COSIMA UNFORTUNATE STEALS A STAR

 by Laura Noakes;  

                                                                                

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

Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction.

 

If you are here for a selfie, please scroll down.

On good news front, Mrs H sent my Middle Grade adventure book to an editor who works for many of the top literary houses. Once it returns, well be sending on to prospective agents that have expressed an interest. 

But enough from us. Lets get on with the show and reveal this weeks special adventure story....

Book cover image ©

 

AUTHOR:  LAURA NOAKES

 

Cover art by:   FLAVIA SORRENTINO

 

Published by: HARPER COLLINS CHILDRENS BOOKS

 

Publication date: PaperbacK: 25TH MAY 2023

 

Paperback ISBN:   978-0-00-857905-0

Cover price for Paperback £7.99

 

Pages: 286

 

Age range: 8 and upwards

No companion creatures, this time!

 

 

SPOILER ALERT

Some as to plot direction and characters.

 

 

Thank you to... 

 

We are exceedingly grateful to Jess at Harper Collins Publishers for the privilege of getting to Read & Review this fantastic inclusive adventure book before publication, so we can give you the review you need.

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

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

 

 

The plot

 

Let's set the scene for you...

 

It is 1899, and we are in Kensington, London. Our heroine, Cosima, 'Cos' to her friends, is aged 12. She has, since a tiny baby, lived at a dilapidated children's home in Victorian London. There are twenty girls in all, each most special in their own way. But every single one was willingly or unwillingly sent to The Home for Unfortunate Girls. You see, polite Victorians frown on disability. Society does not wish to see the disabled or those they perceive as different, or less than, in whatever form. Better to keep them silent, out of sight and out of mind.

 

Cos was the first at the home, and so is child No.1. She acquired the nickname 'Cosima Unfortunate' because she is rather unfortunate; it soon stuck, and unlike the other girls, she has nobody of her own. Or at least, so she thought. Her disability is that her joints ache and dislocate. This means she can be in agony, sometimes needing a walking stick and other times being wheelchair-bound.

 

The school is run by a brother and sister team called Stains. Ever investing in get-rich-quick schemes that never would, they are always in debt. Needless to say, Cos and her pals bear the brunt of this. The girls' rooms are unheated, and the food isn't more substantial than gruel – three meagre daily portions. As much punishment as to earn a scant amount of keep for the home, the girls have to unpick rope and cables from ships. This is then mixed with tar or grease to make oakum, which is used to go between the planks and make the vessel watertight. 

 

Cos and her best pals Diya, Pearl and Mary do their best to win small victories against the despicable Stains: planning raids on Miss Stains' cake stash for guests or hiding the Stains' things and making life as bad as they can for them. They likely always get punished, as often Cos' plans go wrong, or she goes off-plan, but they are worth it.

 

What each of the friends may have lacked outwardly in the eyes of others, they more than make up for with skills. Mary is a most particular planner; everything to the 'nth degree. Diya has a keen mind for figures and inventing and can devise almost any gadget a young girl could wish for mischief-making from the residue of the Stains' failed purchases and schemes that litter the home. Pearl is the master crafter/artist and can create astounding lifelike copies of things using the oakum.

 

Cos' latest plan involves replica cakes to replace those bought by Miss Stains to give to her well-to-do lady guests, patrons of the crumbling home. All is going well until Cos spots Miss Stains' open ledger. Keen to see if there are any extra details of her origins, Cos goes off plan again. And whilst she discovers she arrived with only a handkerchief, the plan falls apart, and they get caught. But just before the girls do, Cos overhears a conversation between Miss Stains and one Lord Fitzroy. It seems he wants to adopt all twenty of the defective girls. Miss Stains being who she is, demands £500 for them, and they strike a deal. 

 

Needless to say, the girls are not 'defective'. Each may be different, but they are still human. Whatever slimy voice Lord Fitzroy wants the girls for, Cos senses it isn't good. It seems the scientific project he is working on and in which the Stains have invested will change the world. But why does he need the girls?

 

Cos digs out the handkerchief from a box of the girls' personal possessions, its relevance and importance previously unknown to all. Within its now dirty fabric and elaborate, if strange stitching is hidden a clue to Cos' life and parents, Cos is sure of that. But what?

 

Armed with only an aged piece of fabric and a hunch Cos is determined to find out more about her parents. More pressingly, she is determined to stop the girls from being effectively sold to the nefarious Lord Fitzroy. 

