They Called Her Patience by Lorna Hill My rating: 5 of 5 stars I sometimes think that the nearest thing to literary Arcadia is Lorna Hill and the Northumberland countryside. It’s just so perfect to me, the way she pauses on a beat and suddenly you realise everything here is so endless and perfect andContinue reading “They Called Her Patience by Lorna Hill”
Category Archives: Book Reviews
The Kingdom By The Sea by Paul Theroux
The Kingdom by the Sea by Paul Theroux My rating: 4 of 5 stars I finished this and I thought: isn’t it weird that the more things change, the more things stay the same. There are parts of The Kingdom By The Sea that feel like something from another world: people who were born beforeContinue reading “The Kingdom By The Sea by Paul Theroux”
A Kind Of Spark by Elle McNicoll
A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll My rating: 5 of 5 stars A Kind of Spark centres on neurodivergent Addie and her campaign for a historical memorial in her hometown. The memorial is for the women who were killed in the witch trials, centuries ago, by the townfolk. Addie learns about these women duringContinue reading “A Kind Of Spark by Elle McNicoll”
Tom Swift and His Megascope Space Prober by Victor Appleton II
Tom Swift and His Megascope Space Prober by Victor Appleton II My rating: 5 of 5 stars The tall, dark-haired reviewer sat down to write her review on the book and considered how to begin. It was interesting, she thought, how everything in her busy, vivid life had suddenly required two adjectives. She wasn’t sureContinue reading “Tom Swift and His Megascope Space Prober by Victor Appleton II”
Mother Tells You How: Essential Life Skills For Modern Young Women
Mother Tells You How: Essential Life Skills for Modern Young Women by Unknown My rating: 4 of 5 stars I love these comics very much and devour them whenever I come across them. They’re beautifully constructed things and the amount of knowledge they pack into six frames (six! frames!) is incredible. The only thing thatContinue reading “Mother Tells You How: Essential Life Skills For Modern Young Women”
Lessons In Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus My rating: 3 of 5 stars It’s an interesting one this because I did like it and I did enjoy it but also I found some strange stickiness about certain parts of it. Let’s start with the good stuff. Elizabeth Zott persists despite everything the world has to throwContinue reading “Lessons In Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus”
The Enchanted Castle by E. Nesbit
The Enchanted Castle by E. Nesbit My rating: 4 of 5 stars I’m very fond of what E. Nesbit does because she does it very well. She has a deep understanding of the messy, vibrant rhythm of family life and inter-personal relationships and it’s this, really, that makes her work still immeasurably readable and interestingContinue reading “The Enchanted Castle by E. Nesbit”
Excitements at the Chalet School by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer
Excitements at the Chalet School by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer My rating: 4 of 5 stars I am slowly working my way through the last few Chalet School books I’m yet to review and picked up Excitements, prompted by the discovery of a nicer paperback in the shop. I like this slow and steady collection making,Continue reading “Excitements at the Chalet School by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer”
Max Kowalski Didn’t Mean It by Susie Day
Max Kowalski Didn’t Mean It by Susie Day My rating: 5 of 5 stars A while ago, I had a very particular need to read some Susie Day. I have adored her work for a long time and I think that in many ways, it demonstrates everything that is good in present-day children’s literature. SheContinue reading “Max Kowalski Didn’t Mean It by Susie Day”
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, artwork by Emily Carroll
Speak: The Graphic Novel by Laurie Halse Anderson My rating: 5 of 5 stars I found this remarkable and have been taking some time to quite figure out how to review it and what to say about it. I am unfamiliar with Laurie Halse Anderson’s original text so was coming to this fresh. I hadContinue reading “Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, artwork by Emily Carroll”
Donut Feed The Squirrels by Mika Song
Donut Feed the Squirrels by Mika Song My rating: 5 of 5 stars (Please note that I was offered a copy of this to review from my publisher. This hasn’t impacted my feelings about the book nor the content of this review). This is infinitely, infinitely, infinitely charming stuff. I loved every inch of it.Continue reading “Donut Feed The Squirrels by Mika Song”
Manga Shakespeare Romeo And Juliet
Manga Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet by Richard Appignanesi, artwork by Sonia Leong My rating: 4 of 5 stars Adapting Shakespeare and then adapting Romeo and Juliet is not the easiest of tasks to set yourself. Not only do you have to wrestle with an incredibly familiar text that everybody knows (and even if they don’t,Continue reading “Manga Shakespeare Romeo And Juliet”
Normal People by Sally Rooney
Normal People by Sally Rooney My rating: 4 of 5 stars I read this, my first Sally Rooney over Christmas and the New Year. I was quite determinedly ill at the time, hurtling from one virus to another and then another in that breathless, desperate way that people can do when there’s nothing on theContinue reading “Normal People by Sally Rooney”
Linda In Lucerne by Winifred Donald
Linda in Lucerne by Winifred Donald My rating: 5 of 5 stars I thoroughly enjoyed every inch of Linda In Lucerne though I must caution you that it is not, perhaps, the highest of literature nor is it perhaps the most believable. It is not the best writing I have ever come across nor isContinue reading “Linda In Lucerne by Winifred Donald”
H Is For Hawk by Helen Macdonald
H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald My rating: 5 of 5 stars And so, the end of the year and the start of a new one. Christmas and then the bit beyond. A time when the world gets a little bit thin and unsure of itself. December slides from all purpose and helter-skelter intentContinue reading “H Is For Hawk by Helen Macdonald”
The Answers to the Fourth Quite Niche Children’s Literature Quiz
Answers! Answers! Get your answers! Who’s that Chalet School Girl? Name that Head (some of them have more than one…) Am I a character from an EJO book or am I a vegetable? Five by Five Bonus round! Name five ….
