Category Archives: Book review

Book Review: The Secret of the Blood Red Key

Title: The Secret of the Blood Red Key

Written by: David Farr

Illustrated by: Kristina Kister

Published by: Usborne Publishing

The Secret of the Blood Red Key is the sequel to David Farr’s much acclaimed, The Book of Stolen Dreams. But do not worry if you have not read the first book as The Secret of the Blood Red Key is a completely unique story in itself.

Rachel and Robert have defeated the tyrant Malstain and become the heroes of Krasnia, but all is not how it should be. Robert is swept away with his new friends, leaving Rachel alone to take care of her ailing father, who’s lost without their beloved mother.

From nowhere, a boy appears knowing the secrets of the hidden blood-red key. For the key is a way into the Hinterland – and Rachel must promise that, as a new key keeper, she will answer when it calls. When a young girl, Elsa Spiegel, is illegally smuggled into the Hinterland, Rachel has no choice but to use her key to save Elsa. But her fate is linked to Krasnia, and Rachel must battle to save her home as she knows it.

The book encompasses the themes of loss and grief and good overcoming evil. Rachel has twenty-four hours to save Elsa from the new antagonists, The Truebloods who have devised a plan to prolong their lives. Meanwhile Rachel has to help her father through the grief of losing their mother, whilst Robert is busy preparing for an important debate. I enjoyed the strong brother-sister bond between Rachel and Robert and although their lives are drifting apart now they have returned to Krasnia, they will do anything to protect each other. I instantly felt a rapport for the characters as though they were long lost friends I’d known my whole life.

Brava is well thought out and realistic setting. I would place it somewhere in Germany or Austria. I could easily visualise the restored library and the coffee shop. And the world of Hinterland was amazing. This was world-building at its best. It was beautifully described in a few words so I could easily imagine what it was like from the black and white Caves of Loss to the colourful fields of the meadow of Children.

The world had complex rules where people were allocated to and area using their moral paperwork. This would make a good discussion in a PSHE lesson with KS” on how we judge people and what qualities they think would get them into the different areas of the Hinterland, such as Tyrants Towers of Liars, Liars.

There are some beautiful black and white double page illustrations scattered throughout the book which make the book feel more magical.

The Secret of the Blood Red Key is a magnificent middle grade adventure that will make you think. Fingers crossed there will be a third book in the series as I believe there is so much more to learn about the Hinterland and Krasnia and the surrounding areas.

I was lucky enough to be included on the blog tour for The Secret of the Blood Red Key, where I was able to post an extract of the book. You can see the post here: Blog Tour – The Secret of the Blood Red Key by David Farr.

You can buy copies of The Secret of the Blood Red Key by David Farr from your local bookshop, or online at uk.bookshop.org which supports local, independent bookshops.

I have also reviewed this book on Amazon and Goodreads.

Blog Tour – 21 Miles by Nicola Garrard

Today is my stop on the 21 Miles by Nicola Garrard book tour. My stop on the blog tour takes the form of a book review.

********

Title: 21 Miles

Written by: Nicola Garrard

Cover Designed by: James Nunn

Cover Illustration by: Olivia Anthony

Published by: Hoperoad Publishing

Gritty realism is not the usual type of book I read. I am more of a fantasy sci-fi fan, but 21 Miles is a compelling read and I would highly recommend it. This is the type of book that once you start it is hard to put down not only because of the vivid characters that jump off the page but because you do not want to leave the main protagonist Donald (Donnie) Sampson alone in case he gets hurt again.

Rather than a sequel 21 Miles is another harrowing chapter in Donny’s life. Nicola Garrard’s first book was about the beginning of his life in foster care when he was fifteen and doing work experience on the Union Canal. Donny learns the network goes through 29 locks so ‘borrows’ a canal boat to go back to Hackney to meet his mum who is due to be released from prison for drug offences.

The second book, 21 Miles, jumps to when he is 18 and is just as insightful, thought-provoking and emotionally powerful as the first.

