Chicklish

NEWS: Signing event in Devon with Elen Caldecott and Luisa Plaja

Thursday 19th November 2009, from 6pm

 Late Night Shopping at Waterstone's Roman Gate in Exeter with Luisa Plaja and Elen Caldecott.

Elen Caldecott is the Carnegie-nominated author of How Kirsty Jenkins Stole the Elephant and Luisa Plaja is the author of teen novels Split by a Kiss and Extreme Kissing. (And the editor of Chicklish, currently writing about herself in the third person. She would love to meet you!)

The authors will be in store from 6pm to 7.30pm to sign their books, chat about children's authors and give recommendations about the perfect gift for young bookworms.

There are two branches of Waterstone's in Exeter. Please note the address of this one - it's the one at the crossroads opposite the new Next (not the one near Cathedral Green). Full address below.

Waterstone's Exeter Roman Gate
252 High Street
Exeter
EX4 3PZ

Tel. 01392 423044

Thursday 19th November 2009 6pm to 7.30pm

INTERVIEW: Jane Prowse

Alexandra interviews Jane Prowe, author of Hattori Hachi – The Revenge of Praying Mantis

Hello Jane, I read that you also work as a Director. Was it very different trying out writing?
Left brain and right brain! Totally different - as a director I feel like the conductor of an orchestra, co-ordinating everyone to do their very best at whatever their job, be it actor, sound, lighting, costume, camera. I have to have a clear idea of what we're all trying to achieve and then keep everyone on track, all moving towards the same goal and then it's up to me to decide when we have the shots. I make thousands of decisions a day when I'm directing.  Writing's a whole other story...  that involves not making decisions - at least not until you know you have the right idea. Instead, you have to be in a very open, receptive, creative state, holed up alone hour after hour (with only cats for comfort and inspiration!) For the most part there's no one to talk things over with - at least not until you've delivered something that's vaguely readable to your editor . It's just painstaking hour after hour of thinking, writing, thinking some more, deleting and then getting a sudden rush of ideas that you can't type fast enough - and when that happens, that's one of the best feelings in the world.

What’s your favourite thing about writing?
Lying on the sofa with a cat, thinking. It's every bit at important as sitting at the computer, writing.  And then when the idea come together and start flowing, that feeling is fantastic. Sometimes, I have no idea where it's all coming from - I just know it's the result of a lot of preparation, planning and musing. I love it once I know what the ending is too - because that makes writing everything that leads up to it so much easier. And being in control of a whole world where you can make people do what you want and administer justice as you see fit is very compelling. But one of the most powerful favourite moments of writing Hattori Hachi was seeing the actual book in print for the first time. That was a huge buzz.

In Hattori Hachi, Mad Dog is a great character.  How did you come up with the idea for him?
I'm so pleased you like Mad Dog - he's one of my favourites too. I think he's the embodiment of everything that's unjust in life - like being misaccused or blamed for something you haven't done, being judged on family or friends rather than your own actions or opinions. He was such fun to write - I always knew he had a heart of gold and was devoted to Hattie. I love writing that kind of complex but lovable character. I have great plans for him in the next books - he's got some more personal hurdles to overcome, but in the end will be the one person who fully understands the ninja concept of "the great emptiness of potential". He can be anything and anyone he wants to be!

How do you think you’d do if you were fighting Praying Mantis?
Terrible!  I'd understand intellectually what I needed to do - but my knees would be shaking so much I'd just want to run and hope someone else was around to fight the evil assassin. But I'd only have to think of all the terrible things Praying Mantis might do to make me feel fired up and prepared to fight.  I'm a pretty quick thinker, so hopefully my wits would help me survive - though like Hattie I wouldn't want to have to injure or kill anyone.  That would be a lot to have on your conscience, whatever they'd done...

To find out more about Mad Dog’s ‘invisible barriers’ and Hattie’s adventures, you can check out Alexandra’s review of The Revenge of the Praying Mantis.

Hattori Hachi website.

REVIEW: Hattori Hachi - The Revenge of Praying Mantis By Jane Prowse

Review by Alexandra

This was really exciting. I read it a while ago and it’s taken a while to write this as I don’t know what I can pack into a small review about a book I could talk about for a while.

Maybe firstly I can say, there is a sequel, which I’m excited about, and can’t wait to read!