The Nicest Girl In The School by Angela Brazil
The Nicest Girl in the School by Angela Brazil My rating: 4 of 5 stars It’s unsurprising that certain themes reoccur in Brazil’s work. She was immensely prolific and an author who, for the most, stuck to a particular age group and genre. She knew what she could do and she did it very well.Continue reading “The Nicest Girl In The School by Angela Brazil”
The Madcap of the School by Christine Chaundler
The Madcap of the School by Christine Chaundler My rating: 5 of 5 stars There was a point in reading this where I thought about how disappointed the average schoolgirl in the 1930s or 1940s might have been when her school didn’t burn down, nobody fell down a pit and needed rescuing, the school’s honourContinue reading “The Madcap of the School by Christine Chaundler”
Moominland Midwinter by Tove Jansson
Moominland Midwinter by Tove Jansson My rating: 5 of 5 stars When the sky is blue and the air is sharp, the world calls for Moominland Midwinter. I read it outside until the light began to fade andI was too cold to read. And as I walked home, I thought about all of the differentContinue reading “Moominland Midwinter by Tove Jansson”
Diary of a Young Naturalist by Dara McAlnuty
Diary of a Young Naturalist by Dara McAnulty My rating: 5 of 5 stars I have just tried to start this review several times but I’ve never been quite able to figure it out. So let’s start with the facts: Diary of a Young Naturalist has had a lot of buzz about it. It’s writtenContinue reading “Diary of a Young Naturalist by Dara McAlnuty”
The Brumby by Mary Elwyn Patchett
The Brumby by Mary Elwyn Patchett My rating: 4 of 5 stars When I began this, I had two problems. The first was that I kept confusing it with The Silver Brumby, a series I adore with a fierce and heartfelt passion, and it took a while for me to disentangle The Brumby from that.Continue reading “The Brumby by Mary Elwyn Patchett”
An introduction to Children’s Literature by Peter Hunt
An Introduction to Children’s Literature by Peter Hunt My rating: 4 of 5 stars I recently picked up a fair few of the older children’s literature theory books, the ones that I’ve always known as points of reference to be read in extracts and photocopied chapters whilst also taking them with a slight pinch ofContinue reading “An introduction to Children’s Literature by Peter Hunt”
Spare by Prince Harry
Spare by Prince Harry My rating: 4 of 5 stars I’ve been struggling to figure out how to review this but then, I think, that’s what reviews are for. Working out how you think about something. Teasing out that reaction in words. Figuring out what these tiny marks on the page made you feel andContinue reading “Spare by Prince Harry”
Point of Departure by James Cameron
Point of Departure: Experiment in Biography by James Cameron My rating: 4 of 5 stars There was a table in the bookshop, right at the back of the room, with several piles of books on it. The sign, recycled from a piece of packaging, said that these titles were all £1 and many of themContinue reading “Point of Departure by James Cameron”
Pollyanna & Pollyanna Grows Up by Eleanor H. Porter
Pollyanna / Pollyanna Grows Up by Eleanor H. Porter My rating: 4 of 5 stars I have been aware of Pollyanna for a long while, mainly because “Pollyanna” has been used as a kind of insult in some of the books I read. It’s normally attached to a Slightly Over-Dramatic Child who might have beenContinue reading “Pollyanna & Pollyanna Grows Up by Eleanor H. Porter”
The Wrath of the Woolington Wyrm by Karen Foxlee
The Wrath of the Woolington Wyrm by Karen Foxlee My rating: 5 of 5 stars (A few preliminary notes. It’s important for me to tell you that I share a publisher with Foxlee and received this from them as a free copy. This has not impacted upon my thoughts). I really liked Miss Mary-Kate Martin’sContinue reading “The Wrath of the Woolington Wyrm by Karen Foxlee”
The Children Who Stayed Behind by Bruce Carter
Children Who Stayed Behind by Bruce Carter My rating: 4 of 5 stars I’m always interested in those moments when you pick up a book without knowing anything about it at all. For me, The Children Who Stayed Behind caught my eye because of the cover but also because it’s a post-war Puffin. These areContinue reading “The Children Who Stayed Behind by Bruce Carter”
The Snow Spider Trilogy by Jenny Nimmo
Snow Spider Trilogy by Jenny Nimmo My rating: 5 of 5 stars I think what is really interesting in books is where they start to get away from you. I know that makes no sense so let’s work it through a little and see where we end up. Every book has an edge, I think,Continue reading “The Snow Spider Trilogy by Jenny Nimmo”
Jummy at the River School by Sabine Adeyinka
