Reviews

The wizards of once: Never and forever by Cressida Cowell

Never and Forever is the final book in the Wizards of Once quartet but it can stand on its own and be read as a fully contained story. In fact, this story, complete in and of itself, could be a great introduction to the wonder of fantasy literature to the uninitiated.

The narration is warm, chatty, instructive, funny, exciting, and observant and it is only at the end that the narrator is revealed. You must not turn to the end because "anyone who has skipped to this epilogue before reading the rest of this story is a big cheat and should go right back to chapter one or I will get really quite shirty"(Page 374). All the way through, the reader is accompanied by this energetic narrator.

The journey that is embarked upon by our protagonists Xar and Wish in The Wizard of Once series, is full of adventure and magic. There are whimsical characters such as enchanted spoons, forks, keys and pins. There are magical creatures such as trolls, sprites, giants and “piskies”.  There are wizards, witches and warriors: good and evil.  The story draws from the past- King Arthur, Camelot, Macbeth and Lancelot and is like a crucible of celebration of all great stories. Like all great stories it encompasses love, forgiveness, desire, tenderness, courage and endurance.  Fundamentally the message is that it is a terrible thing to deny love. The consequences can ripple through the generations and lead to annihilation. The quest within the series is to retrieve the spell to undo love denied. What a powerful and enduring message!

The Wizards of Once series has been translated into 38 languages and has been signed by DreamWorks animation.   Cressida Cowell is currently the Waterstones Children’s Laureate (2019-2021). She is the author and illustrator of the best-selling How to Train Your Dragon books series and author of the Emily Brown picture books.

Highly recommended for Year 5 through Middle Years’ lovers of fantasy and  for those who haven’t yet enjoyed the fantasy genre.

Wendy Jeffrey

Again again by E. Lockhart

Mickey Double L, Jack and Oscar, are all potential love interests entering Adelaide's life through alternate scenarios as she spends her summer catching up on her academic requirements at Alabaster College. Whilst she is supposed to be designing a model stage set for a play she is studying, she is more interested in her part-time job - walking the dogs of her various college professors. The lives of B-Cake, Ella Bella, Rabbit and the The Great God Pan are both a salve and a source of drama.

We become absorbed in many possible dates with Jack and finally Oscar, after learning that her long-term boyfriend Mickey Double-L had split up with Adelaide, not believing their relationship could sustain a summer apart.
The reader assumes the bold font passages are the fantasies, but the edges blur towards the end of the book and we doubt choosing her trysts with Jack as reality when she suddenly seems to have had a history with Oscar from day one. A little confusing but the strategy creates interest and engagement.
Perhaps Adelaide is just as confused as Lockhart's readers due to the very real hot/cold long-distance relationship with her younger brother, Toby, an addict living with their mother in Baltimore for treatment; while Adelaide remains with her father Levi, at his academic post at Alabaster. This constant and parallel inner angst, which impacts upon Adelaide's work and relationships so greatly, is more suited to experienced readers.

One thing we've come to expect from Emily Lockhart, the bestselling author of We Were Liars, is experimental writing born of a doctorate in 19th Century Literature. Read more about her craft at: www.emilylockhart.com 

Themes Coming of Age, Family, Romance.

Deborah Robins

The girl and the stars by Mark Lawrence

The Girl and the Stars is the first book in a new Mark Lawrence series, Book of the Ice. Set in the same world as the Book of the Ancestor novels, this story takes place in the most isolated and inhospitable area of the lands known as Abeth.

When Yaz was born, her parents took her to see two oracles. The first oracle touched her and died. The second oracle prophesised greatness and torment. Yaz has always known she was different. She is not quite as strong as the others in her tribe and she can sense something in the earth, far below, that no one else knows is there. The problem is that for Yaz’s people, the Ictha, different is bad, different is dangerous and in the frozen and bleak landscape of remote Abeth, different will get you killed.

When Yaz’s brother Zeen is set on a path to mortal danger, she unthinkingly follows him. Her mission to rescue him, however, introduces her to a new and treacherous world. Yaz learns that her society and religion is built on the backs of an oppressed class of misfits like herself and it will be up to her to find a way out of the darkness.

Mark Lawrence fans will recognise some similarities to his previous stories: a cold and desolate world, a harsh society and a lone outcast who has no choice but to fight for the survival of herself and those she loves. Unlike Lawrence’s adult series however, The Girl and the Stars is solidly young adult, with the characters acting and behaving as inconsistently and frustratingly as teenagers do. A few other young adult fiction tropes, for example, the love triangle, have also found their way into the plot. Nevertheless, The Girl and the Stars is a captivating beginning to this new series. While the audience does not need to have read the Book of the Ancestor series, prior knowledge of some of the religious and socio-political hierarchies of Abeth makes for easier reading.

