Life in a Fishbowl by Len Vlahos

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Reality television shows are made about just about anything these days. You can watch people survive on an island, housewives fight with each other or follow the exploits of a group of Kiwis on the Gold Coast, from wherever you are in the world. However, would you watch a man dying of a brain tumour as his family crumbles around him? Len Vlahos’ amazing new book, Life in a Fishbowl, shows us exactly what life would be like for a family in this situation.

32604250Fifteen-year-old Jackie Stone’s father is dying.

When Jackie discovers that her father has been diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor, her whole world starts to crumble. She can’t imagine how she’ll live without him . . .

Then, in a desperate act to secure his family’s future, Jackie’s father does the unthinkable–he puts his life up for auction on eBay. Jackie can do nothing but watch and wait as an odd assortment of bidders, some with nefarious intentions, drive the price up higher. The fate of her entire family hangs in the balance.

But no one can predict how the auction will finally end, or any of the very public fallout that ensues. Life as Jackie knows it is about to change forever…

I absolutely loved this incredibly powerful story!  Like a reality TV show, Life in a Fishbowl is addictive and entertaining, but this book will also make you stop and ponder the issues that it deals with.  What lengths would you go to to provide for your family if you only had 4 months to live?  How would you feel if someone you loved was dying and you couldn’t grieve in peace? How would you cope with people who want to twist and edit your words and feelings just to make better TV?  If the person you love asked you to help them die would you do it?

Like the house that the family Stone live in, with it’s multiple cameras and multiple points of view, Len Vlahos gives us many different perspectives of Jared Stone’s situation.  I feel that these different points of view set this book apart from your average YA read.  You get the perspective of Jackie, one of the teenage daughter’s of Jared, who is struggling to deal with her father’s illness and the constant cameras that follow her everywhere in the house.  However, you also get the perspective of Jared himself (who is quickly loosing his memories and control of who he is), the ruthless TV producer Ethan (who will do almost anything to keep his show running), Sister Benedict (a nun who wants to save Jared but has questionable morals) and Sherman Kingsborough (an immature millionaire who believes that money can give him everything he wants).  Then there is my favourite perspective of the book, Glio, the anthropomorphized glioblastoma multiforme (or brain tumour).  You watch as Glio gobbles up Jared’s memories with glee, giving you a taste of family life before Glio came along.  Glio becomes more and more adventurous and hungry for experiences as the book progresses, which ultimately means the deterioration of Jared.

Like any reality TV show you there are moments where you will be biting your nails, screaming at the characters, laughing with glee as a character you hate gets what is coming to them, and ultimately wanting to binge the whole book until you’ve reached the end. Rush out and grab Life in a Fishbowl now!

The Bombs That Brought Us Together by Brian Conaghan

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Like many of the books on my shelves The Bombs That Brought Us Together has been sitting on my shelf for a while just waiting for the chance for me to pick it up.  I’ve spent the last month reading through my TBR pile and this book shot straight to the top when I heard that it had won the Costa Book Award.  I’m so glad that I finally got around to reading it because it is a brilliant book.

9781408855744Fourteen-year-old Charlie Law has lived in Little Town, on the border with Old Country, all his life. He knows the rules: no going out after dark; no drinking; no litter; no fighting. You don’t want to get on the wrong side of the people who run Little Town. When he meets Pavel Duda, a refugee from Old Country, the rules start to get broken. Then the bombs come, and the soldiers from Old Country, and Little Town changes for ever.

Sometimes, to keep the people you love safe, you have to do bad things. As Little Town’s rules crumble, Charlie is sucked into a dangerous game. There’s a gun, and a bad man, and his closest friend, and his dearest enemy.

