Cover Reveal - Daughter of Smoke and Bone

We don't do this often, but in this instance we're doing the cover reveal for Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor because

a.  The book is awesome
b.  The cover is wow
c.  We have become smitten with Laini Taylor
d.  We have to share it because it is just so gorram pretty


Hardback Cover

 

Full Cover - Hardback

Daughter of Smoke and Bone will launch on September 29th and is the first in a trilogy of. The book tells the story of an angel who fell in love with a devil. It did not end well.

Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky. In a dark and dusty shop, a devil’s supply of human teeth grows dangerously low. And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherworldly war.


Meet Kaoru. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters and demons that delight and enthral those around her; she’s prone to disappearing on mysterious “errands”; she speaks many languages – not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that colour.

Her life straddles two worlds: the human and a place that is Elsewhere. She has never really known which one is her true home, but now the doors to Elsewhere closing . . .Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she’s about to find out..

Fans of well written urban fantasy, this book is for you.  It has great characters, an amazing setting (Prague and ... other places), action, adventure, the battle between good and evil, the blurring of lines between good and evil, angels, fallen angels, devils, creatures from mythology, a heroine you fall for 100% and a story you will yourself to be true.  It's been a long time since a book has stayed with me this long.  I cannot wait to share it wtih you.

Pre-order it, you won't regret it. 

The Ghost of Crutchfield Hall by Mary Downing Hahn

Synopsis

Twelve-year-old orphan Florence looks forward to a new life with her great-uncle and great-aunt at Crutchfield Hall, an old manor house in the English countryside. But she doesn’t expect the ghost of her cousin Sophia, who haunts the cavernous rooms and dimly lit hallways of Crutchfield and concocts a plan to use Florence to help her achieve her murderous goals. Will Florence be able to convince the others in the household of the imminent danger and stop Sophia before it’s too late?

I bought this book as an impulse purchase whilst at Foyles the other month. It looked intriguing but was seriously tiny for the price - just one hundred and fifty pages. But that sort of thing never stopped The Woman in Black so I took the plunge. Florence is a sweet little thing, more used to rough treatment at the orphanage where she has spent the last seven years being freezing and half-starved. The Gothic overtones are present from the beginning; lonely girl on a coach, the windswept countryside, the sinister aunt, the huge and overbearing house. I totally lapped all this up. Reading on the train on my way home I was completely on Florence's side as she investigates her Uncle's study only to break a picture frame and drip blood onto the likeness of Sophia (who has died). In trouble again and seeking solace with the servants Sophia finds that something, or someone, is following her.

Sophia soon makes herself known to Florence and begins to twist her to her will. Poor Florence is also being bullied by the awful aunt who worshipped Sophia. As time progresses Florence realises that both she and the rest of the household are in real danger and sets about trying to stop Sophia's plans. The action is fast moving and always exciting. I did feel though that, although I bought this from the young adult section it would probably suit a confident (and not easily scared) younger reader.

This book is gripping. The spookiness builds and when I heard a knocking behind me on the train I jumped and spent a couple of minutes trying to work out where the noise had come from. A quick read, I finished it that night at quarter to twelve. I put the book under my bed and switched off the light. The ending was eerie enough for me to consider moving the book further away, as if keeping it beneath me would bring something out in the dark. I'll definitely be seeking out more books by this author.

The Dragonsdome Blog Tour - Dancing with Dragons

The Dragonsdome Books are by an author called Lucinda Hare.  I had not heard of them until I was approached by Random House to ask if we would be interested in being part of the blog tour.  It took me about ten seconds to say yes, after I read the information sheet they supplied to accompany the request.  Dragons.  Evil Hobgoblins.  Magic.  Dwarfs. Quests.  It was as if I was targeted by Lucinda Hare and her publicity people! I fear my tastes have become too well known! What to do...what to do...

For me, and everyone else, I think, dragons are very much a European thing and an Asian thing.  So when Rosi at Random House sent me the a blogpost entitled:  Native American Culture and its influence on Lucinda’s writing I thought...what...the hell? It made no sense to me.  I'm pretty sure there aren't dragons in Native American lore...But then, gentle reader, I picked up a copy of The Dragon Whisperer and read it and loved it to bits and then the guest blog I had subsequently received made sense.  I am such a Thomas. 

Here then is the very awesome blogpost by Lucinda Hare - and it is genuinely a superb blogpost, especially for aspiring writers as it covers quite a bit of world-building and taking what's contemporary and your own interests, and swinging it to make it relevant to your story.

***

I’m often asked where I found the inspiration for my dragons’ names like Two Gulps & You’re Gone? Well, dragon names, the months of the year, and the hours of the day are all inspired by my passion for Native American culture, as is the core idea of The Dragonsdome Chronicles: talking to animals, in this case dragons.

With my childhood and my heart firmly rooted in the countryside, I have always loved the natural world and the feathered, and furry four-legged friends who share it with us; they are at the core of my family’s life and my stories. Animals also play a key role in Native American cultures. They are not exploited but respected; they are seen as teachers and guides and companions, their gifts and wisdom shared; their existence key to our own survival. Of these many traditions, animal totems and animal speak are beliefs embedded in the heart of The Dragon Whisperer, given voice by Quenelda, a young girl who can talk the language of the dragons, who will have to confront in Flight to Dragon Isle some of the many examples of exploitation and cruelty towards them that exist in our own world, who struggles to give them a voice where others see and hear ‘only animals’. Rescuing and re-homing injured, old and behavioural problem animals means you have to learn their ‘language’ (behaviour, movement, character and vocalisation), both as a species and as individuals, from dogs and feral cats to abandoned baby wood mice: this has led friends to call me an ‘animal whisperer’.

What I was going to name my talking dragons was one of my first challenges as an author. I did not want to name them the way we commonly name our pets as this did not do justice to these magnificent magical creatures. Sooty the dragon does not work and Fluffy is out of the question! Nor did I want the overly romanticised names so common in science fantasy. I wanted something gritty and evocative; something that reflected the reality of a scaled, fire-breathing, six-taloned nightmare the size of a football pitch bearing down on you. I also wanted names to reflect each dragon's breed and individual character.


