Since Charlotte Eyre started as Children's Editor at The Bookseller, she's read a hellova lotta books. I mean, just imagine! So when I asked her to write a guest post for POP, (and she very kindly agreed - thank you, Charlotte!), it did seem very fitting for her to talk about the books that have really left a mark on her. So here are her top five picks from the first six months in the job . . .
Terror Kid by Benjamin Zephaniah (Hot Key Books, September 2014)
This book is amazing. It rips along at such a roaring pace I only realised how dazzled I’d been once I closed the last page. Set against a backdrop of the 2011 riots, the story is about a boy called Rico who falls unwittingly into taking part in a major cyber crime, changing his life irrevocably in the process.
I wouldn’t say anything as patronising as ‘all teenagers should read this’ because they will anyway, it’s that brilliant, but I will say all adults should. This may be one of the defining books about 21st century adolescence.
Ironheart by Allan Boroughs (Macmillan Children’s Books, January 2014)
I hoovered up adventure books as a kid so it’s not a surprise I loved Ironheart, set in a post-apocalyptic future where young India Bentley sets out to find her missing father. The father in question went missing looking for a secret fortress containing the secrets of the old world, and India is soon dragged into a journey that takes right her into the heart of Siberia. It’s is a proper, old-school adventure story with goodies (including Verity, a tech hunter, and Calculus, a loyal android) and baddies (evil oil baron Lucifer Stone).
The Queen’s Hat by Steve Antony (Hodder Children’s Books, May 2014)
There are so many amazing picture books out there but I had a coup de coeur, as the French would say, for this book, which is about what happens when the Queen’s hat blows off. The story is gorgeous, as the queen and her soldiers scramble all over London’s landmarks trying to get the hat back, and I’d quite happily have any of the illustrations, amazing blue, red, black and white drawings, on my wall (just in case you have any lying around, Steve).
Goose by Dawn O’Porter (Hot Key Books, March 2014)
Dawn O’Porter must be one of the best authors out there in terms of writing about adolescence. You can feel her love and affection for teenage girls dripping off the pages of Goose, which is a follow-up to Paper Aeroplanes, and picks up the story of the same two characters, Flo and Reneè, a year and a half later. The girls are stretching their wings, separately discovering boys and the church, experiencing all the strains and stresses of teenage life that feel so real for every reader.
Someone told me Dawn wants to write a whole series of books following the girls into their thirties. I really hope this is true.
Stay Where You Are and Then Leave by John Boyne (Doubleday Children’s, September 2013)
This wasn’t published while I was working at the Bookseller but I did get to read it for a Read For My School panel, so it counts. Stay Where You Are and Then Leave is my favourite of all the World War One books for children that are around at the moment. It’s a beautifully told, innocent but knowing tale about a boy who is determined to find his missing father.