Showing posts with label Middle grade fiction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Middle grade fiction. Show all posts

Sunday, 17 November 2024

A HISTORY OF MY WEIRD

Written by Chloë Heuch  


Small book cover image. This depicts the old asylum building and grounds in muted reds, yellows, and mauves. In front and centre, and demonstrating her gymnastic beam skills, the protagonist, Mo, is walking along a branch. To the right and behind, standing watching, is Carys, also known as Onyx. The title appears along the top of the cover, over a yellowing sky in bold lettering. Weird is in big purply red letters.
                                                       

An Adventure Book Review by Erin the Literary Cat©, International Book Reviewer.

Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring this week an Adventure in Middle Grade Fiction.
 

When we were contacted and asked if we would like to review this, we took one look at the publicity details and said YES. Mrs H is autistic, and we love to see and support literature, especially for kids, that shines a positive and inclusive light on all aspects of autism.

Let me tell you, we have not been disappointed. So, without further ado, let's dive into this extraordinary story.  

Large book cover image. This depicts the old asylum building and grounds in muted reds, yellows, and mauves. In front and centre, and demonstrating her gymnastic beam skills, the protagonist, Mo, is walking along a branch. To the right and behind, standing watching, is Carys, also known as Onyx. The title appears along the top of the cover, over a yellowing sky in bold lettering. Weird is in big purply red letters.


AUTHOR:  CHLOË HEUCH

 

Cover art by:  VERONICA CARRATELLO

Cover design:  BECKA MOOR

 

Published by:  FIREFLY PRESS

 

Publication date Paperback:  4 JULY 24, so OUT NOW

 

Paperback ISBN:  978-191 5444 639

UK Cover price for Paperback:  £7.99


KINDLE price: £3.99

 

Pages: 250

 

Age range:  9+ 


Any dogs or cats? No, but some piranhas make an appearance! 


 

 

SPOILER ALERT


Some as to plot direction and characters.

 

 

Thank you to... 


We are exceedingly grateful to Graeme and Firefly Press Publishers for asking if we would review this. Given the subject matter, how could we say no?


As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we have bought, received as gifts, or received in exchange for an impartial review.


First and foremost, the books we review are those we select to read, like, and feel our global readers deserve to know about and that we hope they, their family, friends and students will enjoy.

 

The plot


This story unfolds from the start of the new school year in September and runs through in dated chapters until the end of term in December. New year 7 student, Mo, a talented young gymnast, has arrived at her new secondary school. Her junior school friends are now seemingly under pressure to be trendy. So much so that Mo is no longer acceptable, a freak; her little necessary actions, her stimming, and her need to correct her teacher are now embarrassing. It leaves her isolated and at the mercy of other kids and, surprisingly, teachers. Her factual nature, truthfulness, and following of the rules soon land her in detention for correcting a statement made by her teacher. Worse, when jostled by a onetime friend, who then stumbles, Mo gets blamed and is labelled a problem child and taken off the gymnastics team. 


Mo's time at home is split between her divorced parents and their respective partners. It is an arrangement that, whilst a bit chaotic, works. But finding a way to express herself is difficult. Issues with a new maths teacher, tantamount to bullying, discrimination and segregation, go unspoken and unnoticed. 


One saving grace is a quiet girl called Carys, the only supportive classmate when Mo is sent out of class. But can Carys, considered an emo/goth by the other kids and thus also a freak, be a friend? She strangely wants to be called Onyx in private. It is another mystery that Mo's autistic mind needs to fathom. 


When the Mo and Carys decide to go to the drama club, a tentative bond is formed. These things build, and Mo is invited back to eat with Carys' family. But Mo finds a change in Carys and her mum, tiptoeing around their father, a stickler for girls looking and acting the prim and subservient female stereotypes.

When Mo naturally gives a truthful reply, the father leaves the table and asks for Mo to be taken home after eating. Again, alone, Mo is confused as to what she has done. Could Carys/Onyx's silence and absence from school have something to do with her?


This becomes a turning point in the book. Carys' father drives a huge wedge in their friendship, to the point that the two mustn't even talk to each other at school. The penalty for Mo's continued 'bad' influence will be Carys' removal to a church school.  


But where there is a will, there is a way. During history lessons, the class has been looking at Victorian asylums and who would be put in them. Sometimes, it was women who had the wrong lover or those with depression, grief, or learning disabilities such as autism. 


With her special and consuming interest in gymnastics taken from her and lessons at school fraught, MoMo finds a new passion in researching their local asylum, in which she soon discovers her great uncle was incarcerated.


Now, between pursuing a forbidden friendship, being persuaded to audition for a role in the school play, and venturing to look at and then go into the old asylum, we have a recipe for everything else that happens; the good and the very bad.

A lot plays out from here on, so to avoid any significant spoilers, I feel it best to stop the review here. Suffice it to say, things come to a dramatic and painful head.



