November Round-Up

November's been a busy month with plenty to keep us occupied but there was one absolute highlight:

The day the deliciously funny & wonderfully friendly Maz Evans visited school ... the children & parents are still coming up to me now telling me how much they enjoyed the visit and how excited they were to talk about it at home. To me, this just proves what I already knew: author visits in schools are one of the best ways to hook children into books, to get them excited about reading & to promote a love of reading. 

Now to look to next term with visits from Ross Welford and Dan Smith already lined up. Should be an exciting term!

So, what have we been reading?

The Girl Who Stole An Elephant - Nizrana Farook

(Publication date: 9th January)

Chaya is a thief who has stolen some of the queen's jewels.  Hiding them in a carved box in her friend Neelan's store, she believes all is well until Nour, whilst shopping with her father, insists on having the box in which the jewels are hidden.  When the king discovers the theft, Chaya, Neela and Nour's lives are changed forever.

The three main characters are all strong in their own right but are very different to one another which helps to enrich the story: 

Chaya is feisty, brave and refuses to be beaten (what a great message to send out) and is somewhat of a modern-day Robin Hood; she's somebody you warm to very quickly (despite her thieving ways!).

Neelan is a proud young man who is fiercely loyal to his friend, even if it results in his death (I'm not advocating the death bit!) - I just wanted to hug him! 

Nour is a lonely but proud girl who is desperate to be liked and accepted but feels very different & struggles to know how to fit in; especially with Chaya and Neelan.  

Together, they are wonderful to get to know and you very quickly find yourself routing for them.

A stolen elephant, an adventure through the jungle and a race to save their town; this is a wonderfully written book from which you can feel the warmth of the Serendib landscape and the riches of the jungle radiating from the pages.  The Girl Who Stole An Elephant is a story of friendship, loyalty, of challenging stereo-types, resilience and determination, and I highly recommend it!

Christmas Dinner of Souls - Ross Montgommery

I bought this after hearing Ross speak at Reading Rocks North & was very excited to read it, choosing it to be my travelling companion on a train journey down to London.

       Lewis has been in trouble: caught throwing stones at the window of the crumbling Soul's College, he's now being made to work there on Christmas Eve as punishment.  However, when he arrives, he quickly realises that all is not what it seems and he is being forced to serve dinner whilst 7 rather chilling ghost stories are told around the table.

       An eerie read in which each of the ghost stories are woven together by Lewis and the dene of the college who is hosting the meal. The joy of this book is in the storytelling which will leave readers just wary enough to remember not to throw stones when out playing with their friends! This is definitely not your usual Christmas novel and I highly recommend it (just perhaps not when you're staying in a London hotel on your own!)

The Afterwards - A. F. Harold.

Ember and Ness are best friends, but when an accident at the park kills Ness, Ember feels lost and very alone ... until she finds a way to get to the Afterworld and back to her friend, and is determined to bring her back.

       This is a beautifully written book which explores death and loss in a thoughtful and different way.  Ember will do anything to get her friend back and she's so desperate to see her again and to bring her back to the real world, she'll do just about anything.

       The use of illustrations in this book is incredibly powerful with the contrasts of colour and grey reflecting the actions and feelings in the story - it really brings the characters to the forefront of the reader's mind.

       Yes, there's a darkness to this book (Ember is first lured to the Afterlife by her uncle) but dealing with death/grieving is a dark time in anybody's life and this story shows children that there are many emotions linked to death.

       A superb book that made me cry in the classroom during our private reading session (!); I would recommend this book to age 11+.

Jelly - Jo Cotterell.

Jelly lives with her mum and is a witty girl who is well-known in school for her impressions, so much so that this is what she decides to do for the school talent show. What most people don't realise, however, is that, Jelly is also using humour to deflect the hurtful comments she hears everyday about her weight.  But what will happen when Mum's new boyfriend comes along?

       This is a simply wonderful book that looks at the many different things 11 year old girls have to go through (changing bodies, periods, people behaving differently towards you, family life, friendships, how what you say can have consequences ...) in an honest way.  Jelly is very easy to relate to and will help many children realise they aren't alone in their changing emotions and body, and will help them to realise that the impression people give on the outside isn't always the way they're feeling inside. 

        A book about growing-up, family, friendship, body image and accepting who we are; this is a wonderfully written book which teaches us the importance of being kind to those around us. 

YA

The Beginning Woods - Malcolm McNeill

Max was found abandoned in a bookshop as a baby. Nobody knows why, or how. All they know is that when he appeared, the Vanishings started. Suddenly people just vanished and never came back, leaving only their clothes. To find the answers, Max needs help from the Dark Man, a sinister figure who has been following him everywhere. Together, they enter the Beginning Woods, a magical realm. But how will Max stop the Vanishings? Will he ever find his parents?

A steadily paced book, McNeill writes careful descriptions about Max's journey through the Woods, and always keeps the topic of stories vs science; fact vs fiction. McNeil writes about how Max is always wavering between the two sides, not knowing which way to turn until the very end. This topic has always been debated, however McNeill writes this in a way that shows the best of both worlds.