Charlie Law wants to keep everyone happy, even if it kills him. And maybe it will…

The Bombs That Brought Us Together is an atmospheric, tense, utterly unique read that made me smile one minute and bite my nails the next.  I was absolutely captivated by this story and the characters that Brian has brought to life.  It is clear to see why this book won the Costa Book Award.
Brian Conaghan portrays life in a war-zone and a time of unrest with honesty and with heart. You see what the day-to-day reality is for Charlie, with rationing, curfews and beatings, and you see the fear that his parents live with.  Charlie tells us about the reality of life after the bombs when he shares his list of things he did before the bombs came, including ‘got really bored because Little Town had a lack of teenage things to do.’ You also see what life is like for refugees like Pav, those people that are forced out of the country and the lives that they knew into a place where they are hated and made to do horrible jobs just to survive.  Brian also shows us the friendship and hope that exists too, even with everything else that is happening.
The way in which Brian has portrayed the war between Little Town and Old Country is brilliant.  The conflict between Little Town and Old Country bears striking similarities to wars all over the world.  There are rebels that have taken Little Town as their own and they run the place as they see fit, but Old Country wants to take Little Town back and so they invade with their bombs and their soldiers.  Pav and his family are refugees from Old Country who are now living in Little Town and they are persecuted, especially when the Old Country troops invade.  Little Town is run by The Big Man and his Rascals.  It is when Charlie and Pav get themselves involved with The Big Man that the real trouble starts.
It was Charlie’s voice that grabbed me from the first page and made me want to keep reading.  As the story is narrated by Charlie you really get inside his head and go through all of his dilemmas and the events of the story right with him.  You feel him changing as the story progresses and hope that he is going to make the right choices.  You know how much he wants to protect his family and Pav and that he’ll do whatever it takes to keep everyone safe.  Things get especially tense towards the end of the book and I wasn’t sure how it was going to end.
The Bombs That Brought Us Together is one of those stories that I’m still thinking about days after finishing it.  Charlie and Pav will stay with me and I’ll wonder what they are getting up to.  I loved Brian’s writing so much that I want to go and hunt down his first book, When Mr Dog Bites, and I’m eagerly awaiting his next book (with Sarah Crossan) called We Come Apart.
Recommended for 13+ (definitely a YA read).

My best book of 2016 – There May Be a Castle by Piers Torday 

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My best book of 2016 – There May Be A Castle by Piers Torday. I read this amazing book just last week and it blew me away. It is also the first book in a long time to make me cry. When I got to the end I just placed it down and the tears started flowing. 

It is about a boy called Mouse who doesn’t like books at all. He is in the car with his two sisters and his mum when they are driving through snow to get to his grandparent’s house. They slip on the road and crash, throwing Mouse from the car. Mouse wakes up in a strange land and is told he must try and find a castle because there is something bad following him. There is a delightful cast of characters that join him on his quest, including a sarcastic horse called Nonky, a sheep called Bar, and a ‘dragon’ called Trex. The strange thing about these characters though is that they are personifications of his childhood toys. As you join Mouse on his quest you are trying to figure out what is going on and hoping that he’ll make it to the castle. You know something bad is going to happen if you don’t. The story also flashes to Mouse’s sister Violet and the rest of the family in the crashed car.

There are so many things I loved about this story. The characters are memorable, the dialogue is wonderful and often very funny, and the sense of not knowing what is happening makes you want to keep reading to the very end. It’s ultimately a story about the power of the imagination. Piers is a very gifted storyteller and I will certainly be getting hold of all his other books right away. I thought the story would end differently which I think is why I got such an emotional punch from it. Once I got to the end though I just wanted to start from the beginning again.

Grab There May Be a Castle now and lose yourself in this marvellous book. 

Win a copy of Such Stuff by Michael Morpurgo

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Such Stuff is the new book from Michael Morpurgo that delves in to the inspirations for his stories.  It is a truly wonderful book and you can read my review here on the blog.

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Thanks to Walker Books Australia I have 3 copies to give away.  All you have to do to get in the draw is email bestfriendsrbooks@gmail.com with the subject ‘Such Stuff,’ along with your name and address.

Competition closes Thursday 8 December (NZ only).

The Magic of Michael Morpurgo

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Michael Morpurgo is one of my favourite authors.  He has written hundreds of stories now and they always leave a lasting impression on you.  He is an incredibly gifted storyteller who knows just how to grab the reader.  There are two new Michael Morpurgo books out just in time for Christmas and they will make lovely gifts for any reader, both young and old.