The book covers the changing life of 15-year-old Hattie Jackson. One day she’s a relatively typical schoolgirl, the next her mother’s missing and she discovers that there is more to her family than she knew. The games her mother played with her throughout her childhood had been more than games: training. Preparing her for the day she’d find out that she’s from a special Ninjutsu family - one that is in hiding as it’s being hunted down…

Hattie is joined on her terrifying adventures by some fantastic characters, you can’t help but want to be one of them by the end – or maybe you’re brave enough to want to be Hattie herself, out there fighting against some tough Ninjutsu warriors all armed with their clever minds, dangerous tools and ninja outfits that make them almost invisible…

For more of a taster, check out Hattie’s website.

Review by Alexandra

REVIEW: Kiss of Life by Daniel Waters

Review by Tamika

Kiss of Life is the sequel to teen zombie novel Generation Dead by Daniel Waters.

**NOTE: SPOILERS FOR GENERATION DEAD FOLLOW. You might not want to read this part if you haven't read Generation Dead.**

After Adam took a bullet for Phoebe, it proved that he was in love with her. Now he’s a zombie and they aren’t normally taken a liking to by the rest of the world. So Phoebe now has to say goodbye to Tommy Williams, another friendly zombie whom she previously dated.

Adam is taking a while to get back into the swing of normal ‘living’ again, but zombies are now in very great danger. Pete Martinsburg, the murderer of Adam and Evan Talbot (in the first book) has to do 200 hours of community service at the Hunter Foundation, which tries to find out what makes US teens come back to ‘life’. But it’s not as good as it sounds. Duke Davidson, the supervisor of Pete, is not really a supporter of the zombies... And these zombies are getting blamed for things that aren’t their doing...

**END OF SPOILERS FOR GENERATION DEAD**

The book was brilliant. I won’t give the ending away, but I didn’t like it when it ended on a cliffhanger, like the previous book. Also, it could have got to the main plot quicker, because it wasn’t a ‘can’t put it down’ book. But, it had a very good plot, and I do want to know what happens next. It was really good because it had a love triangle in it, and lots of different feelings and emotions, and good imagery, so I could actually imagine what was going on.

I really felt for many of the characters, both living and non-living, throughout the book - for example when Colette (non-living) left Margi (living) to be with her non-living ‘love’.

Overall I would give it 4/5 and I really, really, REALLY want to read the next book. I give it four because of the unfair cliffhanger!

Review by Tamika, aged 12

REVIEW: Vampire Diaries Volume 2 by L J Smith

Review by Amelia

This volume contains two books: The Fury and Dark Reunion.

The first part of the book is called The Fury. It begins with Elena waking up from drowning to find herself in a vampire form. Stefan is furious that Elena is a vampire and blames it on his brother Damon who completely denies the accusation but Elena no longer cares for Stefan. In fact she’d rather just kill him, but one person who she does remember is Damon; not only does she remember Damon but she finds herself completely in love with him.

When Elena assures the two brothers that it was another creature and not Damon that changed Elena they begin to discover a new ‘Power’ in Fells Church but is it good or bad?

The second part of the book is named the Dark Reunion. It is seen through the eyes of Bonnie, one of Elena’s best friends from when she was actually living. But now she is dead and the two Salvatore brothers Stefan and Damon have left the village. Fells Church is restored back to normal with no more than a few werewolves inhabiting the supernatural community of the town left.

At a sleepover at Meredith’s request to speak to Elena, a Ouija board game goes terribly wrong and one of the girls ends up dead. The girls soon contact Stefan as they fear another ‘Power’ is lurking in the cemetery at Fells Church. But not only does Stefan return, but so does Damon.

Later in the book Stefan discovers who is behind the mysterious kidnapping of Caroline who is one of Bonnie’s childhood friends. Although he has never met Klaus, he is somewhat familiar with him as he changed his and Damon’s maker Katherine.  So it’s left to Matt, Stefan, Bonnie and Meredith to defeat Klaus and his strong powers. If only they had some help from the grave...

Overall this book was good. The book is very descriptive and at some parts overly so. Another problem I had with this book was the fact that the plot was actually very confusing as you could probably tell from the review above. But nevertheless I wouldn’t say that this book wasn’t interesting and at parts I was hooked.

3/5 Good!

Review by Amelia, aged 13

REVIEW: Medina Hill by Trilby Kent

Chicklish is happy to participate in the blog tour for Trilby Kent's debut novel, Medina Hill. Full blog tour details can be found at Open Book Toronto.

Review of Medina Hill by Alexandra.

