Chicklish

NEWS: Red House Children's Book Award 2012 - shortlist

Red House Children’s Book Award 2012, an award voted for entirely by children, has just announced its shortlist.

Children nationwide are now invited to vote for their favourite of the ten shortlisted books. The category and overall winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in London on Saturday 18th February 2012.

Find out more about the shortlisted titles and authors at the Red House Children's Book Award site. Anyone under the age of 16 can vote there for their favourite book until 20th January 2012.

The full shortlist for the Red House Children’s Book Award 2012 is as follows:

Books for Younger Children

Rollo and Ruff and the Little Fluffy Bird by Mick Inkpen
Don't Worry Douglas! by David Melling
Peely Wally by Kali Stileman
Scruffy Bear and the Six White Mice by Chris Wormell

Books for Younger Readers

One Dog and His Boy by Eva Ibbotson
Sky Hawk by Gill Lewis
The Brilliant World of Tom Gates by Liz Pichon

Books for Older Readers

Grace by Morris Gleitzman
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece by Annabel Pitcher

Vote here.

REVIEW: Vampires and Volts by Marcus Sedgwick (Raven Mysteries Book 4)

9-year-old Rocco reviews the fourth book in The Raven Mysteries series. Synopsis from Waterstone's. 

"Join the wonderfully weird Otherhand family and their faithful guardian, Edgar the raven, and discover the dark secrets of Castle Otherhand. It's Halloween and the Otherhands are enjoying the Annual Pumpkin Hunt. And there are preparations to be made for the Great Halloween Ball. Minty is all a-fluster. Solstice is busy spraying fake cobwebs everywhere. Valevine is in charge of disorganising everyone's carefully laid plans, and Cudweed seems hungrier than ever and oddly preoccupied with 'fresh brains'. In fact when Silas, Valevine's long lost brother, turns up with Samantha, the Otherhands would be well-advised to check out their guests. It's not long before wily Edgar works out that there's a preponderance of vampires and not all of them have false teeth."

Vampires and Volts is a scary read. A raven called Edgar describes the strange happenings. At Halloween, the Otherhands have a big party and the uncle brings along some vampires.

I enjoyed the part when the family were trapped in the maze because it was thrilling. I'm looking forward to other books by this author!

Review by Rocco, aged 9

Raven Mysteries website

• Publisher: Orion Childrens (6 Oct 2011)
• ISBN-10: 1444001906
• ISBN-13: 978-1444001907

REVIEW: Mist by Kathryn James

Review by Mel.

"Midnight: a mist-haunted wood with a bad reputation. A sweet sixteen party, and thirteen-year-old Nell is trying to keep her sister, spoilt birthday-girl Gwen, out of trouble. No chance. Trouble finds Gwen and drags her through the mist. Only Nell guesses who's behind the kidnap - the boy she hoped was her friend, the gorgeous but mysterious Evan River.

Evan is no ordinary boy - he has a secret which will lead Nell to question everything she has always learned from her grandmother's stories. Evan lives on the fringes of Nell's world, rarely glimpsed, misunderstood and feared, but a long-simmering showdown between the two worlds is looming ..."

I'm a sucker for folklore and old wives' tales so I found Mist a great read. Set in the modern day, it follows the adventures of 13-year-old Nell Beecham, as she passes through a sinister woodland mist and enters the elven world in search of her older sister, Gwen. As with the best fairy stories, the world is enchanting, yet also sinister. The power that keeps it alive is beginning to fail, its inhabitants have been locked away in iron-clad camps by humans and those remaining (mainly children) are ruled by an unhinged freedom fighter named Fen. As Nell begins to forge an uncertain friendship with Fen's younger brother, Evan, she learns that Fen has taken Gwen hostage in response to a war that is waging between the humans and the Elven. Nell must use all intelligence, negotiation skills and cunning to save both herself and her sister.

There was so much to like about this book that it's hard to pinpoint my favourite elements, but I thought that Nell and Gwen's relationship was really believable - despite their differences and rivalry they had a strong bond and obviously cared about each other. Nell was a brilliant character - quiet, yet self-assured and willing to perservere where others had failed. I liked her quirkiness and the way she noticed things that others couldn't see such as messages spelled out by lights in tower block windows. Fen was fab too - obviously mad, but also charismatic - a complicated and likeable antagonist.

Although the backstory was based on well-known myth and legend, it was also original. The author injected enough politics, long-standing feuds and power struggles to freshen the wider story. I wanted to learn more about the world and hope that Kathryn James explores this in greater detail in the sequel, Frost, which is due to be released in June 2012.

Review by Mel.

• Publisher: Hodder Children's Books (1 Sep 2011)
• ISBN-10: 1444903063
• ISBN-13: 978-1444903065

REVIEW: Life, Death and Gold Leather Trousers by Fiona Foden

Review by Faun.