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The Fox and the Ghost King (published by HarperCollins) is a wonderful little story with something for everyone.  There are foxes, football and a ghost.  The story follows a family of foxes who love to watch football.  Their favourite team, the Leincester City Foxes, keeps losing and losing and it seems like things will never look up.  One night though as they are heading home they hear a ghostly voice and they discover the ghost of a king who has been buried underneath a car park.  The ghost king promises the foxes that if they help him, he will help their favourite football team to win again.  This is a book that is perfect to share with the whole family as it is short and will grab everyone’s attention.  I loved this little story and will come back to it again.

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Such Stuff: a story-maker’s inspiration (published by Walker Books) is the perfect gift for any Michael Morpurgo fan.  This gorgeous hardback book is packed full of information about Michael’s most memorable stories.  Michael introduces his stories, telling you where he got the inspiration for each of them.  This is then followed by an extract from the story and some of the facts from the story too.  Reading this book makes you feel like you are sitting down in front of the fire with Michael as he tells you his stories personally.   With every part that I read I felt that I fell more in love with Michael’s writing and his stories became more ingrained in my mind.  Finding out where the inspiration for the stories came from made me desperate to go back and read them all over again.  By the end of the book I felt completely wrapped up in his stories.  It’s a book that I will dip into again and again.

This book is a family effort.  Not only are there parts written by Michael Morpurgo about his work, but Michael’s wife Clare, his brother Mark (who came up with the idea for the book) and Michael’s long-time collaborator, Michael Foreman, all helped to create this treasure trove of a book.  Such Stuff is a must-buy for any Michael Morpurgo fan.

 

Brobot by James Foley

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I absolutely love the Bad Guys books by Aaron Blabey.  For a while now I’ve been looking for something else to suggest to kids that is similar to the Bad Guys, both in the way that the story is told and the humour.  I’ve found the perfect book in James Foley’s new junior graphic novel, Brobot.

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Sally Tinker makes machines … and Joe Tinker breaks them. As the world’s foremost inventor under the age of twelve, Sally knows she can build a better brother than Joe. But is her invention – Brobot – really all that a brother should be?

Brobot is a hilarious junior graphic novel about a girl and her search for the perfect brother.  There is something in this book for everyone – annoying brothers who destroy everything, inventions, robots, toxic nappies, destruction and a whole lot of laughs. I’m sure a lot of kids will relate to Sally and her problems with her annoying little brother.

I loved James Foley’s previous book, My Dead Bunny (with Sigi Cohen) and I’ve been following the development of Brobot for a while, so it’s great to finally read it.  The story is really funny by itself but the comic illustrations add to the laughs.  Sally’s human brother Joe doesn’t even say anything and he still makes you laugh.  The facial expressions of Sally and Joe are enough to make you crack up sometimes.  I especially love Sally’s name, which she shortens to S. Tinker Inc.

Although it’s a graphic novel it’s a chapter book format so I’ll be shelving it with my younger fiction, just like the Bad Guys series.

Brobot is perfect for anyone who likes Aaron Blabey, Kyle Mewburn or just a really funny read.

Check out this great book trailer for Brobot too:

Who Sank the Boat? and Other Stories by Pamela Allen

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I love Pamela Allen’s stories.  My parents read them to me when I was young and now I read them to my daughter.  Her stories have stood the test of time and Pamela is still writing and illustrating new stories today.  Penguin Random House New Zealand have just released a beautifully packed collection of Pamela Allen’s stories just in time for Christmas.

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Who Sank the Boat? and Other Stories is a hardback collection of just some of Pamela Allen’s best stories.  Inside you’ll find Who Sank the Boat?, My Cat Maisie, Belinda, Alexander’s Outing, Brown Bread and Honey, Daisy All-Sorts, Grandpa and Thomas, Cuthbert’s Babies and Share Said the Rooster.  There is also some information at the start of the book about Pamela Allen and the many awards that she has won throughout the years.

This is collection to curl up with and share with the young ones in your life.  It’s the perfect gift book to put under the Christmas tree and it is a book that will be shared again and again.  I will certainly enjoy re-living my memories of Pamela Allen’s stories with my daughter as we try to figure out who did sink the boat, how to get Belinda back and try to teach Billy and Ben to share.

