Catherine Johnson |
Walker Books |
9781406340570 |
October 2013 |
paperback |
Finished |
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I reviewed (positively I seem to remember) a number of this author’s early young adult books when I was writing Teen/YA book reviews for The Scotsman. It had been a while since I had read something by her. I remembered those earlier books as being very contemporary, but Sawbones is a firmly historical novel set in the age of pioneering anatomy and surgery. Johnson (who writes scripts for Holby City amongst other things) writes no less well about historical subject-matter than she does about contemporary issues. If I have two reservations about this novel they would be i) the narrative curve is a little too shallow in the early part of the book (I would have liked the shooting episode which energises the plot momentum to have happened twenty pages sooner) and ii) I didn’t quite see the dramatic point of Anna’s departure for Holland near the start of the novel unless it is to become a factor in a sequel, and even then I think it should have received some kind of return mention at the end of this novel. Those two caveats aside, Sawbones can be enthusiastically recommended as a stirring yarn with vivid characters and equally vivid action. If only the BBC still produced a sequence of Sunday afternoon serials, this book would have been a perfect candidate for dramatisation.
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Snapper
Brian Kimberling |
Tinder Press |
9780755396207 |
May 2013 |
213pp |
Whole book read |
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There’s a bittersweet feeling that comes when you turn the last page of a really good novel. Often it comes from the emotional power of the story, or an attachment that you have felt as an involved reader with one or more of the characters. Less frequently it comes from the knowledge that the voice of the writer has come to the end of their tale. The story is over. The voice has spoken.
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Season of Secrets
Sally Nicholls |
Marion Lloyd Books |
1407105132 |
Apr 2009 |
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It is the subtext of Sally Nicholls second novel that makes it so powerful. There is a sense of pain and of grief that permeates through the novel and nowhere is this more poignantly felt than in the absence of Molly and Hannah’s cripplingly bereaved father, a gap that gains a weight of significance every bit as heavy as the sudden, unexpected death of their mother. |
The Ship’s Kitten
Matilda Webb ill. Ian Benfold Haywood |
Happy Cat |
1905117833 |
Jun 2008 |
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The poetic diction of the book’s opening immediately locates the microcosm of the lilting ebb and flow of sea sounds and of the various comings and goings of lives lived along the harbour lines. At the heart of the book lies a nameless and homeless kitten whose desire for a place amongst peers forms the premise for the book. |
The Museum Book
Jan Mark, ill. Richard Holland |
Walker Books |
1844287491 |
Apr 2007 |
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A tribute to human knowledge and achievement, Jan Mark’s final completed work, ‘The Museum Book’ forms a fitting epitaph to an author whose work constantly challenged and was illuminated by a sense of curiousity and intrigue. As with her fictional output, the unique quality coursing through this extraordinary book is the intricate connections between experience and understanding that Mark has teased out. |
How Embarrassing is That?
Pete Johnson |
Barrington Stoke |
1842994506 |
Jan 2007 |
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Ruby, affectionately known as Tiddles to her parents is mortified when they attend the school open day. Loud voices, flamboyant clothing and embarrassing anecdotes from childhood combine to make this a cringe-worthy visit. |
DOWN TO THE WIRE
Bernard Ashley |
Orchard Books |
1846160596 |
Oct 2006 |
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If I were still a teacher, this book would be a tempting choice to get my class engaged in a whole number of fields. Geography, history, current affairs and politics, evolving use of English language’ any of these might be approached through DOWN TO THE WIRE. |
On the Summer House Steps
Anne Fine |
Corgi |
0552552690 |
Jun 2006 |
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Anne Fine’s first two novels for children, ‘The Summer House Loon’ and ‘The Other Darker Ned’ are conflated with a brief bridging interlude under the new title ‘On the Summerhouse Steps’. |
Beast
Ally Kennen |
Marion Lloyd Books |
0439951046 |
June 2006 |
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The cover of this one put me off: textured like the skin of a dinosaur, a huge yellow eye looking out of the beast’s face. Oh gawd, I thought, not horror, not Jurassic Park, not monsters, please. |