young adult

The Book of Doom by Barry Hutchison

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If you’re a long-time reader of my blog you’ll know that I’m a huge fan of Barry Hutchison, from his creepy Invisible Fiends series to his short stories and his Afterworlds series. The first book in the Afterworlds series has just won the Older Readers category in the Scottish Children’s Book Awards (which is voted for by children so it’s a wonderful award to receive).  He’s one of those incredibly talented authors who can creep you out one moment and have you laughing out loud the next.  Barry’s latest book, The Book of Doom, is packed with those laugh-out-loud moments, and plenty of cringe-worthy ones too.  The thing that makes the book even more awesome for me is that the main character is named after me (I can’t tell you how excited I am about this!).  When you read your name on the page it’s even easier to imagine yourself in that character’s shoes and go on the adventure that they do.

Heaven has lost the most important object in existence and getting it back is gonna be Hell … The second hilarious book in Barry’s AFTERWORLDS sequence – comic fantasy perfect for fans of Pratchett and Douglas Adams. There’s panic up in Heaven. They have mislaid the BOOK OF DOOM – the most important object in existence. Oopsy. They think Satan might have stolen it, the sneaky little devil, so to save the world – plus, you know, quite a lot of embarrassment, fifteen year old Adam and his angelic guide Angelo are sent to retrieve it. Sadly directions aren’t Angelo’s strong point and they soon find themselves just as lost as the book, wandering through Afterworlds such as Valhalla and Hades and encountering some colourful characters along the way… Can the hapless pair make it to Hell and back?

The Book of Doom is absolutely fantastic and it’s the funniest book I’ve read for older readers since Barry’s The 13th Horseman. There’s something in this book for everyone, including an assassin monk, archangels involved in dodgy dealings, a boy who’s half-human/half angel, a demon with a statue made from the skin of his enemy’s children, singing and dancing Vikings, and a demon wearing roller skates and hot pants.  There are also four familiar gentlemen who pop up at one part (I really can’t get enough of these guys and I hope we see them again).  There are plenty of pop culture references in the story that you’ll be able to spot too, from super heroes to Star Wars.  I loved how disappointed Angelo would get when someone didn’t get his reference to a comic or a movie.

Barry’s characters are wonderful as always.  Zac is very cool and I’m honoured to be his namesake.  I mean, who wouldn’t want to be a thief who gets sent to Hell to retrieve a very important book.  He’s not fazed by much, even when faced with a demon who has eyes for nipples.  Angelo is one of Barry’s funniest characters and he gets all the best lines.  I cracked up laughing when he says ‘Don’t make me angry. You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.’  He’s awkward, and a little bit clueless, but quite lovable too.

The banter between Barry’s characters was the highlight of Book of Doom for me.  The banter between Angelo and Zac made me laugh out loud so many times and my favourite part is when they finally reach the gates of Hell.  It’s the sort of book that you really want to read aloud because it would be even funnier to hear someone reading it.

The last few chapters of the book are especially hilarious and I loved the twist (which totally made sense when I looked back on the story).  The Book of Doom will keep you laughing long after you’ve turned the last page.

5 out of 5 stars

Fast Five with Mandy Hager

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  • Why did you want to be a writer?

It’s the way I best communicate and helps me to unravel all the issues that concern me.

  • What’s the best thing about being a writer?

Sharing ideas and experiences with readers – and researching lots of things that fascinate me. I also have to add the magical way that my sub-conscious can deliver up thoughts and images that I didn’t know were in my head until they suddenly present themselves!

  • What’s your favourite New Zealand book? 

Shonaugh Koea’s ‘Sing to me, Dreamer.’

  • What do you love most about New Zealand?

The dry, understated kiwi humour. The environment. What Māori culture has gifted to us all.

  • What do you love most about libraries?

They allow anyone who can read, listen or interpret pictures to enter new worlds through shared stories and knowledge.

Mandy Hager is an award-winning author who has written novels for young adults and adults, non-fiction resources for youth, scripts and short stories.  Her books include Smashed, the Blood of the Lamb Trilogy, and her most recent book, Nature of Ash.

