Bank Holiday Weekend Reviews

-
There have been some really great reviews of children's books this weekend. First of all, checking out the Irish Times from Saturday, 31st July, we have some of Ireland's best known authorities on children's literature inspecting what's new and exciting for all age levels. Robert Dunbar covers some of the more gritty and shocking books for young adult readers. His initial perusal is of Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma. With the question being "So nothing is taboo any more?", this book sets the tone of the rest on offer in Dunbar's review. Also covered in Dunbar's article are Keith Gray's anthology Losing It (included the foremost authors of young adult fiction today); Margo Lanagan's White Time, iBoy by Kevin Brooks (always a great and compelling author) and Matt Haig's The Radleys. A truly exciting line up, all well written, but still shocking.
Mary Shine Thompson has a good look at some of the best of children's books for the 10-12 range, beginning with Artemis Fowl and the Atlantis Complex by Eoin Colfer. Thompson says "Few writers are as witty and technically adroit or have developed a protagonist with such skill and understatement." Among the other books she covers is my current favourite, Timecatcher by Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick, which she calls "a fast-paced novel, full of surprises." Brilliant. Also, Thompson offers us a look at Michael Scott's The Necromancer and the upcoming My Name is Mina by David Almond, among others.
And in 'The wonderful magic of miniature worlds', Anna Carey examines picture books. April Underhill, Tooth Fairy by Bob Graham; Anthony Browne's Me and You, Arthur and the Meanies by Jan Fearnley and quite a number of other marvelous picture books are included.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2010/0731/1224275855249.html

Moving on to The Guardian (31st July), Julia Eccelshare suggests  books for all ages in her 'Summer reading for children'. Among her picks are the beautiful Cave Baby by Julia Donaldson and Emily Gravett, Harry and Hopper by Margaret Wild, Jenny Valentine's Iggy And Me On Holiday for young readers, the marvellously funny Vamoose by Meg Rosoff, and the exquiste The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson (a must read in my view, and a welcome antidote for the infestation of vampires we've been having*). Of this book, Eccleshare says, " How grief and love run side by side is sensitively and intensely explored in this energetic, poetic and warm-blooded novel."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/jul/30/booksforchildrenandteenagers

*It's not that I don't like vampires as a general rule,. It's simply that there have been far too many of them  and, as far as I'm concerned, they are displaying in very un-vampire-like qualities.

Comments

  1. Dom CasasAugust 2, 2010 at 7:14 AM

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Rights of the Reader

-
Image
The Rights of the Reader; Daniel Pennac, illustrated by Quentin Blake Summer is here and we do encourage summer reading with numerous incentives and programmes. It is important for children (of all ages) to 'keep their reading up' outside of school time. This is the time when kids develop their own taste in books and can be free to read books of their own choosing. And this is the single most important factor in young people developing a lifelong reading habit. But how do we, as the 'gatekeepers' of kids reading, encourage them properly without running the risk of thrusting pressure and our own ideas on them? Do that and you'll run the risk of pushing them away from reading, and there are already so many distractions for the young reader to contend with that can tempt them elsewhere. Published by Walker Books; 9781406300918 In 1992, French writer Daniel Pennac originally published this little gem of a book; The Rights of the Reader. I highly recommend
Read more

The Summer of Lily and Esme by John Quinn....25 years

-
Image
This year marks the anniversary of the publication of an extraordinary book. In 1991, Poolbeg published The Summer of Lily & Esme by John Quinn and in the 25 years since, it has never been out of print. The Summer of Lily & Esme tells a quiet story, filled with compassion, friendship, memory and heart. It is the story of Alan, an 11-year-old boy who has moved from the city into a house in the countryside; in the middle of nowhere.The house is old and extremely large and immaculate; and there is a locked, boarded over attic room that is said to be haunted by the ghost of a young boy who died tragically. Alan is not too pleased with this move and becomes even less thrilled when he discovers his closest neighbours, in fact his only neighbours, are a pair of elderly sisters, Esme and Lily, who seem to be suffering from dementia.  When Alan falls down a hill of brambles and weeds, the sisters, who believe they themselves to be children, mistake Alan for their
Read more

Launch of Genesis by Eilis Barrett

-
Image
A week ago, I played a small part of the launch of Genesis , the much-anticipated sequel to Oasis by Eilis Barrett; this time at Charlie Byrnes Bookshop in Galway. Vinny Brown introduces Eilis Eilis is a remarkable young woman, as you might imagine since she is 18 years old and this is her second book. ( Oasis was published when she was 16.) Articulate and accomplished, it is a real privilege to know her, to hear her speak and to read her writing. Genesis author: Eilis Barrett publisher: Gill Books (8 September 2017 ISBN: 9780717174355 Genesis picks up the story of Quincy Emerson. She now finds herself a captive once again, in the maximum-security prison, the Colosseum as a security risk. Held in deplorable and brutal conditions in the prison, where anarchy rules and rival gangs wage a 'street war' of sorts, Quincy takes care to not make an enemy of either gang boss, while holding allegiance to no one but herself and her comrades on the outside. Food is scarce an
Read more