic and an obesity epidemic are knocking heads here. 


So firstly, is McDonald's an appropriate place for a book promotion campaign? When I was at university and writing my dissertation, I was horrified by the trend towards supermarkets becoming the UK's biggest book retailers - their ranges were narrow and at the time, the thought of books alongside tins of beans was highly unappealing to my literary sensitivities (largely it was this article that had me feeling it was all a bit gross - the power of Wall-Mart to make or break a brand!). However, now I'm aware that in fact many busy mums and dads who wouldn't normally venture into a book store, or think to buy their child reading material, may now do so if they can get it whilst they get their weekly shop. Also, just because a supermarket is the biggest retailer of something, doesn't mean it is the best - if you want quality, range, advice and atmosphere then you'll head down to your local indie. I hope! Ideally the volume of books sold in supermarkets helps to support a broader range of retailers and titles.


Similarly, while I might wish that this scheme could be implemented in libraries or a book shop or other literacy related venue, the point of this campaign is to reach those who don't normally enter such environments. According to McDonald's stats, eight out of ten families visit the chain and so the opportunity to target children is unavoidably enormous. 


But is it a cynical marketing ploy? Now of course, whilst publishers need to make money like any other business, can we at least agree the product is something worth marketing? Even if we were rubbing our hands together and gleefully mulling over all those children wanting to buy books, the outcome is still a positive one. But in fact, after a presentation from the team at HC who created the deal, I thought it really was a labour of love. Special sales and editorial worked closely together, with Michael always involved and consulted. Amazing lengths were pursued in order to comply with the regulations required and print the books in time and to a high standard. Literacy was always considered, right down to the POS promoting the books in the restaurants and the website that will accompany the books. The Happy Meal box itself includes a voucher to go to WHSmith and get two other titles for £1 each, also by Morpurgo. Every effort has been taken to ensure it's a love of books that is grown from this scheme.


I couldn't agree more with Jack Sallabank at the National Literacy Trust who said their interest "is not related to the number of Happy Meals sold. Nine million books will be distributed to children during the campaign. In a society where one in three children don't own a book, this type of campaign will be hugely effective," I don't really believe that anyone goes to McDonalds and buys the Happy Meal for the toy - even as a child I was definitely more interested in the nuggets than whatever swivelling plastic creation was next to it. So, conversely, I don't really believe many customers will go into McDonalds in order to get a book for free. If it was the book they wanted, they could buy all six adventures in a bind up, which has an RRP of £7.99. I haven't had a Happy Meal in a few years, so I'm not sure how much they are, but if they're still about £2 then you can purchase the book for less money than six Happy Meals. 


All I'm saying is that yes some people may question the moral integrity of partnering with McDonalds, of course and if you think it's a terrible idea, that's fine - and I'm happy the whole thing has created the discussion. But in my opinion, children are currently eating at McDonald's regardless and so if we can put a book in their hands whilst they're there, then all the better. If even a 1% of the books are taken home, read, and enjoyed and spark the reading bug, it will be worth it. 

McDonalds will be giving away Mudpuddle Farm books with Happy Meals until 7th February. http://www.happystudio.com/ 

Carnegie review number 6 - White Crow by Marcus Sedgwick

Oooooh it's a goodie! I've been meaning to pick up Marcus' books for actual years - I remember being at some SYP event in Foyles before I got into publishing and I was going to every book talk I could find. Marcus was the only speaker who was a kid's author and he asked if anyone worked in children's publishing. I'm pretty sure I put my hand up like a right nerd even though I wasn't technically employed yet! I thought it was interesting he'd worked for Walker before he became an author, so knew the technical side of things (also, later found that lovely Jonathan Stroud also worked for Walker before becoming an author, so it's a trend clearly!). Then a wonderful friend at Norwich Library, who gave me massive help in getting in to publishing, also recommended his books (cowabunga, if you're reading this). So it's been something I've been getting around to for a while...

Well I'm going to have to gradually acquire the whole backlist because White Crow was an absolutely brilliant read. Naturally written in an extremely graceful and vivid descriptive style, it was not only beautiful but very thought provoking. And having taken one whole unit on the American Gothic at UEA, and thus considering myself an expert, I can tell you it's very gothic! A fascination with death, themes of doubles, creepy houses... oh and a crow! All of the above are major gothic symbols.


White Crow is a story about a teenage girl who moves to a small coastal town for the summer with her dad. For reasons I won't divulge and spoil, Rebecca and her father's relationship is very strained. She soon meets Ferelith (rumoured to be named after the brilliant librarian! Now if that won't get you a nomination what will!) a strange, lonely and extremely intelligent girl who seems preoccupied with thoughts of death, the afterlife and the gradual ruin of the town as it falls into the sea. Another story runs alongside this modern day one, of a rather naughty priest in the 1700s who is involved in some grizzly work by a French doctor who is also preoccupied with the afterlife.

