Passenger by Alexandra Bracken

The amazing thing was, each time she looked at them, Etta still saw something new- something she hadn't noticed before. 

Published by Quercus in April 2016

Pages - 496

Summary

In one devastating night, Etta Spencer loses everything she knows and loves. Thrust into an unfamiliar world by a stranger with a dangerous agenda, Etta is certain of only one thing: she has travelled not just miles but years from home.

Nicholas Carter is content with his life at sea, free from the Ironwoods - a powerful family in the Colonies - and the servitude he's known at their hands. But with the arrival of an unusual passenger on his ship comes the insistent pull of the past that he can't escape and the family that won't let him go. Now the Ironwoods are searching for a stolen object of untold value, one they believe only Etta, his passenger, can find.

Together, Etta and Nicholas embark on a perilous journey across centuries and continents, piecing together clues left behind by the traveller who will do anything to keep the object out of the Ironwoods' grasp. But as they get closer to their target, treacherous forces threaten to separate Etta not only from Nicholas but from her path home forever.

******
I love the EPICNESS  and GRANDNESS of this novel. I felt like I was swept away on this perilous  journey alongside Etta and Nicholas as they search to find the astrolabe before  into can get into the wrong hands. I think a few readers have struggled to get into it, but I honestly didn't have that problem. I was sucked in from the start and looking back, I can see how important those first few scenes are to the plot. This is a big book and needs to be approached with a huge chunk of available time to allow yourself to fully absorb the information provided. 

The book is very detailed and you feel like you are running with Etta and Nicholas. 
They speed through passages, jumping from one era to another, each one described to the fullest, that you feel like the author has already made the journey herself. I think my favourite era had to be London during the war, but you can tell each era has been fully researched.

I loved watching the relationship grow between Etta and Nicholas. They had everything against them yet they couldn't stop the strong bonds that tied them.
The ending was unexpected and heartbreaking for a while but it opened up the possibility to more adventures. 

I love a good time travel novel and this one most certainly didn't disappoint. In fact, I made it  my Book of the Month for May. I can see why Disney Hyperion bought this, because it has all the makings of a blockbusting movie.  If Cassandra Clare wrote time travel novels, this is the type of book she would write.

YA from my Youth by Catherine Lowell

I am pleased to welcome author, Catherine Lowell onto the blog. Catherine is author of The Madwoman Upstairs. Today, she is sharing the books that she loved from her youth. 

You can learn a lot about yourself by revisiting the books you read growing up. You start seeing how early on your passions and tastes developed, and which books influenced the way you think today. 

If I look at the books that I re-read over and over as a teenager, they fall into a few key clusters: first, books about bored ladies of leisure who decide to run away and do interesting things (like become knights and live with dragons) and second, books about WWII (Letters from Rifka, The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank). 

The third cluster consists of books that I now realize weren’t technically young adult novels—but they are books I first read as a teenager and remembered forever. These, then, are both my YA recommendations for adults, and the adult books that I’d recommend to teenagers. 

The Sea Wolf 

I remember thinking that this book had everything: adventure at sea, epic fog, good versus evil, psychological drama, romance, and one of the best characters in any book I’d read at the time—Wolf Larson.

Animal Farm

This is one of the most useful books I ever read, one that taught history, psychology, and politics better than any textbook. It’s nice to read it in a non-academic setting, since you can really get invested in the story and feel the full gut-punch of the ending.  

The Odyssey

You can read this book on multiple levels: as a good story, a useful fable, a piece of great literature, or a true historical marvel. Either way, it really gives you a sense for how one story shaped an entire civilization. 

Arsenic and Old Lace

I loved this play! It’s a bizarre, funny exploration of what happens when you realize your family is insane. There’s also an extra bonus here: after you read the play, you can watch Cary Grant play Mortimer in the film adaptation. 

Jane Eyre

What I love about Jane Eyre is its appeal to any age group. It doubles as a terrific chick flick and one of the most brilliant novels of its time. As an adult, it’s fun to pick up on all the subtle and disturbing things you never really noticed as a kid—like Bertha. 

*****

Catherine Lowell is the author of The Madwoman Upstairs, a literary mystery about the Brontës. Published by Quercus this month. 

Summary

Samantha Whipple - a young American woman - is the last remaining descendant of the famous Brontë family, of Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre fame. After losing her father, a brilliant author in his own right, Samantha travels to Oxford in search of a mysterious family inheritance, described to her only as 'The Warnings of Experience'.