Donny is still in foster care in Hertfordshire and compared to his life before where he was caught up in a London gang he has hit the jackpot. He has a caring, loving foster mum and is doing extremely well at school and about to apply to universities to study History. Life is great that is until he is persuaded by his friend, Zoe, to go on a day trip twenty-one miles over the English Channel to Calais so she can practice her French and he can learn about the French-British History for his exam.

In Calais Donny is tricked into giving away his passport, arrested by racist French police as a ‘migrant’ and escapes to join a group of teenage refugees living rough in the dunes east of Calais.

With hints of the Windrush Scandal where in 2018 people were wrongly detained, denied legal rights, threatened with deportation, and in at least 83 cases the UK Home Office wrongly deported them; 21 Miles is an exciting contemporary adventure that will have readers turning the pages until it finally leaves you with a sense of hope despite the bitter adversity and injustice he has witnessed and lived through.

Advertised as suitable as a PSHE/English classroom resource and for discussions around Black History Month.

********

Nicola Garrard has taught English in secondary schools for twenty-three years, including fifteen years at an Islington comprehensive. Her first novel, 29 Locks, was shortlisted for the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize and the Mslexia Children’s Novel competition, and longlisted for the Branford Boase Award 2022 and the Berkshire Book Award. It was picked by Suzi Feay in the Financial Times as one of their ‘Best Books of 2021’. This is her second book.

Nicola Garrard said:

“In 2014 I read a news article about the suffering of separated child refuges in Calais, just 21 miles from our coast. I started to collect donations of food and clothing with the help of other parents. I filled my small campervan and took these essentials to Calais a number of times. There, I volunteered with a grassroots French refugee charity. On one occasion, I met a small thirteen-year-old Eritrean girl in Calais who begged me to take her to England where she had family. Fearing for her safely, I desperately wanted to help. But I didn’t agree to take her. People-smuggling is against the law: I might have lost my career, been fined, and sent to prison. It was the right decision. But after we lost touch, I was left with the ‘what if’ of her request.

Since 29 LOCKS was published, readers often ask me what happens next to Donny. He remains so alive for me, and so I decided to connect these two stories of dislocation and separation, and ask myself what can we learn from teenagers? The result is 21 MILES.”
Nicola Garrard talking about her inspiration for 21 Miles

She has appeared at the Hay Festival of Literature and Arts, Chichester Festival and Petworth Festival Literary Week and on BBC Radio London. She gives regular talks for schools, libraries and colleges (including for World Book Day), as well as prisons. Her words and poetry have been published in The Frogmore Papers magazine, IRON Press Publishing, Mslexia magazine, The Guardian and the Writers & Artists Yearbook Guide to Getting Published, and by the Poetry Book Society. Nicola lives in West Sussex with her wife, three children and a Jack Russell terrier called Little Bear. Her family is typical of modern Britain, with roots in England, Scotland, Hungary and Trinidad.

She currently works at Minority Matters, a charity which aims to empower young people from isolated communities through engagement projects, and is also an active supporter of the Trussell Trust.

For more information see www.nicola-garrard.co.uk or follow @nmgarrard on X, formerly Twitter.

To follow the rest of the tour please see the schedule below:

I would like to thank Anne Cater from Random Things Tours for inviting me to take part in this blog tour. Thank you.

Book Review: Zoom

Title: Zoom!

Written and Illustrated by: Sam Usher

Published by: Templar Books

Zoom! is about a boy and his grandad who stay up all night and go on a space adventure. This is part of several series of books about the boy and his grandad. Other books include Free, Wild, Lost and Found. They complement more boy and his grandad stories: Storm, Sun, Snow and Rain.

The underlying themes include using your imagination and creativity with an emphasis on recycling. Throughout these series the boy and his grandad use their resourcefulness to mend, recycle and re-use to create a variety of favourite vehicles which take them on exciting adventures around the world and beyond.

The relationship between the boy and his grandad is well thought out and established which make the story of Zoom relatable and touching. Together they find a broken telescope and set about fixing it with the materials they can find in the house and see astronauts in trouble on the moon. The two ingenious heroes build a space rocket out of cardboard boxes to save them and jet off from the roof.

The illustrations are full of intricate detail for young children to explore which showcase Sam Usher’s watercolour and technical drawing skills. The subtle colours add to the feeling of warmth and togetherness of the book.