I found when I first started reading I was expecting this book to be quite whimsical and romantic as I didn't know much about it, but it quickly turned into a tense, chilling, gothic thriller with a deep philosophical element. It's really not a long book at all, and so packs an awful lot of thought and description into a succinct narrative. I found every time I had to put this book down I couldn't stop thinking about it and was mulling it over after finishing it too. Having a proper think about death and what happens next is something I don't often do - I tend to look sideways, above and around it. Really thinking about it can only last a few minutes before I feel like I'm leaning over the edge of something I can't really balance on. If you ask me, the real magic of books, and particularly children's books is that feeling that you're being shown something for the first time and taking a perspective you'd never imagined before. Whether, as adults, it's not really the first time, that feeling in a great book is just magic. White Crow really had that and prodded my brain into thinking over things I usually avoid. That's why I would say this is not only a major contender for this year's Carnegie but a genuine crossover title that adults and children alike should read.

White Crow by Marcus Sedgwick is published by Orion and is out now in paperback. It is longlisted for the 2012 Carnegie Medal.

Off Topic Review: The Fear by Charlie Higson

OK I got distracted - The Fear is not on the Carnegie long list. We could have a whole debate about why (But WHY? Do I need to go set up a horror prize? Why should books like this have to have their own prize though? Anyway...) but I just really. Wanted. To. Read. It. I have been quite obsessed with these books since the first one came out in its shiny foil skull covered glory. After the second one came out I was working at Bath Children's Literature Festival so managed to see an event with Charlie Higson and Nick Lake and worked myself into an embarrassing fangirl state in the signing queue. But now my hardback of The Dead says "Don't have nightmares" in it, which is worth it!

The Fear is the third in a series penned by Young Bond author, Fast Show comedian and former UEA student (I'm going to start a list - oh UEA!) Charlie Higson. Already well established as a children's author with the Young Bond series, Charlie took a leap into the world of more grizzly teen/YA writing with much success. Zombies were the new vampires, so they said - I can't agree that zombies have taken off as widely as vamps yet, but they sure have infiltrated many levels of entertainment and often on more of a cultish level. For example the unlikely combination of dystopian steampunk zombie romance Dearly, Departed by Lia Habel.

These books are set in a contemporary London, ravaged by a mysterious disease which has turned everyone over fourteen into a flesh hungry zombie. These zombies aren't just a bit green - they're positively repulsive with rotting bodies, pus filled boils and bits falling off left, right and centre. Charlie demonstrates the look here. The kids featured in the books are bang up to date urban teens, who chat along with slang that even I, modern yoof as I am, didn't always understand. But no worries bruv, I'm no mug and I'm bare down with the speak now.

I don't want to ruin too much of the plot in case you haven't read the other books but I will say this - you have to be prepared for some gruesome deaths and that any character could, at any time, die. Horribly. It's so much fun to watch the kids hole up in some of the big sights in London including the Imperial War Museum, The Tower of London and even Buckingham Palace. Apocalyptic visions are pretty rife in teen fiction at the moment but I haven't read something else set so firmly in an environment I really know, and reading The Fear, I could picture the streets they were walking along, the alleyways the zombies appear from. Endlessly enjoyable.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this latest installment in the series - waiting for the next one is what always gets me as they're completely addictive, fast paced, thrill filled books! I vote we put Charlie and Will Hill to an Xbox off to see who wins and put this zombie/vampire debate to the test once and for all.

The Fear by Charlie Higson is out now in hardback, paperback will be out in April. It follows The Enemy and The Dead in the same series.

Carnegie read number 6 - Caddy's World by Hilary McKay

In my quest to read all the titles on the Carnegie longlist, I have come to a particular favourite of mine. I have LOVED the Casson Family adventures ever since reading Saffy's Angel back in 2002. Well I think it was 2002 as that's the year it says inside my old copy. But I definitely read it as an actual tween so I can tell you from the target audience's perspective, and from a grown up's perspective, these books are PERFECT.

