Another catch up due...

It's been soooooo long since I updated the blog, and for a while there I couldn't post any pictures, but everything seems to be working fine again now, so I'll do a quick recap of the books we've read since the last entry then try to do better from now on!

Carnegie/Kate Greenaway medals 2012

Congratulations to my favourite children's author Patrick Ness on winning the Carnegie Medal for the second year running!

A Monster Calls also won the Kate Greenaway medal for its incredible illustrations by artist Jim Kay.

Jim Kay and Patrick Ness

The book tells the story of 13 year old Conor who is trying to come to terms with his mother's cancer. Ness' wonderful storytelling is perfectly complemented by Kay's atmospheric illustrations.

Rachel Levy, chair of the Carnegie judges, described A Monster Calls as "an exquisite piece of writing.
We'd go so far as to say that this is one of the defining books of its generation."

A well deserved win - read it if you haven't already!

April/May: Warrior Cats - Into the Wild by Erin Hunter

This month's read was Into the Wild, the first in the Warrior Cats (now rebranded as "Warriors") series by Erin Hunter.

Into the Wild tells the story of Rusty, an everyday housecat who discovers a whole new world outside his garden when he encounters the wild and fearsome Thunder Clan cats. Should he turn his back on his safe, easy life as a "kittypet" for the danger and excitement of the forest?

This is a thrilling read that keeps you turning the pages right to the end, and leaves you wanting more!

The Book Group gave it another unanimous thumbs up and everyone wanted to go on and read the other books in the series to find out what happens next!

Comments from the group:

"It was really enjoyable and fast-moving." - Lottie

"I got into it straight away." - Tabitha

"Anyone who doesn't like cats would love them after reading this book." - Naz

"It's the best book ever!" - Willow

Here are some pictures inspired by Into the Wild:



"Scarface" by Tabitha



"Bluestripe" by Naz

"Goldenpaw" by Lottie

"Brindleface" by Lilah

"Mousefur" by Freya

"Gangstercat" by Poppy

Page Turners rating for Warrior Cats - Into the Wild: 5/5

Looking forward...

This month we're looking forward to reading Gill Lewis' new book White Dolphin.

We fell in love with Gill's previous book, Sky Hawk, so we're eager to see if she can live up to our expectations; and if the reviews are anything to go by, it's looking good!

We also cannot wait for this year's Hay Festival, which begins at the end of May.

This year is the festival's 25th anniversary, and as it also coincides with the Queen's diamond jubilee, it's shaping up to be one big party!
We're hoping to discover some great new authors and revisit some old favourites. Several members of the book group are going to Hay, so look out for reviews next month.

March - April: Wonder by RJ Palacio

This month's book was Wonder by RJ Palacio.

This is from the dustjacket:

"August Pullman wants to be an ordinary ten-year-old. He does ordinary things. He eats ice-cream. He plays on his X-box. He feels ordinary - inside.

Born with a terrible facial abnormality, Auggie has been home-schooled by his parents his whole life, in an attempt to protect him from the cruelty of the outside world. Now, for the first time, he's being sent to a real school - and he's dreading it. All he wants is to be accepted - but can he convince his new classmates that he's just like them, underneath it all?

Narrated by Auggie and the people around him whose lives he touches forever, Wonder is a funny, frank, astonishingly moving debut to read in one sitting, pass on to others, and remember long after the final page."

So does the book live up to this recommendation? A resounding YES! Funny, sad, thought-provoking and up-lifting - Wonder is a refreshingly different children's book, with a whole host of well-rounded and memorable characters.

The book group ALL loved Wonder. Everyone enjoyed reading from the different characters' points of view and seeing how there are always at least two sides to every story! The language and cultural references are very up-to-date. The group liked that Auggie and his friends read the same books as they did!

The very short chapters and compelling nature of the story make it extremely hard to put it down - it's always easy to read "just another chapter". Just a warning for any adults reading Wonder - make sure you have a box of tissues handy, you may need them on more than one occasion!

Here are some comments from the group:

"It's an amazing book and it really makes you think. I lent it to my friend because I thought it was such a good read." - Ana

"It's a book that really makes you realise other people have problems." - Lilah

"It was really good. I liked everything about it." - Willow (who liked it so much she read it twice!)

"I always say this, but I really couldn't put it down!" - Tabitha

"Go and buy this book, read it, then pass it on!" - Emma (!)

Can't recommend this book highly enough. Fantastic.

Page Turners rating for Wonder: 5/5

Feb/Mar 2012 - The Brilliant World of Tom Gates by L Pichon

Last month's read was Roald Dahl Funny Prize winner The Brilliant World Of Tom Gates by Liz Pichon.