The 2013 CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medal Shortlists

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The shortlists for the 2013 CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medal were announced earlier this week in the UK.  There are some impressive titles on the shortlists and I’ll have to get reading to catch up on the ones that I haven’t already read.  I’m glad to see some of my favourite books on the lists, including Wonder, Oh No, George! and I Want My Hat Back.  Check out the lists below and I’d love to know what your favourites are.

 The CILIP Carnegie Medal 2013 shortlist in full:

  • WonderThe Weight of Water by Sarah Crossan, Bloomsbury
  • A Greyhound of a Girl by Roddy Doyle, Marion Lloyd Books
  • Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner, Hot Key Books
  • In Darkness by Nick Lake, Bloomsbury
  • Wonder by R.J. Palacio, Bodley Head
  • Midwinterblood by Marcus Sedgwick, Indigo
  • A Boy and a Bear in a Boat by Dave Shelton, David Fickling Books
  • Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein, Electric Monkey
About the CILIP Carnegie Medal

The Carnegie Medal, awarded annually, was established in 1936, in memory of the Scottish-born philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie (1835 – 1919). A self-made industrialist who made his fortune in steel in the USA, Carnegie’s experience of using a library as a child led him to resolve that “If ever wealth came to me that it should be used to establish free libraries.” He set up more than 2,800 libraries across the English speaking world and, by the time of his death, over half the library authorities in Great Britain had Carnegie libraries.


The CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal 2013 shortlist in full:
  • Oh No GeorgeLunchtime by Rebecca Cobb, Macmillan Children’s Books
  • Again! by Emily Gravett, Macmillan Children’s Books
  • Oh No, George! by Chris Haughton, Walker Books
  • I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen, Walker Books
  • Pirates ‘n’ Pistols by Chris Mould, Hodder Children’s Books
  • King Jack and the Dragon by Helen Oxenbury (illustrator) and Peter Bently (author), Puffin Books
  • Black Dog by Levi Pinfold, Templar Publishing
  • Just Ducks! by Salvatore Rubbino (illustrator) and Nicola Davies (author), Walker Books

About the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal

The Kate Greenaway Medal was established in 1955, for distinguished illustration in a book for children. Named after the popular nineteenth century artist known for her beautiful children’s illustrations and designs, the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal is awarded annually for an outstanding book in terms of illustration for children and young people.

Michael Grant’s Light Book Trailer

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Light is one of my most anticipated books of 2013.  It spells the end of Michael Grant’s brilliant Gone series. I have a copy sitting on my coffee table staring at me but I’m waiting until I can give it my full attention.  When I start I know I won’t want to stop until I’ve reached the end.

Light is due to be released on 1 April (just in time for Easter weekend!) and I know there will be plenty of Michael’s fans itching to find out what cruel punishment he doles out to the residents of Perdido Beach in this final book.

Fast Five with Rachel Steadman

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  • Why did you want to be a writer?

Because I love reading so much. I could never find enough books that were exactly what I wanted to read. So that’s why I wrote my own.

  • What’s the best thing about being a writer?

You get to write :).  Most writers seem to really like finding out new things. I think most writers are little like ‘fact magpies’ we get to learn new stuff every day and we can call it ‘research.’ For example, through writing A Necklace of Souls, I learned a lot about knife fighting. I read a whole lot (and watched a lot of you-tube videos) about Kali knife fighting, which is from the Philippines. And I know how long an English longbow is – over seven foot. That is taller than most men. Do you know, if you use a long bow a lot, the bones in one arm grow heavier than the other? Skeletons of archers have bigger left arm-bones than the right.  That is why writing is so cool, you get to learn random stuff every day. (Makes you good in quizzes, too!)

  • What’s your favourite New Zealand book?

I have lots of favourite books. It’s pretty hard to pick just one. At the moment, my favourite NZ book is Tu, by Patricia Grace, because I like her descriptions of how war changes a family.

  • What do you love most about New Zealand?

I love the wide open skies and the white-topped mountains. And I like the way you can walk along a beach and see only your footprints. And I like the way you find strange things in unexpected places. Like last week we went to Hampden Beach, near Moeraki, and dolphins swam past.