So, what did we think?


This is a very compelling and sincere read from a skilled writer.


Even as recently as 2020, you'd be very hard-pressed to find secondary autistic and differently-abled characters in books for kids. Indeed, finding a lead character who also happened to be autistic was exceptionally rare. I can only think of one as I type. 


That all changed in the mainstream press in June 2020 with the publication of A Kind of Spark, by Elle McNicoll. See our review HERE.


Kids who are also autistic finally had a chance to see another autistic child in print being just themselves, capable, energetic, loveable and loving, and as mischievous as any other child—just slightly different but not less. 


The struggles they and their parents face—be it from other kids or from those who were there to teach but saw the one child as needy or a nuisance they didn't have time for—are laid bare for all to see. In so doing, things can be talked about, and action can be taken.


What makes this book so different and readable is that the author chose to have her lead character look at the way patients were treated in asylums of old, like Bethlem. Mo's great-uncle was committed to one in the town she lives in. The once elegant facade of Victorian society's reluctance to face anything or anyone even remotely divergent from the norm and a burgeoning medical regimen bordering on barbarism is reduced by vandalism and arson to a burnt-out, brooding skeleton of some ghastly behemoth. 


The secrets and tortures committed inside its walls in the name of medicine and family convenience have long since been lost to all. Only haunting images in sepia-stained photographs and fading entries in admittance logs remain. The relevance and connection to herself is not lost on Mo. 


This theme steers much of the story, both in and out of school, and leads to a catalytic and calamitous life-changing event towards the end. But it isn't everything. 


Running deftly alongside, we see our protagonist trying to gain and understand friendship. Onetime friends are now taunting enemies. Then there's the mystery of Carys? What drives this elusive young goth ally, who vanishes from school and would rather have a secret name? Is she actually a friend? There is also Mo dealing with puberty and other physical changes that are harder for those with sensory issues. 


It is also good to see that the story doesn't avoid adult issues and split families. Reality does bite and it is good to see a reflection of life, tempered for Middle Grade readers.



So, in conclusion. 


As important a book for youngsters on the autistic spectrum (and their family and teachers) as 'A Kind of Spark', by Elle McNicoll, was when published.


Truly inspired writing with a satisfyingly different theme covering more than just the now well-written-about aspects of and problems facing autistic children and families. Diverse and inclusive - writing at its very BEST. We started Friday morning and finished in the evening as we just had to know how it ended. We didn't once feel that the messages within were diluted or laboured.


All in all, there is something for everyone and enough of everything to make this a wholly satisfying and captivating read. A classroom must-read.



Want to buy a copy?


To get a copy, please avoid derelict buildings and head straight to your local independent bookshop. Or, order online. Most booksellers, large or small, will gladly get this for you.

 


 

Firefly Press web page can be found HERE or type this: https://fireflypress.co.uk/ 

Chloë Heuch's web page can be found HERE or type this:  https://www.chloeheuch.co.uk/ 

Veronica Carratello's web page can be found HERE or type this: https://www.veronicacarratello.com/ 


I shall leave you with a Selfie of ME!


We are joining the Sunday Selfies, hosted by the wonderful Kitties Blue and their mum, Janet Blue, from the Cat on My Head blog in America. Click this sentence to visit Janet Blue's site.

Small image. The Cat on My Head Sunday Selfies Blog Hop badge. Features a yellow-haired lady with a tuxedo cat on her head.

🙂 🙂

Till laters!

ERin

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Sunday, 6 October 2024

The ULTIMATE Book Review & GIVEAWAY

Hello, Everyone!


Today, we have a special announcement. This week, after a small series of technical hitches, Mrs H and I jointly pressed the key that sent our new and first book into publication, with the aid of a lodger who recently took our attic room at a most reasonable rent and ad-lib unspecified services rendered in the house, garden and around the grounds.

Yup, it has been a long, long journey, starting way back in 2018. It has been tinged with sadness, and also delight. 

But let’s not dig into who got flour and butter on my new notepad. Or how old Ned, the gardener, not only got grass seed in the Manor's PC but managed to spill tea on it and got said seed to sprout. Then later, after trying to mow it, destroyed the keyboard.

Fear not, all things are possible when writing adventures, and all solutions available to the detective with a nose and whiskers for finding solutions to the most unusual of incidents that befall us in Upper Much-Mousing.

Here is a picture of the cover, so ably created by an outstanding artist in South Africa called Craig D Howarth. Craig spent many long hours, days and weeks toiling away, risking life and limb and several literature-starved lions, to create all the art, inside and out. Not once, but twice, as the book changed in editing.