"Clover's life is going from bad to worse. Her dad's run off with Nudie Bernice from his life drawing class; Mum's taken to either staying in bed or doing aerobics from dawn till dusk; the gorgeous new boy at school is sending very mixed messages. . . On top of all that, there's the whole thing with Jupe - Clover's beloved international rock star uncle who has died. Why had he and Mum had such a falling out? And why wasn't Clover brave enough to send him the letters she'd written over the years?"

This book is really touching. You could feel exactly what the main character was feeling through vivid description. It was really entertaining and funny. It has a gradual release of information about the main characters which made you want to read more. It gives you an insight to the main characters life as well as describing parents, sister, uncle and friends.

All in all it was extremely good and I would quite happily read it again.

Review by Faun, aged 11

• Publisher: Scholastic; 1 edition (4 Aug 2011)
• ISBN-10: 1407120867
• ISBN-13: 978-1407120867

REVIEW: Brave New Girl by Catherine Johnson

Review by Luisa.

"I can make things happen - good things - I know it!" Seren is so full of brilliant ideas - it's just that she always seems to put her foot in it! First there was the dance routine where she fell off the stage. And now her plan to get her sister Sasha noticed by gorgeous Luke Beckford looks like it could backfire… Seren reckons she's just hopelessly accident-prone! But there's one person who believes in Seren. Her mate Keith is making a film for a national competition and he wants Seren to be in it. Could Seren turn out to be a star after all? This is a funny, big-hearted story with a lovable heroine who will make you laugh and cry."

Set in pre-Olympics 2012 London, this book has a great sense of place and features a cast of life-like, multi-cultural Londoners. Seren has a chaotic home and school life and it's great to see the way that the upcoming Olympics affects each character in some way, even though it stays largely in the background.

Seren's family drama is understated but poignant and beautifully portrayed, especially in her relationship with her sister and mother. The novel also touches on friendship issues. The dialogue is lively and Seren is sweet, well-meaning and loyal. It's easy to root for her every step of the way. Seren's friend Keith is also a fantastic character, and the film aspect of this story is intriguing.

Brave New Girl is original, topical and highly recommended for readers aged 10 and up.

Review by Luisa.

• Publisher: Frances Lincoln Children's Books (3 Nov 2011)
• ISBN-10: 1847802540
• ISBN-13: 978-1847802545

REVIEW: Forbidden (The Demon Trappers Book 2) by Jana Oliver

Review by Daria.

"Riley's beginning to think being a demon trapper isn't all it's cracked up to be. Her dad's been stolen by a necromancer, her boyfriend's gone all weird and she's getting warm and fuzzy feelings for someone who's got more secrets than the CIA. It's tempting to just give it all up and try to be normal, but that's not an option with hell watching her every move. One mistake will cost her everything – and that's the one she's about to make..."

After having read the first book in the series, I was looking forward to reading the second. Now I can't wait for the third. Forbidden is a fantastic story about the life in the future with demons seen as a normal thing. I loved that we got the story told to us from different views, as it cleared up the plot and made it easier to understand. The story line was very interesting and completely unpredictable. I was left open mouthed after reading about something that happened, which just came completely out of the blue. I also loved the fact that even though Riley was a very unusual girl, the only female trapper, she was still just a 17-year-old girl. She made mistakes, got jealous, impatient and angry. All of the things expected from a girl her age.

As in the first book, Riley was ferocious and strong like before. Even though everything was falling apart around her, she was just as determined to save her dad and save the world. However, her emotions did cloud her judgements and led to her making very big mistakes. I found myself getting angry at her for what she was doing, but I was still rooting for her. Peter, Riley's best friend, plays a bigger role in this book, which I liked because usually you learn a lot about the main characters best friend. Beck and Riley's relationship changes throughout the book, as different events happen.

I am really looking forward to what's going to happen in the third book, as the whole Demon Trappers Series has, so far, been amazing.

Review by Daria, aged 15

• Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books (5 Aug 2011)
• ISBN-10: 0330519484
• ISBN-13: 978-0330519489

GIVEAWAY: Becoming Edward by Faye Meredith (NOW CLOSED)

**This competition is now closed and the winner, P.M., has been contacted. Thank you for entering!**

Author Faye Meredith has kindly offered a copy of her teen romance e-book, Becoming Edward, to a reader of Chicklish. Here's more about the novel...

"Rachel’s hooked on Twilight and is in love with Edward Cullen. Clive is obsessed with Rachel but he’s no Edward. Lewis is in love with himself until he meets Rachel. Both boys fail to win her until one of them has the bright idea of becoming Edward.