What do you love most about libraries?

The books! And the friendly librarians…

Rachel Steadman is the author of the wonderful new YA fantasy, A Necklace of Souls.  When she’s not writing Rachel works for the Ministry of Health and she enjoys hiking, cycling, running and reading.

A Necklace of Souls by R.L. Steadman

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Thanks to the various book prizes that are awarded both here in New Zealand and overseas there have been some fantastic new authors for children and young adults discovered.  Some of my favourite authors have won the Text Prize in the last few years, including Richard Newsome and Leanne Hall, which has started them on their writing career.  The Tessa Duder Award is a relatively new award in New Zealand and it is given annually to the unpublished author of a work of fiction for young adults aged 13 and above.  Last year’s very deserving winner was Rachel Stedman.  I’m extremely glad she won because her book, A Necklace of Souls is a brilliant fantasy that left me awestruck.  It has just been published in New Zealand, just in time for NZ Book Month.

In the hidden Kingdom of the Rose a Guardian protects her people with the help of a magical necklace. But evil forces are also seeking the necklace, and as the Guardian grows weaker these forces threaten to destroy the Kingdom. Dana, the rightful heir, must claim the necklace and save her people. Her duty is clear: to protect her homeland she must submit to the power of the necklace. But all power comes at a price – a price that Dana may not be willing to pay.

A Necklace of Souls is gripping, dark fantasy that sweeps you up takes you on a wild ride.  It has reignited my love of fantasy stories.  R.L. Steadman transported me to a medieval world similar to ours, where illness and war has ripped through the world leaving death in its wake.  The one place that is safe, clean and peaceful is the Kingdom of the Rose, a magical, legendary place that is protected by a guardian.  We’re introduced to the two characters who are central to the story – Will and Dana.  Will lives outside the walls of the kingdom with a loving family, until the plague reaches his town and he is one of the only survivors.  Luckily for Will, his Auntie and Uncle provide safe passage for him into the Kingdom, where he becomes an apprentice.  It is inside the walls of the Kingdom that he meets Dana, the princess with a very important role to play.

I found the story absolutely fascinating.  Rachel draws you in with the mystery surrounding the Kingdom, the necklace and its Guardian, Dana’s strange gift of true dreaming, and the threat from an army from a far off land.  You know that all these pieces of the puzzle fit together somehow and you don’t want to stop reading until you find out how.  N’tombe was one of the characters that intrigued me the most because her past was so shadowy.  One of the things I liked most about the story was that, even when you got to the very last page, there is still a sense of mystery to the characters.

The story initially alternates between Will and Dana, but focuses more on Dana as the story progresses.  I found it interesting that Dana’s story was narrated by her, but Will’s story was told in the third person.  This seemed to fit the story though and I really enjoyed switching between the two.  Dana and Will are both wonderful characters but Dana stood out more for me.  She’s definitely not your average princess!  She’s not afraid to get dirty, she’s a skilled fighter, and she’s not interested in being the center of attention or attending to her royal duties.  She’s the complete opposite of her mother, who is incredibly vain and more interested in her face creams than the welfare of her people.  Dana’s journey through the course of the story and the burden she has to carry has a huge effect on her.

A Necklace of Souls is a story that will stay with me for a long time and I hope that there is more of Dana and Will’s story to come.  I think that A Necklace of Souls can stand proudly beside the likes of Christopher Paolini’s Eragon, and Rachel Hartman’s Seraphina as a great fantasy story for teens and adults alike.  Everybody should go out and buy a copy for NZ Book Month and support this wonderful New Zealand author.

5 out of 5 stars

 

Win the award-winning 13th Horseman by Barry Hutchison

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I’m very excited to announce that Barry Hutchison’s hilarious fantasy, The 13th Horseman, has won the Older Reader’s category of the Scottish Children’s Book Awards.  I was really hoping that it would win as it’s such a fantastic book and Barry’s a great author.  When The 13th Horseman was released last year Barry made some very cool videos for the launch that we had in Christchurch. You can watch the videos and read my review of The 13th Horseman here on the blog.