This is the story of Tom; his friends, family, trials and tribulations. Dire camping trips, mean teachers, annoying classmates, crazy excuses for not handing in homework, and tips for winding up your big sister - they're all here; interspersed with Tom's doodles which decorate every page.

This was a big hit with the book group - the first unanimously postive reception we've had for a while! Here are some of their comments...

"The Brilliant World of Tom Gates is amazing. I would recommend it to anybody. It is very, very funny." - Poppy

"If you like funny books then you'll love this." - Tabitha

"It's really funny." - Freya

Everyone thought they'd read the other Tom Gates books; in fact Tabitha and Poppy have read all three and Ana has also read the second book!

Here are the book group's Tom Gates inspired doodle pictures:

Page Turners' rating for The Brilliant World of Tom Gates : 4.5/5

Loving Liz Pichon's website!
http://www.lizpichon.co.uk/home.htm

That's a not-so-subtle hint at our next book...! ;o)

December '11/January '12: The Salt-Stained Book by Julia Jones

Our last read was The Salt-Stained Book by Julia Jones, volume 1 of her Strong Winds trilogy.

Here's the blurb from the back of the book:

"In 1945, two brothers die in the icy Barents Sea and a book is all that survives of them. More than sixty years later Donny and his mother set out for Suffolk to meet his mysterious great aunt.
There is an accident and Donny is taken into care. But are the officials all that they seem and why won't they believe Donny's story? Soon he discovers that his life has been built on a lie. Only the new friendships he makes and an unsuspected talent for sailing help him steer his way through dangers that he cannot understand towards a knowledge of his own identity - and the secrets of a salt-stained book."

It made for good reading, but the group had several criticisms. They felt there were too many sailing terms used, and that you probably needed to have experience of sailing to be able to fully enjoy the story. The group thought that a glossary would have been helpful.
There were some interesting characters in the book, namely Donny's new friends "Awful" Anna, and sisters Xanthe and Maggi, but the "baddies" were not so convincing.

Overall, a good but not a great read.

Here are some comments from the group:

"If you like sailing and Swallows and Amazons you'll probably like this book." - Ana

"There are lots of good, strong, girl characters." - Tabitha

"A good book for budding sailors." - Lottie

Page Turners rating: it's another 3.5/5

Ana's treasure map

Book of the Year 2011

As we've come to the end of another year of book group, we did our annual vote for our favourite read.
The group found it particularly hard to choose between some of them, and as we have such wildly differing tastes within the group, the results were sometimes quite surprising. Several books were rated top by one or two members, and bottom by others!

Anyway, here are the results...

With the same number of points were four books- Sally Gardner's I, Coriander; JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit; Caroline Lawrence's The Case of the Deadly Desperados; and our last read, Debi Gliori's Pure Dead Magic.

In 2nd place was Gill Lewis' fabulous debut novel Sky Hawk. This heart-warming tale of friendship, hope and an amazing journey deservedly scored very highly with nearly everyone in the group.

And in 1st place was our read from way back in December last year to January of this year, Wilma Tenderfoot and the Case of the Frozen Hearts by Emma Kennedy. Wilma won everyone over with her adventures, and some of the group have gone on to read the following books in the series, which is always a good sign!

Looking forward to another year of discovering great books and new authors.

November/December: Pure Dead Magic by Debi Gliori

Our latest read was Debi Gliori's funny fantasy Pure Dead Magic.

Pure Dead Magic tells the story of The Strega-Borgia children, Titus, Pandora and baby Damp, and their efforts to rescue their father, kidnapped by his evil half-brother who wants to get his hands on the family fortune.

A new nanny with a big secret, an array of magical creatures living in the basement and Tock, the crocodile, who patrols the moat are just some of the larger than life characters we meet in this riotous mix of traditional fantasy and modern technology with a large dollop of madcap humour thrown in for good measure.

Again, we had some major differences of opinion over this book - some loving it, some hating it and the rest somewhere in between! Here are some quotes from the group:

"A very good book. I liked the animals." - Poppy

"It's alright, but I probably wouldn't recommend it." - Lilah

"I would recommend it - I really liked it." - Willow

"It's a really good book and I recommend it, but make sure you check the Dramatis Personae because there are a lot of long and complicated names to keep track of!" - Lottie

                                Tabitha's picture of Tarantella

Page Turners Rating: 3.5/5

Another catch-up!

I've been very bad and missed posting about our last two book group meetings, so I'm going to do a brief catch-up, then I can get on with a full post about our latest book. Sorry!