Chinook

 So I turned to my lifelong interest in and admiration for Native American cultures and their name giving ceremonies; where a name is given that has special meaning reflecting each individual’s unique personality. Traditionally this name would be given during a ceremony by tribal elders or a medicine man; a ritual handed down from generation to generation. The name chosen might suggest itself in a vision, or a pipe ceremony or at dream time. A wonderful example of what I mean is Kuwanyamtiwa, a Hopi name meaning 'beautiful badger going over the hill'. Work that one out if you can! Hakidonmuya is another Hopi name meaning 'time of the waiting moon.' Kaliska is a Native American Miwok name meaning 'coyote chasing deer’. Where we can, we name our own pets in similar fashion. For example we gave the name Chinook to a gentle little feral cat (no longer feral, but it took years), who is as free and gentle as the warm coastal winds that blow where the Canadian prairies meet the Great Plains of America.

 Where I cannot claim to know of the traditional rites handed down from generation to generation I have given my dragons names that are true to these principles. Thus Imperial Blacks, the greatest of all dragons, were given names like Stormcracker Thundercloud III, Dangerous & Deadly, and Leave in Smoking Ruins. All names that would strike fear into their enemies. Another key battledragon is the boastful and proud Sabretooth that Tangnost and Quenelda are trying to treat without getting frazzled to a crisp. Sabretooths are cave dragons with huge incisors and an appetite to match, so Two Gulps & You're Gone struck me as ideal. He would have at least a dozen hobgoblins for dinner! But Chasing the Stars is the name given to Root’s gentle mare whose character is inspired by our own little Chinook.

 

Chasing the Stars in illustration entitled ‘Oops!’ taken from The Dragon Whisperer

The medieval magical world of the Dragonsdome Chronicles has nothing in common with our modern day and age of high-rise cities, the internet, cars and planes. Yes, there is magic, but like technology, it has its limits. How can even a mighty Imperial Black battledragon fly in a howling blizzard? So, how do you measure time in such a primordial world? When you are world building it is good to find a different language to describe familiar things, and once again I turned to Native American culture to come up with ideas for such a wild, untamed world. There was a time not so very long ago when our very survival was tied to the rhythms of nature and the changing of the seasons, and thus time was measured by the cycle of the full moon. Full moons dominate the night sky and have attracted unique names of their own that reflect those seasons. I have borrowed Native American names for full moons below, with some alternative names in brackets; but this personal choice reflects only a fraction of the many tribal variants such as Abenaki, Cheyenne, Cherokee, Comanche, Kiowa, Lakota, Mohawk, Potawatomi and Shoshoni that exist. Those in bold print represent those adopted by the American Indian Association. Some of these names may be familiar to readers in the UK: I grew up calling September moon the harvest moon, and October the hunter’s moon.

January Wolf Moon (Snow Moon)
February Snow Moon (Hunger Moon)
March Sap Moon (Maple Sugar Moon / Crow Moon)
April Sprouting Grass Moon ( Frog Moon / Wild Goose Moon)
May Corn Planting Moon (Flower Moon)
June Hot Moon (Strawberry Moon / Rose Moon)
July Thunder Moon (Blood Moon / Buck Moon)
August Grain Moon (Moon of the Green Corn)
September Harvest Moon
October Hunters Moon (Moon of the Falling Leaves)
November Frost Moon (Beaver Moon)
December Long Nights Moon (Cold Moon)

I took a light hearted approach to the hours of the day and years; although they draw upon the same inspiration they are entirely fictitious. Flight to Dragon Isle opens with the new year of The Sabretooth Dormouse, and hours of the day are in the same vein but with a distinctive Scottish twist:

Howling wolf -One
Stealthy Lynx - Two
Dozy Hedgehog  - Three
Tawny Owl - Four
Yawning Dormouse - Five
Strutting Cockerel - Six
Blackbird - Seven
Stroppy Capercaillie - Eight
Cross-eyed Squirrel - Nine
Eager Beaver - Ten
Irritated Bumblebee - Eleven
Osprey - Noon
Inquisitive Stoat - One
WildCat - Two
Blue-spotted Earwig - Three
Grumpy Badger - Four
Wild Boar - Five
Very Plump Ptarmigan - Six
Sabre-toothed Rabbit - Seven
Giant Slug - Eight
Hunting Fox - Nine
Black Bear - Ten
Creeping Lynx - Eleven
The Witching Hour - Midnight

Native Americans see themselves as stewards of the earth and all its inhabitants - man and beast - not owners. They recognize the symmetry and balance in nature and, unlike modern societies today, respect our environment and all its diverse and unique life forms. Quenelda’s world is equally imperfect, but through her, I hope to give animals a voice.

Thank you so much to Lucinda and Rosi for letting MFB be part of the tour.  We wish Root and Quenelda the best of luck with all their travails and I look forward to sharing my two reviews of the Lucinda's books with MFB readers.

Please do visit Lucinda's website - she is a talented artist and has spent some time creating superb pieces from the books. 

Sarah Alderson talks to MFB about her inspirations and influences

MFB are exceedingly proud to host Hunting Lila's author, Sarah Alderson today.  We asked her to tell us about her inspirations and influences and not only do we love her a bit more than before, we love how our influences and tv show and movies do actually correspond.  She's a geeky girl at heart!

***

I grew up on a diet of Enid Blyton and rated 18 movies. My mum let me watch Aliens and the Hitcher when I was eight. I fell in love with Luke Skywalker when I was five (then switched allegiance to Han Solo when I was six – fickle huh?). I loved Dirty Dancing, Breakfast Club, Lost Boys and Last of the Mohicans, I knew all the dance routines, all the words and would put on my leg warmers and cut off jeans and tell myself that nobody put me in the corner. I’d imagine Nathanial Hawkeye telling me to stay alive, that he’d find me no matter how far, no matter how long it took, before kissing me and then jumping off a waterfall. Basically, combine all that with Mallory Towers, a dangerous tween-years addiction to Dynasty, followed by teenage years watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Twin Peaks when I should have been doing my homework, and I was always going to have a vivid imagination. I still feed that imagination with a daily diet of books, movies and tv shows, (current addictions Game of Thrones, True Blood and Mad Men).

Alex Skarsgard

It’s no surprise then that my automatic reaction when asked what inspires me when I write, is to think of films and television shows rather than books. The character of Alex was inspired partly by the gorgeous Alex Skarsgard (Eric in True Blood) after I saw him in Generation Kill in which he, uhum, plays a Marine. He’s a little too old to be Alex but he’s hot. And um, well, he’s hot. I stole my husband’s eyes though and a few of his character traits to make up the character of Alex.