To celebrate Barry’s award win I’m giving away 2 copies of The 13th Horseman.  All you have to do is enter your name and email address in the form below.  Competition closes Friday 15 March (International).

Thanks to everyone who entered.  The winners are Laraine and Amelia

James Dashner on his new book The Eye of Minds

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I’m a huge fan of James Dashner’s Maze Runner series so I’m really excited about his new series, The Mortality Doctrine.  The first book in the series, The Eye of Minds is released in the US in October.  This video is the first of a series of videos that James will be posting about his new series.

Introducing The Department 19 Files by Will Hill

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I’m a huge fan of Will Hill’s Department 19 series.  I love them because they’re action-packed and gory, and there are vicious, blood-sucking vampires galore.  If you haven’t come across the series you can read my reviews of Department 19 and Department 19: The Rising here on the blog.

The third book in this awesome series, Department 19: Battle Lines will be released in April in New Zealand (March 28th in the UK).  In the lead-up to the release of Battle Lines, Will Hill is publishing three Department 19 short stories as ebooks.  The Department 19 Files is a trilogy of new stories, set in the same world as Jamie’s, but further back in history.  Will describes the stories as:

“…some of the darkest, most painful stuff I’ve written, and are full of all the action and gore you’ll be expecting. They shed light on the early years of Blacklight and how it became the organisation that Jamie and his friends are parts of, and they allowed me to write about one of the most fascinating periods in history, a period of mechanised death and devastation on a scale that is almost unimaginable in these days of drone strikes and laser-targeted bombs.”

The three stories are being released over the next three weeks in the lead up to the release of Battle Lines, and you can buy them from Amazon.com or Kobo in NZ.  Will explains what each of the stories is about on his blog:

“if you want to read about Quincey Harker and his horrifying adventures in the darkness of the Western Front, pick up The Devil In No Man’s Land. If you want to see a younger Valeri Rusmanov doing what he does best as Europe is gripped by the flu pandemic of 1918 (and read some of the nastiest stuff I’ve ever written!) then stick around for Undead in the Eternal City. And if you want to know what happened when Quincey Harker returned home and discovered the truth about what his father and his friends really do, then The New Blood contains the answers, along with some characters that fans of Dracula will be very familiar with!”

I’ve just read the first story, The Devil in No Man’s Land, and it’s bloody brilliant!  Set in the muddy battlefields of the Western Front, it tells the story of Quincey Harker (a character you’ll be familiar with if you’ve read any of the other Department 19 books) and the members of the Special Reconnaissance Unit.  They fought relentlessly for their country and were given medals that they could never be officially awarded, but none of them were prepared for the horror that they would discover in Passchendaele.  Will Hill is brilliant at building suspense and having you on the edge of your seat, waiting to find out what Quincey and his squad will come across next.  The gore that I love in the Department 19 books is certainly here in this compact little story and Will portrays the horrors of war very well.

One of the things I like the most about the Department 19 books are the historical chapters that give you background to the story and the organisation, so it’s great that Will has written these ebook short stories.  The great thing about The Department 19 Files is that they can be read separate from the rest of the books, so even someone who hasn’t read the others would enjoy these.  They would be a great way to hook readers into the series too.

Celebrate our best authors and illustrators in New Zealand Book Month

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NZBM green logo rgb smNew Zealand Book Month officially starts this Friday and runs for the whole month of March.  It’s the month where we celebrate all the wonderful authors and illustrators that we have in New Zealand.  Here on My Best Friends Are Books there will be lots of cool things happening, including:

  • Fast Five Questions with NZ children’s and young adult authors and illustrators, including David Hill, Sherryl Jordan, Diana Noonan and Donovan Bixley.
  • Guest blog posts from Melinda Szymanik and Barbara Else.
  • Lots of NZ book reviews and promotions.
  • NZ book giveaways.

Make sure you check back in March to help celebrate New Zealand books, authors and illustrators.  You can also check the NZ Book Month website to see what is happening around the country throughout the month.

Don’t forget to pick up or download your $5-off voucher that you can put towards any book you buy in March.  For more info see the NZ Book Month website.