While at Oxford, Samantha studies under Dr J. Timothy Orville III, a disarmingly handsome tutor who seems nothing but annoyed by her family heritage. With Orville as her tempestuous sidekick, Samantha sets out on a mission to piece together her family's history - which, it turns out, could also be literature's greatest buried secret.

Debuts 2015 & 2016 - Day 4 - Anna McKerrow

Welcome to Day 4 of the celebration of the debut authors of 2015 and today I have an author who has quickly become a firm favourite in the YA world - Anna McKerrow. 

Anna McKerrow debuted in March this year with Crow Moon published by Quercus. 

The second book in this series, Red Witch, will be published in March 2016. 

***

What was the reaction to your book cover when it was revealed?

The cover for CROW MOON got an unbelievable reception when it was revealed, and I still get lots of comments about it. I really liked it, but I hadn’t quite anticipated how popular it was going to be! It’s a simple silhouette design of a girl’s head against a white background with a modern style title; the detail of paint splodge/space with stars in the silhouette is subtle and very beautiful. The artist is an American chap called Alex Cherry; he did the cover for RED WITCH too. The cover of CROW MOON was a clever solution for what is in many ways a cross-genre book; it’s not straight witchy, it has romance and climate fiction elements too and it’s a dystopia/utopia, so it was really hard to get a representative and appealing cover. So I’m delighted that so many people love it.

How do you feel about publishing your sophomore book?

Super excited - and deadly nervous. I think RED WITCH is possibly a better book than CROW MOON - and at least as good, but my worry is that other people won’t think so! Book 2 of a trilogy can be a tough point in the story and it has to stand up on its own as well as carry the overall story forward. There’s the other weird thing of readers alrady being invested in your story, instead of coming to it cold the first time around. What if they don’t like it? What if you don’t do what they wanted with the characters? And there’s the worry about retailers might not take up book 2 as much as book 1. That’s a possibility. But overall, nerves aside, it’s really exciting. Really.

What was the best piece of advice you were given about publishing?

Before the trilogy was accepted by Quercus, I was lucky to have some feedback on the book from an Editor at another publishing house. She was really generous with her time and talked to me about making the right choice of publisher for the book. One thing she said to me was that you can only be a debut author once, so you should make the best choices for you - listen to your instincts but aim high and go for the best deal for your book. That isn’t to say that your whole career rests on your debut; in fact, most writers will mature nicely over time, like wine (!) however, it’s an important moment and if you can start strong, that can only be a good thing.

Did you have to visit schools and were the visits what you were expecting?

I’ve done some school events with CROW MOON and really enjoyed them. I’ve worked with schools in my professional life for a long time now so school environments are pretty familiar; I’m glad of all the years I spent teaching, running workshops, visiting schools, working in a drama school with incredibly rowdy young people (I mean, if you want to test your public presentation skills, go and try and get the attention of a hall of 50 drama students. They never shut up. And I say that with love. I love actors.) Nowadays I’m fairly relaxed with teens and doing presentations, and not minding the chatter and giggling which comes as part of it! I really enjoy being around young people anyway, that’s part of why I started writing for them. They’re bright and funny and sensitive and honest.

What I’ve been surprised by, I suppose, is how much the teens and the teachers and librarians want to talk about the pagan elements of the book, and about me as a pagan and what that means. It’s great to be able to talk to young people about what that term might really mean in the modern world - someone who is an environmental activist, someone who tries to be in tune with the natural rhythms of the earth, the seasons, the sun and moon, and enact change in their life and the world around them in accordance with the highest good, and in harmony with those energies - and connecting to deities from historic cultures, especially a Goddess. That’s simplifying the work and commitment involved but it’s hard to represent a very diverse spiritual path - and a recognised UK religion in Paganism and Druidry, by the way - in a school Q&A session! Still, I try.

What was the best quote about your book that you received? 

I’ve been very fortunate to have received some lovely reviews for CROW MOON. But my favourite is Lucy Powrie describing it as her dream novel. When I was developing the story and had decided to take it forward and try to get it published, my dream was that at least one teen - probably a girl - would really like it. That I could reach at least one young woman and entertain her, make her believe that magic is real; write that book that I always wanted to read in my teens, and after. If I do nothing else, I’ve achieved that goal and that feels great.

