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.

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.