This book takes you back to 1935, to a time where the First World War is still talked about and the Second World War is looming.

Dominic and Marlo are sent to Cornwall  to live with their Uncle Roo for the summer. At first they are very sceptical about leaving behind their sick mother and their unemployed father. Cornwall is also very different from London; new people, fresh air and lots of open space to play in by the sea.

It doesn’t take long for the two children to settle in, helped by the eccentric, artistic people also staying at their aunt and uncle’s boarding house. Soon Marlo is baking cakes and Dominic is reading about Lawrence of Arabia and exploring. 

Dominic becomes curious about the Romany gypsies in the area, and even though he does not speak in front of strangers (only to relatives) he befriends a gypsy girl who shows him a different view of the world. He also finds out that trouble is brewing: the locals want to stop the gypsies coming every year.

When the gypsies are treated unfairly towards the end of the novel, will anyone be there to help them?  Will Dominic take strength from what he’s learned about Lawrence and his fight in the dessert or will his inability to speak hold him back?

This book is full of warm, well constructed characters.  It really takes you back to the 1930s. I felt right in the moment with Dominic and Marlo. The book is in a way calm and relaxing to read, it’s not fraught with action and twists and turns, yet at the same time it’s still complex enough to keep your attention. It’s marketed for 11-14 but I think older teens who like historical novels would enjoy it too.

Review by Alexandra.

Other stops on the blog tour today: Green Bean Teen Queen, Wondrous Reads, An Awfully Big Blog Adventure, Vulpes Libris.

Read an extract of Medina Hill in the widget below.

REVIEW: Changeling, Dark Moon by Steve Feasey

Review by Amelia

In the previous book, Changeling (reviewed here), Trey had the fact that he was the last hereditary werewolf dumped on him by Lucien Charron, who soon becomes his guardian.

Now Lucien lies in a coma in his luxurious penthouse in London. His daughter Alexa Charron, Trey and Tom are desperate to put an end to the madness that has been in their lives for the past five months.

This book was great! It gave me a break from all those vampire books we are all reading at the moment. The vampires have been replaced by beautiful sorceresses  - and sorcerers, of course. Steve Feasey, the author, has really came up with a great sequel and I am definitely looking forward to reading the next book!

4/5! Great!

Review by Amelia, aged 13

NEWS: Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles

This week's "Waiting on Wednesday" is Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles. You might be thinking: but that's been out ages... and you'd be right. It was out in the US in 2008. But I prefer to wait for a UK edition whenever possible (though sometimes I give up waiting and order from the States - but mostly I'm patient!) And I only have to wait a bit longer for UK publication of this book, by Simon & Schuster UK on 29th April 2010.

Here's more about it:
"When Brittany Ellis walks into chemistry class on the first day of senior year, she has no clue that her carefully created "perfect" life is about to unravel before her eyes. Forced to be lab partners with Alex Fuentes, a gang member from the other side of town, Brittany finds herself having to protect everything she's worked so hard for - her flawless reputation, her relationship with her boyfriend and, most importantly, the secret that her home life is anything but perfect. Alex is a bad boy and he knows it. So when he makes a bet with his friends to lure Brittany into his life, he thinks nothing of it. But the closer Alex and Brittany get to each other the more they realise that sometimes appearances can be deceptive and that you have to look beneath the surface to discover the truth." Simon&Schuster UK

I loved Simone Elkeles's debut novel, How to Ruin a Summer Vacation (yes, OK, I gave up and bought that one from the US!) and I'm really looking forward to this one.

There's a fantastic trailer for this book on Simone Elkeles's site.

Waiting on Wednesday is from an idea by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

REVIEW: Diary of a Snob by Grace Dent

Review by Sasha

Poppet Zanzibar Montague-Jones is 15, attends an exclusive and prestigious school in London and is due to inherit an enormous trust fund. Not to mention she's 87th in line to the British throne! Unlike her sister Kitten - a drug-addicted wild child who is London's society It Girl - Poppet feels she is ill-fitting to her family of eccentric characters and doesn't know how to follow in their footsteps. Living her life in a daydream and being somewhat of a wallflower beside her flamboyant friends, Poppet only begins to give a thought to the future. I mean, there must be more to life than yoga and charity lunches.