I think I came across Saffy's Angel because my dad had heard something about it on the radio - good old bit of PR work in action there. Anyway when I came to reading it, I fell in love with family and how kooky and unusual the characters were. Not only was it sweet and funny but it was so emotional and I always looked back on it fondly as a book of magic and wonder. The Casson family are a complete treat - lots of eccentric children with an even more eccentric artist mother and a progressively more and more absent artist father. Each child has been named after a swatch on a paint chart hung up in the kitchen - Permanent Rose, Saffron, Indigo and Cadmium. Each child has such a rich story to tell, full of the discoveries of growing up, particularly with the extra independence they gain from having such a charmingly dotty mother - who still loves them dearly, but has difficulty keeping a track of them all the time! You can read all about them in their own titles in the series.

Caddy's World is actually a prequel title, coming before the five other titles which explored the family in the years after Saffy's Angel was released. Caddy is the oldest sibling and mostly seen as a teenager or university student in the other books so it's really lovely to see her as a 12 year old. If you know the other books you'll see a few explanations for Caddy's quirky ways in this snapshot of her childhood self. I adore her group of friends in all their extreme differences from each other - the kind of friendship group you can only have at that age I think. Poignantly, Caddy is forever wishing that things would never change but of course nothing ever really stays the same.

I don't want to give too much of the story away as it's such a wonderful read - lots of people have been asking me about books to interest keen reading girls who don't want to get into teenage talk about boys and kissing - this is perfect. Things do get tough in the Casson family sometimes, but for an 8-12 year old I'd say this is the best way to learn about those tough times - within the framework of a gorgeously characterful story, full of plenty of humour, hope and every day magic.

Caddy's World by Hilary McKay is out now in hardback and is long listed for the 2012 Carnegie Medal.

Carnegie meal number 5 - My Sister Lives on the Mantlepiece by Annabel Pitcher

I've been resisting this one for a while - I think pretty much every kids publisher had wanted to publish it and there had been a lot of pre-publication chatter and hype which always makes me a little cautious of the finished product! I wasn't surprised to see it on prize lists as I had perceived it to be "worthy" and topical from the plot descriptions. However I was really pleasantly surprised with this book.

The plot follows 10 year old Jamie whose sister Rose was killed in a terrorist attack. Her twin sister Jasmine survived and is left to live within their now fractured family with Jamie. Their father has become bitter and angry and often blames their mother, who is distant and disconnected from the family. The father has also grown to distrust any muslims, believing them all to be terrorists and is struggling to cope with his grief through heavy drinking.

The story is told very genuinely from a child's point of view - in this it reminded me of one of this year's big adult books, Room by Emma Donoghue. His voice is very innocent and it's heartbreaking to see the family's disfunction through his eyes. As the children left behind in tragedy, Jamie and Jasmine find themselves more neglected and invisible rather than more cared for. With a move to the countryside, Jamie also finds himself forming a tender young friendship with a girl at his new school, but there's just one problem: Sunya is a Muslim.

Jamie experiences so much in this book and it isn't necessarily all the big problems he has to deal with which are the best bits of the story - small triumphs against the school bully and moments of realising how much his sister is doing to help him along behind the scenes - these are the bits that really got me. Well and a scene with a cat which made me weep for a good 20 minutes... But my point is, this book isn't really about a family affected by a terrorist attack. It's just about a family - it doesn't matter what caused their fractures, because what comes after could be scenes from any number of family's difficulties. It's so beautifully observed and heart-touching, and not really an issue book in the way I was expecting. The nearest book I could compare it to would be Moon Pie by Simon Mason which has a similar family set-up and is equally wonderful!

I do think this book really deserves all the praise it has received - ignore the attention grabbing stuff about terrorism (and sorry, but I'm not a fan of this cover at all...) and read it as a sensitive and touching examination of a family in trouble.


My Sister Lives on the Mantlepiece is out now in paperback and is long listed for the Carnegie Medal.

Carnegie read number 4 - Flip by Martyn Bedford

First of all - sorry about the photo. But I'm running out of creative photographic ways to symbolise me eating the books. I need more utensils.

Next on my reading pile for the Carnegie longlist challenge I've set myself was Flip by Martyn Bedford. My chosen book purchasing method this time was to visit Casey from Dark Readers at Waterstones Camden, my local and her place of work now! It was lovely to see her smiley face and lo and behold, Flip was there, ready and waiting to be purchased. EXCELLENT SERVICE, PROMOTE CASEY, WOOO! Ahem.

Having just seen a Misfits episode that involved a body swap (no spoilers I promise) I was reminded of their discussion of whether it was more like Face-Off or Freaky Friday. Which just goes to show the whole body swap thing has been done before - so this was my first fear jumping in to reading the book. It also made me expect that there would be some kind of extra twist which never really came, but that's not to say it wasn't a good read. Also Martyn Bedford went to UEA, just like myself (and Steve Cole. And that man who wants to marry Elizabeth Swan in Pirates of the Caribbean) so he must be a dude.