Themes Fantasy, Dystopia, Family, Community, Religion, Oppression, Conflict.

Rose Tabeni

The crayons' Christmas by Drew Daywalt

Peppa Pig: Peppa's Night Before Christmas

Penguin, 2020. ISBN: 9780241448625.
(Age: 2+) Recommended. Using the rhythm of Clement Moore's classic Night before Christmas, this story will delight Peppa Pig fans as they listen to the exploits of Peppa on Christmas Eve. Peppa couldn't sleep so she crept out of bed and listened carefully - could she hear Santa? Then George wakes up and when they hear a bang, it appears that Santa needs help with the lights on his sleigh. Peppa comes to the rescue by giving Santa a magical unicorn with a flashing horn, that was under the Christmas tree .
Bright colourful illustrations bring this story to life. Peppa and George are dressed in special red Christmas pyjamas, the Christmas tree is beautifully decorated and the white snowy landscape outside highlights the northern hemisphere's cold winter. The rhyming words lend themselves to be read aloud and as always Peppa is helpful and good at solving problems.
A happy, joyful book, Peppa's night before Christmas is one that little children will enjoy listening to in the lead-up to Christmas.
Pat Pledger

The paper bag princess by Robert Munsch

Illus. by Michael Martchenko. Scholastic, 2020. ISBN: 9781760974602.
(Age: 4+) Highly recommended. With the dragon retiring to his cave with the kidnapped Prince Ronald, he leaves in his wake a fire ravaged castle and a naked Princess Elizabeth. She determines to rescue her betrothed, donning a paper bag to cover he nakedness, using her resourcefulness to follow the dragon's tracks.
Stalwart and fierce, determined and unwavering, Princess Elizabeth is not put off by the dragon's slammed door nor his fiery breath.
She tricks him into showing off his considerable skills, thereby exhausting himself, enabling her to release Ronald. Readers will laugh out loud at the wily Princess Elizabeth and the overconfident dragon.
But the humour does not end there: a twist in the tale sees Ronald dismissing his lady love because of how she looks and Princess Elizabeth can skip off into the sunrise ready for adventures anew.
This lovely twist of a classic rescue from a dragon fairy tale will be eagerly welcomed by a new audience, a wonderful story first published forty years ago. My battered copy from the 80's sits on my shelves but now will have a handsome companion in this hard cover reissue.
The story is humorous and witty, reworking an old story but with a twist which will tickle the funny bones of all readers. Lots of thoughts and ideas will be sparked by this story: twisted fairy tales, the role of princesses and princes, image, clothing, appearance, while readers will question why people are expected to behave and dress in a particular way, and look at how this impacts on our behaviour.
In this edition, a note at the start by Chelsea Clinton, sets the scene of a family reading the story. She talks of the strengths revealed by the story, strengths children can emulate, defeating the dragons without losing their kindness and goodness.
This is followed by a short essay, 'Stand up to dragons' by Francesca Segal, an award winning British journalist and author, and the book is closed with an account of the book's beginnings by Ann Munsch with Robert Munsch.
(I was intrigued by the way the authorship was penned, so found more information from Wikipedia.)
Each of the three additions to this edition make interesting reading for the adult before they read the story out loud to the class, and older students will be intrigued by the beginnings of the book and how it came to be.
The wonderful illustrations will delight today's readers, marvelling at the way an illustrator can use small strokes of his pen and brush to give human qualities to the images of the characters. And I love the drawing of the nonchalant dragon, one leg crossed over the other, and the toadying Ronald, complete with tennis racquet admonishing his rescuer.
Lots of fun will be had with this reissue of the classic, The paper bag princess.
Themes: Image, Twisted fairy tale, Appearance, Dragons, Kidnapping, Rescue.
Fran Knight

