Muscial Moments: Song of the Month chosen by Miriam Halahmy

Title: Hidden
Author: Miriam Halahmy
Publisher: Meadowside Children's Books
Publication Date: 30 Mar 2011
Synopsis: From Amazon

Hidden is a brave debut novel, tackling the complex issues of immigration and human-rights laws, through the eyes of teenage Alix. A literary, coming-of-age novel dealing with prejudice, judgement, courage, preconceptions and the difficulty of sorting right from wrong. Challenging, charming, compelling. Fourteen year old Alix lives at the bottom of Hayling Island near the beach. It is a quiet backwater, far removed from world events such as war, terror and refugees. Alix has never even given a thought to asylum seekers, she has enough problems of her own: Dad has a new life that doesn't include her, Grandpa is dead and Mum is helpless and needy. Then one day on the beach Alix and Samir pull a drowning man out of the incoming tide: Mohammed, an illegal immigrant and a student. Mohammed has been tortured by rebels in Iraq for helping the allied forces and has spent all his money to escape. Alone, helpless, and desperate not to be deported, Mohammed's destiny lies in Alix's hands. However, hiding an injured immigrant is fraught with difficulties. Faced with the biggest moral dilemma of her life, what will Alix do, and who can she trust?

The song which ran through my head while writing HIDDEN was Bridge over Troubled Water by Paul Simon. Here is the best version on YouTube sung by Art Garfunkel

Every line in this song says something about the themes of this book. The Bridge in the title is the bridge from Hayling Island to the mainland but it is also the support and friendship for Mohammed, the tortured asylum seeker whom Alix and Samir rescue from the sea. As Garfunkel sings about how he will 'take your part when darkness comes'  and when' friends can't be found' I can see Alix and Samir as they stand by Mohammed in the face of mounting  obstacles. 'Sail on silver bird...your time has come to shine...I'm sailing right behind...' are amongst the most beautiful expressions of love and friendship in modern lyrics. An unbeatable song.

Guest Mini-Review: Hidden by Miriam Halahmy

Title: Hidden
Author: Miriam Halahmy
Publisher: Meadowside Children's Books
Publication Date: 30 Mar 2011
Synopsis: From Amazon

Hidden is a brave debut novel, tackling the complex issues of immigration and human-rights laws, through the eyes of teenage Alix. A literary, coming-of-age novel dealing with prejudice, judgement, courage, preconceptions and the difficulty of sorting right from wrong. Challenging, charming, compelling. Fourteen year old Alix lives at the bottom of Hayling Island near the beach. It is a quiet backwater, far removed from world events such as war, terror and refugees. Alix has never even given a thought to asylum seekers, she has enough problems of her own: Dad has a new life that doesn't include her, Grandpa is dead and Mum is helpless and needy. Then one day on the beach Alix and Samir pull a drowning man out of the incoming tide: Mohammed, an illegal immigrant and a student. Mohammed has been tortured by rebels in Iraq for helping the allied forces and has spent all his money to escape. Alone, helpless, and desperate not to be deported, Mohammed's destiny lies in Alix's hands. However, hiding an injured immigrant is fraught with difficulties. Faced with the biggest moral dilemma of her life, what will Alix do, and who can she trust?

GUEST REVIEW BY BETH
This book can be accessed at many levels and I think it’s brilliant for introducing extremely complex and difficult issues in a way anybody can access from racism to more complex immigration and asylum issues. Halahmy confronts some serious stuff in a really great way.

Halahmy presents us with a really naïve but equally unbiased view of Mohammed, who could easily be prejudiced against. In Alix, we have a narrator who despite prejudices which, she acknowledges and tries to overcome herself, is basically an empathetic, unprejudiced and brave protagonist. She is a warm and likable character who works hard to keep her personal problems away from the forefront of the huge and terrifying worlds that both her friend Samir and Mohammed have experienced. I have to say I feel a bit sorry for Alix, although her problems are improving by the end, I felt she deserved a friend who she could share her seemingly small problems with but instead she pushes them aside to support others, a great trait to bestow upon any protagonist!

A really clever novel which tackles BIG issues in a subtle and manageable way! Looking forward to the others in the series. 