The title is set in an art deco upright rectangle with three short fins on each side that taper downwards. The colours used are three shades of green with black writing. Erin the tuxedo cat sits in a bicycle's front basket while Mrs Hudson, Erin's housekeeper and governess, cycles from left to right, pursued by a happy golden coated retriever type dog. There is a two tone blue sky, and green foliage around the bottom half of the cover, dotted with pink rose blooms. The author is named in white.
© Image copyright CD Howarth & Erin the Cat Princess©

Mrs H and I are thrilled with how the artwork turned out. With the help of an independent publisher, Jane’s Studio Press, based in Scotland, to help set out the edited work, we have achieved an awesome result. 

Here is the lowdown on the adventure, as taken from our book:-

“Welcome to 1920s Britain, where cats and dogs have a voice and are treated as equals to humans. In the quaint village of Upper Much-Mousing, one lucky young cat named Erin Chumley inherits an old manor house and Estate. But with it comes responsibility and bills, and Erin must navigate her new life with the help of her housekeeper and tutor, Mrs. Hudson, a retired Army veteran with a mysterious past.

Together, Erin and Mrs. Hudson start a detective agency to earn funds and teach Erin about the world. But their first case takes them to the bustling city of London, to the famous King Herod’s Department store. Three kittens have gone missing, and it’s up to our dynamic duo to solve the case. But what starts as a simple investigation quickly turns into a dangerous race against time, as they must save the kittens from the clutches of the evil and lazy Anders, the store’s nighttime security guard. As they dig deeper, they uncover a sinister black-market gang stealing from the store, and must also help their feline seamstress friend, Jenifer Darcy, get the recognition she deserves for her work.

Join Erin and Mrs. Hudson on their witty and whimsical adventure, filled with action, fun, and heartwarming moments. Perfect for young middle-grade readers looking for a fun and exciting read.”


*****GIVEAWAY*****


As a special launch time (not lunchtime) gift, we are making a copy of the paperback available to two lucky Sunday Selfie bloggers who comment on this post between now and midnight next Saturday, 12th October BST. The winners must be willing and able to supply a postal address to allow an Amazon delivery. Mrs H or I will contact the winners by leaving a comment on the winners’ blogs.

OK, so enough of the surprise news, here' is a special, book launch selfie of me spreading the news!

We are joining the Sunday Selfies, hosted by the wonderful Kitties Blue and their mum, Janet Blue, from the Cat on My Head blog in America. Click this sentence to visit Janet Blue's site.

Small image. The Cat on My Head Sunday Selfies Blog Hop badge. Features a yellow-haired lady with a tuxedo cat on her head.

 

Erin the Cat Princess©


Till laters!

ERin


Sunday, 7 July 2024

Alice Éclair Spy Extraordinaire. A Dash of Daring.

Written by Sarah Todd-Taylor.  

                                                                                   

Small book cover image. With the Eiffel Tower as a backdrop, Alice, in her trademark baker's outfit and cycling helmet, dashes through the Paris streets on a bicycle. Casper is dashing by her side. Alongside is a red, open-top sports car, and pieces of paper, documents maybe, fly through the air around them.

An Adventure Book Review by Erin the Literary Cat©, International Book Reviewer.

Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring this week an Adventure in Middle Grade Fiction.

This is the finale of a wonderful series. So, without adding or taking away from this delicious book, let’s jump from the comparative calm of Alice’s kitchen into the frying pan that is the world of secret agents….. 

Large book cover image. With the Eiffel Tower as a backdrop, Alice, in her trademark baker's outfit and cycling helmet, dashes through the Paris streets on a bicycle. Casper is dashing by her side. Alongside is a red, open-top sports car, and pieces of paper, documents maybe, fly through the air around them.


 


AUTHOR:  Sarah Todd-Taylor

 

Artwork by:  Beatriz Castro

 

Published by:  Nosy Crow

 

Publication date Paperback:  

 

Paperback ISBN:  978 - 1 -781 839 - 887 - 9

UK Cover price for Paperback:  £7.99

 

Pages: 235

 

Age range:  8+


Any dogs or cats? Casper the cat takes to the skies, much like a rather talented pigeon.


 

 

SPOILER ALERT


Some as to plot direction and characters.

 

 

Thank you to... 


Mrs H is to thank for buying this grand finale of an adventure. We loved the others from the first page, and this was a must-read for us both.


As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we have bought, received as gifts, or received in exchange for an impartial review.


First and foremost, the books we review are only those we select to read, like, and feel our global readers deserve to know about and that we hope they, their family, friends and students will enjoy.

 

The plot


Alice Éclair and her mother are found in the opening scene suspended in a cable car over the mountains—breathtaking scenery and a deadly plunge beneath. Thankfully, the villain isn't about to cut the wire! The mother-and-daughter chefs from Vive Comme L'Éclair have been invited to teach the finer points of their now-famous pastry creations to the chefs at the mountain-top Hotel Anise—a pleasant enough break from recent stresses in Paris.