Atlas of Record-Breaking Adventures by Emily Hawkins

Illus. by Lucy Letherland. Wide Eyed Editions 2020. ISBN: 9780711255630.
(Age: 7+) Highly recommended. Subtitled A collection of the BIGGEST, FASTEST, LONGEST, HOTTEST, TOUGHEST, TALLEST and MOST DEADLY things from around the world, this is a beautifully presented and cleverly illustrated non-fiction book and is another addition to the Atlas of Adventures series. Other titles in the series include Atlas of Miniature Adventures: A pocket-sized collection of small-scale wonders, Atlas of Dinosaur Adventures: Step Into a Prehistoric World and the Atlas of Ocean Adventures: A Collection of Natural Wonders, Marine Marvels and Undersea Antics from Across the Globe. This latest book by author Emily Hawkins provides readers with an amazing insight into record-breaking events, plants and animals, natural landscapes and human-made marvels. The book begins with a clearly labelled map of the continents with small images depicting some of the record-breaking features to be discussed further in the book. The Contents page uses each of the seven continents as headings with sub-headings underneath related to the record-breakers. Once the journey into the atlas begins, the reader is given a brief description of the continent and then a myriad of amazing facts that are unique to that particular area. Victoria Falls which borders both Zambia and Zimbabwe on the continent of Africa is the most enormous waterfall in the world. It is also known as Mosi-oa-Tunya which translates in to 'the smoke that thunders'. The spray from the waterfall can be seen up to 20 kilometres away. On the continent of Europe the largest collection of bones is found in France in the Catacombs of Paris which lie 20 metres below the city. The world's heaviest parrot, the kakapo, is found in New Zealand. It can weigh up to 4 kilograms and is also one of the world's longest living and noisiest birds. Termites, the greatest insect builders in the world, are found in Australia and their enormous mounds often up to 8 metres high are dotted throughout the Northern Territory. The reader can explore over 30 scenes and read many interesting and varied snapshots of information. At the end of the book is a detailed index as well as a 'Can you find?' page.
The detailed illustrations by Lucy Letherland add to the overall enjoyment and appeal of the book. This book is an excellent book for gifting and sharing with a child or as a discussion prompt for record-breaking phenomena. Themes: Record-breakers, Animals, Nature, Environment, Wonders of the world, Continents, Maps.
Kathryn Beilby

The twisted ones by T. Kingfisher

Titan Publishing, 2020. ISBN: 9781789093285.
(Age: Adult - Senior secondary) Recommended. Fans of the horror genre will be sure to enjoy this classic tale by T. Kingfisher (pseudonym for Hugo Award winner, Ursula Vernon) which has been recognised with following: Locus Award Nominee for Best Horror Novel 2020, Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Horror 2019 and Dragon Award for Best Horror Novel 2020. It tells the story of Melissa, known as Mouse, a young woman who with her dog, arrives at her deceased grandmother's house in rural North Carolina, to clean up. What she finds is a mess - her grandmother was a hoarder and skip after skip is filled with rubbish. But what is most disturbing is the Green Book written by her step-grandfather Cotgrave, describing terrifying twisted ones and stone figures. She initially believes that this is nonsense but after an encounter in the woods and some frightening figures in her yard, she begins to believe that something is after her.
Kingfisher maintains a narrative that keeps the reader gripped to the page until the startling conclusion. Written in the words of Mouse, the young woman, the suspense builds up as terrifying episode after episode are detailed; there are faces in the windows, her beloved dog goes missing and a strange overgrown path leads to a place where there are twisted statues and the holler people seem to cast a strange atmosphere over the area. Segments from her step-grandfather's journal are interspersed in the narration and add another dimension. In the author's note at the end, Kingfisher reveals that "the Green Book is the diary from Arthur Machen's found manuscript story, The white people." Published in 1904, readers may want to follow up by reading it at the Gutenberg site.
Some light touches are added as Mouse becomes friends with Foxy, who lives across the way, but even Foxy can be frightening as well. And Bongo the dog is a bonus, silly and loving.
I enjoyed the thrills and scares of The twisted ones and think that it would be an ideal choice for older readers leading up to Halloween.
Pat Pledger

Ghost wall by Sarah Moss

Granta, 2019. ISBN: 9781783784462.
(Age: Adult-Senior Secondary) Recommended. A slender volume of 149 pages, Ghost wall kept me rivetted to the page, breathless as I followed the story of Silvie, a young girl who has joined an anthropology course, re-enacting life in early Britain. The group comprising of Silvie, her obsessive father and meek mother, a professor and three students, build a primitive camp and hunt and forage for food in the surrounding forests. Silvie's father is obsessed with the life in the Iron Age and is drawn to stories of sacrifices found in the bog.
The first chapter detailing the sacrifice of a young girl is gripping as Moss details the rituals that are carried out. In sparse but vivid language, the author shows the reader the terror of the girl as she is prepared for sacrifice. The next chapters are told in the wry and intelligent words of Silvie, as she watches the students who have backgrounds and aspirations far from hers. She is particularly drawn to Molly, an independent and caring girl, who shows her a different way of life to the one that her father has dictated. As the days progress, it is evident that Silvie's father is abusive and violent and this culminates in a scene where his lack of care is horrific.
Packed into this book are themes of nationalism and harking back to what is perceived as better times, reminiscent of Brexit. As well, the horror of domestic violence and its victims and the power of feminism is finely drawn.
Readers who have been haunted by the story 'Singing my sister down' in Singing my sister down and other stories by Margo Lanagan will be just as gripped by this memorable story.
Pat Pledger