The other characters just appeared in my head, fully formed, as if they had always been there, just waiting to be born. I literally just had to listen in on the conversations and write them down. The characters are all so real to me that after I finished writing Hunting Lila I went through a period I can only describe as like mourning. So about two weeks later, whilst on the beach in Goa, I picked up my laptop and started writing the sequel. I wrote 40,000 words in 10 days.

My first inspiration for actually writing came from Twilight. I was swimming one day and trying to figure out what I was going to do to earn money, having just that day resigned from my job. Having no discernable skills whatsoever I was feeling slightly anxious and started running through ideas in my head as I crawled up the slow lane with my goggles on. My thought process went something like:

Right must earn money, what can I do? I have no skills. I’m in trouble. Who is rich? Let’s see…The Queen. But I don’t think Prince William’s going to marry me. I’m not posh enough. Richard Branson, he’s rich. But he works really hard. Hmmmm who else? Stephenie Meyer, She’s rich and all from writing about vampires. I know! I’ll write a book too.

And by the time I had swum another ten lengths (I swim slow) I had the beginning of my story. Every time I got stuck I’d just think ‘What if…’ and after four months of daily swimming and writing long into the night, I’d finished the first draft, which ended up being almost twice as long as the finished version. (luckily for me at that point I didn’t know that most writers can’t afford to give up the day job – unless they move to Bali of course, which is what I did).

My main inspiration for writing now though is my two best friends who were with me from the very first chapter of Hunting Lila, encouraging me and supporting me to keep writing, when getting published was a dream I didn’t dare talk about. Writing is an incredibly lonely process. I live in other worlds for months at a time and rarely lift my head above the parapet to notice the real world going on around me. But having my two best friends along with me for every journey, reading chapter by chapter, makes it that much easier.

This week I’ve started receiving emails from people who’ve read advance copies of Hunting Lila, and they’re saying such lovely things. That too is an inspiration to keep writing. I love making people happy, just by using by imagination and the power of words. I couldn’t dream up a more perfect job.

Except maybe being Alex Skarsgard’s personal stylist.

***

There is a fab Q&A over at the Simon & Schuster website with Sarah. My favourite is:

Q. Is there a book you love to reread?

A. Perfect Chemistry (for, ahum, obvious reasons).

A girl after my own heart!

Wikio tells us...we are lucky number 13

1	Charlie's Diary
2	tales from the village
3	Stuck In A Book
4	Making it up
5	Reading Matters
6	Playing by the book
7	Savidge Reads
8	An Awfully Big Blog Adventure
9	Farm Lane Books Blog» Farm Lane Books Blog
10	Book Chick City
11	Wondrous Reads
12	Asylum
13	My Favourite Books
14	Lucy Felthouse - Erotic Author
15	chasing bawa
16	booktwo.org
17	Cornflower
18	Lizzy's Literary Life
19	For Books' Sake
20	The Book Smugglers

Ranking made by Wikio

It's taken about 2 days to figure out this coding as it just would not post, no matter what I did.

Anyway, I am proud for MFB to be on this list and even more proud to know so many other superb bloggers.

We go Delirium mad!

Some time ago now, Sarah reviewed Delirium for MFB.  We've just been told that the paperback is out TODAY and so Hodder are going all out to make a big splash about it...and we thought we'd throw our own few pebbles in the pond to celebrate the paperback release.

First up, we have the Delirium trailer that is quite cool - it is interactive and fun to play with:



But then, I also do love the cover of the paperback:

And, to crown it all, Hodder are running a competiton to win five copies of the sequel to Delirium: Pandemonium to give away to some lucky winners.  Click here to check it out.

And then, Hodder also let us have some reading group questions too, which are below. However please note:

***spoilers below if you've not read the book**



Worth Dying For by Lee Child

There's deadly trouble in the corn country of Nebraska ... and Jack Reacher walks right into it. First he falls foul of a local clan that has terrified an entire county into submission. But it's the unsolved case of a missing child, already decades-old, that Reacher can't let go.

The Duncans want Reacher gone - and it's not just past secrets they're trying to hide. They're awaiting a secret shipment that's already late - and they have the kind of customers no one can afford to annoy. For as dangerous as the Duncans are, they're right at the bottom of a criminal food chain stretching halfway around the world.

For Reacher, it would have made much more sense to keeping on going, to put some distance between himself and the hardcore trouble that's bearing down on him.

For Reacher, that was also impossible.

This was my first ever Jack Reacher/Lee Child novel and I've come to two conclusions:

1. Reading Lee Child is like becoming addicted to something like chocolate or coca-cola, as you can't stop once you've started;
2. What the hell is Hollywood thinking casting Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher?  Admittedly, Tom-boy has "skills" but never, ever, ever, is he going to pull off being as solidly kick-ass as Jack.  Not even if they give him shoes with stilts built in.

The very first thing I liked about Worth Dying For is that there is a bio/CV on Jack Reacher to examine, even before you get to the story.  You are left - if you are a newbie like me - with NO doubt who Jack is...or rather, what he's capable of.  And I did wonder how I would end up identifying with this tough guy and if he was going to be so macho the book would drip with testosterone.  I was 100% ready not to like it. 

I couldn't have been more wrong. 

Jack got me on his side by doing a simple thing: he drove a drunk doctor to the home of a battered patient and forced him to administer to her.  Then Jack went, after dropping the doctor back home, to find the battered woman's husband and biffing him in the face, whilst he was at dinner with some mates. 

From then on, which is really the start of Jack's troubles, I was telling everyone about Jack and what a badass he is. 

Mr. Child takes his time to set up the story, how Seth (the guy Jack smacked on the nose) runs home to his dad and his uncles to tell them about this guy who came to hit him for beating up his wife and suddenly, all four Duncans have it in for Jack Reacher.

As Jack gets to know the small community of farmers in the area, whilst dodging the "Cornhuskers" (ex-football athletes the Duncans employ to intimate the farmers), Jack comes to realise that the Duncans have a strangle-hold on the community and if there is one thing Jack dislikes...it's a bully. 

But the Duncans aren't just bullies who blackmail the local farmers into using their transport trucks to transport their harvested crops.  There is something else going on with them too and it's not above board.  This other business of theirs happens to come under threat because of Jack running around and they mention it to their business partners, citing Jack's presence as the delay in the delivery of the "goods".  These business partners in turn inform their business partners and so it goes up the supply line, until a group of out of towners descend on the small Nebraska town and things get very heated.

