Author Archives: Daisy May Johnson

Did I Hear You Write? by Michael Rosen My rating: 4 of 5 stars An intoxicating and fiery experience, ‘Did I hear you write?’ remains a powerful book today. Published in 1989 by the estimable Michael Rosen, it details his work with children in classrooms and the development of writing skills. It’s quite fascinating toContinue reading “Did I hear you write? : Michael Rosen”

Unrest by Michelle Harrison My rating: 3 of 5 stars Elliott doesn’t sleep well. He doesn’t really sleep at all. He has out of body experiences and suffers from intermittent sleep paralysis. For Elliott, the things that go bump in the night really do go bump in the night. He sees ghosts, figures and thingsContinue reading “Unrest : Michelle Harrison”

Guardian Angel by Robert Muchamore My rating: 5 of 5 stars I really, really like Robert Muchamore. And I really like the Cherub series. And I really like the Henderson’s Boys series. I Am A Fan Of Robert Muchamore. I love how he writes so swiftly and surely and never quite forgets to keep theContinue reading “Guardian Angel : Robert Muchamore”

Insatiable by Meg Cabot My rating: 4 of 5 stars Meg Cabot is my guilty pleasure. I have a lot of love for her work and have followed her across all her series so far. I was very intrigued to see that she’s written a vampire novel and picked it up in a manner reminiscentContinue reading “Insatiable : Meg Cabot”

Swimming. Have you heard of the Tessa Duder “Alex” books? I was reminded of them this week whilst watching the swimming in the Olympics. There’s something ferociously pure about swimming, and indeed most sport. It all boils down to you; what you do, when you do it and how you do it. The life ofContinue reading “Just keep swimming”

I was lucky enough to pick up a proof of this at a conference I attended a few months ago and am so very pleased to report that Keren David remains ace. She’s got a peculiar brilliance at writing “lads”; lads bordering on the edge of adulthood, shifting from ferocious raw masculinity through to nervous,Continue reading “Another Life : Keren David”

Gregory Hughes, writer of the astoundingly good Unhooking The Moon, is back with a Kill Bill-esque tale full of darkness, revenge and love. Summertime Of The Dead, set in the streets of Tokyo, is a blinding book. It’s the story of one summer in the life of Yukio and it’s the summer where his worldContinue reading “Summertime of the Dead : Gregory Hughes”

Pea’s Book of Best Friends by Susie Day My rating: 5 of 5 stars I actually think there’s a bit of a quiet revolution going on at the moment for the under ten market. I’ve been reading a lot for this age demographic recently and have been really loving the idiosyncratic quality of practically everythingContinue reading “Pea’s Book of Best Friends : Susie Day”

I’m putting two reviews in one here, because I think it’s important to acknowledge that starting to read a new series requires a bit of faith. The first one might be amazing but the second one might be hideous and that’s the sort of stuff you need to know before going off and either spendingContinue reading “The Tomorrow Series : John Marsden”

Set in Stone by Linda Newbery My rating: 4 of 5 stars Set in Stone is a big book. Astutely written with a fine eye for period detail (it’s set on the edge of the twentieth century), it’s a complex and exhausting page turner full of emotion, turmoil and psychological revelations. Written very much inContinue reading “Set in Stone : Linda Newbery”

A Little Love Song by Michelle Magorian My rating: 5 of 5 stars I seem to come back to A Little Love Song whenever I need comforting and so, it was with no surprise to myself when I found my way back to it recently. It’s a wartime bildungsroman, the story of the summer whereContinue reading “A Little Love Song : Michelle Magorian”

 Ibarajo Road from debut author Harry Allen is a darkly haunting story full of riches. Charlie, a rich white kid (an oyinbo), goes out on the town with his mates. It’s meant to be the best night ever. It really isn’t. That night is where everything starts to go wrong and, as penance, Charlie opts toContinue reading “Ibarajo Road : Harry Allen”

Dads, Geeks and Blue Haired Freaks by Ellie Phillips My rating: 4 of 5 stars It’s Sadie’s 15th birthday and, as you do on every birthday, she’s got cards. The small problem is that one of these cards comes from her Dad. See, Sadie doesn’t know who her Dad is. He’s a sperm-donor who herContinue reading “Dads, Geeks and Blue Haired Freaks : Ellie Phillips”

The Shouting Wind by Linda Newbery My rating: 3 of 5 stars I picked up The Shouting Wind primarily due to the strapline on the front: “Three lives, three times, three heroines who dare to be different”. It’s the first of a trilogy concerning the lives of a grandmother, mother, and daughter in the sameContinue reading “The Shouting Wind : Linda Newbery”

Asterix at the Olympic Games by René Goscinny My rating: 4 of 5 stars Oh I love Asterix. It’s been a constant in my life and along with Twinkle and Bunty was one of the first comics I read. In a fit of topicality, I picked up Asterix At The Olympic Games. And, very simply,Continue reading “Asterix at the Olympic Games : Goscinny & Uderzo”

