Shades (series) by various authors
London, Evans Brothers Ltd, 2009.
(Ages 11-14) Shades is a series of books produced by Evans
Brothers
Ltd
in London
for the teen who wants short (about 7,000 words) fast paced, exciting
and clever plots with good characterisation and writing. For lower
secondary kids who do not want the length and complexity of many modern
novels, then these can offer an alternative. They do not have the look
and feel of a reader or a book for special kids, but rather have good
covers, strong binding, with snappy titles and enticing blurbs.
Coming in to land by Dennis Hamley tells the story of Jack at a
cadet's
camp during 1943. Here the group of boys is given instruction in flying
a glider and one boy, Cecil, takes a dislike to Jack and so treats him
cruelly. A neat resolution has Jack saving both their lives, and along
the way the reader will learn a great deal about flying and gliding.
Rising tide by Anne Rooney shows us the desperation of refugees,
rolling it into a futuristic story of climrefs, escaping climate change.
There is also a series called Shades Shorts. An example is Ghost
stories by 4
Shades authors, Dennis Hamley, Anne Rooney,
Alex
Stewart and Gillian Philip all bring a different taste of excitement to
the page. Each story is quite dissimilar. The first story is a
different take on meeting death, as Thea picks up a hitchhiker along
the freeway.
Fran Knight
Editor's comment: Available from Heinemann
in Australia.