 

With the aid of a new-found friend, a young street magician and pickpocket, Cos and the gang come up with the most daring of plans yet. It all centres around a collection of highly precious jewels on display at the Empire Exhibition that is taking place at that very time in London. Treasures pilfered from nations within the empire by none other than Lord Fitzroy himself!

 

What is the girl's plan? What plans does Fitzroy have for 20 shunned-by-society innocent girls? Who or what is the mysterious 'The Institute' whose symbol of a skeletal tree is tattooed on Fitzroy's arm and scares Miss Stains so much? And who is the strange new inky-fingered lady visitor to the school who seems more interested in Lord Fitzroy and the Stains than taking tea and cake!

 

A fabulous adventure ensues, with a race against time, death and almost insurmountable odds. There will, I assure you be upset, fear, tension and bravery aplenty. 

 

So, what did we think?  

 

Undoubtedly a tale of two halves. Touching on the genuine circumstances and behaviours towards those perceived as an affront to polite (and itself morally corrupt) Victorian society, this adventure puts disabled characters firmly at the forefront of a cracking yarn where they deserve to be and each shine.

So . . . .

Crunch time. 

 

Written with such conviction, passion, and a real sense of person and place, I half expected Moriarty and Sherlock to make an appearance! It is packed with everything a Middle Grade should be: action adventure, gadgets, and the mysterious, the good and the bad. It shows the true worth of the human soul and a positive world amidst the bad. Definitely one for all the kids to enjoy and be empowered by.

Want to buy a copy?

To get a copy, please escape down your own homemade ladders, evading ghastly staff and well-to-do, if poorly guided gentry, and head to your local independent gruel and oakhum free bookshop. There are plenty out there, and each shop is just waiting to serve up whatever kind of mystery, fun and adventure you desire.

A little about the author: 

 

Dr Laura Noakes was awarded her doctorate in legal history in 2021. She is a disabled writer and works at the Devil's Porridge Museum in Scotland. A link to this rather fascinating museum can be found by clicking HERE or type this: https://www.devilsporridge.org.uk/

 

Laura's poetry has been published in Scrittura Magazine, and she has published articles in 'Disability in Kidlit' and 'Kettle Mag'.

 

She lives with her mischievous cat, Scout, and her husband, Connor, in beautiful Cumbria, England.

 

LAURA NOAKES' web page can be found HERE or type this: https://www.lauranoakes.com/

 

FLAVIA SORENTINO's web page can be found HERE or type this:  https://flaviasorr.com/

 

HARPER COLLINS UK web page can be found HERE or type this: https://harpercollins.co.uk/

 

And as it's a Sunday, we are joing the Sunday Selfies, Hosted by Janet Blue of the Cat on My Head blog, in America. 

I shall leave you with MY Sunday Selfie 🙂 🙂

Images are all ©

 

Till laters!

ERin

LIBBY and the HIGHLAND HEIST

 

 by JO CLARKE;  

An Adventure Book Review by Erin the Literary Cat ©

 

© Image

 

LIBBY  and the HIGHLAND HEIST

 

Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction! 

 

We had wanted to bring you some local news, but alas, since the local printer can only afford to run off two copies of the Upper Much-Mousing Gazette, they are being passed from house to house, one copy starting at either end of Main Street. With any luck, both will meet at the village chip shop, where they will have a second life around small portions of cod and chips. 

 

Being situate outside the village, Friday nights have become quite a novelty, and much to Mrs H's delight, she was able to complete a full, albeit slightly greasy, crossword with her supper. I, however, was not so lucky and got the less than appealing face of a drooling bull mastiff peering at me from the Lost and Found section under my pile of potato wedges!

So, with all that said, and not wishing to put you off your suppers, let's get on with a rather fine new adventure from Award-Winning Book Blogger and Primary School Librarian Jo Clarke!

 

LIBBY and the HIGHLAND HEIST

 

© Image

AUTHOR: Jo Clarke

 

Cover art by: BECKA MOOR

 

Published by: FIREFLY PRESS

Publication date: 19 January 2023

Paperback ISBN: 978 191 544 4011 

 

Cover price for Paperback: £ 7.99

 

Pages: 243.

 

Age range: Middle Grade (9-12 AND upwards)

 

 

SPOILER ALERT

Some as to plot direction and characters. 

 

 

Thank you to... 

 

We are exceedingly grateful to FIREFLY PRESS & NetGalley for the privilege of getting to Read & Review this much-anticipated book before publication. 

