The Bookshop Girl - a review

The Bookshop Girl

by Syliva Bishop

Illustrated by Poly Bernatene

Peachtree, 2018

The Bookshop Girl is a little English mystery that features books, bookshops and a young girl named Property Jones with a very unlikely secret—despite growing up in the family’s book store, Property can't read, although she does manage to keep herself busy,

Property served tea and cake to anyone who wanted to sit in an armchair and read awhile, and she kept the shop smart and tidy.  Or she tried to. It didn’t help that everything in the shop was falling apart.

Netty was at the counter, Michael was hovering by the dictionaries, and Property had put the kettle on.  The White Hart opened at nine o’clock sharp.  (If you are thinking, But the White Hart is the wrong sort of name for a bookshop, then you are quite right, but also quite impatient.  I was going to explain.  The bookshop used to be the White Hart pub, and it had a very beautiful picture of a white stag hanging outside.  When Netty bought the pub and filled it with books, she couldn’t see any good reason to change the name when there such a nice sign already there.)

When the Jones family enters a contest and wins the magnificent Montgomery Book Emporium in London, mystery begins when a silent man arrives at the bookshop,

He was mostly made of a long, gray coat, with a long, gray face perched on top and shabby shoes underneath.

The bookshop crowd

poured around him live a river around a stone.

Who was this strange man and what did he want with their new bookshop?  It will take Property’s unique powers of observation to figure it out!

The Bookshop Girl is an illustrated novel for ages 8-12, and features just the sort of humor and asides that I recall appreciating at an early age. The premise of the mystery is unique and instructive, and the peculiar workings of the fanciful Montgomery Book Emporium will read like a dream-come-true.

Extras for The Bookshop Girl:

• Read an excerpt from The Bookshop Girl here.
• A Discussion Guide for The Bookshop Girl.

Look for The Bookshop Girl on a shelf near you in October.

My copy was provided by the publisher at my request.

Hell and High Water - a review

Hell and High Water
by Tanya Landman
Candlewick Press, 2017

Many, many years ago, I was a waitress working the graveyard shift at a diner.  When the annual change to Standard Time came rolling around, I thought nothing of it–until I went to work that night.  Standard Time means an extra hour of sleep for most people.  For a waitress working the graveyard shift, the switch to Standard Time means a 9-hour shift with no overtime pay. Why do I mention this? Because this experience helped me to see with great clarity the relevance in a story that takes place more than 250 years ago.

Tanya Landman's publisher notes that author  "explores the lives of history’s dispossessed and disenfranchised."  Not only is this true, but her depiction of 1750s England also has a message and a relevancy to our own era.  When we read of something momentous in a history book, it does not have the same urgency or immediacy that it can have in the a work of historical fiction. If you read in a history book of the change from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar, it would have little meaning to you if you had not had a similar experience. However, consider this scenario from Hell and High Water,

The village went to sleep on the evening of Wednesday, September 2nd, and woke on the morning of Thursday the 14th, yet this was no enchanted sleep or supernatural occurrence.  A year earlier an Act of Parliament had decreed that England's calendar must be synchronized with those of other nations.  In order to do so, eleven full days must be struck from the year.  Drinking coffee in Porlock's, Pa had explained the matter of the Gregorian and Julian calendars in great detail, but Caleb had paid little attention.  It involved politicians. Foreign nations.  Who cared about numbering the days?  It could make no difference to him and Pa.

He had given it no further thought at all until Letty returned from Tawpuddle with a rumor that William Benson would be collecting rent for the whole month of September as usual.  No concession was to made for the changing calendar.  Every tenant had lost eleven days of work and consequently eleven days of pay, but Sir Robert would not lose eleven days of rent.
The news made Anne dizzy with panic. "How can we manage? We will be turned out!"
"It can't be true!" Caleb scoffed.  "No man could be so unfair."

...

"Word of advice, boy . . ." The steward leaned toward him until his face was an inch from Caleb's.  Raising his voice so that the men who were unloading the boat could hear, Benson said, "If you want to keep a roof over that miserable hide of yours, you keep your head down and your mouth shut.  And you pay your rent when it's due, the same as everyone else."