Zoom! supports STEM learning from an early age by introducing science and engineering facts in an engaging way.

A heart-warming tale suitable for bedtime and reading aloud in the classroom. This book would be an excellent resource for stimulating craft work and also inspiring the children to create their own adventures.

You can buy copies of Zoom! by Sam Usher from your local bookshop, or online at uk.bookshop.org which supports local, independent bookshops.

Book Review: The Ice Children by M. G. Leonard

To celebrate the release of The Ice Children by M. G. Leonard tomorrow, Thursday 2nd November 2023, I have decided to post my review of this beautiful book.

********

Title: The Ice Children

Written by: M.G. Leonard

Illustrated by: Penny Neville-Lee

Published by: Macmillan Children’s Books

I requested to read this book from NetGalley because I enjoyed M.G. Leonard’s Beetle Boy books and the Twitcher series. I was not disappointed as I was instantly drawn in by the narrative of this modern day fairy tale.

M.G. Leonard explains in her acknowledgments how she was inspired by the familiar stories of The Snow Queen, Pinocchio, and The Selfish Giant to create an imaginative new story which will linger in your mind as do many timeless classics. The brilliant action-driven plot does not spend unnecessary time world building without moving the story forward. I can imagine The Ice Children making a lovely magical children’s Christmas movie.

The main character, Bianca has to use her detective skills to work out why more and more children are appearing as frozen statues in the park. She links the strange happenings to a mysterious silver book her brother discovered in the library. M. G. Leonard realistically portrays how children are not listened to in times of emergency and their ideas dismissed as childish fantasies.

The only option Bianca has is to stop the mysterious disappearances on her own and discover who is responsible for turning her brother and friends to ice. She uses the clues to transport herself to a wintery wonderland, highlighting how books really are doorways to other worlds. I particularly enjoyed reading about the different spirit animals each of the children had in the magical world. I wondered what my own spirit animal would be long before I reached the end. I decided it was probably a bear.

I adored the cover and illustrations by Penny Neville-Lee and believe they would be even more magnificent in a real book format rather than viewing on my kindle. They are beautiful and add to the magical atmosphere of this book. The short chapters made this a quick and easy read. I seemed to fly through the pages, devouring every word.

It was evident about half-way through there was no real antagonist. In fact the real villain of the book is us – the human race – whose extravagance and negligence has caused the global warming which the world is suffering from creating a world ‘where winter cannot survive.’

Bianca strives to show the children they can make a difference as they are the adults of the future. They have the power to make changes to build better habits which will help the environment. In this way, M. G. Leonard has pro-actively crafted a spell-binding novel, which successfully treads the thin line between conveying an important message and preaching. The Ice Children gives children the power to do something now to prevent climate change.

This book leaves you with hope that it will indeed touch people’s hearts and change the way they think.

********

This review of The Ice Children has been previously posted on NetGalley and Goodreads. I would like to thank Macmillan Children’s Books and NetGalley for organising me a digital review copy of the book. Thank you.

You can find out more about M. G. Leonard and her books on her website www.mgleonard.com and follow her on social media: Twitter @mglnrd; Instagram @mglnrd; Facebook @MGLnrd.

I have also reviewed Spark by M. G. Leonard on my blog in December 2022. To read this review take a look at: Book Review: Spark

I also had the pleasure of interviewing M. G. Leonard for the #219 Jan 2019 issue of the UK national magazine, Writers’ Forum about her research for the Beetle Boy series. You can read highlights from this Writers’ Forum interview here: An interview with… M. G. Leonard

Book Review: The Big Dreaming

To celebrate the release of The Big Dreaming by Michael Rosen and Daniel Egnéus tomorrow, Thursday 26th October 2023, I am posting a review of the book.

********

Title: The Big Dreaming

Written by: Michael Rosen

Illustrated by: Daniel Egnéus

Published by: Bloomsbury Children’s Books

This book is stunning. The repeated four lined phrase/poem is easy to remember and children will love to join in, making the book an interactive experience. I can instantly see why this adorable picture book has been described as an ‘instant classic’. I must say I whole-heartedly agree.