***

Thank you Anna for sharing your experiences as a debut. Come back tomorrow to hear from another one of our successful debuts of 2015.

Chuck a Book with Anna McKerrow - #YAShot 2015

To help celebrate and publicise the #YAShot 2015, I am pleased to welcome one of the authors taking part in the event, Anna McKerrow, who has picked her choices for Chuck a Book. 

#YAShot 2015 is a one-day Young Adult and Middle Grade ‘festival’ taking place in the centre of Uxbridge on Wednesday 28 October 2015 in partnership with Hillingdon Borough Libraries and Waterstone’s Uxbridge.If you would like to buy a ticket for the event, then please click here.

The best book you have ever read. 

This is a totally unanswerable question! I mean, REALLY. There are so many I’ve loved to distraction. Oryx and Crake/Year of the Flood/MADDADDAM by Margaret Atwood, but basically more or less everything she’s ever written. Possession by AS Byatt’s right up there. Lord of the Rings. The Moon and Sixpence by Somerset Maugham which is a kind of fictionalised life of Paul Gaughin; American Gods by Neil Gaiman. Loads more. Amazing short story collection called Corpus by Susan Irvine. 

A book you loved from your childhood.

The Neverending Story by Michael Ende which was far and away the one I read to tatters along with The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. If anything, people remember the film which was pretty cheesy, but the book is fantastical and brilliant and full of sphinxes and a desert that turns into a forest by day and is patrolled by a mystical lion, and a castle in the shape of a hand, dotted with eyes. To this day I marvel at the philosophical depth it contains, which I was aware of at the time, but didn’t have the vocabulary to pinpoint: the notion that a fantasy world of fiction exists as its own place, but only humans have the power to make new things and give them new names. The hero, Bastian, a human child, is the only one that can give the Empress of Fantastica a new name, and without a new name she’ll die. It’s like she is a goddess, this creation that we made with our minds and now exists somewhere on the ether, but gods and goddesses get forgotten over time when their followers die out, unless they get revived with new names and new clothes. That’s also true of stories; we don’t write new stories; we rewrite the old ones and make them new again. The human power of creation. Everyone should read it! 

A book that made you laugh

So many - I love funny books, but probably the funniest is The Henry Root Letters. It was a spoof letter-writing campaign by a mystery person pretending to be a really offensive character, Henry Root, a wet fish salesman, in the 1980s and contains all the genuine replies from the leading lights of that time. Only one response ever seems to suspect it’s a hoax. The rest are a mix of polite, enraged and confused. It wouldn’t work as well now because organisations have such standardised responses to everything, but then you could write a letter to the BBC or Jonathan Cape or Esther Rantzen - or the owner of a model agency asking for “a couple of goers” to come to an office party - and reasonably expect to get a personal reply. 

 I also really loved Russell Brand’s REVOLUTION. I cried with laughter - although I really liked it as a “book with a message” too. I went to see Russell Brand do stand up at the Soho Theatre years ago before he was so famous. There was an audience of about 60 people I think, and at one point a man got up to go to the loo. When he’d left the room Russell told us all to hide behind the curtain, so when he came back, there was no-one there. Then we jumped out at this guy, like, SURPRISE!!! when he came back. I love his Trews series. 

A book you could not finish. 

Oh, LOADS. I often don’t finish things because I’m easily bored. War and Peace. Most Russian literature I’ve read, actually. I had to study it at University and it was just SO depressing and dull. Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev was particularly awful, though perhaps with the benefit of age I might like it more now. What else. Oh, for a different reason - Rose Madder by Stephen King, just because it was so horrible I couldn’t get past one really, really scary scene. I love Stephen King but there are definitely some of his that have scared the pants off me. 

A book that made you swoon. 

I’m not a massive romance fan, but I loved Cross Stitch, or Outlander, by Diana Gabaldon. Super sexy, super swoony, super magical and loads of men in kilts fighting. YUMMY. I haven’t seen the TV version yet but in a way I don’t want to spoil the version of Jamie in my head. Oh and It’s So Easy by Duff McKagan, which is his autobiography, and really heartwarming, and I had a massive crush on him anyway and even more so after that, because - what a great guy. 

A book you can’t wait to read.

