Book club

Space Detectives by Mark Powers, illustrated by Dapo Adeola

10th February 2021 by Jax Blunt Leave a Comment

Disclosure: we were sent a copy free for review and links to bookshops are affiliate links, where I may get a small amount of money if you buy through it.

Dog lost in space? Grown an extra head and don’t know why? Pocket money stolen by a green blob? You need the Space Detectives!

Connor and Ethan are spending their summer holidays aboard the world’s first orbiting city, Starville (basically Beverley Hills in space!). The amazing space station is bursting with celebrities and the mega-rich. But Connor and Ethan are too busy selling ice cream to see the sights.

However, neither of our heroes can resist a mystery and when they discover the space station is hurtling on a collision course with the moon (eep!) they know they need to step in. This is a case for the SPACE DETECTIVES!

Can Connor and Ethan find the culprit and save Starville from its impending doom?

Right at the moment Tigerboy is very into lively chapter books that he can read by himself. He likes them to have pictures, and a good sense of humour, and as soon as I saw the description of Space Detectives, I knew it would be right up his street.

I was not wrong. He was thrilled when it arrived (addressed to him) and opened it immediately, retreating to his den (aka bed) to read. He carried the book around for the rest of the day, and finished it very quickly, all of which are good signs. Note the following review may contain spoilers.

He says: Space Detectives was good. I really like the bit where they floated around in space for a bit (especially as that bit is on the cover of the book). I also liked the fact that someone had a stupid amount of cats and that one of the cats has the same name as a computer virus that their owner developed. I think all the illustrations were quite good – I like books with pictures because sometimes they are pictures of things that I particularly like. I would like to read more books by this author and illustrator.

I think other people my age (nearly 9) would enjoy this book.

Now for the technical bit:
Information about the Book
Title: Space Detectives
Author: Mark Powers
Illustrated by: Dapo Adeola
Genre: Childrens
Publication Date: 4th February 2021
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Goodreads Link Amazon affiliate Link Bookshop affiliate link

Check out the rest of the blogs on the tour here!

Inscape by Louise Carey

20th January 2021 by Jax Blunt Leave a Comment

Inscape by Louise Carey publishes on 21st January. Available from bookshop (affiliate) and other booksellers. Copy supplied free for the purpose of review.

Warning: use of this gate will take you outside of the InTech corporate zone. Different community guidelines may apply, and you may be asked to sign a separate end-user license agreement.

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Tanta has trained all her young life for this. Her very first mission is a code red: to take her team into the unaffiliated zone just outside InTech’s borders and retrieve a stolen hard drive. It should have been quick and simple, but a surprise attack kills two of her colleagues and Tanta barely makes it home alive.

Determined to prove herself and partnered with a colleague whose past is a mystery even to himself, Tanta’s investigation uncovers a sinister conspiracy that makes her question her own loyalties and the motives of everyone she used to trust.

I hate to publish a review post without finishing the book, but despite my best efforts, I’m not quite at the end of Inscape. This doesn’t reflect badly on the book – it’s a great read, rather on my ability to concentrate in current situation. (Please tell me I’m not the only person struggling with the focus needed to actually read a novel at the moment?)

The book is SF that rockets along, told in third person present tense. This isn’t one of my favourites, I usually find it a bit obtrusive, but it’s done very well in this book and has the effect of keeping the pace up and the story really flowing. I can easily see YA readers enjoying this as it sits in that crossover area with many similar characteristics to YA novels.

Tanta, the lead character, is great, and watching her character develop even in the short time span of the book (there’s a lot going on very quickly) is fascinating. I’ve just got to the part where it really starts getting involved, and you should all be impressed I’ve put the book down to write this review. Well worth a look, I recommend this for anyone enjoying futuristic dystopian fiction.

Thingamanose by Lynne Hudson

2nd October 2020 by Jax Blunt Leave a Comment

Reviewed by Tigerboy.

It was really funny and I liked the end. Some of the rhyming is really good. I really like the illustrations, I saw new things in them each time I read it.

From the blurb

THINGAMANOSE is published in a fun and original format, a much longer picture book, that bridges the gap between picture book, comic book and chapter book. Ideal for ages 5 – 7, but we are sure it will appeal to some pre-school and some older primary school years, and hopefully draw in reluctant readers with its highly comic-book style.

Thanks for the review copy BeachyBooks, and you can buy it via our handy affiliate links.