It portrays a young bear cub who has his own worries about the forthcoming hibernation and perseveres to find a solution to his problem. Little Bear visits some of the other woodland creatures to find a dream that will last the whole of ‘the big sleep’. Each of the dreams have an uplifting conclusion and important message to convey. In this way The Big Dreaming is indeed ‘a story of hope and perseverance’.

Daniel Egnéus uses beautiful autumnal colours, which subtly change into winter setting the scene for the bears’ big winter sleep and they delicately change again when the bears awaken in the spring. The exquisite illustrations successfully reveals how we measure our lives in seasons and associate them with colours and feelings.

This is most definitely an enchanting picture book children will want to hear read again and again. It leaves the reader with a feeling of calm. It would make a great Christmas present for any young child.

********

This book was previously reviewed on NetGalley and Goodreads and would like to thank Bloomsbury Children’s Books and NetGalley for organising a digital copy of this book for me. Thank you.

I have interviewed Michael Rosen about the research he does for his writing in 2009, when he was children’s laureate. to read highlights from this interview take a look at: An interview with… Michael Rosen.

I have had the pleasure of reviewing another book illustrated by Daniel Egnéus. You can read the review here: Book Review – Moth.

Book Review: Mermedusa

Title: Mermedusa

Written and Illustrated by: Thomas Taylor

Cover Illustrated by: George Ermos

Published by: Walker Books

When reading this series of mystery adventure books I have come late to the party as I have to admit I have not read any of the other books in the Eerie-on-Sea series. Starting a series by reading book five, the last book, is probably not a good idea but as I am the sort of person that will flick to the end of a book to find out what is going to happen before I finish it, it is definitely par for the course. There is a sense of satisfaction knowing the conclusion and working out how the novel unwinds to get there.

My real concern was not understanding what was going on because I had missed so much. I needn’t have worried. Mermedusa is a complete story in itself with a gripping beginning with Herbie finding a broken lost watch and immediately wanting to discover the mystery behind it and why it stopped at midnight; an exciting middle complete with monsters looming from the eerie mist and quite frankly the most brilliant ending.

I was impressed with the writing and characterisation. Yes. There is references to events throughout the previous books but these are concisely explained giving us just enough information to move the plot forward without bogging us down in the past.

Herbert lemon and Violet Parma are our protagonists and their names certainly bought a smile to my face. The author Thomas Taylor (who could be a secret superhero with a name like that) obviously has an obsession with sweets. Herbie is the lost and founder at the Nautilus Hotel. it is his job to find and return things to the residents of the hotel. It is written form his point of view in third person. Violet is a feisty and loveable character. the friendship between her and Herbie is heart-touching and relatable. they are both strong characters who the reader is rooting for. the mystery behind their missing parents gives the reader an emotional connection to the characters.

I enjoyed this fast-moving plot which kept me turning the pages. it is full of suspense and delightful twists and turns. ideal for upper middle grade with a love of fantasy adventures with imaginative monsters.

You can buy copies of Mermedusa by Thomas Taylor from your local bookshop, or online at uk.bookshop.org which supports local, independent bookshops. Thomas has also said in a recent interview with him that if you would like a signed and drawn-in book, then please order through his local indy bookshop www.hastingsbookshop.co.uk, and leave a note in the order form.

See the interview I did with Thomas Taylor that went live on my blog on Monday here:

Special Guest Q & A with Thomas Taylor

Book review: Curious Creatures Talking Together

Title: Curious Creatures Talking Together

Written by: Zoe Armstrong

Illustrated by: Anja Sušanj

Published by: Flying Eye Books

This book covers a fascinating topic in a simple and easy to understand way making it highly accessible to young children. It explains how animals communicate with each other without using words using a range of wild and domestic animals as examples. We just have to learn to understand the signals so we can tell when they are happy, hungry, angry, tired or afraid.

In a fun twist to this it is pointed how haw we can mimic animal behaviour to help us communicate better, from the red stag parallel walking to decide who is the strongest instead of fighting, to the soothing lullaby of the humpback whale. We learn how animals use all their senses. Colour, sound, smell and touch are all important methods of communication and again this is compared to human behaviour.

