THE SILVER ROAD

by Sinéad O’Hart;  

An Adventure Book Review by Erin the Literary Cat©, International Book Reviewer.

Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction. If you’re here for the selfie, please scroll down!

Our book review this week is from the brilliant Irish writer, Sinéad O’Hart.  As you may recall, we reviewed her recently released book, The Time Tider, a few weeks back. This adventure is quite different, though no less exciting for the younger reader.  So, without further ado, gather your nearest and dearest together beside a fire, have a hot drink to hand, and settle in for an adventure into myth and legend. 

AUTHOR: Sinéad O’Hart

Cover art by: Manuel Šumberac

Published by: Bonnier Books UK. 

Imprint: Piccadilly Press.

Publication date for the paperback:  28 September 2023

Paperback ISBN:   978 – 1800 785 090

Cover price for Paperback £7.35

Kindle Price: £4.74

Pages: 192

Age range: 8 upwards

Any dogs or cats? A very much Not Cat kind of cat called Catshee. More on that in the story.

SPOILER ALERT

Some as to plot direction and characters.

Thank you to… 

We are exceedingly grateful to Sinéad, Bonnier Books/Piccadilly Press Publishers and NetGalley for the privilege of getting to Read & Review this exciting new release before publication. 

As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we have bought, been given as gifts, or received in exchange for an impartial review. 

First and foremost, the books we review are those we like and feel our global readers deserve to know about and that we hope they, their children, friends, and students will enjoy.

The plot

Ireland is a land of mystery, magic, legend and myth. Where time holds the truth of gods, witches, giants and all manner of creatures that helped shape their past and traditions. But the magic wanes when the magic is no longer passed down through tales, recalled around the fireside and man’s destruction of the land and old ways through ‘progress’. Dangerously so, and enough that something begins to awaken from deep within the earth, aided by a witch. 

In the (fictional) town of Carriganawn, Young Rose Darke lives with her parents and twin younger brothers. Late one night, hearing a strange sound outside, she ventures into the garden, armed only with her mother’s best wooden spoon. 

Before her, a large ice giant forms from the falling hail. Voiceless, it gestures she should take a reddish, oval stone from its grasp. Having done so, the strange yet unthreatening giant leaps into the sky and is gone, swallowed into a peculiar darkness. 

Confused, Rose returns to bed and thinks it is a dream. But waking to find the stone is real, along with her mother’s wrath for ruining her spoon, she wonders what is going on? 

Rose won a full scholarship to a posh Grammar School but comes from a poorer but good family who happens to live on a council estate on the other side of town. This fact is made clear by Emer, a girl in her year who makes her life less than good. Unfortunately, Rose can’t retaliate or cause a stink as her dad is employed by Emer’s father. It would go badly for them all if he lost his job.

Rose takes a different way to school to avoid Emer and her friends, passing along a lesser-used road with shops. Here she finds friendship in the unlikely shape of the elderly lady, Nellie, who owns a sweet shop, and Gracie, an equally older gent who owns the cobblers shop on the opposite side of the road.

Now, the stone is known to Nellie and Gracie, who have much to share with young Rose. When she ventures into their parlour for a cup of tea and to pass some time and share her woes, she is soon shown a hidden world beyond the ordinary facade of the sweet shop. The two elderly folk are not mortals but beings from long past whose job is to protect the Silver Road, the magic network of threads that crisscross Ireland, its magical lifeblood if you will. They also protect a large and mythical cauldron inset into a mound in the green garden beyond the back kitchen door. The cauldron can grant wishes if it so chooses.

But the adventure soon takes off as the purpose of the stone gifted by the Ice Giant is revealed to Rose. In fact, her destiny is to be a hero and wield the stone’s destructive power for good.

When the stone is lost and found by Emer, things worsen, and Emer falls under its power. 

Through these events, the heatwave that is affecting the town is worsening. It seems the witch is the cause, and the heat is only a taste of the destruction to be unleashed when she awakens the monster that is her beloved and imprisoned husband. The light from his evil eye will scorch the earth. 

With the power in the Silver Road weakening because of human kinds’ rape of the land and development, Nellie and Gracie’s powers are weakened. 

With the stone lost and only a magical cobblers hammer in her belt, Rose sets off to stop an impending cataclysmic event and evil arising from the dead and depths of the mythology.

I have to let the reader discover what happens next, the surprises that follow, the support Rose gets from unlikely quarters, and the fights that take place. 

So, what did we think?

Mythology and legend rewoven and told for a modern younger audience with aplomb and zest worthy of the first story weavers. I dare say Tolkien would have been impressed also!

We are not great lovers of complex names or convolutions of historical epics, but thankfully this book has both a prologue that sets the scene and an appendix to enlighten us further as to characters and their place in history, or in the case of where the author has created them, their inspiration. 

The action takes off about halfway through, and I found it hard to put down, especially once the not cat becomes involved and we reach a sort of gathering of forces. 

Which all makes me think of the Lord of the Rings. The eloquence of the introduction of characters, their journey, wants and needs. Friendships and enemies. Surprises and, to a degree, heartache. 

We loved the cover, too, the relevance of which you’ll discover once you read the story.

So . . . . 

Crunch time. 

A book for lovers of Irish and Celtic mythology, as well as an excellent wholesome adventure. With some environmental undertones as well as those of friendship and responsibility.

This ticks all the boxes, and I can’t imagine any younger reader not wanting to read more about the actual characters that have lent themselves to this story in one shape or another and to read similar books.

Want to buy a copy?

To get a copy, please follow your own Silver Road – mindful of ogres, giants, ghosts and huge stags, down to your local independent bookshop. There are plenty out there; each shop is just waiting to serve up whatever kind of mythology, factual, magical, fun and adventure story you desire.

Sinéad O’Hart web page can be found HERE or type this: https://sjohart.wordpress.com/

Manuel Šumberac’s web page can be found HERE or type this: https://www.manuelsumberac.com/

Bonnier Books web page can be found HERE or type this:  https://www.bonnierbooks.co.uk/

And now, the Sunday Selfie. 

We are joining Janet Blue from the Cat on My Head blog for the weekly parade of selfies from all manner of companion creatures from across the pond and around the globe. 

To go to Janet’s blog selfie page, please click this LINK, or type / cut and paste  https://thecatonmyhead.com/the-end-of-an-era/

And finally, here is my selfie 🙂 🙂

Till laters!

ERin

Our Cats in Amsterdam

 by JULIAN WORKER;  

Image ©

An Adventure Book Review by Erin the Literary Cat©, International Book Reviewer.

Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review, today featuring Adventures in FELINE Fiction.

But first . . . .

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ We have WINNERS! ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Mrs H has held the draw for copies of the Forgotten Garden, the fab new book by Sharon Goosling. The winners were decided by observing the numbers on the side of 15 of Farmer Clarksin’s sheep and then seeing which were the first to escape the field.

First through the hedge was No. 32, Doris, which means that Peachy, Stippie, Angel Binky and Granny of the Angelswhisper2011 blog in the Netherlands, won the first copy of The Forgotten Garden by Sharon Gosling.

Second out the field was No. 7, Agatha, who exited the field by a rather deft shimmy under a gate. This means that Tama-Chan, Benny, Momo, Vidock, Violette, Ollie, Hotesse & Heloise of The Poupounette blog in Perche, France, win the second copy of The Forgotten Garden.

Congratulations to you both. Please leave a specific comment with only your addresses. We moderate all comments so this particular comment will not be posted.

Now, on to the review!

This week we have a delightful sequel. One that is all cat. Well, cat-centric, with entertaining shenanigans from squirrels, crows and a parakeet!

Image ©

 

AUTHOR: Julian Worker
 
Cover art by: Unknown at this time.
 
Published by: Mirador Publishing

 
Publication date: Paperback– OUT NOW!
 

Paperback ISBN:  978 191 4965 739

 
Price for Paperback: £13.99

⭐️ KINDLE ⭐️on offer at $2.99 0r £2.99
 
Pages: 241
 
Age range: Y/A Adult

Any dogs or cats? Oh, yes and many more besides.

 
 
SPOILER ALERT

Some as to plot direction and characters, including preceding adventure.
 
Thank you to…

I am exceedingly grateful to Mrs H for buying this book for me to Read & Review. It was on my to-buy list, and she bought it for me.
 
As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we have bought, been given as gifts, or received in exchange for an impartial review.

First and foremost, the books we review are those we like and feel our global readers deserve to know about and that we hope they, their children, friends, and students will enjoy.
 
The plot

We join Freddie and Gemma at home in the UK. Life for them both has become better since Gemma’s attitude has eased. She is learning from reading books that life can be different. She is also learning from Freddie’s Buddhist ways that humans are not the monsters she thought. She used to blame humans for stealing her kittens and was exceptionally bitter as a result. Now, she is more accepting of what happened. At least she doesn’t now bite the hands of Mary and John, the humans she and Freddie live with.

It is, as the book so wittingly describes and titles each and every chapter, ‘today’. After the humans have headed off to work, Freddie heads off to the local park to see his squirrel friend, Rufus. There is a conflict between a large wasp colony that has made its new home in a tree and the local council. For the sake of people being stung, they intend to chop down the tree to drive the wasps, who all happen to be called Wilf, away. With arbitration, Freddie brokers peace, and all ends well.

Not long after, Freddie has some visitors. A group of crows from Holland, related to his local crow family, come in search of Freddie and Gemma obtain to obtain their services. Unbeknown to the cats, their fame has spread globally via YouTube videos of the antics in the park and catching a thief at the local library.

Should they choose to accept it, Gemma and Freddie’s mission is to travel to Holland to help the Dutch crows and Europol catch various ne’er-do-wells. In the process, they hope to unravel a large web of and bring down a far greater number of villains in and outside of Holland. The list is daunting: Mafia, human traffickers and diamond smugglers must be followed and brought to book.

It will mean travelling when their humans are away on holiday, and, for Freddie, going undercover with hair colouring (washable) so he won’t be recognised.

To add to the tension, when the two arrive in Amsterdam, they learn a contract has been put out to get them!

With mild-mannered and super-efficient Miep as their guide and carer, will the two dynamic cats, with their special rapport with creatures and humans, save the day and, more importantly, save themselves? 

To find out what happens and get a wonderful feel for the majesty and culture of the city that is Amsterdam, you’ll just have to read on . . .
 

So, what did we think?

Our Cats in Amsterdam is a thinking cat and persons book, though that isn’t to say it’s not fun or humourous; it most certainly is.

Starting shortly after Freddie’s last adventure featured in ‘Diary of a Buddhist Cat’ (see our review HERE), we soon are into the thick of a mission that follows as much Freddie’s and Gemma’s personal development and enlightenment as it is the defeat of global ne’er do wells and villains. But these are villains we will all have heard of, broadly, in the news, which makes it more relevant and appealing.

Throughout, Gemma and Freddie discuss the requested selection of literature they have been left to read by their thoughtful Dutch hosts. The book titles and authors will, I am sure, be familiar to you all. I am ashamed to say I have read none of them. It is a fault I shall be rectifying shortly, as I put an order in for books on stoic philosophy and philosophers.

The book’s pace in parts initially struck me — metaphorically speaking and not that Mrs H was having an autistic meltdown — as slow. But I realised that this was in tune with the delightful atmosphere redolent of Amsterdam itself. A city whose gentle cycling and walking leafy thoroughfares and waterside environ create a different air to the intensity of the London or New York scene we often see in modern literature.

This is an adventure that does not require violence as a driver. However, there is threat and peril on a feline level and underlying tones in the human world, too.

But no tale with these delightful two felines, so very much like humans, would be the same without the antics at Freddie’s local library. The discourse between Freddie, his friend Angela the Librarian, and Roger, her rather scheming and doubting college, is rib-tickling and just perfect.
 

So . . . .
Crunch time.

If you have read the Diary of a Buddhist Cat, this is an excellent enlightening, thought-provoking sequel. A must-have. If you have not, do get that first story under your belt and then read this.

This adventure is once more seen through the eyes of Freddie. It has action scenes – conflict, stand-offs, negotiations and betrayal. We read this slowly but carefully over a week and thoroughly enjoyed the change of pace and underlying message for doing good and enlightenment. The story is not without its surprises, and Mrs H and I are both wondering what will happen next and also wishing for a sequel . . .
 

Want to buy a copy?

To get a copy, please saunter down to your local independent bookshop (a tulip-lined canalside route would be great but is optional). There are plenty out there, and each unique shop is just waiting to serve up whatever kind of mystery, fun and adventure you desire.

JULIAN WORKER’s web page can be found HERE. Or copy and paste https://julianworkerwriter.blog/

MIRADOR Publishing’s web page can be found HERE. Or copy and paste https://miradorpublishing.com/

And now, the Sunday Selfie.

We are joining Janet Blue from the Cat on My Head blog for the weekly parade of selfies from all manner of companion creatures from across the pond and globe.

To go to Janet’s blog selfie page, please click this LINK. or type / cut and paste https://thecatonmyhead.com/national-tabby-cat-day-sunday-selfies/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=national-tabby-cat-day-sunday-selfies

And here is me!

Till laters!

ERin

THE FORGOTTEN GARDEN

by SHARON GOSLING;  

An Adventure Book Review by Erin the Literary Cat©, International Book Reviewer.

Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction. Ok, this isn’t actually a Middle Grade book, but is from one of our favourite authors, who happens to have an awesome cat called Newt who follows her around and gets up to all sorts of mischief. 

Not unlike me really, but all that is documented by Mrs H in my book. So enough of my preamble and shameless plug, here’s the low down on this rather Top Notch story!

AUTHOR:  Sharon Gosling

Published by: Simon & Schuster

Publication date: Paperback

Paperback ISBN:   978-1398519176

Cover price for Paperback £8.99

Pages:   432

Age range:  Adult fiction with a splash of romance and a whole lot more.

Any dogs or cats?  Sorry, not this time, but plenty of gardening.

SPOILER ALERT

Some as to plot direction and characters.

Thank you to… 

We are exceedingly grateful to Simon & Schuster Publishers (and NetGalley) for allowing us to Read & Review this much-anticipated book before publication. 

As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we have bought, been given as gifts, or received in exchange for an impartial review. 

First and foremost, the books we review are those we like and feel our global readers deserve to know about and that we hope they, their children, friends, and students will enjoy.

The plot

Our story opens with our lead character, Louis MacGregor, looking out over the Austen-like grounds of Feldspar Hall, a stately home. She accompanies her boss Marianne, a self-serving lady who heads up Boswell Garden Architecture. Luisa loves gardens and plants and has created some impressive ideas, which she sketched on her iPad. It is a pad that her boss takes from her when Caroline, the stately home’s owner, takes delight in the colour scheme and a hidden bower. They are all Luisa’s ideas, but Marianne presents them as hers. It is a life she has gotten used to, hiding her own gardening training and talent away to avoid the pain of better, happier days and a marriage that ended with the death of Reuben, her husband, in a climbing accident.

When Luisa returns to the small townhouse in Carlisle she shares with her soon-to-be-wed younger sister, Jo, she reveals she has had a telephone call from Reuban’s Godfather, Owen. 

Owen cares for Luisa and is cognisant of the project she and Reuben wanted to undertake to create a community garden scheme before he died. When he finds he has acquired a block of worthless wasteland in a company acquisition, it seems the perfect chance to kick the long-buried project into action and raise Luisa from her self-imposed drudgery. 

The idea seems to end when Luisa declines, not wishing to open old memories and wounds. But, after a rather curt demand from her boss, and with a bit of persuasion from Jo that she really should go; after all, what harm could it do, plus it could be the galvanizing she needs to break away from Marianne, Luisa heads for the derelict land that could be the home of a new community project.

When she arrives at Collaton, a town on the Cumbrian west coast, it is a bleak and wintery wet day. The town was never a tourist attraction. Even in its heyday, it merely served as a place to house the workers of refineries and shipyards nearby. Now, with boarded-up shops and closed pub, it was little more than a ghost town, and the people survived as best they could in a community without a centre. But no, I take that back, for amid the slow urban decay, one man was trying to bring hope to the town’s youngsters. Casimir Pattanyús, Cas to his pals, a teacher by day, runs a boxing club for the kids in the evenings. With only his wage to run the place, it seems there is little hope that the spirit the club engenders will survive another year.

When Luisa’s borrowed car gets a puncture in the gloom, it is Cas and 17-year-old Harper, a bright lass with an attitude, come to her rescue. Well, it is Harper who, with a skill for all things mechanical, gets to change the tyre. 

Now, behind the scenes, Harper lives with her 9-year-old brother, Max. A brighter lad you could never hope to meet. He doesn’t really mix with others and has a single-minded focus on his latest hobby. But his current passion of gardening, and lack of understanding, gets him into trouble with the neighbour from whom he’d been taking some fresh bedding plants and compost. She is understanding, but it is wearing thin. Luisa also manages to stop the police from being called when Max tries to take a gardening magazine from the newsagent. It said ‘FREE’ on the cover. To Max, this means the whole magazine is free; else, why would they say it? But of course, the ‘free’ is related to the gift on the outside and not the magazine.

With a drunk father at home, who clearly doesn’t understand Max, Harper looks after her brother and cooks and cares. Given the reputation she has, nobody dares tease or bully Max. Studying for her A-Level exams, helping part-time at the gym, and working at a local garage to earn the money they need to get by, is tough. But Harper has both grit and determination. Never more so when it comes to protecting Max from the nastiness that is the world outside his own. 

But there is a downside: she has had to steal small things to help Max. It has got her into trouble, and she is only saved by Cas stepping in to convince the shop she pinched marker pens for Max from that community service at the gym was way better than the police. If the authorities found out about the situation at home, they would be split up. Now that is a heap load of pressure.

When Luisa sees in her mind that Reuben would have taken the plunge, she resigns from Marianne’s employ and takes Owen up on his offer. They will try for six months. If the garden project fails, Owen, who has many contacts far and wide, will ensure Luisa gets a job. It really is a win-win. Better yet, she can finally put Reuben’s insurance money into a project they both wanted to create and not just leave it languishing in a bank account. What better way to honour his memory?

What Luisa needs is to get the garden up and running. A community project first needs the community to come together, see the worth of what is to be achieved, and then get involved. With Harper as an unwilling helper to work off her community service hours on the project, they make a start. 

Now, no story would be complete without a villain. This story’s villain comes in the form of one Darren Dixon, recently out of prison and thinking he can make a name for himself for nefarious acts like selling drugs. He is also Harper’s cousin and her enemy for trying it on with her. Worse, he has a grudge against Casimir and is determined to get even, one way or another.

When Darren and his posse of wannabe small-town thugs make a grand entry at the gym where Luisa is holding a meeting to push the garden idea, he and Cas have a standoff. It seems like hollow bravado especially given Cas is still built like the boxer he once was. But the stink of trouble Darren brings is enough to send the few interested townsfolk scattering, and with them, any hope of help goes. 

With the main characters assembled, this is where the story takes off. Harper has to make a decision that ultimately spirals out of control. Other characters, too, make choices, the end of which could destroy them or be their making. One thing is certain: come the end of one night not far from this point, nobody in Collaton will ever be the same.

OK, so I can’t really say much more. Suffice it to say we were gripped and not disappointed. As Mrs H wanted me to say, “the pleasure and devil are in the plot weaving to date and what follows.” Whether the community ultimately pull together and the garden built, is for you all to discover. . . .

So, what did we think?

A book beautifully grounded in real-life situations, reflections of what is and could be, and things most of us will have seen or experienced wherever we may live. 

Heartfelt and written with a sense of credibility, person and place. It is good to see disabled representation, too, for a key player. Sharon’s gardening passion is quite evident in the text, adding a palpable flavour. 

The beauty of this book for us was, whilst we don’t do romantic fiction as a rule, there is so much more going on that the story takes on a larger vista driven by the subplots of Max, Harper, Casimir, and Luisa, which all came together beautifully and dramatically towards the end. And the final chapter is not what we expected either, which is always a pleasant surprise. Mrs H said she had an inkling of things that might happen later when the adventure entered the town’s scrap yard, but that was all. 

So . . . . 

Crunch time. 

This fun, easy read enthraled and captured our senses immediately. Like ‘The Lighthouse Bookshop’, Sharon’s previous and second novel we reviewed last year (follow this link to see the review) it has the same compelling storytelling air.

Not to put any pressure on Sharon’s busy schedule or take time away from her allotment time and cuddles with Newt, her feline companion, but I can’t wait for the next tale, whatever it may be.

Want to buy a copy?

To get a copy, please head down to your local independent bookshop. There are plenty out there and each shop is just waiting to serve up whatever kind of romance, gardening, mystery, fun and adventure you desire.

⭐️ We have a Giveaway! ⭐️

Mrs H has kindly funded the purchase of two copies of this fabulous book out of her pension & sherry fund. Two lucky commenters will each receive a copy to enjoy, subject to local postal arrangements and Amazon availability. 

All you have to do is leave a comment below, and Mrs H will, with my help, select a numbered mouse at random from our virtual hat! Entries close Saturday 22nd April 2023.

Sharon Gosling’s web page can be found HERE OR type this:- https://www.sharongosling.com/

Simon & Schuster’s UK’s web page can be found HERE. OR type this:- https://www.simonandschuster.com/

And now, the Sunday Selfie.

We are Joining Janet Blue from the Cat on My Head blog for the weekly parade of selfies from all manner of companion creatures from across the pond and globe.

To go to Janet’s blog selfie page, please click this LINK. or type / cut and paste https://thecatonmyhead.com/unlikely-easter-two-fur/

And here is me, taking some time to dream of a greenhouse full of catnip!

Till laters!

ERin

THE BOY WHO SAVED A BEAR

By NIZRANA FAROOK; Artwork by DAVID DEAN

An Adventure Book Review by Erin the Literary Cat©, International Book Reviewer.

Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction. This week we have a cracking good read for you. 

So without further ado lets read about . . . .

Image copyright ©

AUTHOR: NIZRANA FAROOK

Cover art by: DAVID DEAN

Published by: NOSY CROW

Publication date: Paperback – 6 APRIL 2023

Paperback ISBN: 978-183 994 3928

Cover price for Paperback: £6.49

Pages: 194

Age range: 9 to 12 and upwards

Any dogs or cats? No, but one very delightful bear!

SPOILER ALERT

Some as to plot direction and characters. 

Thank you to… 

We are exceedingly grateful to Hannah Prutton and the team at Nosy Crow Publishers for the delight of getting to Read & Review this grand, children’s adventure before publication. 

As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we have bought, been given as gifts, or, as in this case, received in exchange for an impartial review. 

First and foremost, we read for pleasure, and the books we review are those we like and feel our global readers deserve to know about and that we hope they, their children, friends, and students will enjoy.

The plot

Nuwan is aged twelve. He lives with his parents, elder brother Krish, and younger sister, Priya, in a village in the north of Serendip, now called Sri Lanka, many, many decades ago.

The story opens with Nuwan, and his best pals, Sani and Chathura, admiring the elephants lined up outside the great Library of the North. It seems the key to a long-lost treasure, housed in a statue at the royal palace, has been discovered in the library. It is a cause for a grand celebration. The key will be presented to the Queen after a five-day procession from the library. All the time, the key to be held aloft on the elephant’s back, on display to the villagers en route.

The three want to get close enough to see the great key but can’t. If only Krish were there, as he delivers books from the library to a temple beside the royal palace. He could go in and view the key and tell them all about it.

But Krish is sick at home. Unable to pick up his delivery, the three friends think all is lost. Until that is, Nuwan decides HE will take Krish’s place and deliver the books to the temple. That way, he could legitimately enter the library and look at the key on display before it leaves for the palace. It will also mean that Nuwan can prove he can be as trustworthy as his sixteen-year-old brother and help the family rather than be expected to fail at everything he does.

It is a choice that will prove life-threateningly dangerous and also life-affirming. 

When Nuwan convinces the librarian, Mrs Weerasinghe, he can undertake the urgent task instead of his brother. Too busy to argue, he is allowed to collect and deliver the books. And in so doing, he gets to see the key. So now all that’s left is to get the books to the temple. Just before he heads home to tell his parents, he notices another book tucked away. Almost lost between two wooden panels. Adding the volume of poetry to his pile, he heads home.

But when he expected to find praise for his initiative, he was told flatly he wasn’t allowed on the journey. It was, they said, far too dangerous for a twelve-year-old. Despite his protestations that Krish had done it at twelve, he was too unreliable. Later, when nobody is looking, he takes the books and begins his journey to the temple near the Kings City.

Unbeknown to Nuwan, thieves have stolen the real key and hidden it in a hollowed-out section in that same book of poetry. They replaced it with a replica key now heading to the Queen. 

In a momentary rest from his trek, inquisitive Nuwan found the key in the poetry book. He quickly realised what it was and that he needed to get it to the Queen or be branded the thief himself. For safety, he has hung the key around his neck. 

The head librarian and her husband are quickly revealed to be the thieves when they track down Nuwan as he makes his journey and menacingly demand the key back. In the ensuing set-to with Mrs Weerasinghe, the head librarian, and her husband, Nuhan fleas into a cave. The cave is a place of sanctuary not just for him but also for a bear. And not just any bear; this cave belongs to Karadi, a bear with one white paw and a ferocious reputation. 

Now, I could leave this review here; after all, it is a climactic moment. But what follows is worth telling just to get the story really flying. With a twist in circumstance, good or bad will be for you to find out, the key ends up in Karadi’s possession, around her neck! 

The story gathers pace and tension from here on in. Nuwan has some lessons to learn along the way, and life and limb are literally put at risk. Whose I shall not say.

Suffice it to add, yet again, Mrs H gasped out loud and had a tear in her eye at various points. I really do think she gets too involved in our reviews 🙂. But it is a good sign that this book hits all the right spots.

So, what did we think?

We loved the preceding adventures, all set in and around Serendip/Sri Lanka. The first was The Girl Who Stole an Elephant, and the second was The Boy Who Met a Whale. The third is The Girl Who Lost a Leopard. Do look them up and have a read.

The action is quick, and the plots, written with vest and aplomb, weave themselves through the land, jungle and oceans to a grand finale. This new adventure (like the others) touches the heart deep down, naturally and gently. 

A brilliant, neat, tidy story, and the ability to draw one in to the place, characters, and action that matters. 

Mrs H says she would have loved to have these growing up, though they are by no means dated. She thinks the extra magic in such stories comes from the sense of the wild, the creatures and the unexpected that flows through and punctuates all Nizrana’s stories. It is hard not to think of Kipling when reading this, though, without the talking creatures. 

It would be remiss not to say how much we love David Dean’s artwork within and for all the covers; it is perfect. I get a real sense of place and time in the image styles and colours. A perfect foil for the stories. 

Oh, if you are wondering about the title, well, lets just say for every action there is a consequence and a lesson to be learned.

So . . .

Crunch time. 

Without a doubt, this competent series is one to read, share and enjoy.

Want to buy a copy?

Please set out on a journey to your local independent bookshop to get a copy. There are plenty out there (both bookshops and possibly bears, though hopefully not in the same place). Each shop is just waiting to serve up whatever kind of mystery, fun and adventure you desire. Of course, a bear in tow is not obligatory and will likely raise a few eyebrows. On the plus side, it will probably shorten the queues at the checkout, too!

A little about the author:

Nizran was born and lived in Columbo, the capital of Ceylon, now called Sri Lanka. Having graduated from Bath Spa University with an MA in writing for young people, she currently lives in Hertfordshire, England with her family.

There is a lovely and far more in depth article /interview with Nizrana on the blog MY BOOK CORNER. A link to that site and page can be found HERE. Or type https://www.mybookcorner.co.uk/my-journey-to-publication-guest-post-by-nizrana-farook/

Nizrana Farook’s web page can be found HERE or type this: https://nizranafarook.com/


NOSY CROW’s web page can be found HERE or type this: https://nosycrow.com/


David Dean’s web page can be found HERE or type this: https://www.daviddean.co.uk/


And now, the Sunday Selfie.

We are Joining Janet Blue from the Cat on My Head blog for the weekly parade of selfies from all manner of companion creatures from across the pond and globe.

To go to Janet’s blog selfie page, please click this LINK. or type https://thecatonmyhead.com/unlikely-easter-two-fur/

I shall leave you with my selfie! 🙂 🙂 That bunny seems happy enough, me, well, I think I was considering the lunch menu …….

Till laters!



ERin

DIGGING FOR VICTORY

by CATHY FAULKNER;  

An Adventure Book Review by Erin the Literary Cat©, International Book Reviewer.

Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction. 

Whilst there have been plenty of antics going on in Upper Much-Mousing to report on this week, Mrs H has been seriously pre-occupied with serious human adult stuff elsewhere. So, please bear with her on that front.

(If your here for a selfie, please scroll on down!)

This week we have a brilliant story for you. Without further ado, lets go DIGGING FOR VICTORY . . . .

Image Copyright.

AUTHOR:  Cathy Faulkner

Cover art by:   Harry Goldhawk

Published by: Firefly Press

Paperback Publication date: 4 May 2023

Paperback ISBN:   9 781 915 444 110

Cover price for Paperback £7.99

Pages:  279

Age range: 9- 12

Any companion creatures?  No.

SPOILER ALERT

Some as to plot direction and characters. 

Thank you to… 

We are exceedingly grateful to the whole team at Firefly Press Publishers (and NetGalley) for the privilege of getting to Read & Review this much-anticipated book before publication and for allowing us to share examples of the text. 

As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we like and feel our readers deserve to know about and that we hope they will enjoy. 

A little extra info before we start: The book follows diary-like entries rather than numbered chapters and runs from December 1940 to June 1941. And depending on the story’s needs, sometimes the entries skip days or weeks. 

The plot

Our book opens on Wednesday, 3rd December 1940.

12-year-old Bonnie (our protagonist) lives with her mum, dad, and elder brother, Ralph, on a dairy farm in the west of England. Ralph, aged just 19, has been accepted to fly for the RAF. The whole family are very proud. Bonnie, though, also wants to be a hero. Why can’t girls and women be heroes too? 

With Ralph away, Bonnie’s parents decide to take in, billet, someone from another part of the country. It could be a child or maybe a ‘land girl’, one of the many women to take the place of the men in the fields. The last thing Bonnie wants is a boy, or heaven forefend, a shirker – a conchie, aka a conscientious objector. Nobody wants one of those.

When one Mr Fisher arrives soon after, in RAF uniform, Bonnie is unimpressed. The home’s routine is necessarily changed, but Bonnie is to ask no questions and just do what Mr Fishers wants. But all he does in the day is sleep and read by the fire. So why, she wonders, is he billeted at their dairy farm. He isn’t to help anywhere else or on the farm, and no aerodrome or squadron is stationed nearby? 

These thoughts nag at Bonnie, but life moves on. With an extra mouth to feed and less help on the farm, Bonnie gets conscripted to do her bit for her family and country. She has to help DIG FOR VICTORY.

Gardening is not Bonnie’s thing. Digging garden trenches just does not seem of worth. She only did a morning of digging and would have readily swapped the spade for a gun. She wants to be a hero. She wants to be like her brother and not like Mr Fisher, who sits and does nothing. 

Rumours start to fly around school that ‘stay at home’ Mr Fisher is a coward or a conchie. Maybe he’s a German spy? Worse, they brand quiet Bonnie the same!

Whatever the truth of it, the taunts by the other girls and boys soon wear down Bonnie’s best pal, Carol. Fed up with herself being taunted for siding with and defending quiet Bonnie, Carol soon caves in to popular childish beliefs, saying that it is possible he’s a conchie.

Now with no friends in the village, Bonnie is determined to find out EXACTLY what Mr Fisher gets up to when he goes out in the evening and returns before dawn. She wants to find out what he does, get proof he is playing his part in the war, and then win back her friends.

From here on in, the plot unfolds quickly. There is an alarming discovery, uncertainty, new shoots of life and bad news to shake the family to the ground. Resolve will be stretched, unlikely friendships made, friends lost, and true heroism discovered. 

At the centre of this all will be a 12-year-old girl struggling to make sense of things and a world exploding around about her. The outcome I shall leave for you, dear reader, to discover for yourself. You will NOT be disappointed.

So, what did we think?

A beautiful, heartwarming story, so lyrically told and powerful enough to raise a tear and a cheer. 

Dealing with the realities of wartime from a home perspective is not easy. 

To do it eloquently, factually, and yet maintaining a flavour of the camaraderie of the time, without sounding like propaganda, and also the fear, doubts and misconceptions, is a challenging task. Especially when it is for a middle-grade audience who will have little or no awareness of the times, motivations and struggles.

I really can not praise this tale enough. Yes, there is a good overall vibe to the story. But it is a snapshot of a short period, a lone girl, her family, and multiple conflicting thoughts, understandings and priorities that could happen to one of us. There are home truths aplenty to make the younger reader and their families/ teachers think. War is seldom kind, at least for some, no matter the intention or outcome. I believe this is why Mrs H shed a tear. 

The writing style, the lyrical way in which the story and text quite literally dances, flies and weaves across the page, makes this tale so fluid and thus just that bit extra special. Just have a look at the pages below. The words literally do reach out, call out and float along. . . .

We read this over two days and would not have missed it for the world. 

So . . . . 

Crunch time. 

I don’t think you will find an abler story out there today, of its sort, than this. It seems only now, 80 years afterwards, that the impact of the war on children has been explored for the child reader. 

A worthy and warming short read that should be on your ‘To Buy list’.

Want to buy a copy?

To get a copy, and we hope you do, fly in to your local independent bookshop (muddy wellingtons, trowels and spades may well be frowned upon). There are plenty out there, and each shop is just waiting to serve up whatever kind of mystery, fun and adventure you desire.

Cathy Faulkner’s web page can be found HERE or type this:  https://www.cathyfaulkner.co.uk/

Firefly Press’s web page can be found HERE or type this: https://fireflypress.co.uk/

Harry Goldhawk‘s web page can be found HERE or type this:  https://www.harrygoldhawk.co.uk/

And as this is the Sunday Selfie day, we are joining the Selfies Blog Hop hosted by our American blogging pals, Janet Blue from the Cat on My Head Blog. To join in and hop around the globe and see all manner of companions and delights, just follow this LINK to take you to Janet Blue’s page

I shall leave you with a copy of none other than me with my ear to the ground listening out for more good books to review! 🙂 🙂

Till laters!

ERin

COSIMA UNFORTUNATE STEALS A STAR

BY LAURA NOAKES.

An Adventure Book Review by Erin the Literary Cat©, International Book Reviewer.

Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction. 

If you are here for a selfie, please scroll down.

On the good news front, Mrs H sent my Middle Grade adventure book to an editor who works for many of the top literary houses. Once it returns, well be sending on to prospective agents that have expressed an interest. 

But enough from us. Lets get on with the show and reveal this weeks special adventure story….

Book cover image. ©

AUTHOR:  LAURA NOAKES

Cover art by:   FLAVIA SORRENTINO

Published by: HARPER COLLINS CHILDRENS BOOKS

Publication date: Paperback: 25th May 2023

Paperback ISBN:   978-0-00-857905-0

Cover price for Paperback £7.99

Pages: 286

Age range: 8 and upwards

No companion creatures, this time!

SPOILER ALERT

Some as to plot direction and characters.

Thank you to… 

We are exceedingly grateful to Jess at Harper Collins Publishers for the privilege of getting to Read & Review this fantastic inclusive adventure book before publication so we can get you the review you need.

As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we have bought, been given as gifts, or received in exchange for an impartial review. 

First and foremost, the books we review are those we like and feel our global readers deserve to know about and that we hope they, their children, friends, and students will enjoy.

The plot

Let’s set the scene for you…

It is 1899, and we are in Kensington, London. Our heroine, Cosima, ‘Cos’ to her friends, is aged 12. She has, since a tiny baby, lived at a dilapidated children’s home in Victorian London. There are twenty girls in all, each most special in their own way. But every single one was willingly or unwillingly sent to The Home for Unfortunate Girls. You see, polite Victorians frown on disability. Society does not wish to see the disabled or those they perceive as different, ‘defective’, or less than, in whatever form. Better to keep them silent, out of sight and out of mind. 

Cos was the first at the home, and so is child No.1. She acquired the nickname ‘Cosima Unfortunate’ because she is rather unfortunate; it soon stuck, and unlike the other girls, she has nobody of her own. Or at least, so she thought. Her disability is that her joints ache and dislocate. This means she can be in agony, sometimes needing a walking stick and other times being wheelchair-bound.

The school is run by a brother and sister team called Stains. Ever investing in get-rich-quick schemes that never would, they are always in debt. Needless to say, Cos and her pals bear the brunt of this. The girls’ rooms are unheated, and the food isn’t more substantial than gruel – three meagre daily portions. As much punishment as to earn a scant amount of keep for the home, the girls have to unpick rope and cables from ships. This is then mixed with tar or grease to make oakum, which is used to go between the planks and make the vessel watertight. 

Cos and her best pals Diya, Pearl and Mary do their best to win small victories against the despicable Stains: planning raids on Miss Stains’ cake stash for guests or hiding the Stains’ things and making life as bad as they can for them. They likely always get punished, as often Cos’ plans go wrong, or she goes off-plan, but they are worth it.

What each of the friends may have lacked outwardly in the eyes of others, they more than make up for with skills. Mary is a most particular planner; everything to the ‘nth degree. Diya has a keen mind for figures and inventing and can devise almost any gadget a young girl could wish for mischief-making from the residue of the Stains’ failed purchases and schemes that litter the home. Pearl is the master crafter/artist and can create astounding lifelike copies of things using the oakum.

