young adult

Elizabeth Pulford talks about Broken

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  • What inspired you to write Broken?
Several years ago I started a novel for younger children (two chapters) where the brother was missing and the sister knew he was in one of his comics (this was long before graphic art became popular) and then for some reason I left it. When I came across it three years ago I still liked the idea, but wanted it to be more than ‘just an adventure inside a comic,’ and I wanted it for older readers. So I pulled it out and started work. Or should I say I sat at the computer wondering how to make it into something different than I had ever done before. Slowly, slowly it began to happen. Then Trace appeared and when she did I knew she was talking to Zara in a coma. That was the turning point for me.
 
  • There are several different threads of the story; what is happening in the hospital room, Zara’s search for her brother, and Zara’s memories.  Did you write each of the threads separately and piece them together or did you write the story from start to finish?
Every day the story came to me in what felt like different pieces, but the end result is how they went down, were written at the time, bar editing etc. The truth was I just had to trust the writing process. I had no ‘map’ for the book, no preconceived ideas of what I wanted, or how it would turn out. I just simply carried on with my daily writing of ‘sections’ and followed the ‘threads’ and thankfully as the novel grew all the bits and pieces somehow it all fitted together.
 
  • Zara has a strong relationship with her brother, who she feels she can share everything with. Is the character of Jem based on your brother?
Goodness me – no! We are good friends, but beyond that…!  However, I did lose a brother when I was very young and he was even younger. Maybe the subconscious held onto that and allowed it to surface for this novel.
 
  • The style of the story is really unique. Why did you decide to tell parts of the story through Jem’s favourite comic?
It was there right from the beginning, as I said, when I started the book as a junior novel, at least ten years ago now. I just thought it would be fun and interesting to have someone believing that they were in a comic. In the world of make believe anything is possible, which is what I love about writing.
 
Elizabeth Pulford’s new YA novel, Broken, is out in Australia and NZ now.  You can read my review of Broken here on the blog.

Broken by Elizabeth Pulford

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When I first read about Elizabeth Pulford’s new book, Broken,  I thought it was an intriguing idea: the story of a girl trapped in a coma, interspersed with comic-style panels.  After some initial confusion about what was happening, I became wrapped up in the three strands of the story and got drawn in to Zara’s mind.

Critically injured in a motorbike accident, Zara Wilson lies in a coma. She is caught between many worlds: the world of her hospital room and anxious family, and that of her memories and a dream-like fantasy where she searches for her brother Jem. Jem proves elusive but Zara s adventures in her subconscious unlock dark secrets of a troubled childhood. Zara must face up to her past in order to accept her future.

Broken is unlike anything I’ve read before.  It’s a mystery, a family drama, and a touch of fantasy woven together to make a dark, slightly unsettling story.  There are three strands of the story that Elizabeth weaves together: the hospital room where Zara’s physical body is lying, Zara’s memories of her family and the thing that happened to her when she was seven, and Zara’s search for her brother inside his favourite comic.  This sounds slightly confusing (and it is to start with) but once you get used to the story jumping between these strands you get caught up in it.  Angus Gomes has created the comic-style illustrations that are sprinkled throughout the book.  These illustrations help to tell the part of the story that is set in Zara’s brother’s comic.  Zara enters this comic world to try and find her brother, and she meets the heroes and villains of the comic who both help and hinder her search.  It’s while she is trapped in her subconscious that Zara is able to come to terms with what happened to her when she was seven and reveal the truth of what has happened to her brother.  

If you’re looking for a Young Adult novel that stands out from the crowd then try Broken by Elizabeth Pulford.

4 out of 5 stars

Cover Reveal: The Book of Doom by Barry Hutchison

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Anyone who is a regular reader of my blog will know that I’m a huge fan of Barry Hutchison, author of the Invisible Fiends series and The 13th Horseman.  Imagine my surprise when Barry mentioned on his blog last month that he is naming the main character in his next Afterworlds book after me!  The next Afterworlds book is called The Book of Doom and isn’t due out until early next year, but Barry has just posted the cover art for it over on his website, http://www.barryhutchison.com.   I absolutely LOVE the cover, which has been created by David Wyatt, who also created the cover for The 13th Horseman.  Here, for your viewing pleasure is the cover for The Book of Doom.

Unrest by Michelle Harrison

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Have you ever read a book that sent chills down your spine and made you want to sleep with the light on?  I’ve never read anything as haunting and spine-tingling as Unrest by Michelle Harrison.