Becoming Edward is a light-hearted teenage novel for young adults who love paranormal romance, especially Twilight and Breaking Dawn, or are simply big fans of Robert Pattinson. There are no vampires in it, but there is someone who thinks he's Edward Cullen. The author is a huge Twilight fan and explores what it’s like to be a Twi-hard while other people just ‘don’t get it’."

Read a free sample of Becoming Edward at Smashwords.

**This competition is now closed and the winner, P.M., has been contacted. Thank you for entering!**

NEWS: Book Swap at Page-turner blog

Check out a new feature on the Page-turner book blog: Book Swap!

Beth is planning to post about books she'd like to read and others she'd like to swap, and she'd love other book blogs to take part, too.

Read more about it at Page-turner!

REVIEW: Love and Other Drama-Ramas by Sarah Webb (Ask Amy Green book 4)

Guest review by Cliona of Bookster Reviews.

"Love is in the air! Everyone in Amy’s life is loved-up: her mum’s getting remarried, her crazy aunt Clover’s dating a hot singer and her best friend Mills has fallen Big Time for the swoon-tastic Bailey. But drama-rama – Bailey is cheating on Mills! How can a boy go from Love God to Love Rat in just a few days? Amy is determined to investigate… and uncovers more than she bargained for. Can Problem-Solving Queen Amy help Bailey and mend Mills’s achy-breaky heart?"

I love this series! It's brilliant and the books are so much fun to read! Love and Other Drama-Ramas was certainly no exception.

In the last book, we were left with a bit of a mystery. We didn't know anything about the mysterious Bailey Otis's past. I was really glad we got to find out all about him and why he was so secretive. I was sort of expecting what had happened, but I still enjoyed reading about it! I really liked all the characters, especially Clover! She is just fabulous! I think everyone would love to have an aunt like her. I know I would! And Amy's mum was awesome in this book! She was really helpful to Amy and her friends. I can't say much more, because it would spoil it, but if you read the book you'll know what I'm talking about! Amy was a strong character and constantly trying to help everyone, agony-aunt style! Although it landed her in some sticky situations, she meant well! Bailey and Mills weren't exactly my favourite characters. Bailey was a whinge, I thought. I know he went through a lot, but he needed to grow up! I liked Mills, but I thought she was a bit of a whinge too. She was really nice, but kind of self-centered.

The writing style and the story were excellent, and together they made the book addictive! I always wanted  to read on, and ended up reading this book in under two days! I wish there were more Amy Green books. I can't wait for Dancing Daze, the next book, to find out all about Mill's ballerina sister, and just for more of Sarah's brilliant writing! I loved this book, and would definitely recommend it, and the rest of the series, to everyone!

Guest review by Cliona of Bookster Reviews.
Thank you very much, Cliona! Check out more fabulous reviews at Bookster Reviews.

• Publisher: Walker (1 Sep 2011)
• ISBN-10: 140632745X
• ISBN-13: 978-1406327458

Ask Amy Green series details:
1. Boy Trouble (2009)
2. Summer Secrets (2010)
3. Bridesmaid Blitz (2010)
4. Love and Other Drama-Ramas (2011)

REVIEW: Vanished by Kate Brian (Private series book 12)

Review by Mya.

"Against all odds, Reed Brennan re-established Billings as an underground literary society. She and the new initiates created a glamorous secret headquarters and were ready to show Easton Academy that even though Billings House is gone, the Billings Girls are stronger than ever. But before Reed had a chance to revel in her success, something horrible happened: Noelle disappeared. Now Reed has no idea who wants to hurt Noelle or why, but it's up to Reed to save her. As the clues build up, the clock ticks down, and Reed fears that unless she finds Noelle soon, she'll lose her friend forever...."

Kate Brian is one of my favourite authors, however I think the series may be coming to an end after the next four or so books. The Private series went from amazing, to more or less average, and then back to amazing again. Reinstating its perfection, Vanished has brought back everything I’d look for in a book and in some aspects more.

Reed’s life started to become very repetitive after the 9th book, but despite the dip in the series, Kate Brian has pulled this book off superbly yet again whilst introducing new plot lines, new halls of residence and a fresh slate.

Speaking of plots, this is definitely not what I’d expect from a Kate Brian book so far, not including the prequel ‘Book of Spells’. However this is what definitely drew me in. Whilst books from the Private series tend to be thrillers, they aren’t usually paranormal.

To conclude my thoughts on this book, I’d have to say I was impressed, not to mention happy that I’d finally got my Reed back. I kept on flicking the pages trying to find out who took Noelle and why, and now that Kate Brian has moved on from the mid-series dip, she has my attention.

4/5 Stars, recommended for readers 13+

Review by Mya.

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Childrens Books (2 Sep 2010)
• ISBN-10: 0857070428
• ISBN-13: 978-0857070425