The fact that Caleb is a person of color in 1750s England only makes his situation more difficult. His father is accused and convicted of a crime he did not commit, and Caleb is left to fend for himself in a world where birthright equals power and power equals money. Hell and High Water is a work of historical fiction, but it is also a murder mystery, and a story of race, class and privilege.  Sadly,  it has great relevance in our modern age.



Hell and High Water will be on a shelf near you in June, 2017.



My copy of Hell and High Water was provided by LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

The Accidental Highwayman - an audiobook review

Tripp, Ben. 2014. The Accidental Highwayman: Being the Tale of Kit Bristol, His Horse Midnight, a Mysterious Princess, and Sundry Magical Persons Besides. New York: Tor Teen.

Can I tell you how much I like this book?  I reviewed it several months ago for AudioFile Magazine and could hardly wait until they published my review so that I could freely blog about my affinity for it!  Although "swashbuckling" is the term I've seen most often in reviews of The Accidental Highwayman, I would characterize it as a mix of daring deeds and derring-do, of historical fiction and magical conviction.  You can read my official review here, I listened to the audio version, but would guess that the printed copy is equally enjoyable.

• You can find my review of The Accidental Highwayman for AudioFile Magazine here.
• Listen to an audio excerpt from The Accidental Highwayman here.
• Read an excerpt from The Accidental Highwayman here.

To summarize:

Amidst a grim 18th century English setting arises the accidental highwayman, Whistling Jack.  Teenager Kit Bristol makes the unlikely yet unavoidable transformation from circus performer to manservant to famous highwayman tasked with the rescue of a mysterious princess from an enchanted coach.  Narrator Steve West employs the English "standard accent" for his presentation of the gallant robber.  He delivers non-stop action and suspense while maintaining an air of wise contemplation suited to this retrospective narrative of daring deeds from a magical past.

This is the first in an expected series. Judging from the effort expended on the series' official website, http://kitbristol.com , they knew right out of the gate that this one would be popular!  Enjoy the goofy trailer (there are two more on the site).

 

Note:
As a fledgling ukulele player myself, I love that Ben Tripp plays the ukulele in this trailer.

The Badger Knight - a review

Erskine, Kathryn. 2014. The Badger Knight. New York: Scholastic.
(Advance Reader Copy)

After the great plague, Adrian's father is overly protective. Having lost his wife and daughter, he is determined to protect his12-year-old son, Adrian.  Small and weak, Adrian has what we now call asthma and albinism. In the rural England of the 1300s, however, his condition is more often considered an unlucky and unholy affliction - rendering him only slightly more popular than Thomas the leper. Though he is quick of mind, skillful with a bow, and able to scribe, he is nonetheless treated as useless and dim-witted.

When the Middle March is threatened by war with the Scots, Adrian sees a chance to prove his mettle,

"Soon I hear the blacksmith's voice in my head: Nock! Mark! Draw! Loose! I spread some dirt under my eyes to counteract the bright sun, close my left eye, ready  my bow, and take aim at a single leaf fifty feet away.  On my second shot I split the leaf in two.  As I practice more, I can hit a leaf on my first try, even when it sways in the breeze.  I lose all sense of time and feel like I'm in another world.
Until I hear someone approach through the woods, and I grab my arrows, stowing them quickly with my bow inside the tree trunk.  For years I haven't been discovered and I don't intend for anyone to find me out now.  When the time is right, I will shock them all.  So I stand and look up at the branches to divert attention away from the trunk and to show that I'm simply addlepated Adrian looking at birds."

The Badger Knight is a historical fiction adventure that touches upon many common themes (bullying, friendship, gender bias, coming of age, survival, the nature of good and evil) as Adrian goes off to war and becomes a man - not by might, but by right.

 "... I'm reminded of Nigel and his search for the truth.  I think of what I always believed to be truths — Scots are pagans, thieves are bad, knights are noble, girls are weak, war is glorious — and how these "truths" aren't real at all.  They're things I was taught or everyone believes, just as all people who look like me are supposedly angels or, more often, devils.  I didn't believe Nigel when he said that scribing was power, that seeking the truth and sharing it is mightier than being a soldier.
     Now I see what he means."

