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Beware! Killer Tomatoes

January 21, 2007 By jacob Leave a Comment

Jeremy Strong

Puffin

0141320583

Jan 2007

‘Anyhow, I must have clipped the edge of the pyramid and it toppled over. The whole thing, thousands of tines of tomatoes. They came crashing down. It was horrible!’

With characteristic good humour and seeming irreverence, Jeremy Strong’s latest novel, ‘Beware! Killer tomatoes’ introduces Jack, a hapless individual whose catalogue of disasters include sitting upon the prongs of a fork ‘ ouch! ‘ swallowing a coin ‘ dangerous! ‘ and, most recently, crashing his bike into a parked car. These mishaps are affectionately termed by his family, Jackcidents.
Belying his most recent Jackcident is the real worry that Jack may unwittingly have killed somebody. His latest stay in hospital, accompanied by the clownish Liam and the surly Kirsty, is characterised throughout by the fear that police will come to arrest him.
The mechanics of observation chugging along beneath this narrative thrust and the comic means of its deliverance lend this ‘ and Strong’s other novels ‘ astute perception. Belying the sorts of question Jack has about the accident in the supermarket, is a character whose sense of self has been eroded by the type of comment made about him through familial influence.
A great warmth and affection arises through the parallels that are made as Jack’s broken leg gradually heals and he learns to walk again, and as his family and friends come to value the contributions he plays in their lives and the unique influence he holds. A subtle, clever book that inspires strength and inner resilience against all of our falls.

Filed Under: Fiction, Humour

Sebastian Darke: Prince of Fools

January 21, 2007 By jacob Leave a Comment

Philip Caveney

Bodley Head

0370329155

Jan 2007

‘Strangers can be blamed for certain things. Since there is nobody who knows them and can vouch for them, people are often willing to believe the very worst about them ‘ if you catch my drift’?’


Drawing on facets of the fantasy, mystery, comedy, action and adventure genres, Philip Caveney’s great skill in his debut children’s novel ‘Sebastian Darke: Prince of Fools’ is bringing together the familiar and the fresh for readers of all tastes, backgrounds and indeed ages.
Son of a jester, Sebastian Darke endeavours to appropriate his father’s occupation and together with his trust buffalope, Max, sets out to seek his fortune. That this aim seems ill-fated is evidenced by Darke’s inability to imbue comedic value to even the most simple of jokes.
Together with the pint-sized Cornelius, Sebastian and Max aid the Princess Karin, thereby becoming ensnared in a web of intrigue and cunning subterfuge. Only through their assistance will Princess Karin be able to ascend to her rightful position as heir to the throne of Keladon, however Brigands abound as obstacles towards this.
‘Sebastian Darke: Prince of Fools’ is a gripping quest novel that transports readers on a voyage across wide vistas of imaginative lands. Teasing out the elegance and grandeur of epics and energising these with fast-paced modern humour, the novel feels at once wholesome and wicked of wit…

Filed Under: Fantasy, Fiction, Humour

Ryan’s Brain

August 16, 2006 By jacob Leave a Comment

Michael Lawrence

Orchard Books

1846162270

Jun 2006

‘One for all and all for lunch’

With work that defies easy classification, traversing many genres and all age-ranges, Michael Lawrence deserves to be a much bigger, brighter star amidst the skyline of children’s literature. The ‘Aldous Lexicon’ trilogy, due to draw to a close in October with the highly anticipated, ‘The Underwood See’, showcases his skills as a powerful, thought-provoking novelist. Meanwhile, his irreverent ‘Jiggy McCue’ stories have found firm readership with children for the anarchic sense of fun and frivolity that fills their pages, an affectionate base lies beneath the mad-cap antics in the latest, ‘Ryan’s Brain’.
It is characteristic reluctance rather than the bravado shown by many a book’s hero that drives Jiggy McCue, Pete and Angie ‘ this century’s new, self-professed, three musketeers, into their eighth exciting adventures. Taunts on the football pitch between Jiggy and arch-enemy, Bryan Ryan, culminates with a show down whereby Bryan Ryan prepares to head-butt Jiggy, takes his aim, fires and’ misses, hitting the wooden goal post instead and suffering immediate concussion!
Pandemonium ensues as events appear to transpire to avenge Jiggy, seemingly manipulated through psychokinesis by the sub-conscious of the eponymous Ryan’s brain. Together with Pete and Angie, Jiggy attempts to convince the brain to reach a truth and in so doing encounters giant slugs, ravenous dogs, marauding horses and eventually uncovers the true culprit responsible for these torments.
Jiggy celebrates his thirteenth birthday in the novel, early teenage behaviour is typified through belligerence and an unerring ability to sleep. Lawrence’s awareness that the absurdity of storylines is what makes this series such a riotous read is belied by the encouragingly warm depiction of unswaying and unconditional brotherly love, respect and admiration that is firmly at the centre of this book. An at once savvy, sensitive but not remotely sentimental story’

Filed Under: Humour

The Cafe on Callisto

April 13, 2006 By jacob Leave a Comment

Jackie French

Catnip

184647003X

Apr 2006

‘No, it’s not the moon Callisto that orbits Jupiter in our solar system. Callisto is a sun too, a gazillion light years from Earth, and Callisto 4 is the fourth planet away from that sun. All the other planets circling Callisto are either too hot or too cold for humans, but Callisto 4 is like Earth used to be, just about perfect.’

