Secret Serendipity Seven with Harriet Whitehorn

Today on the blog, we have the rather talented MG author, Harriet Whitehorn, who is happy to reveal seven secrets.  Harriet’s second book, Violet and the Hidden Treasure has just been published by Simon and Schuster.

I love a secret but I am also incredibly bad at keeping them, so this is perfect for me.

1)   I would like to give the impression of being bold and fearless like Violet but I am in fact much more like Rose.  Despite being a grown up, I still absolutely hate being told off, and go to great lengths to avoid it.  Even my friends talking in the cinema makes me nervous in case anyone tells us to be quiet.

2)   In the first Violet book, there was originally a whole sub-plot about the cats and a love triangle between them, which, I think sensibly, got taken out and just portrayed in the drawings.  But the next book does feature a very bad-tempered cockatoo, which brings me onto …

3)  I always wanted a parrot as a child, but had to make do with a very dysfunctional rescue cat, who would randomly bite me and often refused to come out from under my parents bed for days on end.

4)  Violet was my secret as I hardly told anyone that I was writing a book until my publishing deal was done.

5)   It’s a bit like choosing your favourite child (which obviously I don’t have) but I would have to admit that my favourite character in the Violet books is PC Green.  And I can’t really tell you why, he just is.

6)   In the second book, Violet and the Hidden Treasure, I introduce all the characters by telling you their favourite possession. And mine is my father’s old fountain pen that I write with. 

7)   Violet travels a little in The Hidden Treasure and a lot in the third book, Violet and the Smugglers, and I have aspirations for her to go to all sorts of places - New York, Hawaii, Japan…

Violet and the Hidden Treasure by Harriet Whitehorn.

To check out my review of Violet and the Hidden Treasure, please click here.

To find out more about Harriet Whitehorn:

Website

The Case of the Exploding Loo by Rachel Hamilton

I collapse on to the sofa and stare at the newspaper headline.

Wiped out?

WIPED OUT?

Dad hasn’t been ‘wiped out’. He’s gone mussing, that’s all. The reporter changed the facts to make a toilet-paper joke. That’s just rude.

Published in May 2014 by Simon and Schuster

Pages - 288

Summary

Quirky twelve year old Noelle (Know-All) Hawkins may be one of the brightest girls in her class but even she can't explain how her dad, wacky scientist Big Brain Brian, spontaneously combusted while sitting in a portaloo. It's true that he was working on a new top secret Brain Ray machine and was on the point of a great break-through when he vanished - could this have had something to do with his disappearance? Know-All is sure all is not as it seems and with the help of her sister Holly she is determined to find out what really happened to her dad!

******

When Professor Brian ‘Big Brain’ Hawkins mysteriously disappears during a portaloo explosion, leaving only his smouldering shoes behind as proof of identity, his daughter, Noelle takes it upon herself to find out what really happened. With an IQ of 157 and a photographic memory, she investigates the situation in true Sherlockian style, cleverly flavoured with her humorous interpretation of events as they happen. If Miranda Hart wrote Middle Grade fiction, then this is what she would write. With its toilet humour and ‘zany brainy’ wise cracks, this book had me giggling away to myself from start to finish.  With each new chapter, I thought it couldn’t get funnier, yet I would find another situation to laugh at. The illustrations only added emphasis to the hilarity of the plot.

All the characters lifted off the page, making them quirky, unique and easily identifiable. In fact, they were so well written, they could each star in their own novels. The one that outshines them all though, is Noelle, who proves that it is possible to be geeky and cool at the same time.  Her sister, Holly has a dangerous streak running through her veins, bringing humour to unlikely items such as a chainsaw.

The heart of the story is a mystery and I loved that at various intervals through the book there are recaps on all the clues that Noelle has discovered. There are lots of unusual connections such as the colour turquoise, which turn out to be vital to solving the case. The whole plot sets off at a manic pace, as the situation becomes more bizarre with each chapter.

Aimed at the 9 to 12 year old bracket, this book will appeal to all, including reluctant readers and adults who are still young at heart.

Ruby Redfort - Take Your Last Breath by Lauren Child

 

The sun flickered on the ocean, cutting bright diamonds of light into the surface of the indigo water.  A three-year-old girl was peering over the side of a sailboat, staring down into the deep.  The only sounds came from her parents’ laughter, the sing-song hum of a man’s voice and the clapping of the waves against the yacht.

   Gradually the sounds became less and less distinct until the girl was quite alone with the ocean.  It seemed to be pulling her, drawing her to it…confiding a secret, almost whispering to her.  