Seventeen-year-old Elliott hasn’t slept properly for six months. Not since the accident that nearly killed him. Now he is afraid to go to sleep. Sometimes he wakes to find himself paralysed, unable to move a muscle, while shadowy figures move around him. Other times he is the one moving around, while his body lies asleep on the bed. According to his doctor, sleep paralysis and out of body experiences are harmless – but to Elliot they’re terrifying.

Convinced that his brush with death has opened up connections with the spirit world, Elliott secures a live-in job at one of England’s most haunted locations, determined to find out the truth. There he finds Sebastian, the ghost of a long-dead servant boy hanged for stealing bread. He also meets the living, breathing Ophelia, a girl with secrets of her own. She and Elliott grow closer, but things take a terrifying turn when Elliott discovers Sebastian is occupying his body when he leaves it. And the more time Sebastian spends inhabiting a living body, the more resistant he becomes to giving it back. Worse, he seems to have an unhealthy interest in Ophelia. Unless Elliott can lay Sebastian’s spirit to rest, he risks being possessed by him for ever, and losing the girl of his dreams…

Unrest is one of the creepiest books I’ve read, and Michelle Harrison had me considering leaving the light on at night.  It should come with a warning: Do not read at night!  Michelle’s writing is so descriptive that you feel like you’re in the room with Elliot, seeing and feeling everything that he does.  Michelle mentions in the author note that Elliot’s experiences are based on those of one of her relatives, and it is knowing that her story is based on fact that makes it even scarier.  One thing that I especially like about her writing was the way that she builds up tension, making you feel very on-edge as you read.  There are several strands of the story that Michelle weaves together like the Witch’s Ladder that becomes an important symbol for Elliot.

I thought both Elliot and Ophelia were really interesting characters.  Elliot has no idea why these horrible things keep happening to him while he is asleep and he has to deal with it by himself as nobody else believes him.  You experience everything that Elliot does because you’re inside his head and you empathize with him because you wouldn’t want to be in his situation.  I don’t think I’d be particularly sane if I woke each night to find myself paralysed and a dripping ghost was sitting on my chest.  Ophelia was a character that really grew on me.  At first, she’s quite snobbish and doesn’t want anything to do with Elliot.  She seems to have put barriers up to everyone and doesn’t want to get close to anyone (with good reason as we later find out).  As Elliot gets to know Ophelia he starts to break down her barriers and she becomes someone he can confide in.  The more I found out about Ophelia the more I liked her, and so does Elliot.

Unrest has the most shocking, unexpected ending of any book that I’ve read (I wasn’t even sure it would end on a positive note).  When I finished I could finally take a breath and marvel at the spine-tingling story Michelle had just told me.  If you like to be scared by the words on a page, you can’t go past Unrest.

5 out of 5 stars

Win a Carlos Ruiz Zafon Book Pack

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To celebrate the release of The Prisoner of Heaven, Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s sequel to The Shadow of the Wind, I’m giving away a Carlos Ruiz Zafon book pack.  The pack includes a copy of The Prisoner of Heaven and his two Young Adult books, The Prince of Mist and The Midnight Palace.

All you have to do to get in the draw is enter your name and email address in the form below.  Competition closes Friday 29 June (open to NZ and Australia).

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Thank you for your response. ✨

Michelle Harrison talks about Unrest

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Michelle Harrison’s new book, Unrest, is my latest obsession.  It’s one of the creepiest, spine-tingling books I’ve read and makes me consider sleeping with the light on.  It’s out now in NZ.  Check out the creepy book trailer for Unrest and hear Michelle talk about her book and her top 5 ghost stories

Slated by Teri Terry

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Imagine waking up and having no idea who you are or where you are.  You learn that your memory has been wiped because you’re done something bad.  You’ve been given a second chance at life but you have what is effectively a bomb attached to your wrist.  If you get too angry, sad, or depressed you’ll start having seizures and die.  If you step out of line you could disappear and never be seen again, so in order to survive you must be a perfect citizen and follow the rules.  This is what life is like for Kyla in Teri Terry’s new book, Slated.

Kyla’s memory has been erased, her personality wiped blank, her memories lost for ever.

She’s been Slated.

The government claims she was a terrorist, and that they are giving her a second chance – as long as she plays by their rules. But echoes of the past whisper in Kyla’s mind. Someone is lying to her, and nothing is as it seems. Who can she trust in her search for the truth?

