Have you ever wanted to meet your favourite author? This week's roundup starts off with an encounter with Janis Mackay, which inspired site member RocketRuby to review her book: The Accidental Time Traveller. In this story, Saul is walking along the street when a girl from 1812 appears in the middle of the street and he must master time travel to get her home.
"I met Janis Mackay, the author, on a school trip and while we were with her, she read us some snippets from her book, explaining things a lot more clearly than it did in the book and making me want to try it ... I then brought the book to Spain and could hardly put it down! I brought it everywhere and felt that I was there watching each event unfold as I sat on the beach … I think that I would never have been interested in it if I hadn't met Janis Mackay, who opened up a whole new world of reading and adventure for me. I would definitely recommend this book and give it 10 out of 10!"
We're turning back the clock again in our next read, as the master of the ready read foundation wrote a fantastic review of Snake Bite by Andrew Lane. This young Sherlock Holmes saga follows Sherlock as he is kidnapped by old enemies, the Paradol Chamber, and taken aboard a ship called the Gloria Scott.
"In this book Sherlock Holmes is a young, adventurous boy who can solve puzzles faster than you can say 'I'm not amused' … I think that this is book is filled with mystery, murder and madness. Andrew Lane has done brilliantly with the fifth addition to his Young Sherlock Holmes series."
Continuing along lines of mystery and adventure, bibliophile1 wrote a tremendously good review of the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan. At the beginning of this series, teenager Percy discovers he is a demigod when one day he accidentally vaporises his maths teacher on a school trip! And after that he has to save the world (of course)…
"I love the Percy Jackson series and have read them several times. They are exciting and full of adventure and I am really interested in Greek myths, so this book combined many of my favourite things. With lovable heroes, detestable villains, action, adventure, mystery, magic, vengeance and romance what more could you ask for?"
Another book saturated in supernatural elements, justonemorepage wrote an oustanding review of The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater. 16-year-old Blue has been told that if she kisses her true love he will die. When she meets a friend called Gansey's spirit on the corpse road she joins the Raven Boys' quest to find out if she is responsible for his death.
"All of them are my favourite characters. The character building is one of the best things about this book: every person is intricately crafted, flawed, different, and utterly real … Altogether, The Dream Thieves was a great read for me. It wasn't the most action-packed, but the character development and beautiful writing style made up for it. Fans of the first book will almost certainly be eager for more, and all I can say is if you have yet to read this series – go do so now!"
A hard-hitting Victorian read now, as annie123 wrote a terrific review of Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. This anti-slavery novel, first published in 1852, follows the life of Uncle Tom, showing the reality of slavery and the importance of love.
"I urge everyone and anyone to read this novel – despite the fact that it was abolished before our time, it gives a real insight into all aspects of slavery. If you want a heart-wrenching book that explores one of the greatest evils of humanity, whilst still retaining a small piece of hope for change, Uncle Tom's Cabin is for you."
Finally, we end this week's roundup with a delightful review by hockey_jess of Love Hurts edited by Malorie Blackman. This collection of new and old love stories, brought together by Blackman, follows every stage of a relationship and shows how love can change the world. It's also this month's Teen book club focus!
"The brand new short stories are original and inventive. Each one is focused on a new aspect of a relationship, a stand out story is Malorie Blackman's one, it is all about overcoming adversity and how nothing will stand in the way of true love … Blackman also uses authors that aren't that well known to showcase new talent and help to increase readership to lesser known authors. She shows off the best features of their writing to keep you interested the whole time."
That's all for this week's roundup. As always, if your review has been mentioned above email the children's books team to claim your free bookish prize!
Happy reading!
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