In the midst of all this, Jack is trying to stay alive and solve a missing girl's disappearance from over 20 years ago.  The little girl lived in the area and her mum lives a hand to mouth existence, mainly due to the Duncans punishing her for naming them in the investigation all that time ago.

I admire Lee Child for his writing prowess in this.  As readers we are shown the macro view and as the story unfolds the story becomes more and more focused and Jack's actions become deadlier and less random-seeming.  I loved how the story unfolds into an intimate expose of the small corner of Nebraska with Jack at its core, the spider unravelling the intricate web.  It is superb planning going on in the background and the only other writers I know of who can pull this off successfully is Stephen King in The Stand and It and Neil Gaiman in his American Gods.

Worth Dying For is a masterclass of thriller writing and I've become a fan of Lee Child, sort of against my will.  Even if I know I'm being manipulated, I can't help but fall for Jack and for rooting for him and luxuriating in the comfort he gives me knowing that he's out there. (I realise it's fiction, but still.  We all need a bit of Jack Reacher in our lives).  And that I think that is such an important experience for a reader - I'm not 6'6" and I do not have devastating martial arts skills or a Black Ops background, but I do have an inner sense of what is right and wrong and Lee Child plays those cards when he writes Reacher, and I believe it implicitly.

Enough gushing from me - if you've ever turned up your nose at a Lee Child, surprise yourself and buy one to read this summer, start with Worth Dying For because it just plain bloody good storytelling.

Yours sincerely,

Jack Reacher's Newest Fan

Tessa Gratton talks to MFB

In June I reviewed the wonderful Blood Magic and was lucky enough to be able to interview Tessa Gratton too. Here's what she had to say: -

Hi Tessa and welcome to My Favourite Books.

Tell us about where your research for Blood Magic took you. What sorts of things did you find yourself reading?

I read a lot of books about body-snatching in Scotland, England, and the US, about American folk magic, the Pennsylvania-Dutch, and European Medieval magic, alchemy, and early frontier medicine. Most of that was all to develop my system of magic and the history of its practitioners.

Silla and Nick are both struggling with damaged pasts and are essentially true of heart yet Josephine is a nasty piece of work but conscience free. Why do baddies get to have all the fun?

LOL. Well, bad guys want the bad consequences! Those of us we try to do good most of the time have to be aware of the consequences of our actions, and take responsibility for them. You can’t ignore repercussions of something like blood magic (or getting into a car drunk, for example). For the good guys, it isn’t just about selfish fun.

Following on from this, you've done some brilliant videos of Josephine's diary entries. She's such a glorious character, how much did you enjoy writing/acting her part?

She was the most fun to write, hands down! I can do just about anything with her because she’s so free and just evil enough to do anything she wants! Acting her role was frustrating because I don’t have any clothes that she would actually wear – so I stressed about it! But once it was taken care of, I loved it. She’s delicious.

There are a lot of parallels between blood magic and self harm. Although Silla isn't self-harming she has lost weight, altered her appearance and behaviour. Did you worry that people would take the act of blood magic the wrong way?

I hope that readers will see that the issue is complicated – and it’s important to bring up consequences again, as above. You can’t do something without consequences. Whether that’s self-harm, blood magic, not eating, etc. Everything you do changes you, and you need to be aware of that. I do think the vast majority of readers are smart and savvy and will see the complications (and the fantasy), so I’m not terribly worried.

People are always quick to criticise subject matter in young adult fiction but Shakespeare often covered equally dark subjects. How do you feel about this?

I think that readers self-censor. If a teen doesn’t want to read about something dark, he or she won’t. And if they do, then my not writing about it won’t stop them. They can find it in adult literature and things like, as you mention, Shakespeare. There’s nothing I’m going to write that can’t be found on basic television or video games, either.

Will we see more of Silla and Nick?

Maaaaaybe. :D

Tell us about how Merry Fates got started. How do the three of you find time to write your short stories?

The three of us were critique partners already, and we all met online. I’d been giving away free fiction (short stories and a serial novel) online for about 2 years, and Maggie did an art project one year where she painted a complete painting every day. She suggested we do a similar thing with stories – that’s how Merry Fates was born. As for finding time, some days it was harder than others, but usually it was only a matter of discipline. You sometimes have to give up time from writing other things or an hour of TV watching! You find time for the things you prioritize, and we all prioritize writing and Merry Fates.

Thank you for again for taking the time to talk to us!

Goodbye Under 14's Only - See you in 2012

July has been an amazing month on MFB.  We got the chance to review a great many great books, we twittered and facebooked about them, we showcased other bloggers, we spoke to librarians and random people about these titles, we handhold books in Foyles to unsuspecting customers and told them about Under 14's Only and we are so proud to have brought less-shouted about books to everyone's attention.

Shockingly, both Sarah and I have still got a truckload of books left over for review that we have not had the chance to get to.  Mark has a stack of reviews saved up as well.  We could easily have double-posted reviews but that defeats the purpose of showcasing a book / author a day, so what we've decided to do is continue reading these titles until they are done, all through August and reviewing them on the site on Saturday/Sunday as the month progresses.

I know in my original blogpost introducing Under 14's Only, I was going to give a box of the books away in a competition.  I lied.  Instead, I am packing all the books reviewed on the site in July, in a box and we are donating it to my friend, Matt Imrie's new library at the new school that's just employed him.  We were all super worried about Matt being made redundant at his local library so when he got this job, we all cheered very loudly.

This is one way for us, as readers and friends, to actually give back to a friend who has such passion for books and getting kids reading.

It is with sadness in our hearts that we say an official goodbye to Under 14's Only for 2011 but we are already planning ahead for July 2012, if the powers of the bloggerverse is with us.

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this month - too many to mention - and thank you to my MFB Crew who are always so willing to follow me into insanity.  We'll be back next year with more reviews and interviews highlighting books for younger readers.