Jummy at the River School by Sabine Adeyinka My rating: 4 of 5 stars I have had Jummy At The River School on my radar for a while; it’s the first of a series of school stories detailing the adventures of Jummy at her new boarding school set by the beautiful Shine-Shine River. The RiverContinue reading “Jummy at the River School by Sabine Adeyinka”
The Viking Saga by Henry Treece
The Viking Saga: Viking’s Dawn / The Road to Miklagard / Viking’s Sunset by Henry Treece My rating: 4 of 5 stars I wasn’t surprised to discover that this trilogy was first published in the fifties. Some periods in British children’s literature wear their heart very much on the sleeve. If you cut them, theyContinue reading “The Viking Saga by Henry Treece”
Biggles Defends The Desert by Captain W E Johns
Biggles Defends The Desert by W.E. Johns My rating: 3 of 5 stars Biggles Defends The Desert is the story of a shindig in the desert. We go attack them, they attack us, people are trapped, people are rescued, Biggles has his head basically blown off but then recovers in spectacularly swift fashion, and thereContinue reading “Biggles Defends The Desert by Captain W E Johns”
My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell
[A brief content warning prior to this book. I am always in favour of content warnings because I am always in favour of making deliberate, conscious decisions about the books you read and engage with. You are in control of literature and not the other way around. Hence this note. The following review mentions abuseContinue reading “My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell”
Happy Fat by Sofie Hagen
Happy Fat: Taking Up Space in a World That Wants to Shrink You by Sofie Hagen My rating: 4 of 5 stars Being fat is a process of daily reclamation of your body from a world that wants to claim it as their own. Hagen’s book examines what that means on an infinite number ofContinue reading “Happy Fat by Sofie Hagen”
Educated by Tara Westover
Educated by Tara Westover My rating: 5 of 5 stars Genuinely remarkable and reading smooth as silk, there’s nothing about this book that doesn’t take your breath away. I have had Educated on my radar for a while but picked it up only recently and then when I started reading, I couldn’t put it down.Continue reading “Educated by Tara Westover”
Dear Mrs Bird by AJ Pearce
Dear Mrs. Bird by A.J. Pearce My rating: 4 of 5 stars When I mentioned that I was reading this online, I got nothing but positive responses. And they were not wrong: Dear Mrs Bird is charming and lovely and deeply, utterly refreshing. It’s funny and heartbreaking and very, very funny. Pearce has a delightfulContinue reading “Dear Mrs Bird by AJ Pearce”
Worrals Carries On by W. E. Johns
Worrals Carries On by W.E. Johns My rating: 5 of 5 stars I have been thinking a lot about the idea of “outlandishness” in literature, that is to say the notion of people doing things that you would not normally do or believe or countenance and yet somehow you, as the reader, buy into themContinue reading “Worrals Carries On by W. E. Johns”
The King Who Had To Go by Adrian Phillips
The King Who Had To Go: Edward VIII, Mrs Simpson and the Hidden Politics of the Abdication Crisis by Adrian Phillips My rating: 4 of 5 stars I really found this fascinating but it is a book of a very particular angle. Phillips is interested in the politics; specifically, the political machinations that occurred withinContinue reading “The King Who Had To Go by Adrian Phillips”
Cogheart by Peter Bunzl
Cogheart by Peter Bunzl My rating: 4 of 5 stars Cogheart is a punky, sparky adventure with hints of The Wolves of Willoughby Chase and I enjoyed it very much. Lily and her friends have to figure out what’s happened to her father. Along the way, she’s helped by a cast of mechanicals – automatonsContinue reading “Cogheart by Peter Bunzl”
Game on, Super Rabbit Boy! by Thomas Flintham
Game On, Super Rabbit Boy! by Thomas Flintham My rating: 4 of 5 stars I really enjoyed this. It’s the first of a series of highly illustrated early readers which centre on the playing of a computer game. We follow the lead character – Super Rabbit Boy – as he heads through the levels. ThingsContinue reading “Game on, Super Rabbit Boy! by Thomas Flintham”
Jill and the Perfect Pony by Ruby Ferguson
Jill and the Perfect Pony by Ruby Ferguson My rating: 4 of 5 stars The Jill series is responsible for many things in my childhood, not in the least the solid belief that ponies should just sort of be given to Earnestly Deserving People like myself. They were everywhere in the countryside. Every family hadContinue reading “Jill and the Perfect Pony by Ruby Ferguson”
My Life On Fire by Cath Howe
My Life on Fire by Cath Howe My rating: 4 of 5 stars I am always interested in what Nosy Crow do and even more so when it involves an author that I have a lot of time for. My Life On Fire by the sensitive and gentle writer Cath Howe is due out atContinue reading “My Life On Fire by Cath Howe”
