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The Tangled Leaves of Anniseed

The Tangled Leaves of Anniseed

Tag Archives: Adolescence

Books of delight

12 Sunday Jul 2015

Posted by Anniseed in Childrens Book Review, Uncategorized

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Adolescence, Adventure, Crime, Cults, Fantasy, Folklore, Horror, Humour, Serial Killers, Suicide, Thriller, Young Adult Fiction

Well, it’s been a crazy six months, but I’m finally back where I belong, working as a children’s specialist. Over the past month I’ve been knee-deep in books for children and young adults, which has been a pure delight. So much to read, and so few hours in the day! But the world of children’s publishing just gets stronger and stronger. So here are a few of the books I’ve particularly enjoyed over the past month…

I confess to always being a little sceptical when a celebrity turns to writing books for young people, but Simon Mayo has got it right in Itch, the first in a new series of action adventure novels. We start with Itchingham Lofte (Itch) having lost his eyebrows; he burnt them off by accident when he blew up his bedroom, experimenting with phosphorus. But that’s the least of his worries when his obsession with the chemical elements leads him to acquire a rock which is radioactive. His sleazy teacher in particular is very keen to get hold of it. With governments and gangsters on his tail, will he manage to get the rock somewhere safe, save his sister’s life and not die of radiation poisoning? It’s not looking good for our hero… This is genuinely tense stuff, with our protagonist in very real danger. Mayo isn’t afraid to portray serious threat and doesn’t talk down to his audience, making this a compulsive read. (Corgi, 2012, ISBN 978-0552565509).

Meanwhile my passion for spooky horror was very well met by Alex Bell’s Frozen Charlotte. Sophie and Jay download a Ouija board app and suddenly everything gets spooky – and by the next day, Jay is dead. Sophie is convinced that the spirit of her dead cousin Rebecca is responsible, so visits her remaining cousins on the Isle of Skye to find out the truth. Cameron, Piper and Lilias are seriously weird, and claim that a collection of tiny dolls called the Charlottes are possessing frozen charlotteBthem…  What’s really going on in that spooky house and are the dolls really capable of driving people to murder? This is a truly creepy story with some shockingly violent moments. Not to be read before bedtime! If you find dolls scary like me, this will freak you out. Just my sort of thing! (Stripes Publishing, 2015, ISBN 978-1847154538).

Tension of a different, but equally disturbing kind, is the theme of Becca Fitzpatrick’s Black ice, one for older readers. Britt thinks that one way to get over her broken heart is to go backpacking over the mountains with her best friend Korbie. She didn’t count on her ex, Calvin (Korbie’s brother), tagging along too. But before the girls get to the cabin on the mountains, a snowstorm forces them to abandon their car and take refuge in another cabin, where they meet handsome Shaun and Mason. Something’s not right about these guys… and suddenly the girls are taken hostage. black iceBBritt convinces them she knows the mountains well and is their only hope of escaping whatever it is they’re running from. But forced outside, she has to fight to survive, and figures her only chance is to build a bond with Mason. But can he be trusted? Britt has to use every ounce of ingenuity as she tries to outwit her kidnappers, but when she’s falling for one of them, it’s harder to see the truth… Very tense story which I couldn’t put down, with a shocking twist in the tale – I did see it coming, but it was still utterly compelling and in no way spoilt the ending. (Simon & Schuster, 2015, ISBN 978-1471118166).

seedBSeed by Lisa Heathfield is one of those stories that makes your skin crawl. Pearl lives a simple life at Seed and is looking forward to the day she’ll become a companion to Papa S. But then newcomers come, and Pearl feels an attraction to one of them, a boy called Ellis. He tells her that Seed is wrong, is evil, and that she must escape – but surely Papa S wants the best for all of them, even though he sends her to the Punishment Room…. A disturbing tale of life in a cult, with a horrifying ending. Not for the faint-hearted! (Electric Monkey, 2015, ISBN 978-1405275385).