   She barely felt herself fall as she tipped forward and slipped into the soft ink of the sea.

   Down she twisted, her arms, her legs above her like tendrils.  The water felt smooth and perfectly cold; fish darted and silver things whisked by - her breath bubbled up as transparent pearls.

   Then suddenly, like a snap of the fingers, all the fish were gone; it was just the girl in the big wide ocean.

   But she wasn’t quite alone.

   There was something else.

Published by Harper Collins Children’s Books  on 6th June 2013

432 pages

Book Summary

All at sea?  Ok, here’s the lowdown…Ruby Redfort: secret agent, thirteen-year-old kid.  Super-smart, super-cool and not afraid of the water or anything in it.  Sharks?  Cut-throat pirates?  A giant tentacled sea monster?  No problem, buster.  Diving without oxygen, is NOT Ruby’s strong suit.  Can she do it?  There’s only one way to find out…

*******

Reviewed by Georgina Tranter

Ruby Redfort made her first appearance in Lauren Child’s earlier books about Clarice Bean, and due to requests made by children around the globe, she was given her own series.  Take Your Last Breath is the second book.  Ruby is a sassy thirteen year old with a passion for wearing t-shirts with couldn’t care less slogans on them, such as excuse me while I yawn and a nose for spotting the out-of-the-ordinary.  In fact, she is so good at this, she is currently the youngest recruit at Spectrum, a spy agency set up to foil the plots and plans of evil geniuses capable of grand theft, extortion, fraud and murder.  She only heard of Spectrum six weeks ago, and it looks like she’s already on to her second case!

Strange things are happening at sea.  An agent has been found drowned.  Shipping cargo has been confused, unusual marine activity is taking place, and strange sounds have been heard.  But how, what and why?  And are these things connected at all?  Under her guise as a normal thirteen year old, Ruby sets out to solve this mystery, with a little help from her butler Hitch (secret agent) and best friend Clancy.  But can she do so in time?

I think this book is perfect for the 9-12 year old age bracket.  It’s easy to read, with lots of diagrams and puzzles to try to work out (the answers to the clues are given at the end) and most importantly, it’s fun.  I loved this book and am looking forward to the next Ruby Redfort adventure!  

Aldo Moon and the Ghost at Gravewood Hall by Alex Woolf

‘It was a dark and stormy night I began. The skies were racked with thunder that rolled in waves across the valley. Lightning forked through the dismal clouds and lit up the trees in brief, angry flashes.’

Actually, it was a beautiful evening. The only celestial illumination was provided by the moon, which shone through wisps of London fog, falling silkily on our rug. But that didn’t seem right for my story, which was to be in the gothic tradition and so required a more violent kind of weather.

Published by Scribo February 2013

240 pages

Summary from Hive.co.uk

Introducing Aldo Moon: abandoned at birth, raised at the Foundlings Hospital in London, then adopted by the well-to-do Carter family at the age of seven. The young psychic detective is always on the outside. Flamboyant, eccentric and a touch wild, Aldo has the ability to pick up 'ripples in the ether', which he uses to investigate intrigue and mystery in Victorian England. He is accompanied on his many adventures by the intrepid Nathan Carter, the story's narrator, and the prim arch-sceptic Lily Morelle. In this, their first case, the trio investigate the mysterious nightly noises at a rotting country house in the dead of winter. With the help of his companions, Aldo gradually uncovers a gripping, sinister secret at Gravewood Hall.

Reviewed by K. M. Lockwood

The story is told by Nathan Carter about the crime -solving exploits of his adopted brother, Aldo Moon - in the manner of Dr Watson writing about Sherlock Holmes. The narrator directly addresses the reader and uses deliberately old-fashioned vocabulary to match the Victorian era in which it is set. 

Along with uncovering the central mystery, the reader will learn about 19th century servants, divorce law and inheritance. The author clearly knows a great deal about the Victorian era and he contrasts scientific attitudes with more spiritual ideas through the different characters and events. The conflict between rationalist and psychic points of view is as relevant now as it was in the 19th century - and in this story, there is both deductive reasoning and apparently supernatural activity.

Alex Woolf has made an interesting mash-up of a traditional crime thriller and something more eerie. The result will suit the reader who seeks something like Wilkie Collins or Dickens. It is full of gruesome revelations set in a richly detailed, claustrophobic world. 