Small Fires by Rebecca May Johnson
Small Fires: An Epic in the Kitchen by Rebecca May Johnson My rating: 4 of 5 stars I wasn’t sure for a while about Small Fires but then, all of a sudden, I realised that I got it. I was not looking for the next chapter end, but rather reading because I was lost toContinue reading “Small Fires by Rebecca May Johnson”
Never Forget You by Jamila Gavin
Never Forget You by Jamila Gavin My rating: 5 of 5 stars I have always had a lot of time for Jamila Gavin. Her writing is always very classy stuff and I admire it intently. She has this skill of restraint and clarity that makes you understand something, whatever that something is, very deeply beforeContinue reading “Never Forget You by Jamila Gavin”
The Complete Borrowers by Mary Norton
The Complete Borrowers by Mary Norton My rating: 5 of 5 stars I had been wanting to reread the Borrowers for a while and then, all of a sudden, started to find it in every bookshop I went into. This happens sometimes. Bookshops, particularly those of the second hand kind that I tend to frequent,Continue reading “The Complete Borrowers by Mary Norton”
Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald My rating: 2 of 5 stars Sometimes it’s interesting to come in at the end. This is the first book I’ve read by Fitzgerald and the last novel he completed. I’m aware of his others but I’ve never read them. I wonder if I should write somethingContinue reading “Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald”
Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry
Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry My rating: 3 of 5 stars I was thinking about how to review this and indeed, if reviewing was even going to be a productive act for the book, myself, and for the slightly perplexed and slightly confused and often quite intrusive experience of readingContinue reading “Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry”
A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond
A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond My rating: 5 of 5 stars It’s difficult to write any review of this gentle and elegant classic without simply repeating the word “perfect” for quite some time. Nevertheless, I shall persist and try to give something of a review that does not mention how perfect it isContinue reading “A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond”
The Lost City of Z by David Grann
The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann My rating: 4 of 5 stars I first came to this story through the film of the same name which was something I watched almost by mistake and then enjoyed intensely. I spend a lot of time in theContinue reading “The Lost City of Z by David Grann”
Eventing Trilogy by Caroline Akrill
Eventing Trilogy by Caroline Akrill My rating: 5 of 5 stars I think that when you were a pony girl, there will always be a little part of you that will remain a pony girl. She’ll make herself known in strange, subtle ways throughout the rest of your life. Like when you see a pictureContinue reading “Eventing Trilogy by Caroline Akrill”
Hotel Splendide by Ludwig Bemelmans
Hotel Splendide by Ludwig Bemelmans My rating: 4 of 5 stars Perhaps best known for the eternally joyful Madeline, Hotel Splendide allows Ludwig Bemelmans to showcase another side of his personality. This strange, slender and occasionally deeply melancholic book is the story of his time at the Hotel Splendide in the 1920s. Bemelmans moves upContinue reading “Hotel Splendide by Ludwig Bemelmans”
Putin’s Russia, the rise of a dictator by Darryl Cunningham
Putin’s Russia: The Rise of a Dictator by Darryl Cunningham My rating: 4 of 5 stars My goodness, this is a heck of a book. I finished it and had to make a mixture of ‘wait, what’ faces at the wall to calm down. Putin’s Russia has been on my wavelength for a while (IContinue reading “Putin’s Russia, the rise of a dictator by Darryl Cunningham”
Rereading the Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins
I have a list of the books I want to reread and one of the constants on it for the last few months has been a reread of the Hunger Games books by Suzanne Collins. If you don’t know of these books, then they kind of marked a point where young adult literature spilt veryContinue reading “Rereading the Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins”
The complete Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne, illustrations by E. H. Shepard
The Complete Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne My rating: 5 of 5 stars I had a sort of sudden realisation the other day (driven, might I add, by the discovery of an excellent boxed set in the charity bookshop) that I had never really sat and read the Winnie-the-Pooh stories all the way through from theContinue reading “The complete Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne, illustrations by E. H. Shepard”
