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Confessions of a Hollywood Star

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Confessions of a Hollywood Star by Dyan Sheldon

Walker Books

1904442714

Oct 2005


This is the third in a series that began with Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen and My Perfect Life. Lola is about to finish college and embark on a glitzy film career in L.A. However, when a film crew set up camp in her town, her plans change and she decides to stay. She can’t resist a final taunt at her arch-enemy Carla Santini, and smugly informs her that she has a part in the production. The only problem is that she hasn’t’
A relatively enjoyable and easy read. Sheldon’s humour shines through with splendour in places, though don’t expect the same type of laugh-out-loud comedy as authors such as Louise Rennison. Recommended for teenagers who are struggling to enjoy reading, though definitely not for those who are looking to be pushed into the realms of adult literature.

Nickolai Of The North

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Nickolai Of The North by Lucy Daniel Raby

Hodder Children’s Books

1904442714

Oct 2005


A refreshingly different take on how the myth of Father Christmas came to be. When Nickolai was just a baby, the wicked Queen Magda killed his mother and the rest of his elfin people. Taken in and raised by humans, Nickolai is teased at school for his abnormally large ears.
When everyone from his settlement starts to leave for the beautiful city of Doransk, Nickolai says goodbye to his human parents and follows. Little does he know that he, and everyone else, are walking into a trap. He soon discovers that he’s the only one who can resist the evil Magda’s plan to steal children’s youth to keep herself young and beautiful; and he is the only one who can stop her.
A nice festive treat for tens and above. The book’s major flaw is that it will obviously lose some of its magic at any other time of the year.

Secret Scribbled Notebooks

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Joanne Horniman

Allen&Unwin

1904442714

Oct 2005

Another addition to the already vast array of ‘coming-of-age diary’ novels written for teenagers, Secret Scribbled Notebooks tells of seventeen year-old Australian Kate O’Farrell, who is about to finish her exams, leave school and enter the world as a fully fledged proper grown-up. We follow her musings as she struggles to come to terms with her identity, (her parents abandoned her to be brought up by the owner of a guesthouse) falls in love with a ‘Russian Prince’ who lives in a garage and works in a second-hand bookshop, and adapts to a new life as an aunt when her older sister becomes a single parent.
It is always a struggle for authors of diary style novels to steer clear of becoming too prosaic and overly concerned with the tedium of everyday life. Writers such as Jennifer Donnelly and Dodie Smith handle it masterfully by the beauty of their writing, the lyricism and unique voices of their characters. Louise Rennison injects a huge burst of energy into her novels with spectacular wit and comic timing.
Sadly, on these counts, Joanne Horniman fails. There is nothing unique or engaging about this book or its characters, and by the end of the novel, I felt like nothing had really been achieved, realised, or concluded.

Ithaka

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Adele Geras

David Fickling Books

0385603916

Oct 2005




There is already a plethora of retellings of Homer’s The Odyssey for young people, though thankfully Ithaka doesn’t claim to add to these. The story is told from the point of view of Odysseus’ wife Penelope, left alone for over ten years, stubbornly resisting rumours that her husband is dead, and pressure from others to find Ithaka another king. Interwoven with her story are the lives of those who surround her in her palace, most importantly Klymene, Penelope’s maid, and her twin brother Ikarios.
As in Geras’ Troy, the romantic lives of her characters are bound up in complex love triangles, and the themes of unrequited love and jealousy run rife. Also similarly to Troy, the Gods walk amongst the mortals freely, either wreaking havoc or protecting the humans respectively.
Geras writes beautifully, and as ever, engagingly. The plot is fast-moving and dramatic and the characters are well-drawn and easy to sympathise with. The only problem I had with this novel is a strong sense of d’j’ vu. Echoes of Troy resonate through the narrative, the characters, and the plot, to the extent that you start to wonder if you are in fact reading the same book, simply told from a different perspective, and in a different setting.
Setting this aside, the novel stands alone as a highly accomplished and thought-provoking work, and an incentive for more dedicated readers to proceed on to Homer’s Odyssey.