Bookzone 4 Boys Recommends: Five Books for Boys

Thank you Liz for asking me to write this, although I have been cursing you over the past week and my list of books has changed almost hourly. I completely agree with what Becky (of The Bookette fame) wrote for MFB the other day when she argued that there are so many great books for the under 14s out there but they can be easily overlooked amidst the constant buzz that goes on for YA titles. These five books are amongst my favourites for the younger age group, although no doubt I will think of five different ones tomorrow. I have tried to go for less obvious choices rather than the series titles I bang on about on The Book Zone whenever a new instalment is released

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

I read this one some time ago, before I started The Book Zone, and it has stuck in my mind ever since. “Are you a gifted child looking for special opportunities” reads the news paper ad that catches the eye of orphan Reynie Muldoon. His interest suitably piqued Reynie turns up at the time stated and finds himself being set a number of unusual tasks, tests that only he and three other children will pass. These four talented (and decidedly quirky) children soon find themselves going undercover for their recruiter, the Mr Benedict of the book's titles, on a mission to prevent a criminal mastermind from taking over the world. It is easy to say that this story is Dahl-esque, but the comparison can't be helped: it is funny, clever, and as a beedtime reader will have younger readers captivated as they follow the adventures of Reynie and his new friends. Similarly, as with much of Roald Dahl's greatest works this is all about kids versus adults, although at 450+ pages it is a more challenging read than these. Readers just entering their teens will find it a long but ultimately very funny and rewarding read.

Johnny Mackintosh and the Spirit of London by Keith Mansfield

If your boy likes space and science fiction then this is a definite must-read, especially as books for younger readers in this genre seem to be few and far between. Interestingly, when independent publisher Nosy Crow did a survey asking 6-9 year old boys what sort of things they really like, 'Outer Space' came third in the list, which leaves me asking why there aren't more books like Johnny Mackintosh around? This books follows the adventures of, yes you guessed it, Johnny Mackintosh. Johnny's life is not a particularly happy one at the beginning of the story as his mother lies in a deep coma in St Catherine's Hospital for the Criminally Insane and his father is locked away in a high security prison. Despite all of this Johnny is a pretty well-balanced boy, both sporty and intelligent enough to build his own computer, a device that he has programmed to search for signals from outer space. The detection of one such signal soon sees Johnny on the run from aliens, and journeying across the galaxies to strange worlds in search of answers to questions he never dreamed would involve him. This is a superbly written action/adventure story which I really believe could do for space stories what Harry Potter did for tales involving wizards and magic, if only it could find itself into the hands of more young people. If your son likes this book then rejoice as there is a sequel, titled Star Blaze,and the third book in the series, Battle For Earth, is due out at the end of the summer.

Justin Thyme: The Tartan of Thyme by Panama Oxridge

This is a book that I think is pretty darn special, and as with Johnny Mackintosh, I believe it is a book whose popularity would snowball if more kids got their hands on it. I first read it back in 2006, when it was self-published by the enigmatically named Panama Oxridge. For a number of years it was only available to buy second hand, often at silly prices, until newish publisher Inside Pocket released it last year. I still vividly remember the first time I read this book, wowed by its gorgeous packaging and illustrations within, and how I read well into the night, not wanting to put it down until I had finished it. Several readings later and it still hasn't lost its wow factor, and finally a sequel is due in October. Set in a Scottish castle, the story revolves around the titular character Justin Thyme, and his quest to solve a complex whodunit mystery. Littered throughout the story are a plethora of clues, both in the text and the illustrations, placed there by the author to help the reader solve the mystery. Although if, like me, you get so sucked into the story that you forget to look for clues, you may just find yourself reading again more carefully as soon as you have finished it for the first time. To give you an idea of how devious Panama can be, when he did an interview for The Book Zone the first letters of each of his replies to my 15 interview questions spelled "THYME RUNNING OUT", the title of that long awaited sequel. Naturally I spotted this immediately..... NOT! This is a book that will have boys (and girls) entranced for hours, and if you hear them giggling away to themselves they are probably reading about Eliza, a super-intelligent, computer literate gorilla who finds it amusing to go online to chat up boys!

Casper Candlewacks in Death by Pigeon by Ivan Brett

I know I said I would go for less obvious choices, and yes I did review this on The Book Zone earlier this year, but I still want to shout about it, as it is such a hilarious read and several months on it is still one of my favourite reads of 2011. It follows the adventures of Casper Candlewacks, the only person with any amount of intelligence or common sense in the village of Corne-on-the-Cobb. If you son has read and loved the likes of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, and The BFG then I guarantee that he will love this book as well. Whilst not yet as skilled in story-writing as Roald Dahl, this début offering from Ivan Brett shows so much promise that it is hardly surprising that so many reviewers mention the late, great RD in their reviews of this book. I was going through a somewhat worrying period of blogger-burnout earlier this year, struggling to 'get in to' most books and this was one of two books that cured me and lifted me from that dreadful malaise.

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

I bet this choice took you by surprise, yet why ignore the classics when choosing books for young people? After all, I have mentioned Roald Dahl more than once in this post but how many young people these days haven't read (or had read to them) his work? Surprising though it may seem I am sure there are many. Treasure Island is one of my all-time favourite books, both as a child reader and now as an adult. It has almost everything a child could ask for in a book: adventure, a quest for buried treasure, fantastic villains, and a boy hero who every child can relate to and would want to be. Hell, I know I wanted to be Jim Hawkins when I first read this book! Word of caution though – this is a book for confident readers as the language can at times be a little difficult, especially during lengthy passages involving lots of dialogue. However, for a book read by an adult to a child there aren't many others that would get my recommendation over this one. This is one of the books that created my life-long love of reading, and it is a book that I will probably read many, many more times throughout my life. I have recently received an e-book called Booksurfers: Treasure Island by David Gatward for my Kindle in which the author has crafted a brand new story that includes hyper-links that take the reader into the original RL Stevenson text – I am intrigued as to how this will work, but if it brings the classic story to the attention of a new generation of readers it can only be a good thing.

Aside from these above mentioned books, if parents were to ask me what they should get their reluctant reader boys as summer reads I would always advise them to buy (or get out from the libary) a few “first in series” books initially, as if they love one they will desperately want to read more. I did this a couple of years ago, buying my godson the first few Percy Jackson books – he devoured them whilst they were on holiday (as did his younger brother and his mother, each waiting patiently in turn) and now he totally loves reading. Series that I would highly recommend are the H.I.V.E. books by Mark Walden (fast-paced, exciting stories following the adventures of the pupils at a school for young super-villains); The Invisible Fiends books by Barry Hutchison (for 9+ boys who prefer their reading to be full of grisly horror you don't get much better than this series); and this may see me accused of stating the obvious, but if you are struggling to get your boys to read and you have not yet tried the Alex Rider books by Anthony Horowitz then get down to your local library now!

~~~

Thank you to Liz for asking me to write this for My Favourite Books, I really hope you find some of my ramblings useful in choosing books for your boys to read this summer.