Follower Lucky Numbers: Haunting Violet Swag Bag

Title: Haunting Violet

Author: Alyxandra Harvey

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Publication Date: 4 July 2011

Synopsis: From Amazon

Violet Willoughby doesn't believe in ghosts, especially since her mother has worked as a fraudulent medium for a decade. Violet has taken part in enough of her mother's tricks to feel more than a little jaded aboutanything supernatural. The ghosts, however, believe in Violet and she's been seeing them everywhere. One ghost in particular needs Violet to use her emerging gift to solve her murder ...and prevent the ghost's twin sister from suffering the same fate.

REVIEW HERE

To celebrate the release of the 4th book in The Drake Chronicles I have beautiful swag bags of Alyxandra Harvey's other great book Haunting Violet.

3 gorgeous bags up for grabs with beautiful bookmarks and lip gloss inside them. Again it is a follower lucky numbers because I love my followers and would like to reward you. Just fill out the form below and add your lucky number to the spreadsheet HERE by pressing F2 then typing in your name. Open until the 17th October. You may wonder why the give-aways at the moment are open until the 17th - well pay day is around there so I can afford the postage lol.

Trailer Tuesday: Bleeding Hearts by Alyxandra Harvey plus Extract

Title: Bleeding Hearts

Series: The Drake Chronicles

Author: Alyxandra Harvey

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Publication Date: 3 Oct 2011

Synopsis: From Amazon

Lucy's cousin Christabel has come to live in Violet Hill, and adjusting to the difference between life in a small mountain town and her home in the city is difficult. The strict curfew that Lucy's parents enforce is hard to respect. Surely something really dangerous couldn't possibly happen in this tiny town. But Christabel starts to notice some mysterious happenings, and it seems like Lucy, her boyfriend Nicholas and his brother Connor are all in on a secret that Christabel doesn't understand - one that seems deadly serious. Although she won't admit it, Christabel would love to be in on any secret with Connor Drake. When Christabel is kidnapped by the ruthless Hel-Blar vampires, Lucy and Connor finally fill her in on all the undead drama. Together, they must find a way to stamp out the Hel-Blar for good.

I have read it - review coming very soon and I have to tell you it is awesome.

Bleeding Hearts Prologue

MG Monday: Guest Review: The Emerald Atlas by John Stephens

Title: The Emerald Atlas: The Book of Beginnings

Series: The Emerals Atlas

Author: John Stephens

Publisher: Doubleday Children's

Publication Date: 14 April 2011

Synopsis: From Back Cover

They were snatched from their beds in the dead of night, when the world was covered in snow.

Ten years on, Kate, Michael and Emma have grown up in a string of miserable orphanages, and all memories of their parents have faded. Arriving in the eerily silent Cambridge Falls, the children quickly realise there is something strange going on...

With the discovery of an old leather book, an ancient magical prophecy is set in motion which will take them on the the adventure of several lifetimes, to worlds outside their own. Only they have the power to save the town - and their own future.

Guest Review:

‘The Emerald Atlas’, is the first book of a series packed to the seams with thrills. However, there is one particular problem that limits it. There’s something decidedly difficult about placing the period the story is set. When we first meet the protagonist siblings, there’s an air of the early twentieth century, with little mention of cars or any other indicators of the modern world which works fine until nineteen years earlier we’re confronted with a woman in jeans. Wha!? Who? How did this happen? This in turn impacts on the main timeline, fifteen years into the past. Only one gun is ever mentioned and not once is there anything more advanced than swords and crossbows used in the numerous clashes throughout the story which leaves an uneasy mix of technology and magic that could’ve been avoided with a little more consistency.

It’s particularly odd as the explanation of time travel I felt was particularly well done, with simple and consistently enforced rules that avoid complicating contradictions within the timeline.

Other than that my only other complaint is perhaps the portrayal of the Dwarves who have some heavy influence from their cousins in Moria with isolationist attitudes abound and you have to be careful not to fall over with the amount of craftsmanship all over the place. That being said, it doesn’t stop them from still being enjoyable characters.