Alex wakes up in another boy's body, miles from his own home and family, with no idea what has happened to his own body. His reaction is unsettlingly realistic as his initial attempts to explain that he is not in fact Philip or "Flip" are met with disbelief, and he is forced to settle in to life in Flip's body. At least for the time being. His inner turmoil at whether he can continue to be himself in another body leaves him conflicted and desperate to find a way out, and he soon discovers he is not the only one this phenomenon has happened to...

I think the thing I found odd about this story was just how realistic it was. I felt like I was reading a gritty emotional account of something that could really happen and affect people. The issue under the skin here is about Alex feeling comfortable with his identity which is a genuine worry for many teens, yet set within this story framework it doesn't feel patronising or heavy handed. I wouldn't agree with its description as a "thriller" though as the storyline is more emotional and slow building than high speed action. Alex doesn't start leaping cars to find the government agency that hijacked his body or anything like that - the impetus to keep reading is intrigue at how Alex will chose to deal with events, and of course how you would deal with it yourself.

This book surprised me by popping up on a lot of big awards lists when I hadn't heard much about it before - not for the first time, a book from Walker that sneaks up on you due to its quality rather than hype. I would be really keen to see where Martin Bedford goes next as this book is clearly very good, but I'd like to see what he would do coming with a slightly more original plotline.

Flip by Martyn Bedford is out now in a sort of paperbacky/hardback thingy (?) and published by Walker Books. It is longlisted for the 2012 Carnegie medal and UKLA Book award and shortlisted for the 2011 Costa Book Award for Children.

Off Topic... Dream Christmas Gifts

Ok rather off topic. But I'm one of those people it's easy to find gifts for - you know things that have been created with no purpose other than TO BE A GIFT? Yeh, I love that stuff. Oh my god, a toast stamper! A flannel printed with lovehearts! Nun chuck chop sticks!! I have been known to tell people when prompted for birthday gift suggestions that I'd be happy with an empty box. I then received an empty one of these on the day - and I still have it today, filled with cotton reels and beads and such useful items.

In my hunting for presents - for other people! I am caring, honest! - I just keep coming across things my life absolutely will not be complete without. So here in its glory are my 100% greedylicious self Christmas shopping wishes. In my dreams... ah! Oh yes, and so they fit in here on a book blog, they are all book based! Well, sort of...

1. Top item would definitely have to be the painfully amazing Oliver Jeffers jewelry. Someone sub book boy an extra £100 on the gift budget! Quick!*

*I actually think for this particularly beautiful piece of craft the price is not that bad. Well worth the love and labour going into them - but sadly still out of my price range...

2. Moomin tea flask. Itsh schoo cute!!! I don't even drink tea but I might need to transport some hot squash on a winter picnic one day...

3. Oh how I really should have my own Personal Library Kit. I'm a bit too happy with the lending and not stern enough of the demands for return of borrowed books. I have many a pair of fake nerd glasses I could wear whilst issuing my books... sigh.

4. So... the Muppets probably had books at some point right?* Regardless, I really, REALLY want all the Muppet themed Opi nail varnishes. Whilst the pictured "Fresh Frog of Bel Air" has a special place in my heart and "Divine Swine" is full of googly sparkles, I think "Rainbow Connection" is just too glittery to resist... but so much harder to get hold of!

* Look, The Muppet Babies Annual 1987 was a literary classic, ok?

5. Oh how I loved The Little Prince when I was younger. I have vague cloudy memories joy over an animated video bought at a car boot sale (as with most amazing nostalgia, you can find examples here on youtube!) and to this day it still has an air of mysterious Frenchness to me. So what more classy garment to give me than this snazzy t-shirt?

6. I don't know about you, but I often fall asleep face down on the sofa... with all the lights on, still wearing my clothes... in the shower... in the middle of reading a literary classic. When I wake up to peel the pages from my face, I can't help but think there should be some way to combine falling asleep and reading into some kind of convenient bedside lamp. Well obviously someone out there is listening and created this cute little piece of lighting equipage.

The only bad thing about this bedside genius is that the book is not included. And I imagine if, like me, you forget to turn the light off, you might end up setting fire to your book, and ironically burning the house down. Not recommended...

7. Ever since I sat next to someone at an Oliver Jeffers event (actually in Cambridge) who had one of these, I have needed one. Once again, just sub me £70 odd and it's mine! I mean, I need it to put all my books into. It's academic.

Plus, it's available in ultra barbie neon pink! From the Cambridge Satchel Company. Mmm... Satchels.