Tim Bowler is a stalwart of young adult literature and Game changer is another excellent, gripping story. Mikey lives in his wardrobe. It’s safer there. Especially since the last time he dared to venture out, and saw something terrible. But now they know where he is and he can’t escape the flood of text messages threatening to kill him. Even at school he’s not safe. But then they take his sister Meggie, and Mikey is forced to confront his worst fears to try and save her. Gripping thriller that gives you a tense feeling right in your gut, as you wonder if Mikey and Meggie will survive… Impossible to put down, and like Mayo, Bowler does not shrink from putting his characters in very scary situations. (OUP, 2015, ISBN 978-0192794154).

Taking a totally different tack from the books above, Jasmine Warga’s My heart and other black holes is a tear-jerker. Aysel (pronounced Uh-sell) wants to end it all, but doesn’t want to do it alone. She meets a boy online who is also looking for someone to help him, and before long she and Roman have made a pact to commit suicide on April 6th. But in spite of herself, she starts falling for him – and realises that she has far more to live for than she ever imagined. But will she convince Roman in time? Very moving story that makes you cry, yet also makes you realise how precious life is; Warga’s story tackles a difficult subject with sensitivity and insight. (Hodder, 2015, ISBN 978-1444791532).

Margo Lanaghan in The Brides of Rollrock Island delves into folklore, another staple ingredient in children’s literature. Misskaella doesn’t look like the other pretty girls on Rollrock Island and is teased and bullied by them. But Misskaella has a secret – she can charm the seals on the shores into shedding their skins and becoming human. bridesBTo get her revenge on the girls who look down on her, she gives each young man a beautiful seal wife – for a price. But the selkies pine for the sea, and the strange, enchanting seal women of Rollrock Island will find a way to return to the water… A beautifully told tale, quite a challenging read, but if you are enchanted by fairy and folk tales this unusual story will capture your imagination just as Misskaella captures the seal women. (David Fickling, 2013, ISBN 978-1849921121).

Melissa Marr is one of my favourite young adult authors and her latest is Made for you. Eva’s the queen bee at school, with a coterie of loyal friends and a handsome boyfriend. Then she’s nearly killed by a hit and run driver. Not only scarred, she discovers that when someone touches her, she has a vision of their death, and not just that – she’s having visions of her friends being murdered. When the visions start to come true, she realises that the hit and run driver was a serial killer – and now he’s obsessed with Eva, and killing her friends to get closer to her. But can Eva’s visions save everyone she loves? And is the killer closer than she thinks? A very disturbing tale about love gone wrong, with adult content. (HarperCollins, 2015, ISBN 978-0007584208).

Kim Slater’s Smart is for fans of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night time. Kieran is a little bit different, which means that his stepfather Tony and stepbrother Ryan hate him. He spends his time down at the Embankment where he befriends homeless Jean, but when another homeless person is found dead in the river, he resolves to play detective and find out what happened. His investigations will lead him to fall foul of Tony and Ryan even more…  But Kieran is different, not stupid, and his quirky view on life sees more than anyone realises. Moving and satisfying story, very heartwarming. (Macmillan, 2015, ISBN 978-1447236672).

Another delightful spooky tale: Frances Hardinge’s The Lie Tree. In Victorian times, girls weren’t supposed to be clever – and Faith’s a clever girl, who takes after her scientist father. No one listens to her though, especially not her father. But then he then dies in mysterious circumstances, and Faith is convinced he was murdered. lie treeBShe discovers that her father had acquired a rare plant, which feeds on lies, and rewards the liar with visions revealing the truth of things. She starts to tell lies, big, dangerous lies, in the hope that she’ll find out who killed her father; but telling lies changes you. As Faith falls further in darkness, will she find the truth she seeks, and will it be too late to save herself? An unusual thriller with an unearthly twist; I really got lost in this one. (Macmillan, 2015, ISBN 978-1447264101).

