Guest Review: Illegal by Miriam Halahmy

Title: Illegal

Series: Hayling Island

Author: Miriam Halahmy

Publisher: Meadowside Children's Books

Publication Date: 20 March 2012

Synopsis from Goodreads

If Jemma had lived, none of this would have happened. I'd have been too busy to get dragged into this filthy, illegal business...

Since Lindy's baby sister died, her family have been caught in a downward spiral. Her brothers are in prison and her parents have given up. Soon Lindy is out of her depth too, caught in the centre of an international drugs ring, with no way out. Then Lindy finds help from an unexpected ally: weird, mute Karl from school, and together they plan a daring and desperate escape. But when you're in this deep can you ever be free?

Touching, surprising and painfully honest, Illegal is the second in a cycle of three novels by Miriam Halahmy, and the follow up to her acclaimed first novel, Hidden.

GUEST REVIEW BY BETH OF THE PIECES OF ME

Illegal is the second in Miriam Halahmy’s series of books based on Hayling Island and after reviewing Hidden back in October (HERE) I was really keen to get my teeth into Illegal. It did not disappoint.

Illegal deals with some seriously adult issues, which at times had me wondering if it was indeed a YA book but it deals with them in a mature but readable way which I think is part of its charm and well, genius.

Throughout Illegal our protagonist is Lindy, who featured in the first novel as a sort of bullyish character but once you get going with Illegal, you soon realise how hard life is for Lindy and her family. From the loss of her brothers to prison, to her baby sister passing away, Lindy has for too much to deal with for a young teenager and this is compounded when she begins to work for her dodgy drug-dealing cousin Colin. Lindy thinks she’s doomed to the Bellows fate of being sent to prison and never getting out and continues her work for Colin as she has no way out.

Through her time spent working for Colin, she gets to know Karl, ‘the boy who doesn’t speak’ from school and she begins by bullying him as she has done everybody else but Karl sticks around. His character is extremely interesting as he begins to open up and both Lindy and we as readers get to know him better. Lindy knows she needs to free herself from Colin and her jailbird future and with Karl’s help; she begins to hatch a plan.

This novel is fantastic, truly enjoyable and Lindy shines as an unlikely protagonist and shows herself to be truly genuine and likeable. I really enjoyed getting to know Lindy and empathised with her difficult and near unmanageable life. Dealing with grief, family issues, social services and darker issues including drug dealing, Illegal is a fantastic tale of how you don’t have to fall into the traps laid out for you and you can make more of your life if you want to.

A brilliant novel which left me anticipating the third in the series.

Guest Review: The Storyteller by Antonia Michaelis

Title: The Storyteller

Author: Antonia Michaelis

Publisher: Amulet Books

Publication Date: 1 Jan 2012

Synopsis from Goodreads

Anna and Abel couldn’t be more different. They are both seventeen and in their last year of school, but while Anna lives in a nice old town house and comes from a well-to-do family, Abel, the school drug dealer, lives in a big, prisonlike tower block at the edge of town. Anna is afraid of him until she realizes that he is caring for his six-year-old sister on his own. Fascinated, Anna follows the two and listens as Abel tells little Micha the story of a tiny queen assailed by dark forces. It’s a beautiful fairy tale that Anna comes to see has a basis in reality. Abel is in real danger of losing Micha to their abusive father and to his own inability to make ends meet. Anna gradually falls in love with Abel, but when his “enemies” begin to turn up dead, she fears she has fallen for a murderer. Has she?

Ana has fallen for the ultimate bad boy, Abel, 'polish peddler' drug dealing total bad boy, but Anna sees a different side to Abel. The kind storyteller that looks after his little sister, Micha, it is this side that draws her to him. When the people from Abel's stories turn up dead Anna questions whether Abel is responsible.

The story revolves around the fairy-tale Abel is creating for his sister, Micha. When people from Abel's story turn up dead and Abel has been out on his own at night with no witnesses, no-one knows what is going on. 

Anna is my favorite character, she is so innocent and understanding, her kindness shines through the narrative, she is always there for Abel and Micha when they need her. 