 

As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we like and feel our readers deserve to know about and that we hope they will enjoy. 

 

 

The plot

A little bit of back story for you as this is the second book in the series. It features Libby, and her best pal, Connie, who are students at a school that quite literally moves each term from building to building and city to city across the globe. The first novel was set in Paris. Here Libby and Connie solved a matter of stolen jewels which had left Libby's aunt in the frame for the crime! This term, the school was supposed to be heading for New York. But a flood there meant at short notice, the students and teachers find themselves staying in Edinburgh. This is handy as Connie's family lives nearby in a delightful, if somewhat dilapidated, stately turreted home. Moreover, Connie's parents are 

The book opens with Libby, Connie and Libby's aunt, Miss Mousedale, a teacher at the school, arriving at Connie's home for Christmas. Libby's mother is away on a trip to Peru and won't be home for Christmas. All is not well, it seems, and Connie's father is shut up in his study whilst her mum has dark rings around her eyes. But the friends are intent on making the most of the time and go off exploring, putting aside any strangeness of the strangely quiet troubled reception.

 

It is, of course, inevitable that the best intentions of both girls to keep out of trouble lapse. In a rambling stately home, nothing could be more fun than a game of hide and seek. Which is when things start to get all exciting. 

 

Now, I won't be drawn into giving too much more away about what happens next, as it is all so nicely embroidered together that it will spoil it for you. Suffice it to say, the discovery of secret passageways, a mysterious yet strangely familiar intruder and any number of things that aren't what they seem or are where they are meant to be, lead Libby on a merry chase. The game is afoot, and Libby needs to uncover a family mystery and save the not-so-stately family pile from ruin. 

 

 

So, what did we think?

 

Simply elegant, adventuresome, mysterious, and delightfully addictive read. Jo has let the magic flow through this, the second adventure. In its MG way, it is as rambunctious as a ceilidh reel! Everything to love and recommend!

So . . . . 

Crunch time. 

I don't usually read series out of order, but I find that with this one, I will, and book one of the Travelling School Mysteries is already waiting for attention. 

 

This fine series is an able step up from the Enid Blyton of yore and those fabulous – or so Mrs H says – kids' TV adventures of the seventies. I have no doubt that this adventure rooted in current times will be an immense delight and a 'gateway tale' to grander adventures as the readers grow. 

 

It is lovely to see and read such stories. Where once years ago there was a desert, now there are oases of literary magic aplenty to quench the thirst of the most avid young reader.

Want to buy a copy?

 

To get a copy, please do think of your local independent bookshop. There are plenty out there, and each is just waiting to serve up a treasure of literal magical resource, fun and adventure with a personal touch.

 

JO CLARKE'S WEB page can be found HERE or type this: https://jo-clarke.co.uk 

 

FIREFLY PRESS'S web page can be found HERE. or type this https://fireflypress.co.uk/

 

BECKA MOOR'S web page can be found HERE.  or type this: https://beckamoor.com

 

 

 

I shall leave you with a picture of me getting in some winter snoozing practice 🙂.

©Erin the Cat Princess

 

 

Till laters!

 

ERin

 

 

 © All images and text are copyright, and nothing may be used, copied, stored or shared, either in part of whole, without the express written permission of the copyright holders in advance.

 

 

FESTERGRIMM

 

 by THOMAS TAYLOR;  

An Adventure Book Review by Erin the Cat Princess©

 

Image ©

Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction! 

 

 

This week Mrs H and Erin have been contemplating a short holiday. . . . 

 

"Foreign travel is always a good experience; it broadens the young mind." Mrs H said, gesturing to the picture of the pyramids. "Egypt has so much to offer, lots of history and —"

 

"And scorching sand which plays havoc on the paws; not forgetting the spitting alpacas!" Erin said with a grimace as she vividly recalled her encounter with an alpaca at the Eastlambtonshire Horticultural Show. It had taken Mrs H two hours, a warm bath and lots of scented soap to remove the phlegm, not to mention the smell from Erin's fur! 

 

"Camels, dear," Mrs H rolled her eyes. "Egypt has camels."

 

"They have camels AND alpacas! I bet the laundry shops must do a roaring trade!" 

 

"So that will be a no to Egypt then, will it?" Mrs H said with a wry smile as she placed the Egyptian Tours brochure into the recycling bin along with others from countries that Erin had found fault with, on a purely feline basis of them wasting good creamy milk on making far too smelly cheeses. 