The Knight Badger is rich in historical details - from the minor particulars of everyday life and the societal hierarchy of medieval England to the gruesome manner of medieval warfare. Erskine offers an unvarnished look into the lives of serfs, tradesmen, religious leaders, free lances, city street urchins, and robber barons. The author's thoughts on the nature of war are on display throughout, but readers are encouraged to come to their own conclusions and examine their own biases.

A solid adventure story that should appeal to boys and girls.  There is room for a sequel.

On shelves 8/26/14.   Target audience: ages 8-12, Gr 3-7
352 pages

The Night Gardener - a review

A short review today.  I rushed to finish, as I knew the kids in my book club would surely want to get their hands on it last week.  I was right.

Auxier, Jonathan. 2014. The Night Gardener. New York: Amulet.

Set in England aground the 1840s, The Night Gardener features an Irish gal with the gift of  blarney, her10-year-old brother with a lame leg and stout heart, a mysterious storyteller, and a strange family inhabiting a creepy mansion on an island in the middle of the sourwoods.

Separated from their parents and forced to flee Ireland due to famine, Molly & Kip have no choice but to accept employment with the Windsor Family, the only inhabitants of the only home in the sourwoods,

At the far end of the lawn stood Windsor mansion.  The house had obviously been left vacant for some years, and in that time it seemed to have become one with the landscape. Weeds swallowed the base. Ivy choked the walls and windows. The roof was sagging and covered in black moss.
But strangest of all was the tree.
The tree was enormous and looked very, very old. Most trees cast an air of quiet dignity over their surrounding. This one did not. Most trees invite you to climb up into their canopy.  This one did not. Most trees make you want to carve your initials into the trunk. This one did not. To stand in the shadow of this tree would send a chill through your whole body. 

Even Molly's indomitable spirit and knack for storytelling cannot shield Kip and the young Windsor children from the horrors that lurk within the shadow of the giant tree.

Historical fiction and horror intertwine in this absolutely gripping story. With similarities to Claire LeGrand's The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls, The Night Gardener is the stuff of nightmares.

Coming to a bookshelf near you in May, 2014!


Notes:

My Advance Reader Copy was thrust upon me by none other than the wonderfully funny, Tom Angleberger (of Origami Yoda fame), who insisted that I read it.  Thanks, Tom!

Also by Jonathan Auxier, Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes, which I reviewed in 2011.

The book's cover was drawn by Patrick Arrasmith and designed by the talented Chad Beckerman, whom I had the pleasure of interviewing a while back.

The Witches - an audiobook review

 I recently reviewed a new audiobook copy of Roald Dahl's, The Witches. The main characters are the grandson, Grandmamma and the Grand High Witch.  Imagine trying to narrate The Witches while adhering to Roald Dahl's detailed description of the witch's voice,

"You may rrree-moof your gloves!" she shouted. Her voice, I noticed, had that same hard metallic quality as the voice of the witch I had met under the conker tree, only it was far louder and much much harsher. It rasped. It grated. It snarled. It scraped. It shrieked. And it growled.  ...

"You may rrree-moof your vigs!" snarled The Grand
High Witch. She had a peculiar way of speaking. There
was some sort of a foreign accent there, something
harsh and guttural, and she seemed to have trouble
pronouncing the letter w. As well as that, she did
something funny with the letter r. She would roll it round
and round her mouth like a piece of hot pork-crackling
before spitting it out. "

Such is the task for reader, Miranda Richardson, who does a superb job.  Below is my review (reprinted with permission) as it appeared on the AudioFile Magazine website:

THE WITCHES 
Roald Dahl

Read by Miranda Richardson

Actress Miranda Richardson narrates the story of an orphan boy who learns about witches from his grandmamma, then accidentally stumbles upon their annual meeting--with disastrous consequences involving a "Formula 86 Delayed Action Mouse-Maker." Richardson is tremendous as the Norwegian grandmother, her young English grandson, and the terrifying Grand High Witch. She switches seamlessly between accents and the voice of the witch, whose peculiar manner of speech is described by Dahl in great detail. The story is punctuated judiciously with sound effects. The rattling of chains fastening doors, the tinkling of a dropped bottle, the skittering of mice, and the screaming of frightened hotel guests are just a few examples of sounds that add energy and excitement to this classic tale of scary fun. L.T.

© AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine [Published: DECEMBER 2013]

Children Ages 8+ • 4.5 hrs. • Unabridged • ©1983
Trade Ed. • Penguin Audio • 2013CD ISBN 9781611761863  $25.95 • Four CDs  DD ISBN   multiple sources

(review copy provided by AudioFile Magazine)

A Monster Calls

Ness, Patrick. 2011. A Monster Calls. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.

 (Advance Reader Copy, courtesy of NetGalley.)

(booktalk)

There is not always a good guy. Nor is there always a bad one. Most people are somewhere in between.

When the monster calls, Conor is not afraid. For this monster, this powerful, all-seeing monster, born of the earth, the trees and all the ages is not nearly as frightening as the monster that lurks within his nightmare.

... it does not matter what you think, the monster said, because your mind will contradict itself a hundred times each day.

You do not write your life with words, the monster said. You write it with actions. What you think is not important. It is only important what you do.

Under the Green Hill

Sullivan, Laura. 2010. Under the Green Hill. New York: Henry Holt.  

I had planned to write a thoughtful review, complete with several passages from pages that I'd carefully marked, however, after booktalking Under the Green Hill yesterday at my monthly book club meeting, a young girl decided to take it home. Perhaps that says enough.

For now, let it suffice to say that Under the Green Hill is a fantasy story with some similarities to the Chronicles of Narnia. However, the Green Hill does not exist in a foreign land or alternate universe.  The Green Hill, populated by the beautiful, frightening, capricious, willful and sometimes vengeful denizens of the fairy world, exists within the confines of the modern English countryside, under the watchful eye of  Phyllida Ash, its Guardian.  It is here, that siblings Rowan, Meg, Silly and James Morgan are sent, along with foils, Dickie Rhys and Finn Fachan.

Read an excerpt here.

My young reader friend promised to let me know her thoughts on the book when she returns it. I'll add her thoughts to the comments at a later date.

I read this book at the suggestion of the author, who thought that I might enjoy it.  She was right.  I did.  This is Laura Sullivan's first novel.  The next installment, Guardian of the Green Hill, is due out in the fall.

Not knowing anything about Ms. Sullivan, I checked her publisher's website and was intrigued by her biography. I think you will be, too ... read on

Laura L. Sullivan is a former newspaper editor, biologist, social worker and deputy sheriff who writes because that’s the easiest way to do everything in the world. She lives in the woods of Kentucky with her loved ones.

 More interesting facts about Ms. Sullivan on her website.

Horton Halfpott - book review

I read an Advance Copy.
Actual cover will glow
in the dark.  How cool
is that?

 Angleberger, Tom. 2011. Horton Halfpott: Or, The Fiendish Mystery of Smugwick Manor; or, The Loosening of M'Lady Luggertuck's Corset. New York: Amulet.

Not resting on his (very comfortable) laurels from The Strange Case of Origami Yoda  and with Darth Paper nearly ready to strike back, Tom Angleberger has cranked out another winner!  On the day that M'Lady Luggertuck's corset is loosened, unusual things begin to occur at the usually starched and stately Smugwick Manor.  From the Luggertucks themselves, right down to the lowly kitchenboy, Horton Halfpott, something is stirring in the air at Smugwick Manor.  The "loosening" has begun.

In Horton Halfpott, or The Fiendish Mystery of Smugwick Manor or The Loosening of M'Lady Luggertuck's Corset, Angleberger unleashes a large cast of colorful characters in a mystery that includes the servants (including Loaf Burton, Old Crotty, the stable boys, and the spoon-wielding Miss Neversly), pirates, a certain desirable young maiden by the name of Celia Sylvan-Smythe, a pompous detective, the loathsome Luggertucks, members of the press (well, someone must tell the story of the theft!), Horton (of course), and Montgomery, but, as the ever-helpful narrator points out,

Reader, I must warn you.  Montgomery is such a dull character that, if he did not play such an important part in the story, I would have left him out. His mother is dull, too.  In fact, you're welcome to forget her. There are enough characters for you to remember as it is.