Cos’ latest plan involves replica cakes to replace those bought by Miss Stains to give to her well-to-do lady guests, patrons of the crumbling home. All is going well until Cos spots Miss Stains’ open ledger. Keen to see if there are any extra details of her origins, Cos goes off plan again. And whilst she discovers she arrived with only a handkerchief, the plan falls apart, and they get caught. But just before that happens, Cos overhears a conversation between Miss Stains and one Lord Fitzroy. It seems he wants to adopt all twenty of the ‘defective’ girls. Miss Stains being who she is, demands £500 for them, and they strike a deal. 

Needless to say, the girls are not ‘defective’. Each may be different, but they are still human. Whatever slimy voice Lord Fitzroy wants the girls for, Cos senses it isn’t good. It seems the scientific project he is working on and in which the Stains have invested will change the world. But why does he need the girls?

Cos digs out the handkerchief from a box of the girls’ personal possessions, its relevance and importance previously unknown to all. Within its now dirty fabric and elaborate, if strange stitching is hidden a clue to Cos’ life and parents, Cos is sure of that. But what?

Armed with only an aged piece of fabric and a hunch Cos is determined to find out more about her parents. More pressingly, she is determined to stop the girls from being effectively sold to the nefarious Lord Fitzroy. 

With the aid of a new-found friend, a young street magician and pickpocket, Cos and the gang come up with the most daring of plans yet. It all centres around a collection of highly precious jewels on display at the Empire Exhibition that is taking place at that very time in London. Treasures pilfered from nations within the empire by none other than Lord Fitzroy himself!

What is the girl’s plan? What plans does Fitzroy have for 20 shunned-by-society innocent girls? Who or what is the mysterious ‘The Institute’ whose symbol of a skeletal tree is tattooed on Fitzroy’s arm and scares Miss Stains so much? And who is the strange new inky-fingered lady visitor to the school who seems more interested in Lord Fitzroy and the Stains than taking tea and cake!

A fabulous adventure ensues, with a race against time, death and almost insurmountable odds. There will, I assure you be upset, fear, tension and bravery aplenty. 

So, what did we think?  

Undoubtedly a tale of two halves. Touching on the genuine circumstances and behaviours towards those perceived as an affront to polite (and itself morally corrupt) Victorian society, this adventure puts disabled characters firmly at the forefront of a cracking yarn where they deserve to be and each shine.

So . . . .

Crunch time. 

Written with such conviction, passion, and a real sense of person and place, I half expected Moriarty and Sherlock to make an appearance!

It is packed with everything a Middle Grade should be: action, adventure, gadgets, and the mysterious, the good and the bad. It shows the true worth of the human soul and a positive world amidst the bad. Definitely one for all the kids to enjoy and be empowered by.

Want to buy a copy?

To get a copy, please escape down your own homemade ladders, evading ghastly staff and well-to-do, if poorly guided gentry, and head to your local gruel and oakum free independent bookshop. There are plenty out there, and each shop is just waiting to serve up whatever kind of mystery, fun and adventure you desire.

A little about the author: 

Dr Laura Noakes was awarded her doctorate in legal history in 2021. She is a disabled writer and poet and works at the Devil’s Porridge Museum in Scotland. A link to this rather fascinating museum can be found by clicking HERE or type this: https://www.devilsporridge.org.uk/

Laura also writes poetry (published in Scrittura Magazine) and articles in ‘Disability in Kidlit‘ and ‘Kettle Mag’.

She tells me that a cat may well appear in her next book. So do watch this space!

She lives with her mischievous cat, Scout, and her husband, Connor, in beautiful Cumbria, England.

LAURA NOAKES’ web page can be found HERE or type this:  https://www.lauranoakes.com/

FLAVIA SORENTINO’s web page can be found HERE or type this: https://flaviasorr.com/

HARPER COLLINS UK web page can be found HERE or type this:  https://harpercollins.co.uk/

And as it’s a Sunday, we are joing the Sunday Selfies, Hosted by Janet Blue of the Cat on My Head blog, in America. 

I shall leave you with MY Sunday Selfie 🙂 🙂

Selfie image ©

Till laters!

A sort of ‘Book Free’ Sunday selfie!

Mrs H has pretty much recovered from her sore heads. So this week we return to a hastily (one hour ago) visit to Upper Much-Mousing, to see what has been going on . . . .

“Do you have to make that noise, dear?” The intermittent bursts of scratching and groans of disappointment from the chair on the other side of the fireplace finally made Mrs H look up from her knitting and crossword. She glowered at Erin over the top of her glasses.

“Umm, well, I was just trying to win big on this lottery scratch card we got from Mrs Singh. Buy any three SSS – Singh’s Super Sassy curry from her takeaway menu and get a free scratch card.”

“You got. I didn’t buy any. A complete waste of time no doubt.” Mrs H frowned. “Well, if nothing else, it accounts for the silver residue blocking the vacuum cleaner. I was begining to think the woodworm had changed diet!”

Erin eyed the large pile of cards on the table and the stack of silver shavings on the cushion, and groaned inwardly. Maybe she had gotten carried away. But then again, as she saw it, Mrs H wouldn’t have to cook supper until at least the summer.

“And what, may I ask, are the prizes? If it’s more curry, I’ll have to ban you from using the credit card this month. You can’t move in the freezer for frozen takeaways.”

Erin sighed deeply. “I’ve been trying to get the three cream pot symbols in a row. That’s the top prize! But I’ve only found one cram pot.”

Mrs H’s right eyebrow raised in half surprised half enquiring manner. “And what do you win for three pots? No, let me guess, a large pot of Mrs Singh’s spicey cat nip cheese topping?”

“No, what made you say that?” Erin looked quizically at her housekeeper.

“Well, it’s just a large jar that arrived this morning. I wasn’t sure if it was wrongly ordered when that Percy pigeon went astray last week.”

“Ahh, no. That was my prize when I got three spiders in a row.”

“Well, that’s something you don’t see too often, especially around here,” Mrs H muttered to herself, knowing how keen Erin had been to make new friends.

“No, the top prize is a year’s worth of cream! And the second, for three mice in a row, is a year’s worth of Nice Mice Vegan Treats. The third you’ll like, Mrs H – six bottles of Mrs Singh’s home brew XXX Catnip sherry!”

“Hmm.” Mrs H’s eyes widened slightly. “I think I can see a certain merit in this after all. Encourages careful meal planning.”

“Exactly” Erin nodded her head vigorously.

“Saves on use of electricty and washing up time and materials.”

“Absolutely!” Erin said, “We can spend more time relaxing.”

“Not to mention bicycle wear and tear, and the fuel and servicing the Brough Superior.” Mrs H was clearly getting into the swing of things.

“Dont forget fiscal restraint. You always tell me to do that. Save the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves, is what you always say.” Erin had leaned forwards, sending a shower of dust to the floor along with three spent scratch cards to add to the collection on the hearth rug.

“Couldnt have put it better myself, dear. Yes, I think this could be a wise move indeed. Do you have any of those cards spare? . . . . “

****

Well, folks, that is where we leave Erin and Mrs H for another week. Will the Manor House’s petty cash and housekeeping money be drained by next week? Will Erin ever get the supply of cream? Will Mrs H get to finish knitting the scarves for the orphan kittens?

To find out, or possibly not, tune in next time!

PRIZE WINNERS!!!!

Now before the selfie of the week, we are pleased to announce, somewhat late, the winners of a copy of the fabulous ‘The Lighthouse Bookshop‘ written by Newt’s mum, Sharon Gosling.

It was reviewed by Mrs H last year – see the review via this link. The winners are our USA pal Meowmeowman from the blog Animal Shelter Volunteer Life, and The J Cats, in Israel.

Congratulations to you both!

Please send me your addresses in a separate comment, which we will then delete/not publish. And we will post your prizes as soon as possible!

And now for the selfie!

We are joining the Sunday Selfies hosted by the excellent Janet Blue over at the Cat on my Head blog.

Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This….©

Till laters!

ERin

The EXTRAORDINARY ADVENTURES of Alice Tonks

by EMILY KENNY;  Cover art by Flavia Sorrentino

An Adventure Book Review by Erin the Literary Cat©, International Book Reviewer.

Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction.

We dive straight in to this week’s review, as Mrs H has been suffering from not one but TWO bouts of mild concussion. Sadly it hasn’t stopped her keeping tabs on how much food and the number of treats she’s given me. I wonder if it will be a case of third time lucky . . . .

Anyways, as she’s had a sore head, theres no news from Upper Much-Mousing, save to say, if theres no news, likely as not the villagers are up to no good!

On with the show!

AUTHOR: Emily Kenny

Cover art by: Flavia Sorrentino

Published by: One World Publications

Publication date for Paperback: Out NOW!

Paperback ISBN: 978-0-86154-205-5

Cover price for Paperback: £7.99

Pages:335

Target age range: 8 to 11. But adults will like too.

Any furry companions? Yes; a cat, dogs, and many others.



SPOILER ALERT

Some as to plot direction and characters.

Thank you to… 

I am exceedingly grateful to Mrs H for getting this book for me to Read & Review. It has been on my personal MUST READ list since I heard about it.

As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we have bought, been given as gifts, or received in exchange for an impartial review. 

First and foremost, the books we review are those we like and feel our global readers deserve to know about and that we hope they and their children and friends and students will enjoy.

The plot

11-year-old Alice is having the worst day EVER. She’s tried to be ‘Nice Alice’. To smile. To be nice to her Gran, who packed her trunk so full of uniforms that there was no room for her favourite animal encyclopedias. To be nice Alice on the packed train, her head squished against a window that was home to at least 3 dead flies. Even when she’d to shake the sweaty hand of the teacher at the train station. 

It was her Gran’s idea to go to Pebblewood boarding school (Pebbles to the students) in the seaside town of Pebblehampton. It would be a nice new start for Alice, Gran had said. She didn’t want to let her down, but things were stacking up, and Alice was struggling to stay calm. School and beaches are NOT Alice’s thing, especially together. Arriving at the Welcome Day in a tight old, bobbly swimsuit to find the other kids and families poshly dressed was terrible enough. New people to sit amidst and hot sand was really too much. The last straw was the seaweed, its horribly stinky, gloopy green and length clinging to her foot. Alice’s throat tickled, her fingers twitched, and the octopus that had been squirming in her tummy was rearing up angrily, tentacles waving. Alice’s genuine anxiety POPPED, and she screamed at Gran. All went silent on the beach, and everyone stared at Alice, doing nothing to help her stress.

Alice had to get away. Gran’s apologies and Alice’s realisation of what she had said came to her, and she had to find somewhere to calm down, relax, and destress. She wished she hadn’t come. Nobody would be her friend, especially not now. They’d all think she was weird, even the teachers. Sometimes being Alice Tonks really sucked!

Finding a spot to calm down, a friendly face in the guise of Timothy Crossley-Herbert the Third, Tim for short, comes with the gift of an ice cream to cheer her up. Dressed in a very smart and wholly inappropriate for the hot beach school uniform, he is as uncomfortable at being there as she is and as friendless.

Anyway, whilst Alice is alone in her spot, a gull lands. Having finished her ice but knowing how gulls love hot chips, she apologises and says she has none. Having furtively looked each way. “It’s not your chips I’m after, Alice Tonks,” the seagull said sternly. “We’ve got a job for you.”

The next day finds Alice actually starting school. Having made amends with Gran, she is determined to give Pebbles a go. The speaking gull was very real, or so it seemed. But she decides not to tell anyone just the same. 

As she gets the first-day tour of the school, Alice, out of the corner of one eye, spots an image of a gull in the school’s stained glass window waving at her! As Tim, who was with her, didn’t, and not wishing to seem weirder, Alice let it slip.

Alice gets to share her room with Ottie, a confident, pleasant scholastic girl who is at her third boarding school. She soon helps Alice settle in. And despite Ottie wanting to put fairy lights around her bed and play music, all seems good. Alice is certainly not going to tell Ottie she’s autistic. When a few minutes later, a gull starts tapping at the dorm window, Alice knows there is something she needs to do. Find the gull and see what it wants!

Sneaking out of school and back along a path to the beach, Alice soon meets the gull. To Alice’s surprise, it does speak. It says in a somewhat put-out fashion that, of course it can! Humans aren’t the only ones that can talk! More importantly, it came to tell her something. But these are perilous times, it says, and it is not safe to talk on the beach. The peril is that wild animals and pets in the area are being taken. Vanishing without a trace! And the animals want to know why and have formed the LSPDA (the Loyal Society for the Prevention of Danger to Animals), and Alice can help them. And most importantly, to trust nobody! But before Alice can glean more, Agent T – the gull, departs and tells Alice to await his messenger.

The following day, Ottie persuades Alice to go to a secret den beneath an old oak tree on the cliff top, somewhere they can call their own special place. Tim comes along too. The threesome makes a good group, though given Agent T’s warning, she will not tell Tim or Ottie about the missing animals or talking gulls. While heading back to school in the dying light, they see and hear some men doing something in the cove and then heading out to sea. Could they be smugglers?

Now, of all the teachers, only one seems chilled out and warms to Alice. And that is Miss Jessops, the librarian. It certainly isn’t Mr Marlowe, the Head Master who has different meals and wears an air of self-importance, a disdain for children who don’t excel in his biology class, the other staff and animals. And certainly not the severe, high-heeled Mrs Salter, the housemistress, who finds sugar disagrees with her. 

But suddenly, not long after being summoned out of class by Mr Marlowe, Ottie turns her back on Alice and becomes friends with two rather nasty girls. When her now sole friend, Tim, has to go to band practice, Alice ends up alone in the library. That is when she meets Constance, an educated, silver-grey tabby cat with an aloof manner. She is also a member of the LSPDA, and eventually takes Alice to a secret meeting with the animals.

She and Tim start to gather evidence. While ostensively on the smugglers in the cove, Alice thinks they are the animal snatchers. But something is up with Tim, and Alice soon realises there is something he is not sharing.

With multiple possible prime suspects among the school staff, and more members of the LSPDA vanishing, Alice’s attempt to find the villain and stop the thefts takes a dramatic turn when she loses a close friend to the snatchers. Their motives are unclear, but when Tim is turned against Alice, and she has a near-death experience, it seems time has run out. 

It is hard to draw a definitive line with a story as readable as this. But I think you’ll find there is so much here to enjoy that this will just tickle your tastebuds. So that is where I’ll leave this review.

So, what did we think?

Truthfully, bedtime couldn’t come quick enough so I could catch up with Alice’s adventure, and Mrs H only put this down when she fell asleep.

I genuinely rooted for Alice, given the situations, pressures and choices she has to make, some of which we, too, have felt. 

I also loved – a strong word, I know, but true – the way the creatures in this adventure had as important a place as Alice. They weren’t just the cause of her investigation but the surprising essence of the resolution. Intrigued? You’ll just have to read the book to find out about that!

Alice gets to become part of their world whilst still in her own. A hard trick to pull off well, I feel, but Emily did this with aplomb! Their characters were delightful and demonstrated a range of feelings people forget that all sentient creatures have. I think it actually touched on Richard Adams’ way of writing animals, which many younger readers won’t have come across, but I happen to love. 

There are some really skilful twists in this, central and ancillary, especially towards the end. That said, the plot builds evenly throughout and is as busy as a bee with a route plan, gathering facts and setting the scene, all done in a warming, engaging fashion.

Make no mistake, this book is all about the adventure. Yes, Alice’s autism is part of who she is, as it is me, yet it is incidental. As in real life, it is one wonderful flavour amidst the many many that go to make not only Alice and this extraordinary tale so compelling, but each and every one of you out there.

The story has a lot of heart. It ably bridges different worlds and has themes of discovering friendships, trust, compassion and understanding for those sentient beings around us. 

So . . . . 

Crunch time. 

Buy this for your kids, for you. An adventure that made me hark back to the thrill of discovering Watership Down. We have Alice’s book on Audible and paperback, and we recommend both. 

I am careful about using the word magical for fear of suggesting something else. And whilst Alice and Co have what I’d prefer to call ‘a special gift’ or ‘talent’, I draw no comparison to books of magic and wizards. But like most of the books we get to review for you, dear reader, this book DOES have a pinch of something special, a flavour of its own and as such deserves a place in your hearts. 

It takes books like this to make the world a warmer, more compassionate and better place. And teaching this to kids is where it all starts. 

There is every possibility there will be a sequel, too, so watch this space as we will review it.

Want to buy a copy?

To get a copy, missing horrible sticky congealing seaweed and gulls who may or may not be after your chips, please head to your local independent bookshop (bobbly swimsuit optional). Like gulls and not the swimsuit (though I could be wrong), there are plenty of shops out there. Each shop is just waiting to serve up whatever kind of mystery, fun and adventure you desire.

Emily Kenny’s web page can be found by clicking HERE or type this: https://emilykenny.co.uk/

One World Publications’ web page can be found by clicking HERE or type this:
https://oneworld-publications.com/

Flavia Sorentino’s web page can be found by clicking HERE or type this: https://flaviasorr.com/


As today is also the Sunday Selfies, hosted by Janet Blue of the Cat on My Head blog

I shall leave you with a relaxed selfie! 🙂 🙂

Till laters!

ERin

There’s a Beast in the Basement!

By PAMELA BUTCHART; Artwork by THOMAS FLINTHAM

An Adventure Book Review by Erin the Literary Cat©, International Book Reviewer

Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction. 

For the much-requested and fun update on last week’s news post on the happenings in Upper Much-Mousing, please scroll down to after the review!

This week’s book review makes our own mini adventures pale. So without further ado or smoke signals, here it is . . . .

IMAGE ©

AUTHOR:  PAMELA BUTCHART

Cover art by:  THOMAS FLINTHAM        

Published by: NOSY CROW

Publication date, Paperback:  12 JANUARY 2023

Paperback ISBN:   978 – 1 – 83994 – 051 – 4

Cover price for Paperback is £7.99

Pages:  219

Age range: 6-9

Any dogs or cats? Oh YES, but are going to have to read the book to find out more.

SPOILER ALERT

Some as to plot direction and characters. 

Thank you to… 

We are exceedingly grateful to Nosy Crow and Hannah Prutton for the delightful and unexpected uplift to the week and a chance to share this with you on the day of publication. 

As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we have bought, been given as gifts, or received in exchange for an impartial review. 

First and foremost, the books we review are those we like and feel our global readers deserve to know about and that we hope they and their children will enjoy.

A little about the author….

Award winning childrens author, Pamela Butchart, lives in Dundee, Scotland. She lives with her son, and two cats, called Bear and Carlos. She says in her bio that if she wasnt working as a teacher cum writer, she’d be running a really posh hotel for stray cats!

The plot

First, let’s meet our 7 to 8-year-old cast. Izzy is our narrator, and she and her friends, Zach, Jodi and Maisie, sit at the same desk in class. Jodi says she isn’t the sort that needs to be in charge, but so actually is, whilst Maisie is scared, faints, and worries far too much. As for Zach, he is ever so helpful but can’t tell a good lie if he tries. Together they conduct their secret missions and help save their school from monsters and aliens. 

And then there’s Gary, Gary Petrie, the one kid in the class that really brings out the worse in Jodi. He is loud and is very sure of himself, worse for Jodi, he wants to be in charge. But he is OK, just like his dad. And as the team soon discovers, has hidden sides and talents!

So, introductions made, let’s get to the action. Something strange is happening at school. The Headmaster, Mr Graves, is acting very strangely. Crawling on his hands and knees in the corridor, ‘silent crying’ during morning assembly whilst talking about vegan sausages, and bursting into the classrooms rummaging through the cupboards. 

When Gary’s dad is parked at school one morning, blocking the entrance just as Izzy and her pals are heading in, Mr Graves comes out in panic mode. He hauls Mr Petrie off to some urgent task around the back of the school in the ‘Out of Bounds’ area. It is an opportunity too good to miss, and Jodi gets everyone to follow but can’t shake off Gary. When they turn the corner, there is no sign of the adults!

Gary knows precisely where they are, and in exchange for the info Jodi so desperately needs, and much to her chagrin, he gets to join in their investigation of why Mr Graves was acting weird. 

When a teacher spots the kids, Gary gets himself locked down below. Later he insists whilst there, he heard scratching sounds.

Now, as one thing leads to another, Izzy and co get invited to Gary’s place for a party, possibly with the best-tasting pizzas with the craziest toppings made by Mr Petrie. Here he spills the beans about what Mr Graves wanted and what he thought he saw in the basement. But when he mentioned the thing to Mr Graves, he was bustled out, and no more was done or said.

What happens next is a downward spiral of wild guesses, high-tech gadgets made by none other than Gary, and a lot of breaking of school rules and spying on people. 

Will the gang discover what monster lurks within the school basement and whether it is guarding some long-buried treasure? Will Gary ever stop being annoying yet incredibly helpful? And will Maisie stop fainting and screaming in terror! And Why is Mr Graves increasingly fraught, scratched up and weepy?

All this and more, including a Ninja-trained cat and lots of nasty smells, will be revealed when the dust finally settles on this adventuresome comedy of errors. 

What did we think?

This is the 13th book in the series featuring Izzy and her pals. Not having come across the others before, I am compelled to say that this feels like and clearly is, a popular and great series for the younger reader. I loved this one.

With titles like ‘Baby Aliens Got My Teacher’, ‘Attack Of The Killer Dinner Ladies’, and ‘A Monster Ate My Packed Lunch’, to name but three, I think you can see why.  

Mrs H was chuckling, snorting and guffawing all the time. And despite my best efforts to slow her down, we finished in one sitting. We then reread it today!

The style of the books is pacy and never without fun and expression. It has an infectious exuberance and vibe that I think kids this age will love. And, being seen from Issy’s perspective, we get to see the other more flamboyant characters in all their glory. 

It is filled with mayhem, mishaps and misunderstandings typical of kids when they get together. It is all brought to life in short chapters, larger fonts and bursts of enlarged, explosive text, and the images throughout (in the style of the cover) that really add to the feel and excitement.

So . . . . 

Crunch time. 

A great book that fosters good reading habits and is highly entertaining. Thus, for us, it is of incredible value. 

The perfect antidote to a rainy afternoon, a car journey to that not-so-favourite aunt, or even a boring lesson. Just be sure to share it with the kids!

Want to buy a copy?

To get a copy, and avoid detention and beasts unknown definitely head to your local independent bookshop avoiding basements! There are plenty out there and each shop is just waiting to serve up whatever kind of mystery, fun and adventure you desire.

Pamela’s author page on the Nosy Crow site can be found HERE or type this:  https://nosycrow.com/contributor/pamela-butchart/

NOSY CROW’s web page can be found HERE or type this: https://nosycrow.com/

Thomas Flintham’s web page can be found HERE or type this:  https://www.thomasflintham.com/

And now for a bit of fun, let’s head over to Upper Much-Mousing to see what’s been going on since last week’s mishaps and mayhem . . . .

“Fire. FIRE! All out!” Mrs H stormed into the Drawing Room, decked out in her yellow Reserve Fire Fighters clothing and clutching an extinguisher, and a pail of water which she duly tossed over the source of the smoke. When the room cleared a bit, her look of concern turned to confusion.

“What on earth is going on, Erin?”

“Erm, ” Erin said, peering from behind a now lightly smouldering coal scuttle under the sash window. ” I was signalling, Mrs H”.

“What?”

“You know, smoke signals, like the American tribes used to say the tax man was coming.”

“I’m fairly certain they didn’t pay tax, at least not in those days. Besides, our local tax office closed after that little incident last year!” Mrs Hudson was alluding to the diplomatic incident that had seen 10 nations vying to create a new enclave and military foothold for their country within the English County of East Lambtonshire. It had all got very tense, seeing military forces from several nations infiltrating surrounding fields, woods and even farmer Clarksin’s flock to steal a march in the negotiations. It ended peaceably when the Parish Council declared the village a princelesspality – as there was currently no prince – and a neutral zone.

“No, I messaged the grocer.” Erin glanced at the piece of paper by her side.

“I’ve also messaged Mrs Singh about cancelling the papers for tomorrow. Plus, the Post Office about some parcels I’m expecting. Is there anyone I can message for you?” Erin looked earnestly at Mrs H, who was rolling her eyes and trying not to choke on the occasional acrid smell that wafted from the scuttle.

“No, I’m alright, thank you. I think it’s safer just to cycle into the village to shop. A brisk walk would do you good too! Too many of Mrs Singh’s Jumbo Mini Treats!” Mrs H gave a knowing nod and looked at Erin’s expanding midriff. “Out of interest, has anyone replied?”

Having breathed but failed to reduce the size of her tummy paunch. Erin gave up and gave an embarrassed grin. “Oh yes. Mrs Singh ran up some coded naval flags to say that your order of sherry is ready for collection. And the post office sent a message by longbow—” Erin pointed to the arrow embedded in the window frame – that says you need to renew your MOT and tax on the Brough Superior motorcycle.”

“Hmm. So no news from the butcher? I sent one of the homing pigeons off this morning. The other bird should have come home by now. Have you seen it?”

“A pale blue grey with a heart shaped white splodge on it’s chest, a slight limp and missing a few feathers?” Erin asked whilst discretely sliding a feather from view.

“The colours are right, though ours didn’t have a limp or missing feathers. . . . Erin, you didn’t, did you?!”

“Me, as though I would. No, no, no. Probably the same fox that took some of our hens. It dropped this note saying the joint will be ready Monday, and then half flew, half wobbled to the pigeon loft.” Erin smiled, innocently.

“I think, dear, before you have any more bright ideas, or we get some of our own locals demanding your scalp, we should get on with the book review!”

“OK, but before I do, is there any chance you could relight this for me, please; I was half way through ordering some fish and chips?”

Mrs H rolled her eyes and, after giving Erin a very HARD stare, went to get a mop.

That’s it from us, story wise, until next time.

And here, for all those enjoying the Sunday Selfie BlogHop hosted by Janet Blue and the Cat on My Head blog, is my Sunday Selfie 🙂 🙂

Till laters!

ERin

THE NIGHT ANIMALS

by Sarah Ann Juckes.

An Adventure Book Review by Erin the Literary Cat©, International Book Reviewer.

Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction.   

Before we get going, we have a quick news update from here in Upper Much-Mousing.

Sid Sparks, the village electrician, was rushed to the East Lambtonshire hospital on Thursday, having inadvertently got his wires crossed at the village telephone exchange. Doctors are keeping him over night, and say he’ll be discharged in the morning. Until then, he is powering the coffee maker and staff microwave. Mrs Beedle, the telephonist at the exchange, suffered second-degree burns to her ears and will be off work for a fortnight, leaving at least two villages short of gossip.

Industrial disputes have reached the village. The local scout troop’s upcoming Bob-A-Job week ‘Big Spring Tidy’ (named after the number of old mattresses and sofas retrieved from the roadsides) has been put on hold due to the cost of living strike by the scouts.

Negotiations broke up earlier this week when the scoutmaster, the Reverend Pews, put a cap of 50 pence per task, a plate of rich tea biscuits, and squash on the table. The scouts had demanded a fee of £5 a job, hot chocolate, and those crunchy double chocolate biscuits wrapped in gold foil. All are to be served on a tablecloth. Arbitrators from the Girl Guides are expected to propose a middle-ground offer of £1 a job, or £5 an acre for the extensive gardens, herb tea and a selection box of Tea Time biscuits.

And Finally, in other news, I can confirm reports that Mrs H was seen sporting bed hair in the middle of the day. Having attempted, unsuccessfully, to determine why the hot water heater wasn’t working, she too electrocuted herself. No actual bodily harm was done, and Mrs Trimble, the mobile hairdresser, said the smell would pass and singeing has left no lasting damage.

Mrs H has just coughed politely and indicated I need to stop waffling and get on with the review.

This week we have a great book that has a strong message. It is fun, too, as the best Middle-grade books should be. So without further ado, or interruptions, here is our book of the week . . .

AUTHOR:  Sarah Ann Juckes

Cover art by:  Sharon King-Chai

Published by: Simon and Schuster

Publication date: Paperback

Paperback ISBN:   978-1-3985-1092-0

Cover price for Paperback £7.99

Pages: 260

Age range: 9 and upwards

Any creatures? Yes, and not exactly. The relevance of that you’ll find out!

SPOILER ALERT

Some as to plot direction and characters. 

Thank you to… 

I have Mrs H to thank for buying this for me. 

As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we have bought, been given by pals, or received in exchange for an impartial review.

The books we review are those we like and feel our readers deserve to know about and that we hope they will enjoy. 

The plot

Year 5 student Nora Frost lives with her mum, Miri. Suffering from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), Miri’s life whilst off work is a series of good and bad days. Sadly they are mostly bad. Recovery, the doctors say, takes time. With Nora taking on a caring role, they get by. They are Fine. They DONT need any help and will get through it together, Miri says. And that is what 9-year-old Nora persuades herself and strives to achieve daily. 

Life is a series of notes on the front door for Nora when she comes home from school. If there is a note, it means she’ll have to go elsewhere, stay with friends, or cook for herself. If there is life in the house, singing at breakfast, it means it’s a good day. Nora craves those days as she and her mum get to do things together and go places. Though, there is the risk that crowds of people and noisy people will cause a relapse and send Miri into the deepest darkest of places.

When one dark night, Nora awakes to a fox sitting on her, “the paws on my chest like two solid nothings”, things change. Not least because this is not a majestic creature of the woods that has somehow found its way into her bedroom, but a ghost fox. Equally as beautiful, with shimmering colour edges, the fox stays only briefly, not answering any of the questions Nora asks. 

Awaking to a ‘good’ day, Nora tells her mum, who dismisses the fox as a dream. Of course, Nora knows better. Nora spots the fox at school going behind a tree on the grounds. Come break time, she searches for the fox but falls foul of Joel, the year bully. In the ensuing playground confusion, Nora escapes and heads to the tree. Whilst not finding the fox, she finds Kwame, another year 5 student hiding from Joel.

Nora isn’t in the mood for friends, or help, even if Kwame says they are the same and being bullied. But through circumstance (and Kwame’s dogged persistence), they are drawn together, and a tentative friendship forms. It turns out Kwame frequently visits his granddad, who lives opposite Nora, to escape the bedlam in his own house caused by his four brothers.

As the story progresses, Nora is visited by other ghost creatures, invisible to anyone else, each seemingly steering her towards something, somewhere. With Kwame in tow, the adventure grows, with a series of incidents that sometimes include Joel. But there are also very real and earthly dangers to face. 

Through all this, Nora battles to understand and keep a lid on her life and mum’s problem. Which eventually, inevitably, spills out at school. Kwame also faces a family crisis of his own. 

As this story is as much about the journey as the outcome, I would be remiss in giving more of the plot away. Suffice it to say, it picks up pace and excitement and culminates with a surprising revelation and some very real, exotic, and not-so-exotic creatures. I loved the ending, and I think you will too.

So, what did we think?

We really enjoyed watching how elegantly and persuasively the author allowed things to unravel for Nora whilst at the same time showing the dawning realisation that something had to change. For us, this story’s central theme is coping and the importance of asking for help. PTSD is a genuine disorder and very debilitating. Its effects on those around the sufferer are oft’ overlooked. 

Whilst this is a pretty sad story for its portrayal of illness and the truth of what families go through, it is also very uplifting. The characters surrounding Nora, both adult and child, demonstrate ably what Nora and her mother need but reject out of misgivings and pride. 

We know from experience it is not the case that there are so many people that can be bothered or willing to offer help for various situations outside of their comfort zone, especially if it is outwardly rejected. That isn’t to say people should just dive in and make matters worse. There are ways to help. In this story, Miri and Nora had both been to the doctors, but Miri had tried to tame the beast within herself and in so doing isolated Nora with her.

The real message in this book, for those in need and those with the time, resilience and patience to be there to help, is very real and relevant. The story becomes a meeting of ways. Of talking, and of acceptance on all sides and to varying degrees. Which all goes to make this book work on every level, and for every age. 

The writer’s style is pleasingly different, elegant and rewarding in its description. Not surprising when you realise Sarah is a writing tutor and mentor and works for Oxford University. She has also been long and short-listed for a few literary writing awards and nominated for the Carnegie Medal Award. 

Writing also for YA, Sarah’s second book, The World Between Us, published in 2021, has already gone global with multiple translations. 

Sarah lives with her own (real ) cat, and partner, in the English Cotswolds. 

So . . . . 

Crunch time. 

Such an important and warming story as this should be on every school librarian’s and teacher’s reading list. Like other books that deal with subjects that some have described as either ‘not relevant’ or ‘awkward’, like family death and grief, I recommend this for all parents and children.

For a middle-grade book that deals with death and grief, Sadé and Her Shadow Beasts by Rachel Faturoti is a beautiful book that looks at Sade’s method of dealing with her mother’s death. It is a book we have read and were impressed with.

Want to buy a copy?

Please sail down to your local independent bookshop to get a copy. Ghostly beasts are optional, though I’m sure they would be allowed in. There are plenty of wonderful independents out there. Each shop waits to serve up whatever kind of mystery, fun and adventure you desire.

Sarah Ann Juckes’ web page can be found HERE or type this:  https://www.sarahannjuckes.com/

Simon and Schuster’s web page can be found HERE or type this: https://www.simonandschuster.co.uk/

Sharon King-Chai‘s web page can be found HERE or type this:  https://www.sharonkingchai.com/

I shall leave you with a 🙂 🙂

Till laters!

ERin

MARSHMALLOW PIE, the Cat Superstar; the four book series

Written and fully illustrated by Clara Vulliamy;  

An Adventure Book Review by Erin the Literary Cat©, International Book Reviewer.

Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction.

This week we head straight into our review, with a FAB set of four books, featuring a feisty feline called Marshmallow Pie!

AUTHOR: Clara Vulliamy

Cover art by: Clara Vulliamy

All interior art by: Clara Vulliamy 

Published by: Harper Collins Books

Publication date: Book 1 6/8/20. ISBN: 978- 000 8355 852

Publication date: Book 2 6/8/20. ISBN: 978- 000 8355 890

Publication date: Book 3 7/1/21. ISBN: 978- 000 8355 913   

Publication date: Book 4 5/8/21. ISBN: 978- 000 8355 944

The cover price for Paperback is £5.99 approx.

Pages: 128 approx

Age range: 6-9 (and all cat-loving readers everywhere!)

SPOILER ALERT

Just a few as to plot direction and characters. 

Thank you to… 

Clara Vulliamy for offering insights and letting us reproduce the images from within the stories. There are so many fun pictures that we have had to limit ourselves to one from each book. I do hope they will give a flavour of the action.

Also, thanks to Mrs H for buying this series as a set of four books for me. They made my week!

As ever, our views are our own, and we only ever share reviews of books we like and feel our readers deserve to know about and that we hope they will enjoy. 

The plots….

Book 1. Marshmallow Pie, the Cat Superstar.

Book 1 cover. Image Copyright©

Amelia and her father live in a small top-floor flat in the middle of a busy city. When rich Aunt Julia has to go away travelling, her white and fluffy cat named Marshmallow Marmaduke Vanilla-Bean Sugar-Pie Fluffington-Fitz-Noodle is sent away from his country house to Amelie Lime to look after. It’s quite a change for Marshmallow Pie, or Pie as Amelia calls him. But Pie doesn’t mind and has a balcony to lounge on. Better yet, Pie loves to tease Buster, the big burly dog on the balcony below. He does this by staring at him or dangling his tail over the balcony edge and just out of reach.

Life is good, and Pie pretty much rules the small apartment, taking central place on the sofa and doing everything a home-loving feline could want to do.

Then, one day Amelia finds out an audition for a local animal acting agency is taking place locally. Knowing, as all cat carers do, that Pie is super special, she enters the audition. It means that shy Amelia can get to do exciting things, whilst Pie is the one in the spotlight. So, in preparation for the audition, Amelia tries to get Pie to do tricks. Well, you can guess how that turned out.

Come the big day, whilst Amelia is very nervous, Pie knows he is a star and what to do to shine.

Amelia presents Marshmallow Pie. All images copyright©

Amelia meets a lad from her school who has brought his kitten along, aptly named, Gingernut. Obviously, Pie is unimpressed by the youngster. When Buster turns up with his owner, things turn for the worst, a disaster. The rest I shall leave to the imagination and for you to discover!

Book 2. Marshmallow Pie, the Cat Superstar on TV.

Book 2 cover. Image Copyright©

After the antics of book 1, the woes and disasters and tears, we find Marshmallow Pie has the chance to star in a TV advert. It happens to be for Pie’s favourite treat, ‘Shrimp Crunchies’! But, the downside is he has to star alongside Gingernut, the somewhat annoying kitten belonging to Amelia’s new pal, Zack. 

Come the day, Pie, Gingernutt, Amelia, and Zack arrive on set but are brushed aside by the rather obnoxious, fake-tanned director, Brad Carter.

On set, Pie gets carried away. He wants to outshine the kitten and hog the limelight.

Pie topples a bowl. Image Copyright©

Even when the kitten wants to help, he gives him the brush off. As is the way with cats, especially when it comes to following directions, things go wrong, and the kitten seems to get the brunt of the blame from Brad, even though Pie was mainly the cause. Day two starts well, but disaster strikes, and the set descends into cat-driven chaos. The ending is definitely not what you may be thinking! I shall leave the what, why and how for you to discover. 

Book 3. Marshmallow Pie, the Cat Superstar in Hollywood.