Felicity’s Fortune by Bessie Marchant
Felicity’s Fortune by Bessie Marchant My rating: 3 of 5 stars A very late stage Bessie Marchant novel, Felicity’s Fortune is also a rather interesting thing. It begins with Felicity who (over)works in an office and lives a relatively impoverished life with her widowed mother and the rest of her family. It is, as everContinue reading “Felicity’s Fortune by Bessie Marchant”
Further Adventures of the Family from One End Street by Eve Garnett
Further Adventures of the Family from One End Street by Eve Garnett My rating: 5 of 5 stars There was a moment, about a quarter of the way through reading, that I realised something very precise about Further Adventures of the Family From One End Street. I think it is better than The Family fromContinue reading “Further Adventures of the Family from One End Street by Eve Garnett”
The Guardians of the House by Lucy M. Boston
The Guardians of the House by Lucy M. Boston My rating: 4 of 5 stars After many years of not understanding her work, I am increasingly obsessed with Lucy M. Boston. I found The Sea Egg a remarkable thing, and A Stranger At Green Knowe transformative. I think it is the stubborn strangeness of herContinue reading “The Guardians of the House by Lucy M. Boston”
Managing Expectations by Minnie Driver
Managing Expectations: A Memoir in Essays by Minnie Driver My rating: 4 of 5 stars A “memoir in essays” is an interesting thing because it’s always going to be more selective than the – already selective – form of the autobiography. It’s a challenge to set for yourself and it’s one that Driver answers veryContinue reading “Managing Expectations by Minnie Driver”
A Small Person Far Away by Judith Kerr
A Small Person Far Away by Judith Kerr My rating: 4 of 5 stars A Small Person Far Away is the third of Kerr’s thinly veiled autobiographies. It begins with When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit and after that: Bombs on Aunt Dainty, and then here: Berlin, post war, and Anna being called to her mother’sContinue reading “A Small Person Far Away by Judith Kerr”
Always, Clementine by Carlie Sorosiak
Always, Clementine by Carlie Sorosiak My rating: 5 of 5 stars When I finished reading Always, Clementine for the first time, all I could think of was if I was nominating a book for the Carnegie then this would be it. There is something very special here and it might even be one of theContinue reading “Always, Clementine by Carlie Sorosiak”
Cherry Tree Perch by Josephine Elder
Cherry Tree Perch by Josephine Elder My rating: 4 of 5 stars Cherry Tree Perch is the second in a series and sometimes it feels it: you are launched into the premise with very little preamble and asked to simply catch up. It works, for the most, but there are quite a few moments whereContinue reading “Cherry Tree Perch by Josephine Elder”
The Family From One End Street by Eve Garnett
The Family From One End Street by Eve Garnett My rating: 4 of 5 stars There are times, I think, when the world sends you the right book for the right moment. We’ve all dealt with piles of books to be read and sometimes a book can sit on that pile for weeks if notContinue reading “The Family From One End Street by Eve Garnett”
Kristy’s Great Idea by Ann M. Martin and Raina Telgemeier
Kristy’s Great Idea by Raina Telgemeier My rating: 5 of 5 stars I recently found the first five of the graphic novel Baby-Sitters Club books in a local charity shop and reader, I screamed and grabbed them all and cackled my way home. I find these books intensely charming and rather brilliant things and so,Continue reading “Kristy’s Great Idea by Ann M. Martin and Raina Telgemeier”
The Sea Egg by Lucy M. Boston
The Sea Egg by Lucy M. Boston My rating: 5 of 5 stars I hadn’t ever heard of The Sea Egg until a few days ago; I knew of Lucy M. Boston, of course, and although I rather loved the strange and gauzy light of her books (and the sad, wonderful heart of A StrangerContinue reading “The Sea Egg by Lucy M. Boston”
A few updates
Hello! I have one of those ‘news in brief’ posts to share with you today so let’s get down to it. 😊 How To Be True is the Sunday Times Children’s Book of the Week and I still cannot quite process it. Thank you to Nicolette Jones for being so lovely and thank YOU ifContinue reading “A few updates”
Carbonel by Barbara Sleigh
Carbonel: The King of the Cats by Barbara Sleigh My rating: 4 of 5 stars When it is a hot day, we turn to the shadows and we read the books. I had prepared for this day with a visit to the library, picking things that I thought might be in my wheelhouse and thingsContinue reading “Carbonel by Barbara Sleigh”
Happy Birthday How To Be True
