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Antony Wootten |
Eskdale Publishing |
9780953712380 |
April 2015 |
paperback |
|
This is a great little book – one I’m so thankful to the author for bringing to my attention. It’s essentially self-published, but don’t let that put you off. It’s an exceptionally polished presentation – my only minor quibble regards typesetting: an unusually large inset for the first line of each paragraph. As a short chapter book about bullying and pacifism, set at the time of the First World War, it presents moral and behaviour conflicts in a manner that makes it eminently accessible for children of primary school age. It would make a very good group read. The author is a primary school teacher and says (his experience is one I can share from my own time working with this age range), “I believe there are many very capable readers in upper key stage 2 who are put off by longer novels but who do want to read challenging and interesting subject matter.” The book is presented as the first in a series of “BigShorts” – short novels for strong readers, that Wootten intends publishing and promoting through his website. If subsequent titles are as good as this, ACHUKA will be happy to help promote them. The writing is clear, visual and uncluttered. The characters are finely delineated – the bully, the victim, the pacifist father, the strict schoolteacher, the friend & accomplice – but all very believable. The conflict between the main character’s parents – his father the conscientious objector, and his mother who has to bear the brunt of fellow women’s resentment that while their husbands are away fighting hers is at home shirking – is one of the best aspects of the book. Female readers might want George’s friend, Emma, to play a more forthright role in subsequent adventures. Oh, and there is animal interest, in a cat named Azar. The formula is a good one. The author’s publishing website: http://www.antonywootten.co.uk/EskdalePublishing.html |
Category Archives: Historical
My Name’s Not Friday
Little Leap Forward: a boy in Beijing
Gue Yue, Clare Farrow, Ill. Helen Cann |
Barefoot Books |
1846861136 |
Jul 2008 |
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“With music and your imagination you can travel anywhere; you will always be free.” Barefoot Books have drawn upon the self-same creative sensibility, attention to detail and high production values that have earned them the place as one of the most distinctive and stylish picture books lists, in this their first forray into fiction. |
Airman
|
Eoin Colfer |
Puffin |
9780141383354 |
Jan 2008 |
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“One of my childhood favorites was The Princess Bride [by William Goldman]. Read that to see how I was influenced by his pacing and the swashbuckling tone he set there while being quite humorous. That’s one of the finest examples of a high adventure book,” Eoin Colfer says in a recent interview with the magazine Newsweek. |
Cleopatra
Adele Geras, ill. M. P. Robertson |
Kingfisher |
0753413590 |
Oct 2007 |
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The reunion of ‘The Spice Girls’ has brought back into common currency their maxim: ‘Girl Power’. Centuries prior to the historic plight of women’s rights being commodified to a snappy, two-word, slogan, Cleopatra was Queen of Egypt and ‘ with considerable diplomatic powers and prowess ‘ set about forging kinship between Egypt and Rome. |
The Mozart Question
Michael Morpurgo |
Walker Books |
1406306487 |
Nov 2007 |
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Following a colleagues misfortunes on the ski-slopes, journalist Lesley McInley is enlisted to interview the world famous concert violinist, Paulo Levi. Inexperienced and somewhat intimidated by the magnitude of the task facing her, Lesley feels inadequate, however, Paulo embarks upon explaining the extraordinary tale of how he discovered his love for the violin. |
The Astonishing Life Of Octavian Nothing
M. T. Anderson |
Candlewick Books |
0763624020 |
Jan 2007 |
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An outstanding novel. |
Dead Man’s Close
Catherine MacPhail |
Barrington Stoke |
1842993917 |
Feb 2006 |
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A school trip around Edinburgh centre careers into a desperate chase through time for siblings Spider and Lizzie. Resolved to play a trick on his sister, Spider slips into a doorway planning to leap out on his unsuspecting sister. Separated from the group as a consequence of this, Lizzie worries the pair might have taken a wrong turn’ |
The Sirens of Surrentum
The Sirens of Surrentum by Caroline Lawrence |
Orion |
1842552554 |
April 2005 |
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Any long-running series of books, or TV for that matter, runs the risk of its formula becoming tired and its characters falling flat. Thankfully, with her admirable attention to detail and carefully planned story arc, Caroline Lawrence’s Roman Mysteries have so far avoided this trap. Now on book 11, Lawrence’s historical japes are still fresh, intriguing and entertaining. |
Forged in the Fire
Ann Turnbull |
Walker Books |
1844289354 |
March 2006 |
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Being young and in love but apart is the best of times and the worst of times. The anticipation of being together is wonderful, each letter brings a surge of optimism but the on-going trial of being separated by distance can seem impossible to overcome. |