Catnip are a new publishing venture incorporating the established Happy Cat Books list. One of many exciting publications featured within their list this year is the award-winning Jackie French’s ‘Callisto’ series. Perhaps most familiar to readers in the UK as the author of the thought-provoking ‘Hitler’s Daughter’ Jackie French is an author whose breadth and diversity of work frequently broaches territory that is both challenging and uncharted!
Billed as a comedy and whilst being genuinely humorous, ‘The Caf’ on Callisto’ is as much a poetic treaty on the role the natural environment plays towards the healthy development of children. Sam and her dad live in a future Earth, twenty-five levels beneath the ground. They live not only in the darkness beneath the ground, but also in the shadow of the tragedy that befell Sam’s mother, an event that lead to the impetus for transporting the family towards the stars to be lost.
All of this alters when a caf’ becomes available on Callisto 4 and Sam and her chef father are able to claim residency in this brave, new inter-planetary world! Together the pair must make their living through selling food on a planet where food and its sharing is a cultural way of life’ Will they succeed and be able to carve a living for themselves?
Exposition on nature versus artifice and the eventual need to escape Earth to attain towards the natural locates the novel firmly in the realm of simulation and simulacra which Baudrillard hypothesised as constitutes of the hyperreal. Here is a science fiction work that glances forward to see the importance of our pastoral pasts’ Fans can look forward to its sequel ‘Space Pirates on Callisto’.

Filed Under: Humour

Blart

January 30, 2006 By jacob Leave a Comment

Dominic Barker

Bloomsbury

074758074X

Feb 2006

Irresistibly irreverent, ‘Blart’ is one of those all-too-rare, laugh-out-loud books. A hapless sort of a chap, Blart, our eponymous protagonist and unlikely hero is a pig farmer by trade and all things porcine certainly form the basis for his comfort-zone. Together with the cantankerous wizard, Capablanca, blowhard warrior, Beowulf and petulant Princess Lois, Blart unwillingly becomes a part of the motley crew who aim to do battle against evil over-lord Zoltab and the minions and Ministers who seek his return.
Wreaking havoc at every point of their voyage and leaving in their wake a trail of, for the most part accidental, death and destruction ‘ quarterised pet dragons and a couple of very flat dwarves – one would be forgiven for imagining the future of the world not to beentirely within safe hands.
Despite the varied and various misfortunes that befall our heroes, through a series of coincidences things amazingly fall together towards the end of this misadventure in a way that has to be read to be believed. Whether in the Cavernous Library of Ping, or the Even More Cavernous Library of Zing, Blart is the most unlikely hero you’re likely to read about any time soon ‘ essential reading for anyone with fantasy leanings and a sense of humour!

Filed Under: Humour

Fire Pony

January 17, 2006 By jacob Leave a Comment

Rodman Philbrick

Usborne

1904442714

Oct 2005

Rodman Philbrick has a talent for painting a panoramic view of life without excess. His descriptions have a raw, organic feel that belie their crafting. Fire Pony sees Roy and his tempestuous brother Joe Dilly arrive at the Bar None on the run from a secret they share. This secret is central to the novel. Issues of trust and of the need to contend with one’s past are constantly the ground-base for the races Roy runs with pony Lady Luck, the battles against fierce cougars and the fiery drama of the novel’s eventual climax.
Trademark short, well-paced chapters and the trusting narratorial voice of its protagonist Roy make this an ideal novel for boys who have perhaps not yet been introduced to the type of book that might wholly capture their minds and imaginations. Usborne should be applauded for bringing into print within the UK a stable of quality American novels for young people under their Fabulous Fiction range. Here’s hoping another Philbrick book, ‘The Last Book in the Universe’ will find itself featured shortly’

Filed Under: Drama, Fiction, Humour

Watch Out for Sprouts! Poems, pictures, doodles and serious thinking.

November 15, 2005 By dina Leave a Comment

Simon Bartram

Templar Publishing

1840113685

Oct 2005

Children who have met Bartram’s The Man on the Moon, or Dougal, The Deep Sea Diver, will already know that they are in for a treat with this concoction from the same author. Any parents who haven’t yet introduced their offspring to Bartram’s vivid colours and writing – well, what are you waiting for?
This collection of musings and poetry has all the trademark Bartram exaggeration, not to mention his equally trademark cornish-ware cups of tea. From the opener, “What Happened to the Pirate’s Eye?” we are immediately in Bartram-land, where the reader is always encouraged to look beneath the surface, and wonder why, for example, pirates always choose to keep one eye covered. In “Puddle Trouble” he explores just what kind of big trouble parents are referring to, when they say, “you are now in BIG trouble”. This is immediately engaging poetry, and full of ideas that children will recognise and feed off, as well. As inviting as burgers and chips, and nourishing as bright green vegetables.

Filed Under: Humour, Poetry

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