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You are here: Home / Archives for fiction

A Secret in Time – In Time 4 by Sally Nicholls ill. Rachael Dean

January 18, 2022 By achuka Leave a Comment

ACHUKA Book of the Day 18 Jan 2022

Waterstones
Amazon
Bookshop

Highly recommended timeslip adventure series.

This 4 book timeslip middle grade series quietly concluded at the end of last year. All four highly-readable illustrated adventures can be strongly recommended for newly confident readers and are sure to be regularly borrowed from primary school and class library shelves.

In this latest adventure, Alex and Ruby find themselves in the freezing-cold winter of 1947. Food is scarce in the aftermath of the Second World War and life at Applecott House is hard. As Alex and Ruby discover they must solve the mystery of a missing family heirloom to ever have hopes of returning home, their adventure takes them trekking across the snow and treacherous ice on a perilous treasure hunt. Will they make it home and back to the present day or will they be stuck in 1947? Full of action and humour and featuring intricate  black-and-white illustrations throughout.

The earlier three titles are:

An Escape In Time
A Chase In Time
A Christmas In Time

Follow Rachael Dean, who created the black-and-white interior illustration, on Instagram:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Rachael Dean (@rachaeladean)

The cover illustrator, Swiss-based Isabelle Follath, is also on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/isabellefollath/

Take a peek inside:

Extracts from a ReadingZone interview with the author:

Why did you choose to set this adventure in 1947?

The Great Winter of 1947 is such a great bit of history, and it’s not something we really teach children about. I’m also really interested in endings and transitions and what-comes-afters. Some of my favourite children’s books are set just after the war and explore what happens next. There’s a lot of The Minnow on the Say in this book, which is set in the fifties.

Where did you go to research this period?

I read a lot of novels set in this period! A Episode of Sparrows by Rumer Godden which I loved. Autumn Term by Antonia Forest. Grass in Picadilly by Noel Streatfeild, which was packed with historical detail but horrifically anti-semitic, which was a bit of a shock. I also read some non-fiction texts about the period. And talked to my mum, who was born in 1947. The anecdote about playing ‘queueing’ instead of ‘shopping’ was hers.

Filed Under: BookOfTheDay, Fiction Tagged With: 1940s, fiction, historical, time slip, winter

William Sutcliffe Novel Chosen As 2015 Young City Reads Title For Brighton Festival

January 31, 2015 By achuka Leave a Comment

circusofthieves

It was announced last week that Circus Of Thieves And The Raffle Of Doom [by William Sutcliffe] has been chosen for this year’s Young City Reads as part of Brighton Festival.

The idea is that one book by one author is chosen for children across the city to creatively engage with, at home and at school, and the project launches officially on March 5 (World Book Day) at Jubilee library.

…

Circus Of Thieves And The Raffle Of Doom is the first book that William has written for younger children (eight years and up), and the first of a series, the second of which is soon to be published.

The central character in the offbeat adventure is a girl called Hannah, whose life is dull until Armitage Shank’s Impossible Circus comes to town.

William has written five novels for adults, including the international bestseller Are You Experienced?, while his first novel for young adults, The Wall, published in 2013, was shortlisted for the Guardian Fiction Prize.

…

“I think the eight to 12 age group are the least well-served when it comes to finding something to read, and hopefully this will fill that gap.”

William began writing Circus of Thieves and the Raffle of Doom shortly after the birth of his third child, so didn’t have huge amounts of time to dedicate to it. The first draft was written without too much scrutiny, but then the re-write was more rigorous, he says.

“I have no idea where the story comes from, I think it had been knocking around for a while; sometimes you have an intangible sense of how you want the story to feel.

“The story and characters revealed themselves to me as I wrote.

William explains that he approaches writing projects differently depending on what they are. Because Circus Of Thieves And The Raffle Of Doom is a humorous children’s book he was able to take a more freeform approach, rather than outlining a structure and sticking to it strictly.

“I have spent most of my adult life writing, and in order to keep the process alive for yourself as a writer you can do different things,” says William.

“I do enjoy taking a different approach each time.”

The book is definitely on the border between the real and the surreal, and the characters are brought to life with illustrations by David Tazzyman.

William and David will be in Brighton for a special Young City Reads event on May 20.

William now lives in Edinburgh, with his wife, novelist Maggie O’Farrell, and their three children aged 10, 5 and 2.

via Author's new children's book to be read across the county (From The Argus).

Filed Under: Blog, Books Tagged With: Brighton Festival, comedy, fiction, humour, novel

Through The Door Today – Another Title From Oxford

January 7, 2015 By achuka Leave a Comment

YoungHoudini

Delivered by the postman just now, a proof copy of next month’s Young Houdini, The Magician’s Fire by Simon Nicholson, described as the “first in a high-concept series packed with daredevil stunts and magic tricks that will leave readers entranced” – and the proof copy comes with three endorsements from readers aged 8, 9 and 11.

“What if the few facts we know of Houdini’s childhood – that he grew up fairly peacefully with his family in Appleton, Wisconsin – turned out to have been a cover-up, devised later in order to conceal a far more thrilling and dangerous truth?”

Looks a promising series for the 7-11 audience.

Filed Under: Blog, Books, Just In Tagged With: fiction, junior, proof, series

Mal Peet shares his top tips on writing football fiction

June 10, 2014 By achuka Leave a Comment

Mal Peet shares his top tips on writing football fiction

1. Don’t. It’s too hard. Write about wizards or zombies or bad-ass girls or something easy like that.

 

via Mal Peet shares his top tips on writing football fiction | Children’s books | theguardian.com.