I watched Wayward Pines on TV recently, a kind of thriller dystopia which initially looks like Twin Peaks but evolves into something way darker, and I loved it. Apparently it was a book originally so I really want to read that. Also I have Kim Gordon’s autobiography on my shelf and I know it’s going to be amazing.

 A series you have read and loved.

As mentioned - Game of Thrones. Not a particularly unusual or original choice, but hey - there’s a reason so many people love it. I got recommended to read it to study the world building when I was rewriting CROW MOON and remember enjoying it for the first bit until Jaime Lannister pushes Bran out of the window, and then suddenly I was like OH MY GOD!!! And as we know, the series doesn’t disappoint. There’s plenty more AHA moments and things you weren’t expecting and just fabulous characters and the weaving of the world and the stories, and how they come together, it’s all just masterful.

A book that made you cry.

The Cider House Rules by John Irving - about an orphanage and the kindly but flawed doctor that runs it, makes me cry every time I read it when I come to the part when one of the children dies. Sorry, spoiler alert. It’s such a beautiful, beautiful, intelligent book too

Your guilty pleasure book.

I am, like you, Viv, a big fan of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café by Fannie Flagg (worst name ever, bless her) which despite dealing with difficult themes of racism and violence against women managed to be uplifting and sad at the same time. The pace of the book is slow and comfortable like a hot day in the American South. Not a guilty pleasure so much as just a pleasure. I don’t think I have any guilty reads. If GIFs of Matthew McConaughey in True Detective was a book, that would be my current guilty pleasure.

A book that took you out of your comfort zone

Not because it was an unusual genre or anything, but Lost Riders by Elizabeth Laird which is a middle grade/early teen book about children being trafficked to be camel jockeys in the middle east. It was an amazing book and I really loved it but it was incredibly difficult to read because it was so sad, and what happened to those children was so horrific.

 Remember you can see Anna McKerrow and a whole host of other fabulous YA and MG authors at the one day event in Uxbridge on the 28th October 2015.

Crow Moon by Anna McKerrow is published by Quercus

Summary

Danny is a fun-loving 16-year-old looking for a father figure and falling in love with a different girl every day. He certainly doesn't want to follow in his mum's witchy footsteps.

Just as his community is being threatened by gangs intent on finding a lucrative power source to sell to the world, Danny discovers he is stunningly powerful. And when he falls for Saba, a gorgeous but capricious girl sorceress, he thinks maybe the witch thing might not be such a bad idea...

But what cost will Danny pay as, with his community on the brink of war, he finds that love and sorcery are more dangerous than he ever imagined?

To find out more about Anna McKerrow:

Twitter / Website

Asking For It by Louise O'Neill

My mother's face appears in the mirror beside my own, bright red lips on powdered skin.

Her hair is still in its bob despite the sticky heat. She gets it done every Saturday. 

'I deserve a treat,' she says as she leaves the house. 'I don't care how expensive it is.'

Published by Quercus in September 2015

Pages - 294

Summary

It's the beginning of the summer in a small town in Ireland. Emma O'Donovan is eighteen years old, beautiful, happy, confident. One night, there's a party. Everyone is there. All eyes are on Emma. 

The next morning, she wakes on the front porch of her house. She can't remember what happened, she doesn't know how she got there. She doesn't know why she's in pain. But everyone else does. 

Photographs taken at the party show, in explicit detail, what happened to Emma that night. But sometimes people don't want to believe what is right in front of them, especially when  the truth concerns the town's heroes...

******

Reviewed by Vivienne Dacosta

This really is a difficult book to read, let alone review. Not because of the writing, as it is beautifully written and not because of the plot as the story is well paced and page turning. No, the problem I had with this book was the heart ripping situation we find the main character, Emma, in.

I would normally avoid books on rape, as I find them really upsetting. The lack of control the victim has over the situation, cuts like the sharpest knife. In this case, the situation is beyond painful as Emma is basically gang raped. Or is she? The underlying problem within this is that Emma doesn't really know the truth, so the reader never does either. We don't actually know whether Emma consented to it or not as she has no memory of events that night. She only has the photographic evidence and at first she makes out to everyone she is pretending to be asleep, which only makes her look like a liar. But the things the boys put her through, go beyond anything that you would willingly allow to happen to yourself. So I'm convinced that she didn't consent to any of this. She was taken advantage of. Now my question is - why the hell didn't everyone else in the book feel the same?