However, you will remember Horton Halfpott. Against all odds, you will root for this charming, undernourished, kitchen lad and his never-ending pile of dirty dishes.  A hilarious romp through the social mores of 19th century England.

Tom Angleberger once worked as a kitchenboy.  Thankfully, he has found his true calling!  Horton Halfpott is pure gold.

On shelves in May.
Advance copy (minus glow-in-the-dark cover, [sigh]) supplied by publisher.

The Kneebone Boy

Potter, Ellen. 2010.  The Kneebone Boy. New York: Feiwel and Friends.

I like books that surprise me. I like books with intriguing cover art. I like quirky books. (The Death-Defying Pepper Roux, The Problem with the Puddles, to name two)

The Kneebone Boy is all three.


The Hardscrabble family is an odd one. The children Otto, Max and Lucia ("you pronounce it Lu-CHEE-a," the narrator reminds us), live with their father, Casper - an artist who makes his rather peculiar living, painting portraits of dethroned royalty. Their mother, Tess Hardscrabble, disappeared years ago under suspicious circumstances. Caspar was immediately suspected by the police; but the neighborhood children believe that Otto, the mute and eldest Hardscrabble child, murdered his mother with the scarf that he wears always around his neck. The outcast children are frequently left in the care of a neighbor with an unsightly neck boil, while their father travels the globe to immortalize down-on-their-luck princesses, sultans and baronesses.

But this trip is different. Their father has failed to make the proper arrangements and the children find themselves on an adventure - a frightening, exciting, exhilarating adventure!

All in all they were in that gorgeous state of mind in which they felt free and unafraid and sharply aware of how large and exciting the world was.
     In other words, it hadn't gotten dark outside yet.

The Kneebone Boy is narrated in the third person by one of the three Hardscrabble children, with frequent asides and commentary on the nature of storytelling and writing. The narrator prefers to keep her identity a secret, insisting that the story belongs to all of them, but it soon becomes plain which of the children is narrating the story, as she gives away a clue in the title of the very first chapter,

In which we meet the Hardscrabbles, unearth a triceratops bone, and begin to like Lucia even more.

After some trouble in London, they arrive in Snoring-by-the-Sea and take up temporary residence at their Great-Aunt Haddie's castle folly. The quite young Great-Aunt Haddie (do the math, it's possible) is an adventure unto herself, and in her curious care (which involves dungeons and peanut butter and jelly), the siblings begin to imagine that they can find their mother, discover a secret passageway through the castle folly, and rescue a sultan. Perhaps they can, or perhaps they are on a completely different adventure - one about which neither they, nor the reader, knows anything!

Though told through the lens of Lucia's mind, The Kneebone Boy displays all facets of the Hardscrabble children's personalities. Max may be a know-it-all who isn't fond of animals, but he is also a companionable and loving brother. Lucia sometimes resents Max's bossiness and feels herself to be Otto's protector, but she knows when to defer to Max's superior intellect and wonders if she may need Otto as much as Otto needs her. And though fearful of many things, she is more than capable of overcoming her fears when the need arises. Otto, who is mute and communicates with his hands, also has more to him than his description and appearance might suggest. Though speechless, Otto knows and understands more than his siblings think.

Dark and quirky, Otto and the rest of the Hardscrabble family will draw the reader into this witty and mysterious adventure with a completely unexpected and thought-provoking conclusion.

A discussion guide for The Kneebone Boy from the publisher.

Read an excerpt here.

More reviews @
Kids Lit
A Chair, A Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy

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The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Mysterious Howling

Wood, Maryrose. 2010. The Mysterious Howling. New York: Harper Collins.

"All books are judged by their covers until they are read."

A most appropriate quote from Agatha Swanburne, founder of the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females, from which our protagonist, 15-year-old Penelope Lumley, has recently graduated.  An appropriate quote for it was the cover that initially drew me in to this story of Miss Lumley and the peculiar inhabitants of Ashton Place.