And one for younger readers which I thoroughly enjoyed: Stitch Head: The beast of Grubbers Nubbin by Guy Bass. Stitch Head is a small, gentle monster living in the spooky Castle Grotteskew with lots of other monsters created by mad scientist, Professor Erasmus. Looking after a horde of hungry orphans is no easy task for the monsters; their attempts at cookery aren’t too successful to say the least! So they hatch a plan to steal the villagers’ food, food that’s being saved for the feast of Guzzlin’ Day, but they didn’t reckon on a wild and scary beast getting in their way… Mad and hilarious adventures with Stitch Head ensue! There is a whole series of these and they are a delight. (Stripes Publishing, 2015, ISBN 978-1847156099).beastB

A Girl is a Half-formed Thing by Eimear McBride

02 Monday Jun 2014

Posted by Anniseed in Book Review

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Adolescence, Literary Fiction

I was first attracted to this by the seventies-style cover, which cheekily introduces a rosy apple at the bottom; only if you look closely do you see that the apple is starting to go bad. It’s a good metaphor for this story which is raw and bitter, but leaves you wide-eyed as if drunk.

It’s told by a young girl whose brother has a brain tumour; with all the family attention focused on him, no one notices her, leaving her ripe to be picked by a predator. As she navigates puberty and adolescence she learns that her sexuality is her only currency, and her only power. But that power is an illusion, and she’s heading straight for catastrophe.

The most striking thing about this debut novel is the narrative style. The sentences are short and the words are often in the wrong order, grammatically incorrect and with conjunctions missing. The result is a raw, dislocated narrative – very intense, as you get a sense of her emotions punching through her thoughts:

“I know that look that vicious look of him to me now. And the usual inner throb in me. Knives in heart in lungs come a spoon scoop me out. Scoop me out for what he want. But I go past him still. Feel the busy silent want of me. Know. I know that, see that, know it now. How strange my baptise renders me. His want me. Fuck me if he could and I and I and I and I. I have that. And I do not. Do not need. Have something else I need to do. There’ll others. Some others. Some day more who want me I want to fuck them too. Thanks uncle for sage introduce. I left him dripping in the door. Ha. He did not get me after all.”

It’s certainly not an easy read, and one that I will definitely re-read – full of subtexts and hints and resonances that you don’t fully appreciate the first time round. But it’s utterly compelling, creating a unique voice, and the sense of being trapped inside her head is overwhelming. I think this novel justly deserves the prizes it’s won, and Eimear McBride is a novelist to watch.

Faber and Faber, 2013, ISBN 9780571317165

Among Others by Jo Walton

13 Sunday Oct 2013

Posted by Anniseed in Book Review

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Adolescence, Faery, Fantasy, Magic, Science Fiction

Amongothers

This is so much the book I’d wish I’d written… an intriguing tale of magic melding with science fiction in the adolescence of a young girl; an elegy to libraries and to the power of words. Teenager Mori has run away from the Welsh valleys, from her malignant mother, and the death of her beloved twin sister, to find sanctuary with her father in England. Sent to boarding school, Mori immerses herself in her love of science fiction, and finds new meaningful connections with those that can share this passion for exploring space and time. But it is the other world of faerie that keeps pulling her back to her roots, and to a final confrontation with her mother.

Whether Mori’s encounters with the elemental fae are real or figments of her imagination doesn’t really matter, neither does her constant referencing of science fiction works (you don’t need to have read them all to understand!); this is a beautifully told story that really drew me in. Mori’s fierce intelligence and independence pull you along to believe every word of her narrative, and I eagerly devoured this story, desperate to know how it ended. And it’s a great testament to the transformative power of reading, and the importance of libraries – so a sure-fire winner for me. Rating:****

Corsair, 2013, ISBN 9781472106537

Ten Thousand Saints by Eleanor Henderson

02 Thursday May 2013

Posted by Anniseed in Book Review

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Adolescence, Drugs, Eighties

I found this to be a very moving novel of adolescent angst, that really captured the confusion of growing up in an era that is both hedonistic and fraught with the fear of the consequences of having fun. New Year’s Eve 1987, and two teenage boys are hanging out and getting high, looking with enthusiasm to all the future holds, navigating the brutal world of maleness and longing for their first sexual encounter. It will be a night of transition, of coming of age, of initiation, and only one of them will survive to see New Year’s Day.