When We Say Black Lives Matter by Maxine Beneba Clarke

Hachette, 2020. ISBN: 9780734420428.
(Age: 4+) Highly recommended. Author illustrator, Beneba Clarke uses her considerable talents and background to increase student understanding and awareness of the phrase they will have heard a lot lately. 'Black Lives Matter' is a mantra repeated on every news platform, making it one of the phrases that has defined the last decade. Used after the shooting death of black teen, Trayvon Martin in February 2012, people could not help but be caught up in the world wide response to the acquittal of his killer, penning the phrase to make people aware that black lives were being thrown away. Adults reading this picture book will be only too aware of the background to the phrase, and will be able to support younger children as they learn what the phrase means and how it came to be used.
Beneba Clarke shows a supportive family, being strong and positive with their offspring, making sure that 'Black Lives Matter' is a phrase with meaning. A pregnant woman gives way to a young couple and their baby, and as each page is turned, the child grows to maturity, the verse on each page telling us how their lives matter.
As part of the family's daily life we see police lined up against a peaceful demonstration, the police outline of a body on the road, people crying, running figures escaping police brutality. Each image recalls incidents where the authorities have scorned those whose lives they have sworn to protect, while in the background we can see images of the posters carried in the demonstrations.
The stunning illustrations with bold black outlines on textured paper, the images filled with pastel, bring a dark and foreboding quality to the pages, as the words point out the adversities suffered by black people. But the family endures, reminding their offspring that 'Black Lives Matter', offering hope for a future where Black Lives do indeed Matter, impelling us all to be part of that future.
Themes: Racism, Police brutality, Unlawful death, Black Lives Matter, Demonstrations.
Fran Knight

The Ickabog by J.K Rowling

Hachette Children's Books, 2020. ISBN: 9781510202252.
Highly recommended. The Ickabog is a special book. Without a doubt, the master storyteller knows just how to captivate young (and not so young) readers. This book was instantly well received by classes in our school library. They enjoyed the wonderful word play, the evocative imagery, the description and of course the plot. Rowling has fun with nomenclature, for example: Daisie Dovetail, Bert Beamish, Lord Goodfellow and Lord Spittleworth.
The Ickabog is set in the wonderful land of Cornucopia which is full of bounty and happiness. However, from the start, there is just a hint that something bad is pending. The King is not very smart, his advisers are worrying and to the north lie the Marshlands and the Ickabog . . .
It is refreshing to find a rollicking, good, old fashioned fairy tale adventure amongst our current diet of children's books which often deal with difficult topics. However, this story is not all lightness and froth. It does become dark, in the manner of olden day fairy tales. The golden kingdom of Cornucopia is almost destroyed by an evil regime that begins with sycophantic flattery and proceeds to a level where lies, pretensions, cover-ups, spies, informers, nasty, chilly, horrible things happen. The weak king struggles between vanity, cowardice and honesty. Somehow Rowling manages to know when to stop the nastiness, just in time, just enough to be scarily, horribly suspenseful. She strikes a fine balance and that is a supreme art. The young heroes and the good people show fortitude against all odds and the Ickabog turns out to be a delight.
The reader recognizes the comforts of a well-known formula - a serialised bed time story. There are 64 short chapters and there are echoes of well-known fairy tales including The Emperor's New Clothes, Beauty and the Beast and Snow White.
Full colour illustrations from 34 winners of the Ickabog Illustration Competition from the UK, Australia, Ireland, India and New Zealand add something very special to this book. For young readers to see the work of children their own age interpreting text through art and then having it published in a book written by J.K.Rowling is inspiring.
Wendy Jeffrey

Snow ghost by Tony Mitton

Illus. by Diana Mayo. Bloomsbury, 2020.ISBN: 9781408876633.
(Ages: 4-8) Wintery, ethereal illustrations accompany this magical tale of hope and belonging. An enticing front cover filled with sparkling snow is followed by equally enthralling illustrations throughout. A dull colour palate is offset with pops of bright colour and the crispy white of the snowy landscape. The endpapers are also stunning and the delight on the children's faces is palpable.
The story is rhythmic and tells a dreamy story of a snow ghost 'searching for somewhere to settle - but where?' Strong visual imagery gives the reader a real sense of the darkness and loneliness of the winter landscape ('dense, tangled wood', 'where the chilly winds blow and endlessly murmur'). Snow Ghost drifts over town and wood, searching for a place that will be welcoming until she finally finds a small country farm. 'Could this be the place to find safety and calm?' A boy and girl wearing bright clothes are playing and laughing outside in the snow and Snow Ghost knows that this is the 'place she at last could call home'.
This is a gentle story perfect for bedtime sharing. It is worth noting that this is a follow up to Tony Mitton's previous publication Snow Bear (illustrated by Alison Brown), following an almost identical formula and themes.
Themes: Belonging, Rhyming story.
Nicole Nelson