Although only fifteen, Miss Penelope Lumley is an extremely capable young lady, in the mold of Mary Poppins or any number of similar governesses that one might find in mid-nineteenth century England - firm, but not inflexible; kind but not sentimental.  Still, her rigorous training could hardly have been preparation for her new position at Ashton Place. Lord Ashton is a puzzling man with curious habits and a strange sense of humor, Lady Constance Ashton is a flighty, excitable woman, and the children (if one may call them children) are three siblings that have apparently been raised by wolves in the wild and forbidding Ashton Forest.  Of course, this does not pose a problem for the capable Miss Lumley; however, there are many unexplained mysteries afoot. Who wishes to sabotoge the children's transition into civilized society?  What secret is Mr. Ashton hiding?  What secrets lie hidden with Ashton Place? What became of the children's parents (and for that matter, of Miss Lumley's parents as well!)? 

Consistently written in a style that evokes the sensibilities of England in the 1850s, Wood's writing is amusing as well and contains frequent helpful "asides" from the narrator.

Now there is a scientific principle that states: Once a train has left the station and is going along at a good clip, it is often fiendishly difficult to slam on the brakes, even if you are clearly headed for trouble (the same holds true for horses that have already left their barns).  This principle is Newton's very first law of motion and was considered old news even in Miss Penelope Lumley's day.
   Penelope had taken physics at Swanburne and, thus, knew all about Newton's laws of motion. Still, she felt that a final, desperate, and heroic attempt to change the course of events that now led inexorably and disatrously to the children attending Lady Constance's party seemed called for, and so she gave it her all.
    "Lady Constance, your plans for a holiday ball sound delightful, and I am sure the children would hate to miss it," she began, "but coincidentally, I was intending to ask you if I may take them on a ski holiday in France until after the New Year..."
   To give you an idea how final, desperate, and heroic this suggestion was, it should be noted that Penelope had never skied in her life, nor had she ever been to France that she could recall, nor did she know precisely where one might ski in France.  However, she assumed that any country with so sterling a reputation must be equipped with mountains somewhere; the rest of the information she knew she could easily find in an encyclopedia.

It's difficult not to admire Miss Lumley; and her young wolfish charges, Alexander, Beowulf, and Cassiopeia, adore her. You will too.

Finally, a word on series, as this is the first book in the new series, The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place:
I always approach a series with trepidation.  There are so many outcomes possible - will I gain years of enjoyment and then a melancholy wistfulness as the series draws to a close as in Harry Potter?  Will I invest time and enthusiasm only to be left waiting interminably, as in The Abarat? Will I be interested enough in the outcome but lack the ambition to keep up, as in The 39 Clues?  Will I read only one installment and feel satisfied that I have enough feeling and understanding for the series to promote it as in Baby Mouse?  The jury is still out on The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place.  The cover drew me in, but it is the confident Miss Penelope Lumley that may convince me to stay.

A reading guide is available from the publisher.

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The Shakespeare Stealer

Blackwood, Gary. 2000. The Shakespeare Stealer. New York: Puffin. ISBN:0141305959.


(first published in 1998)


This is not a new book, but since it still appears on school summer reading lists, I thought I'd try it.


The Shakespeare Stealer is a historical fiction adventure, featuring Widge, a poor orphan boy, recently apprenticed to first one, and then another unsavory master. As a "prentice," Widge is unfamiliar with the concepts of freedom, choice, honesty, and friendship. For Widge, life is merely a series of events over which he has no control; he survives them, or he does not.


When Widge's new master gives him the task of stealing William Shakespeare's latest play, The Tragedy of Hamlet: Prince of Denmark, he thinks of it as nothing more than another of life's turns. He will steal the play or be severely beaten. Only after Widge ingratiates himself with the Lord Chamberlain's Men, Shakespeare's acting company, does he realizes that, while life may be a grand stage upon which we are all actors, we have the ability to play our part as we choose.

The historical details are threaded into the story creating a rich tapestry which includes period dialogue, anecdotes about Shakespeare and his contemporaries, and an insider's view of theater life in Elizabethan London. The message of honesty, loyalty and friendship may be a bit heavy-handed, but the story line is full of intrigue and adventure; the action is fast-paced and exciting. My library has this book in the young adult (YA) section, but it would make a fine choice for grade 6 and up.

An ALA Notable Children's Book Award winner

There are two more books in this series: Shakespeare's Scribe and Shakespeare's Spy