Filed Under: Blog, Books Tagged With: advice, fiction, football, tips, writing

It’s ‘Gone Girl’ for teens in a very lucrative market

May 16, 2014 By achuka Leave a Comment

There was a time when contemporary Irish fiction for young adults was thin on the ground.

Not so any more, says Irish author Natasha Mac a’Bháird. “I was always disappointed when I was younger that there were so few books set in Ireland. But I love reading teenage fiction now. You get to read about the Leaving Cert instead of high school or A Levels.”

Natasha’s latest book, her first for teenagers, is Missing Ellen, and it tells the story of the friendship between Maggie and Ellen.

via It’s ‘Gone Girl’ for teens in a very lucrative market – Independent.ie.

Filed Under: Blog, Books Tagged With: fiction, Ireland, Irish, teen, YA

NSFW: The Outdoor Co-ed Topless Pulp Fiction Appreciation Society | Burn Bras, Not Books

May 6, 2014 By achuka Leave a Comment

Yesterday the Huffington Post reported on our adventures: goo.gl/L9ZDUK. Then so did Oyster Magazine:http://www.oystermag.com/nyc-s-topless-book-club-nsfw. Then an Italian radio station’s website. Then Tucker Carlson’s The Daily Caller.

And lo and behold, we suddenly got inquiries from a whole bunch of cool women excited to discover that we exist and eager to join us at our next event. We couldn’t be more pleased. The word is spreading! And we can wait to meet our newest members.

via The Outdoor Co-ed Topless Pulp Fiction Appreciation Society | Burn Bras, Not Books.

 

From the Huffington Post report:

It’s spring in New York City, and that means the city’s most topless literary club is back in action. Members of the The Outdoor Co-Ed Topless Pulp Fiction Appreciation Society bared their breasts in Central Park on Friday, and then again Saturday while lounging on the rooftop sundeck of a certain “nude-friendly, gay-friendly, everything-friendly boutique hotel.”

The reading material included, of course, some pulp fiction titles like “Hunt Through The Cradle of Fear,” “Borderline,” as well as “Abraham Lincoln, Presidential Fu*k Machine,” and, er, “Moby Dick.”

For the uninitiated, OCETPFAS formed a few years ago. It’s the group’s mission to “make reading sexy,” as well as remind New Yorkers that toplessness is very legal in New York City.

Filed Under: Blog, Books Tagged With: fiction, New York, outdoor, reading, summer, topless

Cliff McNish’s top 10 dogs in children’s books

April 17, 2014 By achuka Leave a Comment

Cliff McNish’s top 10 dogs in children’s books
From Best Mate in Michael Morpurgo’s Born to Run to Lassie and Toto, author Cliff McNish picks the 10 most memorable hounds in children’s fiction.

via Cliff McNish’s top 10 dogs in children’s books | Children’s books | theguardian.com.

Just published: Cliff McNish’s first dog-themed book aimed at 8-12 year-olds: Going Home.

Filed Under: Blog, Books Tagged With: animal, dogs, fiction, lists

Puffin Acquires Two New Books From Author Of Breathing

February 27, 2014 By achuka Leave a Comment

Amy McCulloch, Editorial Director, Puffin Fiction, has acquired UK and Commonwealth rights (excluding Canada) from Alexander Slater at Trident Media Group for a further two books from bestselling author of the young adult the BREATHING series, Rebecca Donovan.
…

Donovan, self-published the first two books in her BREATHING series – REASON TO BREATHE and its sequel BARELY BREATHING – which became Amazon bestsellers. At one time in the States copies were selling 1000 copies per day.

WHAT IF? will be published by Penguin in Spring 2015.

via Book Trade Announcements – Puffin Acquires New Series From Bestselling Self-published Author.

Filed Under: Blog, Books Tagged With: deals, fiction, Puffin, Rebecca Donovan, series

Red by Libby Gleeson – an ACHUKAreview

February 9, 2014 By achuka Leave a Comment

This isn’t a novel that is going to change your life. But it will entertain and thrill you. Not a word has been wasted in the telling.
In short, highly recommended.

Follow the link for the full review:

http://www.achuka.co.uk/reviews/?p=434

and here’s the video trailer:

Filed Under: Blog, Books, Reviews Tagged With: fiction, Libby Gleeson, reviews, thriller, YA

‘A Hundred Horses’ and ‘Horses of the Dawn’ – NYTimes.com

January 11, 2014 By achuka Leave a Comment

Two children’s books reviewed in the New York Times

A HUNDRED HORSES
By Sarah Lean
217 pp. Katherine Tegen Books/HarperCollins Publishers. $16.99. (Middle grade; ages 8 to 12)
“Lean’s imagination runs wild, but her descriptions of a girl who rediscovers hope and wholeness remain firmly rooted in truth.”
HORSES OF THE DAWN
The Escape
By Kathryn Lasky
219 pp. Scholastic. $16.99. (Middle grade; ages 8 to 12)
“Sometimes the fantasy goes too far. The horses talk to one another — and deer and macaws — in ways that can seem preposterous. (“By my withers!” is a common equine exclamation of disgust.) “

via ‘A Hundred Horses’ and ‘Horses of the Dawn’ – NYTimes.com.

Filed Under: Blog, Books Tagged With: fiction, horses, reviews

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