~~~

I am just about to retire to my couch with my copy of Treasure Island because I've not read it for the longest time.  Thanks, Darren, for this awesome list of titles!  I am new to almost all of these you've mentioned and am feeling horrified and a bit ill - well, except for Percy Jackson and Alex Rider books, that is. 

Barrington Stoke - My Heroes

**warning: long blog post, may require two cups of tea at least**

I am a fan of the Barrington Stoke books.  Barrington Stoke, for those readers who don't know, is a specialised publisher who focusses publishing some fantastic fiction for reluctant readers.

I only came to know of them a little while ago when James Lovegrove emailed me to tell me about this series of books he's been writing for them.  It was called The 5 Lords of Pain and each book, though shorter than the usual published books we get to review, was to be for that elusive demographic, the reluctant reader.  And because I know James, having met him several times, and because I am a fan of his adult military science fiction novels, I said yes, let's give this new thing a try.

And I fell in love. Not just with James' story, that was a given, but also with the whole concept of what Barrington Stoke were doing.

I took some titles with me when I went to visit one of my local primary schools on World Book Day.  I spoke to the kids there about the books and had a lot of interest shown.  Not just by the keen readers, but also from one of the boys who was dyslexic and who hated reading.  In fact, this boy was so charmed by the books I showed them, that when I asked them to write descriptions and stories from the covers they'd seen, and from looking at the story cards from Templar, he came up to read out what he had written.

His teacher was staring at him with open-mouthed amazement and only later told me what a strop he threw earlier that morning when I came in, when he saw that the whole day would be dedicated to writing, storytelling and reading.  These were the things he hated the most and she expected him and his table of friends to give me a lot of hassle.  And strangely, these were the boys who were the most engaged, who fought to read out their stories.  I would like to think it had nothing to do with me, but everything with the fact that they realised that stories and reading was not just the provenance of the clever kids, that there were books and stories out there for them too.  And that there was an entire publisher who focussed on books only for them.

So, back to the books themselves.  I love the look and feel of these books.  I love how tight and vivid the writing has to be and how strong the story lines are. The covers are superbly vibrant and it draws you in.  The stories themselves run the gamut from action adventure in contemporary settings with a twist of fantasy, to gritty realistic stories with very real troubled teens and recognisable moral dilemmas.  Looking at their list of titles online, they have a bit of everything for everyone, with some superb authors writing for them:

Anthony McGowan
Jim Eldridge
James Lovegrove
Bali Rai
EE Richardson
Theresa Breslin
Kevin Brooks

...to name but a few.  The overall list is long and extensive and honestly, I want them all. But the best part is, although I am concentrating on books for kids in this blogpost, Barrington Stoke also does books for adults.  And that is something I think that sets them apart from other publishers.  I will definitely be looking in on these adult titles too and report back, for sure!

In the meantime I'm focussing on the handful of titles Barrington Stoke sent me for review for Under 14s Only month.

Here they are:

Aren't they just gorgeous looking?

As I am a new fan of Bali Rai's (I know, I am behind the times) I read The Gun first.

When Jonas finds a gun on the estate, something makes him keep it.  Worse still, he shows his friends. Big mistake. 


Binny's OK, but Kamal's a bit crazy.  Once he starts flashing the gun around the estate, it's only a matter of time before someone gets hurt.  And it's Jonas who'll have to pay. 


The Gun is a short, sharp stab in your heart.  Taking no shortcuts, not dollying it up, it tells the story over a handful of days, of how Jonas' life goes from relatively okay to something awful  It opens up in a police station, with the policeman asking Jonas to tell them everything that happened.  And Jonas does, right through from how they were standing outside the local kebab shop when they heard gunshots, to him picking up the backpack with the gun in it, that the shooters tried to hide away, to how he stupidly tells his friends Binny and Kamal and the trouble they have with the kids from the other estate and how things go completely wild.

Super short chapters set the scene with spare prose and strong dialogue.  Jonas is a boy we all recognise, and so is his family life, with a mum always working and a sweet but mouthy sister who is far too clever for her own good.

The story doesn't pull any punches, showing the brutality of life on an estate run by gangs and how one choice can completely mess up your life.  A great, sharp vivid story, accompanied by a note from the author, telling us how he came up with the story and why he chose the characters he chose and why it panned out the way it did.

The book itself, as an object, feels good in the hands - matte cream paper with a larger than average font, shorter than usual chapters, I sped through the story with easy, liking the spacing of the words on the page. The story made me feel like I watched a rather excellent tv-show that wasn't preachy, but stark in its reality.  A great read.

The Fall by Anthony McGowan 

Two's company.  Three's a crowd.  One has got to go. 


Mog might be a loser, but he's not as much of a loser as Duffy.  So when Duffy tries to get in with Mog's best mate, Mog decides to take action.  But when he lands Duffy in The Beck, the rancid stream behind the school, Mog has no idea how far the ripples will spread. 


The Fall is told retrospectively from Mog's point of view as an older man.  He introduces us to his best mate, Chris Rush, who was a cool kid, a bit dangerous to know, but one of those charismatic characters we all knew or know in school.  Mog enjoyed hanging around with Chris but when Chris started paying attention to the loser, Duffy, Mog decides the best way to take care of it is to embarrass Duffy so much that he'd not want to be their mate any more.  Mog gets away with it, treating Duffy really badly and that is the turning point in his and Chris' relationship.  Things become edgier, angrier and when they steal Chris's brother's crossbow things get out of hand and Mog acts in a truly reprehensible way.

I enjoyed the story, but I reacted negatively to it the most as I couldn't quite wrap my mind around what Mog does in the end.  I understand why it was written the way it was, but I felt that Mog's character does nothing to redeem himself and it left me feeling sad.

Like The Gun, The Fall has short, punchy chapters and is printed on creamy off-white paper.  There is lots of space on the page, which is great as it didn't feel like an intimidating read at all. I liked that there was a sticker on the cover to indicate "dyslexia friendly" and that the sticker could be pulled off with ease by the reader or giver.

Bomb by Jim Eldridge (I only read my first Jim Eldridge earlier this year, which was a Western for kids, and LOVED it.  I love his prose and think he does some great writing for younger readers)

The clock is ticking...