So, back in September/October we read The Sword in the Stone by T.H.White.

It wasn't the most popular of our choices, but some members of the group really enjoyed it.

Lottie said: "If you read it you should persevere, because it gets quite good."

Poppy said: "It's quite long, but it's a good book and worth reading."

The Sword in the Stone Page Turners rating: 3/5

In October the group voted for A Tale Dark and Grimm by Adam Gidwitz for our spooky Hallowe'en read.

This was a book that really polarized opinion! Willow liked it so much she read it twice, Lilah also loved it, but Lottie hated it. Funny and gory, it wasn't quite as scary as it made out, but it seems a love it or hate it kind of book.

A Tale Dark and Grimm  Page Turners rating:  4/5

Ruby Redfort Look Into My Eyes by Lauren Child

I am a member of my local Waterstones' Junior Proof Readers Club, who lend out proof (uncorrected) copies of books before they've been published in return for a short review. I was really excited when I heard that they had an advance copy of Lauren Child's new book, Ruby Redfort book and sent my dad and my sister out to get it for me right away!



This is what the book will look like.

I am an extraordinarily massive Clarice Bean fan and enjoyed reading about Ruby Redfort, the girl Secret Agent who is the main character in Clarice Bean's favourite books. I saw Lauren Child do a talk last year and she said that she was currently working on a Ruby Redfort book so I've been looking forward to it ever since!

Ruby Redfort Look into My Eyes is amazing, I absolutely loved it. It's really exciting, scary in places and has lots of action.

It's a bit different to how Clarice talks about her in the books, but maybe the actual book will have some changes when it's published.

Ruby Redfort uses secret codes throughout the book, and this inspired me to make up my own codes which was lots of fun.

I recommended this book to my sister Tabitha, who also loved it, and I would recommend it to children aged 9 - 12 who like exciting stories.

The front of the proof copy

The back of the proof copy

   

July - Sept. : The Case of the Deadly Desperados by Caroline Lawrence

Our summer read was The Case of the Deadly Desperados, the first in Caroline Lawrence's new series: The Western Mysteries.

As the book itself describes:
" A whip-cracking, action-packed adventure that brings the Wild West vividly to life, from the bestselling author of The Roman Mysteries."

Narrated by 12 year old half Lakota Sioux "Pinky", we are pulled into the action from the first page, and the pace never lets up.

"My name is P.K. Pinkerton and before this day is over I will be dead.

My foster parents were scalped & killed a few days ago on my 12th birthday. I came to this lawless town of Virginia City to escape their fate but now I find myself trapped down the deepest shaft of a silver mine, with three desperados hot on my trail.

Before they find me, I am going to write this account so you will know What Happened and Who Done it."

Pinky dashes from scrape to scrape in a tale packed full of colourful characters, disguises and close shaves with the dastardly desperados in hot pursuit.
Real-life historical figures are woven into the story, such as Sam Clemens (later known as Mark Twain) a reporter at the Virginia City newspaper The Territorial Enterprise.

The end of the story is the perfect opening for the rest of the series.

The book group all loved this book, despite some gory and brutal scenes. They all thought they would read the other books in the series when they are published. Here are their comments:

"Really exciting" - Ana

"Really surprising" - Freya

"Really good, I recommend it." - Lilah

"It really gets you into it." - Lottie

"Most books take a while to get into, but this one pulls you in really quickly and it's hard to stop reading." - Poppy

Page Turners rating : 4.5/5

Author Sally Gardner answers our questions!

Back in May/June we read I, Coriander by Sally Gardner. At our meeting that month the book group came up with some questions that they wanted to ask the author. We sent them to Sally, and I'm very excited to be able to post her replies below...

Sally Gardner

What was your inspiration for I, Coriander?

I had the image of a little girl standing at the top of a staircase, looking down and seeing rain beating on the window and a light in a study below. The next part was to get her to walk down the stairs and look in the room, where I discovered there was a man sitting at his desk with a wooden chest in front of him which had light coming from it. I just wanted to know what was in the box and who the man was. This is how the story began.

Were the characters based on anyone you know?

My characters are never based on one person, but are an amalgamation of lots of people, you only the need yeast of somebody to make a loaf.

 

Why did you choose to base the story in that period of history?

I wanted to find a period in history where we had total repression in England, where people were living in a dictatorship. The interim of Oliver Cromwell was such a time. I'm very interested in the historical places that lie between the more glamourous and epic historical moments. It was also the introduction of the scientific man over the superstitious man. Science was to win, but this was a transitional time when people still believed in fairies and magic, a time when they thought that alchemy made gold.

