A to Z of Authors

Brooks, Kevin
Hardinge, Frances
Higgins, Jack
Laird, Elizabeth
Magrs, Paul
Peet, Mal
Richards, Justin
Rowling, J.K.
Shearer, Alex
St John, Lauren
Valentine, Jenny
Willis, Jeanne
Wynne Jones, Diana

It's hardly needed while this blog's still young, but as it grows, it should become useful.

Finding Violet Park - Jenny Valentine

Dug out by... Dave

In a mini-cab office at 5 o'clock in the morning, Lucas Swain meets the intriguing Violet Park. He just has to get to know her, find out more about her.

A perfectly ordinary desire for a 15-year-old boy - to want to get to know a member of the opposite sex - surely?

But she's not a young woman, she's old. And she's not a living woman either, she's dead. In fact, all that remains of her is her ashes in a pot on the cab office shelf.

It's a voyage of discovery for Lucas. He has to know more about Violet. As he digs deeper, Lucas uncovers a trail that leads him to face ghosts from the past as well as the present.

Winner of the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize
Longlisted for Carnegie 08

If you like it, try...

Just In Case - Meg Rosoff
Beast - Ally Kennen

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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K.Rowling

Dug out by... Dave

The final instalment. Harry's quest is to find and destroy Voldemort's Horcruxes. The two superpowers literally go head to head in a cat and mouse battle that ebbs and flows throughout 600 pages. Friends and enemies old and new present themselves as The Boy Who Lived blossoms from boy to man.

The epic tale which ends the epic schooldays of Harry Potter begins with a dastardly plan to kidnap and kill our boy wonder. Can he thwart The Dark Lord? Will Snape achieve his long-held desires? Will Harry survive his final outing?

Does anyone really need to be prompted into reading it? Probably not. Enjoy...

Longlisted for Carnegie 08.

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The Invisible Man's Socks - Alex Shearer

Dug out by... Dave

A marvellously entertaining book with a brilliant plot idea, whacky characters and great humour.

The gloriously named Brian's Buses (owned and driven by Dave and he's only got the one bus!) takes Mr Ellis's class to The Museum of Little Horrors.

Mrs Abercrombie (or is it Mrs Apple Crumble?) does warn them not to touch the exhibits: "We don't want you having nightmares after. We don't want none of you getting the heebie-jeebies or the jitters or the wambling trots."

So what would happen if you were to disobey a warning? What if you touched The Invisible Man's Socks? What if you tried out some Vampire Teeth or picked up some Werewolf Hair?

Brilliant humour, with great illustrations by Tom Morgan-Jones, this tale also gives you something deeper to think about, especially with it all being told by an old man in a railway station waiting room.

Longlisted for the Salford Children's Book Award 09, this book certainly has the quality and depth to make it to the shortlist.

If you like this, try...

Nudie Dudie - Michael Lawrence
Tins - Alex Shearer
The Ancient Mariner - Samuel Taylor Coleridge (This is an old poem with a warning to us all, which is mentioned in the book)

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Being - Kevin Brooks

Dug out by... Dave

An excellent book. 16-year-old Robert wakes up on an operating table, but the operation isn't over. He can hear doctors' voices and feel his own pain, but he can't communicate.

There's something inside him, something unexpected, something horrifying. And it soon dawns on Robert that he is not safe. He has to escape, he has to survive and 'they' are out to get him.

Violence and fear abound as Robert flees for his life, but it's a voyage of discovery as well as a fight for survival. What is like to be human? What is like to have feelings? Who is he? What is he?

It's a compelling read and has been longlisted for Carnegie 08. It'd certainly get a shortlist vote from me if I was one of the judges.

If you like it, try...

The Road of the Dead - Kevin Brooks
1984 - George Orwell
Beast - Ally Kennen
Finding Violet Park - Jenny Valentine

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The Pinhoe Egg - Diana Wynne Jones

Dug out by... Dave

A huge cast of magical characters inhabit the village around Chrestomanci Castle. The various family members of the Pinhoes, Farleighs and Cleeves are constantly bickering and vying for supremacy. Gammer Pinhoe - 'the old bat' - kicks things off from her tattered armchair. Clothed in layers of black with Nutcase, her cat, in attendance, she doles out orders , setting various plot threads in motion. It's already a world of chaos and when Cat Chant finds the Pinhoe Egg, it doesn't make things any easier.



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