I bought this little beauty over the Christmas break - it was a small treat from me to me that I'd been wanting to buy for a while. I am, quite reliably, a little overwhelmed each time I hold a beautiful book in my hands. Overwhelmed by just how beautiful books can be. And, good grief, those folks over at Flying Eye Books sure do know how to make beautiful books. I'm always impressed by their high production values - I mean, their books are made to be sold in traditional bookshops, aren't they? They need to be held.
Professor Astro Cat's Frontiers of Space is a glorious hardback, with a wiblin cover complete with spot uv AND foil highlights. Talk about all the special finishes! Inside, the pages are luxuriously thick, with bite-sized portions of easy-to-understand facts written by Dominic Walliman. Awesomely illustrated by Ben Newman, whose characters, colours and shapes feel perfectly-paired for the subject of space and the feelings of discovery and excitement that come along with it, the information-illustration balance for a non-fiction book aimed at young children feels just right.
Perfect for children with a thirst for knowledge, a curiosity for facts or a love of bright, bold illustrations - and just as perfect for adults - I highly recommend this book. My rating? A whopping five stars.
I've been trying to figure out how to start this post. Where to start. But I know really that there is no way I can write this review in a logical way, because I still feel how I felt when I was reading each book in the Chaos Walking triligy: like my tiny little mind has been blown. So I'll apologise in advance for being unable to thread together my words as elequently as I would like.
The thing is, the Chaos Walking books are unlike anything else I've read. The setting, New World, felt so real to me. I cared about the characters, I felt fear, elation, regret, happiness, defiance, horror, dread . . . I smiled, I laughed, I cried (actually cried. That doesn't normally happen), I read and re-read. There were times when I'd have to let out a "bloody hell" under my breath and stop reading - literally put the book down - just so I could process a twist in the story that had taken me completely by surprise.
*stops to catch breath*
You know what? I'm not even going to give you the official book spiel here. All I'm going to do is tell you to read these epic books, if you haven't already. Trust me, you'll bloody love them.
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.
I first heard aboutLobsters when tuning into the brilliant Down the Rabbit Hole radio show. Word of mouth is the most effective form of advertising, don't you think? Listening to people chat about a book - hearing them laugh over the rude bits and reminisce about their own teenage years - well, it's a guaranteed way to get me to buy a book, that's for sure.
When it comes to teen fiction and YA, I can be a harsh critic. I'll throw my hands up now: I'm a very judgemental reader! If I don't like a character who I'm supposed to like, I do struggle with a book - and it's not that they need to be 100% good/honest/interesting/anything 100% of the time, I just need to see something in them that I trust.
Reading Lobsters got me thinking about these things, simply because it's a bloody brilliant book. It feels genuine. Convincing. The characters . . . I believed in all of them, and the reason why I'm ever so slightly bowled over by this is because it's not a feeling I get all that often.
Hannah and her three school friends Stella, Grace and Tilly are at a turning point in their lives. With their A-level exams over with, they're in that almost-twilight zone between finishing school and doing whatever comes next. The start of the summer holidays sees the promise of change bubbling under the surface. Throw a few fit boys into the mix and you know you're in store for some extreme highs and lows, as well as some brilliant laugh-out-loud moments.
I love that Lobsters feels relatable. Yes, it is being a bit rude, but that feels realistic. Whether you're the one doing it or the one hearing about other people doing it, sex is a huge part of being a teenager, and reading about a group of friends trying to be open and honest with each other in the face of it all felt . . . True. And oddly déjà vu-like.
The characters were perfectly pitched. Both Tom Ellen and Lucy Ivison have managed to capture a realistic microcosm of teenage life. There are moments when you're willing the characters to do the opposite of what they're about to do. You wish that they had the luxury of hindsight (although thank God they don't, or wouldn't Lobsters be boring as hell). Even the less honourable characters ring true, and I love that I didn't get a whiff of any "tokens" (the stereotypical characters, apparently thrown in for good measure, that add nothing to the story). Each character felt three dimensional (maybe except for Panda!).
So, I'm giving Lobsters five stars for being a brilliant book. If you haven't read it already, do!
And now I just have to wait for the follow-up. (There is going to be a follow-up, right?)