The illustrations and end pages are bold and eye-catching. On each spread the text is scattered around the page so each animal takes centre stage.

At the end of the book there is an important message of how by increasing our understanding of the different methods of animal communication we can develop our empathy skills.

Other books in the series include:

Curious Creatures Glowing in the Dark
Curious Creatures Working with Tools.

This series would be ideal in the classroom or for home learning to support the programmes of study for science human and animals. In particular, recognising the differences between each other and exploring how senses enable humans and animals to be aware of the world around them.

You can buy copies of the Curious Creatures series by Zoë Armstrong and Anja Susanj from your local bookshop, or online at uk.bookshop.org which supports local, independent bookshops.

I have also shared this review on Amazon and Goodreads.

Blog Tour – Charlotte’s Snowman

Today is my stop on the blog tour for Charlotte’s Snowman by Lainey Dee.

Lainey Dee was born in Birmingham and grew up in Kidderminster, Worcestershire. As well as Charlotte’s Snowman she has also written, Let’s Celebrate Being Different and Rodasauri the Dinosaur’s Trip to London.

She was inspired to write for young people having worked with children for many years. Lainey currently looks after twins aged five years. A huge art deco fan, she lives in an art deco house which is decorated in that period style. In her free time, she enjoys baking and cooking for friends and visiting national trust properties. Her favourite ice cream is strawberry and the strangest place she has slept in was a tepee Texas.

Lainey enjoys using her imagination to invent new stories and characters. She hopes her books will help readers see themselves and the world differently and understand how special they are.

The blurb from the back of the book says:

Children love building snowmen. When they add a nose, eyes, and mouth to their snowman, they get a magical feeling that their snowman has his own personality.
And… sometimes snowmen do come alive!

Charlotte wakes up and sees that it’s snowing… it’s snowing and it’s snowing. She runs outside to build a snowman. She fixes a carrot for the snowman’s nose, a stick for his mouth, and two stones for his eyes.

But the snowman has many demands, so Charlotte has to part with her gloves, scarf and hat; so her snowman wouldn’t feel cold. But the sun comes up all of a sudden, and Charlotte cannot find her snowman anymore. She is sad. Then, she learns that her snowman hasn’t disappeared completely, but is hiding in the ground, waiting to emerge next winter.
Charlotte’s snowman by Lainey Dee

My stop on the tour will take the form of a review.

********

Title: Charlotte’s Snowman

Written by: Lainey Dee

Illustrated by: Sarah-Leigh Wills

Published by: KA Books

Charlotte’s Snowman is a quaint, simple story which gently conveys the message of hope and belief using the familiar story of a child building a snowman that melts and the realisation she can build another snowman next year when it snows. The magical twist of the snowman coming to life highlights how children use their imagination to create their own world of enchanting make believe.

I think children from ages 1-5 years will enjoy listening to this story and exploring the charming, bold illustrations. The completed snowman in the hat and scarf with the carrot nose is rather cute. The plot is conveyed in a calm, relaxed way that would be ideal to read at bedtime to help children go to sleep with pleasant dreams.

A great book for helping to explain things may not last forever but there is always hope for the future.

********

You can buy copies of Charlotte’s Snowman by Lainey Dee and Sarah-Leigh Wills from Amazon.

You can find out more about Lainey Dee and her books on the SheildCrest Publishing website: https://www.shieldcrest.co.uk/about/featured-authors/lainey-dee

To follow the rest of the tour take a look at the schedule:

I would like to thank Rachel from Rachel’s Random Tour for inviting me to take part in this blog tour.

If you have read any recent children’s picture books with a Christmas theme I would love to hear from you. Let me know of any new Christmas releases in the comments.

Blog Tour – Feast of Ashes by Victoria Williamson

Today is my stop on the Ultimate Write Reads tour for the Feast of Ashes by Victoria Williamson.

Victoria Williamson grew up in Glasgow, Scotland, and has worked as an educator in a number of different countries, including as an English teacher in China, a secondary science teacher in Cameroon, and a teacher trainer in Malawi.