In society, it is often believed that if you dress like a slut, you are asking for trouble. If you can't handle your booze and mix it with drugs, then basically you're fair game to any hot blooded male. Well that is utter bollocks! In this day and age, you should be able to dress how you want for yourself. You are not dressing to please any man. So what if your skirt is a little short, or you are busting a wee bit out of your top, that doesn't mean you have screw me written on your forehead. Men should be able to control their urges and not see a woman's attire as an open invitation. You don't see women, dragging men to the nearest bedroom, when they appear bare chested, so why should a man think he has the right to sex because of the way you choose to dress. 

Social media is shown as it's ugliest in this book. How easy it is to humiliate people and ruin their lives by the touch of a button. I've witnessed the repercussions of graphic photos being spread and know exactly how damaging it can be. I'm also aware how the education system has no idea how to deal with it. It should be a criminal evidence regardless of your age. No one should be able to spread personal pictures or videos of you without your consent. 

I will admit that Emma doesn't come across as the most likeable character to begin with and I think that is the author's intention. She is self absorbed and hard nosed, thinking nothing of stealing from one of her best friends, convinced that her beauty deems her more worthy of these items. So her character appears a little cagey to begin with,

therefore it isn't surprising that people don't believe her at first. She has a reputation and people love to bolster a bad reputation and make it sound worse. To the point, at times you felt Emma almost believed what they said about her as well. But that still doesn't make her fair game!

I wanted justice for Emma right from the start. I wanted her to find peace. But in reflection of reality, we realise life isn't like that. Everyone in the town is convinced that Emma is a liar and that's wrong. Her family just want peace; they haven't the strength to fight and that makes me angry.

I am hoping this book will bring about change. I want to put a copy into the hands of every teenager. I want this book put on the sex education syllabus for all teens, so that they can see the reality of today's society and learn from it. We have a duty of care to our children to keep them safe, this book should be heralded as a handbook for modern life. 

Congratulations to author Louise O' Neill for writing this book. I feel it will be around for many years to come. Hopefully it will be the book that changed society's perception over the right for every woman to wear what they want and not feel labelled or threatened. 

The Lost And The Found by Cat Clarke

She knows. She definitely knows.

I'm not sure how she knows. I'm not stupid enough to keep a diary, and I'm not one of those weirdos who's all Mum's-my-best-friend-and-we-tell-each-other-everything. Perhaps it's some kind of sixth sense, unique to mothers?

Published by Quercus in July 2015

Pages - 441

LOST. 

When six-year-old Laurel Logan was abducted, the only witness was her younger sister. Faith’s childhood was dominated by Laurel’s disappearance - from her parents’ broken marriage and the constant media attention to dealing with so-called friends who only ever wanted to talk about her sister. 

FOUND.

Thirteen years later, a young woman is found in the garden of the Logans’ old house, disorientated and clutching the teddy bear Laurel was last seen with. Laurel is home at last, safe and sound. Faith always dreamted of getting her sister back, without ever truly believing it would happen. But a disturbing series of events leaves Faith increasingly isolated and paranoid, and before long she begins to wonder if everything that’s lost can be found again…
*****
Reviewed by Vivienne Dacosta

In my house everything stops for a Cat Clarke book. She is one of my favourite YA authors, because she isn't afraid to tackle difficult subjects in her prose. The Lost and The Found follows brightly on from it's predecessors, giving the readers a beautifully written, yet page turningly addictive, unputdownable novel.
This book deals with  a rather topical and sensitive subject - child abduction. Little Laurel was taken from outside her house when she was only six, only to be returned thirteen years later. You would think a story like this would be told from the point of view of Laurel, but it isn't. No, Cat Clarke turns it on its head, telling the story from the perspective of her younger sister, Faith, who lived with the disappearance of her sister and is learning to come to terms with her return. No one ever looks at how the family  will change when a loved one is returned, but undoubtedly it does, as the absence has been such a great void in their lives. I found it fascinating to watch Faith's relationship change with her sister as the story progresses. How she changed her feelings towards her as her own life felt invaded. 
The dynamics of Laurel's fractured family played a big part of the story. With her parents no longer together and her Dad now in another relationship, the family found it difficult to reunite for Laurel's return. It shows how hard it is to fix what has previously been broken. Michel, Dad's boyfriend, is one of my favourite characters in the book, as he doesn't try to be a parent to either girls, he just wants to be  a friend to them, someone who they can go to, when they don't feel they can approach their parents. What more could you ask for from a step parent? 
There are elements of surprise within the plot, which I had an inkling about, but luckily it didn't change my feelings towards any of the characters. All it shows is the wide spectrum of human nature. 
At the heart of the story, there is a mystery. What happened to Laurel while she was gone? That is the question on everyone's  lips and it isn't until the end that you find out the truth.
If you haven't read a Cat Clarke novel, you really are missing out on a  great UKYA author. 