The aftermath of that fateful night will play out amongst a tangled cast of characters, all of whom deal with tragedy in a different way, and are looking for guidance from grown-ups that is sadly absent. Jude throws himself into the oblivion of drugs; Eliza sleepwalks her way through events she is not yet ready for; and Johnny tries desperately to do the right thing, even if it means sacrificing what he really wants. The backdrop is eighties America, a land of punk bands, drugs, tattoos, HIV and rage against the establishment. It is vividly depicted and the author creates a real sense of time and place, given an added edge through her characters’ clumsy attempts to carve out their own destiny in a world they cannot control. The depiction of the straight edge scene, in the nobleness of Johnny’s efforts and the transformation of Jude, is fascinating, matched as it is by the spontaneous violence of the punk scene to which they also belong; and poor Eliza, caught in the middle, is an echo of the hippy movement of the sixties and how the promise that it held for women got distorted in a new decade. Although set in America it really resonated with me, bringing back memories of an eighties childhood, and I really enjoyed the characters’ journey, as they start to face their adult responsibilities. Rating: ***

Quercus, 2012, ISBN 9781780872193

This title was provided by the publisher for review

“Then” and “Out of Breath” by Julie Myerson

15 Friday Feb 2013

Posted by Anniseed in Book Review

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Adolescence, Apocalyptic Fiction, Horror, Thriller

Two by the same author today…

I confess that by the time I finished reading Then late last night, I was pretty much a nervous wreck. It’s my own fault really – my taste for apocalyptic fiction doesn’t make for pleasant dreams. This story is one that is uncomfortable to read but compelling, and it’s definitely affected my mood all day, as I contemplate the full horror of it. It’s narrated by a nameless woman who lives in the wreckage of contemporary London, hiding, with other survivors of the global environmental catastrophe, in a ruined office building. Her experiences have traumatised her so much she has no memory of her life before the disaster, except for fragments that appear in the form of hallucinations. She often can’t remember who her companions are, and the days are jumbled and confused, her sanity blown completely away. But through the wreckage of her thoughts the reader can start to pull together the truth about what has happened to her, and as the picture starts to coalesce, the absolute horror is revealed. Although you can foresee some of it, the force of the ending is breathtaking, and leaves you reassessing everything that has gone before. This is genuinely a book that will haunt you – the style is simultaneously dreamlike yet immediate, like the sudden wearing off of morphine to unleash the agony of evisceration. Unforgettable, horrible, and deeply moving – I’m glad I read it, and I recommend it, but make sure you feel strong enough first. Rating: *****

Vintage, 2012, ISBN 9780099554721

And here’s one I read earlier… Out of Breath is a magical, tragic story of lost innocence.Thirteen year-old Flynn has an unhappy home life, so when her brother Sam gets into trouble, she’s quick to persuade Sam to run away with her and Alex, a homeless boy she’s encountered at the bottom of her garden. What she doesn’t bargain for is Alex’s friends – the irrepressible six-year-old Mouse, and Diana, who has quite literally just become a teenage mum. They’re on the run from a “bad man”, and when the group find refuge in an abandoned cottage, Flynn starts to fall deeply in love with Alex. But the dream starts to fall apart and Flynn is forced to confront the terrifying reality of their lives. Like Then, the prose has the feel of a dream, creating an involving, compassionate story where you really care for the characters; the reader can see the signs of the impending nightmare well before Flynn, which makes it all the more compelling. Jullie Myerson is an accomplished author and I’ll definitely looking out for more of her work. Rating: ***

Vintage Books, 2009, 9780099516163

 

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