By far and away Dr. Pym is the standout character of the novel. His quirky outfit and flips between sage advice and commenting on breakfast for dinner, (Which, by the way sounds delicious. Pancakes and jam doughnuts anyone?) is fun to read and provides a light and fluffy contrast to intense action scenes. Like a delicious meringue on top of a rich chocolate sponge, with that melted chocolate centre which oozes out when you cut into it and there’s never quite enough there so you clearly require seconds to be full and I may have forgotten where I was going with this...Anyway! 

I initially found the protagonists to bear some similarity to the Baudelaire orphans of A series of unfortunate events, Protective elder sister Kate, bookworm brother Michael and impetuous little sister Emma but the trio do develop their own identity and personalities, even showing their fallibility and in some cases naivety of the events happening around them, affording the opportunity for them to earn my respect for them as well as from other characters. Despite this, there is still something about the supporting cast that I can’t put my finger on that I find more enjoyable (and that’s not solely down to Dr. Pym.)

So overall? ‘The Emerald Atlas’ is the start of a promising series. It does have its faults, but hopefully ones that will be ironed out. Nonetheless it is a good adventure with a story and character’s you’ll happily read more about. And for me at least it has raised the important question of how much one can make a metaphor out of cake.

            -Scamp, Peruser of Tomes.

In My Mailbox 18/9/11, 25/9/11 & 2/10/11

In My Mailbox is hosted by The Story Siren to allow us to share our book love [ : D ] 

For Review:

Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan

(intriguing plus Kathleen was my Mum's Name)

Ten Things We Shouldn't Have Done by Sarah Mlynowski

(I actually have a copy of this one so I took it into the library and have already recommended it to loads of girls)

Dark Angel by Eden Maguire (Review here)

(another one gone straight in to the library squeee)

Bought:

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

(stunning hardback in The Works for £2:99 so you understand I couldn't just leave it there)

Bought:

Mist by Kathryn James

(cover so pretty had to have it - I am awful I know but I like the pretty)

For Review:

This Dark Endeavour by Kenneth Oppel

(omg I swooned when I opened this one - how fabulous an apprentice Victor Frankenstein - loved Mary Shelly's Frankenstein so really looking forward to this one)

Huge huge huge thank you to Elle at The Book Memoirs for sending me books on Children's Literature that she used on her OU course. They even have fab notes in - I am hoping it will help me further in the library and Elle is just wonderful on children's literature.

I have a few more but haven't had time to add them to the post so I shall add them next week.

Things have been veery busy in school, I am sure once I get all the book recommendations out of the way it will ease off a bit.

I had each class write 5 or more random facts about themselves but one of those facts had to be about either books, movies, tv programmes, games or music. From these random facts I am attempting to give them personalised book recommendations, but as they are personalised they are taking me ages to do. A few classes have had them already and the satisfaction of seeing the pupil enjoying the book I picked out for them is just priceless *beams*

Also things at home are rough to say the least and the desktop pc gave up the ghost last week. We have had problems with it since purchase - it has had 3 new motherboards, therefore I am searching for a new PC but I think I shall hold off getting the shiny until the girls and I move. With the current situation I think the sooner we go the better so I shall be busy packing etc too. I hope you miss me as much as I miss you. Thank goodness I have some awesome guest reviews to give me room to breath. You guys ROCK

Big Hugs

On My Library Wish-List

Title: The Call

Series: The Magnificent 12 #1

Author: Michael Grant

Publisher: Harper Collins Childrens Books

Publication Date: 6 Jan 2011

Synopsis: From Amazon

Sometimes one hero isn't enough-sometimes you need a full dozen. First in a funny, action-packed fantasy series by the New York Times bestselling author of GONE
Mack McAvoy is not an unlikely hero. He is an impossible hero! He is only twelve years old, he has a list of phobias as long as your arm, and he's a bully magnet. That is, until Mack is visited by a golem. The golem looks exactly like Mack, and has been sent to fill in for him while the real Mack sets out to save the world from the evil Pale Queen. To do so, he must assemble an elite team of twelve powerful children from all around the world. The first foe they face is Risky. Risky is pure evil. She gets it from her mother – the Pale Queen – a force of evil to be reckoned with since before medieval times.
Packed with action and humour Magnificent Twelve – The Call ends with a delicious cliffhanger that will have readers craving more.

How fantastic does this series sound. Terrific review at Mundie Kids here that brought it to my attention.