The Write Way with Cat Clarke

I am really pleased to finally welcome Cat Clarke onto the blog today, to talk about her writing on publication day for The Lost and The Found!

Your new novel, The Lost and The Found has just been published. How does that make you feel? 

In a word: excited! This book is very special to me, and deals with a lot of topics that I’m passionate about. It feels a little different to my previous books, but at its heart it’s still about a teenager trying to figure out her place in the world and dealing with the crap that life throws at her.

Can you give me a one line pitch for The Lost and The Found, so my readers can get a feel for the story? 

Ooh that’s really hard! How about something like: ‘What happens when the missing come home?’ Or ‘This is a book that starts with a happy ending.’ Or… Gah! I don’t know. This is why I leave all this malarkey to the clever people at my publishing house.

I always think of you as one of the first UKYA authors, how do feel the genre has changed since you started writing for teens? 

That makes me feel as old as the hills! I think there have been a lot of changes. For one thing, there are more of us flying the UKYA flag and fighting the good fight for crisps and trousers and all things British. There’s more diversity too, which is so, so important. I think there’s still a long way to go, though. We need more BAME authors, LGBTQIA+ authors and authors with disabilities. There are a lot of stories still not being told.

With each book you write, do you find it gets easier or harder? 

It’s definitely different with each book, but not necessarily easier or harder. With the book I’m working on now, I’ve had several false starts, which has never really happened to me before. It panicked me a bit, but I just had to trust that I would get there in the end, and that the story would gradually reveal itself to me. And (fingers crossed!) it seems to be working. I hope I haven’t jinxed it by saying that!

Are you a planner or a pantser when it comes to starting a new novel? 

If you’d asked me this a few years ago I would have been Team Pantser all the way, but I’ve sort of come round to the dark side. ☺ 

These days I get an A3 bit of paper and divide it into a grid with one box per chapter. At this stage a lot of it feels like guesswork, and a lot of the boxes are left blank, but if I know that something dramatic needs to happen a third of the way through the book, I’ll just write ‘SOMETHING DRAMATIC NEEDS TO HAPPEN HERE’ in that box. Hopefully, by the time I get to that point in the actual writing of the story, I’ll have a better idea of what that dramatic thing should be! That’s the idea anyway.

Do you try and aim for a daily word target when writing? 

Nope. I used to, but I found that sometimes I’d keep writing an easy scene just to add words to the count instead of wrapping it up and moving onto the next (inevitably trickier) scene. The wonderful Lee Weatherly introduced me to the Pomodoro Technique, where you write for 25 minutes solidly (no distractions allowed!) then have a five-minute break. My breaks tend to be much, much longer than five minutes though. I might only do four or five sessions a day, but I find that this results in a much higher daily word count than when I used to sit at the computer all day faffing around on the internet. 

You write about some really emotional and topical subjects, such as teen suicide and self-harming, how do you research for these? 

I do a lot of reading, and probably most importantly I listen to teenagers about the issues they’re facing today. Suicide and self-harm may not make for easy reading for adults, but for a teenager who feels lost and alone, just reading about someone who’s going through something similar can be a real comfort. We need to talk about these issues, and not avoid them because they make us feel uncomfortable.

Who are your favourite #UKYA authors? 

So many, but I’ll narrow it down to Keren David, Keris Stainton, CJ Skuse, Anne Cassidy, Tanya Byrne, and of course our fearless leader, Malorie Blackman. 

Can I sneak an Irish writer in too? Sarah Crossan is probably one of my favourite writers full stop. Her new book, ONE, is mind-blowing. Grab yourself a copy this summer.

Which authors make you starstruck? 

JK Rowling! I met her a couple of years ago and I was shaking so hard I thought I might fall over. There was also a genuine concern that I might vomit on her. She was SO lovely though, and I’m happy to confirm that no falling over or vomiting occurred. 