My favorite part was when the three of them went ice-skating, showing a happy day in comparison to their usual dreary/unhappy existence. Although I disliked the scene in the boathouse because I thought it was cruel (no spoilers) it was a necessary element to the story as a whole. I would really have liked to have seen Abel enjoy himself more, especially with Anna.

This book was amazing and I highly recommend it.

Guest Review: 15 Days Without a Head by Dave Cousins

Title: Fifteen Days Without a Head

Author: Dave Cousins

Publisher: OUP

Publication Date: 5 Jan 2012

Synopsis from Goodreads

Fifteen-year-old Laurence Roach just wants a normal life, but it’s not easy when your mum is a depressed alcoholic, and your six-year-old brother thinks he’s a dog. When Mum fails to come home one night, Laurence tells nobody, terrified he and his brother will be taken into care if anyone finds out. Instead, he attempts to keep up the pretence that Mum is still around: dressing up in her clothes to trick the neighbours and spinning an increasingly complicated tangle of lies. After two weeks on their own, running out of food and money, and with suspicious adults closing in, Laurence finally discovers what happened to his mother. And that’s when the trouble really starts . .

GUEST REVIEW BY BETH OF THE PIECES OF ME

When this novel reached me, I expected a zombie slash comic story with jokes and guts round every corner. I couldn’t have been more wrong and the title is more than a little confusing! In fact, 15 days Without A Head deals with some seriously hard hitting issues in an accessible and easy to read way. I think the novel is aimed a few years younger than most those Emma sends across but this doesn’t detract from its quality and for a debut, I can’t knock it.

Our protagonist is Laurence and the story is told from his point of view. He comes across as a really nice guy, struggling as hard as he can to deal with his mother’s alcoholism whilst also acting as mum and dad to his younger brother Jay. Within the first few pages of the book, Laurence is screamed at, hit and then his mother simply disappears, leaving no trace and no sign she’s going to be back. This leaves Laurence and Jay in an impossible situation. They’ve already dealt with social services in the past and this isn’t something Laurence will let happen again, so he simply pretends his mum is still home and tries to survive, convincing Jay she’s just at work.

To add another definitely comic twist to the novel, Laurence has been impersonating his father on a radio phone-in competition to win a holiday, answering question after question in a slightly dodgy Scottish accent. Laurence believes that winning the holiday will turn his mother’s fortunes around but now she’s gone, he doesn’t really know why he’s carrying on. Add into the mix a new friend in the form of Mina and Laurence somehow has to find a way to keep his neighbour Nosy Nelly from finding out about their mum being gone and also try and juggle school and looking after Jay. Surely this is all too much for a fifteen year old to deal with?

This novel is extremely well written and pitched at the right level so the hard hitting issues are dealt with in a way which bring you from laughter to tears and back again all in the space of ten minutes! It deals with a range of issues including alcoholism, single parenthood and poverty in a way that reflects the difficulty of living with such issues without being judgemental.

A brilliant debut and a triumph for Dave Cousins, it’ll be great to see what comes next from him.

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. 

Review: Lia's Guide to Winning the Lottery by Keren David

Title: Lia's Guide to Winning the Lottery
Author: Keren David
Publisher: Frances Lincoln Children's  Books
Publication  Date: 4 Aug 2011

Synopsis: From Amazon

Money can’t buy you love. But it can buy many other very nice things. Lia’s mum is a nag, her sister’s a pain and she’s getting nowhere in pursuit of the potentially paranormal Raf. Then she wins £8 million in the lottery, and suddenly everything is different. But will Lia’s fortune create more problems than it solves? Everyone dreams of winning the lottery - but what’s it really like?

Review:

I have to admit I really thought I was going to hate this book after reading the first few chapters. I can hear you all screaming WHY? Well it is because Lia is just so gosh darn awful. She spews acid from her mouth instead of words, she is toxic and toally selfish and self-absorbed. I even had to ask Keren if she did improve or I was going to stamp on the book. She told me to stick with her, and yes she had intentionally made her like this. I am so glad she convinced me to stick with it.