Do Not Open This Book by Andy Lee

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I love interactive picture books that beg readers to be part of the story.  They make you feel like the story couldn’t work without you.  Do Not Open This Book written by Andy Lee (one half of Australian comedy duo Hamish and Andy) and illustrated by Heath McKenzie is a brilliant new example of this type of picture book and it’s guaranteed to make kids laugh-out-loud.

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Do Not Open This Book begins with a strange little blue creature who is surprised that you’ve opened the book, especially since there was a warning on the front cover.  He asks the reader not to turn the page, but this is exactly what you want to do.  As the book goes on, he becomes more and more desperate, begging, pleading, threatening and sulking, before he finally reveals that if the reader reaches the final page, something terrible will happen.

I absolutely love Do Not Open This Book!  It is one of those books that is incredibly fun to read aloud and it never gets old or boring, no matter how many times you read it.  I’ve read this book aloud many, many times to the kids at my school, from new entrants through to the Year 6 kids, and they all love it.  I have kids queuing up to take this book home and I’m sure they would all be quite happy if I read it to them every time they came to the library.  Even though I love reading it to kids it’s even better when I hear some of the senior kids reading it aloud to each other.

The best thing about Do Not Open This Book is the perfect combination of the text and illustrations.  The story would be funny without illustrations but Heath McKenzie’s illustrations just add so much more humour to the story.  Heath’s character (which looks like a blue egg with long arms and legs) has a very expressive face.  The look of horror on the character’s face when  you do turn the page (even though he told you not to) or his face going purple because he is so exasperated that you keep turning the page just makes kids crack up laughing.  I have to stop myself from cracking up too every time I read it.

Do Not Open This Book is going to get read to death in my library and it is a must-have for your school or home.  You will be begging your kids to let you read this book to them.

Win a Timmy Failure prize pack

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I’m a huge fan of Stephan Pastis’ Timmy Failure series so I am super excited to announce this giveaway!

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Thanks to the awesome people at Walker Books Australia I have 3 Timmy Failure prize packs to give away.  Each pack contains a copy of the latest Timmy Failure book, The Book You’re Not Supposed to Have, a bookmark, a Timmy Failure lanyard and a pair of Timmy Failure sunglasses.

Thanks to everyone who entered.  The winners are Wendy, Lynley and Katrina.

A World of Information by Richard Platt and James Brown

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There have been some absolutely stunning children’s nonfiction books published this year.  I love that authors and publishers are trying new and exciting things to make nonfiction exciting for kids.  A World of Information by Richard Platt and James Brown is the perfect example of an innovative design for children’s nonfiction.  It is brand new from Walker Books and I LOVE this book!

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Do you know how many bones there are in the human body or how clouds form? Or about different types of knots or how Morse code works? Each illustration is both beautiful and enlightening, and is accompanied by an engaging fact-filled explanation by celebrated author Richard Platt. Covering more than 30 diverse and fascinating topics, there is a world of information at your fingertips in this book, which is perfect for all the family to enjoy.

A World of Information is a gorgeous book, filled with fascinating facts about all sorts of things.  This is the sort of book that you want to buy for everyone, from curious 8-year-olds to grandparents.  It is a book that will be read over and over again and dipped in and out of when you need an answer to a burning question.

There really is a world of information in this book and it is all essential stuff that will be useful to you throughout your life.  There is information about different types of knots, how to classify clouds, diagrams of the human skeleton, how to communicate with Morse code and semaphore, the anatomy of a bicycle, the periodic table of elements and the layout of the orchestra.  Textual information about each topic is accompanied by retro-style graphics and diagrams.

One of the most appealing things about this book is its size.  Its large, hardback format makes it perfect for opening out on a table or on the floor and pouring over.  The illustrations are large which means that James Brown has been able to fit lots of information onto each page.  You almost wish the pages were detachable so that you could put them on the wall.

A World of Information is a perfect present for anyone in your family this Christmas.  It is a book that everyone will love and will want to read.  It is certainly one of my favourite children’s nonfiction books of the year.