Thus concludes my gift buying procrastination... I'll get on with other people's presents now - what's on your dream gift list??

Carnegie Meal Number 3 - One Dog and His Boy by Eva Ibbotson

Positively speeding through now. I'll have finished this lot before you can say pneumonoultrasilicovolcanoconiosis... Soon after finishing Shadow I popped by book boy's house as I knew he had some of the books on my hit list. Being a bookseller, he is one of these lucky people who get sent proofs and one such example was One Dog and His Boy by Eva Ibbotson. When I worked in a library, I shelved a helluva lot of Eva Ibbotson books as they were always flying in and out. So when this book proof was released, it clocked on my radar, but tragically even more so due to the sad news that Eva had passed away at the age of 85. I knew I just needed an opportunity to steal borrow this and get reading - so thank you Carnegie folk for nominating this one!

From One Dog and His Boy, it seems very obvious that Ibbotson was indeed a master of children's storytelling. I don't specify "children's" to in any way belittle her writing - I think when you write for children in the best way, you have created something that does not speak down to children but is still most definitely created with them in mind. With the dreams and beliefs that you hold as a child at the forefront.

This story has at its centre a young boy called Hal, who lives a privileged life with all the toys and gadgets he could ever want. With a wealthy businessman for a father and a prim shopaholic for a mother, the only thing Hal yearns for is a dog. But he has never been allowed one. In a cruelly thoughtless move, his parents rent him a dog for the weekend, but let Hal believe it's for life. Hal and the dog he rents, Fleck, find a strong connection straight away and their separation is heart breaking. Back at Easy Pets, the dog rental agency, there are a whole room of cell mates to Fleck who have their own tragic stories that have led them to their ownerless existence. The dogs' back stories were revealed in effortlessly natural narration, with delightful details set up for later heart wrenching moments. A whole host of other characters come into the story and every one is just perfectly woven in to create a classic adventure tale with a really simple but lovely emotional core. This really was pretty much perfect - funny, sad, emotional, exciting and filled with a kind of magic that needs no wands or sorcery.

I will place this book very high up on my recommendation list for any children aged 9 and up, and any adult with a young soul!

One Dog and His Boy by Eva Ibbotson is out now in hardback, and will be released in paperback in March 2012. It is long listed for the Carnegie Medal 2012.

Lunchtime Review - Shadow by Michael Morpurgo

The Carnegie Challenge continues! At quite high speed this week as I pilfered Shadow from the shelf at HC headquarters (book.. err obtaining method number 2. Can't really call that purchasing) on Friday night and got reading on my Monday morning commute. Then finished it on my Monday evening commute! I just had to know how it was going to end... It's hard to stop reading a Morpurgo!

So here I am at lunch time blogging my review, which I think is wholly acceptable considering it's one of our titles :) I'm just WORKING right now..

Shadow is the story of a teenage boy from Afghanistan who is seeking asylum in the UK. He and his mother have lived in the country for 6 years but are suddenly being deported. But first they are being held in the Yarl's Wood detention centre, essentially a prison which holds families including young children before they are sent out of the country. Morpurgo, in his wonderfully characteristic way, took inspiration from real life in two ways with this story. Both that Yarl's Wood was a real place and that it was wrongly detaining families and children, but also the story of Shadow the dog.

During the book we hear the story of how Aman made it to the UK from his troubled home country. During their journey to escape, Aman and his mother found themselves accompanied by a foreign looking dog, which Aman names Shadow. Although they don't know it, Shadow is in fact a trained bomb sniffer dog from the English army who is missing and presumed dead by his squadron. This was inspired by the story of Sabi, a black labrador who disappeared from battle only to be found a year later, cared for by an unknown person in the desert.

This weaving together of true life elements is characteristic of Morpurgo and serves to create a story that is all the more touching. It's satisfyingly based in reality and I'm sure will be a valuable book to many children who read it and think a little more about those who seek asylum in the UK. It reminded me of the brilliant account of Enaiatollah in In the Sea There are Crocodiles in the way that the story was sad, but maintained an air of hope. I think this is incredibly important when telling stories with this much emotional pain for children. Whilst it is important to keep their eyes open to hard things that happen around them, we mustn't damage them too early on with thoughts of desperation and hopelessness.

To hear Michael talking about the book himself, click here.

Shadow by Michael Morpurgo is out now in paperback, and is long listed for the 2012 Carnegie Medal.

My first Carnegie bite - My Name is Mina by David Almond

A couple of weeks ago I decided I would set myself a little challenge - to read all the Carnegie long listed titles before the winner is announced next year. This is no mean feat, as although I've read 11 of them already - there are 52 in total! Well I would have started my challenge immediately but I was part way through reading the second Department 19 book, The Rising. I will refrain from talking too much about that as I know it will make many of you painfully jealous and there are SO MANY AWESOME plot points I don't want to give any away!