My new book is out! How To Be True is the story of Edie Berger and how she became the brilliant little revolutionary that she is today. You’ll discover all about her family and her history and also there will be chocolate spread sandwiches and cobbled Paris streets and revolutionary first years and adventures galore.Continue reading “Happy Birthday How To Be True”
Writes Of Passage : words to read before you turn 13 by Nicolette Jones
Writes of Passage: Words to read before you turn 13 by Nicolette Jones My rating: 5 of 5 stars I was pleasantly surprised by this collection because, if I’m honest, I expected something that might have read a little bit worthy. There’s always the risk of that with books like this because it can beContinue reading “Writes Of Passage : words to read before you turn 13 by Nicolette Jones”
The Chalet School and the Lintons
The Chalet School and the Lintons by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer My rating: 4 of 5 stars The first thing to say about The Chalet School and the Lintons is that it’s a much better hardback than it is paperback. In a way it marks the first of the Armada edits that, to me, make veryContinue reading “The Chalet School and the Lintons”
The Chalet School and Rosalie and The Mystery at the Chalet School by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer
The Chalet School and Rosalie & The Mystery at the Chalet School by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer My rating: 3 of 5 stars Two books in one which can be basically summed up as “girls: mean” and “girls: complicated!!!” We begin with a Mystery at the Chalet School which gives us a new girl with aContinue reading “The Chalet School and Rosalie and The Mystery at the Chalet School by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer”
The New House at the Chalet School by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer
The New House at the Chalet School by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer My rating: 5 of 5 stars Today was a day for New House. The weather was thick and hot and dense; that still, heavy air that is just hot and nothing else, and what else should one do on such days but read aContinue reading “The New House at the Chalet School by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer”
The Girls by Emma Cline
The Girls by Emma Cline My rating: 3 of 5 stars I had tried to read The Girls before and it hadn’t quite worked out. I had been put off by the first few chapters because they were tight and dense things, unwilling to let me in and, I suspect, not really caring to beContinue reading “The Girls by Emma Cline”
Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh My rating: 4 of 5 stars Sometimes I think thar you can get to books too soon. I first read Brideshead Revisited when I was at school, somewhere around my A Levels, and I was not ready for it. But then, I think, neither was it for me. We wereContinue reading “Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh”
The Secret Garden on 81st Street by Ivy Noelle Weir and Amber Padilla
The Secret Garden on 81st Street: A Modern Retelling of the Secret Garden by Ivy Noelle Weir My rating: 5 of 5 stars It’s difficult to tell you how much I loved this book without just shrieking “I LOVED THIS BOOK” and basically just repeating that for several paragraphs or so. The Secret Garden onContinue reading “The Secret Garden on 81st Street by Ivy Noelle Weir and Amber Padilla”
The Years of Grace edited by Noel Streatfeild
The Years of Grace by Noel Streatfeild My rating: 3 of 5 stars I was alerted to The Years of Grace by a friend (thank you!) who knew I enjoyed books of this nature. And I do, I am very fond of those kind of ‘how to be a girl’ books from, say, the 1940sContinue reading “The Years of Grace edited by Noel Streatfeild”
Max Counts To A Million by Jeremy Williams
Max Counts to a Million by Jeremy Williams My rating: 4 of 5 stars Max Counts To A Million is the first children’s book I’ve read to be set within the COVID pandemic. This is something I’m still wrestling with about whether or not to reference the pandemic in my own work and I don’tContinue reading “Max Counts To A Million by Jeremy Williams”
The Girl Who Lost A Leopard by Nizrana Farook
The Girl Who Lost a Leopard by Nizrana Farook My rating: 4 of 5 stars I found this super charming and I’m grateful to Nosy Crow for sending me a copy to look at. The first thing to note is how beautifully they produce their books there. I always mention it because it’s always true:Continue reading “The Girl Who Lost A Leopard by Nizrana Farook”
The Alchymist’s Cat by Robin Jarvis
The Alchymist’s Cat by Robin Jarvis My rating: 4 of 5 stars Every now and then I return to Robin Jarvis’ work like somebody finding dry land after weeks at sea. I first came across the Deptford books a long while ago, somewhere in that messy early nineties period of children’s literature where nothing wasContinue reading “The Alchymist’s Cat by Robin Jarvis”