This was a hilariously funny diary-style novel which competes with the likes of Georgia Nicholson! Poppet's character was amusing because of the way she was so clueless about everything in everyday life and because of the comparison between rich and poor. She was such a likeable character, you just became absorbed with her diary entries. Each character had their own individuality so it was easy to remember who was who. This book was interesting and extremely well-written. It was just generally amazing and I recommend you buy it immediately!

Review by Sasha, aged 13

REVIEW: Skate School: Ice Princess by Kay Woodward

 Review by Amber

'Frankie felt a mixture of fear and excitement. She was leaving her home, family and friends for what? A dream that had only the tiniest chance of coming true but while there was a chance - however small - of being an Olympic champion, she just had to go for it. Because one day, it might just come true.'

Skate School: Ice Princess was a brilliant book. It focused on the main character Frankie trying to achieve her dream of becoming... an ice princess.

One day, while ice skating at the local ice rink, she is 'talent spotted' by the one and only Madame Kristiana von Berne, Coaching Director of a skate school in Switzerland. Frankie has trouble deciding whether to go or not. Stay with friends and family? Or go to a school dedicated to ice skating where she could have a fantastic time and make loads of new friends? Frankie, being a huge fan of skating, chooses the ice skating school in Switzerland.

This author was new to me, since I don't think I've ever read anything by her. I definitely think I'll be buying the next in the series, On Thin Ice, because this book was brilliant - one of the best books I've ever read! My favourite character, except Frankie, was probably Alesha, as she was really nice and was the only proper friend Frankie had.

I rate this book...5/5!

Review by Amber, aged 11

News! Check out the Skate School website here.

Read the first chapter of Ice Princess here.

NEWS: readergirlz New Moon Frenzy

Coming soon... New Moon Frenzy at readergirlz. Here's more about it...

"Are your toes curling for the premiere of New Moon? Will you still love the book better? Hit the rgz blog on November 21st to dish with TwilightMOMS and rgz . Be ready to express all your vampiric impressions. The frenzy starts at 6 p.m. PST/9 p.m. EST at the readergirlz blog!
(Luisa's Note: This will be 2 a.m. of November 22nd in Britain!)

Join the fun for a chance to win a Twilight necklace from Gypsy Wings and other fantastic swag!"

INTERVIEW: Mary Naylus

Sasha interviews Mary Naylus, author of The Dresskeeper, a time-travelling teen novel published by Prospera Press.

What made you want to write a historical fiction book?
I suppose I liked the idea of time-travel and not being particularly interested in the future, I decided to go back in time, which is where the history part comes in.

How did you get the idea for The Dresskeeper?
I’d been fascinated by the fact people three hundred years ago were living in the same buildings as some of us are today, but under extremely different domestic and social conditions. So I started with the concept of a house that held secrets, and then expanded from there. 

Did you always want to write? 
Yes, although my passion and I have had ups and downs like most authors, I finally came to realise that I liked writing for young adults. The voice can be punchy and opinionated and contemporary, but there is a lot of scope to add in little extras like the time-travelling and history. In the past I have tried writing women’s fiction but found I didn’t have the same enthusiasm for it.

Do the ideas from your books come from personal experiances?
Not really. I do incorporate some experiences but in the main I like to research and write about things that are out of my comfort zone. It makes the process all the more interesting. 

Where is your favourite place to write?
Starbucks, Costa, Caffe Nero or similar. Anywhere with a good coffee machine and a power outlet. 

Thank you very much, Mary Naylus!

Interview by Sasha

Read Sasha's review of The Dresskeeper here.

REVIEW: The Traitor Game by B. R. Collins

Review by Summer

This is the first novel by the award-winning author B. R. Collins. This book starts with the story of Michael and Francis, an unlikely duo who share a mysterious secret. A secret they have concocted from an old school project - the secret of Evgard. This secret ties Michael and Francis together and is the basis for them being best friends. Evgard is a fantasy world which is set in a land before modern technology, a place where everything has been designed and thought out by Francis and Michael.

As the story progresses you learn more about the reality of Michael’s and Francis’s lives and also the lives of the people who inhabit this fantasy world they have made up. You learn how Michael struggles to deal with his past experiences of being bullied at his old school, and how this affects the chain of events which is about to occur. Then the game begins, suddenly, someone knows their secret and Michael, fuelled by his previous traumatic experiences, starts to test Francis to see whether he has revealed their joint secret. As the tests begin, Francis is still unaware that anything is going on, when suddenly something happens which could change Michael and Francis's friendship forever.       

