Today we hear from Bookbabbler Anna…

The Celeb Next Door – Hilary Freeman

Rosie has lived in Paradise Avenue, Camden Town all her life. As well as the market to hang out at and gigs to go to, there are celebrities to spot, and TV studios where she and her best friends Sky and Vix might get noticed. When Rosie finds out that the drummer from a chart-topping group is moving into the house next door, she makes it her mission to befriend him. But things don’t turn out quite the way she expects…

I enjoyed Freeman’s ‘The Celeb Next Door’ far more than I had expected to. It’s a sweet story and at 181 pages it’s a nice, quick read.

What I probably liked most was the book’s setting, Camden. I think that’s a good thing because the series is called the ‘Camden Town Tales’ so I’m sure there’s more to come in the area. The descriptions of the market and the town, in general, are precise and very vivid. It was great to read a book about an area I’ve been to, too.

The characters are fun and Rosie, the protagonist, is developed incredibly well. Her personality and emotions are portrayed very convincingly and we come to understand her moral dilemmas through her thoughts and feelings. I thought it was a shame we didn’t get to know her two friends, Sky and Vix, a little better but perhaps that will come with the next books.

There’s a touch of romance but it’s all very innocent and matches the pre-teen demographic I think the book has been aimed at.

This book could have been far fetched and unrealistic but in reality it was really amusing. I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the series. This is a brilliant start!

Thanks, Anna and thanks to Piccadilly for sending it to us. It’s here for you now..

Today we have a review from Luke..

Death in the Desert – Jim Eldridge

Another day, another mission. Now a fully-fledged member of covert military squad Delta Unit, Mitch is thrust straight back into the battle zone. And there’s more at stake than ever before.

THE MISSION: smuggle an undercover peace negotiator through war-torn Afghanistan to the secret hideout of a powerful Taliban warlord.

THE SQUAD: elite, Black-Ops soldiers – Mitch, Two Moons, Gaz, Tug, Benny and nelson – codename, Delta Unit.

Six men start out on the mission. How many will come back?

At first glance this is not the type of book I would usually read; however I really enjoyed the story line. We follow the six members of Delta Unit as they embark on an undercover mission in war-torn Afghanistan. They are trying to find a Taliban war-lord Azma Al Haq who wishes to negotiate with the allied forces for a peace treaty. The book follows Delta Unit as they work undercover as drug smugglers, encounter enemy forces, and are even held by English troops on their mission to Kajaki in Afghanistan.

During the book you can easily identify with the six characters and on the last few pages the pictures of the men enable you to visualise them better. The characters are believable and work excellently together as a team to achieve their mission. The book is fast paced and gripping. Certainly after reading this I am more aware of weaponry used and the terrain and conditions of Afghanistan.

The book does stipulate that there are graphic scenes of warfare; however they are in keeping with the story line and relevant. Enjoyed the book and would certainly read other titles from this author.

Thanks, Luke and thanks to Egmont for sending us a copy.

Bookbabbler Emily offered to read a book for us, so here’s her first ever review:

Phoebe Finds Her Voice – Anne-Marie Conway

Meet Phoebe. Big heart, big laughs, BIG dramas! Why won t Phoebe s annoying neighbour, Monty B, leave her alone? Can she get her dippy dad and over-worked mum back together again? Will class mean-girl, Polly Carter, just get off her case for once? And most important of all will she overcome her stage fright in time to sing her musical solo? A warm-hearted story about the triumphs and traumas at the Star Makers Drama Club a special place where everyone has their moment to shine!

“Phoebe Finds Her Voice” is a book that I would recommend especially to older girls who like warm-hearted and realistic books.

It is a story about a girl trying to overcome her stagefright, battle against school bullies and reunite her parents.  It is a gentle book about performance, family reunion and courage.

I really enjoyed this book – in fact I will never forget reading this book!  I thought the character of Phoebe was really believable.  The characters are like people in real life: mean people, emotional people, happy, nervous, self-conscious, shy people.  My favourite part was when Phoebe joins a drama club and sings about her friend forgetting all about her.  The book was packed full of drama, emotions and laughs and it made me want to join Star Makers Drama Club!

I am so glad to have read this book and would rate it 9/10 and would definitely read another book by Anne-Marie Conway.

Thanks, Emily – great first review! Thanks to Usborne Children’s books for sending us a copy.

Bookbabbler Jonathan has been reading and reviewing for us…

Don’t Call Me Ishmael! – Michael Gerald Bauer

‘By the end of my first term of high school, Barry Bagsley had miraculously transformed me from Ishmael Leseur to Stalepiss Manure. And that summed up exactly how I felt.’

With a name that is sheer heaven to a bully with geek-seeking missiles, fourteen-year-old Ishmael’s main aim is to keep a low profile at school. But cajoled into joining the debating team, he suddenly finds himself thrust into the limelight with mortifying yet hilarious results.

Join Ishmael and his intrepid band of misfit mates in what will become the toughest, the most embarrassingly awful and the best year of their lives.

In Ishmael Lesuer’s first year at St. Daniel’s Boys School he meets Barry Bagsley, a vicious bully, who delights in making Ishmael’s life miserable. Ishmael, who likes the quiet life, decides to keep a low profile and gets through his first year pretty much unscathed. In his second year, he gets the amazing teacher Miss Tarango and then James Scobie arrives.  James had a brain tumor which when it was removed took away all his fear, so he can stand up to Barry Bagsley! Then James signs Ishmael up to the debating team which starts a series of hilarious events. How can a debating team work with Prindabel (the nerd), Kingsley (the daydreamer), Razza (there are no words to describe him) and Ishmael (who doesn’t want to speak in public)? It seems an impossible task.  Can Ishmael stand up to Barry Bagsley?