Rob's a top bomb disposal expert.  He has to defuse a bomb in a school before it's too late.  Can he do it? 

Holy smokes! This one was tense.  The story starts with a Top Secret memo telling us what's going on - who Rob is, what the situation is (where the bomb was placed within a local school and that the terrorist had demanded a ransom which, if not met, would cause the bomb to explode) and who Rob was.

At only 19, Rob was one of the youngest bomb disposal squad members but he has a great track record.  MI5 sent him as he was young enough to be a cleaner, a disguise in order to fool the bomber should he be watching the school.  Rob finds the bomb in the basement and quickly realises that this is the same style of bomb that had killed a good friend of his...but Rob couldn't for the life of him remember the sequence his friend had gone through, when cutting the wires.  Illustrated by Dylan Gibson, we are shown what Rob looks like, what the bomb looks like and how fast the time is running out.

I liked that Rob was an older boy, that he had advance so far in his young life and that he was this competent.  And although I am a big Jim Eldridge fan, I did find a few of the paragraphs to be a bit too short and choppy, but, having said that, it did serve to drive the tension higher.

The Mountain's Blood by Lari Don 

Inanna's bored of being the goddess of love - how dull! When a volcano begins to make her people's lives a misery she decides to take it on. None of her brothers will help her so she faces it single-handedly, and her victory inspires her to become the goddess of war. Thrilling re-telling of an ancient Sumerian myth.


I laughed so much when I opened this one to read.  Inanna is such a great character - deeply spoiled, stubborn and a born hero.  When she is landed with the title of Goddess of Love, she goes off in a huff, riding her chariot across the sky, pulled by her blue bulls.  She's in a huff because she thinks being the Goddess of Love means she can't use her mad weapon skills and especially her axe.  A girl after my own heart.  Yet, as she travels the skies she sees how the people love her, how they are prospering and her heart grows warm with love, until she spots the disagreeable mountain that's sprung up from nowhere.  She demands that it obey her and leave the area, but the mountain refuses to budge.

Angered by its insolence, she decides to plead with it in a suitably goddess-like way, but no joy.  She resorts to pleading with all the other gods but gets nowhere.  No one is keen to help her out.  Inanna dons her armour and all her weapons and decides to fight the mountain until it submits.  Perfect!

The story is a retailing of an age-old Summerian myth and at the back of the book there is a brief write-up from Inanna herself, about the story, giving some information about Summeria.

The Mountain's Blood is beautifully illustrated by Paul Duffield.

Next up is The Jaws of Death by Malachy Doyle

Kwang-su must embark on a perilous journey so that he can marry Ling-Ling. He must cross monster-infested rivers and outwit the powerful genii that live on the mountain-top. With a little help from some magic gifts, he manages to return home in time to save Ling-Ling from marrying an old mandarin. Action packed re-telling of an ancient Chinese myth.

This is the first time I've read this myth and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Beautifully illustrated by Nana Li, The Jaws of Death gives us a strong and intelligent young hero, Kwang-su, who is given a series of tasks to perform by an old woman, the mother of the young girl he's fallen in love with.  As with all these myths of strength, intelligence and riddles, the hero overcomes the obstacles in his way to cleverly win the day.  It is very well written with some great descriptions and the hero uses not only his martial arts skills, but also his intelligence to succeed in completing his tasks, showing us how he matures from boy with some martial skills, to that of a young man who thinks and plans to overcome his enemies and obstacles.

I've left the larger The Lord of Fire by James Lovegrove for last.  This is the last book in The 5 Lords of Pain sequence and it is a humdinger.

Tom Yamada must fight the demon Lords of Pain in a series of duels called the Contest - with the whole world at stake. Tom's defeated four powerful demons. Now he must face the ultimate test. The Lord of Fire - the most powerful demon of them all. If Tom loses, the world will burn...

Fifth and final book in a brand new Barrington Stoke series.


Cleverly, because this is the fifth book in the series, when you open TLoF, the first thing you find is the link to the official Five Lords of Pain website, but also a "The Story so Far" catch-up which is a mere 2 pages long.

Written in a concise way, we are shown how much Tom's grown through the progress of the five books.  He is no longer the very young innocent and inexperienced boy.  He is older, sturdier, tougher and an a far more experienced fighter.  We know he has to face up to fighting the final Lord of Pain and the summons to the combat comes far sooner than anticipated.  It also turns out that the final battle will be against someone whom he thought he could trust, who taught him his martial skills and who acted as a father towards him.

The battle lines are drawn when the place of battle is revealed: Canterbury Cathedral.  As the story progresses and Tom realises he needs help, we are treated to some great introspective moments.  He's come such a long way and takes great care in preparing himself for the battle to come.  He turns to his family for support and he comes to realise that the battle is not to be a battle of revenge, but by finishing this contest, and winning, he will literally save the world.

The 5 Lords of Pain books are so much fun.  They are written with great skill by a fantastic storyteller who loves these yarns.  Sometimes you can just tell when you read something that the author is having an absolute blast writing the story.  I'd say that out of the six books reviewed here, The Lord of Fire would be aimed at the slightly more advanced reader and it may be for someone who likes to be challenged, especially as the pay-off at the end of the book is so great.  There are Japanese words and terms dotted throughout the novel, but at the end of the book, there is a section where these are explained.  I found that they didn't hinder my understand of the story, but enhanced it, making me feel very much part of the story.

***

These titles are all a mixture of old and new titles from Barrington Stoke.  I honestly cannot recommend them enough.  Fun, entertaining and well written reads that are told for entertainment sake, is rare enough.  But books aimed at getting reluctant readers reading is even more valuable, especially when they are reading for fun.  And let's not forget that yes, we have to read for work and school, but reading for fun is even more important. 

A massive thanks to Barrington Stoke for allowing me to gab on about a handful of their titles only.  These books are very special to me as reader and reviewer as I feel a kinship with those reluctant readers these books are aimed at.  I had a nephew who was a reluctant reader, due to dyslexia, and I think that had these books been around at school at the time he was growing up, they could have changed his world.  I now have a very sweet but reluctant reader grand-nephew who is a bit hyperactive, yet will sit down and listen to books read to him and his baby sister Michaela, who will be getting a stack of these for Christmas back in South Africa. Who knows, I may make readers and writers out them both! 