As well as degrees in Physics and Mandarin Chinese, she has completed a Masters degree in Special Needs in Education. In the UK she works as a primary school special needs teacher, working with children with a range of additional support needs including Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Down Syndrome, physical disabilities and behavioural problems.

She is currently working as a full time writer of Middle Grade and YA contemporary fiction, science fiction and fantasy, with a focus on creating diverse characters reflecting the many cultural backgrounds and special needs of the children she has worked with, and building inclusive worlds where all children can see a reflection of themselves in heroic roles.

Feast of Ashes is described as Book One in an explosive dystopian YA series, which is exciting news.

The publicity leaflet about the book says:

It’s the year 2123, and 16-year-old Adina has just accidentally killed 14,756 people. Raised in the eco-bubble of Eden Five, Adina has always believed that the Amonston Corporation’s giant greenhouse would keep her safe forever. But when her own careless mistake leads to an explosion that incinerates Eden Five, she and a small group of survivors must brave the barren wastelands outside the ruined Dome to reach the Sanctuary before their biofilters give out and their DNA threatens to mutate in the toxic air.

They soon discover that the outside isn’t as deserted as they were made to believe, and the truth is unearthed on their dangerous expedition. As time runs out, Adina must tackle her guilty conscience and find the courage to get everyone to safety. Will she make it alive, or will the Nomalies get to her first?
Blurb for Feast of Ashes by Victoria Williamson

Victoria Williamson is donating 20% of her author royalties from Feast of Ashes to CharChar Literacy, a charity that aims to improve literacy rates in Malawi.

My stop on the tour takes the form of a book review:

********

Title: Feast of Ashes

Written by: Victoria Williamson

Cover design by: Anna Morrison

Published by: Neem Tree Press

Victoria Williamson once again shows us how talented and versatile a writer she is with this magnificent YA debut. I am always gripped from the start of a Victoria Williamson novel and this is no exception for it has one of the best opening paragraphs I have read in a long time:

“I’ll never forget the date September the third, 2123. How could I? that was the day I killed fourteen thousand, seven hundred and fifty-six people.”
Opening paragraph of Feast of Ashes by Victoria Williamson

Set in Africa in a biosphere called ‘Eden 5’ one hundred years in the future, Feast of Ashes is written in first person from sixteen-year-old Adina’s point of view. I am always impressed on how Victoria Williamson creates characters that are always very different and stand out as individuals. Adina starts off being a very selfish, self-centred character in the way many teenagers are, but as the story progresses we see her grow and change into a strong dynamic woman with a strong sense of right and wrong, until finally she makes the ultimate sacrifice to save her sisters and best-friend.

Reading Feast of Ashes is an emotional rollercoaster. It is truly a unique dystopian with a very plausible theme of large global corporations destroying the ecosystem for profit. There are a lot of important themes covered that make you think, such as greed, environmental sustainability and corporate corruption. Victoria Williamson has used science and technology to make the whole plot seem entirely believable and rather scary. So many times I stopped and exclaimed, “You What?” at the things the Armonston Corporation had done. So wrong but you can imagine it happening for real.

The book is written in two parts. Part One is the Beginning of the End which contains thirteen chapters which outline how Adina’s inconsiderate actions cause the catastrophe that brings about the end of everything as she knows it. I thought it rather poignant that Eden Five’s downfall started with the temptation of an apple. Each chapter counts down the hours to the biodome destruction.

Part Two is entitled Countdown and follows Adina and a small group of survivors for their twenty-seven days after the biodome explodes. They journey through the wasteland, a genetically modified world where the crops people used to eat contain pesticides coded into their DNA and the air mutates the blood so they have to constantly wear a biofilter. Searching for answers, they uncover the shocking truth of how far the corruption really goes.

I can imagine Feast of Ashes being a big screen movie in the same way as Hunger Games, Maze Runner and Divergent. I wonder who would play the roles of Adina and Dejen? Suggestions welcome in the comments.

I would recommend Feast of Ashes to all fans of YA dystopian novels.

********

You can buy copies of Feast of Ashes by Victoria Williamson from your local bookshop, or online at uk.bookshop.org which supports local, independent bookshops.

