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The Misunderstandings of Charity Brown by Elizabeth Laird

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 2 Aug 2022

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“If you’re looking for a gentle, beautifully written and witty book to take on your holidays then you won’t go far wrong with Elizabeth Laird’s The Misunderstandings of Charity Brown – you might, once you’ve devoured it, even pass it on to the children!” Just Imagine
“This delightful story is a total pleasure, written with affection as well as art and never for a moment outstaying its welcome.  Now something of a veteran children’s author herself, Elizabeth Laird has once again come up with something truly rather special.” Nick Tucker BfK 5-Star review

A wonderful coming-of-age novel set in the 1950s from one of the UK’s most established children’s authors.

Charity Brown’s life is about to change — her family have been left a huge, rambling house by a mysterious benefactor, and her parents want to move in and throw open its doors to the needy. Only recently back from hospital after months of isolation with polio, Charity is over-protected and lonely as the only child still at home. Her family are very religious – her sisters are called Faith and Hope, and her brother Ted is studying to be a preacher – so she’s both excited and nervous at the thought of sharing her family and new home with strangers. It’s a recipe for confusion, joy and endless misunderstandings, including with the new neighbours, an Austrian family with a daughter just Charity’s age…

Red Scare: A Graphic Novel by Liam Francis Walsh

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 22 Jun 2022

Amazon
Forbidden Planet

“Walsh’s breathtaking action sequences call to mind the crime comics of the great American duo Jack Kirby and Joe Simon, while his characters’ facial expressions and expressive body language will remind you of Hergé’s “The Adventures of Tintin.” The inking of the panels, with its dramatic play of light and shadows, is squarely within the tradition, but a singular creative decision sets Walsh above his influences: his use of color. Instead of adhering to naturalistic coloring, Walsh shifts his color palette within sequences according to the emotional state of his characters. The tension between realistic inking and symbolic coloring is not unlike the tension between text and subtext in well-written dialogue.”
New York Times
“As I paged through a book so thoroughly enmeshed in history and science fiction by turns, I marveled that something this accomplished is just so casually available to kids these days. When I was young you had your Carl Barks at the 7-11, if you were lucky, and the newspaper comic collections at the library. Now we get gripping, thoughtful, historical/science fiction hybrids for kids that have a lot to say to young readers today.” Fuse8

A page-turning sci-fi adventure set in 1953, featuring a clever girl who, against all odds, must outsmart bullies, the FBI, and alien invaders during the height of the communist Red Scare.

sample page

Peggy is scared: She’s struggling to recover from polio and needs crutches to walk, and she and her neighbors are worried about the rumors of Communist spies doing bad things. On top of all that, Peggy has a hard time at school, and gets taunted by her classmates. When she finds a mysterious artifact that gives her the ability to fly, she thinks it’s the solution to all her problems. But if Peggy wants to keep it, she’ll have to overcome bullies, outsmart FBI agents, and escape from some very strange spies!

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When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill

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“A complex, heartfelt story about following your heart and opening your mind to new possibilities. This novel’s magic goes far beyond the dragons.” KIRKUS
“Barnhill makes palpable Alex’s sense of loss as well as the strictures of mid-century American life. This allegory packs a punch.” Publishers Weekly

In a world where girls and women are taught to be quiet, the dragons inside them are about to be set free… In this timely and timeless speculative novel, set in 1950s America, Kelly Barnhill exposes a world that wants to keep girls and women small – and examines what happens when they rise up.

Alex Green is four years old when she first sees a dragon. In her next-door neighbour’s garden, in the spot where the old lady usually sits, is a huge dragon, an astonished expression on its face before it opens its wings and soars away across the rooftops. And Alex doesn’t see the little old lady after that. No one mentions her. It’s as if she’s never existed. Then Alex’s mother disappears, and reappears a week later, one quiet Tuesday, with no explanation whatsoever as to where she has been. But she is a ghostly shadow of her former self, and with scars across her body – wide, deep burns, as though she had been attacked by a monster who breathed fire. Alex, growing from young girl to fiercely independent teenager, is desperate for answers, but doesn’t get any. Whether anyone likes it or not, the Mass Dragoning is coming. And nothing will be the same after that. Everything is about to change, forever. And when it does, this, too, will be unmentionable…

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Wishyouwas: The tiny guardian of lost letters by Alexandra Page ill. Penny Neville-Lee

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 25 Nov 2021

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“This is a wonderful story about friendship, family and also being open to new ideas and accepting others who are very different.  Alexandra Page has created a new Christmas classic.” BfK 5-star review
“A truly mesmerising, heartfelt story with a classic feel.” BookCraic

It’s 1952 in smog-shrouded London. Christmas might be fast approaching, but with her mum away and Uncle Frank busy running the post office, Penny Black is lonelier than ever. All that changes when Penny discovers a small, fluffy, funny, springy and – most importantly – talking creature in the post office one night, trying to make off with a letter. But Wishyouwas is no thief. He’s a Sorter, and he soon introduces Penny to a fascinating secret world hidden in the tunnels underneath the city’s streets. Self-appointed guardians of lost mail, the Sorters have dedicated their lives to rescuing letters that have gone astray and making sure they get delivered to their rightful owners. Penny is determined to protect the Sorters, but how long will she be able to keep them safe with Stanley Scrawl, the sinister Royal Mail Rat Catcher, on the prowl? Can Penny save the Sorters and deliver a joyful Christmas?

With beautiful black and white illustrations and embellishments from the talented Penny Neville-Lee, and an extra special surprise beneath the jacket, Wishyouwas is a gorgeous hardback to gift and treasure.

Follow Alexandra Page on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexandrapagebooks/

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Worth A Look: Popular, A Memoir – Vintage Wisdom For A Modern Geek by Maya Van Wagenen

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popular

So you know that teenage girl you need to buy a present for will already have Zoe Sugg’s novel Girl Online – what else can you consider?

She may very well have this book as well, but then again she might not. It came out in the Spring, and received a fair bit of media attention, but nothing like the amount of attention and hype that Girl Online has had. Steven Spielberg has apparently snapped up the movie rights, so he sees cinematic potential in the story told in Popular’s pages.

It is not a novel, rather a diary-style  account of an American teenager’s rather clever plan of trying to lead her life according to advice set out in Betty Cornell’s Teenage Popularity Guide from the 1950s.

Betty Cornell herself writes, in a short Introduction, to the teenager’s memoir:

Maya Van Wagenen told me that I had changed her life. She had used my book for tops and hints on how to deal with the challenges she was facing in school. Remarkably she used advice I wrote decades ago and applied it in today’s world. I was so delighted that my book had withstood the test of time and was still providing help to teenagers.

When I finished reading Maya’s book… I felt a cascade of feelings: pride, love, satisfaction, and happy memories. It amazed me to see Maya tell her tale with such knowledge,m poise and grace.

It looks diverting and thought-provoking at the very least.