So once I finished that I finally got myself down to Daunt books to visit my friendly book boy and request he buy me a book with his discount (book purchasing method 1 - let's call it supporting a friendly Indie) and that book was My Name is Mina by David Almond. This book is a prequel to David Almond's first book, the Carnegie winning Skellig. Ashamedly I have never read Skellig, so found myself coming to this book as a fresh standalone. Which, for any of you in the same position, is absolutely fine, aside from you may get slightly less satisfaction from the ending.

I have to say when I first started reading this I couldn't get my head into it. I couldn't work out why - perhaps coming to it from such a high action thriller? Perhaps because all my reading is done on my commute and I'm largely standing and feeling rushed? The book reminded me a lot of Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli which I just adored so I just couldn't understand why I was less interested in this. I stopped and thought about it, quite literally as I was walking along the street in a rush. I had a slightly obvious epiphany - I am a grown up, in a sometimes stressful and always busy profession. I live in a city thats always rushing and jostling me around and often surrounded by people huffing and sighing and grumping about like we grown ups do. When I read Stargirl I was a teenager with plenty of free time, less cynicism, and more belief in everything being just wonderful. I was quite whimsical! But wait! I still am whimsical and childish and I got really cross at myself for not letting this story carry me away just because I was having a busy week.

So I came back to the story and paid attention - I looked around me on the tube and felt sad for anyone else who wasn't using their journey to have a little escape like me. An escape back into the mind of a child, where the world is full of completely amazing things - in Mina's journal she writes words she thinks are particularly delicious over and over, or really big across the page. She writes mini stories and poems and spends lots of time sitting in a tree, watching the world and waiting for the eggs in the nest above her to hatch. She's by no means always happy, as she finds the process of being a child and growing up quite painful, and philosophizes on this transition throughout. She has perhaps clung to her more "childish" ways longer than most others her age, but this only means she still knows how to take notice of all the little things and take delight in them.

I was just enchanted by the book once I got my brain in the right mode. Everyone should be a little bit like Mina - her "strangeness" is to me what makes her more sensible than most - I think as we grow up, we lose the strangeness of being a child, where we create magical worlds and imaginings in our head, and question things that grown ups accept. I think that's something to lament - which is of course really why I work in the world of children's books!

Most appropriately, Mina does seem to have something quite apt to say on this, so I will leave you with a lovely quote from the book:

"It's so strange: grown ups trying to become young, young ones trying to grow up and all the time, whatever people want, time moves forward, forward."

My Name is Mina by David Almond is available now in paperback, and is longlisted for the 2012 Carnegie Medal - see the full longlist here. 

Carnegie Longlist - My Challenge!

On Friday, the longlists for the Carnegie Medal and Kate Greenaway Awards were announced. If you don't know, these are two of the most prestigious awards for children's fiction and picture books you can win in the UK. For someone in publishing it's a very exciting day, but inevitably you'll be disappointed too - you work on so many books in a year and not every one makes it to the list, which is always sad. Titles are nominated and judged by librarians across the country, and there's also a fantastic shadowing scheme which gets kids involved in reading the titles on the shortlist and voting for their favourites.

Having just moved to HarperCollins, there were some titles from Random House I had been working on over the previous year that I was really desperate to see on the list and so when I loaded up the page on Friday, I did end up wooping out loud and doing a little dance in my seat (alone in a corner, nice and embarrassing)! In particular, two books that I worked on made it - Long Lankin by Lindsey Barraclough and Small Change for Stuart by Lissa Evans. Hooray! Congratulations ladies! But there were plenty more I've already read and loved or heard about and been intrigued to read. So this led me to set myself...

THE CARNEGIE LONGLIST CHALLENGE!
My challenge, should I choose to accept it (from myself) is to read EVERY BOOK on the longlist*. There are 52, and I've already read 11. So this means reading 41 books. If I wanted to finish reading by the shortlist announcement at the end of March 2012, I'd have approximately 20 weeks and I guess I'd have to read two books a week. Now I am quite realistic and much as I'm a fast-ish reader, I'm going to get distracted by reading the books I'm working on and other things that just catch my eye. But as long as I've read them all by the announcement of the winner in June 2012 I think that's acceptable. Right??

I also want to use this exercise as an adventure in book buying. I'm going to try and obtain the books from as many sources as possible, for example HEY MUM CAN I HAVE THIS FOR CHRISTMAS? Or, more exactly from as many retailers, online sources, first hand, second hand, hardback, paperback, and maybe even blagging a few from booky friends.