When this chain of events begins to occur something happens in the world of Evgard. A soldier named Argent is captured by opposing soldiers and he is taken to the castle of the evil Duke. The duke is an evil man who finds joy in the pain of others and before Argent knows it he has been made into a slave. From then on we see how he struggles to live within the captivity of the castle he is trapped in and how he struggles to deal with living with the people he has always hated, until suddenly it all changes; he meets an unlikely accomplice who has the potential to make his ordeal a lot better than it has to be. As the story progress we see how strangely the occurrences in Argent’s life seem to mirror that of Michael and Francis own experiences and we begin to learn that perhaps this fantasy world they have created is more directly related to them than they would have ever imagined.

When I first started to read this story I found that it was a little slow-paced. However, as the story progressed it became far more exciting than I could have imagined and by the time I was halfway through I felt myself began to savour every word I was reading. The description used by the author helped me to imagine the story more clearly and in my opinion makes this book as good as it is. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes reading fantasy books where everything seems so real you could almost believe it was true.

Review by Summer

GUEST REVIEW: The Midnight Guardian (A Millennial Novel) by Sarah Jane Stratford

Kara from Reading Cause I'm Addicted recently offered to guest review for Chicklish, and we were really happy to accept! Here is her first guest review, of The Midnight Guardian by Sarah Jane Stratford.

Read the full review on Kara's site.

It’s 1938, and the tentacles of Hitler’s terrifying Third Reich have commenced their stranglehold on Europe. The Nazi empire will soon be clean of all bloodlines deemed tainted or undesirable - including vampires... The brilliant and beautiful millennial [vampire] Brigit is loath to go, but her powers are needed if the mission is to have any chance of success. She must summon all her strength to endure the separation from her lover Eamon... and to attempt a daring escape, guarding precious cargo that marks the only hope of salvaging their mission. (Full review here.)

My Thoughts: I enjoyed this book. It was refreshing because it reminded me of a time before Twilight. Yes people there were vampire books before the Twilight saga. Don’t get me wrong, I like the Twilight series but I loved that this book really can’t be compared to it.

When I first started reading this book, I had to adjust to the fact that this was an adult book and not YA. Since this is an adult book nothing had to be held back. There is definitely violence in this book but I thought the author worded all those scenes very well - I call it artistic violence. I thought that the involvement of Nazis in this book was very unique and creative. If I had ever thought of an idea like this I would never have come up with a good enough way to turn it into a novel worth reading or writing.

I loved the characters, especially Mors and I’m hoping that the next Millennial novel expand what I know about him as well as Eamon and Brigit’s relationship. After seeing what they’d gone through in their life before they ended up together, it makes me appreciate their relationship especially because of Brigit. Her feeling of wanting love and being afraid that she’d never find it is a common fear that I could relate to.

The only thing I didn’t like (which was mostly my fault) is that not all the story is told in the same time, meaning that the chapters would switch from the past to the present about every other chapter (more or less). I didn’t notice at first so I was very confused for a while in the beginning.

I really enjoyed this book and can’t wait for the next book in the series. This book gets an A. :)

Thank you very much again, Kara from Reading Cause I'm Addicted.

REVIEW: The Dresskeeper by Mary Naylus

Review by Sasha

Picky Robson's life has gone from bad to worse. Her life is a boy-free zone, she has more pimples than a tiger has stripes and she has to look after her gran, who is suffering from dementia, every weekend for the foreseeable future. One night, Picky is accidentally locked in her gran's attic with no means of an a escape. Tempting fate, Picky slips into an old flouncy dress and, to her shock, finds herself back in 17th Century London. But, she's not alone. A weirdo in a wig is trying to kill her, mistaking her for a girl called Amelia. Who is Amelia? Can Picky uncover the murderer and will she make it back alive?

This book managed to pull me into the story from the first few chapters. It was compelling and original whilst also very easy to get into. The synopsis had me guessing and wondering from the very first page and I was extremely intrigued to find out what was going to happen. Some of the characters in this book could have been stronger and it would have been nice to know about their feeling and point of views. I found myself wanting to know more and more about the Earl and some of Picky's school friends but I felt like it whizzed through everybody quite quickly. There is a thin line between a slow-paced novel and one that moves far too quickly and I feel like this book crossed that line due to the fact that I thought everything (settings, feelings, characters) could have been described for longer and in more depth. Saying this, in some parts of the book the author really brought olden day London alive through sights and smells. This is a good book if you want a gripping teenage mystery.

Review by Sasha, aged 13