Book 3 cover. Image Copyright©

For reasons I won’t go into for fear of spoiling book 2, Pie and Amelia find they have an offer they can’t refuse! Yes, Pie is destined for Hollywood stardom! Pie has come to the attention of big Hollywood producer Rocky Milan, who thought Pie was HUGELY talented and FEISTY! That is precisely what he was after in cat to play…… the villain’s feline companion in his new movie.

So, Pie, Amelia and her dad arrive in tinsel town. They have a beautiful hotel room and beds more immense and more sumptuous than they have ever seen! Of course, Pie takes all the glitz, the glamour and the luxury in his stride. 

Like most kids her age would be, Amelia is very nervous the next day as she visits the set and gets to meet stars, cast and crew. The villainess’s daughter, Madison, an internet star in her own right and a tad older than Amelia, is there too. She has her own brand and instantly falls for Pie, saying he’ll be the perfect accessory for her. Her brash character, the opposite of Amelia’s, takes charge. She takes them all shopping between acting sessions, driven and escorted by her very own security guard, Big Barbara.

Madison and Pie seem so much alike. Or are they? Image copyright©

They get to meet the press and go shopping in all the best boutiques. Why, Pie is really enjoying this glamorous life. But what of Amelia, who is being increasingly pushed aside? 

As filming goes on, Madison starts taking over, manipulating things and ….. OK, to say much more, I fear will take away from the second half of this adventure and a rather fun and very feline ending. 

Book 4. Marshmallow Pie, the Cat Superstar on Stage.

Book 4 cover. Image Copyright©

We find Pie and Amelia are back home on the rebound from fame, fortune, and the red carpet treatment in Hollywood and global recognition. Life is good if a tad less dramatic, but stretching out on fresh laundry is just what a cat loves. 

We just know this can’t last, and my, the peace and calm are shattered when Pie’s Nemesis from Book 1 gets dumped on Amelia to look after when his owner goes away. Talk about putting a cat’s nose out of joint. Well, Pie is not amused, and old rivalries ensue. 

Amelia sits between Pie and Buster. Image Copyright©

Now, as a timely relief from this, Pie’s agent, Dexter, from the Animal Acting Agency, calls with the chance to audition for a new role. It is a chance to appear in a new performance in the BEST theatre in town! What cat could say no to such an important role? Certainly not our Pie, especially when it means leaving Buster behind.

But when Amelia’s dad has to go out to a meeting, Buster has to accompany Pie to the audition as he can’t stay home alone. Pie is NOT amused. 

Of course, Pie is a shoo-in for the part in a play called The Everett Emeralds, about a cat burglar and a jewel robbery. Pie plays a companion cat who helps solve the case. It is a role he excels at. But to Pie’s dismay, Buster gets hired when the producer says she is also in need of a dog. 

Come the day of rehearsals, Buster seems determined to upstage Pie. Have old rivalries suddenly come home to roost and spoil the day? And what has been going on in the wings that is distracting Buster? All is most definitely NOT what it seems, and great peril awaits come the opening night. Did I mention another villain? Well, to find out how it all goes down in this, the final book, you’ll just have to wait until the books arrive from your local bookshop 🙂.

So, what did we think? 

I absolutely adored the stories. Each has a moral, a lesson for Pie to learn. The interaction between Amelia and Pie is heartwarming. The interaction between Buster and Pie is very much tongue-in-cheek fun and, dare I say it, how we often think of cats v dogs. 

There is a sense that Amelia is growing as much from her experiences with Pie as she does from teaming up with Zack. It is, I think, a timely reminder that not everyone is bold and brash or able to make friends just like that. It also demonstrates how much our canine and feline pals mean and what they bring to kids and families (and housekeepers).

The scrapes Pie not so much creates as wanders into and then gets out off, and how he reacts are pure feline. Clara’s observations of cats are, she tells me, from growing up with cats, six in total over the years. Alas, these days, she has no companions, only her fictional animal pals. 

Clara has quite a few YouTube videos. One is about how to draw cats, and it features Marshmallow Pie. If you want to have a go, or just want to be enthralled as to how easy Clara makes this not-so-easy task seem, please follow this LINK or type https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76vVky2kyAw 

It is just over seven minutes long, but time very well spent, and I think the kids will love it.

Now, if you don’t already recognise Clara’s work from her numerous other children’s stories, you may well be familiar with that of her mother, famed illustrator and author Shirley Hughes. Mrs H says her formative years were filled with images from children’s books illustrated by Shirley. 

Sadly, Shirley passed away in 2022, leaving a fantastic legacy. To learn more about Shirley’s work, the illustrations, which to us are utterly captivating and timeless, please head on to Twitter, where there is a Twitter feed of her books and characters on her behalf. Use this LINK to visit https://twitter.com/ShirleyHughes_

So . . . . 

Crunch time. 

An absolute must-buy series of four short stories for the younger readers in your life. The artwork, which appears on nearly every page, is bold, fun, and full of life. Mrs H said she could see so many feline traits in Marshmallow Pie that she couldn’t help but wonder if, given the same situations, I’d act the same way? My answer is yes, of course!

We love to review books that have companion creatures in them, and every now and then, they feature companions as protagonists. This is one of those times, and it delivers a cracking read for ages 6 and upwards. 

For dog lovers, Clara told me that the new series, starting this August, will feature canines. This is definitely one to look out for.

Want to buy a copy?

To get a copy, please head down to your local independent bookshop; auditions and accompanying pets are not necessary. There are plenty out there, and each shop just waits to serve up whatever kind of mystery, fun and adventure you desire.

Clara Vulliamy’s web page can be found HERE or type this: https://claras.me/

We are joining the Sunday Selfies Blog Hop, hosted by The Cat on My Head blog and Janet Blue. Here is my dazzling sleepy selfie, taken in some early afternoon sun. 🙂 🙂

Till laters!

ERin

THE CURIO COLLECTORS

by Eloise Williams

An Adventure Book Review by Erin the Literary Cat©, International Book Reviewer.

Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction. If you’ve come for a selfie, then please scroll down.

This week’s review comes without a forward. Well, without any substantial forward because Mrs H is still suffering the after-effects of too many chefs spicing up the trifle, mince pies, and Christmas cake with extra sherry!

Suffice to say, tidying up has gone by the wayside, along with more than a few grey-haired cells!

So, without further ado and without raising my voice above a whisper, I bring you another FAB book review. This week we have The Curio Collectors. 

AUTHOR:  Eloise Williams

Cover art by:   Anna Shepeta

Published by: Barrington Stoke

Publication date: Paperback2 March 2023

Paperback ISBN:   978 – 1800 902 008

Cover price for Paperback: £7.99

Pages: 96

Suitable for ages 9+ Reading age 8

SPOILER ALERT

Some as to plot direction and characters. 

Thank you to… 

We are exceedingly grateful to Barrington Stoke Publishers and NetGalley for sending us the Advance Reader Copy of this adventure.

As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we like and feel our readers deserve to know about and that we hope they will enjoy. 

The plot

Set in 1896, this short adventure tale opens in a field near the (real) village of Digswell Water, north of London. It is a hot day, and our protagonist, 12-year-old Lily, and her younger brother, Tom, are searching the river and bank for curios. Anything they can clean up and sell. They’ve made money from all manner of things: an otter’s skull, a bedpan, old bottles and broken toys. They take what they find back to Ma Hawker at the horse-drawn caravan they call home. They travel from place to place and put on a show to drum up trade, making up elaborate tales of the curios’ new pedigree. 

But it is a hard life, and with scant pickings, the trio lives on broth devoid of substance. Lily thinks she’s solved the matter when she buys some supposedly valuable trinkets. Alas, she has been duped by the lad that sold them. When the local farmer comes to collect his rent for the field they are in, they have to flee the area. Heading to London, they soon discover that a small piece of carved walrus horn, scrimshaw in the lot Lily bought, is attracting some interest, but not all of it is good.

Ok, from here on in, I can’t reveal much more. Suffice it to say the adventure gets very exciting for Lily and has far-reaching consequences for those caught up in it.

So, what did we think?

Eloise’s magic shines summerlike in this delightful, easy-to-read tale. 

It has the feel of one twice the length, like Eloise’s previous book, Honesty and Lies, which was set in Elizabethan times (see my review HERE), and has the same comfortable feeling of place and people. 

So . . . . 

Crunch time. 

A perfect short story that delights and encourages younger and reluctant readers alike. It is something I would have loved to have read to me as a younger child, pre this age group, or love to read to a class.

Want to buy a copy?

To get a copy, please do consider your local independent bookshop. There are plenty out there and each shop is just waiting to serve up whatever kind of mystery, curio, fun and adventure you desire.

Eloise’s web page can be found HERE or type this:  https://eloisewilliams.com/

Anna Shepeta’s Instagram page can be found HERE or type this: https://www.instagram.com/halber.mensch/

Barrington Stoke’s web page can be found HERE or type this:  https://www.barringtonstoke.co.uk/

I shall leave you with a Sunday Selfie. We are joining the Sunday Selfies Blog Hop, hosted each week by the Janet Blue of the Cat on My Head Blog.

Does my face look big in this? 🙂 🙂

Till laters!

Love Cats and Books

ERin

The Time Tider

 by Sinéad O’Hart;  

An Adventure Book Review by Erin the Literary Cat©, International Book Reviewer.

Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction. 

Without further ado or comic skit from Mrs H and I, we have the distinct pleasure to introduce this weeks timely adventure….. The Time Tider

AUTHOR:  Sinéad O’Hart

Cover art by: Abigail L. Dela Cruz

Published by: Little Tiger

Publication date for paperback:  2 Feb 2023

Paperback ISBN:   978 – 1 – 78895 – 330 – 6

Cover price for Paperback £7.99

Pages: 223

Age range: 8+

Any dogs or cats? No

SPOILER ALERT

Yes, some as to plot direction and characters. 

Thank you to… 

We are exceedingly grateful to Sinéad O’Hart, and Dannie Price of Little Tiger Publishers for arranging for us to have the advance copy of this excellent book for review. 

As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we have read and like and feel our readers deserve to know about and that we hope they will enjoy. 

The Plot

Set in Ireland, our book opens with 12-year-old Mara collecting food from a City Homeless Outreach point. She pockets extra food when she can, then goes to leave. But being a solitary child, she’s caught the eye of the staff. They give chase when she won’t stop and discuss being out alone. Mara has a gift and can see what she calls a ‘soft place’ in time, bubbles if you will, that she can duck into and elude capture, which she does. A short while later, she returns home to the rickety van she has grown up in. Here her dad, Gabriel, is busy with sealed glass jars and strange, gas-like substances within.

Mara’s life since her mother died has been one long journey. Travelling by backroads and often by night, she and her father crisscross the country. Eluding the people, he says, are chasing them and meaning them harm. What he does when he goes off to see people and conduct business, she doesn’t know. At least that was until waking up one morning in an empty van, she goes to explore. Hearing voices, she watches Gabriel conduct a deal. He passes over one of the glass jars for money. The buyer drinks what’s within, and Mara thinks her father momentarily vanishes, a fact he later denies. 

Mara is of the age when she needs to know. She wonders what it’s like to live an ordinary life, have friends and go to school. To be in one place. And to learn more about her mother. She also wants to know more about what Gabriel’s up to. 

Whilst her father is away from the van, Mara searches his things for clues and answers. The discovery of rolled-up papers in a sealed bottle, entitled The Time Tiders Handbook, heralds the beginning of the adventure. More discoveries follow, including a picture of her mother. But before she can glean much information from her father, their pursuers catch up. In the ensuing frantic escape, with Mara at the van’s wheel, her father says he will give himself up. All Mara has to do is keep going and find someone called Lenny. Thrusting his precious and unique watch and notebook into her lap, he jumps out and is captured. 

But who is Lenny? Mara has distant recollections and an idea of his location. And what does he have to do with her father being a Time Tider? Indeed, what is a Time Tider? If she is going to get her father back and get the information she needs, she has no choice but to find Lenny. 

Who is chasing them and why will soon be revealed to her. But as she gets more involved, her search becomes far more deadly than any 12-year-old and her newfound friend, Jan, should be involved in. You see, the Time Tider, Gabriel, harvests unused time from the dead. It can also be taken from the living, which is something that he should never do but does to make money. The bad people want what only her father can give – extra life. They want the bottled life he has stashed away, all of it, and to take his skill. To get it, they’ll seemingly stop at nothing. They will risk everything, including the collapse of time and the world’s destruction.

So, what did we think?

The premise of the Time Tider is that time itself needs to be balanced and the extra time from those that die too early collected and stored safely and never used. The more time left uncollected and allowed to merge together, the greater the risk of cataclysmic results. This is not an idea I have read before, nor for that matter, seen in the movies. So like so many great books, it instantly appealed, and I needed to know more.

How would the writer deal with such a potentially complex Sci-Fi style subject? Would it be another out-of-this-world, and sadly, beyond-belief Marvel-Esque adventure? The only way was to ask to do a review. And I am so pleased Dannie obliged me with the copy. 

Over a few nights, we became engrossed in Sinéad’s storytelling and this intelligent, pacy adventure. 

The story is delightfully grounded in the here and now, atmospheric, plausible, at times heartfelt, never short on pace and utterly engaging. 

The cast grows with the adventure, never pushy or unlikely for the plot. Nothing is ever too much for the reader, which reflects some clearly serious story plotting. The final chapters were addictive and demanding to be read. The conclusion, well, I can’t spoil that, though it wasn’t what I expected, which is always lovely.  

Sat here now, Mrs H says it is an adventure that lingers in the mind and poses some ethical dilemmas that are not easy to answer. This adds so well to the story’s credibility. 

So . . . . 

Crunch time.

A perfect middle-grade read with a delightful cover that I think will appeal. Mara is a Brilliant young protagonist with hard decisions to make and a van full of trouble chasing and snapping at her heels. What’s not to love! 

Want to buy a copy?

 To get a copy, please choose your local independent bookshop. There are plenty out there, and each shop just waits to serve up whatever kind of mystery, fun and adventure you desire. The acquisition of real-time is, however, most unlikely, though transportation to other realms is a given 😉

Sinéad O’Hart web page can be found HERE or type this: https://sjohart.wordpress.com/



Abigail L. Dela Cruz can be found on Tumblr via this LINK or type this: https://abbydraws.tumblr.com/



Little Tiger web page can be found HERE or type this: https://littletiger.co.uk/




I shall leave you with a very clean selfie 🙂 🙂

Till laters!

ERin

Erin does it gangster style!

A short story that may yet get a sequel!

Welcome back.

Such was the popularity of this little add-on story to last week’s book review of Sarah Todd Taylors latest story, we have decided to add it to our blog as a separate post. If you have commented before, there is no need to comment again………

This week Mrs H and I have opted for a touch of the 1920’s gangster movie . . . 

London, 1923. 

I’m standing in the fog underneath a lamppost in the seedy part of Soho’s China Town. I look at my watch and sigh. My contact with the goods is late, but aren’t they always when you’re in a rush. The swirling light coalesces around the lamp like a shifting grimy mass of cotton wool. My best Fedora hat is shrinking to my head, and, despite the department store salescat’s assurance, water seeps slowly under the raised collar of my Mack. Never buy cheap, I reminded myself for the fifth time that evening and sigh again.

Let me introduce myself. The names Shovel, Erin Shovel. Detecting and ‘special deliveries’ are the game. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking. Shouldn’t it be Spade, Erin Spade? That one was taken at the Detective Society. The names actually Erin Eyebrowinkwinki. And who’d have thought it, that mouthful was taken too! So, I’m stuck with Erin Shovel. It was that or Trowel. Shovel sounds way tougher anyway, which is handy in this city. Gets you a reputation, and that brings you the meaty jobs. 

So that’s why you find me here, damp, miserable, and on a job at the wrong end of town packing a piece. Yeah, this cat’s tooled up, just in case.

I take one long suck on my catnip cheroot only to find it’s gone soggy. I sigh, longer this time, then shove the damp treat in my pocket. What self-respecting cat would be out on a night like this? Hungry one, that’s who.

The sudden sharp jangle of a trolley bus in the next street sends a shiver down my back and tail that quickly doubles back and reaches the tips of my whiskers. As if in unison, Big Ben strikes 6pm. Muffled by the London ‘pea-souper fog,’ it sounds like someone’s sat the bells in custard. Don’t ask me how I know that; I just do. My tummy rumbles at the thought of food once I finish this special rush job for the Guild. I resist the urge to have a snack as it will dull my appetite and make me less alert. 

I freeze at the sudden skittering of a stone and the rattle of a bottle over the street cobbles somewhere ahead. The silence returns, more intensely this time, and at the edge of the gloom the fog appears to lighten just a bit. Maybe it’s nothing. Or perhaps it’s a sign the next act is about to begin. 

I wouldn’t be the first cat mugged in this neighbourhood. That’s why I’m packing heat. I slowly reach into my left pocket for assurance and feel the still-warm, smooth barrel of my loaded .25 pistol. That’s a .25 litre water pistol, to you. Enough to frighten the most ardent door-to-door salescats. 

Through all the thick, grimy fog seeps a scent; something exotic, spicy . . . . and cheap. Underneath it, I smell something fishy, maybe even dead. It’s a smell you don’t forget. It can mean only one thing: Frank the Fish is in the vicinity. 

Sure enough, the large and fish-smelling tomcat comes rollerblading across the cobbles. I can’t say I am surprised or upset that he fails to stop in time and shoots past and back into the fog, leaving an almost visible trace of fish oil breath in the grey gloom. The sound of a dustbin being toppled by an out-of-control 25lb cat, followed by a GRUNT and swearing, means Frank has stopped. Moments later, he appears, carrying a battered and flatter-than-it-ought-to-be box. My box. 

“You Erin the Shovel?” he asks, smirking. “Digging around for work, are you?” he adds to the insult with a wallop on the shoulder with his huge paw. It’s like being hit by a 10lb kipper and sends me into the lamppost, which I swear wobbles. 

“Yeah, yeah. You know I is, numb butt. Now give me the goods and I can be on my way.”

Totally ignoring me, Frank pulls out a laminated card from his overalls, and, having looked furtively around, leans in far closer than a cat who eats five-day-old fish and doesn’t bother with dental hygiene should.

“What you acting like that for?” I says. “I mean, it’s not like anyone can see us in this . . . soup. Plus, if your breath gets much closer, I might have to charge you for having my whiskers straightened!” 

Frank ignores my comment and clears his throat. “It says here I have to check your ID before passing over the ‘STUFF'”. His lips tremble in delight. “No ID, NO GOODS. I can accept a driving license,” he adds, as though this will somehow make life easier. I’m pretty confident he couldn’t tell a driving licence from a one-pound note, but as I’ve not got either, this could turn nasty.

“So, here’s the thing,” I says. “I need that box. My clients needed it like half an hour ago. So, we can do this the easy way or . . . .” I pat the bulge in my pocket. 

“Or what?” Frank is suspiciously eyeing my pocket, uncertainty and cogs whirring in his eyes. “What’s the easy way,” he says, finally.

“I can give you this here card of mine,” I say, pulling out a curled-edged and damp business card and thrusting it up to the cat’s face. “Here, keep it. It’s got all my details. As good as a driving licence.” 

Frank snatches the card and, far too slowly, scans the smudged ink. I tease the box from his grasp and check the goods. “Hey, Frank, where’s the tuna! I ordered the Tuna Mayo Surprise with extra cheese and catnip! These look like sardines. You and Giuseppe trying to pull a fast one?!”

“Hey, I just deliver these things. Anyways, the boss says you can’t have toona and that’s that.”

“He does, does he. And why’s that? It was a special order, for The Detective Writers Guild, and you knows how that mob gets itchy claws when it comes to book launch party food!” 

Frank understandably backs up a pace as I reach into my other pocket. “Yeah, he does. He also said you’d get all hissy fit, so he told me to tell you that toona wasn’t available in Britain until the 1950’s! This here is the 1920’s!” And with that, he pockets the calling card and blades off into the fog. 

You’d be expecting me to sigh again right about now, and I did. Somehow, I never ended up with the pizza of my dreams, ever. The lamp above me flickers and, with a hiss, goes out. 

“Erin, dear. Are you awake?” Mrs H gently placed a covered supper plate beside where Erin sat.

“No. No, just had my eyes closed thinking about my book and the food for the book launch,” Erin said, with a hint of a yawn.

“You’ve been dreaming again, dear. Besides, you need an idea for a book, then write it.” Mrs H smiled and then asked. “Do you have a title?”

“Strangely enough, I do. ‘Erin Spade, PI, in the Big Toona Rip Off'”

“The PI would be for Pizza Investigator, would it?” With a wry smile and glint in her eye, Mrs H pulled off the plate cover to reveal Erin’s favourite supper. 

“Do you read minds, Mrs H?” 

“No dear, but I do read a lot of detective novels!” And with that and a knowing wink, Mrs H left Erin to her Tuna Mayo Surprise pizza with all the toppings. 

The End

That’s it, folks!

We hope you’ve enjoyed the B-Movie gangster style story! If you have, please leave a comment below.

Till laters!

ERin

Alice Éclair, Spy Extraordinaire! A Spoonful of Spying

By Sarah Todd Taylor

An Adventure Book Review & SUNDAY SELFIE by Erin the Literary Cat ©

Today we have a double header for you. Having pride of place is our book review of a FABULOUS new 1930’s adventure. This is followed by a piece of 1920’s style B movie Black and White mischief and fun from us!

If you’re here for the Selfie, scroll down..

So, if you’re all now seated comfortably and have got the popcorn and drinks safely tucked away, I’ll dim the lights and draw back the curtains on today’s main feature: 

AUTHOR: SARAH TODD TAYLOR

Cover art by: BEATRIZ CASTRO

Published by: NOSY CROW

Publication date: 12 January 2023

Paperback ISBN: 978-1839940972

Cover price for Paperback £7.99 

Pages: 272 (approx)

Age range: Middle Grade (9 AND upwards)

Any dogs or cats? Yes, a feline called Casper, who I suspect gets more than he bargains!

SPOILER ALERT

Yes, some as to early plot direction and characters. 

Thank you to… 

We are exceedingly grateful to Sarah Todd Taylor and Hannah Prutton of Nosy Crow Publishers for the awesome proof copy of this highly-anticipated, delectable book before publication. 

As ever, our views in this review are our own. We only share reviews of books we have read, like and feel our readers deserve to know about and that we hope they will enjoy as much as we did, which in this case, is a lot.

The plot

13-year-old Alice Éclair, cake maker supreme by day, and spy for the French government by night, is off on a mission. And it’s not to buy fresh eggs for her mother’s famed pâtisserie, Vive Comme L’Éclair. 

We join her in an action-packed scene aboard Le Mistral, Paris’ most luxurious event boat, as it sails slowly down the Seine. Alice and senior agent, Claude, are hot on the trail of spies and stolen information valuable to the enemies of France. 

Disguised as a waiter, Alice serves, while elegantly dressed Claude, never short of admiring company, mingles with the well-healed partygoers. Both are on the lookout for their suspect. Suddenly the chase is on, but it goes sour when Alice is faced with a life-or-death choice. And so the villain escapes, but not before she manages to steal a slip of paper from his pocket. Wet and muddy, Alice blames herself. She feels she failed Claude just when she needs to be proving herself. Worse, Claude dismisses the piece of paper.

The paper, however, soon becomes the first clue that indicates the plans for prototype French aircraft, code-named ‘Daedalus’, are to be stolen and passed to foreign agents. And where better for spies to mingle and plans to be passed than the upcoming World Fair in Paris!

Under guise of showing off her cake-making art, Alice and her mother get an invite to take a stand at the fair. Of course, for Alice, it means between helping her mum and working as a spy, she gets little chance to investigate marvels from across the globe on display. 

After a few days with little to go on and even fewer suspects, Alice gets pushed to what she thinks is a lowly position in the Fashion Pavilion. Claude, however, seems to have taken the best, most glamorous assignment for himself! 

OK, from here on in, clues and suspects start to mount. In fact, it seems there are spies everywhere interested in all manner of things. 

Alice’s decorating skills get to be unleashed too, as she gets embroiled in kidnapping as the adventure quite quickly takes a high speed, high stakes and high octane race to save friends, families and secrets from dastardly deeds and deadly double-dealing . . . . . persons!

And if you are wondering about Casper, the cat, well, he gets far more than he bargains for when he steals a ride to the World Fair!

So, what did we think?

After Alice’s first adventure, A Recipe for Trouble (a LINK to our Review is HERE), I wondered if and how Sarah could pull off another spectacular tale?

I am delighted that she has far exceeded my hopes and expectations. 

This is an adventure packed with unashamed panache, gusto, bravery and adventure worthy of famed Belgians, Tintin and Hergé. 

But this is by no means a copy. It stands tall and proud like one of Alice Éclair’s own culinary creations, with layers of mystery to unravel and countless textures and flavours. All this amidst a Parisian backdrop of high fashion, aviation, and a world fair. Truly the only thing Sarah hasn’t provided is the smells and tastes of Alices cooking. For that, the only solution is to buy your own.

It doesn’t shy away from failure and the lessons and costs it brings.

The cast is engaging and highlights that women of the era in real life were also at the forefront of engineering and flight. I am so pleased that we see this in writing, as it is often assumed quite wrongly that women were nothing but models, cooks and housewives.

So . . . . 

Crunch time. 

I get a definite sense of an ‘upping of the anti’ in this adventure. It is bolder, stronger, and growing with Alice. 

It certainly hits all the right notes in all the right places to make it a firm favourite for adventure-loving kids (and Mrs H.). It also sets another high bar for Sarah to clear for the next book. 

So, for me, this is a MUST-READ. Sit back and enjoy a rollercoaster of a ride that takes the reader from the glam of the catwalk, up into the skies and along the crowded streets and waterways of Paris. 

Want to buy a copy?

To get a copy, please do choose to support your local independent bookshop. There are plenty out there, and some may well serve up cake as nice as Alice’s!

Sarah Todd Taylor’s WEB page can be found HERE or type this: https://sarahtoddtaylor.com/ 

Nosy Crow’s web page can be found HERE. or type this: https://nosycrow.com/product/alice-eclair-spy-extraordinaire-a-spoonful-of-spying/

Beatriz Castro’s web page can be found HERE. or type this: https://beatrizcastroilustracion.com/

We hope you enjoyed the main feature. Before the second feature, we offer you a our Sunday Selfie.

Welcome back. Now we have todays second feature. This week Mrs H and I have opted for a touch of the 1920’s gangster movie . . . 

London, 1923. 

I’m standing in the fog underneath a lamppost in the seedy part of Soho’s China Town. I look at my watch and sigh. My contact with the goods is late, but aren’t they always when you’re in a rush. The swirling light coalesces around the lamp like a shifting grimy mass of cotton wool. My best Fedora hat is shrinking to my head, and, despite the department store salescat’s assurance, water seeps slowly under the raised collar of my Mack. Never buy cheap, I reminded myself for the fifth time that evening and sighed again.

Let me introduce myself. The names Shovel, Erin Shovel. Detecting and ‘special deliveries’ are the game. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking. Shouldn’t it be Spade, Erin Spade? That one was taken at the Detective Society. The names actually Erin Eyebrowinkwinki. And who’d have thought it, that mouthful was taken too! So, I’m stuck with Erin Shovel. It was that or Trowel. Shovel sounds way tougher anyway, which is handy in this city. Gets you a reputation, and that brings you the meaty jobs. 

So that’s why you find me here, damp, miserable, and on a job at the wrong end of town packing a piece. Yeah, this cat’s tooled up, just in case.

I take one long suck on my catnip cheroot only to find it’s gone soggy. I sigh, longer this time, then shove the damp treat in my pocket. What self-respecting cat would be out on a night like this? Hungry one, that’s who.

The sudden sharp jangle of a trolley bus in the next street sends a shiver down my back and tail that quickly doubles back and reaches the tips of my whiskers. As if in unison, Big Ben strikes 6pm. Muffled by the London ‘pea-souper fog,’ it sounds like someone’s sat the bells in custard. Don’t ask me how I know that; I just do. My tummy rumbles at the thought of food once I finish this special rush job for the Guild. I resist the urge to have a snack as it will dull my appetite and make me less alert. 

I freeze at the sudden skittering of a stone and the rattle of a bottle over the street cobbles somewhere ahead. The silence returns, more intensely this time, and at the edge of the gloom the fog appears to lighten just a bit. Maybe it’s nothing. Or perhaps it’s a sign the next act is about to begin. 

I wouldn’t be the first cat mugged in this neighbourhood. That’s why I’m packing heat. I slowly reach into my left pocket for assurance and feel the still-warm, smooth barrel of my loaded .25 pistol. That’s a .25 litre water pistol, to you. Enough to frighten the most ardent door-to-door salescats. 

Through all the thick, grimy fog seeps a scent; something exotic, spicy . . . . and cheap. Underneath it, I smell something fishy, maybe even dead. It’s a smell you don’t forget. It can mean only one thing: Frank the Fish is in the vicinity. 

Sure enough, the large and fish-smelling tomcat comes rollerblading across the cobbles. I can’t say I am surprised or upset that he fails to stop in time and shoots past and back into the fog, leaving an almost visible trace of fish oil breath in the grey gloom. The sound of a dustbin being toppled by an out-of-control 25lb cat, followed by a GRUNT and swearing, means Frank has stopped. Moments later, he appears, carrying a battered and flatter-than-it-ought-to-be box. My box. 

“You Erin the Shovel?” he asks, smirking. “Digging around for work, are you?” he adds to the insult with a wallop on the shoulder with his huge paw. It’s like being hit by a 10lb kipper and sends me into the lamppost, which I swear wobbles. 

“Yeah, yeah. You know I is, numb butt. Now give me the goods and I can be on my way.”

Totally ignoring me, Frank pulls out a laminated card from his overalls. And, having looked furtively around, leans in far closer than a cat who eats five-day-old fish and doesn’t bother with dental hygiene should.

“What you acting like that for?” I says. “I mean, it’s not like anyone can see us in this . . . soup. Plus, if your breath gets much closer, I might have to charge you for having my whiskers straightened!” 

Frank ignores my comment and clears his throat. “It says here I have to check your ID before passing over the ‘STUFF'”. His lips tremble in delight. “No ID, NO GOODS. I can accept a driving license,” he adds, as though this will somehow make life easier. I’m pretty confident he couldn’t tell a driving licence from a one-pound note, but as I’ve not got either, this could turn nasty.

“So, here’s the thing,” I says. “I need that box. My clients needed it like half an hour ago. “So, we can do this the easy way or . . . .” I pat the bulge in my pocket. 

“Or what?” Frank is suspiciously eyeing my pocket, uncertainty and cogs whirring in his eyes. “What’s the easy way,” he says, finally.

“I can give you this here card of mine,’ I say, pulling out a curled-edged and damp business card and thrusting it up to the cat’s face. “Here, keep it. It’s got all my details. As good as a driving licence.” 

Frank snatches the card and, far too slowly, scans the smudged ink. I tease the box from his grasp and check the goods. “Hey, Frank, where’s the tuna! I ordered the Tuna Mayo Surprise with extra cheese and catnip! These look like sardines. You and Giuseppe trying to pull a fast one?!”

“Hey, I just deliver these things. Anyways, the boss says you can’t have toona and that’s that.”

“He does, does he. And why’s that? It was a special order, for The Detective Writers Guild, and you knows how that mob gets itchy claws when it comes to book launch party food!” 

Frank understandably backs up a pace as I reach into my other pocket. “Yeah, he does. He also said you’d get all hissy fit, so he told me to tell you that toona wasn’t available in Britain until the 1950’s! This here is the 1920’s!” And with that, he pockets the calling card and blades off into the fog. 

You’d be expecting me to sigh again right about now, and I did. Somehow, I never ended up with the pizza of my dreams, ever. The lamp above me flickers and, with a hiss, goes out. 

“Erin, dear. Are you awake?” Mrs H gently placed a supper plate beside where Erin sat.

“No. No, just had my eyes closed thinking about my book and the food for the book launch,” Erin said, with a hint of a yawn.

“You’ve been dreaming again, dear. Besides, you need an idea for a book, then write it.” Mrs H smiled and then asked. “Do you have a title?”

“Strangely enough, I do. ‘Erin Spade, PI, in the Big Toona Rip Off'”

“The PI would be for Pizza Investigator, would it?” With a wry smile and glint in her eye, Mrs H pulled off the plate cover to reveal Erin’s favourite supper. 

“Do you read minds, Mrs H?” 

“No dear, but I do read a lot of detective novels!” And with that and a knowing wink, Mrs H left Erin to her Tuna Pizza Surprise with all the toppings. 

The End

That’s it, folks!

If you’ve enjoyed the double bill, please leave a comment below.

Till laters!

ERin

MAJOR and MYNAH – Operation Raven

by KAREN OWEN;  

Illustrated by Louise Forshaw

An Adventure Book Review by Erin the Literary Cat©, International Book Reviewer.

Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction. 

But first, lets see what’s happening in Upper Much-Mousing.

Life at the Manor House has settled into the traditional pre-Christmas panic, and Mrs H and Erin have been hard at work signing cards. . . .

“Mrs H, what flavour ink am I using this year?” Erin asked as she licked her paw. She had been stamping the Xmas cards with her right paw using a special flavoured non-toxic ink.

“Blueberry and muffin I think the bottle said.” Mrs H was busily unknotting the tangle Erin had created in the tinsel after a mad half-hour session earlier that morning while chasing a mouse-shaped bauble.

Erin nodded in approval. “Does that mean we have the mince pie and brandy butter glue to lick this year?” she said, eyeing up the envelopes.

“No, dear. I got my favourite, the alcohol free sherry flavour. It wouldnt do to be drunk whilst headed to the postbox, now would it.”

“Yuck!” Erin’s nose scrunched up in disgust. “I don’t know how you could, Mrs H. It smells like fermented old socks mixed with old fruit!”

“I’m not sure that it’s quite that bad, dear. And in anycase, how would you know what old socks tasted like?”

“Have you been into ol’ Ned’s greenhouse this week?” Erin asked, gesturing out the window. “There’s a reason it’s all steamed up. And it’s not because he’s working hard,” Erin said with a wink. I swear that new homebrew is actually some sort of bug killer.”

“Insecti-cider!” they both proclaimed simultaneously and broke into hysterics.

“How’s about I let you lick the postage stamps instead. Mrs H pulled out the small wallet of special stamps purchased from Mrs Singh’s Festive Grotto. Each stamp had a Christmas flavour. Having split the stamps into two even piles she placed one set before Erin. “There you go, dear. We each get a fair mix.

“OK. As long as I haven’t got the 1st Class vindaloo surprise!” The previous year, Erin picked that stamp and had needed to keep her tongue in chilled cream till the pain subsided. At least, that is what she had said.

“I did make sure I got that myself. Can’t have you overdoing the cream, now can we. I have also made sure you got all the traditional food. Roast parsnips and cranberry sauce are back. And, if you see one with King Charles 3rd on it, and his nose is wrinkled, that will be the Brussels sprout-flavoured one.” Mrs H winked, and after a short pause, the two descended into fits of giggles!

“I think, dear,” Mrs H said after wiping away a tear, we best not make any jokes about our new king. If word ever got out, we could end up in the Tower of London!”

“Strange you should say that, Mrs H, but the review for this week is set in the Tower of London. How’s about you put the kettle on and warm up those mince pies with cream, and I’ll introduce this week’s awesome read?”

“That, Erin is an excellent idea.” As Mrs H strode off to the kitchens, Erin gently pushed the sprout flavour stamp from her pile into Mrs H’s and exchanged it for a rather tasty-looking roast turkey.

Image ©

AUTHOR: KAREN OWEN

Cover art by: LOUISE FORSHAW 

Published by: FIREFLY PRESS

Publication date: Paperback – 2 MARCH 2023

Paperback ISBN: 978 1913 102 746

Cover price for Paperback £ T.B.A.

Pages: 167

Age range: 7 – 9

Any dogs or cats? No, but B.O., the Mynah bird, has a crucial part!

SPOILER ALERT

Some as to plot direction and characters. 

Thank you to… 

We are exceedingly grateful to all at Firefly Press Publishers and NetGalley for the delight of getting to Read & Review this fun book before publication. 

As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we like and feel our readers deserve to know about and that we hope they will enjoy. 

The plot

In this, the second instalment, our crime-fighting young 9-year-old friends, Callie and Grace, are heading off on a school trip to the Tower of London. But the last thing they expected was to find fellow detective Bo, the talking Mynah bird, in Callie’s school bag. The second to last thing they expected was to get embroiled in a new mystery during the visit! 

Keeping a determined stowaway bird hidden on the bus isn’t as easy as it sounds, especially as Callie’s mum is the bus driver. Bo has his own reason for visiting, which might prove dangerous and distracting. 

Delightful hijinks ensue when the three pals think they spot something amiss and start to investigate! Keeping everything hidden from the adults is going to be difficult, especially under the eagle eyes of their teacher, Mrs Manning. I shall say no more for fear of spoiling things.

So, what did we think?

We loved the first book, and this new adventure sees team S.P.U.D. (Super Perceptive Undercover Detectives) take it to the next level — many levels, including the dungeons! They also get to deal with the Police and aspects of an actual investigation. All exciting and serious, which adds authentic flavour and realism to the whole book. 

The fact that Callie has hearing aids, aka ‘slugs’, never really gets any focus other than in a positive way in line with how they allow her to hear what Bo says. The characters also use B.S.L. (British Sign Language) as part of their sleuthing. This book is a wonderful example of how inclusiveness in children’s writing can be fun and informative without using a sledgehammer. Which, of course, is exactly what we like. 💙

So . . . . 