Tom Tackles The Chalet School by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer
Before I get to the review itself, can I tell you a bit about my copy of Tom? It’s one of the most precious books in my stash and honestly, it doesn’t look like it should be. It’s a slightly mothy Armada paperback with those soft, rubbed corners, so familiar to a book that’s beenContinue reading “Tom Tackles The Chalet School by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer”
Book Aid for Ukraine
Hello everyone, This is just a quick note to say that the Book Aid for Ukraine auction is now live and, if you’re able to bid, there are some great literary offers on there. I have a signed and personalised copy of How To Be Brave listed (you’ll get your very own personalised duck doodle)Continue reading “Book Aid for Ukraine”
Changes for the Chalet School by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer
Changes for the Chalet School by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer My rating: 4 of 5 stars I remembered how much I love these books when I got to the part where one character vaults out of the window and vanishes. Honestly, I think I cackled for a week over that one and I will probably cackleContinue reading “Changes for the Chalet School by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer”
Sabotage on the Solar Express by MG Leonard and Sam Sedgman
Sabotage on the Solar Express by M.G. Leonard My rating: 5 of 5 stars I have such respect for this wild and well-told adventure series and so I was thrilled when the publishers sent me a copy of Sabotage on the Solar Express to review. Adventure stories are hard to plot, mystery adventure stories areContinue reading “Sabotage on the Solar Express by MG Leonard and Sam Sedgman”
Judith Kerr (the illustrators)
Judith Kerr by Joanna Carey My rating: 5 of 5 stars It’s difficult for me to tell you how perfect this is so instead, I’ll tell you about how I had to stop halfway through reading to have a moment over how perfect it was. I have lusted over the Illustrators series from Thames andContinue reading “Judith Kerr (the illustrators)”
Stalking the Atomic City by Markiyan Kamysh
Stalking the Atomic City: Life Among the Decadent and the Depraved of Chornobyl by Markiyan Kamysh My rating: 4 of 5 stars Delirious, dangerous, and rather intoxicating, Stalking The Atomic City tells of the author’s visits to the ‘exclusion zone’ that exists about Chornobyl. There’s more than a little bit of Trainspotting about it butContinue reading “Stalking the Atomic City by Markiyan Kamysh”
The Adventures of Alice Laselles by Alexandrina Victoria aged 10 3/4
The Adventures of Alice Laselles by Queen Victoria My rating: 4 of 5 stars I’ve had this on my to be read list for a while, interested not only for the author but also because of my research into young female writers. It is an amazing topic to look at and one which fascinates meContinue reading “The Adventures of Alice Laselles by Alexandrina Victoria aged 10 3/4”
The Last Weapon by Theodora Wilson Wilson
The Last Weapon by Theodora Wilson Wilson My rating: 3 of 5 stars I came to The Last Weapon through one of Wilson’s children’s books Five of Them and could not quite believe how the author of that could also write this, an anti-war polemic that was banned during the first World War. It seemedContinue reading “The Last Weapon by Theodora Wilson Wilson”
Killing and Dying by Adrian Tomine
Killing and Dying: Stories by Adrian Tomine My rating: 4 of 5 stars Hovering somewhere between literary fiction, comic, short story, and ‘crisp, stark ruminations about life’, Killing and Dying has left me a little bit breathless. I found it almost by accident in the library and picked it up because I am always hereContinue reading “Killing and Dying by Adrian Tomine”
Susan Kendall, Student Nurse by Patricia Baldwin
Susan Kendall, Student Nurse by Patricia Baldwin My rating: 3 of 5 stars It’s an interesting one this, a career novel from 1960 (so written at the tail end of the 50s) and detailing the progress of Susan Kendall into her chosen career as nurse. It’s published by Victory Press Books, a religious press, andContinue reading “Susan Kendall, Student Nurse by Patricia Baldwin”
The answers to the Second Quite Niche Children’s Literature Quiz
As promised, here are the answers to the quiz I posted on Christmas Eve! How did you do? Round One: Boarding School Stories One M-L hanging off a sturdy young sapling = One Mary-Lou hanging off a sturdy young sapling Two O’S T not caring at S C = Two O’Sullivan Twins not caring atContinue reading “The answers to the Second Quite Niche Children’s Literature Quiz”
The Second Ever Quite Niche Children’s Literature Christmas Quiz