A girl made of air by Nydia Hetherington

Quercus, 2020. ISBN: 9781529408881. 376pp.
(Age: 16+) The phenomenon of the circus has mesmerised authors and readers alike.
With a chequered history, but always an intriguing one, the lives of circus people have made great subjects for storytelling - Angela Carter's Nights at the Circus, Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus, Sara Gruen's Water for Elephants, Roald Dahl's Matilda, to name a few. This debut novel by Nydia Hetherington brings the circus to life with all its magic, passion, and dangers. The nameless narrator, thrown into the circus spotlight, soon becomes a great tight-rope walker; in the course of her story, she reveals the glory days and the heartaches of the circus life, weaving folklore and fantasy as the reader follows her path to celebrity. Woven through her tale is the search for a lost child - 'I should really be writing about the child, about how I lost her and why I must find her, even after all these years. It's why I am writing all this down.'
The author brings her acting and theatre experiences to her writing - she established her own theatre company in Paris - and this successfully engages the reader in a world now lost and largely forgotten. The writing is fresh; I enjoyed its novel approach the subject.
Julie Wells

Sword in the Stars by Amy Rose Capetta & Cori McCarthy

Rock the Boat, 2020. ISBN: 9781786077011.
(Age: 16+) Recommended. Although I have come to this sequel without having read Book 1 of the duology Once & Future, it is possible to pick up the threads of the story reasonably quickly. However, time-slipping back from future disasters and space-enabled power dramas, back into the world of Arthur and Merlin has its complications, especially as now Arthur is a woman (Ari), who is in a relationship with Gwen. Merlin has left behind his love interest from the future, and his magic must be used wisely to right some wrongs, but he is desperate to return to Val (also known as Percival). Time travel though must not unwrite the story and disturb the future too much, but it must give them the opportunity to return, restore and repair the rifts and despair that magic has woven into the future. The main characters, from Arthur to his Knights and his mage, are on the queer spectrum and so their return to the Middle Ages instantly creates social distress and conflict as they confront Binary gender expression and sexism from the Middle Ages, and yet they are all ready to fight for what they think is important and to remedy the magical cracks that have appeared in the future they have come from. There is excitement, magic, sword fights and adventure galore as Ari and Gwen confront Arthur and Old Merlin, and with young Merlin's help try to make a difference within the Myth of Arthur and his Knights.
This story is very different. Time travel would automatically make complications appear, but in combination with magic and a well-known myth set in a real period of history, the authors have skilfully made a captivating tale. The variations of gender, transgender or gender expression and gender pronouns do sometimes create some confusion for the reader, especially as characters may have more than one name as they transition from the future to the past or may have chosen a particular non-binary gender expression. I did sometimes need to re-read sentences to work out which character was referenced based on the gender pronoun used. (Ari was referred to as 'she' but was deemed to be a future representation of Arthur. This confusion may be a representation of the world of LGBTIQ and perhaps is only a problem for those of us who have a more binary background.) The story is exciting and twisted in plot, chronology and magical interpretations and teens who enjoy speculative fiction, mythology and gender-queer relationships will get a kick from this updated re-make of Arthurian legend.
Recommended for readers aged 16+ (Not recommended for younger readers.) Themes: LGBTIQ; Mythology - King Arthur and Merlin; Time travel; Magic; Learning from mistakes; Queer Romance.
Carolyn Hull

Roxy & Jones: The great fairytale cover-up by Angela Woolfe

Walker Books, 2020. ISBN: 9781406391374. 254pp.
(Age: 8 -12) Numerous children's authors have been playing with traditional fairy tales for years. The original stories evoke such amazing characters and places - no wonder they keep emerging in films, plays and books. Libraries produce lists of fractured fairy tales for the avid reader of these all too familiar tales. We all remember The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith. Recently my 8 year-old granddaughter has been enthralled by the Whatever After series by Sarah Mylnowski. This clever book Roxy & Jones brings together numerous fairy tales as the 2 heroines battle a false memory enchantment. There is plenty happening in this rather complicated but very enjoyable story. The dialogue is slick and clever - just right for those young readers with minds for mix-ups, knowledge of fairy-tales, and good senses of humour. They will love it!
Julie Wells