Crunch time. 

Once again, Karen Owen has captured and skillfully distilled the essence of a great, fun adventure in an easy-to-read first-person voice of the lead protagonist, Callie Major. Coupled with Louise’s dynamic illustrations, we get a readily accessible, compelling tale for younger and reluctant readers alike. The book is also educational in a lighthearted way. Well worth buying for the youngster in your life.

Want to buy a copy?

To get a copy, minus a talking bird, and being sure not to lose one’s head by upsetting the local monarch, head on down to your local independent bookshop. There are plenty out there (both book shops and cats), and each shop is just waiting to serve up whatever kind of mystery, fun and adventure you desire.

KAREN OWEN’S web page can be found HERE or type this:https://karenowen.co.uk/

FIREFLY PRESS web page can be found HERE or type this: https://fireflypress.co.uk/

LOUISE FORSHAW web page can be found HERE or type this: https://www.munkeypants.com/

As it is Sunday, and this is a blog hop as well, I shall leave you with a selfie of me, contemplating all things feline, and a few things with cream!  🙂

Till laters!

ERin

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The Cat Who Caught A Killer

by L T SHEARER;  

An Adventure Book Review by Erin the Literary Cat©, International Book Reviewer.

Image ©

Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction. This week, we have no news from Upper Much-Mousing due to poor internet service. According to the rushed telephone I got in the potting shed, this was caused by the wrong sort of leaves falling on the overhead telegraph wires. And if you’ll believe that excuse, you are probably the sort that accepted British Rail’s ‘leaves on the track’ explanation or the wrong kind of rain and wind. Rumour has it Erin was out celebrating Halloween, when someone dressed in a cloak and pointy hat whisked her away on a broom! The UMM police have put out a search warrant for the local parkkeeper.

Mrs H, however, has other thoughts on the matter and is currently out following a trail of catnip chewy sweet wrappers. She was last seen heading out of the village in her Wellies, Sou’wester and oilskins, muttering unrepeatable things! 

Anyways, it falls to me, Ol’ Ned, to push the button marked ENTER on the laptop so all you good folk can read about this week’s fabulous book!

Image ©

AUTHOR:  L T SHEARER

Cover art by: Not stated.

Published by:  Pan MacMillan

Publication date: Hardback on 27 October 2022

Publication date: Paperback on 22 June 2023

Paperback ISBN:   978 1529097993

Cover price for Hardback £10.09, Paperback £8.99

Pages: 400.

Age range: Adult

Any dogs or cats? Oh yes, Conrad the talking cat!

SPOILER ALERT

Some as to plot direction and characters. 

Thank you to… 

We are exceedingly grateful to Pan MacMillan Publishers and NetGalley for the privilege of getting to Read & Review this much-anticipated book before publication. 

As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we like and feel our readers deserve to know about and that we hope they will enjoy. 

The plot

This delightful modern cosy mystery is set just before and after the death, seemingly from dementia, of Emily Lewis, who had been in a care home of outstanding repute.

The book opens with Lulu Lewis, Emily’s daughter-in-law, looking out the galley window of her canal boat, moored at Little Venice, not far from Maida Vale in London. She moved there two months earlier after her husband’s death, and since Emily went into the care home. 

A calico-coloured cat, unusual as its a tomcat where most calicos are female, strides purposefully by the window and jumps aboard. Welcoming her first visitor to the barge, she casually asks the cat if he would like a saucer of milk. Much to Lulu’s surprise, the cat answers quite matter-of-factly that he’s not one for milk. He goes on to say that most cats aren’t due to lactose intolerance. Not unsurprisingly, Lulu is aghast and thinks she’s dreaming. Which of course, she isn’t, and the cat, Conrad, is a 100% talking, thinking, rational cat, though the glass of wine he then asks for is purely in jest. 

With Conrad neatly wrapped around her shoulders for comfort and safety, Lulu heads to see Emily. Conrad senses Emily is a good person and the two bond. One of the nurses takes a picture of the three, so it can be placed on Emily’s wall to help her remember. Taking a chocolate from Emily’s box, Lulu and Conrad leave. It is the last time either will see Emily alive, for when Lulu arrives the next day, Emily has passed away. But why wasn’t she informed? 

Now, cosy mysteries being as they are, things start to unfold. As Lulu is a retired police detective, a first-rate detective, she starts to question the suddenness of it all. As Conrad points out, Emily’s aura was one showing good health and a person at ease. She definitely wasn’t sick. Yet, the doctor has stated her cause of death as old age and dementia. 

From here on in, we get into the thick of family arguments, wills, missing evidence, and some shady characters. With little to go on, save a visitors list at the care home, and some pictures taken by the nurse, Lulu and Conrad set off to investigate, calling in favours from pals still on the force.

So, what did we think?

I have to say I loved this mystery. More so than many other feline-based cosy mysteries. It may be considered by some a cosy mystery, but it has a much bigger feel, worthy of the Morse of Colin Dexter, Danny Boyle, or even Agatha Christies’s Hercule Poirot! 

Conrad’s arrival on the scene is pure magic. The dialogue in the opening pages is fluid and just what one might expect from a feline encounter of the talking kind. I found myself laughing at the retorts and hoping the story would continue in the same vein, which I am happy to say it does, without the feeling of ever getting old or worn. 

The book also deals very well with the subject of dementia for those left behind and those afflicted. I found this hard as this has touched my family, like many others. There was never any sense of the subject being given anything other than due respect. 

There is a lot going on, investigation-wise, which is why I haven’t gone into too much detail. The ending is, however, satisfying. 

So . . . . 

Crunch time. 

All in all, I desperately want to see this detective due, placed wonderfully in the heart of London and uniquely on a barge, go from strength to strength and on to equally as interesting new cases. 

Undoubtedly a MUST BUY 5 Star book for lovers of mysteries with a modern flavour and compelling characters and storyline.

Want to buy a copy?

To get a copy, please sail or saunter down to your local independent bookshop. Of course, a feline on the shoulders is optional. There are plenty out there (both book shops and cats), and each shop is just waiting to serve up whatever kind of mystery, fun and adventure you desire.

Pan MacMillan’s Author web page can be found HERE or type this: https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/l-t-shearer/44065 

I shall leave you with a picture of Erin, from before the ‘catnapping’! 🙂

Image © Erin the cat Princess.

Till laters!

ERin

The Lighthouse Bookshop

BY SHARON GOSLING

An Adventure Book Review hosted by Erin the Literary Cat ©

© Erin the cat

Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring this week, Adventures in Middle-Grade Adult Fiction!

⭐️ A WINNER! ⭐️ Before we proceed with this week’s post, we need to announce the winner of the copy of The Shadow Order that Mrs H bought out of her pension for the Shadow Order Blog Tour. The winning commenter, was Jackie, from the Memories of Eric and Flynn blog. Please contact Mrs H, Jackie, to arrange delivery of your prize.

Now let’s head on over to Upper Much-Mousing, and see what Erin and Mrs H are up to this week and what book they have . . .

“Mrs H, what is a folly?” Erin was sitting leafing through this week’s book for review.

“Well, dear, a folly is something that might be considered foolish or unlikely to succeed. Like you trying to convince me I need to feed you when I know you’ve just had your third supper. A folly can also be something with no purpose other than to be itself, no matter how strange or out of place that may be.

“Like the Lighthouse in this book,” Erin gestured to the cover.

“Yes, exactly that. It was built as a library, seemingly on the whim of the landowner, for his wife.”

“And is that Sharon Gosling on the cover? I can’t see her cat, Newt, with her.” Erin knew Newt travelled with the author to her allotment to help with security, grounds maintenance and rodent control.”

“I think that’s Rachel, the lead character.” Mrs H smiled warmly at her feline companion, who often took things far too literally and who she suspected had ASD like herself. “There is a cat in the story, though, called Eustace. And a dog called Bukowski, who together add to the flavour.”

“Maybe we should have a lighthouse. Or at least a small tower!” Erin scratched at her ear absentmindedly.

“And who would be expected to clean this tower, hmm?” Mrs H gave Erin a raised eyebrow stare which meant she was not amused.

Erin cringed. “I think maybe I’ll settle for just looking at this picture then.”

“Yes, dear, I think that’s best. Why not introduce the review whilst you have our guests’ attention?”

“Great idea, Mrs H. This week, dear readers, we have the great pleasure of reviewing The Lighthouse Bookshop. Read on to discover all, and the chance to win a copy!”

©. Erin the Cat Princess ©.

AUTHOR: SHARON GOSLING

Cover art by: PIP WATKINS (Senior Designer at Simon & Schuster)

Published by: SIMON & SCHUSTER UK

Publication date:  18 August 2022

Paperback ISBN:    978-1-4711-9869-4

Cover price for Paperback £8.99

Pages:  440.

Age range: Adult

Any dogs or cats? YES!  A Cat and a Dog in supporting roles.

Thank you to… 

We are exceedingly grateful to Sharon Gosling, Simon & Schuster & Net Galley for the privilege of getting to Read & Review this delightful adult book, which is out now.

As ever, our views are always our own, and we only share reviews of books we like and feel our readers deserve to know about and that we hope they will enjoy. 

The plot

Our protagonist is Rachel. The story opens with the arrival of a letter and a note posted within another. Seeing the name and address on the inner envelope, words thought left behind, shatters five years’ worth of them being forgotten about. This is Rachel’s secret, and she means to keep it that way for her own sanity and, ultimately, her very real safety.

Rachel came to the remote Aberdeenshire village of Newton Dunbar, some miles inland from the coast. Alone and then homeless, save for her campervan, she finally found a place to call home and work. That place was a lighthouse that sat too far from the coast to be of any use. It was, in the true sense, a folly. Within its walls was once the library of the nearby stately home that burnt down soon after it was built in the early 1800’s. Now it is a bookshop. Both tower and the stately have a history, a sad one at that, but both hold secrets too. Secrets that will come to feature prominently.

The owner of the Lighthouse Bookshop, and carer of Eustace, the cat, is Mr Cullen MacDonald. The bookshop and Cullen are loved by all; both are the centre of a tight community of friends. It is a place where Cullen and Ron play chess, and villagers have coffee and fresh baked culinary treats made by local engraver, Edie. Of course, it is also a place of friendly banter. And even as a neutral ground, where once friends, now unfathomably quarrelsome neighbours, Esra and Edie spar and goad each other. 

It is a place like many others, maybe you know a place like it. But in a small village, it is probably more intense and passionate. Gilly, a young girl in her teens, enters the mix. She is camping out, essentially on the run from the system and adoption. Strong-willed, fiercely independent, and like Rachel, wanting to leave things behind. She falls foul of Dora McCreedy, the local property magnate with an axe to grind and the despicable villain of this book. Finding her tent and possessions destroyed by McCreedy, who threatens to call the police, Gilly ends up at the lighthouse. Her presence splits opinions amongst the villagers regarding her intent, honesty and actual situation, and more importantly, what they should do about it.

When Cullen dies suddenly and without leaving a will, his legacy, the bookshop, and thus Rachel’s world and safe place, are at the mercy of the highest bidder. And McCreedy makes it clear that she will be the victor.

Now, I have introduced you to all but one of the main supporting characters. Enter Toby Hollingwood. War journalist, now set to work on his memoirs. But it is a past that is haunted by demons.

OK, so that is as far as I can go. Rest assured, there is much elegance and compelling reading in what follows next. There is joy, sadness and, yes, tears too.

So, what did we think?

This is Sharon’s second full length adult fiction tale, the first being The House Beneath the Cliffs. She has a long and respected career as a professional entertainment journalist and writer of non-fiction on film and television, including tie-in books for movies. Mrs H was highly impressed and says she’ll soon be buying The House Beneath the Cliffs. 

Our review of Sharon’s latest thrilling Middle-Grade adventure, The Extraordinary Voyage of Katy Willacott. A link to that can be found HERE. 

This is as delicious, refreshing and comforting a tale as a bowl of summer fruit or a favourite hot pudding in winter. 

Once again, Sharon has delivered a timeless piece of writing. It gently conveys the essence of the characters and their lives. Rounded yet flawed, as we are, this tale gives charm, sass, wit, fear and insight into a plotline that is, I think, unique. 

Centred around a ‘folly’ of the title, which itself hides secrets beyond the obviousness of its unlikely presence, the story unfolds and grows in a delightfully organic way. We get a natural feel for the tight-knit community, the stresses and strains, and the actual value of comradery. 

So . . . . 

Crunch time. 

Whilst adult books are not my usual stomping ground, cosy mysteries and Middle Grade reads as befits my age, this is a most welcome, engaging exception. It handles aspects of a social, family and mature nature, including PTSD, with a delicate accuracy; no sensationalism or gratuity. 

I enjoyed every minute of this book and hope you will too. Everything to love and applaud, as is to be expected from a very skilled writer. 

⭐️ We have a Giveaway! ⭐️

Mrs H has kindly funded the purchase of two copies of this fabulous book. Two lucky commenters will each receive a copy to enjoy. All you have to do is leave a comment below, and Mrs H will, with my help, select a winner at random from our virtual hat! Entries close Friday 14th October 2022.

© Erin the cat Princess

Want to buy a copy?

To get a copy, please do think of your local independent bookshop. There are plenty out there, though maybe none as mysterious as the Lighthouse Bookshop, and each is a beacon ready to light your path to fun and adventure with a personal touch.

Sharon Gosling’s WEB page can be found HERE or type this:  

Simon & Schuster UK’s web page can be found HERE.  OR type this:- https://www.simonandschuster.com/

If any publishers wish us to review their books, please contact us. Details are listed on our book review page.

I shall leave you with a Sunday Selfie of me doing what comes naturally…..

© Erin the Cat Princess

Till laters!

ERin

 © All images and text are subject to copyright, and nothing may be used, copied, stored or shared, either in part of whole, in any format, without the express written permission of the copyright holders in advance. 

LIBBY and the HIGHLAND HEIST

 by JO CLARKE;  

An Adventure Book Review hosted by Erin the Literary Cat ©

©Image Copyright

Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction! 

We had wanted to bring you some local news, but alas, since the local printer can only afford to run off two copies of the Upper Much-Mousing Gazette, they are being passed from house to house, one copy starting at either end of Main Street. With any luck, both will meet at the village chip shop, where they will have a second life around small portions of cod and chips. 

Being situate outside the village, Friday nights have become quite a novelty, and much to Mrs H’s delight, she was able to complete a full, albeit slightly greasy, crossword with her supper. I, however, was not so lucky and got the less than appealing face of a drooling bull-mastiff peering at me from under my pile of mushy peas!

So, with all that said, and not wishing to put you off your own suppers, let’s get on with a rather fine new adventure from Award-Winning Book Blogger and Primary School Librarian, Jo Clarke!

LIBBY and the HIGHLAND HEIST (Book 2 of the Travelling School Mysteries.)

©Image Copyright

AUTHOR: JO CLARKE

Cover art by: BECKA MOOR

Published by: FIREFLY PRESS

Publication date: 19 January 2023

Paperback ISBN: 978 191 544 4011 

Cover price for Paperback: £ 7.99

Pages: 243.

Age range: Middle Grade (9-12 AND upwards)

SPOILER ALERT

Some as to plot direction and characters. 

Thank you to… 

We are exceedingly grateful to FIREFLY PRESS & NetGalley for the privilege of getting to Read & Review this much-anticipated book before publication. 

As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we like and feel our readers deserve to know about and that we hope they will enjoy. 

The plot

A little bit of back story for you as this is the second book in the series. It features Libby, and her best pal, Connie, who are students at a school that quite literally moves from building to building and city to city across the globe. The first novel was set in Paris. Here Libby and Connie solved a matter of stolen jewels which had left Libby’s aunt in the frame for the crime! This term, the school was supposed to be heading for New York. But a flood there meant at short notice, the students and teachers find themselves staying in Edinburgh. This is handy as Connie’s family lives nearby in a delightful, if somewhat dilapidated, stately turreted home. Moreover, Connie’s parents are 

The book opens with Libby, Connie and Libby’s aunt, Miss Mousedale, a teacher at the school, arriving at Connie’s home for Christmas. Libby’s mother is away on a trip to Peru and won’t be home for Christmas. All is not well, it seems, and Connie’s father is shut up in his study whilst her mum has dark rings around her eyes. But the friends are intent on making the most of the time and go off exploring, putting aside any strangeness of the strangely quiet troubled reception.

It is, of course, inevitable that the best intentions of both girls to keep out of trouble lapse. In a rambling stately home, nothing could be more fun than a game of hide and seek. Which is when things start to get all exciting. 

Now, I won’t be drawn into giving too much more away about what happens next, as it is all so nicely embroidered together that it will spoil it for you. Suffice it to say, the discovery of secret passageways, a mysterious yet strangely familiar intruder and any number of things that aren’t what they seem or are where they are meant to be, lead Libby on a merry chase. The game is afoot, and Libby needs to uncover a family mystery and save the not-so-stately family pile from ruin. 

So, what did we think?

Simply elegant, adventuresome, mysterious, and delightfully addictive read. Jo has let the magic flow through this, the second adventure. In its MG way, it is as rambunctious as a ceilidh reel! Everything to love and recommend!

So . . . . 

Crunch time. 

I don’t usually read series out of order, but I find that with this one, I will, and book one of the Travelling School Mysteries is already waiting for attention. 

This fine series is an able step up from the Enid Blyton of yore and those fabulous – or so Mrs H says – kids’ TV adventures of the seventies. I have no doubt that this adventure rooted in current times will be an immense delight and a ‘gateway tale’ to grander adventures as the readers grow. 

It is lovely to see and read such stories. Where once years ago there was a desert, now there are oases of literary magic aplenty to quench the thirst of the most avid young reader.

Want to buy a copy?

To get a copy, please do think of your local independent bookshop. There are plenty out there, and each is just waiting to serve up a treasure of literal magical resource, fun and adventure with a personal touch.

JO CLARKE’S WEB page can be found HERE. or type this: https://jo-clarke.co.uk 

FIREFLY PRESS’S web page can be found HERE. or type this https://fireflypress.co.uk/

BECKA MOOR’S web page can be found HERE.  or type this: https://beckamoor.com

I shall leave you with a picture of me getting in some pre-winter napping practice; does that foot big or what?!

©Erin the cat princess

Till laters!

ERin

 © All images and text are copyright, and nothing may be used, copied, stored or shared, either in part of whole, without the express written permission of the copyright holders in advance.

‘The Shadow Order’ Blog Tour

An Adventure Book Blog Tour featuring our guest, Rebecca F. John; 

Hosted by Erin the Literary Cat ©

© Image Copyright

Hello, and welcome to my weekday Book Review slot featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction! 

This week we have something very special for you, an exclusive chat with Rebecca F. John, the author of The Shadow Order.

You may recall that Erin reviewed this excellent adventure a few weeks ago, and a link to the review can be FOUND HERE. So let’s head on over to Upper Much-Mousing and see what Erin’s up to today . . . . 

“Mrs H, I’ve packed my case, and remembered the suncream and swimsuit. It’s all ready for you to pop in the taxi.” Erin said as she entered the Manor’s drawing room, leapt nimbly onto her favourite sofa, and started checking off items on a list of tasks she had prepared. “Do you think I’ll be signing autographs? Maybe I should get you another pen to do the signing for me?”

“Are you going somewhere, dear?” Mrs H looked up from her crossword puzzle and placed the knitting she’d done neatly on her lap. “I don’t recall there being any trips planned.”

“Yes, on tour. The one we were invited on by Karen at Firefly Press.” Erin prodded at the corner of the telegram she currently sat on. “Surely you recall? I know you’d had a sherry that evening, but you said it was quite a red letter day. Though I must admit the telegram is only in black ink, so maybe you got it wrong?”

“Oh, that tour. No, dear, you are quite right. But equally wrong.” Mrs H smiled, leaned over, and gently pulled the now-warm and curved telegram from under Erin.

“I’m right and wrong, Mrs H?” Erin glanced over at the sherry decanter just in case Mrs H had imbibed a pre-lunch sherry and forgotten to put the stopper back in.

“Yes, dear. We, or rather you and the blog, are going on tour. Well, actually, the blog is a stop on tour for other readers. So yes, there is a tour. But alas, no, you are not actually going anywhere or signing anything. Rather people, your fans and new visitors are coming to meet Rebecca F. John.”

“Hmmm, shouldn’t we be getting the tea, sandwiches and scones ready? And maybe do a spot of dusting? I know I, for one, could do with a good dust-off and bath!”

“No, dear, they will be virtual visitors. And before you ask, Rebecca couldn’t come here, at least not today. But she kindly sent a copy of the book, AND a unique insight into the question you asked about how she created the characters, and more importantly, how they develop.”

“That was really kind, and I can’t wait to read the answer. Is it set up on the laptop, Mrs H?”

“It is, dear. I did it whilst you were packing. I think the answer will surprise some of our readers. Though bloggers with companions will, I am sure, understand. Others, who are maybe thinking of branching into writing, will be inspired and educated.”

“Just one thing, Mrs H.”

“Yes?”

“Does this mean there’s no trips out or tours?” 

“No, dear. No trips or tours.”

“So, no scones with cream and catnip sprinkles either?”

“No scones. At least, not real scones. But virtual scones topped with virtual cream, and lashings of virtual nip ale, we have aplenty.”

“Well, I suppose virtual is the new reality,” Erin said, contemplating if she needed to have a virtual bath and nap before a virtual tour. “Will we be doing a giveaway this week?”

“Yes, dear. One lucky reader who leaves a comment will have their name plucked from a hat—”

“A virtual hat or a real hat, Mrs H?” Erin interrupted.

“There will be no hat, just folded strips of real paper with names on. So, as I was saying, one lucky commenter will receive a copy of the Shadow Order. And before you ask, it will be a real book, not a virtual copy. Comments will close next Tuesday, 27th September 2022.”

Erin nodded sagely and was on the brink of asking another question but was stopped by a reproving look from Mrs H. “I think, dear, we best get on with the tour and introduce our guest.”

“Right you are, Mrs H.” Erin cleared her throat and, after a nonchalant straightening of the whiskers, addressed the laptop. “Dear readers, please give a warm Upper Much-Mousing welcome to our first guest, Rebecca F. John, author of the brilliant Middle-Grade book, The Shadow Order. Rebecca has kindly written the following article just for us about how she gets to know her characters.”

“Hello, Erin, and thank you for your question. My starting point for developing the characters in The Shadow Order was perhaps slightly unusual. Here is it…

 Betsy – poodle x schnauzer, black and white, born 2015

 Teddy – schnauzer, black, born 2016

 Effie – cocker spaniel, blue roan, 2011 – 2021

 Three dogs. My dogs really were the inspiration for the characters of Elizabeth’ Betsy’ Blue, Theodore ‘Teddy’ James, and Euphemia’ Effie’ Hart – three best friends who embark on a big adventure in The Shadow Order. I’ve mentioned my reasons for basing these characters on my dogs a few times, but it is perhaps also worth mentioning that echoing the dogs’ names, personality traits, and even, to some extent, their physical appearance (Betsy, for example, is the smallest of the three: a wiry, energetic girl who struggles to keep still) was just the beginning of building these characters.

 I’m sure there are as many different ways to develop convincing characters as there are writers. I’ve heard some mention making lists of character traits or plotting their characters’ family histories. I’ve heard others say they sketch their characters, or compile playlists for them, or even talk to them. For my part, I usually start out with a strong visual idea of each character. Some writers, I know, aren’t particularly interested in what their characters look like. That idea feels completely alien to me! I certainly know a lot about my characters’ physicality before I start to write them: their eye colour, the way they walk, the manner in which they use their hands when they speak, what their voice sounds like. All those details come to me before I understand why.

 It is only as I start to move them around on the page that I come to learn why I would want to know their stories. A writer friend once told me that if I was stuck with a scene, I should move somebody, even if it’s just across the kitchen to make a sandwich. And I think that’s a great trick to keep in mind. A lot of writing comes, for me, from the act of doing it, of moving my fingers over the keys, of finding out where that movement will carry my characters.

 So what did I learn about Betsy, Teddy, and Effie as I moved them around the world I had built for them? Honestly, almost everything. As I wrote Betsy onto a street corner, waiting for her friend Teddy to arrive, I learnt that she cannot stay still for a moment. That she fizzes with energy. And as she fizzed around Copperwell, so I learnt that Betsy cannot relax because she has never known the security of a home, that she has bounced from temporary situation to temporary situation, making do, just as she does as a worker at Saltsburg’s Laundry at the start of the novel. I might never have known that about her, had I not put her on the page and allowed her to reveal herself to me.

 I had similar experiences with the other main characters. Teddy’s low-shouldered lope betrays his lack of confidence in himself. I found the cause of that lack of confidence in his feelings of grief following the loss of his father. Without a role model, Teddy feels he doesn’t quite know how to go about the business of growing into a man.

 And with these kinds of discoveries came the characters’ interests. Effie is the most sensible and staid of the three characters. She has grown up in a wealthy household and feels herself restricted by what is considered respectable dress, the presence of servants in her home, her parents’ important jobs. So it seemed only natural that Effie would challenge that feeling by becoming a jazz musician.

 In this way, the characters grew alongside and because of their existence in their physical world. It seems to me as good a way as any to find our characters and the stories they inhabit. Move your fingers, move your characters, move through the story and see what you discover along the way. It’s exciting! It’s an adventure! To my mind, it’s a lot of fun!”

“Wow, thank you, Rebecca, that was really interesting, and I have to say far more complex than I thought. We loved that your three canine companions started the ball rolling and helped shape the characters. They thus have a special place in the book. Mrs H and I hope there is a sequel to this soon. But till then, we wish you and The Shadow Order a very successful launch. It certainly is a story we recommend!”

***

That, sadly is all we have time for this week. Thank you fellow bloggers and readers for being with us today. I hope you enjoyed the Upper Much-Mousing stop on The Shadow Order Book Blog Tour. Please do leave your comments below.

As is tradition, we leave you with a selfie of me stalking (in a virtual fashion) a long tail zebra mouse that Mrs H says now lives under the sofa!

©Image Copyright Erin the Cat Princess©

Till laters!

ERin

© All images and text are copyright, and nothing may be used, copied, shared in part of whole without the express permission of the copyright holders in advance.

HONESTY & LIES

by ELOISE WILLIAMS;  

An Adventure Book Review by Erin the Cat Princess©

Image ©

Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction! 

But first, we head to Upper Much-Mousing. This week we find Erin and Mrs H in the Manor’s library, surrounded by history books about the Elizabethan period.

“Oh, my word! Surely they never used THAT to clean their clothes!” Erin exclaimed, her eyes wide with shock. “You don’t,” Erin whispered something in Mrs H’s ear, “do you?”

“Heaven forfend; absolutely not.” Mrs H’s shocked expression quickly turned to a smile at Erin’s innocent question. “We have chemicals to do that sort of thing. And machines too. No more manual labour for the modern laundry worker.”

The library descended into silence again, only to be broken five minutes later by another outburst from Erin.

“Ewww, that is horrid; the smell must have been awful. Not to mention the rats. And just think if you were walking beneath the window when that happened!” Erin shuddered but offered no more explanation to a now curious Mrs H.

“Ah, this is more like it, Mrs H, pies! Good to know our ancestors liked meat pies. Though I’m not entirely sure I like the name they gave them, it conjures up the wrong image of what’s inside.”

“And what did they call their pies back then?” Mrs H had stopped knitting, determined to get a bit more information from Erin.

“Coffins, Mrs H, coffins! They must have had a robust constitution to face one of those for breakfast when the plague was about!”

Mrs H leaned over and looked at the pictures and text Erin had been reading. “They called them that because the pastry was thick and shaped a bit like a coffin and was just as well sealed so the contents within would last some time.”

 “That sounds horrible. Sort of reminds me of that job-lot of second world war, army surplus Christmas mince pies that Mrs Singh’s brother-in-law got hold of. We’ve still got some of those, haven’t we?” 

“Yes, dear. And still ‘in-date’, too.” Mrs H frowned. She was not one for wasting food but just couldn’t bring herself to risk opening an item over 70 years old. “I think I’ll send them to the clay pigeon shooting range for their next Open Day.”

“To eat?” Erin asked incredulously, remembering what happened to the vicar’s false teeth when the packets of pies had got mixed up.

“No dear, to shoot at. Judging by their weight and sturdiness, I suspect they’ll be reusable!” 

With Mrs H and Erin descending into laughter, I think it’s time to look at this week’s book, a mighty fine Elizabethan adventure called HONESTY & LIES.

© Firefly Press, Eloise Williams, Cynthia Paul.

BOOK TITLE & AUTHOR: Honesty and Lies by Eloise Williams

Cover art by:  Cynthia Paul

Published by: Firefly Press

Publication date:  6th October 2022

Paperback ISBN:  978 191 310 2999

Cover price for Paperback £7.99 

Kindle Version to be available?  Yes

Pages:  288.

Age range: Middle Grade (9-12 AND upwards)

Any dogs or cats? No, but a strangely attired squirrel!

SPOILER ALERT

Some as to plot direction and characters. 

Thank you to… 

We are exceedingly grateful to Eloise Williams, all at Firefly Press & NetGalley for the delight of getting to Read & Review this winning book before publication. 

As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we like and feel our readers deserve to know about and that we hope they will enjoy. 

The plot

Honesty is a welsh girl, no more than 13yrs, who has escaped to London to avoid a marriage arranged by her father to a much older, loathsome man. Arriving in the bitter cold of Christmas time, she is taken aback by the dirt, stink, chaos, and the noisy hustle and bustle of the streets. She needs her wits to keep her purse and life in this place. Will her quick tongue and way with stories be any help? 

Fleeing from an attacker, she runs into Alice, a girl of about the same age, who it seems is a maid of some import at Queen Elizabeth’s court. Honesty realises Alice is key to gaining work and thus safety, so she follows her into the grounds of Greenwich Palace. In so doing, Honesty foils an attempt on the queen’s life. Her reward is to get to be a maid with Alice. And so begins a journey that starts out of Alice’s need, then twists and turns through skullduggery, betrayal, treason, envy, lost friendships, and rivalries created. 

While Honesty doesn’t want her past catching up with her, Alice has a secret in her present that gnaws at her very soul. It could be the end of her and her family if discovered by the palace guards . . . 

So, what did we think?

As you may recall from our review of WILDE, Eloise is a highly skilled writer and the inaugural Welsh Children’s Laureate. She has created a compelling gem-of-a-tale, steeped in the atmosphere, characters and smells of Elizabethan London, both good and bad. It is maybe one of which the bard or even Chaucer would approve. 

Unlike Anna Fargher’s book, ‘The Fire Cats of London’, which we reviewed a few months ago (LINK HERE), this book is far less brutal in depicting the reality of period life. But that doesn’t mean this is in any way a less appealing or less well-constructed tale. In fact, quite the reverse. The detailed descriptions of life for the Londoners, as well as that of the courtiers, are very compelling. Whilst not long, it packed a punch of excitement, tension and a powerful sense of person and place. 

The twin, first-person narrative in alternating chapters from Alice and Honesty works really well, especially when the two try, often wrongly, to make sense of each other’s actions and emotions. 

The book’s title is a lovely play on what the reader will discover within its pages. I shall say no more on that for fear I will take away from the plot.

So . . . . 

Crunch time. 

I thoroughly enjoyed and would recommend this tale. I could see this as a favourite in the classroom for out-loud reading and discussion. Anyone interested in a short but eloquent middle-grade story of Elizabethan life will find much in here to please them. 

Want to buy a copy?

To get a copy – avoiding some of the more unpleasant smells and deeds of Elizabeth I’s London – please do think of your local independent bookshop. There are plenty out there, and each is just waiting to serve up a treasure of literal magical resource – minus dubious meat pies and ale – with a personal touch.

Eloise Williams’ WEB page can be found HERE  or type this: https://eloisewilliams.com

The Firefly Press web page can be found HERE.  Or type this: https://fireflypress.co.uk/

And I shall leave you with my traditional selfie . . . .

©Erin the Cat Princess

Till laters!

ERin

All text and images on this site are subject to the legal Copyright © of Erin the Cat Princess© and the publishers/authors/artists featured in the reviews. None may be reproduced without prior consent.

FESTERGRIMM

By Thomas Taylor

A book review by Erin the Literary Cat©

©Image Copyright.

Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction! 

This week Mrs H and Erin have been contemplating a short holiday. . . . 

“Foreign travel is always a good experience; it broadens the young mind.” Mrs H said, gesturing to the picture of the pyramids. “Egypt has so much to offer, lots of history and —”

“And scorching sand which plays havoc on the paws; not forgetting the spitting alpacas!” Erin said with a grimace as she vividly recalled her encounter with an alpaca at the Eastlambtonshire Horticultural Show. It had taken Mrs H two hours, a warm bath and lots of scented soap to remove the phlegm, not to mention the smell from Erin’s fur! 

“Camels, dear,” Mrs H rolled her eyes. “Egypt has camels.”

“They have camels AND alpacas! I bet the laundry shops must do a roaring trade!” 

“So that will be a no to Egypt then, will it?” Mrs H said with a wry smile as she placed the Egyptian Tours brochure into the recycling bin along with others from countries that Erin had found fault with, on a purely feline basis of them wasting good creamy milk on making far too smelly cheeses. 

“Maybe we should just go for an out-of-season break, instead. A trip to the seaside would be fun. And we could have your favourite – Fish N Chips followed by Catnip Candyfloss! Then after a brisk walk along the promenade, we can take in a show at the pier’s ice rink. I see ‘Puss In Boots on Water’ is on this year.”

“Umm, shouldn’t that be ‘Puss In Boots on ICE’, Mrs H?”

“Well, yes, ordinarily. But it says here that due to the heatwave and the ice machine breaking, the ice is a no-go. Shall I book the train tickets for Saturday, then?”

“Oh yes, please! And let’s not forget to take something to read. I seem to recall Thomas Taylor sent us a book he wanted us to review. Fester something?”

“It’s grimm, dear.” Mrs H said, picking up a book from the table. 

“Well, that seems a bit judgmental, Mrs H; we’ve not even read it yet!” 

“No dear, ‘FESTERGRIMM’ is the title. I’m sure this latest adventure in Eerie-on-Sea will be anything other than grim. In fact, I sneaked a quick read and suffice to say, I do believe this is his best adventure to date!”

The following Saturday, the two could be found on deckchairs on the sundrenched promenade of Cliffhanger-on-Sea, enjoying a good read. However, the seagulls were not enjoying it one bit as Mrs H had brought her recently patented Garlic Gull Replant suncream!

And talking of gulls, let’s get on with this review of FESTERGRIMM, the latest adventure for Herbie Lemon and Violet Parma in what has to be one of the best MG mystery series of its kind . . . 

© Book cover George Ermos, Walker Books, Thomas Taylor.

FESTERGRIMM BY THOMAS TAYLOR 

Cover art by: George Ermos

Published by: Walker Books

Publication date: 1st September 2022

Paperback ISBN: 978 – 1529502121 

Cover price for Paperback: £7.03

Pages: 320.

Age range: Middle Grade (9-12 AND upwards)

Any dogs or cats? But of course, we have Erwin the talking cat reprising his role.

SPOILER ALERT

YES. As we are four books in, some of what follows gives away aspects of the previous book/s. Please read from the first adventure if you don’t wish to know. 

Thank you to… 

We are exceedingly grateful to Thomas Taylor, Walker Books and NetGalley for the privilege of getting to Read & Review this spookily fantastic book before publication. 

As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we like and feel our readers deserve to know about and that we hope they will enjoy. 

Reviews of Books 1 to 3 can be found using the links below. 

The plot

It is the back end of November, and Herbie, the Lost-and-Founder of the Grand Nautilus Hotel, has a queasy feeling in his stomach. This is definitely foreboding. Having been forced to carry the bags of an unknown VIP, he finds himself on the platform of Cheerie-on-Sea’s train station. The spooky feeling gets worse when he, Mr Mollusc (the hotel’s irksome manager) and Violet Parma (Herbie’s best pal) hear sudden thudding footsteps and an awful shuffling on the platform’s canopy! Is it a zombie? Could it be a …… Well, you’ll have to read that to find out. But let me say, what transpires is enough to cause Herbie and Violet much upset and Mr Mollusc much sadistic mirth. But more of that new character later!

When the immense bulk of Bethuselah – an old train and not a visitor – arrives at the platform in a vast cloud of steam and then leaves again without disgorging a passenger, it seems the mysterious VIP hasn’t turned up. But then, like the worst possible of nightmares, Sebastian Eels appears like a ghost out of the vapour. And deceased is what Herbie and Violet thought he was after the previous adventure! Their arch-enemy, who knows more about Herbie’s past than he tells and is responsible for the death of Violet’s parents, is once more back in Eerie-on-Sea. Herbie and Violet know he is up to no good, but what he has planned, they do not know. 

Later, when Dr Thalassi, Wendy Fossil (the resident beachcomber and proprietor of the Flotsamporium) and Jenny Hanniver (owner of Eerie Book Dispensary), all friends of Herbie and Violet, hear of the news, they suggest caution. If Eels is to be sorted out and warned off, the adults will do it. Herbie and Violet are to steer clear. They can’t actually do anything as Eels’ arrival is open, and his plans are unknown.

After some investigation, it transpires that Eels has persuaded Lady Kraken to allow him to open a long-closed and forgotten tourist attraction, FESTERGRIMM. It is Eerie-on-Sea’s own spine-chilling version of Madam Tussaud’s waxworks. Someone was even found dead of fright, having spent the night in its dark and decidedly weird passages lined with uncanny clockwork likenesses of infamous people from Eerie’s past. 