To follow the rest of the tour check out the schedule below:

You can read my review of Norah’s Ark by Victoria Williamson also published by Neem tree Press here: Blog Tour – Norah’s Ark by Victoria Williamson

You can read my interview with Victoria Williamson about the writing of Norah’s Ark here: The Write Reads Ultimate Blog Tour – Norah’s Ark by Victoria Williamson.

You can read my review of another of Victoria’s books, The Pawnshop of Stolen Dreams published by Tiny Tree Publishing here: Blog Tour – The Pawnshop of Stolen Dreams by Victoria Williamson.

You can read my spotlight on The Whistlers in the Dark by Victoria Williamson published by Scotland Street Press here: Blog Tour – The Whistlers in the Dark by Victoria Williamson

You can find out more about Victoria’s books, school visits and upcoming events on her website: www.strangelymagical.com and follow her on X (formly known as Twitter) @strangelymagic

I would like to thank The Write Reads for inviting me to take part in this ultimate tour and Neem Tree Press for their superbly boxed book package with the review copy. Thank you.

I hope the lettuce seeds have not been genetically modified.

Book Review: Tapper Watson and the Quest for the Nemo Machine

Title: Tapper Watson and the Quest for the Nemo Machine

Written by: Claire Fayers

Illustrated by:

Published by: Firefly Press

Tapper Watson and the Quest for the Nemo Machine is one of the best middle grade science fiction novels I have read for a long time.

Our two 12-year-old reluctant heroes are from very different worlds. Tapper Watson is from Erasia and is the youngest of sixty-eight cousins and has recently become the apprentice to Argo and Belladonna on their submarine at the insistence of Uncle Five. Fern Shakespeare is from Earth and works during the holidays with her volunteer dad in their submarine repair / guided tour shop in Swansea. She has a brilliant plant that talks using Morse code and helps them on their adventures through the Lethe. This is the river that connects the different worlds and contains all the memories of everyone who ever lived. Sometimes the memories in the Lethe appear as Echolings. Fern’s dad is the inventor of the Nemo Machine, which can retrieve these memories from the Lethe. The rivers only drawback is, it can make people lose their memories if they swallow any.

Tapper has an unusual talent that he can hear the Echolings. When one that is the spitting image of Tapper climbs out of the river to talk to Tapper, Argo throws a stone at it and the Echoling explodes, showering water over Fern’s dad who accidently swallows some causing Lethamnesia. His only hope is for restoring his memories is to find the Nemo Machine. Our epic adventurers go on a highly original, fast-paced quest to find the Nemo Machine before it gets into the hands of Cousin Twenty-Three, the claws of the Lobster Mobsters, or the tentacles of the innocent-looking Zymandian octopods.

The plot is action packed but not at the expense of the character development. I particularly liked the friction between Fern and Tapper. Their behaviour and reactions are very different from each other. In fact, every character is well-rounded with their own good and bad traits. The different aliens were hilarious but my absolute favourite had to be the lobster monsters, Charybdis and Scylla. I liked the contradiction in character in that Scylla dreamed of being a language teacher. And is instead turning people to stone with his Medusa blaster. It was these little character touches that makes Tapper Watson and the Quest for the Nemo Machine such a great book.

I was impressed with how all the different segments of this amazing world and brilliant characters fitted together like a perfect jigsaw puzzle so the plot makes perfect logical sense.

The perfect book for all young sci-fi fans and readers who love adventures. Ideal for fans of another of my favourites, Interdimensional Explorers by Lorraine Gregory. I can’t wait to read more innovative middle-grade science fiction like these.

You can read my interview with Claire Fayers about the writing of Tapper Watson and the Quest for the Nemo Machine, which we did as part of her blog tour here: Blog Tour – Tapper Watson and the Quest for the Nemo Machine by Claire Fayers

You can read my review of Interdimensional Explorers by Lorraine Gregory here: Book Review: Interdimensional Explorers

You can buy copies of Tapper Watson and the Quest for the Nemo Machine by Claire Fayers from your local bookshop, or online at uk.bookshop.org which supports local, independent bookshops.

This review has previously appeared on NetGalley, Goodreads and Amazon. I would like to thank NetGalley and Firefly Press for accepting my request for a digital copy of the book.