Hive

Mini Monsters Can I Play by Caryl Hart and Tony Neal. #blogtour

12th June 2020 by Jax Blunt Leave a Comment

Disclosure, I was sent a copy of this book free for review, links may be affiliate depending on whether I have them set up right.

First impressions of the book are that it’s bright, cheerful and sturdy. Which is good, as there’s a good chance you’ll be reading this quite a bit. Also, the words Mini Monsters on the cover are textured, which means that children may enjoy tracing the letters with their fingers. (And when I say children, I mean everyone, and when I say may, I mean we did. I do love a book with extra sensory input.)

The book itself tells the story of playtime not going as smoothly as it might. Sparkle wants to play with Arthur, and only Arthur. This means excluding Scout, which leads to Scout feeling hurt and Sparkle cross. Arthur is caught in the middle and looks after the hurt friend, but Sparkle works through it all and everyone is happy in the end.

Completely the sort of thing that happens with small children (and not so small children for that matter), and exactly the kind of book that will help you talk it through. Bright cheerful pictures and clear language, and I loved the illustration of the letters from Sparkle.) The book is the first in a series about these characters, which is good news, and I look forward to seeing what comes next.

You can learn more about Caryl, the author, on her website here and there have been some great posts in the blog tour so far. You can find links to them by checking out Caryl on twitter.

I particularly enjoyed this post on StorySnug with some insight into the inspiration and writing of the series.

Check out the book on Waterstones (affiliate link) or support your local bookstore.

A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll – an #ownvoices review

5th June 2020 by Jax Blunt Leave a Comment

Disclosure – I was sent a proof of this book free for review, and links may be affiliate links.

There’s a trepidation in approaching a book about an autistic character when you’re autistic. What if it doesn’t describe autism the way you experience it? What if you’re going to have to spend the next however long replying to people that that’s not quite how it works for you? We’re desperate to see ourselves on the page, like other people get to, but far too often it’s a caricature or a stereotype written by someone with no experience, rather than a representation.

Not in this case. In this case, debut author Elle McNicoll is neurodivergent herself. She writes with a sure touch, describing aspects of autistic life without apology, but also making it clear that there’s no one way to be autistic, or to experience autism, and although her two main autistic characters have a lot in common, given they are sisters, there’s mention of other characters and experiences too. This doesn’t read like a debut, and while it’s middle grade fiction suitable for younger readers, (Addie is 11 and narrates the story accordingly) I thoroughly enjoyed it for myself too.

There were particular parts that leapt out at me. Being bullied by a teacher, for doing things differently. Not fitting in at school. That sense of burning injustice and overwhelming pain on behalf of someone else. The need to do something about it. Hyperfocus on a favoured interest, acquisition of knowledge, a deep dive into a topic.

I was not diagnosed autistic as a child, and I didn’t have anyone to explain to me the things that I was going through. There weren’t books with openly autistic characters either, and so I want to leap up and down and shout about every one I come across now, and make sure every child gets the opportunity to understand about other viewpoints. It’s important.

One day, I’d like for it to be possible for a character to be incidentally autistic rather than it having to be the point if that makes any sense, but I think we’ve a way to go before that happens. I’m very glad that we’ve got books like this explaining autism in the mean time.

My autism isn’t always my superpower. Sometimes it’s difficult. But on the days when I’m finding electricity in things, seeing the details that others might not, I like it a lot.”

About the book:
A Kind of Spark tells the story of 11-year-old Addie as she campaigns for a memorial in memory of the witch trials that took place in her Scottish hometown. Addie knows there’s more to the story of these ‘witches’, just like there is more to hers. Can Addie challenge how the people in her town see her, and her autism, and make her voice heard?

A story about friendship, courage and self-belief, Addie’s story was born from Elle’s own experiences of neurodiversity and her commitment to seeing greater representation in children’s books.

Published by KnightsOf, a publisher focused on actively finding voices from under-represented backgrounds. They are committed to publishing inclusive, commercial books and ensuring that the most diverse team possible, from across backgrounds and communities, work on every book. #BooksMadeBetter

Find A Kind of Spark at Waterstones (affiliate link), Hive books (affiliate link) or via your local independent bookshop. (Lots of places seem to be low on stock, but hang in there, it’s worth it.)

If you want to read other autistic voices, other recommendations/ reviews here:

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