Needless to say, there is more to Festergrimm than just waxworks. The name hales from a far darker past. Herbie and Violet learn of a maker of clockwork toys so exquisite and advanced they were beyond compare and sought-after gifts when Ludovic Festergrimm came for the annual fair in centuries past. But, on losing his only child in uncharted tunnels under the seaside town, he was driven to despair and, some say, a madness that consumed him and drove him to build a clockwork monster to find his long-lost daughter.  

What that monster did is a matter of record, but one the townsfolk have forgotten. It certainly isn’t something that Mrs Fossil wants dragging up. 

So, with Eels offering the town a moneymaking attraction and having wangled the support of the townsfolk and Lady Kraken, there seems little to stop Eels from his dastardly plan. Oh yes, there is one, alright, and it falls on Herbie, dragged along by Violet, to not only discover what it is but put an end to the ever-so-slippery Eels. 

Destruction, chaos, lies, monsters, long buried treasures and secrets not meant to be exposed lurk deep within the pages of Eerie’s history. There is tragedy, too, vital and misunderstood. The only thing that stands between the past from revisiting the present is Herbie, Violet and Erwin the cat. Together, willingly or not, they enter into a rollercoaster of an adventure far more scary and dangerous than anything they have done before and certainly do not wish to do again . . . at least not without a cup of strong tea and some dunkable biscuits and cake!

Oh, as to the monster at the train station, well, I’ll let you discover it for yourself! But where he goes, a host of trouble follows. 

So, what did we think?

Ok, so I cannot give too much away here, but Thomas Taylor confirmed to us that this is the penultimate book in the series. But we are assured that the final instalment, Mermedusa, will be brilliant and “Lots will be revealed”. 

That said, Mr Taylor hasn’t held back on this book; instead, he has outdone himself. This is an adventure with all the toppings. Think of the best fish and chip supper with just the right amount of your fav condiments.  

This is one series, like the best, that we as readers will never be weary of. The regular characters all appear, but they never feel old or tired. Nicely where they need to be and bringing the foil to our two main protagonists, arguably three, as Erwin the talking cat helps save the day in his own inimitable feline way. A villain we love to hate is a must, and Sebastian Eels is just that. Herbie sums him up very well when he thinks of him in the VIP room at the hotel as “…pulling the wings off fairies or eating puppies with cake forks…” Conivingly devious and utterly untrustworthy, yet, for some of the adult characters, he is worthy of a second chance! 

Of course, all that isn’t enough, and the sheer fluidity of the plot, its twists and turns, some literal, and the first person narrative by Herbie Lemon, are a treat. As I read the book, it seems that Thomas has defined everything that my mind’s eye wants and needs to see in the story, the things I recognise from a seaside town visit and the things one might fear lurking in dark alleyways once the holiday season ends. To borrow a phrase from me recently, you can smell the adventure, salt and vinegar in the pages.

Roll all these attributes together, and we have an adventure that would not be out of place on the big screen or as a Television series. Sadly the proposed movie of Malamander, by a Sony Pictures, never came about. Hopefully, now they will think again!

So . . . . 

Crunch time. 

The series thus far has been an absolute must for readers across the world. But don’t take my word for it, try it for yourself. And yes, whilst this is book four, you can read it as a standalone. But it is far better to take it from the start.

Reviews of Books 1 to 3 can be found using the links below.

Book 1: MALAMANDER.  Read the Review HERE.  https://erinthecatprincess.wordpress.com/2021/12/18/malamander/

Book 2: GARGANTIS. Read the Review HERE.   https://erinthecatprincess.wordpress.com/2021/12/25/gargantis/

BOOK 3: SHADOWGHAST.  Read the Review HERE.   https://erinthecatprincess.wordpress.com/2022/01/08/shadowghast/

Want to buy a copy?

To get a copy, unharrased by passing seagulls, irate townsfolk and wayward monsters, please do think of your local independent bookshop. There are plenty out there, and each is just waiting to serve up a treasure of literal magical resource, fun and adventure with a personal touch.

THOMAS TAYLOR’s WEB page can be found HERE  or type this: https://www.thomastaylor-author.com/

WALKER BOOKS’ web page can be found HERE.  or type this: https://www.walker.co.uk/

If any publishers wish us to review their books, please do get in touch. Details are listed on our book review page.

I shall leave you with a picture of me looking studiously at you!

© Erin the Cat Princess

Till laters!

ERin

ALL content on this page/site is copyright, either to the authors, artists, publishers or to Erin the cat Princess© Reproduction in whole or any part without the express permission of the releveant copyright parties is expressly forbidden.

ALICE ÉCLAIR, SPY EXTRAORDINAIRE; A Recipe for Trouble

 by Sarah Todd Taylor;  

An Adventure Book Review by Erin the Cat Princess©

Image ©

Hello, and welcome to my weekend Read & Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction! 

Before we get stuck in to this special review, I have some local news: As the temperatures soar in my village of Upper Much-Mousing, Mrs Gauze, proprietor of ‘Clips & Snips’ the village hairdressers, has advised that she is now offering short back, sides, tummy and legs to all sheep in need. She also offers a variety of rinses, and tells me the pink is proving very popular at the moment with younger ewes. It is waterproof, too, which is rather handy, as the local swimming pool has opened its doors to the beleaguered local flock so they can cool down and get some exercise. The ‘Baaathing with Sheep’ sessions have proved very popular with the not-so-able and learner villagers who have found the sheep make excellent mobile bouyancy aids!

One major downside of this heatwave is that Mrs H refuses to bake. And no baking means no cream for me. So it was with great relief that she announced a cake delivery. Dashing downstairs I was confronted not with a huge pile of cake boxes, but with a rather ordinary looking package. 

“Is that what I think it is, Mrs H, ‘the proof’?” I asked, suddenly noticing the small image of a train on the address label.

“I do believe it is, Erin. And as it’s nearly eleven o’clock, just in time for midmorning tea! Shall I do the honors opening? Mrs H asked, knowing full well I’d probably just shred the envelope as well as the contents in my eagerness.

Nodding in agreement, I sat back for the big reveal of the proof copy of the most hotly anticipated, mouth-watering new book releases of the year!  

The most delicious of covers and so wonderfully presented! Image ©

The telephone was taken off the hook, a pot of tea was made, and a new pack of dunkable digestive biscuits were plated up. Fully prepared, we sat down in the cool shade of an old oak tree, and read….. ALICE ÉCLAIR, SPY EXTRAORDINAIRE! A Recipe for Trouble.

Final cover for this wonderful adventure. Image ©

Alice Éclair, Spy Extraordinaire! A Recipe for Trouble. by SARAH TODD TAYLOR

Cover art by:  BEATRIZ CASTRO

Published by:  NOSY CROW

Publication date:  4 AUGUST 2022

Paperback ISBN:  978 183 994 0958

Cover price for Paperback £7.99

Pages:  272.

Age range: Middle Grade (9-12 AND upwards)

Any dogs or cats? Yes, a feline called Casper, who I suspect gets more than his fair share of creme!

SPOILER ALERT

Yes, some as to plot direction and characters. 

Thank you to… 

We are exceedingly grateful to Hannah Prutton & Nosy Crow books for the privilege of getting to Read & Review this much-anticipated book before publication. 

As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we like and feel our readers deserve to know about, and that we hope they will enjoy. 

The plot

From the setting of London for the much-lauded and entertaining ‘Max the Detective Cat‘ series, Sarah Todd Taylor has sailed across the channel to the wonderful city of Paris for the first book in her brand new adventure series, the first of which is titled ‘Alice Éclair, Spy Extraordinaire! A Recipe for Trouble‘. 

We dive straight into the mix on the opening page and meet Alice Éclair, a gifted 13-year-old cake maker, as she puts the finishing touches to an extraordinary and beautiful cake decorated with a replica of the Eiffel Tower. Made from icing, spun sugar, and paper-thin sheets of caramel, it is a mouth-watering joy to behold. Alice’s widowed mother is the owner of Paris’s famed pâtisserie, Vive Comme L’Éclair, and it is here during the day that she creates too-good-too-eat masterpieces – cakes for Paris’s finest hotels and lucky customers. 

However, her mother doesn’t know that Alice has led a double life over the last year. It started with an anonymous puzzle in an unsigned birthday card, followed by cyphers, treasure hunts and crosswords. Alice initially thought it was her mother having fun, but she soon realised an anonymous person was training her to be a spy. She even received lock picks and skeleton keys. Who the spymaster is, she isn’t sure, but she has an idea.

Her training assignments started in earnest when she had to pass a secret note to a woman on a bridge. Now though, her task is more complex and potentially very dangerous. She has to retrieve a microfilm containing secrets stolen by a foreign spy, secrets that she is told will jeopardise France’s security! Why a girl for such an important task? Well, who pays attention to a child? Once she has the film, she will finally meet the person behind it all.

Like her baking, Alice is a skilled agent and soon completes the task. But in so doing, she uncovers more than she could have dreamed possible. One thing leads to another, and her trusted spymaster seeds the idea of another mission. It is one Alice feels she can do and wants to do for France. But to complete the task, she has to join France’s most luxurious train, The Sapphire Express. But she can’t go as a passenger and enrols as a pastry chef!

From here on in, the chase is on, and in true Christie fashion, the plot, like a cake mix, thickens as the train speeds to its destination in Monte Carlo! 

Like the best cinematic and literary adventures, there are plenty of clues and suspects to test a young spy. What Alice lacks in worldly experience, she makes up for in determination and imagination. All good lead characters have an ally or sidekick, and in this adventure, Alice meets a young, cultured teenage girl called Penelope Fulmington. Well-intentioned and bored of the staid company of her father, Penelope soon becomes a useful sleuthing friend.

As to red herrings? Well, I’d be remiss if I didn’t say that whilst there are no fish on the menu this time, there is plenty of cake colouring to keep Alice and her new friend, Penelope, guessing, and the plot steaming along and the mind engaged. I can’t say much more than this, except that the sum of the parts I mention is far greater.

So, what did we think?

The author’s style is pleasing, engaging and very easy to read. There is a real sense of person and place. Once I started, I had to carry on.

Never once did I feel bogged down in dialogue or description. I can appreciate from my work how challenging it is to achieve this. Great books, like great cakes, require the best ingredients in the right quantities, the best presentation, and above all, a great cook. It is also evident that the author’s passion for baking, music, clothes and spy adventures has gone into this story.

If you have read the ‘Max the detective Cat‘ series already, then you will know what I mean here about the author’s style. If not, do dip your toe into this younger age group feline adventure series. They are very readable shorter adventures that are thoroughly fun and immersive, like this story.

In this latest series, which is geared up for an older MG reader (9-12 upwards), I felt instantly at home in the settings in which we found ourselves. There was always enough magic in the words to paint precisely the right image in the mind. The Sapphire Express, for example, its kitchens, carriages and quarters all resonate as correct as did the cast of passengers/suspects. Even though I have not been to Paris, travelled on luxury trains, or met such people, I felt I had. 

The plot is elegant, warming and friendly. And yet, where it had to be, it wasn’t afraid to set out consequences and portray betrayal and evil as appropriate to the age range. Pleasingly, Alice is not precocious as so many of the characters in MG books tend to be. As a result, for me she is more rounded, friendly and thus more relatable.

Scenes of life-threatening daring made us hark back to the best train and thriller movies. It also made us think of authors past, such as Agatha Christie, and to place this unique story alongside the works of contemporary authors such as Robin Stevens, MG Leonard and Sam Sedgman. 

As to cakes, well, as soon as I have finished writing this, I’ll be heading off to place an order for meringues and cream, topped with fresh strawberries!

So . . . . 

Crunch time. 

This is a fun, ‘toothsome’ adventure that is sure to please. The only crunch here would be what cakes to have with your cup of tea as you read this exciting introduction to Alice’s world. How Sarah will better this, I do not know. For the readers, I am sure one slice will not be enough. . . 

Want to buy a copy?

To get a copy, please do think of your local independent bookshop. There are plenty out there, and each is just waiting to serve up a treasure of literal magical resource, fun and adventure with a personal touch. Do make sure you buy cakes too, for yourself and your reader.

Sarah Todd Taylor’s WEB page can be found HERE. OR Type https://sarahtoddtaylor.com/

Nosy Crow’s web page can be found HERE.  OR type https://nosycrow.com/

Beatriz Castro’s web page can be found HERE. Or type https://beatrizcastroilustracion.com/

That’s it for this review. So all that remains is for me to leave you with a picture of me catching a breeze, and admiring Mrs H’s new super-comfy, zip-up BILLY© High Tops. There’ll be no missing those coming in the dark!

Image ©Erin the Cat Princess.

Till laters!

ERin

The Extraordinary Voyage of Katy Willacott

By SHARON GOSLING

A book review by Erin the Cat Princess©

Image ©

Hello, and welcome to A Saturday HOT READ & REVIEW featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction! 

Mrs H and I have been basking in the shade this last fortnight, enjoying a bit of downtime now that summer is here. As UK summers go quickly, we decided to let the grass get longer. Fear not, dear readers and fellow haymakers, I have Mrs H and the electric Flymo scheduled to mow the 14-acre field next weekend. The only problem is finding enough extension leads?

Anyways, it was just yesterday that we finished our latest HOT read. A sea and land based adventure that had us on the edge of our deckchairs right up to the very last pages. It was the perfect way to round off a lazy afternoon, and what now seems to be the last day of summer.

The author of this HOT read is Sharon Gosling, and she has a new kitten, called NEWT, who is utterly adorable! Follow Sharon and NEWT on TWITTER using the the twitter tag: @sharongosling

So, without further ado, I ask you to join me in The Extraordinary Voyage of Katy Willacott.

Image ©

The Extraordinary Voyage of Katy Willacott, by SHARON GOSLING

Cover art and ship illustration by: Kristina Kiser 

Published by: LITTLE TIGER GROUP

Publication date: 7 JULY 22

Paperback ISBN: 9781788954181

Cover price for Paperback: £7.99 

Pages 288.

Age range: Middle Grade (9-12 AND upwards)

Any dogs or cats? Yes, a fantastic and sleek black cat called Shadow.

SPOILER ALERT

The bare minimum to lay the plot and introduce characters. 

Disclaimer. 

We were lucky enough to be approved by Little Tiger Group to review this book for you. 

The plot

The year is 1879. 

The place, victorian London, England.

Our heroine, Katy Willacott is Mary’s daughter. Mary is a skilled and respected botanical taxonomist at the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew. It is also where Granpa Ned works as a constable. Her father, Josiah, works as an assistant archaeologist for the British Museum. Together with Grandma Peg and elder brother Stefan, they live rent-free in the quaint but tiny Rose Cottage that belongs to Kew Gardens.

Katy helps her mother identify and catalogue new species of plants sent back by explorers from across the globe. It is an age when men do all the fun stuff like explore, and women are considered only suited to minor and apparently less skilled roles and running the home. 

It is, however, not a life that Katy wants. She craves the adventures undertaken by daring women of the age. Women who journeyed to foreign lands and up the Amazon. Women like her heroine, adventurer and journalist, Francesca Brocklehurst, whose articles are published in all the newspapers.

Katy meets Fran when she comes to Kew Gardens to write about her mother, a notable woman in science. The interview is going swimmingly right up to the point where Sir Thomas Derby appears. He is overseeing the construction of the Natural History Museum. Having mistaken Katy’s mum for a cleaner, he then goes on to say how he means to have her work taken out of the hands of amateurs and that standards must have slipped so low as they were employing women. And that the female brain didn’t have the capacity for proper scientific reasoning.

The obnoxious, loathsome windbag that is Sir Thomas does rather set the scene and tone for things to come.

But when Katy learns that Sir Thomas is heading off on an expedition to locate and retrieve some fallen meteorites in Brazil, Katy resolves to join the ship’s crew. But not as Katy Willacott, but in disguise as a cabin boy called William Chandler.

Now, it would be remiss of me to tell you much more than she does manage to get on board Sir Thomas’s ship, the SS Alerte. From this point, the adventure takes a rollercoaster ride across the ocean to Salvador, Brazil, and into the jungle.

You will NOT be disappointed in what happens.

So, what did we think?

One girl fighting to break away from the ordinary, expected, mundane and perceived feeble-minded victorian woman’s role. 

Running away from home and travelling across to Brazil to follow her heart and find a meteorite seems drastic. But that is what it took to be not just noticed as a woman back then but also to feel alive. Determination, bravery, and a sense of right are her tools. She makes mistakes, and we see as she sees the consequences of her actions. But we see also the good that comes from doing the right thing. Good karma is one way of looking at it; the spirit of the jungle is another. 

The strength of the villain and supporting characters, from Sir Thomas to the Alerte’s captain to the natives in Salvador, is a delight. The tone and atmosphere infuse the pages with that special magic that means we get invested in the story and cry at the end. 

The story has a solid ethical voice that is still relevant to this day, probably more so. Through the eyes of Katy Willacott, we get to explore the gender roles, values, and opportunities of the time. We see as she sees the result of greed, the rape of the land and appropriation of ‘specimens’ and plundering of resources by a colonial power irrespective of cost to the local peoples or environment. 

This is such an empowering and entertaining story. A feast for the imagination in the same way as Emma Carroll’s book: Escape to the River Sea, which we will be reviewing shortly, and thoroughly enjoyed.

In fact, I would recommend them as worthy and happy bookshelf companions for the young reader with an eye on foreign travel and seeing women achieving in a time when women were expected not to. 

As strong as the lessons in this fine book are, they do not overwhelm the story. It is 100% magic and is recommended for all.

So . . . . 

Crunch time. 

Without a doubt, treat someone to this book when it comes out. Sharon Gosling is a skilled writer, and the observant reader will note some of her other MG characters appear in this book. Her first adult novel, The House Beneath the Cliffs, was published in 2021. 

Want to buy a copy?

To get a copy, and there is absolutely NO need to run away to Brazil, just head to your local independent bookshop. There are plenty out there, and each is just waiting to serve up a treasure of literal magical resource, fun and adventure with a personal touch.

Sharon Gosling’s WEB page can be found HERE OR type this:- https://www.sharongosling.com/ 

Little Tiger Group’s web page can be found HERE. OR type this:- https://littletiger.co.uk

If any publishers wish us to review their books, please contact us. Details are listed on our book review page.

If anyone has a 1000 meter extension lead, please do leave your contact details in the comments and I’ll have Mrs H get back to you after she’s washed the dishes!

Until next week, I shall leave you with my customary selfie. Till Laters!

©Erinthecatprincess. The Literary Cat!

Hazel Hill is Gonna Win this One.

by MAGGIE HORNE

Image ©

Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring Tales & Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction! 

Mrs H and I have spent the last few weeks editing our latest swashbuckling Middle-Grade adventure, provisionally titled ‘Pirates and Privateers – the curse of Cardinal Camembert.’ 

I have to say that it has shaped up really well, especially as Mrs H is not a pro-editor. Sudoku and cryptic crosswords are her things, which may explain why her handwriting is as illegible as a doctor’s prescription! She says it’s code from her days in the secret service. Me, I think it’s the sherry. 

Either way, it has resulted in some rather strange goods being sent by the food delivery people ‘Tres Chic Eats’. This week we got two dozen quill ends and a brace of pea soups. There was also an apology, as they had to substitute one item. As they didn’t have any one-ton poodles, they sent a small Highland Terrier instead! I’ll let you all figure out what should have been delivered 🙂. For a bit of fun, leave your answers below, and we’ll see what delights you can come up with.

After the shopping fiasco, we needed a good book. So I pointed Mrs H to one of our favourite publishers, Firefly Press, and a soon-to-be-released book that had been sat on my bedside table for the last fortnight. I had been pawing my way through it and could tell it was something special. 

It is set in America and has a strong underlying story. Mrs H had a tear when she read the end-page notes. “I’m very pleased we read this,” she said, nodding sagely as she does when she’s found something important. “I’ll have a word with Ms Primm, the village school librarian and let her have this copy. You dictate the blog review to me, and we’ll let the world know all about this story.”

So, without further ado, I present Hazel Hill is Gonna Win this One.

©Maggie Horne, Firefly Press & Luna Valentine

The essential info:-

Hazel Hill is Gonna Win this One, by MAGGIE HORNE

Cover art by: the awesome Luna Valentine

Published by: FIREFLY PRESS

Publication date: 18 OCTOBER 2022

Paperback ISBN: 978-19131 02975

Cover price for Paperback: £7.99, 

Kindle version? Yes

Hardback version? Yes

Pages 272.

Age range: Middle Grade (9-12 AND upwards)

Any dogs or cats? No

SPOILER ALERT

Yes, some as to plot direction and underlying themes and characters. 

Disclaimer. 

We are lucky enough to be approved by Firefly Press to review their books for you. We do this through either NetGalley or proof copies. We receive no remuneration for this but do take great pleasure in sharing the books we enjoy. 

The plot

The Hazel Hill of the title lives in a town in America. She’s 12. More of a loner by desire, she likes to keep her head down and get on with life. She thinks she doesn’t need friends, and the easy-going, touchy-feely way they interact is not for her. For Hazel, who realises she is gay, all that stuff isn’t who she feels she is or the attention she wants. Her goal is to get on with life and win the Speech Competition at school. Her motivation is to beat her nemesis, fellow seventh-grader Ella Quinn, who snatched the prize from her the previous year. 

Life ticks on by for Hazel, and all is pretty much good. If there was one fly in the ointment, besides her howling newborn baby brother, it was fellow seventh grader Tyler Harris. Very much a popular kid, he can do no wrong in the eyes of the teachers or his mother. He has the annoying habit of sharing his feelings and the crushes he has on other girls with Hazel. In fact, Hazel knows everything about Tyler, too much in fact. He shares it all because he thinks she’s friendless and nobody will find out what he says.

And then it happens. Tyler drops the bombshell that Ella has a crush on her! How could he know? Was it a prank? Tyler seems bitter about his break-up with Ella. Scared of how this news will affect her life, Hazel needs to know if Ella feels the same way.

This is the catalyst for a tale that reveals Tyler’s true nature. From a serial dater of 67.5% of the girls in that grade year alone, he becomes a serial online harasser. And the focus of his beastly attention appears to be Ella!

So, what did we think?

This story stands tall, proud and squarely against bullying and sexual harassment. 

A rare, empowering read: Enboldening, supportive, eloquent, and gender inclusive. 

It tackles supremely well a horrible issue that, for many school-age girls, and adults, has been tragically ignored or rejected. For some, it is even turned back on them as their own fault, leaving them scared and scarred.

Based on the author’s own experiences, this wonderful story evolves as Hazel takes on the challenge to stop Tyler. Facing not only their fears but also parents and teachers, Hazel Ella and their friend, Riley, discover the path to getting the truth not just out there, but believed, is a tortuous one. 

As someone who suffered bullying and abuse, Mrs H says shrugging such things off or burying them within is not what we must do or encourage. There is no honour or bravery in suffering. And believing children are immune to such things is wrong. 

But, as all victims of abuse know, whatever age or gender, finding the strength to fight your corner and for what is right, to be heard, is incredibly difficult. Far more so for girls and women who most often pay a far higher price for sexual harassment. 

Finally, and by no means least, a significant strength of this book is that it will foster discussion. And that will raise awareness and thus open the door to save others from the same hurt. Of course, we all need to be on the same page to do that!

So . . . . 

Crunch time. 

Without a doubt, this book has a place in and should be discussed at every school. It works across the many levels of involvement from teacher to parent, friends and family.

As such, this well-crafted, thought-provoking, empowering story needs no additional recommendation from us. Buy, enjoy, & share with those that will benefit.

Want to buy a copy?

Pre-orders are available now! To get a copy, please do think of your local independent bookshop. There are plenty out there, and each is just waiting to serve up a treasure of literal magical resource, fun and adventure with a personal touch.

Maggie Horne’s  WEB page is currently unavailable.

Firefly Press’ web page can be found HERE.  or enter

https://fireflypress.co.uk/books/hazel-hill/

If any authors or publishers wish us to review their books, please do get in touch. Details are listed on our book review page.

I shall leave you with a pic of me looking watching Mrs H gardening! Enjoy your weekend. . . .

Till laters!

ERin

©Erin the cat Princess.

The Lost Girl King

By CATHERINE DOYLE

An Adventure Book Review by Erin the Cat Princess© The literary cat!

Hello, and welcome to A Wednesday Book Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction! 

Apologies to our regular readers as our review dates and frequency are a bit wonky at the moment due to doing edits on one of our co-written books. After two long solid weeks, it was done. Just in time it seems for Mrs H to come down with ‘crone-ic’ hayfever, which she says is a step up from chronic hayfever, and the sort that really ancient and mythical folk get. Worse though is the fact it leaves her sleepy and bearly able to do a full 20 hour day here at the palace!

Talking of people and places of myth and legend, we have this week a stunning new book for you by one of Irelands famous childrens authors, Catherine Doyle.

So, without further ado, here is my review of the soon-to-be-released The Lost Girl King.

©Catherine Doyle/ Bloomsbury Childrens Books

THE LOST GIRL KING by CATHERINE DOYLE

Cover art by: TBA

Published by: BLOOMSBURY CHILDRENS BOOKS

Publication date: 1 SEPTEMBER 2022

Paperback ISBN: 978 – 152 660 8000

Cover price for Paperback £7.99, Kindle edition to be available: YES 

Pages 336.

Age range: Middle Grade (9-12 AND upwards)

Any dogs or cats? No, but there are Selkies and a rather opinionated pooka squirrel!

SPOILER ALERT

Yes, minor spoilers to the direction of the plot/characters.

Disclaimer. 

We were lucky enough to be approved by Bloomsbury Children’s Books to receive an Advance Reader Copy of this book to review.

The plot

When siblings Amy and Liam Bell are packed off to their grandma Dorothy’s house in the wilds of Connemara, not far from the west coast of Ireland, the holiday seems to hold little in the way of excitement for them. Especially as it is raining. Liam would rather sit and read his books and has little time for the tales of Irish mythology that his gran, as a literary professor, has taught her students in years past and has written a book about. Amy, however, is keen to explore and try to find the lost kingdom of Tír an nÓg, renowned as a place of eternal youth. This, however, is something her gran warns her against. 

As dawn breaks on the first morning of their stay, the sun starts to shine. Amy drags Liam off to explore. Liam, who doesn’t believe in the magical places or beings of Irish mythology, finally, and reluctantly, agrees, just to get some peace and quiet. Taking a sixpenny piece that she found in their bedroom, which used to belong to Dorothy’s sister, the two head off to explore. 

Drawn on by the sighting of a large hawk, the two soon discover a backwards flowing waterfall. The wisdom of age would say NO! But Amy is incorrigible, stubborn and ever inquisitive. Entering the waterfall, Liam unwillingly follows, and the two are soon in the mythical realm. Worse, though, they have no way back as the entrance in the cave behind the waterfall has now become blocked! 

Travelling through the forest they find themselves in, they soon fall foul of some creatures. Good or bad remains to be seen, as the siblings become separated and then entrapped. It is from here on in that the adventure really starts. A race to save a kingdom from perpetual and scorching daytime and an evil sorcerer. Celtic creatures from mythology abound, and all isn’t quite as it seems.

So, what did we think?

Having thoroughly enjoyed Catherine’s middle grade ‘Storm Keeper’ trilogy – which I recommend to those MG fans who haven’t yet come across them – I was very keen to read this new stand alone story. I have not been disappointed. This is a fabulous adventure for Middle Grade upwards. It has hints of Tolkein and CS Lewis style that, blended with Celtic mythology, creates a beautiful atmosphere, sense of place and has lots of thrills. As with all books in this age group, lessons are learned from the characters’ actions. But that is by the bye, and doesn’t spoil the read one bit.

So . . . . 

Crunch time. 

I can imagine this book keeping young readers up to finish the next chapter and then the next. I know I did and loved the ending, tearful though it may have been. Definitely, one to buy for the adventuresome reader in your life. 

Want to buy a copy?

To get a copy, and assuming you can avoid headless riders and fearsome selkies, please do think of your local independent bookshop. There are plenty out there, and each is just waiting to serve up a selection of mythological magic and mayhem that is sure to delight!

Catherine Doyle’s  web page link can be found HERE or use  https://www.catherinedoylebooks.com/

Bloomsbury (UK) Childrens Books web page link can be found HERE.  or use https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/childrens/

If any authors or publishers wish us to review their books, please do get in touch. Details are listed on our book review page.

I shall leave you with a (incredibly rare) picture of me snoozing . . .

Till laters!

ERin

THE FIRE CATS OF LONDON

by ANNA FARGHER

An Adventure Book Review by Erin the Literary Cat ©

Hello, and welcome to my Thursday Book Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction! 

One of the many joys of this blog, in fact the main joy, is sharing adventures and things that we like and read. When it comes to books, there are so many fine examples out there, it is incredibly hard to choose what to read first. In fact the palace bookshelves are rapidly filling up and I am thinking I may have to comandeer the fridge for Mrs H’s collection of spine tingling chillers, sorry, thrillers!

Just this week Mrs H sent me 3 new books to read. These are by David Michie, the famed author assistant to the the Dalai Lama’s cat, respectfully announced as HHC (His Holiness’s Cat). I have duly set to reading these fine accounts and can honestly say they are highly amusing, and quite insightful as to Buddhism and how it affects our everyday feline (and human) lives. So, if you can hear Buddhist monks chanting in the palace grounds, you’d be right, as I’ve got them in to improve the soil karma and productivity of the rose beds!

But it was the fourth books title, sent to her courtesy of Macmillan Childrens Books, that just called out to my sense of history as well as adventure and wrongs being righted. We have read the other two books by this author, which naturally piqued our interest because they feature a very plucky mouse character who takes on the German army during WWII. That is a massive simplification of those fine stories and I do recommend them to you. But today we focus on time in London’s past that we never really thought much about bar the fact that there was a lot of property in need of renovation!

So, without further ado, it is our pleasure to present, The Fire Cats of London by the hugely talented Anna Fargher!

©A Fargher / Macmillan Childrens Books / S Usher

The Fire Cats of London, by Anna Fargher

Artwork by: Sam Usher

Published by: MaMillans Childrens Books

Publication date: 7 JULY 2022

Paperback ISBN: 978 1529 046 878   

Cover price for Paperback £7.99 Available on Kindle.

Pages 288.

Age range: Middle Grade (8-12 AND upwards) Do NOTE my comment at end of review.

Any dogs or cats? Lead characters are wonderful wild cats. An antagonist is a British Blue cat. Many other talking creatures play key parts in this story too.

SPOILER ALERT

Yes. We have given basic plot outline and it is necessary to mention some aspects of the plot. See also my cautionary note at end of this review.

Disclaimer. 

We were lucky enough to be approved by Macmillan Childrens Books to review this book for you, via NetGalley.

The plot

It is England, 1666. Two wildcat siblings, Ash and his sister Asta, live on the edge of a woods on the outskirts of London. One day, when no more than kittens, they are torn from their mother’s side by huntsmen. Carted off with other animals, they are sold to London apothecary Mad Rather. He plans to keep them alive and take blood and whiskers to make his saleable remedies. 

Rathder’s cat, Beauty, a British Blue cat, sets about persuading the wildcats that they are better off as captives than loose in the wood where they would likely be killed. Ash succumbs to Beauty’s wicked wiles, but Asta doesn’t and remains antagonistic to the apothecary and his cat. Time passes, and when Asta fails to be tamed, only one course of action is open to Rathder and his horrid business partner, Moore. In debt and needing money, they send her to the city’s Bartholomew Fair and the baiting arena. Like so many wild animals, big and small before her, it likely means certain death!

One beacon of hope is Miriam, a Dutch widow who is also an astrologer and herbal medicine practitioner. She knows of Asta’s and Ash’s plight but is reviled by Rathder and Moore because she does them out of business and is a foreigner. She also tries to rescue animals from the arena.

I can’t say much more than this, but suffice to say that the story weaves its way skillfully through the events up to and during the Great Fire of London.

So, what did we think?

Anna Fargher’s adventures always have a great sense of place, time and emotion. This is no exception. Gritty, shocking, and yet wonderfully steeped in the sense of the people, prejudices and place. The story is as addictive as it is eye-opening, saddening and hopeful. It will open a window onto a life long lost to time. Here they will read and see the chaos of the fire of London wrapped around the characters’ plight and adventure from beginning to end. 

The artwork for this story, which appears throughout, is terrific and fun. I think it certainly adds to the whole feel and acts to temper the story for the younger reader.

I MUST ADD that we have deliberately not mentioned the beginning scenes. As I have said, Anna’s books are gritty. The underlying subjects make them so. While the subject matter, the key moment within this book’s opening chapter is dealt with from afar and without glorification, such was my instant and genuine involvement and attachment to one character in the opening pages, I was stunned at what happened and had to put the book down. It took me quite a while to get over the shock/upset. Sensitive younger readers may well, therefore, need some help with this.

So . . . . 

Crunch time. 

I am a sensitive reader myself, I admit it. But, I can appreciate that this is an excellent, powerful, well-framed and pitched book that will please readers. 

Based on true accounts, this will undoubtedly appeal to fans of Anna’s ‘The Umbrella Mouse’ series. Comparable authors might be Michael Morpurgo and Emma Carroll.

A 5 Star book and recommended as advised above. 

Want to buy a copy?

To get a copy, please do scorch a metaphorical trail only down to your local independent bookshop. 

There are plenty out there, and each is just waiting to serve up a treasure of literal magical resource, fun and adventure with a personal touch.

Anna Fargher WEB page can be found HERE or use https://www.annafargher.com/

Macmillan Childrens Books web page can be found HERE.  or use https://www.panmacmillan.com/mcb

If any authors or publishers wish us to review their books, please do get in touch. Details are listed on our book review page.

I shall leave you with a picture of me checking if the stripes on the sofa really do make a girl look slim. . . .

© Copyright Erin the Cat Princess

Till laters!

ERin

WILDE

Image ©

By ELOISE WILLIAMS

An Adventure Book Review by Erin the Literary Cat©

Hello, and welcome to my Thursday Book Review featuring Ādventures in Middle-Grade Fiction! 

This week we have a book first published in 2020, but one I think is so original and such a compelling story that it is worth sharing with those that may not yet have come across it. It was written by a highly accomplished writer and the then Children’s Laureate Wales. That is ‘an ambassadorial post which aims to engage and inspire the children of Wales through literature, and to promote every child’s right to have their stories and voices heard.’

That these posts exist is heartening to see, and this story is a testament to the undoubted creativity and skill of the author.

So, without further ado, here is my second solo selection for you to enjoy. I present WILDE by Eloise Williams. 

© Eloise Williams/Firefly Press/Anne Glenn

WILDE, by ELOISE WILLIAMS

Cover art by: ANNE GLENN

Published by: FIREFLY PRESS

Publication date: First published May 2020

Paperback ISBN: 978 191 310 2180

Cover price for Paperback £6.99.

Available in Kindle? YES

Pages 256.

Age range: Middle Grade (9-12 AND upwards)

Any dogs or cats?A cat called Mrs Danvers, who may just have magical leanings, and a long-eared sociable hound called Denzel.

SPOILER ALERT

There will be some minor spoilers as to certain characters/ situations within the story to advise as to the plot. We do, however, recommend this story. So if you wish to read it spoiler-free, please skip over the ‘So, what did we think? ‘section below.

Disclaimer. 

We were pleased to see and be approved to download a free reader copy of this book. We are even happier to share our own free opinion of this fine adventure with you.

The plot

Wild is a year six (10-year-old) student. Her mother died when she was young, and her father works away a lot. It is fair to say she has had problems at school – she doesn’t fit in, and things go wrong somehow, weird things that she can’t explain but gets the blame for. Each time she ends up moving school.

This time she got herself kicked out, so she could go and stay with her dad. But, he can’t get out of his work in America, so she has to go stay with her aunt Mae in the town of Witch Point, Wales. Witch Point holds a deep family connection. But it is also a place that is rooted in the memory of witches. Weird things happen there. People get struck by lightning in the same spot. And when there’s a funeral, the clock chimes thirteen. 

But worse, the town and townsfolk were cursed by a witch called Winter, who led seven sisters to their death centuries before. She had been hanged, but her curse lives on in memory.

Witch Point is in the middle of an unrelenting heatwave, that seems to have got worse since Wilde arrived. Winter’s curse predicted the heatwave and said it would lead to the death of all the townsfolk.

With only a few days left before the school year ends, Wilde, named after Oscar Wilde, attends Witch Point Primary. She tries to keep a low profile, desperate to fit in and leave all the weird stuff behind. But the weird stuff just gets worse, and the heat intensifies. She soon makes an enemy of Jemima, the class bully. But she also gains a friend in a talkative and knowledgeable girl called Dorcas.

Wilde’s year 6 class meets noted actress Gwyneth Fox-Rutherford as part of a Page to Stage presentation. She has come to direct the end-of-year school play. Much to the student’s dismay, they won’t be performing anything modern. They are to perform a retelling of the legend of ‘A Witch Called Winter’.

And that is when the weird stuff starts to happen, beginning with a crow flying into the classroom and landing on Wilde’s lap!

Here I will leave the story as we are getting into the realms of revealing far too much of the real adventure. Surfice to say, as the thermometer climbs so does the tension.

So, what did we think?

