If you were to meet the characters from your favourite books who would they be? Would you want to meet Harry Potter, Matilda, or Percy Jackson? You certainly wouldn’t want to bump into Count Olaf, Captain Hook, or Voldemort. In Far Rockaway by Charlie Fletcher, Cat finds herself face to face with some of the heroes and villains of classic adventure stories.
Cat and her grandfather, Victor made a pact that one day, just for fun of it, they’d take the subway and stay on it until the very end of the line, at a place called Far Rockaway. They never get to make this trip together because, while crossing the street in Manhattan, Cat and Victor are knocked down by a speeding fire truck. Cat wakes up in a world made from all the books her grandfather used to read to her, and filled with the most memorable characters from classic adventure stories, including The Last of the Mohicans and Treasure Island. Cat needs their help to find the mythic castle of Far Rockaway, and get herself and her grandfather home alive.
Far Rockaway is part fantasy, part adventure and full of pirates, indians, and zombies. I really like the way that Charlie Fletcher has weaved Cat’s story in with three completely different stories. If you know the characters from the classic adventure stories you’ll see what a fantastic job Charlie has done of transferring them to another story. There were a couple of characters I didn’t know but this has made me want to go and read those stories and discover who they were. Cat is a great character, who’s brave, loyal and kicks butt when she needs to. I like what she says about girls in stories,
“Why do the guys get to do all the rescuing? I mean I loved all the stories you gave me and read me, but one thing: where were the real girls? Half the books, they weren’t there at all, and the other half they’re wimped-out girly-girls getting all weepy and falling in love with the mysterious complicated dude or waiting for the right guy to save them.”
If you want a swash-buckling adventure story about the magic of stories then join Cat on the journey of a lifetime in Far Rockaway.
If you’ve read the Clarice Bean books by Lauren Child, you’ll know that Ruby Redfort is Clarice Bean’s favourite book character. She’s a super brainy genius with terrible eyesight and loves to wear t-shirts with slogans like ‘What a total yawn’ and ‘Bored beyond belief.’ In Look Into My Eyes, we find out how Ruby got started as a secret agent.
When you speak a different language from everyone else or come from a different culture it can be hard to fit in and make new friends. In his new book, The Un-forgotten Coat, Frank Cottrell Boyce tells us the story of two brothers from Mongolia who just want to fit in.
Marmaduke Duck and the Marmalade Jam by Juliette MacIver and illustrated by Sarah Davis was one of the finalists in this year’s New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards and was one of my favourites. The bouncy, rhyming text and stunning illustrations were a winning combination and made a fun, if tongue-twisting, read-aloud. I was excited to see that they had written another Marmaduke Duck book, called Marmaduke Duck and Bernadette Bear.
I’m always a bit skeptical when adult authors try their hand at writing children’s or young adult’s books. Some authors get it spot on and write a fantastic story that will hold the attention of children or teenagers, but others get it horribly wrong. I’ve never read a Harlan Coben book before so I can’t compare it to his adult books, but he’s one of those authors that have got it spot on. Shelter is an engrossing read that hooks you right from the first sentence and doesn’t let go.
The Invention of Hugo Cabret is one of my favourite books because of the way that the story is told. The ‘creator’ Brian Selznick uses a mixture of words and illustrations to tell the story. One minute you’re reading the words and the next you’re looking at the amazing illustrations to try and piece the story together. Brian has used the same storytelling technique in his new book, Wonderstruck.
We were first introduced to Juno and the people of Taris in Juno of Taris, what would become the first in a trilogy. I picked up Juno of Taris on a recommendation of another children’s librarian that I worked with and was blown away by the community that Fleur Beale had created. For those of you who haven’t read the first book, it’s best to start at the beginning, but one of the great things about the subsequent books in the trilogy is that you get a summary of the story so far before you start. I don’t know if this was an idea of the publisher, Random House New Zealand, or Fleur herself, but I think it’s something that all trilogies/series should have, especially when the books come out a year apart.
Douglas, the loveable bear who wants a hug is one of my favourite picture book characters. David Melling really knows how to write and illustrate for children, particularly preschoolers, and he’s created a character that every child will love. In his first picture book outing, Hugless Douglas, our bear friend just wanted a hug, but he never seemed to be able to find the right type of hug. In Don’t Worry Douglas! he’s given a special wooly hat by his dad and he goes off to show his friends. On the way out the door his dad tells him to look after it, but this is exactly what Douglas doesn’t do. His hat gets caught on a tree and slowly unravels. The other animals say “Don’t worry Douglas” and try to help him put it back together. But what will Douglas’s dad think?
My Best Friends Are Books 