I should warn buyers that the title and the publisher’s summary suggest a relatively young readership. The cover, by David Proctor, which is very attractive with its unusual scrawly typeface and striking Gothic artwork, also looks suitable for the 9+ market .But some of the themes and scenes are definitely YA and could upset a more sensitive reader.

You will enjoy this if you are a confident reader fond of complex historical mysteries with a touch of the macabre.

Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris/ Another Challenge

Pages - 326

Challenges - Southern Reading Challenge and 100+ books.

First published in Great Britain in 2004.

I have seen the Sookie Stackhouse books speeding their way around the blogging world and everyone taking part in the Sookie Stackhouse challenge, I had to see what everyone was enjoying without me.

Sookie Stackhouse is a cocktail waitress in a small town in Louisiana. She is sweet, kind and often thought to be a little kooky. Well she is definitely kooky and with good reason, she has a natural ability to read people's minds, which she sees as a disability and basically tries to keep herself to herself in order to keep out of people's minds. Life runs smoothly and slowly, until Bill turns up . He is tall, dark and handsome and Sookie has finally found someone whose mind she can't read. However, there is one tiny flaw with Bill that might make a relationship difficult - he is a vampire! When women start getting murdered in Bon Temps after Bill's arrival, all fingers are pointing at him. Sookie panics about her relationship and searches to find out who the real murderer is!

I did enjoy reading this, which quite surprised me as I really didn't think I would. I loved Sookie, she went from being the shy, retiring young Southern style girl, to a feisty Vampire loving, butt kicking girl who manages to catch the murderer.

I love the Southern style of the book, it made me even more desperate to visit New Orleans and actually experience some Southern hospitality. I have always imagined living in one of those houses they often show with the porch running all the way around the house and a swinging chair to sit on and listen to the cicadas.

There is a lot of violence in the book and a certain amount of sexual content, but not enough to make me blush! I was surprised that some main characters were actually killed off quite early in the book, but it was definitely the right move for the plot.

Bill, is a more manly Vampire than young Edward from Twilight and with his century old Southern ways, you just can't help but love him. He is strong, more dangerous and will kill in order to protect Sookie. Their relationship builds steadily through the book, even though they both know a future together would be difficult.

There are a few surprises in the book, which I won't give away. All I can say is that some of the characters are really not what they seem.

So on the whole, I really enjoyed this book and I will definitely continue reading the series.

These books have been made into a TV show called 'True Blood' starring the lovely Anna Paquin as Sookie which is presently showing on FX on a Friday night. I wasn't going to be tempted by it, but after reading the book, I want to see the characters in a real setting.

After the hype concerning this series, I struggled to find many reviews of this book, so if you have read it and reviewed it, let me know and I will add it to this one.

Other reviews for this book

The Eclectic Reader

I'm Booking It

Melissa's Bookshelf

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On another note, I noticed my challenges were quickly disappearing and you know me, I do love a good challenge. Well I have found one that really takes my fancy.

This one is called Reliquiae Challenge and is the Challenge from Beyond.

Here are the challenge details as written by Ana O on the Challenge's own blog. I can say it better than she has, so I will let her say it in her own words.

We’ve been roaming for quite some time in a world owned by vampires, werewolves, ghosts, witches and all sorts of fantastical beings, and the inevitable has happened, we’ve been bitten. We can’t seem to stop ourselves trying out new authors, drooling over gorgeous covers, adding series to our wish lists and watching out for new releases. It’s almost like a disease, though it only gets worse!
So setting out to find if there are any ailing souls like us out there we’ve decided to host a new challenge, and thus Reliquiae was born. Please come join us on this journey, grab your sunglasses, don’t forget your broom and spell book, be sure to pack some nourishment and you can even bring your black cat along. But beware, you’re not coming back!

Rules:
1. Challenge runs from July 15th 2009 to January 15th 2010.
2. Choose the number of books you want to read by selecting one of the reading levels we’ve proposed (see below).
3. Books must fall under one, two or all of the categories we’ve proposed depending on the number of books you wish to read (see above).
4. Sign up by using Mr. Linky (see bottom of post).
5. Share your reviews with us by leaving your link with Mr. Linky on the appropriate post.
Levels:

Bite on the Neck: 3 books.
Flying Cauldron: 4 books.
Deadly Red Moon: 5 books.
Haunted Nights: 6 books.

Categories:
Vampires
Witches
Ghosts
Shapeshifters
Fairies
Elfs

Now you know I love all these categories, so I am thinking it will be easy to read six books by December, so that is what I shall go for.

If you want to join in, please go here and add your link.