 

"Maybe we should just go for an out-of-season break, instead. A trip to the seaside would be fun. And we could have your favourite – Fish 'N' Chips followed by Catnip Candyfloss! Then after a brisk walk along the promenade, we can take in a show at the pier's ice rink. I see 'Puss In Boots on Water' is on this year."

 

"Umm, shouldn't that be 'Puss In Boots on ICE', Mrs H?"

 

"Well, yes, ordinarily. But it says here that due to the heatwave and the ice machine breaking, the ice is a no-go. Shall I book the train tickets for Saturday, then?"

 

"Oh yes, please! And let's not forget to take something to read. I seem to recall Thomas Taylor sent us a book he wanted us to review. Fester something?"

 

"It's grimm, dear." Mrs H said, picking up a book from the table. 

 

"Well, that seems a bit judgmental, Mrs H; we've not even read it yet!" 

 

"No dear, 'FESTERGRIMM' is the title. I'm sure this latest adventure in Eerie-on-Sea will be anything other than grim. In fact, I sneaked a quick read and suffice to say, I do believe this is his best adventure to date!"

 

The following Saturday, the two could be found on deckchairs on the sundrenched promenade of Cliffhanger-on-Sea, enjoying a good read. However, the seagulls were not enjoying it one bit as Mrs H had brought her recently patented Garlic Gull Replant suncream!

 

And talking of gulls, let's get on with this review of FESTERGRIMM, the latest adventure for Herbie Lemon and Violet Parma in what has to be one of the best MG mystery series of its kind . . . 

© Walker Books, George Ermos, Thomas Taylor.

FESTERGRIMM, by THOMAS TAYLOR 

 

Cover art by: George Ermos

 

Published by: Walker Books

Publication date: 1st September 2022

 

Paperback ISBN: 978 - 1529502121 

 

Cover price for Paperback: £7.03

 

Pages: 320.

 

Age range: Middle Grade (9-12 AND upwards)

Any dogs or cats? But of course, we have Erwin the cat reprising his role.

 

 

SPOILER ALERT

YES. As we are four books in, some of what follows gives away aspects of the previous book/s. If you dont wish to know whats going on, please look away now.

 

Thank you to... 

 

We are exceedingly grateful to Thomas Taylor, Walker Books and NetGalley for the delight of getting to Read & Review this spookily fantastic book before publication. 

 

As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we like and feel our readers deserve to know about and that we hope they will enjoy. 

 

Reviews of Books 1 to 3 can be found using the links below. 

  

 

The plot

 

It is the back end of November, and Herbie, the Lost-and-Founder of the Grand Nautilus Hotel, has a queasy feeling in his stomach. This is definitely foreboding. Having been forced to carry the bags of an unknown VIP, he finds himself on the platform of Cheerie-on-Sea's train station. The spooky feeling gets worse when he, Mr Mollusc (the hotel's irksome manager) and Violet Parma (Herbie's best pal) hear sudden thudding footsteps and an awful shuffling on the platform's canopy! Is it a zombie? Could it be a ...... Well, you'll have to read that to find out. But let me say, what transpires is enough to cause Herbie and Violet much upset and Mr Mollusc much sadistic mirth. But more of that new character later!

When the immense bulk of Bethuselah – an old train and not a visitor – arrives at the platform in a vast cloud of steam and then leaves again without disgorging a passenger, it seems the mysterious VIP hasn't turned up. But then, like the worst possible of nightmares, Sebastian Eels appears like a ghost out of the vapour. And so Herbie and Violet thought he was after the previous adventure! Their arch-enemy, who knows more about Herbie's past than he tells and is responsible for the death of Violet's parents, is once more back in Eerie-on-Sea. Herbie and Violet know he is up to no good, but what he has planned, they do not know. 

 

Later, when Dr Thalassi, Wendy Fossil (the resident beachcomber and proprietor of the Flotsamporium) and Jenny Hanniver (owner of Eerie Book Dispensary), all friends of Herbie and Violet, hear of the news, they suggest caution. If Eels is to be sorted out and warned off, the adults will do it. Herbie and Violet are to steer clear. They can't actually do anything as Eels' arrival is open, and his plans are unknown.

 

After some investigation, it transpires that Eels has persuaded Lady Kraken to allow him to open a long-closed and forgotten tourist attraction, FESTERGRIMM. It is Eerie-on-Sea's own spine-chilling version of Madam Tussaud's waxworks. Someone was even found dead of fright, having spent the night in its dark and decidedly weird passages lined with uncanny clockwork likenesses of infamous people from Eerie's past. 