Once in a while, there is a story that fully engages the senses from the opening paragraphs. A story that is so well executed and thorough in its presentation, it becomes an instant and compelling read. This is one. Richly written, it is a confection for the imagination that starts slowly, tempting and drawing the reader in.

For me it was a slow burn, as they say. But one that, with all the might and suspense of Hitchcock, the flare of the Bard, the fear wrought by William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, and horror of witch trials (all tempered for MG readers), progresses to a crescendo that is as wholly fulfilling as it is dramatic, fearful and delightful.

So . . . . 

Crunch time. 

This story is told in the first person by Wilde and is as dramatic, engaging, and addictive as any story I have read for this grade. We wholly recommend this story to readers of all ages, teachers and parents alike.

Want to buy a copy?

To get a copy, and assuming you are not in the midst of a cursed heatwave, please go to your local independent bookshop. There are plenty out there, and each is just waiting to serve up a treasure of literal magical resource, fun and adventure with a personal touch.

Eloise Williams’ WEB page can be found HERE  https://eloisewilliams.com/ 

Firefly Press’s web page can be found HERE. https://fireflypress.co.uk/

Thank you for visiting the blog. We hope you enjoyed the review and will return soon.

Till Laters!

ERin

THE GOOD TURN

©S.Jackson & Penguin Random House

by SHARNA JACKSON;  

An Adventure Book Review by Erin the Literary Cat ©

Hello, and welcome to my Saturday Book Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction! 

This week the weather here in Upper Much-Mousing has been erratic. Snow, bitter cold, wind and sun all mixed together in unusal quantities. A bit like the temporary cook’s cake mix. Mrs Mingins’ last chocolate cake came out so hard when she tried to cut a slice, it flew from the plate and dented the floor!

Thankfully, I have a ready supply of tooth-saving meals in the fridge, and failing that there is a mousehole on the second floor that does a great takeaway service!

Something else there has been a good supply of, is wonderful new Middle Grade books. Now a little while back we did a review of ‘The Diary of a Buddhist Cat’, by Julian Worker. My review can be found here.

A recommendation from one of my commentors lead me to pick up a great read call ‘The Dalai Lama’s Cat’, by David Michie. I will be reviewing that fun and thought provoking book later this year, once I have meditated on it a bit longer.

But it did put me in mind, call it fate or Karma, of a soon to be released book by one of our favourite authors. So, with a hot drink by my fireside seat, I settled down to read ‘The Good Turn’, by acclaimed writer, Sharna Jackson.

© Sharna Jackson, Penguin Random House Chiuldrens Books/Puffin Books

THE GOOD TURN, by SHARNA JACKSON

Published by: PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE CHILDRENS BOOKS: PUFFIN BOOKS

Publication date: 12 May 2022

Paperback ISBN: 978 – 0241 523 599  

Cover price for Paperback £7.99

Pages 400.

Age range: Middle Grade 

Any cats? No cats, but an enthusiastic dog called Brian, owned by a strange character called Mr Kirklees.

SPOILER ALERT

No spoilers here. 

Disclaimer. 

We are massive fans of Sharna’s High Rise Mystery series, and would have been purchasing this paperback on publication. We were therefore over the moon to be approved by Penguin Random House Childrens Books, to Read and Review this for free.  Accordingly we are only too happy to share this unsponsored review with you.

The plot

The story focuses on three 11 year old schoolmates, Josephine, in whose voice the story is told, and Wesley and Margot. They all live in Copsey Close, in Luton, and are in the same class at school. The triangle they form with their families creates the dynamic backdrop to this tale.

Josephine is a go-getter, a leader and eager to do better for herself and drag her classmates, willingly or otherwise, with her. Some had said she is selfish. Wesley has responsibilities and worries at home way beyond his paygrade. Margot is the newcomer with a bit of a past. Wesley dislikes her with an obvious passion, and say she’s a spy and interloper intent on snatching away his friendship with Josephine. But Margot is eager to please and wants to be friends with both the others. The trouble is, she’s a bit tactless with her humour. Rest asssured, they each have many things to work on and crosses to bear, real or imaginary.

Josephine suggests that they start their own local version of the Guides and Scouts, called the Copseys. It will be a group to help others, to drive community action. Also, it will be something that will look good on a CV. She gets the others on board, albeit Wesley somewhat reluctantly. Each has a role to play, with Josephine as the leader. They start by litter-picking an old man’s garden. With each activity, they will earn a badge. Positive results arise, and they earn some money. Now, this would all be a bit mundane if not for the mysterious appearance one night of lights in a nearby abandoned and derelict factory.

From that point on, as they investigate and try to earn badges for their activities and tensions mount at home, things start to spiral desperately out of control for the Copseys.

So, what did we think?

S.J. is on the money with this 5 STAR sassy, fun, wry, teeth-kissing new adventure about the perils and pluses of trying to do good! But it doesnt just stop there. The story deals with responsibility, choices both personal and affecting others, and doing the right thing. It does this all skillfully, without labouring under the weight of otherwise heavy topics.

A must-read for fans of her High Rise Mystery series and for readers wanting a story of this age, socially relevant, thought-provoking and engaging.

So . . . . 

Crunch time. 

There is so much to this adventure, it would be impossible to take just one aspect and say that it stood above the rest. It is an all round great story that stands tall and proud. On that basis, I think this will be a readers, classroom and parents’ favourite.

Want to buy a copy?

To get a copy, then please do your local independant booksellers a good turn and head down to pre-order ASAP!

SHARNA JACKSON’S web page can be found HERE.  https://www.sharnajackson.com/about

Penguin Random House/ Puffin Book’s web page can be found HERE.   https://www.penguin.co.uk/brands/puffin.html

If any authors or publishers wish us to review their books, please do get in touch. Details are listed on our book review page.

And for all my fans out there, I leave you with a picture of me savouring the delights of a catnip infused rainbow banana. There’ll be no work done this afternoon, I can tell you!

© Erin the Cat Princess

ORLA AND THE MAGPIES KISS

©CJ Haslam, P Donnelly, Walker Books

 by C.J. HASLAM;  

An Adventure Book Review by Erin the Cat Princess©

Hello, and welcome to my Thursday Book Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction! 

Mrs H is away for a few weeks, sorting some family matters. I didnt pry into what, as I know she’ll not tell me. The plus side is that for most of the time I get to do what I do best, sleep. For the remainder I somehow manage to force down the ten meals a day she left me. Only ten meals I hear you say!? Well, they are small meals, too small for my liking, but the vet says a little often is better than too much all at once. I swear Mrs H applies this principle to her consumption of sherry!

So, in her absence, I get to choose what books I review for the next few weeks. This weeks is awesome, and it had me up late one night and then early the following morning, desperate to get to the conclusion.

So, without further ado, here is my solo selection for you to enjoy. I present, Orla and the Magpie’s Kiss, by CJ Haslam.

©CJ Haslam, P Donnelly, Walker Books

ORLA AND THE MAGPIE’S KISS, by C.J. HASLAM

Cover art by: PADDY DONNALLY

Published by: WALKER BOOKS

Publication date: 7 APRIL 2022

Paperback ISBN: 978 – 140 6399 301 

Cover price for Paperback £7.99,

Pages 304.

Age range: Middle Grade (9 upwards)

Any dogs or cats? Yes, Dave the Jack Russell, who is the kids personal security agent, and towards the end of the book, a cat called Vinegar Tom. You can just image what sort of attitude that feline had!

SPOILER ALERT

No spoilers here. 

Disclaimer. 

We were lucky enough to be approved to download this book on NetGalley. We were so pleased with this story that we are only too happy to share this unsponsored review with you.

The plot

When Orla Perry and her two brothers, Tom and Richard, accompanied by Dave the Jack Russell, go to stay with their Great Uncle Valentine at Sicows Creek, Norfolk. It’s supposed to be a holiday. No magical witch stuff from Orla, who discovered her inner witch in the preceding first adventure. Just plain old bird watching on the tidal salt-marsh coast, walking along the beach and generally doing the things the kids in Enid Blyton books would do with their dog.

But alas, it wasn’t to be. When Orla discovers that Anna’s Wood, an ancient wood is due to be bulldozed by GasFrac, who are intent on extracting the gas. Worse still, when Orla goes to the wood, even though she is warned off by her uncle and it’s heavily guarded, she finds all the wood’s natural magical energy, sprowl, has vanished. Now that is utterly impossible and downright sinister. Whilst there, she saves a magpie from a trap and, for her kindness, gets a gash on her face from the bird. Uncle Valentine tells her the ‘kiss’ of a magpie will show what fate’s in store. And so it seems, as Orla dreams of GasFracs destruction of all the creatures of the wood.

Investigating why the locals care more about GasFrac’s promise to build a new shopping centre and country park, she soon finds distrust and downright dislike for herself and Uncle Valentine. It seems everyone has sold out, sold their souls and heritage to the ‘big business’ devil! Even the local witch, the postmistress, seems to have sold out to GasFrac. All the villagers believe the same, and posters proclaiming ‘Believe in the Power of Dreams’ occupy every window.

The pace picks up from here on in faster than Orla’s out of control bicycle on a downhill slope, and pretty soon, the whole family and Orla’s friend, Raven, is the centre of some very unwanted, lethal, house destroying attention.

I’ll say no more than that, as the very best and most evil is still to come, and in every shape and form.

So, what did we think?

Coming to this, Orla’s second adventure without having read the first was a minor handicap to me. But that was my fault, and there is enough backstory to guide others in this situation. But if you have the time, do read the first book, Orla and the Serpent’s Curse, first.

I was so heartened to see the author had not shied away from bringing Dave the Jack Russell to the fore. He is undoubtedly a force to be reckoned with and provides an excellent foil/support protagonist for Orla. Like so many MG books with strong female leads, there is an element of obstinance on Orla’s part. Thankfully this was balanced by other traits, self-doubt, courage, determination, etc., all of which gave her a pleasing, rounded personality. I will definitely seek out the first book to fill in all the gaps and enjoy more of Dave, the Jack Russell.

Top marks for this awesome, down to earth, wry middle-grade adventure and happy to recommend it to children and adults alike.

So . . . . 

Crunch time. 

A pacy, action-packed eco-themed adventure with a hefty dose of wry humour and bite that draws on all the right elements. Magic, mayhem, witches and wizards abound. Aided and abetted by Dave the dog, returned from the dead with the skills of a cat and an aptitude for personal security, this highly addictive, not put downable masterpiece is a surefire winner.

Want to buy a copy?

To get a copy, please do think of your local independent bookshop. There are plenty out there, and each is just waiting to serve up a treasure of literal magical resource, fun and adventure with a personal touch.

C.J. HASLAM is the chief travel writer for the Times and Sunday Times Newspaper, and author of both adult and children’s literature.

His twitter page can be found HERE or look up @dromomaniac

WALKER BOOK’s web page can be found HERE. https://www.walker.co.uk/about-walker.aspx

If any authors or publishers wish us to review their books, please do get in touch. Details are listed on our book review page.

I shall leave you with the news that on Saturday we will be reviewing:

The Good Turn, by Sharna Jackson. 

© S Jackson & Penguin Random House

Till laters!

ERin

HAS ANYONE SEEN ARCHIE EBBS?

by SIMON PACKHAM;  

An Adventure Book Review by Erin the Cat Princess©

 

Hello, and welcome to my Saturday Sunday Book Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction! 

Due to circumstances beyond my control, which is another way of saying that this is ALL Mrs H’s fault, we had a bit of a mishap yesterday and couldn’t share this fab new Middle Grade read. 

Yes, never again shall I casually mention down the phone to Mrs H that “I’m a cat on fire!” How was I to know Mrs H, who, due to her autism is quite literal, would phone the emergency services and say her employer was on fire and the house was at risk as well as her vintage selection of sherry!? I, of course, meant I had managed to finish off our book review and catch 59 winks and make a start on my mid-morning snack.

Needless to say, I was NOT amused at being hosed down by three husky firemen and then being given a fireman’s lift from the first-floor pantry to a place of safety. I mean, there was a plate of cream cheese in there with my name on it. Now it is knee-deep in foam and probably not fit for a doorstop.

On the plus side, the firemen kindly repaired some broken guttering using their extending ladder, and after a plate of cream scones, jetwashed the patio! 

But enough of our crisis with a happy ending here’s our review of a fabulous soon to be released adventure called HAS ANYONE SEEN ARCHIE EBBS, by acclaimed author Simon Packham.

©Simon Packham & Firefly Press

HAS ANYONE SEEN ARCHIE EBBS, by SIMON PACKHAM

Published by: FIREFLY PRESS LIMITED

Publication date: 7 APRIL 2022

Paperback ISBN: 978 – 191 310 2722 

Cover price for Paperback £7.99, KINDLE CURRENTLY £2.84 

Pages 200.

Age range: Middle Grade 

Any cats? Yes, Dinger, and he plays a key part in the story!

SPOILER ALERT

No spoilers here. 

Disclaimer. 

We were lucky enough to be approved to download this book on NetGalley. I was so pleased with this story that we are only too happy to share this unsponsored review with you.

The plot

Has Anyone Seen Archie Ebbs? Archie Ebbs is one of the most popular kids in his year six class. He loves telling jokes – excellent and cringeworthy – and making crazy homemade movies with his pals. Life is, to sum it up, great. 

But when he, his mother, and sister, Izzy, are evicted from their family home and have to enter temporary accommodation, his whole life takes a plunge. Manton House, their ‘temporary’ home, is a rundown set of apartments across three floors, right at the edge of town. The graffiti under the sign says it all – ‘Abandon hope all ye who enter here. 

Having had to give up his cat, Dinger, there is a reluctant realisation that, as his sister insists, he needs to keep his friends at bay, too. The embarrassment would be too much. At least for Izzy, who ditches her boyfriend to avoid losing him when he sees their plight. With no wifi to talk to his friends and having turned down sleepovers and visits, Archie soon discovers his friends seem to be ignoring him. In fact, soon they and his teachers don’t seem to be able to see him at all! 

As things get progressively worse in Manton House for Archie and his family, Archie makes a surprising new friend in the basement laundry room, Zofia. She happens to be in the same class as Archie and has been for the last two years, yet he can’t recall seeing her. Like Archie, she has genuinely become invisible to everyone but her family. From this one event comes the rebirth rise of Archie Ebbs. Of course, along the way, there is fun to be had and rescuing Dinger from Mrs Watts’ house. 

And then there’s the matter of classroom trouble maker, Callum, and a large sum of money, destined to pay for the end of school celebration, stolen from their teacher. 

So, what did we think?

An easy read for some mature readers, but an engrossing story nonetheless. Packed with wholly relatable fun characters, brilliantly crafted around the very real-world painful truths of what life is like for a family when they become evicted and homeless. And more than that, what it’s like to be friendless and overlooked — to be invisible in a crowded room. It would be very remiss of me not to say that the secondary story in this fabulous tale is that of Zofia, who has arguably a much bigger story to tell than Archie himself. But if I tell you, then that would spoil the fun.

So . . . . 

Crunch time. 

I’d be amazed if this doesn’t become an instant favourite for readers and teachers alike. It certainly provokes thoughts about what it is like to be evicted from your home and lose what is most important to you. So this is another must-read for those adventuresome folk or a perfect gift for a younger reader. 

Want to buy a copy?

To get a copy, please do think of your local independent bookshop. There are plenty out there, and each is just waiting to serve up a treasure of resource, fun and adventure with a personal touch.

SIMON PACKHAMS’s web page can be found HERE. https://simonpackham.org/

FIREFLY PRESS’s web page can be found HERE.  https://fireflypress.co.uk/

If any authors or publishers wish us to review their books, please do get in touch. Details are listed on our book review page.

And for all my fans, I leave you with a picture of me resting up after my rescue. . . .

Till later!

ERin

CALL ME LION, by CAMILLA CHESTER;

An Adventure Book Review by Erin the Cat Princess©

 

Hello, and welcome to my Saturday Book Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade fiction! 

As many of you will be aware, we love sharing inclusive books that shine a positive light on subjects and people who would otherwise find themselves marginalised, unrepresented or misrepresented in children’s literature. 

After all, differences make each of us unique and bring colour and joy to our lives. Being able to see ourselves and those like us is a massive step towards a harmonious life and crucial for children and adults alike.

So this week, Mrs H and I have the delight to introduce one such book. But enough of the intro, here’s our review of Call Me Lion by Camilla Chester. 

© Firefly Press & Camilla Chester

CALL ME LION, by CAMILLA CHESTER

Published by: FIREFLY PRESS LIMITED

Publication date: 16 June 2022

Paperback ISBN: 978 – 1913102890

Cover price for Paperback £7.99, KINDLE CURRENTLY £2.84 

Pages 208.

Age range: Middle Grade 

Any cats? No cats, but an adorable dog called Patch!

SPOILER ALERT

No spoilers here. 

Disclaimer. 

We were lucky enough to see and download this book on NetGalley for free. I was so pleased with this story that we will be purchasing the paperback on publication and are only too happy to share this unsponsored review with you.

The plot

When Leo, ‘Lion’ to his family because of his bountiful orange hair, his life without friends changes forever. 

Having SM, Selective Mutism, Leo plays alone. He desperately wants a friend. But he has no friends bar his dog, Patch. After all, as one of his classmates said, ‘you can’t be friends with someone who can’t talk — fact.’   

What people don’t see, don’t know or understand, is that his SM is not something he can control. It controls him, at least with people he doesn’t know well and trusts. With his family he is OK. Leo has a gift, a talent for dancing, and he practices every day in summer on his trampoline and in the holidays at a dance club. He is a boy on a mission to dance in The Lion King theatre show one day.

When a new family moves in next door, their daughter, Richa, bounces quite literally on her own trampoline into his life. Brash, bold and talkative enough for them both, she seems everything Leo isn’t. And yet she is also everything he hopes for — a possible friend. At least until she realises he can’t talk and that the girls at school are more fun and abandons him. But him not being able to respond doesn’t put her off, and together they begin a journey borne out of a shared passion for dance that culminates in a local dance competition.

So, what did we think?

I really can not praise this story enough. Written in Leo’s own voice and spread over a few weeks of school holidays and during a heatwave. It follows Leo and Richa, their families and schoolmates as they deal with life, friendships, ignorance, prejudices, and the very real challenges that their own unique situations pose. 

A plot twist partway through the story left me stunned and completely in awe of the writer’s skill. 

All in all, we thoroughly enjoyed the reading journey, and had tears in our eyes towards the end.  

So . . . . 

Crunch time. 

A delightful, inclusive, thoroughly absorbing story with a message that is far, far greater than its target age group. A must-read that I am sure will please readers and listeners of all ages. 

Want to buy a copy?

To get a copy, please do bounce, jive, swing, disco or even tango your way down to your local independent bookshop. 

CAMILLA CHESTER’s web page can be found HERE. https://www.camillachester.com/

FIREFLY PRESS Publishing’s web page  can be found HERE.  https://fireflypress.co.uk/

If any authors or publishers wish us to review their books, please do get in touch. Details are listed on our book review page.

And finally, for all my feline fans, here’s an action shot of me practicing my toy mouse catching skills!

 

Till later!

ERin

ERin’s Sunday Selfie & A Message from Valentine….

Hello, and welcome to our Sunday selfie post. 

We are joining the Sunday Selfies, hosted by the wonderful Kittes Blue and their mum, Janet Blue.

Before we show off a rare selfie of us dreaming of far away shores, I have been asked by my betrothed, Valentine, to share some rather sad news. 

Dearest Myrna Pearl Sterling, Valentine’s much loved new pal who recently moved from being a street cat to having a warm and loving home and many square meals and treats a day, has very sadly crossed the Rainbow Bridge. 

Myrna, found much happiness in her twilight years living with Valentine, Esmerelda, Bessie the Bassett, and her new adopted humans, Kerry and David. She settled into Valentines blogging life ever so easily, like she was an old pro, and never seemed phased by Val’s antics.

Kerry hopes to be able to do a full tribute and celebration to Myrna’s life and times in due course. Till then, please do leave comments on the post linked below.  

Wishes for Myrnie

Ann Adamus has very kindly created wonderful downloadable badges in two sizes to celebrate Myrna’s life. Please do download a copy and use.

Large file size image of Myrna

Small file size image of Myrna

Which leads me to a post Val has asked me to introduce. Many thanks again to Ann Adamus of Zoolatry for generously creating the graphics. Over to you, Valentine. . . .

Dear Friends ~ I just wanted to send you all a short letter, fullof paws of love, to let you know we at Noir Kitty Mews won’tbe blogging for awhile, and I hope my above note tells you why. 

We will be very grateful for as many paws together** as you can spare, specially as Mommy can really use those right now.  I am also meowing a special favor to each of you ~ that you please do not post or otherwise share this, our personal family information on Facebook or other social media.  It’s just something we’re not comfortable with right now.

** if perhaps you want to send a personal message, please can you

email us, valentine@noirkittymews.com . I know they WILL all be very much appreciated.

Thank you and purrs,

Valentine.

Thank you Valentine. I am sure all of us want to wish Kerry, David, you and the rest of your family well during this very stressful time.

Hopefully, with all our thoughts and prayers from across the world and Blogosphere over the coming days and weeks, we can get Kerry back home and on the mend. 

                                                                            ******

And now, I offer you my Sunday Selfie!

Oooh, what CLEAN feet you have!

OK, OK, so maybe paws dont really count as an actual selfie, but they are MY paws. See how clean they are too! Mrs H do take note. It was NOT me who walked through the flour on the kitchen table and traipsed it into the lounge across the sofa, sideboard, your new Persian rug and up the curtains. Clearly, we ghosts afoot! 😉

Anyways, enough of my Footsie, to see what all the other fine Sunday Selfie Bloggers are up to this week, please follow the links below, mindful of any patches of self raising flour!

Till laters, and my next book review, have an awesome week.

ERin & Mrs H

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DIARY OF A BUDDHIST CAT

 by JULIAN WORKER;  

An Adventure Book Review by Erin the Cat Princess©

©Julian Worker/Mirador Publishing

 

Hello, and welcome to my Saturday Book Review featuring Adventures in Fiction!

This week, for our adult followers and feline loving fans everywhere, we have the UTTER DELIGHT of reviewing a book by JULIAN WORKER, called DIARY OF A BUDDHIST CAT.

Julian also writes mystery adventures as well as travel books. Born in the UK, he has travelled to almost 100 countries across the globe. He currently lives and works in Vancouver, Canada.

This book features Freddie, a three ish year old black and white cat.

© Julian Walker/ Mirador Publishing.

DIARY OF A BUDDHIST CAT, by JULIAN WORKER

Published by: MIRADOR PUBLISHING.

Paperback ISBN: 978 – 1 – 914965 – 14 -2

Cover price for Paperback £11.99, KINDLE £2.99 

Pages 245.

Published: 19 September 2021

Age range: Upper YA and Adult.

Any Cats? Oh yes!

Category: Clean adult humour.

SPOILER ALERT?

No spoilers here.

Disclaimer.

We were lucky enough to see and down load for free this book on NetGalley, and only too happy to share this unsponsored review with you.

The plot

Freddie is a black and white cat determined to follow the Buddhist path. It was the only book on religion his previous human had. But when that human throws Freddie at the vet rather than pay the bill, Freddie’s life changes. Made well by the kindly vet, he is adopted into a new home with John and Mary, two loving, caring, and quite normal and educated humans. They had previously adopted Gemma, a feline with a grudge against humans in general, for their fascist jackboot ways. Her reason is that some humans took her kittens away from her when she most needed them for support. Now, she refuses to kowtow to their oppressive ways, despite John’s and Mary’s kindness. 

Gemma and Freddie do not get on. The relationship is based on the severity of Gemma’s sneers, ranging from 1, being ‘Ignorant cat’, to 6, being ‘enemy of cat kind’. Needless to say, Freddie gets a lot of sneers in the 5 and 6 range.

Freddie, though, is very passive, as you would expect from a Buddhist. He seeks to find common ground and treat everyone, even Gemma, with respect and kindness, helping where he can to ease her suffering and pain.

Now, if you hadn’t surmised already, I need to mention that Freddie is an educated cat who likes to read books and experience life. So much so that he goes into his garden and befriends the resident crow family, and Rufus, the local squirrel. They introduce him to Holly, the hamster who’s cage sits inside on the next door window ledge. 

Very soon, with the help of his new pals, he is off in pursuit of educating himself in the fine arts and philosophers of the human world. But true to his beliefs, he is helping his new friends fulfil their own academic, sightseeing and high-flying goals. And how does he do this, you may ask? Answer: By entering and borrowing from the next door library, of course! The antics and chaos that ensue are hilarious and priceless. All of which is unseen by his human companions, but not so their neighbour, Penny, who tries to film it all on her phone.

So, what did we think?

From a rather unassuming fun cover comes what I think is a small gem. Told in first person as a series of Freddie’s diary entries, this book will impart to the careful reader far more than at face value. It is a masterpiece of observation and insight into not only felines but humans too. More than this, an entertaining storyline sets this apart from far more mundane fictional works on feline and human relationships. 

For me, this is what truly makes this a stand out tale and a tour de force of entertainment and insight. Actions have consequences, even more so when species mix. And here they unfold so well and funnily that it was impossible not to turn the page and laugh and giggle aloud.

A must-read for anyone seeking a more educated, tongue in cheek fun, and thought-provoking read. I’ll be delving more into the author’s other works (both fact and fiction), as the writing style is very appealing.

I also find that I want to know more about Freddie’s adventures. Whether we get to know more or not, I don’t know. But I bought the paperback and will re-read it periodically to remind myself of the balance of life and all such good things. And yes, we will also laugh unashamedly at what happened to Angela in the library, and to that poor, poor dog of Penny’s!

****** HOT OFF THE PRESS! ******

 Julian has told me there WILL be a sequel!!! Get this one now and be ready for when the sequel arrives.

So . . . . 

Crunch time. 

We thoroughly recommend this book. And you don’t have to have a cat companion or be a budding Buddhist to like this story. Nor be a philosopher or connoisseur of, ahem, ‘fine art’ to appreciate the insight and humour woven carefully into the pages. 

Want to buy a copy?

To get copy, please do head down your own karma filled path to enightment and spread the love at your local independent bookshop.

JULIAN WORKER’s web page can be found HERE. https://julianworkerwriter.blog/

MIRADOR Publishing’s web page can be found HERE. https://miradorpublishing.com/

If any authors, publishers wish us to review their books, please do get in touch. Details are listed on our book review page.

And now a picture of ME!

© Erin the cat princess

Till later!

ERin

SHOW US WHO YOU ARE.

by Elle McNicoll;  

An Adventure Book Review by Erin the Cat Princess©

Hello, and welcome to my Saturday Book Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction!

This week we have the pleasure of reviewing the second book by Elle McNicoll, called Show Us Who You Are. You will recall last week we reviewed A Kind of Spark (a link to that story is HERE).

This book features Cora and Adrien, aged twelve.

SHOW US WHO YOU ARE, by ELLE MCNICOLL

Published by: KNIGHTS OF.

Cover artwork by KAY WILSON

Paperback ISBN: 978 – 1 – 9133111 – 3 -1

Cover price for Paperback £6.99 (or cheaper)

Pages 310.

Age range: 8 and upwards

The Plot: 

When 12-year-old Cora’s brother, Gregor, insists she goes to his boss’s party, it’s fair to say she isn’t keen. She certainly isn’t looking to make new friends. Strange people in a strange place, it’s not her thing. More masking and getting stressed. The party is for his son, Adrien, a boy she never even knew existed until a short while before.

There’s an ulterior motive for her being at the party, but more on that in a moment. Having been ushered away from the noisy party and adults, Cora is sent out into the garden to find the birthday boy, Adrien. After knocking him down, thinking he was about to attack her, Cora soon finds Adrien is a rather unusual boy. Homeschooled because of his ADHD, Adrien is intelligent, witty and fun to be around. He has a really great dog, a mongrel called Cerby, to whom he is devoted. Much to his father’s annoyance.

The two strike it off, and Adrien tells of his life with ADHD, and Cora explains being autistic. They are, Adrien explains, the same. Their minds are different from everyone else. 

The actual reason for Adrien’s father inviting Cora to the party was to get her help in his work. His company, the Pomegranate Institute, uses high tech to create AI holographic copies of people. These will be stored and can interact with people, for a fee. This to Cora, who recently lost her mother, seems terrific. The ability to talk and resolve things that couldn’t be said in a person’s life, to speak with the rich and famous, or for the AI to do mundane jobs seems magical and a dream come true. 

Or is it?

Adrien is against his fathers work. He hates it and had the weeks-long barrage of questions fired at him, the answer to which ultimately shaped the AI hologram of himself. Cora’s father is against it, too, even though he misses his wife intensely. To him, it is wrong. 

Who is right? 

Battling against emotions and ethics, an event takes place that will shape what happens next in the story and make Cora agree to participate in Pomegranate’s research. But there is a dark secret lurking just below the glossy pristine surface of Pomegranate and its staff, one that changes everything once more for Cora. Now the race is on to expose the truth. . . . 

So, what did we think?

Stunning. Such a wonderfully creative, emotional, and thought-provoking adventure. It was a book that we really didn’t want to put down. In the nicest possible way, it demands that the reader takes note and makes choices. It informs and challenges ideas, ethics, beliefs and, dare I say it, prejudices also. 

Mrs H and I didn’t see the villain of the piece coming. We cried and laughed and then cried some more. What’s more, we celebrated Adrien and Cora’s differences. Life is, after all, a celebration of all things, all creatures and people, no matter the differences. And make no mistake, we are all different or diverse (none more so than Mrs H, but don’t tell her I said that) and as a result, all very special (you can tell Mrs H that I said that!).                        

So . . . . 

Crunch time. 

This is Elle’s second novel, and she has crafted another mould-breaking story. An absolute must-read. Adult or child, this is one of those books that I think all would enjoy and would have benefitted from being around years ago. Buy for the adult or kid in your life or in yourself. 

Elle’s new book, Like a Charm, a magical adventure set in the atmospheric and historic city of Edinburgh, is out in February. We will be reviewing this as soon as we can get hold of a copy.

Want to buy a copy?

To get a copy, please do consider your local independent bookshop first. I cannot stress enough how vital both they and independent publishers like Nights Of publishing are to the whole ecosystem of really cool books. Books like this that have brought undoubted pleasure and helped and informed tens of thousands would not have existed without them. 

Till then, please do come back for more Adventures in Middle-Grade reading. 

Elle McNicoll’s web page can be found HERE. https://ellemcnicoll.com/

Nights Of web page can be found HERE. http://knightsof.media/

If any authors, publishers or agents wish us to review their books, please do get in touch. Details are listed on our book review page.

And now, for all our fans, here is a picture of me contemplating the latest WORDLE game. Notice the furrowed expression in the duvet!

Sleepy Wordle Erin. © Erin the cat princess.

Till laters!

ERin

A STORM OF SISTERS

© Michelle Harrison, Simon & Schuster,

by Michelle Harrison;  

An Adventure Book Review by Erin the Cat Princess©

Hello, and welcome to an impromptu MIDWEEK Book Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction!

We are delighted to bring you the SOON TO BE PUBLISHED (3/2/22) fourth adventure in the Pinch of Magic series, titled ‘A Storm of Sisters’. 

This book, like the preceding three, was an absolute pleasure. We received a digital copy of this through NetGalley, courtesy of Simon and Schuster Children’s Books. A big thank you to both those fine folk.

But enough of the preamble, let’s get on with the review. 

© Michelle Harrison, Simon & Schuster,

A STORM OF SISTERS, by MICHELLE HARRISON

Published by: SIMON AND SCHUSTER CHILDREN’S BOOKS.

Paperback ISBN: 978 – 1 – 4711 – 9765 – 9

Cover price for Paperback £7.99 

Pages 339.

Age range: 9 and upwards

The Plot: 

The Widdershins sisters, Fliss, Betty and Charlie, live with their father and granny in the village of Pendlewick. It is their first winter in the quaint and slightly crooked, 200-year-old ‘Blackbird Cottage’. They moved there the previous year, from the damp, fog and drear of the island of Crowstone, near the marshes and a rather severe island prison. 

Pendlewick is very different from life at the Poachers Pocket Inn they lived at in Crowstone. Not least because it is warm and sunny. However, one thing hasn’t changed, and that is the pinch of magic that the sisters share. The magic seems, if not directly, to draw them into many adventures and to help them out. 

When an unexpected letter arrives from their father’s cousin, Clarissa, granny and the girls head to the decidedly remote and frozen town of WILDERNESS, to the aptly named ‘Frostbite Cottage’ to help her recover from her broken ankle.

Wilderness lives up to its name, and the cold journey by horse and carriage takes them to a snow globe-like place worthy of wolves, evil snow queens and all manner of cold, fantasy creatures. It also leads them to a long cold walk through the snow to reach Clarissa’s cottage, where the thundering sounds of a ghostly steed haunt the wind and snow-swept woods all around. But a welcome and warm fire awaits. Sadly no beds as the cottage is too small for five. Much to their joy, the girls get to stay at Echo Hall, a large hotel overlooking the town, its Winter Market, and its ice-covered lake.

The girls soon learn of the dark side of Wilderness. The legend of Jack Frost the highwayman, and his lover, Elora, who worked at Echo Hall, Both losing their lives and their treasure to the lake forty years past. There is the story of the ill-fated, humbled fortune-teller who lost her livelihood, and of a lost treasure. Then, there is Elora’s curse. If you see Elora, the maid, at your hotel room window, then death will take a relative.

The girls know all too well that there is always some truth to legends. And that ghosts, like magic, do exist. Those thoughts wane beside the pleasures of the market and the prospect of skating on the lake. Until that is, they discover a body and then see Elora at their window. 

So, what did we think?

For want of an expression, this is a delightful spellbinding adventure. Spine tinglingly atmospheric thanks to Michelle’s commitment to defining so well the world we are immersed into. A plot that is woven as beautifully and naturally as the patterns of frost on glass. The Widdershins are shown in all their glory, as good and as bad as any family is. From granny, the grumpy ex-landlady, to incorrigible young Charlie and lovely romantic Fliss. In humour or sadness, good or bad, the family shines, arguably strongest when the chips are down. But isn’t that just like life? 

So . . . . 

Crunch time. 

This is the fourth book in the series. While we have read the other three, I can say hand on heart that these will work as stand-alone stories. But, you will get far more out of the adventures if you start from the beginning with A Pinch of Magic. I will confess that it took me a short while to get into this new world of magic and adventure. Maybe I had put on it expectations of other more staid cliched magical books. But the world is, as I mentioned earlier, so very well set up earthly and atmospheric. I now would not wish to ever see it go. I can but wonder what the following stories will bring for this wonderful human family that seem dogged by misfortune, or is it actually fortune? Undoubtedly it will bring magic, and a pinch of mischief too. Always complex, yet lightened by the style of writing that makes this such a compulsive read. Oh, and for those of us that love cats, the Widdershins’ have a black cat rather aptly named Oi! I’ll leave you to decide why.

A no hesitation recommendation. Buy for yourself, family or friends. Best I think enjoyed on a cold winters evening by a roaring fire with a drink of cocoa. 

Want to buy a copy?

To get a copy, please do consider slipping on your own ice skates and zipping down to your local independent bookshop first, mindful of ghosts, thin ice and treasure on route!

Michelle Harrisons’ web page can be found HERE. https://www.michelleharrisonbooks.com/

Simon and Schuster UK Children’s web page can be found HERE.  https://www.simonandschuster.co.uk/

If any authors/publishers wish us to review their books, please do get in touch. 

Till later!

ERin

A KIND OF SPARK

by Elle McNicoll;  

An Adventure Book Review by Erin the Cat Princess©

Hello, and welcome to my Saturday Book Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction!

We are delighted to bring you the first of four books that feature neurodiverse (ND) characters and or have been written by ND authors. Understanding who you are and diversity are subjects close to our hearts. Thankfully they are getting far more attention in children’s literature and awareness is being raised. As important is the fact they bring characters to those who have previously not seen themselves in literature. 

We could say so much about neurodiversity as a preface to these book reviews. But on thinking about it, we won’t. Rather, we will let the stories that the authors have so ably crafted tell their tales and provide the insight.

So, without further ado, I bring you our first book – A Kind of Spark. This was written by Elle McNicoll and was her debut work. Her second book, Show Us Who You Are, will be reviewed next week. Like a Charm, her third book is out in February of this year. 

A KIND OF SPARK, by ELLE McNICOLL

Published by: KNIGHTS OF.

Cover artwork by the very talented Kay Wilson 

Paperback ISBN: 978 – 1 – 9133110 – 5 – 6

Cover price for Paperback £6.99 (or cheaper)

Pages 187.

Age range: 8 and upwards

The Plot: 

Addie, her parents and twin elder sisters Keedie and Nina live in the village of Juniper, not far from Edinburgh, Scotland.

Addie, aged 11, is autistic, as is Keedie, who is struggling at university. 

Sharks are Addie’s passion, and she reads as much as she can on the subject. She is also passionate about finding new words from her thesaurus, a gift from Keedie. 

When the new term begins, the class start to learn about the Scottish witch trials. For Addie, the injustices and atrocities committed on local innocent women strike deep. The similarities between them and the persecution by her own teacher and bullying by a classmate for being ‘different’ are not lost on Addie, and she feels impassioned to do something. 

A memorial commemorating the fifty or so local women dragged off from their village seems just right. But, the local council think the whole witch trial business is a matter to be swept away under a carpet and forgotten. 

And so begins Addie’s journey and battle.