 Did you have to do a lot of research of that time?

Yes, I always do lots of research for my books. I was left a library of primary and secondary sources by a friend of my fathers and that was invaluable. Anything I couldn't find there I found in libraries around London.

Lots of the characters in the book have unusual or interesting names - Coriander, Maud Leggs, Tarbett Purman, Arise Fell, Master Thankless - how did you choose them?

Master Thankless was the name of Samuel Pepys' tailor in real life and I found his name in the Museum of London. Arise Evans was a real man who belonged to the Fifth Monarchists - he was completely bonkers and I thought I should change his name a bit to reflect his rise and fall. Coriander's name needed to stand out and at the same time be broken down into a common religious name/context: 'An' (Anne).

Which character was the most fun to write?

Arise Fell and Maud Leggs because I love creating evil, cruel characters and knowing that I will be able to kill them off or have my revenge on them later in the book.
Have you been tempted to write a sequel?

No, never. I feel it stands alone and it's for people to make up their own minds about how Coriander's future unfolds. The reader can write the rest of her story.

What is your favourite children's book of all time?

I have lots, but I love 'Wind in The Willows' because it conjures up a world that you want to live in - all you want to do is meet Ratty with the picnic basket and go off down the road, or meet toad and have a drive in his car...

Who has been your greatest influence?

I think Angela Carter, Charles Dickens and the Brothers Grimm.

What do you most enjoy about being a writer?

I don't think I'd be able to get a job doing anything else! I love that I'm able to make up my own stories and that other people like them and enjoy reading them makes me one of the luckiest people in this world.

How has your dyslexia affected your life?

When I was young I was very badly bullied because of it, by both teachers and classmates. I couldn't read a whole book or write properly until I was 13 - geography, mathematics are very long words and they were the normal things I was shut out of. I was left alone in school in terms of tuition, expelled from a lot of schools because of my learning difficulties. For sixteen years people thought I was stupid. But luckily my character was strong enough to pull through it, and I had my imagination which is where the story telling began - as a way to escape and in my head I created the books that I couldn't read. So dyslexia has been an imperative part of me becoming a writer.

Are you writing anything at the moment, and if so, what can you tell us about it?

The Double Shadow is my latest novel for young adults. It comes out in November is what you could call a family sci-fi saga. It's very different from my other novels and was the hardest book I've had to write so far. The following blog gives a good summary of it: http://www.lovelytreez.com/?p=473.

Many thanks to Sally for her fascinating insights.

June/July: Sky Hawk by Gill Lewis

Firstly, I must apologise for taking so long to update the blog. Our last meeting was weeks ago, and I just haven't got round to posting the group's thoughts on this wonderful book. Better late than never, here they are...

Sky Hawk is author Gill Lewis' debut novel, and has received much praise. The front cover bears an endorsement by none other than Michael Morpurgo, who says the book "Opens your eyes, touches your heart, and is so engaging it almost turns the pages for you."

Set in rural Scotland, this is the story of Callum and Iona and an amazing secret they share. It is a moving tale of friendship, loss, hope and incredible journeys.

The group was unanimous in thoroughly enjoying Sky Hawk. They felt that they learned a lot from the book, and were kept on the edge of their seats following the story. They were shocked by an unexpected, sad twist in the tale, but most of them liked the way things resolved themselves by the end.

Here are some words direct from the group:

"I loved it; it was an amazing story." - Ana

"A good book if you like wildlife." - Sam

"Lots of interesting facts that you wouldn't know unless you worked with ospreys." - Lottie

"I couldn't put it down because it's such a great story." - Tabitha

"A brilliant book, especially if you're an animal lover." - Freya H

You can also now follow the real-life adventures of Ozwold the osprey, specially chosen to be satellite tracked like Iris in the book. Check him out here:

http://ospreydiary.blogspot.com/

Page Turners' rating for Sky Hawk: 4.5/5

The case of the deadly desperados

I'm really enjoying this book!!!! It's really good.

I can't wait for bookgroup tomorrow, i really loved sky hawk, i couldn't put it down!

Hello, this is my first post on the blog!
I've really enjoyed Sky Hawk so far, but it's quite sad in parts.

Our latest read

Well, it's 6 days until our next meeting, we're half way through Sky Hawk and absolutely loving it. I can't wait to find out what will happen next!

Gill Lewis, Sky Hawk's author, has a lovely website, including the blog of a real life osprey chick which should be starting very soon! Take a look:

http://www.gilllewis.com/

skye hawk

i really loved it i couldn't put it down lilah