Do you have any advice for unpublished authors on dealing with rejection? 

Rejection and the publishing industry go together hand in hand, like cheese and pickle or Ant and Dec. It’s something that everyone who works in the business has to learn to deal with - not just writers, but agents and editors too. I find that sort of reassuring, to think that it’s not just us poor writers who suffer - misery loves company. ☺ It doesn’t magically stop as soon as you sign your first book deal either. I face rejection all the time, as do the vast majority of published writers.

Dealing with rejection isn’t easy, but the best advice I can give is to wallow in it for a few hours - a day absolute max. Drink wine, eat cake (or cheese!), stomp around to a soundtrack of loud, angry music. Then pick yourself up, dust yourself off and get on with things. Above all: keep writing. (And one of these days I might just manage to follow my own advice.)

Some brilliant answers there from Cat Clarke! Thanks Cat for coming on the blog. 

Thanks for having me on your lovely blog, Viv! It’s been a blast.

The Lost and The Found is published by Quercus and available to buy today!!!

Summary 

LOST. 

When six-year-old Laurel Logan was abducted, the only witness was her younger sister. Faith’s childhood was dominated by Laurel’s disappearance - from her parents’ broken marriage and the constant media attention to dealing with so-called friends who only ever wanted to talk about her sister. 

FOUND.

Thirteen years later, a young woman is found in the garden of the Logans’ old house, disorientated and clutching the teddy bear Laurel was last seen with. Laurel is home at last, safe and sound. Faith always dreamed of getting her sister back, without ever truly believing it would happen. But a disturbing series of events leaves Faith increasingly isolated and paranoid, and before long she begins to wonder if everything that’s lost can be found again…

To find out more about Cat Clarke:

Twitter / Website 

Pop back later to read my review of The Lost and The Found.

Stonebird by Mike Revell

“It’s there the night we go to visit Grandma.

Lying in the crypt at the back of the old church.

Waiting.”

Cover art by Frances Castle and Nicola Theobold

Published in 2015 by Quercus

297 pages in hardback

Summary from Mike Revell’s own website

When eleven-year-old Liam moves house to be closer to his grandma, he’s thrown into an unfamiliar place, with a family that seems to be falling apart.

Liam doesn’t remember what Grandma was like before she became ill with dementia. He only knows the witch-like old woman who snaps and snarls and eats her birthday cards. He desperately wants to make everything better, but he can’t.

Escaping the house one evening, Liam discovers an old stone gargoyle in a rundown church, and his life changes in impossible ways.

The gargoyle is alive. It moves unseen in the night, acting out Liam’s stories. And stories can be dangerous things…

But Liam’s grandma’s illness is getting worse, his mum isn’t coping, and his sister is skipping school.

What if the gargoyle is the only thing that can save Liam’s family?

******

Reviewed by K. M. Lockwood

I do rather have a passion for gargoyles, so I was immediately attracted to this lovely cover. I have rarely seen artwork more suited to the book inside than this.  (You can see how it evolved on Frances Castle’s blog.) The story is told by Liam, the boy with the dog in the picture, and that splendid gargoyle does indeed play a huge part.

Mike Revell has recreated a modern world that won’t date in months, in the way that David Almond did in ‘Skellig’. ‘Stonebird’ has much of that same meeting of magic with a family drama. It is scary at times, and deals with dark subjects like bullying and dementia. But the accessible writing in this compassionate tale makes it suitable for a wide age-range. I would include adults in that, especially anyone going through a similar situation.

Although intended for a younger readership, the importance of creativity through language in it also made me think of Sarah Crossan’s ‘Apple & Rain’.  There are flashes of the poetic but they don’t weight the story down. It leaves you with a sense of hope in spite of bewildering changes: something of the warmth of Frank Cottrell Boyce, but with a voice of its own. An impressive debut.

Waiting on Wednesday - The Lost and The Found by Cat Clarke

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, started by Jill at Breaking The Spine, highlighting future book releases everyone is waiting on!

The Lost and The Found by Cat Clarke - published by Quercus in May 2015

I love Cat Clarke's books! She was one of the first YA author's I ever read and every book knocks the last one she wrote off the top spot of my favourite book by her. If you have never read a Cat Clarke book, then you are definitely missing out. 

Book Summary

LOST. 