In the mean time, as I've read 11 already I'll do some posts reviewing about two or three at once, partly just to show off how many of them I just happen to have signed copies of (ahem, humblebrag).

So, just to recap, I'm going to:

• Obtain ALL the Carnegie longlisted titles from various amazing book selling sources
• Read 'em (and occasionally weep)
• Tell y'all about them
• Accurately predict the winner and win all of your respect 

Just you wait...

*I can hear you real book bloggers snorting into your keyboards. HA I'VE READ THEM ALL ALREADY! Well, you guys had a head start! No fair!

Review: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

You probably won't find me giving too many in depth reviews here, because I suppose as a book publicist I generally have ulterior motives for recommending books! I know I won't be able to help myself sometimes, but in this instance as it's a book for grown ups and published by Vintage, I figured I could get away with it!

I received a proof of this book when I was still working at RHCB - it arrived in the internal post wrapped in black paper and shiny white ribbon, which prompted much excitement! Tucked into the book was a small business card, printed with the following:

"The circus arrives without warning.

No announcements precede it.

It is simply there,

when yesterday it was not."

Vintage do an absolutely beautiful job of everything they do - their books are beautifully published, so I was already very aware of the hype and creative marketing that was going into promoting this book. This particular proof was offered to encourage in house staff to photograph themselves with the book, wearing something red, to be posted on the intranet homepage - sadly I never got the chance to do this before I left!

The book tells the story of a mysterious travelling circus that appears from nowhere and opens only at night. Its illusions and entertainments are so enchanting that people lose themselves in amongst the black and white striped tents until dawn. But behind the glittering fairy lights and spinning acrobats, there is something keeping the circus together beyond any of its patron's imaginations. Two figures are locked in a dangerous wager, keeping the circus balanced as they discover the rules of their game.

I found this book impossible to walk away from. The descriptions were so sumptuous and detailed that I found myself desperate to visit the circus for myself. Every time I closed the book and stepped back into my carriage on the tube everything looked far too dull and muted compared to the dazzling world of the story. The plot itself weaves through time, cleverly moving back and forth to reveal the fates of the characters piece by piece. I was a little disappointed by the ending as I was anticipating something  little more dramatic. I also think it was probably too long - however if I had been editing this book I would have been loath to remove any one of the tempting scenes of caramel apples by the bonfire or glittering snow gardens, permanently frozen.

There is so much beauty in this book that perhaps it would be easy to overlook issues with the plot, or excuse them. Morgenstern is clearly a hugely talented writer and has plenty of respect for the real magic of storytelling. However, I think that someone even a smidgen less whimsical than I may have found the fantasy of the circus too insubstantial to cover the slow pace of the plot. There weren't many surprises in the direction of the story, as the reader seems to be aware of things that seem blindingly obvious but only become apparent to the characters some time later. In fact, the characters are generally rather thinly described compared to the lushness of their world. I think this is where the book really falls down unfortunately.

However - I am a girl on the high end of the whimsical scale. I do believe that within books, films, music and art we can really lose ourselves and it is a kind of magic. I think this is why I'm so drawn to children's books, because all those possibilities of fantastical worlds and events are still present. I am clearly the sort of person this book is therefore aimed straight for! I found reading The Night Circus immensely enjoyable. It is truly beguiling and sensory, drawing you into a world that would be so incredible to witness. For that reason I would still strongly recommend it to read - curl up by the fire with a mug of hot chocolate as the cold winter nights draw in and read it for the joy of it. In the meantime I will be looking forward to the arrival of Hyde Park's Winter Wonderland in the hope it will at least half way satisfy my craving for a magical circus!

The Night Circus is out now, published by Harvill Secker.

Life so far in the new job!

Life in children's book publicity is many things - the one thing you can count on, however, is the variety! If you really want to test this theory, start a new job in September! It's one of the busiest times of the year, with all the big Autumn blockbusters being published in time to get on the Christmas present lists. With big books, come big tours and public appearances. So I pretty much guaranteed myself a start in the deep end! So here, in photographic form, here is a brief catalogue of my first few weeks as a press officer:

Ok so technically this happened before I started - just wanted some photographic evidence that I had REAL CHAMPAGNE bought for me. Thanks bookboy :)

Day 1 at work - sneakily took a photo of the huuuge stack of the new Oliver Jeffers book Stuck - I am a huge fan and working at his publishers is WIIICKEDDD! Then of course, the next thing I did on day 1...