It is a hotel with many strange guests. Alice soon learns from her senior agent, who arrives after sending a coded message, that it isn't a hotel at all. The eclectic collection of people are secret agents who need to be 'kept on ice' away from others until the information they possess becomes out-of-date and worthless. And whilst Madam E'Clair tuts at the chefs using margarine in their pastries, Alice has, unknown to her, been given the task of observing the guests to see if anyone is acting strangely. 


Claude advises Alice that a one-of-a-kind code-making machine, along with its creator and French agent, Jan Rejewski, has gone missing! All could be lost if France goes to war and the enemy has the machine. 


Where Alice fits in is that Jan's daughter, Adele, is a highly talented cyclist who aims to compete for her country in the upcoming Olympics. When Adele started receiving threatening letters using the hotel's notepaper, it seemed there was a link to a double agent somewhere in the hotel.


Very soon after, Alice discovers her treacherous father and former French agent in the same hotel, clearly receiving information from a source. Alice gives chase, but in a breathtaking scene, he escapes capture by the skin of his teeth.


With a connection made between Adele, Jan, the missing cypher machine and Alice's uncle Robert, Alice is now assigned undercover to bake at the training ground of the hopeful French athletes. She can watch over Adele and her highly talented and wheelchair-bound brother, Hugo. All the time, she observes and looks for evidence. 


With the scene now set in Paris but not confined to it, things really take off. More threatening notes arrive demanding Adele retire from training OR ELSE.

Here, Alice discovers many new possible enemy agents amongst the cycling team and trainers and puts Hugo in the frame as a spy. With competition for the limited number of places in the Olympic team running high, there is more at stake than the missing machine. How far would a fellow competitor cyclist go to remove a threat?


Why is Hugo so keen to train his pigeon, Columba, to fly with messages? And why are some competitors and staff seen in the same shop as Uncle Robert?


You will discover everything, the good and the bad, before the end of this adventure, which is why I can't tell you any more. Suffice it to say it is a high-speed, downhill dash to the finishing line worthy of a Transporter movie or The Great Escape, with a delightfully unexpected 'come full-circle' twist. 


So, what did we think?


Straight away I have to say Beatriz Castro has created another lovely cover. Full of life and fun.


Saying goodbye to such a fantastic series is so very difficult. However, Sarah has other recipes for adventure to work on and ideas like freshly kneaded dough gently rising to one side, which we know will be equally as tasty. 


This adventure had so very much to live up to. Would the soufflé rise to the challenge or be a flop? Of course, with all the right ingredients, lavished with care and adventure, the essence of France and historical facts, this would always have to be the chef's most excellent work. 


Which it is. A mouth watering layer cake of adventure with a Mission Impossible, Transporter, and Bond adventure all rolled into one filling. 


Laced with delightful and mouth-watering animated creations that would challenge a 5-star Michelin chef and heaps of aeronautical antics and high-speed escapades, this felt like a Mission Impossible, Transporter, and Bond adventure all rolled into one. Nouvelle cuisine, eat your heart out! This is a full-blown banquet with a take-home bag full of exciting memories.


As to Casper the cat, well, nah, I'll let you discover for yourselves what he gets up to in his own inimitable feline way.


So . . . .

Crunch time. 


This is one to buy for lovers of the series or just lovers of full-flavour kid's action and adventure featuring a strong lead and diverse characters.  

Want to buy a copy?

To get a copy, avoiding mountainsides, perilous ski lifts, spies and high-speed chases, just head down to your local bookshop. Or, order on line. There are plenty out there (book shops, that is, and hopefully NOT spies), and each shop is just waiting to serve up whatever kind of mystery, fun and adventure you desire.

To see our review of book 1, click this LINK.  

To see our review of book 2, click this LINK.  

To see our review of book 3, click this LINK. 


Sarah Todd Taylor's WEB page can be found HERE or type this: https://sarahtoddtaylor.com/ 

Nosy Crow's web page can be found HERE. or type this: https://nosycrow.com/product/alice-eclair-spy-extraordinaire-a-sprinkling-of-danger/

Beatriz Castro's web page can be found HERE. or type this: https://beatrizcastroilustracion.com/ 


That's it for now, I hope you enjoyed the review. I'm off to check out the cakes in our pantry, and to see if Mrs H can get Alice's phone number to order some supplies.....🙂 🙂


We are joining the Sunday Selfies, hosted by the wonderful Kitties Blue and their mum, Janet Blue, from the Cat on My Head blog in America. Click this link to see Janet Blue's selfie page.

Small image. The Cat on My Head Sunday Selfies Blog Hop badge. Features a yellow-haired lady with a tuxedo cat on her head.

 

I shall leave you with an early July Selfie. More rain and wind around these parts, with no sign of summer anywhere . . . Ho hum, roll on Christmas!



  

Till laters!

ERin