The Probability of Miracles by Wendy Wunder My rating: 5 of 5 stars This is a very, very gorgeous book. It’s painful too, teary-eyed and clutching it in the middle of the night painful, and it’s very very life-affirming. I loved The Probability of Miracles. The UK edition (published July by Penguin) has a veryContinue reading “The Probability of Miracles : Wendy Wunder”

A Brighter Fear by Kerry Drewery My rating: 3 of 5 stars A Brighter Fear by Kerry Drewery is, I think, the first piece of British children’s literature to directly address the war in Iraq. (Please do correct me if I’m wrong!). A while back on my blog I wrote about the necessity of children’sContinue reading “A Brighter Fear : Kerry Drewery”

I’ve tried the Woman In White quite a few times. This is primarily due to a moment in the Chalet School books where Miss Annersley (IIRC)  chucks a white dress on for a literary themed fancy dress party and, when the prefects spend an entire evening saying, “Gosh Miss Annersley whoever could you be?”, herContinue reading “The Woman In White : Wilkie Collins (Real Reads adapted edition)”

Heart-Shaped Bruise by Tanya Byrne My rating: 4 of 5 stars Emily Koll is – well – she’s – she’s here. She’s brittle, broken. But she’s here. She’s here after – (well, after everything she did, after everything that’s been printed about her, after all the words that have been said) She’s telling her storyContinue reading “Heart-Shaped Bruise : Tanya Byrne”

A Dog Called Homeless by Sarah Lean My rating: 5 of 5 stars Cally Louise Fisher has seen her mother. Her dead mother. She’s seen her as bright as day but nobody believes her. Callie’s also started to be followed by a huge grey Irish Wolfhound that seems to show up at the strangest ofContinue reading “A Dog Called Homeless : Sarah Lean”

The One Dollar Horse by Lauren St John My rating: 4 of 5 stars The One Dollar Horse provides a much needed twenty-first century spin to the horse story. Full of urban edge, and yet never quite losing that fairytale element all good horse stories have, The One Dollar Horse is a book that ponyContinue reading “The One Dollar Horse : Lauren St John”

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein My rating: 4 of 5 stars Before I discuss this book, I need to share a few things. Firstly – the Bechdel Test. The Bechdel Test (available here) is a test which assesses the representation of women in media. The test consists of three parts: : (a) there haveContinue reading “Code Name Verity : Elizabeth Wein”

Torn by Cat Clarke My rating: 5 of 5 stars Heart-stoppingly tense and palpably taut, “Torn” by Cat Clarke is outstanding. Told in a deceptively simple first person style, our narrator Alice recounts what led to the death of one of her schoolmates. The central event – the pivotal incident of “Torn” – turns outContinue reading “Torn : Cat Clarke”

ISBN: 9781906451325 As much as I grew up on the Girls’ Own genre, I also grew up on Boy’s Own books. H Rider Haggard … Jules Verne … Arthur Conan Doyle. You know the sort of thing – lots of Derring Do and Buckling Of Swashes and Stiff Upper Lips. It was because of this thatContinue reading “The Bother In Burmeon : SP Moss”

Martyn Pig by Kevin Brooks My rating: 4 of 5 stars Kevin Brooks stormed onto the scene right from day one. Martyn Pig, his debut novel, sparks with a gritty urgency and intense realism that proves Brooks is no one hit wonder. The eponymous Martyn Pig is a teenager caught in hideous circumstances. His fatherContinue reading “Martyn Pig : Kevin Brooks”

The Witching Hour by Elizabeth Laird My rating: 4 of 5 stars Elizabeth Laird is an author capable of very great things. The Garbage King is, quite frankly, superb and I picked up The Witching Hour on the strength of my experience of this book. The Witching Hour (also published in the US as TheContinue reading “The Witching Hour : Elizabeth Laird”

The Talent Thief by Alex Williams My rating: 3 of 5 stars I came across The Talent Thief in one of those random shelf-browsing moments and was massively pleased to discover it. I did a lot of work in the final year of my MA on gifted and talented characters in children’s literature and TheContinue reading “The Talent Thief : Alex Williams”

Artichoke Hearts by Sita Brahmachari My rating: 5 of 5 stars A beautiful, elegant tribute to love, difference and life; Artichoke Hearts is something really rather special. The debut novel of Sita Brahmachari, narrated by young Mira Levenson, is one of those quietly stunning books that sidles into your heart and won’t leave easily. ToldContinue reading “Artichoke Hearts : Sita Brahmachari”

Road to London by Barbara Mitchelhill My rating: 3 of 5 stars Barbara Mitchelhill is one of those authors I’ve suddenly become very aware of. I’ve heard great things about Run Rabbit Run so I was excited to pick up Road to London, her latest novel due out in April 2012. It’s a novel setContinue reading “Road to London : Barbara Mitchelhill”

The Secret of Platform 13 by Eva Ibbotson My rating: 5 of 5 stars Oh, oh, oh, my love for Eva Ibbotson utterly continues. The Secret of Platform 13 is furiously magical and madly inventive. It’s the story of a hidden island, wrapped away from the ‘everyday’ by magic and mists (mists made, fyi, byContinue reading “The Secret of Platform 13 : Eva Ibbotson”