Oh who's that? Oh yes it's Oliver Jeffers, signing in Cambridge Waterstones. HC knows how to draw me in...

The on day... 3 I think it was, I was at the YLG conference a Goldsmith's college, setting up my stand next to the lovely Random House stand coincidentally! Mmm... look at all the books... tasty!

I was with the lovely Harriet Wilson from editorial, who also used to work for RH so we had a lovely old catch up and gossip with those on the RHCB stand next to us (I mean, it had been at least a week since I'd left).

 One day in my first week the post man came around looking confused at where exactly this mysterious Rosi was sitting - after waving my arms around frantically I found myself presented with these lovely flowers! These were a really sweet good luck present from Vogler and Burchett, the lovely Gargoylz authors - sooooo sweet! 

I have been really lucky so far in that I've been hanging out with several LEGENDARY kids' book people -  I spent one sunny morning in the super swanky St Pancras hotel with illustration royalty Judith Kerr and Tomi Ungerer.

They had some shared history in their experiences during the war which was fascinating to listen to. You can still hear the extended version online here.

I could go on and on but I think this blog post is already majorly long!!! The last thing I have photographic evidence of is the bizarre day I spent pretending to be Michael Morpurgo. I don't mean I actually donned a dusky pink suit and became an amazing author - in fact I was just accepting the Oxfordshire Children's Book Award on Michael's behalf. It was a lovely ceremony although I was very scared I had to stand on stage in front of 300 people, even if they were tiny children... Later though, I accepted my place a prize winner...

Ok... I'll give it back in the morning...

New Reading!

(OK I wrote this a week and a half ago, so imagine I know how to back date posts...)


It's been a week and a half since I started at a different publishing house - I've been reading through a mountain of recent and upcoming titles to try and get my head around a whole new list and it's been SO MUCH FUN. So I thought I'd share my thoughts on what I've read so far...

The Carrie Diaries: Summer in the City

by Candace Bushnell

I snatched this one up as soon as I could - The Carrie Diaries was the first ever book I owned in proof form and I am a SATC nerd so I couldn't wait to read this one. This book was just as fun as the first prequel, with the added bonus of being set in NYC and all the glamour that brings! The storyline gives one or two satisfying references to Carrie's future in the city, but it's clear Bushnell wants to provide her own ideas of the characters' past. However, Carrie is very much the girl she becomes later - she's high maintenance and naive in her relationships, keen to seek advice from friends, and definitely after the best party invites. But she's also incredibly bubbly and has her particular morals and ideals.

Department 19

by Will Hill

I had been seeing this book LITERALLY everywhere earlier in the year and had been super jealous of the campaign surrounding it. I'd heard it billed as a hyper-violent weapon fest, which I wasn't too sure about, but as soon as I started reading it I was totally hooked. As a major Buffy/True Blood fan I could see this was was bringing vampires back from the current sparkly incarnations and there was a real minimal focus on romance. It draws you in right away and despite how gory it is, I couldn't stop reading. There are several links with literary monsters and vampires which I loved and hinted at so much more back story yet to come from this series. I'm so excited that I get to work on this book and read more in the series!

The Name of the Star

By Maureen Johnson

This is another really fun YA title - super chilling and creepy! After reading D19 and then this straight away I was slightly worried for my life on the streets of London though! This book focuses on Rory, who has just moved to London to attend a slightly eccentric boarding school (and who doesn't love a boarding school story?) but as she arrives, she finds herself witness to a media frenzy. Around London, grizzly murders seem to be mirroring those of Jack the Ripper. Rory is drawn in by the story but soon finds herself closer than she would like to the murders. The story keeps you guessing with the supernatural elements and had a real Scooby Doo side to it. The best news is that's there's more to come from Maureen in the Shades of London series!

The 13th Horseman

By Barry Hutchison

I won't say too much on the plot for this one as it's not out until next March, but sufficed to say this is exactly my kind of book. I'm a huge fan of the kind of dry British humour Barry uses in this book and the storyline is completely genius! I always used to hand my Terry Pratchett books on to my dad and I'm definitely going to be posting him this one back home for him to enjoy. It's one of those books you instantly want to pass on to someone to give them a good laugh - and believe me for the next 5 months I'm going to be telling a LOT of people to read it!

So that's all my reading so far - I'm onto Slide By Jill Hathaway now - only a few pages in, but love the concept of an American high school girl who has narcolepsy - but when she falls asleep she "slides" into other people and can see what they see - lots of potential for Goosebumps style murder mysteries! Hm.. Must stop using references to my teenage reading as a way of understanding modern YA books!!

Thanks for reading - and I'll try and keep the posting up here on my new shiny blog!!