But will she win? The council is against her, and some residents have vested interests elsewhere. And the very teacher that haunted Keedie’s time at school, made it hell, and caused meltdowns through its unrelenting unkindness towards her autism, is now Addie’s too!

And that’s where we must leave this review. Clearly, there is far more to discover. But the best stories need to be allowed to tell themselves as the absolute pleasure is in the detail and the journey.

So, what did we think?

It was not until Mrs H, and I picked up a copy of the fabulous ‘The London Eye Mystery’, a book that we will be reviewing for you soon, that we started to understand about being autistic. After that, we were only too pleased to discover A Kind of Spark had just been released. The more we read, the more we liked and loved the characters and the insight we got. This is, without doubt, a gem.

We see the world through Addie’s eyes. And in words written by an ND writer and wrought from experience. Together they tackle some complicated issues on her journey and fight. The story doesn’t pull its punches either, and there is a lot to take away about how people react to differences and what it is like to be different. 

This story has been lauded by the literary world. But more importantly, far greater praise has come from parents, teachers and kids alike. It is an excellent example of a new voice, telling a story that needed to be told, for those that needed to hear it, neurodivergent or not.

At 187 pages, this is an easy and quick read for those that want to or can. Me, I am a slow reader and enjoyed a long, pleasurable weekend in Addie’s company. 

So . . . . 

Crunch time. 

I would be surprised if many kids haven’t read this by now, as it really is very, very popular. But if you know someone who hasn’t, or if this review has whetted your appetite to read and discover more about autism and being ND, then I recommend it wholeheartedly.

Want to buy a copy?

To get a copy, please do consider your local independent bookshop first. I cannot stress enough how vital both they and independent publishers like Nights Of publishing are to the whole ecosystem of really cool books. Books like this that have brought undoubted pleasure and helped and informed tens of thousands would not have existed without them. 

Elle McNicoll’s web page can be found HERE. https://ellemcnicoll.com/

Nights Of web page can be found HERE. http://knightsof.media/

If any authors, publishers or agents wish us to review their books, please do get in touch. Details are listed on our book review page.

Till laters!

ERin

The Adventure Club: TIGER IN TROUBLE

By JESS BUTTERWORTH

An Adventure Book Review by Erin the Cat Princess©

Hello, and welcome to my MIDWEEK Book Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction!

We are delighted to bring you our review of Tiger in Trouble ( the second adventure in The Adventure Club series). This is a review enabled by NETGALLEY and Orion Childrens Books, for whom we like to do reviews.

I had not come across this series before. But having seen it on NetGalley, I was determined to bring you a review before the launch, which is 20 January 2022.

This is the second book in the series, the first being titled ‘Red Panda Rescue’.

So, without further ado, I bring you – The Adventure Club: TIGER IN TROUBLE. 

Image © ORION CHILDRENS BOOKS/ KIRSTI BEAUTYMAN/JESS BUTTERWORTH

TITLE: The Adventure Club: TIGER IN TROUBLE

By: JESS BUTTERWORTH

Published by: ORION CHILDRENS BOOKS (AN IMPRINT OF HACHETTE PUBLISHING)

Artwork by the very talented KIRSTI BEAUTYMAN

Paperback ISBN: 978-1510107984 

To be published 20 January 2022

Cover price for Paperback £5.99 

Pages: 160 .

Age range: 7 to 9 

The Plot: 

Before we start, I just need to tell you some background to this adventure. Tilly (aged 7 ish) won a school competition. As a prize, she got to join The Adventure Club, a small group of people, conservationists and vets, who travel the world and research and protect animals and the environment. In the first adventure, Tilly got to look for red Pandas in Nepal. Of course, that turned into quite an experience and far more than Tilly expected. This time around, things are pretty different, and Tilly finds herself travelling to India with two of her best friends, searching for some missing Tigers. 

It all started when Tilly’s parents unwittingly got her a Tiger adoption certificate for her birthday. . . . .

Summer hols are looming, and the School Adventure Club Tilly started with the aid of her teacher is shutting down for the holidays. Tilly is at a loose end and misses her adventures at home and abroad. At least she has the fortnightly letters from the tiger reserve telling her how her adopted tiger, Tara, and her mum, are doing. Suddenly, it dawns on Tilly that she hasn’t received a letter. What could be wrong? She sends a letter to India, and after a long and restless wait, gets a response. It seems Tara and her mum haven’t been seen for ages. 

Fearful of some major incident that could have forced the pair of tigers out of the reserve and into the way of poachers or other trouble, Tilly sets about trying to help the two. Ultimately she enlists the help of The Adventure Club team, and she and her two pals head to India and a fabulous new adventure.

So, what did we think?

Jess Butterworth is renowned for great children’s stories. This series so far is no exception.

The book is written in the first person, in part in diary form, and copies of letters and instructions. The text and dialogue are beautifully balanced throughout by Tilly’s delightful pencil sketches of her friends, places, and the animals she comes across. 

The story itself is a wonderful mix of information and adventure, enough of each to please and inform the younger reader. Read by or read aloud to a child of say age 6 plus, this is a great book to prompt discussion and further reading or involvement. 

The adventure highlights Tilly and her friends’ excitement, fears, and hopes as they race to ensure that Tara, the tiger cub and her mum have water and are safe. As well as helping and learning about other animals they come across on route. 

There are lessons to be learnt here, not just ecological ones, but those of patience, friendship, trust, adventure and responsibility. Tilly makes mistakes, and the consequences are shown to be dear. But she learns from them, too, just as we all do in real life.

So . . . . 

Crunch time. 

All in all, this is a marvellous inclusive and informative book that will add so much value to those that read it. I would not hesitate to buy the series for my own young globe-trotting adventurer!

A link to Jess Butterworth’s web site can be found HERE. Or type in the following: https://www.jessbutterworth.com/

A link to Hatchette Publishing (Orion Publishing is an imprint) can be found HERE. OR type in the following https://www.hachettechildrens.co.uk

That’s it from me for now. Our next review is on Saturday. Till then, have a tiger friendly week!

ERin

SHADOWGHAST

by Thomas Taylor;  

An Adventure Book Review by Erin the Cat Princess©

 

Hello, and welcome to my Saturday Book Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction!

It also happens to be the first review of the year. Hopefuly the first of many. The picture below is of yours truly taking a pre, New Years eve nap. Just to get my strength up for the post New Years day nap!

Being a party animal takes so much prep!

This week, now I’m fully rested up, we have the great pleasure to review the spooktacular third book set in Eerie on Sea, starring Herbert Lemon, Violet Parma, and Erwin, the cat.

So without further ado, and kindly sponsored this week by Mrs Singhs Mobile Book Bank (Cheques cashed free of charge and a free Onion Bhaji with every tenth loan) we bring you . . . 

SHADOWGHAST, the third Eerie-on-Sea adventure, written by a true wordsmith of a middle-grade writing, Thomas Taylor!

SHADOWGHAST, by Thomas Taylor.

SHADOWGHAST, by THOMAS TAYLOR

Published by WALKER BOOKS LIMITED.

Cover artwork by GEORGE ERMOS 

Interior Illustrations by Thomas Taylor

Paperback ISBN: 978 – 1 – 4063 – 8630 – 1

Cover price for Paperback £7.99 (or cheaper)

Pages 328.

Age range: 8 and upwards

Any cats? YES, one, called Erwin, and he talks too!

SPOILER ALERT

As ever, to review book three in this series, we need to reveal little bits and pieces of the first two books. So, please do look away if you wish to keep it a surprise. 

You can follow the link below to see my review of the first adventure.

Book 1 review LINK: MALAMANDER

Book 2 review LINK: GARGANTIS. 

The Plot: 

With the evil Sebastian Eels dispatched to the depths of the oceans, never to return, things at the Grand Nautilus Hotel and Eerie-on-Sea had returned to normal. Or at least as normal as they ever get. It is Lady Kraken’s birthday, and the staff all get a big slap-up breakfast on her. Or at least some do. When everyone else has taken their fill, our hero, Herbie Lemon, gets nothing. 

While he watches on with hope, a lady’s voice whispers in his ear that this year things will be different. Turning, he sees the lady walking towards the elevator. He is captivated by her clothes and hair. More than that, he is intrigued by the people that accompany her. He later finds out that they are two mime artists and her manager. But as he takes it all in, there is something not quite right. Is it the shadows or how the light falls upon the four through the windows?

Now, let’s move on to what you all really want to know about the Shadowghast, right?

The celebration of the Ghastly Night is unique to Eerie-on-Sea and happens when others celebrate All Hallows Eve. That tale starts long ago, back in the 1800s, when the town’s mayor, Standing Bigley, built the pier. He was a mean man and devoted to the profit he would make from the visitors to the pier’s theatre. 

As the pier neared completion, he needed to keep the investors sweet. But where oh where could he get a performer at short notice.

As luck would have it, or rather it wouldn’t, at that very time, a stranger in his boat is saved from the strong currents out by Maw Rocks, and brought ashore. What is strange about the stranger, even by Eerie standards, is that he has a heavy lantern in the shape of a dragon. When asked who he is, the tatty man declares he is the Puppet Master, and the lantern is magical.

Who better to put an opening night display and get the paying customers in, the mayor thinks, and so he asks the stranger for his price. Five gold coins were the stranger’s fee for a show that would be worth every bit. Of course, you and I can guess that this did not go down well with the tight Mr Bigley. Two was all he offered the man, and it had better be good. The puppet master was not amused, less so than Queen Victoria, and promised the mayor that “may you get what you pay for.”

The time of the show came, and it was fabulous. The puppet master manipulated the shadows that he cast in the smoke from his magic lantern into all manner of shapes and beasts, Gargantis and the Malamander amongst them. There is one shadow in the lantern that isn’t by the puppet masters creation, the shadowghast! 

But Bagley gave only one gold coin when payment was due, stating shadows were only worth half the fee. The puppet master’s revenge was to use the shadowghast to take Bagley’s shadow, quite literally. And once he had his shadow, he became master of the man himself. In the furore that followed, the pier caught fire, and the puppet master and his lantern were lost to the sea, never to be seen again. But forever after, a curse was on the town. 

And thus, the legend of the Shadowghast was born. And each Ghastly Night, you will need to light a Manglewick candle to keep the shadow-stealing spirit away.

Of course, this all seems but by-the-by for Herbie, who is about to discover two things. First, the lady is none other than the world-famous magician, Caliastra. Second, she is his aunt, who has come to take him off to his new life as her apprentice.

Whoa, that is quite a bombshell to drop on Herbie. As it happens, it is an even bigger bombshell for Violet, who hoped she would find her parents first. Animosity rears its head. But when people start vanishing from Eerie, Herbie and Violet join forces, albeit reluctantly, to solve a Ghastly Night adventure that lives up to its name! There is more than townsfolk at risk here; there is friendship and newfound family. Hard decisions will need to be made, and demons fought. Will Herbie get to have a family? More importantly, will he ever get to have any of that breakfast?

All this and far more will rise again from the depths of Eerie-on-Sea legend. 

So, what did we think?

When adventures like this keep getting better and better, we have to sit back and admire the writer’s originality and style. 

This book really was a great adventure and spooky ride from beginning to end. And it really did keep us going to the very last pages, even though our cocoa was going cold.

With some lovely twists and characters that you can just reach into the pages and either shake a fist at or shout out support to, like “Look out, it’s behind you!” then you know you’re on to a winner. I got so gripped by the adventure, at one point I felt I was lost with Herbie in the dark and could feel the breeze on my face and see the candle splutter. Mrs H ruined all that by putting on my bedside light and shutting the window which had blown open! That said, it was still very atmospheric, chilling in an excellent middle grade fashion, that left us wanting rooms at the Grand Nautilus!

Now I haven’t thus far mentioned Erwin the cat. Fear not, dear feline fanciers, he plays an important roll in this adventure. Quite the hero too. Smokin’ one might say!

So . . . . 

Crunch time. 

Without a doubt, Mr Taylor has created another little masterpiece set in Eerie-on-Sea. Buy this for you or the adults in your life and enjoy a few nights of absorbing mystery. But beware the Shadowghast, heed the warnings else it may steal your shadow too! 

There you have it. Well, not quite. At the back of book three is an intro chapter for book 4, called FESTERGRIMM. I don’t know about you, but that sounds way too interesting and exciting to pass up.

Want to buy a copy?

To get a copy, complete with a shadow attached, please do head to your local independent bookshop, during daylight hours, of course!!!!! 

Thomas Taylor’s web page can be found HERE. http://www.thomastaylor-author.com/

Walker Books web page can be found HERE. https://www.walker.co.uk/

If any authors, publishers or agents wish us to review their books, please do get in touch. Details are listed on our book review page.

Till laters!

ERin

GARGANTIS

by Thomas Taylor;  

An Adventure Book Review by Erin the Cat Princess©

Hello, and welcome to my Saturday Book Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction!

Checking out Ned the Gardeners work!

This week we feel happier than a seagull who has found a freshly cooked and unattended bag of chips on the promenade!

Yes, this week, we have the great pleasure to review the spectacular second book set in Eerie on Sea, starring Herbert Lemon, Violet Parma, and Erwin, the cat. 

But first, a little Chrismas sketch……

Erin was sat in her special cushioned chair beside the kitchen table. Clearing her throat, she looked around in front of her at an audience that had yet to appear, nodded, and then began.

“Ahem. But first, just in case HRH has had one too many sherries and tripped over the butler and corgi, I give my own Royal Speech.

Greetings, Your Majesty, First Lady (and the team of undercover secret agents in Room 101b of the Pentagon International Satelite Surveillance Team) and fellow citizens of UMM. Today is my birthday. . . . and Christmas Day. 

We know it’s been a funny old year, but now is the time to put aside the differences of the months passed. Gone should be the bickering over who gets the TV remote or who gets to lick the tasty gravy off the plates and the last of the succulent chicken. Gone should be the jealousies of whose begonias should have won the Summer Flower Show but strangely got a sudden bad case of wilt. Forget that it was your neighbour who forgot to turn off the garden sprinkler overnight and flooded your car whose window was left open. 

These things and more should be but dust in the wind. They are but minor gripes. Trivial pursuits in the grand —”

“I think you’ll find that it’s trivial MATTERS, dear. Trivial Pursuits is a board game.” Mrs H interrupted. Sat at the kitchen table. Her spectacles sat low on her nose as she peered at Erin over the top whilst simultaneously filling in the latest crossword in the UMM Parish Gazette.

“I agree,” Erin said, putting down her speech and sighing loudly. “I was totally BORED. There are never any questions about cheese, even though there are lumps of cheese on the board. They could at least have used real cheese. That would have been far more fun. Better still, real mice would have worked.”

“You said that about Mousetrap that I bought last year. You cant expect every board game we play to involve food, moving or otherwise. How about we play Village Monopoly?”

“That’s not half as much fun when you already own half the properties in the village anyway.” Sighing, Erin pawed at the script of her speech and then threw the pen down in dismay. “Do you think I’ll ever get the call to stand in for Her Majesty? I mean, we are nearly related. AND I had an Annual Horrible too, just like she’s had.”

“Annus, dear. The term is Annus Horribilis.” Mrs H smiled. Erin’s grasp of Latin was often confused, and frequently she made up new terms of her own. 

“What, did she fall on her bottom too?”

“No. Annus means year. I doubt the Queen has a bottom, well not in public anyway. Besides, she has staff to do that sort of thing for her; slipping over and the like. Unlike me, who slipped over on your latest bumper edition of Mouse Breeder and Catcher, that you had left on the floor.”

“Oh, I wondered what the wailing was but put it down to those unofficial carrol singers trying to exhort money from us again. Really was a cheek them not actually singing, but playing a tape recording.”

“Yes, I’m surprised they thought they could get away with it.” Mrs H shook her head in disgust. “In my day, we dressed the part in robes and held candles. And it didn’t matter if it was snowing or raining. We earned our money. Now, it is purely commercial. One was dressed as Guy Fawkes and tried to get me to give money in advance for next year! At least I thought he was dressed as Guy Fawkes.”

“How DID you get rid of them. When I looked out the window, they were running faster than the regulars at the Pied Sparrow when Happy Hour’s announced!”

“Well, to be fair, it wasn’t me that did that, though I wish I had. It was old Ned, the gardener.” 

“I know he smells a bit of manure and musty stuff, but I wouldn’t say Ned was that frightening, OK, maybe a bit?”

“Ah, well, he’d been helping me preparing lunch, using the blender, and he forgot to put the cover on. Covered him in tomato puree. It will take a week to get off the ceiling, maybe a bit longer to get off Ned. When he came to the front door to explain, he still had the chopping knife in his hand. The rest, as they say, is history.”

“Did that really happen?” Erin asked, her mouth wide open as she imagined the zombie-like Ned lurching at the rogue singers.

“Well, let’s just say that if it didn’t, then it should have.” Mrs H smiled, glancing discreetly at the hefty rolling pin that sat beside her. Noticing the time, she switched on the radio. “Time for the Queen’s Speech. And after that, you can read to me your review of the book for this week’s blog…….” 

As the radio crackled into life, our two companions leaned in close to each other, lost in the tones of the voice that led the nation. Erin slipped her paw into Mrs H’s hand and squeezed gently.

“Happy Christmas, Mrs H, and thank you for being making sure we are safe and fed and happy.”

‘Merry Christmas to you, also, Erin. Life without a tall story and a few odd characters wouldn’t be half as much fun. But life without you by my side would be intolerable.”

And Happy Christmas to you all, too.

THE END

Without further ado, here is what you all came for, this week’s review. It is also the least of the year, and my, we have saved the best to last!

GARGANTIS, BY THOMAS TAYLOR

GARGANTIS, by THOMAS TAYLOR

Published by WALKER BOOKS LIMITED.

Cover artwork by GEORGE ERMOS 

Interior Illustrations by Thomas Taylor

Trade paperback ISBN: 978 – 1 – 4063 – 8629 -5

Exclusive paperback ISBN: 978 – 1 – 4063 – 9661 – 4

Cover price for Paperback £7.99 (or cheaper)

Pages 351.

Age range: 8 and upwards

Any cats? YES, one, called Erwin, and he talks too!

SPOILER ALERT

As ever, to review book two in this series, we need to reveal little bits and pieces of the first book. So, please do look away if you wish to keep it a surprise. 

You can follow the link below to see my review of the first adventure.

Book 1 review LINK: MALAMANDER.

The Plot: 

In the middle of one of Eerie-on-Sea’s worst storms, when the waves and winds threaten the very fabric of the seaside town, a strange cloaked and hooded figure books into the Grand Nautilus Hotel. He is carrying a metal-bound wooden box that never leaves his side. He doesn’t lower his hood even to speak to anyone. Tere’s asunder thunder boom, the lights go out and, when they come back on, he has gone! He has however left Herbie Lemon, our hero and the hotels Lost-and-Founder, an object he says he has found. It is a strange shell, covered in curved spikes and unusually heavy for its size with a metallic clink from something inside. Now, if that weren’t warning enough that something was strange, there was a small opening where it could be wound up. 

Against his better judgement, Herbie, urged on by Violet Parma and Erwin, who have just arrived in the Lost and Found room, winds up the shell. A strange mechanical crab-like creature comes out and threatens them. Safely secured under a weighed down bucket, our Herbie and Violet head out to the pier for supper. On the way, Herbie sees something very much like a sea serpent, weaving through the storm clouds. Or did he?

On their return, the strange wind-up crab beast has vanished. Not only did it chop its way out of the wooden pail, but it also took some hefty chunks of fur off Erwin! Somewhere in the Lost and Found office, the creature lies lurking….. Not a happy thought, but one put aside when a group of sodden sailors carry a strange object into the hotel lobby, all tied up in one of their nets. This turns out to be none other than Mrs Fossil, the local pro-beachcomber. Not only that, but she holds a strangely shaped bottle in her grasp that she found on the beach that very evening.

When the sailors, Mrs Fossil and even Dr Thalassi lay claim to the bottle, the hotel owner, Lady Kraken, is brought down to adjudicate. She decides that as it is a lost and found item, Herbie should look after it and resolve who rightfully owns it.

At this point, I need to through into the ring one of many old Eerie sayings that will come to haunt and guide this adventure: ‘When Gargantis sleeps, Eerie keeps. When Gargantis wakes, Eerie quakes . . . . and all falls into the sea!’

Will unstoppering the bottle to reveal the contents really put an end to Herbie’s problems? Who is the cloaked figure, and why was he so keen to give Herbie the beastly mechanical shell? What secrets do the ancient runes on the side of the bottle hold?

Who or what will stop at nothing to get what they think is theirs. And, what will happen if they do?

Friends will be found, and lost. Truths discovered and superstition overturned and rebuilt. Who or what really are the monsters?

All this and far, far more is revealed in the rest of the story. But of course, that is for you to discover and me to keep secret. . . . . 

So, what did we think?

I suppose it is hard not to use superlatives when we enjoy pretty much every book we read. They each have, as a rule, different styles and energies that drive them along and give appeal. This book is no exception. In fact, dare I say it, it stands above, say, Amari and the NIght Brothers that I reviewed a few weeks ago (See LINK to Review HERE)

We adored this book, as we did the previous one, for its energy, originality and the ease in which we were drawn into the story from the first paragraph. I struggled to put it down when Mrs H insisted I really ought to go to bed and put the lights out. 

I’d say everything a good read should have is in here. The first person style is perfect. And like book one, it adds so much to the feel of what is going on. OK, if it didn’t, then there would be something wrong. But we have read books where the first person character lacks the zing. This, well, it hustles along with just the right amount of Herbert Lemons story to give direction and flavour. Not that it needs extra of that, as there is plenty of seaspray and storm-born static to power a flotilla of stories and seaside neon lights. That may just have been a hint as to something that happens in the book. . . or maybe not. 

Oh, in case you were wondering, Erwin, the cat, has his part to play in this too. 

So . . . . 

Crunch time. 

An absolute must-read after the first adventure. Buy for the kid in your life or in yourself. 

There you have it. There is nothing more to add, except that we will be reading and reviewing book three early next year, so there is a lot to look forward to. 

Till then, please do come back for more Adventures in Middle-Grade reading. 

Want to buy a copy?

To get a gargantuan attack of salty seaside adventure, then head to your local independent bookshop before they get washed away by the tide of online retailing. 

Thomas Taylor’s web page can be found HERE. http://www.thomastaylor-author.com/

Walker Books web page can be found HERE. https://www.walker.co.uk/

If any authors, publishers or agents wish us to review their books, please do get in touch. Details are listed on our book review page.

Till laters, and next year!

ERin

MALAMANDER, by Thomas Taylor;

An Adventure Book Review by Erin the Cat Princess©

This week we are decidedly pleased to bring you an eerie review of the first book in one of our favourite series. Malamander is the book’s name, and it is quite different from anything we have reviewed before. This just goes to show how diverse Middle-Grade reads can be! 

But first, back by popular demand is……. 

The UMM VILLAGE NEWS. Delivered hands-free online. This edition is kindly sponsored by Mrs Singh’s Home Delivery Service called ‘Jumbo Eats’ – Free lifesize banana and joyride on Jumbo with each kids meal! (no liability is accepted for trampled flowerbeds and feet, or dented cars!)

On the Frontpage. 

News that a new type of Corona shot was available in the village started circulating yesterday afternoon. By evening, the village hospital was besieged by crowds of drinkers from the Pied Sparrow Public House. It later turned out that they thought the free shot was of Corona Beer. The evening wasn’t entirely wasted as the nursing staff managed to inoculate everyone for Flu, TB, MMR, Tetanus and Shingles!

In the Sports News. 

The UMM Ladies Darts team scored a decisive win against the ladies from Much Deeping-Hollow. The final score included five bulls (none of whom needed veterinary care), 107 doubles and 96.5 trebles (paid for by the losing team). Sundry other items including one foot, two knees, a pierced nose and the picture of the late Duke of East Lambtonshire, Ferdinand the Lesser!

In the Wanted Column. 

This week sees a request for items of bric-a-brac for the Scouts and Guides Winter Fair. It is very last minute as the various prizes donated by two passing gentlemen of the racoon persuasion were later removed as evidence by the police. 

The vicar has advised that he is still looking for small girls and boys to play rats in the Dick Whittington Pantomime this year. I had offered to supply the same, slightly dented, for a small consideration, but it seems like my offer met with some concern. Something about equity rights for the rats??? 

And finally. . . .

In Breaking NEWS: 

Racoon X and Racoon Y are now in custody! In their defence, they have asked for various other offences to be taken into consideration. These included the theft of the hairdryers and several hundred meters of hosepipe stollen from the local allotment gardens, which they sold to Mrs Singh to build her sheep-based car wash. 

When asked to comment, Mrs Singh said that she had been well and truly fleeced by the two. In a big-hearted show of goodwill and to make amends, all customers of the hairdressers will now receive a complimentary Authentic Indian Cornish Pastie with their next appointment. As for the allotment owners, Mrs Singh has arranged for Jumbo to leave various packages for them to use to improve their soil.

OK, with the news and small ads sorted, let’s get on with the review!

Malamander. By Thomas Taylor

MALAMANDER, by THOMAS TAYLOR

Published by WALKER BOOKS LIMITED.

Cover artwork by GEORGE ERMOS 

Interior Illustrations by Thomas Taylor

Export Paperback ISBN: 978 – 1 – 4063 – 9302 – 6 

Trade paperback ISBN: 978 – 1 – 4063 – 8620 -8

Exclusive paperback ISBN: 978 – 1 – 4063 – 9303 – 3

Cover price for Paperback £7.99 (or cheaper)

Pages 302.

Age range: 8 and upwards

Any cats? YES, one, called Erwin, and he talks too!

The Plot: 

Our story this week is set in the seaside town of Eerie-on-Sea. It is the sort of small seaside resort that many of us will have visited. The kind of place we’d look around and forget once we have driven away from our week-long summer stay or one day visit. However, once winter comes and the tourists leave, the true Eerie emerges. The sailors take back their favourite pubs and haunts. Gone are the touristy tables and bunting, and in rolls the fog, gloom and mystery that goes with a damp cold seaside town.

The adventure features Herbert Lemon, Herbie to his pals. Five years ago, he was washed up on Eerie beach on a crate of lemons. With no knowledge of who he was or how he came to be as he was, he was given the name Herbert Lemon. And in Eerie-on-Sea he stayed. Now, five years on and aged twelve ish, he has the job of Lost and Founder at the Grand Nautilus Hotel. He has a cellar room to himself and manages all the Lost and Found items that get handed in. The hotel’s ancient and reclusive owner, Lady Kraken, gave him the job of seeing something special in his eyes. However, the hotel’s windbag of a manager, Mr Mollusc, really doesn’t like anything that doesn’t earn its keep or smooth the hotel’s running. Herbie, of course, doesn’t fall in either category, so he is at loggerheads with Mr Mollusc.

All that intro aside, our adventure starts when a girl drops through the small pavement level window and into Herbie’s life and cellar. Violet Parma is her name, and, like Herbie, she is an orphan. Well, not quite. It seems twelve years earlier, her parents vanished whilst staying in the same hotel. Their shoes were found on the harbour wall, and they had gone. Twelve years on, Violet has come to try and find out what has happened to her missing, presumed dead parents. 

Now, that really is a can of worms she’s opened. No sooner than she has arrived than a ghastly, sodden boathook-handed sailor arrives at the hotel and tears apart the Lost and Found room in search of the girl. Herbie, naturally enough, is not sure about his new guest. But very soon, they are both on the hunt for clues as to Violet’s parents fate. Now, if that was all there was to it, well, I’d not be here telling you how good the story was. It seems that Eerie on Sea is packed to the brim with legends. One speaks of the Malamander, a half-human half-fish that stalks the beach in winter when the mists and fog are in. Wails can be heard, attributed to the beast. The locals won’t use the beach at night in winter. But the sceptics say it is the wind whistling through the hulking remains of the Leviathan, a sunk battleship just out from Eerie and that can be walked to at low tide.

Stuff and nonsense, I hear a lady say from the cosiness of her fireside deep in the English countryside. But is it? When local Professional Beechcomeber and owner of the town’s Flotsamporium gets attacked by some sharp-toothed sea-creature on the beech one evening, the tide of doubt shifts. The Malamander legend appears to be more than a fairytale to keep kids off the beach!

It soon transpires, a connection between Violet’s father, Peter, and this beast. Worse, though, there is some sort of connection between Peter and the local and smarmy writer called Sebastian Eels, who really didn’t get on with Peter but for some reason now seeks his draft book.

The more Violet drags our unwilling Herbie into this investigation, the more dangerous it gets for them both, from land and sea!

Now, I have told you really as much as I can. Suffice to say, things go from bad to worse, and I do not mean the weather forecast! As the final chapters draw us into this wonderful adventure, the clues, people, and the monsters – myth or otherwise, converge for the grand finale!

Before I conclude, I need to add that Eerie-on-Sea has more unusual delights for the reader. There is a Mermonkey and a rather handsome cat called Erwin. Yes, he talks and can be pretty helpful too. But he is not like Oswin from the Willow Moss books we reviewed recently (Link to review of the third book HERE). He is more your contemplative cat who adds his advice when he feels. 

As an aside, an author once dismissed a character I wrote, saying something along the lines of ‘Come on, a talking cat? Don’t be silly!’ Now I don’t know about you, but the adventure makes a better read, and an entirely natural one too, with a talking cat or dog. A view that was shared by a publishing agent I spoke to. 

So, what did we think?

Basically, we both LOVED this story. The adventure captured both our imaginations and was so different from anything we had read to date. It is a first-person story told by the lead character, Herbert Lemon. We loved the mix of characters that the author has built around Herbert, be they the windbag of a hotel manager, Mr Mollousc, and the hotel’s owner, the reclusive Lady Kraken. Equally as fun are the characters in the town, like Mrs Fossil, the beachcomber, and Dr Thalassi, the town’s Doctor and museum keeper. 

They really do all work together so well, and quite naturally. None are overbearing but play nicely on positions they hold. As to the villains, well, they come in various shapes and sizes, and like the best of stories, not all is as it seems. I like that about this book. It unfolds as all the BEST books should, carrying the imagination and us along with it. Nothing about this was overpowering or underwhelming. It was exciting, slightly tongue in cheek, and wholly entertaining. And yes, just a bit eerie too!

Even better for us kids and cats is a website dedicated to the stories. This can be found via this LINK  OR by cutting and pasting this address https://eerie-on-sea.com/

I genuinely hope that I have been able to help you get a feel of what was going on. And, if you get a chance, you get to enjoy this read too.

So . . . . 

Crunch time. 

There really are no downsides to this book. Whilst set in what I have come to think of as a quintessential small-town British seaside resort, I think the setting and characters will relate to a global audience. The author did the inside artwork, which adds a little extra seasoning to the story. It is, just right, an essence of the sea and Eerie-on-Sea! 

So, an unreserved success in our book. I have books two and three by my side as I sleep . . . I meant, as I labour on this review, and will be reviewing book two next time. We will review book three as our first book of 2022, all being well.

Want to buy a copy?

This salty seaside adventure can be yours if you take a stroll down to your local independent bookshop. No flip-flops, suncream or sunhats are required. 

Thomas Taylor’s web page can be found HERE. http://www.thomastaylor-author.com/

 Walker Books web page can be found HERE. https://www.walker.co.uk/

If any authors, publishers or agents wish us to review their books, please do get in touch. Details are listed on our book review page.

Till laters!

ERin

AMARI and the NIGHT BROTHERS

by B. B. Alston;  

An Adventure Book Review by Erin the Cat Princess©

AMARI andd the NIGHT BROTHERS

Hello, and welcome to my Saturday Book Review featuring adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction, hosted by yours truly.

Erin the Cat Princess. ©

This week we thought we’d delve into the world of the supernatural. 

Nope, Mrs H hasn’t been at the Sanatogen XXX Strong Senior Citizens blend, cut with neat sherry. Instead, she bought home a rather glitzy covered new book for us called ‘AMARI and the NIGHT BROTHERS’. 

But first, a big thank you to the global readers of our online news last week, who expressed concern at the mini crimewave hitting our dear and generally ordinary (ish) village of UMM (Upper Much-Mousing).

The latest news from PC Beatworn in The Pied Sparrow Inn, is that Sid Warrant of CSI Much Deeping-Hollow has passed the matter of the missing spectacles to East Lambtonshire Zoo. 

Why ever did they do that, I hear the First Lady ask? Well, following a lead from a hush-hush American Law Enforcement agency, who would neither confirm nor deny avidly reading the blog each week, the perps were identified. Apparently, and purely accidentally, the satellite had been drawn to the area in recent weeks due to the large amount of soap sudds emanating from Mrs Singh’s sheep powered car wash being visible from space! They thought they had been monitoring some ecological disaster. Had they come to me first, I’d have happily pointed them to the remnants of the Great UMM Bake-Off contest, which, months later, remain undecomposed in the local cafe!

Anyways, the satellite team spotted two well know villains that had escaped the zoo whilst on a foreign exchange visit. The two, who cannot be named for legal reasons, are Racoon X and Racoon Y.

Residents of the village are asked to look out for two strangers with American accents, and wearing horn-rim glasses! Seems a bit vague to me, but then, I’m just a cat!

OK, enough of the crime news, let’s get on with the fun stuff! 

AMARI AND THE NIGHT BROTHERS BY B. B. ALSTON

AMARI AND THE NIGHT BROTHERS, by B. B. ALSTON 

Published by VARIOUS IMPRINTS OF Harper Collins Publishers.

Cover artwork by Brittany Jackson

Pages: 375.

Age group: 8 – 12 and upwards! 

Any cats in the story? Sorry, none that I can recall. 

Paperback ISBN: 978 – 1 – 4052 – 9819 – 3 

Cover price for Paperback £7.99 (or cheaper)

The Plot: 

Amari Peters is an early teen girl who has won a scholarship to a great school. The trouble is, she is from the wrong side of the tracks. But she is following on in the footsteps of her elder brother, Quinton, who was brilliant and won the same scholarship and made good. He landed a fantastic job that took him away a lot travelling. Amari thought he was some sort of spy. Quinton would smirk and say, “Your wrong, but you’re not totally wrong”.

Amari had lived with her mother and brother since their father effectively disowned them and left. He even denied being Amari’s father. That isn’t an easy thing to deal with for a kid, especially when it is overheard coming straight from the dad’s mouth. 

Things take a turn for the worse when Quinton vanishes. He said he had a job and was paid well, and always sent money home from wherever he was working. But the police can’t find any record of him ever being employed or having paid any tax, anywhere. After some time, they call a halt to the investigation. What more can they do but suspect he had been into something terrible, mixed with the wrong kind and paid the price. After all, that’s what happens to many black kids, right? 

Wrong! Not Quinton, and Amari knows that. And she knows he’s out there somewhere.

The kids at the new school only see Amari as a black kid from a poor home, and they make life rough. Amari is tough, she had to be, but she gets suspended when she gets pushed too far and pushes another student over. The result is Amari loses her scholarship and any chance to get anywhere else……

But then, a suitcase from Quinton is delivered by a mysterious courier. Well, he’d already been into Amari’s home and left it in Quinton’s wardrobe but just wanted a signature. The case contains a “Broaden Your Horizons.” kit. When the designated opening hour arrives, midnight after the last day of term, Amari opens the case. Donning the spectacles she finds within, she hears and sees Quinton. But her mother cant, which is rather handy as what happens next, takes Amari on a unique sailing ship that flies out over the ocean. Here her brother, who isn’t really there but in what they call a waking dream, shows her the worlds and activity beneath the waves – the International Railways of Atlantis. It transpires Quinton worked for the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs, and went on missions worldwide. He was one of their top two agents. That is until the two went missing. The case, it turns out, was to be passed on to Amari if he was declared missing . . . or dead. 

Also, in this case, is an invite for Amari to try out to be a Junior Agent at the Bureau. The thing is, can she stand the shame of wearing the horrendously weird suit of clothes that is in the case as she travels to the Bureau’s secret headquarters in Atlanta, GA.

All of what I have just described is the warm-up to a rather fun new world that opens up when Amari steps in the Bureau’s elevator and presses the Basement button 26 times . . . 

So, what did we think?

This is a debut book by American author B. B. Alston.

We finished this book quite quickly, under a week. It isn’t short either, or large print. This is a great sign for us as it means two things. 1) we liked it a lot. It is different. If we didn’t like it, we wouldn’t be reviewing it as we’d have stopped reading. 2) The book’s pace is good and engages us to read on and on. We did however struggle with some of the dialogue, but I’m guessing this is just down to local dialect/lingo used for the characters. Mrs H isn’t exactly hip and down with the kids, well, not unless she’s playing marbles!

I would love to have seen more pictures in this. A brilliant cover but sparse or no chapter title images seem to be the way with these longer books. But don’t let that put you off, as the reading was the thing in this case. 

Think of this book as discovering that the sum of three flavours of ice cream/candy can create something as good, and in its own way, better than the individual parts. 

Mrs H and I both said that this adventure was reminiscent of elements of Men in Black (the first movie, which is our favourite), Nevermore (the brilliant book series of the adventures of Morrigan Crow), and Harry Potter.

The flavour of this adventure is: the essence of sweet friendship found, the sourness of betrayal, a dark raspberry ripple of the evil magical villains and monsters (provided by the Night Brothers in the title), and the tongue tingle of sharpness is the battling the odds. 

All of which is a long, but I think justified, way of saying this was a refreshing feast of imaginative writing.