Lia's Guide to Winning the Lottery provides great insight into what it would be like to suddenly come into a LOT of money. I am sure we all imagine what we would do with a large lottery win, the houses we would buy, the holidays we would take but have you ever really thought about what you would do to ensure that your financial future was secure. This point was brilliantly crafted into the storyline.

Unfortunately, I hate to say it but Lia is very realistic portrayed, I have been noticing a lot more the type of things girls her age say and OMG they are like that, it must be the hormonal imbalance that makes them evil, lol. It was nice to see Lia's character developemnt through the story via numerous incidents not least  the pie throwing. The way in which the media scrutiny was partrayed was quite scary, although I did think that Lia's mother was a bit shallow I liked the way she used her PR training to manipulate the situation to her advantage.I really liked how Lia was quick to crave normalicy after the worldwind of activity.

The peripheral characters really added balance to the story and WOW was Lia lucky to have friends like that. Lia's father is a lovely calming presence putting no pressure on her at all although you can tell he is stuggling financially with his Bakery in the current econmic crisis. Which I have to say was brutally depicted in the narrative with the closure of shops in the High Street and business on the edge of bankrupcy.

I adored the sarcastic use of the paranormal craze woven into the narrative, it was so so so funny.  Raf's character added another element to the story making you realise just how deceiving first impressions can be. To say I adored him would be putting it mildly.

At first I thought the bold italic writing at the start of each chapter heading was just there to provide ironic humour but the way in which it all came together in the end and tied into the title was amazing.

I am so glad I took Keren's advice and stuck with Lia the character progression from the start of the book to the end was a wonder to behold. I KNOW you will enjoy this as much as I did when you get into it. So don't be afraid of the toxic 16 year old go read it.

Review: The Truth About Celia Frost by Paula Rawsthorne

Title: The Truth About Celia Frost
Author: Paula Rawsthorne
Publisher: Usbourne
Publication Date: 1 Aug 2011

Synopsis: From Amazon

Celia Frost is a freak. At least that's what everyone thinks. Her life is ruled by a rare disorder that means she could bleed to death from the slightest cut, confining her to a gloomy bubble of safety. No friends. No fun. No life. But when a knife attack on Celia has unexpected consequences, her mum reacts strangely. Suddenly they're on the run. Why is her mum so scared? Someone out there knows - and when they find Celia, she's going to wish the truth was a lie... A buried secret; a gripping manhunt; a dangerous deceit: what is the truth about Celia Frost? A page-turning thriller that's impossible to put down.

Review:

Firstly just let me say WOW this book was nothing like I was expecting, it is completely action packed with incredible twists and turns that you just do not see coming.

Although I will admit it is easy to figure out the 'bad' guy in this story the motivation and callousness were really shocking.

I adored Celia herself, sympathised with her life - sheltered and over-protected, a loner though not by choice; I was overjoyed when she met Sol. I really liked the wonderful way their friendship developed. They are both rather 'young' for their age probably due to them both having over-protective mothers (common ground lol) . They really bring out the best in each other. They identify something within each other that nobody else has recognised, an aspect that they identify with and compliments themselves. I would go do far as to say they are kindred spirits. Plus their blossoming relationship is just so CUTE.

Even Janice, Celia's mother, was completely relatable to a degree, although extreme in her protection of Celia she has her reasons which are divulged throughout the plot. The way in which she gives her life over to raising, protecting and nurturing Celia is a really good example of unconditional love. It isn't the type of love that should be taken for granted but it should be treasured. Any idiot can have a baby but being a good parent is something entirely different.

A lot of topical issues are raised within the story, medical ethics among them. It made me really think about the lengths I would go to if one of my children were in that position *shudders*. Even after reading it a while ago the questions continue to swirl around my head whenever I think of the story.

The use of music within the narrative and how it allows both Janice and Celia to switch off from their problems was described amazingly insightful and was so easy for me to relate to. I think I have recently stated that music is also subjective, we tend to like certain things because we can relate to them, and this isn't just about the lyrics. It is the music itself. I am sure other people who listen to music as much as I do will understand the point I am trying to make.

A truly impressive debut, I cannot wait to see what Paula Rawsthorne produces next. If you are looking for something completely different in the world of YA then this is most definitely your book.