When six-year-old Laurel Logan was abducted, the only witness was her younger sister. Faith’s childhood was dominated by Laurel’s disappearance - from her parents’ broken marriage and the constant media attention to dealing with so-called friends who only ever wanted to talk about her sister. 

FOUND.

Thirteen years later, a young woman is found in the garden of the Logans’ old house, disorientated and clutching the teddy bear Laurel was last seen with. Laurel is home at last, safe and sound. Faith always dreamed of getting her sister back, without ever truly believing it would happen. But a disturbing series of events leaves Faith increasingly isolated and paranoid, and before long she begins to wonder if everything that’s lost can be found again… 

Crow Moon by Anna McKerrow

 

The fire in the middle of the circle casts flickering shadows over our faces: we stand obediently in its fierce warmth, following the words of the monthly full-moon ritual.

I raise my hands up to the star-riddled Cornwall evening just like everyone else, just like every month, and feel nothing.

First of Greenworld Series

Published by Quercus on 5th March 2015 

408 pages in review paperback

Summary from Publisher’s website

Danny is a fun-loving 16-year-old looking for a father figure and falling in love with a different girl every day. He certainly doesn’t want to follow in his mum’s witchy footsteps.

Just as his community is being threatened by gangs intent on finding a lucrative power source to sell to the world, Danny discovers he is stunningly powerful. And when he falls for Saba, a gorgeous but capricious girl sorceress, he thinks maybe the witch thing might not be such a bad idea…

But what cost will Danny pay as, with his community on the brink of war, he finds that love and sorcery are more dangerous than he ever imagined?

*****

Reviewed by K. M. Lockwood

Quercus, the publishers, quite rightly mention passion and wickedness in their promotion for this novel. For me what underpins the whole story is Anna McKerrow’s passion for the setting she has created. This Greenworld is fully realised and utterly believable - she includes the muck as well as the magic. 

We’re seeing it through Danny’s eyes - our 16 year old main character - and so the reality of the wickedness that threatens his community grows on him - and us. As the publishers say, it is a coming-of-age adventure. We want him to grow up - and oh does he get the dramatic events to do that! I was thrilled by the cunning use of witchcraft and folklore, enough to feel real, yet so sparing and wrapped up in the adventure to intrigue.

I am not really a romance fan - but I’d say the relationship tensions add to the story. Many readers will fancy Danny, I expect. There’s a fair bit of character-led humour too which enriches the mix. That makes any perils and losses all the more heartfelt.

This will suit those who love reading about adolescents trying to find their role in a magical world very close to our own. The sort of person who wants to speculate about an alternative future - but see it through a credible contemporary character. More thoughtful readers will pick up on the underlying issues of gender, race and spirituality - but happily, it zips along without preaching.  There’s plenty of action with supernatural threats and violence, and romance that touches on sexuality. Nothing there without a point, though, I’d say.

The notes were an informative bonus.  You will just have to wait for the second story - which I rather hope lets us see the Redworld - until next spring.

Sammy Feral's Diaries of Weird by Eleanor Hawken

Friday 3rd April

Hi, I'm Sammy Feral. I've never had a reason to keep a diary - until now. Today my world did a total 180°. I've lost my family, narrowly escaped death and discovered that werewolves are more than just a story made up to scare kids.

Published by Quercus in August 2012

Summary From Quercus

Sammy Feral's life was pretty normal until his entire family turned into werewolves. Now he's on a race against time to find a cure for the virus that has them all howling at the moon! With his dad growing fur and his sister baying for blood, things are getting seriously weird for Sammy…

An action packed adventure that will leave you hungry for more!

*******

Review by Liss Norton

This story is set out as a diary that documents the weird things happening in Sammy Feral's life. Set mostly in the zoo run by Sammy's parents, it's an action-packed danger fest written in a chatty, modern style that will appeal to children aged eight and over who like a fast moving plot. When Sammy's parents and two sisters turn into werewolves, the race is on for him to find a cure before the next full moon. With the help of two people with special powers, he begins a quest that brings him into conflict with his best friend, his teacher, an evil professor and a horde of journalists. 

The book is easy to read, with a few jokey asides from Sammy that lighten the tension. I have to say that I felt the author rather overdid the similes and some of the characters are a bit one-dimensional, but that doesn't detract from the plot which is what this book is all about. I'd certainly recommend it for children who don't like reading much, especially (at risk of sounding sexist) boys who think books are for girls.