I shall say no more. There are a veritable plethora of things to enjoy as the adventure takes off, and descends, and to say more would spoil it. I will add, though, that this would make a great film, just like Men In Black. 

So . . . . 

Crunch time. 

So, would we recommend Amari? I’d say yes. It is a safe and good buy for adults or younger readers. Indeed it works well for elderly housekeepers who may, or may not, have had too much sherry whilst making the Christmas pudding! 

The great news is, if you enjoy this book, and there is a lot to enjoy, there is another book in the series heading our way in hardback in April 2022. 

Unfortunately, for the paperback, we will have to wait until 5 January 2023. I do think a year gap between the two is unnecessary. For those who are necessarily cost-conscious, including ourselves, this is a bit mean. It does, however, seem to be the way the industry works these days. But if someone sends us a copy, we will, of course, review it for you.

Want to buy a copy?

To add some Supernatural Detection to your own briefcase, you don’t need to take an elevator, just head to your local independent bookshop. 

B.B. Alston’s web page can be found HERE. https://www.bbalston.com/

Harper Collins Chidrens web page can be found HERE. https://www.harpercollins.com/blogs/authors/b-b-alston

If any authors, publishers or agents, wish us to review their books, please get in touch. Details are listed on our book review page.

Till later!

ERin

STARFELL. Willow Moss and the Vanished Kingdom

by Dominique Valente;  

An Adventure Book Review by Erin the Cat Princess©

 

Reviewing is such hard work!

Hello, and welcome to my Saturday Book Review featuring adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction!

This week we are sparking with joy to share with you the third and latest book featuring Willow Moss and her iracund kobold monster in the green bag (sometimes under the bed and certainly NOT a cat) feline-like companion, Oswin.

But first, by popular request of the village paperboy, Eccles McKnees, so he can have a lay in this week, is……. 

The UMM VILLAGE NEWS. (Delivered hands-free online. This edition  is kindly sponsored by Mrs Singh’s International Food Emporium – Authentic International Fast food, delivery by Jumbo the Elephant.)

In the Front page. Following on from PC Beatworn’s request last week for info about twenty missing hair dryers, he issued a press release on Tuesday to confirm he is following up on some leads he’s received. Alas, news in this morning from the saloon bar of the Pied Sparrow Public House, seems to indicate that there were no fingerprints on the 13Amp plugs attached to the leads. 

In the Sports News. Upper Much-Mousing’s new seniors football team, The Wobbly Wanderers, have made it home from their first (and I suspect last) away match. Apparently, the week-long delay was caused by the driver, Paulo, getting stuck on a Midland’s ring road whilst looking for the much-famed eatery called Spaghetti Junction. 

In the Wanted Column. The vicar has put out a call for villagers to play parts in this year’s upcoming version of Richard Whittington. Apparently, I, as a cat, am excluded from applying as I am, seemingly, too much like a cat! That’s the last time I water his begonias!

Also in the wanted column is a request from the WI for additional members for the WI’s Inter-County Contact Yoga Team. If you are wondering what that is, just think of a rugby scrum crossed with some zen karma, lycra and panpipes.

And finally. . . .

In Breaking NEWS: Hot from the village’s only FAX machine (discovered last week buried in my study) and slightly blurred by Mrs H’s spilt coffee and a dollop of thick-cut marmalade, is news of two break-ins in the early hours of this morning. 

The first alarm went off at the village’s new designer tea rooms, Bags2Brew2You. Nothing was taken though many items of crockery had been smashed. The next break-in occurred next door some ten minutes and much clattering later, at Mrs Hornrim’s Opticians. Two pairs of glasses are missing and presumed stolen. 

Given the seriousness of the current crime spree, Detective Sergeant Sid Warrant from CSI Deeping-Mire has been in attendance and is looking studiously into the matter. Apparently, he made a good start by being fitted with a new pair of horn-rim diamante varifocals – guaranteed by Mrs Hornrim to read a car licence plate from 500 yards and read the warranty on Dicky Dans dodgy used goods – or your money back!

OK, with the news and small ads sorted, let’s get on with the review!

The Magic is growing.

STARFELL. Willow Moss and the Vanished Kingdom, by DOMINIQUE VOLENTE

Published by HarperCollins.

Cover artwork by Sarah Warburton

Hardback ISBN: 978 – 0 – 00 – 830847 – 6  

Paperback ISBN: 978 – 0 – 00 – 830848 – 3 

Trade paperback ISBN: 978 – 0 – 00 – 837715 – 1

Cover price for Hardback £12.99, Paperback £7.99 (or cheaper)

SPOILER ALERT

As ever, to review book three in this series, we need to reveal elements of the first two books. So, if you do want to read those first two, please do turn away. . . . NOW!

Or, to see my reviews of books one and two, follow the links below.

Book 1 review: STARFELL. Willow Moss on the Lost Day.

Book 2 review: STARFELL. Willow Moss and the Forgotten Tale. 

The Plot: 

Willow is heading to school. Not just any school but one that now accepts magical children into its classes. Usually, this would all seem very inclusive. But Willow is suspicious. Up unto this point, the schools, which are controlled by the Brothers of Wol, have wanted nothing to do with magical folk. In fact, they have done everything to push magic as far out of the kingdom as possible.

But, the wizard, Silas, has managed through magic to get himself in charge of the brotherhood. Worse still, he has somehow managed to convince the magical folk of the Enchancil (the magic council) to send their kids to school. To Willow, this just doesn’t seem possible, let alone credible. Her parents and the council seem to have forgotten the evil Silas and the brotherhood have done. 

To find out more, Willow heads to school. She instantly is considered dangerous and scares the kids and the teacher. Just when the teacher thinks things couldn’t get worse than having a witch pupil, another arrives in the form of an elf child called Twist Howling. Twist, who controls the icy Northwind, comes in a literal mini tornado and creates more havoc as the classroom is turned upside down. Once the class settles, the teacher opens the new coursework sent by the Brothers of Wol. Suddenly, and most suspiciously, he is all confident.

Placing a chalk X on the classroom door, he instructs the pupils to open their new books. This reveals the Brother’s plans — to teach the magical and non-magical kids alike that magic is evil and wrong. Worse still, the X on the door is magic and will cause all the kids to go home happy and content and help dissuade them from using magic again. Effectively it is brainwashing! 

Not only that, Willow and company discover that Silas is working on a way to strip the magic from all magical beings in Starfell! The kids are just the first stage in a monstrous plan which will elevate Silas to the status of a god. Well, in his eyes at least, and who would be left to oppose him if they are all subdued???

All Silas needs to complete his plan is the ‘elf staff’, a powerful magical staff that belonged to the queen of the vanished elf kingdom of Llandunia. The staff could give, or take away, the magic of anyone or thing. But the kingdom and staff disappeared at the end of the last magic war to save Starfell. Nobody living knows their whereabouts. That is no living human or elf. Silas has pinched an old elf manuscript that is supposed to reveal the whereabouts of the kingdom. 

So, knowing this, Willow, Twist, Oswin, and Peg – the only non-magical kid in the class who’s not afraid of the magic – must set off to find what is lost and really doesn’t want to be found. But can they escape the classroom and the enchanted handcuffs the school teacher is intent on shackling our heroes with?!

OK, I could easily give away so much here as the adventure does literally take off and becomes a classic race between good and evil. So that is where I must leave you to discover for yourselves what happens to our heroine and her companions.

So, what did we think?

Brilliant! Willow’s adventures keep on getting better and better. This is the best story to date, and the first two were excellent, as I am sure you recall me saying. It really had Mrs H, and me hooked. I even got Mrs H up early to light the fires and make breakfast so she could come back to bed and read the closing chapters to me this morning.

It really ROCKS in more ways than one. And dear Oswin, the so very much like but not a cat Kobold, has a really great adventure too, and a not so welcome but funny reunion.

The best books do have an underlying theme, and I am sure you would agree on reading that the morals of this story are nicely woven into it. It is all too easy for adults to forget that we need to learn about the rights and wrongs of things. And understand the value of friendships and the smallest of gifts or talents that might not seem much, especially when compared to others.

Add to this the interior and cover artwork by the very talented Sarah Warburton, and you have an excellent all-around sense of everything that makes this series so worthwhile.

Inside front cover . . .

Inside front cover of hardback.

And inside back cover. 

Inside back cover of hardback.

So . . . . 

Crunch time. 

There is no crunch in this adventure unless you count the many trolls and fierce dragons. So, if you know someone who would like this in their stocking this year, and there is really no upper age limit to that, then do consider getting a copy. There you have it. There is nothing more to add, except that book four is due next year, so there is a lot to look forward to. We, all being well, will review this as soon as we can. 

Till then, please do come back for more Adventures in Middle-Grade reading. 

Hang on!

But why not experiment yourselves? Browsing through an actual book shop is so much fun, and some even have sofas and serve food and tea! You don’t need an excuse to be there either, and the shop assistants are usually only too pleased to advise and steer you to the hot reads and new releases. If you find a book that you would recommend, then please share it with us. After all, the gifts of reading and sharing are as important and magical as the worlds of the authors in which we lose ourselves and meet the likes of Oswin and Willow.

Want to buy a copy?

To add some magic into the life of someone you know, then head to the real kingdom of literary magic, your local independent bookshop, before they, too, vanish. 

Dominique Volente’s web page can be found HERE. 

Harper Collins Chidrens web page can be found HERE. 

If any authors, publishers or agents wish us to review their books, please do get in touch. Details are listed on our book review page.

Till laters!

ERin

BATTLE OF THE BEETLES

 by M.G. Leonard;  

An Adventure Book Review by Erin the Cat Princess©

Battle of the Beetles, by MG Leonard.

 

Erin the Cat: Addicted to Mice & Mystery!

Hello, and welcome to my Saturday Book Review; Adventures in Middle Grade Reading.

Readers will be pleased to note that after several weeks of farmer Clarksin’s sheep cleaning everything in the village — including several pensioners who were too slow to move out the way of Mrs Singh’s mobile window cleaning service — the soapy sudds have finally subsided. 

 As the village is looking the cleanest it has ever been in living memory, the Parish Council has voted to hire the sheep in the days leading up to East Lambtonshire County Council’s Best kept and cleanest village (and pensioner) award. 

I’m pretty sure we’ll make a clean sweep at the awards ceremony!

OK, OK, I think in light of all the groans I’m hearing at Mrs H’s attempt at a joke, it is time to hurridly move on to this week’s review! 

We are delighted to bring you the concluding book in the Beetle Boy series of adventures: Battle of the Beetles. 

SPOILER WARNING 

If you want to read these books, please give this review a miss until you have read books 1 & 2. It would be impossible to review book 3 without giving away some KEY parts of the previous separate adventures and their finales. 

To see my reviews of the first two adventures, follow the links below.

Book 1 HERE.

Book 2 HERE.

So, on that understanding, and as you are clearly all still here, let’s get on with the review!

Battle of the Beetles

BATTLE OF THE BEETLES, by M.G. Leonard

Published by Chicken House Publishing.

Illustrations by Júlia Sardà 

Paperback ISBM: 978 – 1 – 910002 – 78 – 0

A quick recap: 

What we discovered in book 2. Lucretia Cutter is seemingly intent on world domination. Having altered her gene sequence, so she is now part beetle, part human, she sets about revealing her plot at the Oscar award ceremony. Using her vast wealth and fashion empire, she has prepared gowns for the actresses nominated for the Best Actress Award, including her own cloned daughter, Novak.

As the awards are screened globally, she used them to reveal her ultimatum to the world and its leaders. The actresses gowns are made to incorporate thousands of beetles. At her command, they fly free and attack all the guests. 

She has released and readied across the globe thousands more of her genetically modified beetles. Their task will be to decimate the crops and force countries to accept her will or die of starvation or in the wars she knows will follow.

Our heroes, Darkus, Virginia, Bertolt and their good beetles, help save the day at the Oscars. Darkus’s father, Dr Cuttle, flees the scene with Lucretia and her henchmen and ninja-like bodyguard. Novak is forced to go too and faces a very uncertain future. As of course, so does the world!

The Plot: 

Book 3 takes over a few days after our team have arrived home to the UK from America. Lucretia has escaped to her secret jungle biome laboratories, confident she cant be found and can weather anything the nations of the world throw at her and it. She is determined to proceed with her experiments to change herself entirely into a beetle. Before she does so, she is to test the final pupation stage on Novak. 

Her goal, the goal she feels is hers to command and arrange, is to save the planet and the creatures on it. As for humans, well, they don’t really figure in it. Unless it’s to help Lucretia. After all, they are the cause of the planet’s woes and the destruction of many of its species.

Darkus and the team take the offensive and mobilise to rescue Dr Cuttle, Novak and the biome beetles. Saving the world, too, if they can manage to find a way to stop genetically changed creatures and find their hideouts.

Now, if things weren’t set to get dangerous enough, Humphrey and Pickering have managed to hide in Lucretia’s helicopter and find themselves in the thick of a very unfriendly jungle. Things don’t get much better for our two hapless nasty, yet amusing villains when they manage to get inside the biome.

As all the parties converge on the jungle hideaway, things do get really tense. Monsters await, as does a crazed and jealous scientist and an unwilling accomplice far from home. The final action-packed showdown becomes a race against the clock. Not all will come out alive; some will be forever changed – for better or worse remains to be seen. 

So, what did we think?

Mrs H both sat on the sofa and leaned in closer as we turned the final pages. We were not at all disappointed with the action-packed end scene. It all fitted in together rather nicely. 

I may have been necessarily brief with my summary above, but a lot goes on in a short space of time. I loved the books penultimate chapter. For me, that was really fun and sort of an unexpected happy conclusion. 

Mrs H is always one for neatness and said the final chapter was what most humans will go for. 

We agreed that there were some brilliant moral points made, and the arguments between characters were really well crafted. Mrs H says that’s called cogent. I found myself at one point, seeing Lucretia’s point. But on seeing the other arguments came round pretty quickly to the truth. MG Leonard does this really well. The book is also really well researched and geared to educate as well as entertain.

Is this another must-read? Yes. Undoubtedly it is. 

It is also a worthy and wholly satisfying conclusion to the adventures. I suspect there is no call for another book in the series. But if there was, I, for one, would undoubtedly go out and buy it. But with so many other good books by this author, I will have Mrs H’s time fully allocated for the next couple of years so we can catch up and do the reviews!

At the time of writing this review, MG Leonard and Sam Sedgman, co-authors of the “Adventures on Trains” series of mystery adventures, were travelling around the arctic, plotting and researching for their next great adventure on trains. If you like trains and mystery adventures, this series is also a must-read for ages 8 and upwards. 

Want to buy a copy?

If you’d like a copy of BATTLE of the BEETLES to add some eco-friendly adventure into your life, then please do support your local bookshop. Like the beetles in this story and in real life, there is a whole ecosystem of small stores that help balance things out and who need our help. 

The Beetle Boy trilogy (Beetle Boy, Beetle Queen, and Battle of the Beetles) is published by Chicken House.

A link to their website can be found HERE. 

M.G. Leonards website link can be found HERE.

Until next week, we wish you peaceful and united week!

Till later.

ERin

STARFELL. Willow Moss and the Forgotten Tale.

by Dominique Valente;  

An Adventure Book Review by Erin the Cat Princess ©

The Magic is Rising

ERin the Cat: Addicted to Mystery, Adventure and Mice

Hello, and welcome to my Saturday Book Review!

This week we are delighted to bring you the second of three books (the fourth is coming next year) featuring Willow Moss and her monster under the bed (NOT a cat) feline-like companion, Oswin.

The books are beautifully and funnily illustrated by the talented Sarah Warburton. This book was first published in 2020. 

NEWS FLASH:- UPDATE! 

FOLLOWING on from last weeks disclosure of farmer Clarksin’s sheep being used to clean the village crockery, I am pleased to announce the Grand Opening of the UMM (Upper Much-Mousing) automated car wash. 

Yes, it seems my idea for cleaning Mrs H’s brand spanking new Brough Superior motorcycle caught on. Mrs Singh spotted the sheep doing their thing, and in ‘nine shakes of a lamb’s tail’, she had signed the contract for exclusive car cleaning rights. Thankfully, the sheep do not have to spin around. A cunning arrangement of multiple elevated oscillating walkways and some carefully aimed hosepipes has seen the village cars sparkling like new. If you stack the sheep right, Mrs Singh says she can even accommodate tractors, too!

On a more serious note, we have an appeal from Police Constable Beatworn. He asks anybody who may have witnessed the theft of two dozen hair dryers from the village’s hairdressers to get in contact with him at his usual office. That would be inside the Public Call Box, adjacent to the Pied Sparrow Public House. Incidentally, their sparrow and mash pie is delicious!

OK, so enough with the village’s crazy crime spree, let’s get on with the review!

The Magic is Rising . . .

STARFELL. Willow Moss and the Forgotten Tale, by DOMINIQUE VOLENTE

Published by HarperCollins.

Cover artwork by Sarah Warburton

Hardback ISBN: 978 – 0 – 00 – 830843 – 8  

Paperback ISBN: 978 – 0 – 00 – 830844 – 5 

Trade paperback ISBN: 978 – 0 – 00 – 837714 -4

Cover price for Hardback £12.99, Paperback £7.99 (or cheaper)

SPOILER ALERT

As ever, to review book two in this series, we need to reveal elements of book one. So, if you haven’t read book one and do want to, please head off to have a cup of tea and a nice warm scone and jam. Come back in maybe fifteen minutes, when we’ll have moved on to discussing mouseholes that I have known. 

The story thus far . . . .  

Willow Moss, age 13, is the youngest daughter and witch in a family of witches. She is less powerful than her sisters and imbued only with the gift of finding lost things: spectacles, shoes, socks, or fish. 

Something is wrong in Starfell — Tuesday, the actual day and all that happened, the memories of its existence or otherwise have vanished. Come Wednesday, Starfell’s most feared and capable witch, Moreg Vaine, knew something was up. She came to find Willow and together, along with Oswin, the monster that lives under Willow’s bed, set off searching for answers. 

On route, Moreg is arrested and imprisoned by the Brothers of Wol, priests who hate magic and think those with the gift are possessed by evil. Without Moreg and her undoubted skill, Willow has to quite literally save the day. Along the way, she meets new friends, including a dragon called Feathering, an ogre, and an Oublier– a seer of secrets and things past, called Nolin Sometimes. Of course, there are villains – the Brothers of Wol. One of them, a boy named Silas, is secretly a wizard with a dark heart bent on revenge. 

Of course, there is an evil potion maker of a witch, too, determined to do bad things to Willow to protect her dark secret. 

Ultimately, in a rather dramatic deadly scene, the magic that stole Tuesday was reversed. With the day found and duly restored and Silas under lock and key, things seemed to be good. But the trouble with it all was, nobody other than Willow and her new close friends remembered it. So as far as everyone else is concerned, Willow achieved nothing extraordinary at all! To make matters worse, the tragedy that befell Willow’s family that Tuesday is brought back home. It is a bittersweet ending worthy of tears.

The Plot: 

Willow gets a message by leaf mail, delivered by an oak tree, from Nolin Sometimes. He has just foreseen his own kidnapping. Willow is desperate to go and help and tries to explain to her family. The thing is, Willows magic has become quite. . . erratic. Since the death of one of her most trusted and favourite relations, Willow’s ability to summon things has sort of flipped to making them disappear also. Worse still, she has no control over what disappears, when, or when they return. Not good when you vanish half your home and some of your relatives! Her family, of course, think she needs help. And don’t believe her about meeting an oublier or the dragon, and just put it all down to stress and upset. 

Making good her escape, having vanished her family, she heads off with everyone’s favourite grumpy Kolbold, Oswin, in search of clues as to Nolin’s whereabouts and his captors. It is a journey that will take her to the very underworld of Starfell, Neatherfell, searching for clues and her friend Nolan. Along the way, she will be kidnapped at least once, tried to be cured of her ‘dangerous’ habit and meet strange folk, some good, others less so. Did I mention the wraiths? No, well, there are some of them up to no good too. Of course, we meet new friends who have a significant part to play in the adventure that will take young Willow Moss to uncharted waters and into, essentially, hell itself.

What she makes of it all and whether she survives really does depend on one thing. And it’s not a small thing either. It’s whether, in the face of great sadness, doubt, mistrust and betrayal by those she likes, she can see what she must do. But more than that, she must find something within herself to believe. That’s a big ask for a small witch who has a knack for misplacing family and friends, including dear old Oswin encamped in his bag.

Now, in all this, what of the Forgotten Tale? Now here’s the thing. . . . you’ll just have to read to find out about that and what it means to all of magic and Starfell! **** cue the dramatic music****

So, what did we think?

This is most definitely a worthy sequel to Willow Moss and the Lost Day. A cast of characters is nicely assembled, and new allies are met. Oswin is Oswin, and we get a better feel for the kobold’s softer side, but please do not say that to him else he might well explode.

Mrs H and I loved how the story keeps a lot back without starving the plot of action. It is really only towards the end that a lot gets revealed. Until then, the adventure runs along with barely a pause for a cup of tea and a plate of Rain Biscuits. It delves nicely into the Starfell world and those that inhabit it, past and present. It also acts as a harbinger for things to come. Of course, Sarah Warburton has supplied the marvellous artwork throughout the book, on the hardback book’s sleeve and on the cover within. It is a rare treat to find additional artwork and one that we always appreciate and enjoy. 

If I was to try and explain more of the ins and outs and unders and overs of the story, I would have to give far too much away. That I definitely don’t want to do. 

So . . . . 

Crunch time. 

As ever, we are not in the habit of marking books. We only read and review books we enjoy, based on research, recommendations from authors, and those in the know. That is our guarantee to you. However, taste is, all said and done, so very personal. 

So, if you are thinking of getting this book for your younger readers (age 8+) and maybe reading this yourself before you pass it on, then go for it. If you read book one, then this is a must. It is good, clean, fun, and builds very nicely on what has already happened and opens the door for more and interlocking adventures to come. Whilst I was dictating this, I got a real buzz of expectation for book three. The same sort of good vibe as I had whilst waiting for the next of Murder Most Unladylike series of books by Robin Stevens. 

The great news is that book four is due next year, so there is a lot to look forwards to. 

Do look out for our review of book three, Starfell, Willow Moss and the Vanished Kingdom, coming soon. 

Want to buy a copy?

As ever, to add some magic into your life, then do take the nearest cloud dragon, skirting around any underworld witchly kingdoms, to your local independent bookshop. 

Dominique Volente’s web page can be found HERE. 

Harper Collins Chidrens web page can be found HERE. 

If any publishers, agents or authors wish us to review their books, please do get in touch. Details are listed on our book review page.

Thanks for dropping by. I’m off to see if I can get one of those sheep to balance on a pole to clean my upstairs windows!

Laters!

ERin

Writing reviews is such hard work!

A First Class Murder!

Murder Most Unladylike Book 3 Review, and my selfie.

Welcome one and all, to the extravaganza that is, the Sunday Selfies; a weekly celebration of companion bloggers from across the world started and hosted by The Cat On My Head Blog and Janet Blue.

Thankfully Halloween is now over, and we at the Palace can sleep a bit easier in our beds at night, without explosions going off and frightening the village children and kittens for whom, it is alleged, the fireworks are meant to impress and delight. Frankly, I was not at all either of those things.

Anyways, with such things over, Mrs H’s best white Egyptian cotton 800 thread count sheets, (she won’t have silk as she says it is highly impractical and not as nice to sleep on or in between) that were borrowed from the washing line by persons, cats or spirits unknown, have been returned to her anonymously. Alas, whilst the dried cream and pumpkin juice stains will wash off, the eye-shaped holes will take some sorting; looks like I’ll be doing some darning over the coming weeks, MOL. Next year she has decided to save the laundry till after the ghostly apparitions have done their turns about the village. 

The Review

OK. So, in between checking the DNA of the cat hairs found stuck to the sheets, we’ve been thinking of travel, and adventures old and new and across the globe. What brought this on, you may ask? Well, we’ve been reading the 3rd Murder Most Unladylike mystery adventure called: First Class Murder. And this time I am pleased to say that the title is the same in the USA as in the UK, though the book covers are so very different. 

A First Class Murder, By Robin Stevens.

This adventure finds our two friends, Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong taking a trip on the Orient Express along with Hazel’s father. What should have been a fun, educational and sightseeing tour of Europe in pre-war days – and definitely crime-free – turns out to be the girls’ third adventure when an heiress with a decidedly expensive ruby necklace and a rude and loud husband, is found murdered in her compartment. The ultimate locked-room mystery ensues.

For the greater part, the adventure stays within the train’s luxury carriage and focuses on a rather interesting set of guests, most of whom initially seem to have a motive and the opportunity. They include: the elderly Russian Countess Demidovskoy, who had to sell that very same necklace to escape the Russian Revolution and makes no bones that she’ll be having it back; Il Mysterioso – a very skilful magician with a secret he needs to keep at all costs, and Madame Melinda, a medium and the heiresses link to her departed mama. Melinda doesn’t seem to have a good word to say about anyone, least of all the deceaseds husband, and has talents beyond those she wants to show.

Join the girls as they duck, dive and curtsey around the passengers, avoid Mr Wong’s reproving eye and forbading words, and out-detect a rather inept and conceited Dr Sandwich, who takes on the role of detecting the case but soon goes off the rails!

Oh, if the murder was not enough, there’s also a German spy on board, as well a British secret service agent. 

Of course, what is an adventure without making new friends, right? Along the way they encounter Alexander, the American grandson of the Countess. He is also a budding detective and a member of the ‘Junior Pinkertons’. Whilst begrudgingly allowed to assist by Daisy, he makes a lasting impression on Hazel for his methods and ability. I am pleased to say that he will also be found in books to come.

Oh, if the the murder was not enough, there’s also a German spy on board, as well a British secret service agent. 

I’ve always wanted to be able to say ‘and who knows where this will end?!’ but of course the train is headed to Belgrade, so that is known. What we don’t know until the final pages, is whether our two intrepid sleuths have got it right, and more importantly, will they be believed and save a travesty of justice?

What do we think? 

This is a marvellous variation on the ‘locked room’ mystery and a truly great nod to Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express. As an introduction to the genre, I have to say that you could not find a better example. Readers both young (ages 8+) and older will enjoy this adventure, and I think they will find this a thoroughly enjoyable intro to the series if they haven’t already read the two before. Definitely a 10/10 read, and middle-grade fiction that will stand the test of time – maybe even as long as Agatha herself!

So it just remains to say: All aboard the Orient Express for another fine murder mystery adventure!

If you would like to know how this delightful and fiendishly clever mystery ends, then please do book your ticket right now by forming an orderly queue (at your local bookshop). If you just can’t wait to climb aboard, then please book online by heading to Amazon, or similar, where you should find a dining car’s worth of mystery and a silver service full of blind alleys and poached fish (red) at the click of the button.

Anyways, enough of book reviews for this week, here’s my selfie!

Till next time, when we will be giving you the low down on the fourth book – assuming Mrs H isn’t off doing her version of ‘CSI Much-Mousing’, we wish you all a safe, happy, and well read week!

Till later, Toodlepip and Purrs!

ERin

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Poison, anyone? Book review and selfie!

Hello and welcome to The Sunday Selfies! 

Welcome one and all, to the extravaganza that is, the Sunday Selfies; a weekly celebration of companion bloggers from across the world started and hosted by The Cat On My Head Blog and Janet Blue.

Now, Mrs H has been very busy this week, washing all the fine bone china in the house. Not that she has OCD, though I suspect she will have dishpan hands if she’s not careful, MOL

This week we have just finished the second in the Murder Most Unladylike series of murder mystery books (or in the USA: A Wells and Wong Mystery.)

This one is entitled: Arsenic for Tea. For our USA pals, this is titled: Poison Is Not Polite.

What you need to know:- Having not only survived, but also solved the murders of two teachers and one pupil at their boarding school, Daisy and Hazel, our lead protagonists return to Daisy’s parents home and estate called Fallingford. It should be a fun time as it happens to be Daisy’s birthday.

The guests start to arrive and amongst them there is a murderer! Yup, deep in the countryside, and during terrible flooding that effectively isolates the house, one of the guests, Mr Curtis is poisoned.

When he turns out to be a thoroughly obnoxious ne’er do well that was intent on robbing Daisy’s parents, Lord and Lady Hastings, of their prize entiques, you’d have been forgiven for saying ‘Thank heavens and good riddance!’ Of course the plot is far better than that, and with true mystery style, all roads – and grains of arsenic, point to mild mannered practical joker, Lord Hastings himself!

With the fear that the detectives may be next on the list for the murderer, the race is on for Daisy to prove her father innocent before the police arrive the next morning, thus saving him from a fate, well, I’m sure you can guess!

I have to say, Miss Robin Stevens really has given us a great plot line; full of great new characters, twists and turns, and barrel load of red herrings flap this way and that. I have to confess, that Mrs H did not solve this one, though she does say she had a ‘hunch’. Yes, well, on that basis I say it is two nil thus far to the skills of Hazel and Daisy – ably abetted by some of their boarding school pals too.

This book gets a full 10/10 for entertainment, ticking all the boxes.

If you would like to know how this fiendishly clever mystery ends, then do dash on over – in a suitably ladylike manner – and grab yourself a copy from your local bookshop (please do support these wherever you can) or follow the links to Amazon where you should be served a midnight feasts worth of mystery at the click of the button.

I have included UK and USA links to books one and two. I am told that if you click on the USA link you will be served a page relevant to your country!

If you do buy a copy via Amazon, Mrs H and I, as Amazon Associates, will receive a few pence, cents etc., which we will be passing on to our local rescue charity.

Amazon Link for ‘Poison is NOT Polite’

Amazon link to ‘Arsenic for Tea’

 I hope you all enjoyed this review, and picture of me AWAKE, which Mrs H says is a rare moment indeed given its now seemingly dark most of the day and raining. 

Oh, if you were wondering why Mrs H was so fervant with her dish washing, well it seems that a certain gardener, not mentioning any names, NED, had been using our best china cups to measure out his weed killer and insecticide. Not just once mind, but several times — Talk about Murder Amidst the Rose Beds!

Till next time, when we will be giving you the low down on the third book – assuming Mrs H can read it quickly enough, we wish you all a safe, happy, and well-read week!

Till later, Toodlepip and Purrs!

ERin

Murder Most Unladylike!

Hello and welcome to The Sunday Selfies! 

Welcome one and all, to the extravaganza that is the Sunday Selfies; a weekly celebration of companion bloggers from across the world started and hosted by The Cat On My Head Blog and Janet Blue.

Now, Mrs H has been a bit down this week, and it’s not what you may think either. Usually, she laments the passing of a dear friend – aka, the last drop from her bottle of Oporto Black Cat Sherry. Not this week as the bottle is still half full, even allowing for “evaporation” MOL.

 No, what has saddened both of us in fact, is that she has finished reading the ninth and last book in the Murder Most Unladylike series (in America, the series goes by the name: A Wells and Wong Mystery). For those that haven’t heard of this, it’s a middle-grade detective series written by Miss Robin Stevens. Murder Most Unladylike, or MMU as it is fondly known, has been enchanting young and older readers alike since the first book was published back in 2014. 

The books follow the adventures of two schoolgirls who are in the same year and dorm, and who start a detective society. The first is Hazel Wong, a quiet, and considered girl from Hong Kong, who, in October 1934, has been sent to England to attend The Deepdean School for Girls. The other is the Honourable Daisy Wells, the daughter of Lord Hastings, and the spitting image of the young English lady in the making. With dainty looks, blue eyes and golden hair, Daisy is everything Hazel has read about in her books but somehow doubts she will ever entirely be. Daisy exudes confidence and daring and is equally at home galloping around on her pony as she is getting into the thick of things on the hockey pitch. However, Daisy plays down her true abilities so as not to stand out. This is something Hazel has to do, too. It is also why Daisy is drawn to her as the only other person nearly as smart as she. Together they form the Wells and Wong Detective Society. 

The first book, called Murder Most Unladylike, (titled ‘Murder is Bad Manners‘ in the US) sets the scene and introduces the key characters and settings. It also brings on board other characters that will become firm favourites as we move along through the series and the girls get older.

 I should add at this juncture, that the book is written in the first-person voice of Hazel, who becomes the Detective Society secretary and duty-bound by Daisy’s command to take notes. Daisy has, of course, chosen herself as president, as she thought of the Detective Society.

Now, as to the first adventure, Hazel quite literally, stumbles upon the body of one of their teachers, Miss Bell, in the school gymnasium, and she’s been murdered! But when she returns with Daisy and one of the older girls, the body has gone!

To make matters worse, when a letter arrives at the school purporting to be from the dead mistress, saying she has resigned, it seems that it’s all a mistake on Hazel’s part. But Daisy DOES believe Hazel, and the two set off not only to solve a murder but to prove there was actually one in the first place!

But, like the best of adventures, the plot thickens, just like porridge, with the demise of another mistress, Miss Tennyson.

Why was Miss Bell killed? Which of the other teachers could have done it? Could one of the other teachers have been after her job? Had Miss Bell been jilted by the school’s new male heartthrob in favour of another younger model? And why suddenly had Miss Tennyson committed suicide?

One of the features of all the stories in the series, and something rather fun, is Hazel doing a periodic review of the facts, suspects, and clues, along with what the detectives need to do.

Put this all together, and you get a lovely adventure that shows the idiosyncrasies, loves, hates, friendships and ‘bun-breaks’ that all go to make up the perfect, or not so perfect, life at an English boarding school!

Robin Stevens has truly created a modern masterpiece in each book of the series, that will, I am sure, become firm favourites for decades to come. And if you read carefully, you will also see a nod to Agatha Christie’s own great and immortal characters as well as adventures.

Look out in the coming weeks for a review of each of the books in the series.

If YOU’RE ready for ‘bun-breaks’, sleuthing and mysteries that will tease, baffle and send you reaching for the sherry or a stiff coffee as the little grey cells are working overtime, then you’ll be pleased to know this book (and all the others in the series) is available through Amazon in paperback or e-book format, as well as a mighty fine rendition on Audible!

A LINK to Amazon USA page can be found HERE.

A LINK to Amazon UK page can be found HERE.

Now if you would like to visit the official  ROBIN STEVENS website, follow this LINK. 

 OK, so thats it from the review, I’m off to have my own ‘Bun-break’! 

OK, OK, so there are NO buns in this selfie, but a girl can only hope that Mrs H will instigate this finest of English traditions 😉

Till later, Toodlepip and Purrs!

ERin (Head Girl, teachers pet, and an all round good egg!)

Miss Marple & I

Hello and welcome to The Sunday Selfies!

 

 

Welcome one and all, to the extravaganza that is, the Sunday Selfies!!!!!

Now, some of you may know that we here at the palace are avid cosy mystery readers, and on top of that, at least up until the third shelf on the leftover the spare teapot and Mrs H’s not so secret emergency bottle of sherry, we are avid middle-grade fiction readers too. OK, to be fair, Mrs H does most of the reading, but it takes another set of ears to listen to, and that can be mighty tiring!

Anyways, this month we decided to venture into the world of adult mysteries and have been on a bit of a binge. Not sherry or cream sort of a binge, rather an Agatha Christie sort of a binge. Yup, what a lot of folk will not have realised is that 2020 marks the 100 year anniversary of her first-ever book, The Mysterious Affair at Styles.  This book introduces Hercule Poirot to the world, and what a roller-coaster series of adventures he has.

As Mrs H and I are going to be working our way through the books, we thought we could share some thoughts on the adventures as we read them.

Alas, Mrs H being who she is – a spinster of the parish of Upper Much-Mousing and a keen gardener and observer of people and life, thought we’d start with Miss Marple, instead of Mr Poirot. Let’s face, women power rocks the mystery world!

This last week we have just finished reading the volume entitled Miss Marple, The Complete Short Stories.

 

Now some might think that Miss Marple would be all centre stage in these tales, but she does rather manage to be the star by being secondary to the action. Of course, that is very much ‘in character’ and I think a side of detective novels that has been underplayed in recent years. Part of the charm of Miss Marple is that she draws comparisons with things she has seen in her own life and village world, to help explain her reasoning and thus solve mysteries. Which I think is very much how astute readers and budding village detectives would themselves.

Anyways, the short stories are, for the most part, tales told by guests at a dinner party. Each guest recounting a true tale to see if the others can solve the mystery within. Miss Marple is of course one of the guests. Whilst Mrs H nodded sagely at the conclusion of each tale, even she had to admit that she didn’t figure out who did it!  For a great intro into Miss Marple and her world, without ruining the individual novels, this is a definite winner.

I should add that the books are very much of the period, both in the language used and style. So be prepared to make a few adjustments from the current day to those of the bygone 1920s and after.

Without further ado, here is this week’s selfie of yours truly. IfI look at all smug and content, it is because I solved the mystery of the disappearing cheese! Don’t tell Mrs H that though as she’ll get all huffy and not read till the end ofthe book.

 

You’ll be pleased to know this book is available through Amazon in paperback or e-book format.

A LINK to Amazon USA page can be found HERE.

A LINK to Amazon UK page can be found HERE.

Now if you would like to visit the official  AGATHA CHRISTIE website, and get a head start on starting to read your own way through Agatha’s works, follow this LINK.

What story would you tell around the dinner party table?

I should add that I am not being paid to mention the book, but Mrs H and I both think we should share good books, of whatever grade reading, as they are brilliant and well worth the money.

Well, that’s it for this week. Whatever your method of detection, remember to stay safe out there, enjoy yourself, and take care to give yourself a good groom before and after each meal and nap.

Laters……

ERin

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