Top tips for young writers by Jack Heath

I've not had a chance to write up my review for Jack Heath's novel Money Run (we've run out of days in July).  So I've checked out Bookzone's blog and there is a superb review which I'm linking here, to give you an idea of who Jack is and why he's written this blogpost for MFB.

I am a big fan of writing advice - I have a lot of books on them and so make sure that whenever I talk to published writers and do Q&A's with them, I make sure to ask that question: what is your advice for aspiring writers?  When Liz, a freelance PR person asked me to be part of Jack's blogtour with Usborne, I said yes, on one condition; he tells us about his writing and the subsequent article is the result.  I am such a slave driver!

***

I started writing my first book at the age of thirteen, mostly to impress a girl. I discovered two things – one: that doesn't work. Two: writing is addictive. Four years later I was shoving a complete manuscript into an envelope, scrawling the address of a publisher on the front, and pushing the package through the slot of a mailbox. Eighteen months after that, I was wearing a borrowed suit, watching the girl's father (himself a well-known writer and academic) give a speech at my first book launch.

In the weeks that followed, I was often asked what advice I would give to young writers. I rarely knew what to say. But now, five books later, I think I have the necessary distance to see the things I did right – and the things I did wrong.

Tip 1: Start ASAP

Literally hundreds of people have told me that they want to write a book someday. But if you're the sort of person who puts “someday” into that sentence, chances are you'll never get around to it. If you want to be a musician, you need an instrument, if you want to be a film-maker, you need a camera. These people have an excuse not to start right away. Writers don't – because all you need is a pen, some paper, and an idea. (Bonus tip: Any of those things can be stolen.)

Tip 2: Experiment

This is something I wish I'd done more when I had the chance. Once you're published, it's hard to try new things because you don't want to stray too far from the expectations of your audience. So as a young, unpublished writer, you should seize the opportunity. Come up with as many similes as you can, and see which ones you like. Try out weird voices, like second-person and future-tense. Switch the gender of every character and see how it changes the story. (I guarantee that the men will react differently to the discovery that they're pregnant.)

Tip 3: Don't fantasise

It's tempting to give your protagonist money, fame, looks – everything you've ever wanted. But that's not the makings of a good book. In fact, the happier the life of your hero, the less conflict there is in the story. Instead, focus on taking away the things people depend upon, like safety, or love. And if you do give your protagonist advantages, make sure they come at a terrible cost. Remember, Harry Potter was only rich because his parents were murdered. Dorian Gray was only handsome because of the portrait in his attic.

Tip 4: Put yourself in the character's shoes

Nothing alienates readers faster than characters who make decisions which don't make sense. So with every action your protagonist takes and every word which comes out of her mouth, ask yourself this: If you were in her position, and had her upbringing, would you have done that? If not, you'll have to change the action, or change her back story, or both.

This applies to the villains, too. You probably wouldn't strangle a bunch of puppies, but in order to write a convincing character who does, you'll have to imagine the circumstances under which you might. (Bonus tip: If there's any maniacal laughter in your book, you probably haven't thought enough about the villain's motivations.)

Tip 5: You are your own target audience

To write well, you have to love writing. To write really well, you have to love reading too. The tricky part is separating the two desires. Work out what your favourite books are, and why. Think about your least favourite books, and what you didn't like about them. When you've finished a draft, do a bit of role-playing. Print it out, put it on a bookshelf, and pretend you're in a bookshop. Pick it up and read the blurb – see if the premise grabs your interest. Read the first page and decide if you want to know what happens next enough to make a purchase. After you've paid your imaginary money, sit down on the couch and read it. Make a note of every time you get bored, because that bit needs work.

I guess what I'm saying is, don't write the book you want to write. Write the book you'd want to read.

***

These are such great - honest and heartfelt - bits of advice.  Thanks so much, Jack. I feel super inspired to plot and plan my new novel after I've edited my current one into shape.

Lulu and the Brontosaurus by Judith Viorst

Synopsis

It's Lulu's birthday and she's decided she'd like a pet brontosaurus as a present. But when Lulu's parents tell her that's not possible, Lulu gets very upset. She does not like it when things don't go her way. So taking matters into her own hands Lulu storms off into the forest to find herself a new pet, all the way singing:

I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna, gonna, get
a bronto-bronto-bronto-bronto-saurus for a pet!

In the forest Lulu encounters a number of animals: a snake, a tiger, a bear, all of whom don't particularly impress her. And then she finds him... a beautiful, long-necked, gentle, graceful brontosaurus. And he completely agrees with Lulu that having a pet would be a wonderful thing indeed! Lulu thinks she's finally got her birthday wish. Until she realises that Mr Brontosaurus thinks that she would make an ideal pet for him!

How will Lulu ever get out of this sticky situation without throwing a fit (Mr B does not respond well to those), or using force (Mr B is much too tall to bonk on the head with her suitcase), or smushing her sandwich?

This book was begging to be read. Slightly taller than a regular sized book it literally stands out from the rest. Packed with wonderful illustrations by Lane Smith this chapter book for ages five and up would encourage even the reluctant reader. Lulu is introduced to us as a little girl who gets her own way by kicking and screaming until her parents relent. They give way on everything until Lulu decides that for her birthday she'd like a brontosaurus for a pet. For the first time her parents say no - and keep on saying it. When Lulu realises that she can't change their minds she heads off into the forest to find one for herself. Her parents put the kettle on for a cup of tea and forget all about her.

This is what I loved about this book - it's quite irreverent. Lulu's parents, rather than tearing out their hair at the loss of Lulu, have tea and biscuits whilst enjoying the quiet. And who can blame them? Prior to this Lulu's favourite comment to her parents when she didn't get her way is, "Foo on you," which is so brilliant I may start using it in everyday conversation. As Lulu makes her way through the forest she meets all kinds of animals that want to eat her, or squash her for making so much noise. Her response is to, "bonk," them on the head with her suitcase or stomp on their feet.

When she finally meets her Brontosaurus they have a difference of opinion and Lulu begins to understand how awful she's been to her parents. But the best part of the book is the alternate endings. The narrator speaks directly to the reader throughout the book (or breaks the fourth wall, depending on what you prefer) which I enjoyed and didn't find obtrusive. This technique came into its own during the alternate endings part as the reasons for each is explained. The reader is encourage to choose their favourite ending which range from bitter sweet to hilarious. Such a funny and beautiful little book.