Slated is a tense, psychological thriller, that keeps you guessing and leaves you hungry for more.  In the future society of Slated, teenagers that are considered a danger to society are rehabilitated by having their memories wiped.  They have no idea of who they are or what they did to be Slated, and they’re adopted by a new family.  Every Slated has a Levo on their wrist which monitors their levels; if they get angry or scared, their levels drop and when they are happy their levels rise.  If levels get too low Slateds can black out and even die, so it is important to keep their levels mid-way or higher.  Kyla is different though, because she has horrible nightmares that have links to past events and anger has a strange affect on her levels.

If I had a Levo my levels would be pretty low because Teri’s story and some of the characters made me quite tense.   Like Kyla, you’re never really sure who to trust or who might be listening to her conversations. Teri keeps you guessing about why Kyla is different, why Kyla’s parents act so strange and what happens to the teenagers that disappear.  Teri answers some of these questions in Slated but leaves you hanging so you desperately want to read the next book, Fractured (coming in 2013).

4 out of 5 stars

Congratulations Patrick Ness and Jim Kay!

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I was unbelievably happy to wake up to the news this morning that A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness and illustrated by Jim Kay has won both the Carnegie Medal and the Kate Greenaway Medal.  To celebrate I thought I’d re-post my review of A Monster Calls (you’ll probably gather that I think it is a very deserving winner) and I’m giving away 2 hardback copies of this amazing book.  Keep reading to find out why I LOVE A Monster Calls.

It’s no secret that I think Patrick Ness is a brilliant author (I’ve written many blog posts about it).  His Chaos Walking Trilogy is one of those stories that really struck a chord with me and and the characters and their world will stay with me for a long time.  The books in the trilogy have won various awards in the world of children’s literature, including the BookTrust Teenage Prize, the Guardian Award, the Costa Book Award, most recently the final book, Monsters of Men won the prestigious Carnegie Medal.  When the Chaos Walking Trilogy came to an end last year, I was looking forward to reading whatever Patrick Nesswrote next and thankfully I didn’t have to wait very long.

Patrick’s next project was to write a story based on the ideas of another brilliant author, Siobhan Dowd, who had passed away from breast cancer in 2007.  Siobhan had the characters, premise and beginning and it was up to Patrick to turn it into a story.   Being both a fan of Patrick’s and Siobhan’s writing I eagerly anticipated their story, called A Monster Calls.  And boy, what a story it is!  Night after night, Connor is woken by the same nightmare, “the one with the darkness and the wind and the screaming.  The one with the hands slipping from his grasp, no matter who hard he tried to hold on.”  It is one night, after waking from this nightmare, that the monster arrives, twisting to life from the yew tree in the graveyard.  The monster comes to offer Connor a deal; it will tell Connor three stories, but then he must tell the monster a fourth story, and it must be the truth.  However, Connor’s mum is very sick and the truth is the thing that he fears the worst.

I really can’t explain how amazing A Monster Calls is.  Before you even start reading the book, you just need a few minutes to marvel at how beautiful it is.  Walker Books have put so much love into the design, from the dust-jacket and the cover,  to the stunning illustrations spread throughout the book by the very talented Jim Kay.  The story itself is breathtaking and you’ll go on a roller-coaster of emotion as the monster guides Connor towards the truth.  I especially liked the three stories that the monster tells and I hope that Patrick Ness writes more short stories like these.  Grab a copy of A Monster Calls from the library now.  Trust me, you won’t regret it.

Win the award-winning A Monster Calls

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The very deserving winner of both the 2012 Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medal is A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness and illustrated by Jim Kay.  Patrick Ness is one of my all-time favourite authors and I absolutely LOVED A Monster Calls.  It’s a beautiful, heart-breaking story and was probably my favourite book of 2011.

If you haven’t already read A Monster Calls or you loved it and want to own a copy you can win one of 2 copies that I’m giving away.  All you have to do is leave a comment below telling me your favourite childrens or young adults book.  Competition closes Friday 22 June (International).

Who are your picks for the 2012 Carnegie and Kate Greenaway medal?

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The winners of the 2012 Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medal are announced this Friday (NZ time).  Who do you want to win?  It’s so hard to pick but mine are My Name is Mina by David Almond (Carnegie) and A Monster Calls illustrated by Jim Kay (Kate Greenaway).

Carnegie Medal

     

     

  

Kate Greenaway Medal