Needless to say, there is more to Festergrimm than just waxworks. The name hales from a far darker past. Herbie and Violet learn of a maker of clockwork toys so exquisite and advanced they were beyond compare and sought-after gifts when Ludovic Festergrimm came for the annual fair in centuries past. But, on losing his only child in uncharted tunnels under the seaside town, he was driven to despair and, some say, a madness that consumed him and drove him to build a clockwork monster to find his long-lost daughter.  

 

What that monster did is a matter of record, but one the townsfolk have forgotten. It certainly isn't something that Mrs Fossil wants dragging up. 

So, with Eels offering the town a moneymaking attraction and having wangled the support of the townsfolk and Lady Kraken, there seems little to stop Eels from his dastardly plan. Oh yes, there is one, alright, and it falls on Herbie, dragged along by Violet, to not only discover what it is but put an end to the ever-so-slippery Eels. 

Destruction, chaos, lies, monsters, long buried treasures and secrets not meant to be exposed lurk deep within the pages of Eerie's history. There is tragedy, too, vital and misunderstood. The only thing that stands between the past from revisiting the present is Herbie, Violet and Erwin the cat. Together, willingly or not, they enter into a rollercoaster of an adventure far more scary and dangerous than anything they have done before and certainly do not wish to do again . . . at least not without a cup of strong tea and some dunkable biscuits and cake!

 

Oh, as to the monster at the train station, well, I'll let you discover it for yourself! But where he goes, a host of trouble follows. 

So, what did we think?

 

Ok, so I cannot give too much away here, but Thomas Taylor confirmed to us that this is the penultimate book in the series. But we are assured that the final instalment, Mermedusa, will be brilliant and "Lots will be revealed". 

 

That said, Mr Taylor hasn't held back on this book; instead, he has outdone himself. This is an adventure with all the toppings. Think of the best fish and chip supper with just the right amount of your fav condiments.  

 

This is one series, like the best, that we as readers will never be weary of. The regular characters all appear, but they never feel old or tired. Nicely where they need to be and bringing the foil to our two main protagonists, arguably three, as Erwin the talking cat saves the day in his own inimitable feline way. A villain we love to hate is a must, and Sebastian Eels is just that. Herbie sums him up very well when he thinks of him in the VIP room at the hotel as "...pulling the wings off fairies or eating puppies with cake forks..." Conivingly devious and utterly untrustworthy, yet, for some of the adult characters, he is worthy of a second chance! 

 

Of course, all that isn't enough, and the sheer fluidity of the plot, its twists and turns, some literal, and the first person narrative by Herbie Lemon, are a treat. As I read the book, it seems that Thomas has defined everything that my mind's eye wants and needs to see in the story, the things I recognise from a seaside town visit and the things one might fear lurking in dark alleyways once the holiday season ends. To borrow a phrase from me recently, you can smell the adventure, salt and vinegar in the pages.

 

Roll all these attributes together, and we have an adventure that would not be out of place on the big screen or as a Television series. Sadly the proposed movie of Malamander, by Sony Pictures, never came about. Hopefully, now they will think again!

So . . . . 

Crunch time. 

The series thus far has been an absolute must for readers across the world. But don't take my word for it, try it for yourself. And yes, whilst this is book four, you can read it as a standalone. But it is far better to take it from the start.

Reviews of Books 1 to 3 can be found using the links below.

 

Book 1: MALAMANDER.  Read the Review HERE.  https://erinthecatprincess.blogspot.com/2021/12/malamander.html

 

Book 2: GARGANTIS. Read the Review HERE.   https://erinthecatprincess.blogspot.com/2021/12/gargantis.html

 

BOOK 3: SHADOWGHAST.  Read the Review HERE.   https://erinthecatprincess.blogspot.com/2022/01/shadowghast.html

Want to buy a copy?

 

To get a copy, unharrased by passing seagulls, irate townsfolk and wayward monsters, please do think of your local independent bookshop. There are plenty out there, and each is just waiting to serve up a treasure of literal magical resource, fun and adventure with a personal touch.

 

THOMAS TAYLOR's WEB page can be found HERE  or type this: https://www.thomastaylor-author.com/

 

WALKER BOOKS' web page can be found HERE.  or type this: https://www.walker.co.uk/

 

 

I shall leave you with a picture of me looking studiously at you!

 

 Till laters!

ERin