Hello! Last year, I started a new tradition on this blog and I see no reason why I should not continue it this year. So here we are – it’s time for The Second Ever Quite Niche Children’s Literature Christmas Quiz. You can revisit the first one here, and if you’d like a reminder ofContinue reading “The Second Ever Quite Niche Children’s Literature Christmas Quiz”
The Chestnut Filly by Primrose Cumming
The Chestnut Filly by Primrose Cumming My rating: 4 of 5 stars It’s not often you get a pony story like this and that, I think, makes The Chestnut Filly rather interesting. Randal Gray, a stammering and shy thirteen year old, has come into money due to a wayward godfather finally remembering that his godsonContinue reading “The Chestnut Filly by Primrose Cumming”
Michelle Obama by Maria Isabel Sánchez Vegara and Mia Saine
Michelle Obama by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara My rating: 5 of 5 stars I’ve been a fan of the classy Little People, Big Dreams for a while. The quality of them is outstanding and I’ve always loved the artistic style used, a kind of vibrantly loose interpretation of the real world situations they depict coupledContinue reading “Michelle Obama by Maria Isabel Sánchez Vegara and Mia Saine”
The Rivals of the Chalet School by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer
The Rivals of the Chalet School by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer My rating: 4 of 5 stars I realised recently that I have a handful of books left to do before I have reviewed the entire Chalet School series and so, I headed off to Rivals to start ticking them off. It had been a whileContinue reading “The Rivals of the Chalet School by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer”
Robins in the Abbey by Elsie J Oxenham
Robins in the Abbey by Elsie J. Oxenham My rating: 2 of 5 stars We are many moons into the Abbey books by now so, as is tradition with this sort of thing, this title will make very little sense to anybody who hasn’t read all of the others and taken notes and made familyContinue reading “Robins in the Abbey by Elsie J Oxenham”
Finishing my Goodreads reading challenge
I have been using Goodreads for a while. It began when I first started blogging, primarily because I didn’t know how to format things then (what on earth was this thing called HTML???) and I quite liked how Goodreads did the work for me. I’ve stuck with it ever since because I’ve become increasingly intriguedContinue reading “Finishing my Goodreads reading challenge”
How To Be Ace by Rebecca Burgess
How to Be Ace: A Memoir of Growing Up Asexual by Rebecca Burgess My rating: 4 of 5 stars I’ve wanted to read How To Be Ace by Rebecca Burgess ever since I heard about it. I’m always excited by the books that put something different or under-represented into the world, and books featuring asexualityContinue reading “How To Be Ace by Rebecca Burgess”
The Three Elizabeths by J.M Page
The Three Elizabeths by J.M. Page My rating: 3 of 5 stars Published in 1950, The Three Elizabeths is rather late for a school story – and, to be frank, rather on the edge of obscurity for the genre. It’s kind of missed the big moments and the big authors in the genre and sitsContinue reading “The Three Elizabeths by J.M Page”
Dulcie’s Little Brother by Evelyn Everett-Green
Dulcie’s Little Brother by Evelyn Everett-Green My rating: 4 of 5 stars This was surprisingly charming, albeit in that very Victorian ‘everybody gets a moral’ kind of way. The story is simple: Dulcie and her brother Tottie live in London with their nurse Nancy. Their father is away being something of a foolish wastrel (asContinue reading “Dulcie’s Little Brother by Evelyn Everett-Green”
Rescue In Ravensdale by Esmé Cartmell
Rescue in Ravensdale by Esme Cartmell My rating: 4 of 5 stars Oh this was interesting. I picked this up from one of my local bookshops with a healthy section in vintage children’s fiction. I’ve found some interesting titles there before and this, with the local – ish, connections caught my eye. I didn’t knowContinue reading “Rescue In Ravensdale by Esmé Cartmell”
Welcome To The New World by Jake Halpern and Michael Sloan
Welcome to the New World by Jake Halpern My rating: 4 of 5 stars A thoughtful and eloquent “graphic novel and true story” Welcome To The New World is the story of an arrival. The Aldabaan family, originally from Syria, have arrived in America at the same time that Donald Trump has arrived in theContinue reading “Welcome To The New World by Jake Halpern and Michael Sloan”
Danger at Dead Man’s Pass by M.G. Leonard and Sam Sedgman
Danger at Dead Man’s Pass by M.G. Leonard My rating: 5 of 5 stars I was just looking back at my prior reviews of this series and every single one has five stars. And so it is with Danger At Dead Man’s Pass that takes the series to somewhere spooky and spectral and (when theContinue reading “Danger at Dead Man’s Pass by M.G. Leonard and Sam Sedgman”
Daisy May Johnson 