I think Don’t Call Me Ishmael is an amazingly funny book for boys 12+. A word of caution though: this book does contain some rather crude humour. This tale of a normal boy, who is bullied at school is an hilarious but emotional story. Even though the characters are a bit weird the story line is perfect!

Thanks for the review, Jonathan. Thanks to Tick Tock books for sending us a copy.

We have our first ‘For Little Ones’ review today, from Helen on our Bookbabblers Parents’ Panel:

Fairy in Danger (Glitterwings Academy) – Titania Woods

I’ve seen these books advertised before and been dubious about them: there are so many fairy-related series out nowadays and titles seem to appear so frequently that I’m sceptical about the quality.  However, the reviews quoted from parenting and education magazines reassured me somewhat, and it turns out author “Titania Woods” is well-established teen writer Lee Weatherly, who has a couple of awards to her name.  I was also concerned that with this being the fourteenth book in the Glitterwings Academy series, it might be a problem that we hadn’t read any of the others.  I flicked through before reading it to my daughter, however, and found that it was fine – the story itself stands alone and any references to previous books, such as why the central character Twink has a particular nickname from her friend Sooze, are explained (although if that happens in every book it might get a bit tedious after a while!), so there is nothing inaccessible about coming late to the series.

Glitterwings Academy is a boarding school for fairies housed in an enormous tree, and the story centres around Twink’s discovery of a mysterious branch (room), very high up, that she has never seen before.  When she decides to research it for a school project she meets Shadow, a different kind of fairy, who isn’t a student at Glitterwings and who wants Twink to help out with a job.  This means breaking the school rules and sneaking out at night.  Should she go along with it?  And what danger lies in wait for if she does?

My daughter Erin and I have thoroughly enjoyed reading this together.  She’s 4, so it’s the first time we’ve read a book with chapters – as opposed to a whole, short, story – and we’ve been reading it one chapter a night (except for chapters 7 and 8 which had to be read together as the end of chapter 7 was just too tense to leave it there!).  She has found the story enthralling and looked forward to reading it each bedtime, laughing at the funnier characters such as Sooze, delighted by the magic elements (she loves anything to do with fairies so we were onto a winner from the start) and begging me to read on quickly during the tense moments.  For me the writing wasn’t fantastic – a bit clichéd in places – but it was interesting enough to hold my attention and I was genuinely taken by surprise at one point!  I particularly enjoyed the resonances of Malory Towers and other boarding school stories that I enjoyed as a child.

What I particularly liked was that there’s enough peril in there to make it involving and exciting but nothing upsetting or horrible, so completely appropriate for ages 4+.  Children who are reading independently could manage it themselves from about 6 I think, but with a 4-year-old there were a couple of things that needed discussing or explaining.  There is no indication of how old the fairies are supposed to be (only that they’re in the fourth year) so children of varying ages can relate to Twink and her friends.  The book itself is very much aimed at little girls – pastel colours and sparkly bits – so wouldn’t appeal to many boys, I don’t suppose, but I do like the fact that it’s a hardback (for the price of an average paperback) which makes it more durable.

Erin is already talking about getting more from this series and it’s been a great introduction to chapter stories as she’s keen to move on to her sister’s books now!

Thanks, Helen – great review. Fairy in Danger is new out this month, and has been added to our ‘For Little Ones’ section of the shop. Thanks to Bloomsbury Children’s Books for sending us a copy.

Bookbabbler Kirsten offered to read and review a book for us, and here it is:

Time Train to the Blitz by Sophie McKenzie

It all starts when a mysterious train appears in the park. Before they know what’s happening, Joe and Scarlett are whisked away on a journey back in time. Magically transported to World War II they’re given a mission: to save a young boy’s life. But with bombs falling on London they find they are counting down to disaster…

This is an exciting story about two children and a dog who go back in time to the second world war (The Blitz) and there they meet a boy and they save his life. My favourite character would have to be the dog Pippy because when the boy is stuck in the garden with a very big dog (Big Rex) the little dog pippy distracts Big Rex so the boy can escape.

The story is exciting with a lot going on at once – I couldn’t put it down and read it all in one go!  I would recommend it to anyone from the age 7 to 10. It was one of the best books I have ever read and would give the book a rating of 4/5.

Thank you Kirsten and thanks to Usborne Children’s Books for sending us a review copy. It’s now been added to our shop, too.

Yesterday, we heard from Tristan of St Albans, and now we bring you our review. Bookbabbler Jonathan has been reading the first two books in Michael Spradlin’s Youngest Templar series - Keeper of the Grail and Trail of Fate.

The Youngest Templar: Keeper of the Grail – Michael P. Spradlin

Keeper of the Grail is the first book in the Youngest Templar series. It is set in the Middle East during the Crusades. The main character, Tristan, was left with some monks as a baby. He has no idea who his parents are. Now sixteen years old he lives with some monks in St. Albans, but he has no intention of becoming a monk; so when Sir Thomas and some other knights arrive he leaves withTristan has to train for a year before he is allowed to accompany Sir Thomas to the crusades as the youngest Templar (the name given to all those going to the crusades). After several adventures he is entrusted with the task of taking the Holy Grail to safety. He has to fight Sir Hugh, Saracens, the Hashshashin – deadly assassins – drunks and bandits and even the king’s guards to get the Grail to safety. Can Tristan succeed with the help of two unlikely friends?

Learn more by reading this book! I think this is a great adventure book and, although it does have a slow start, it will probably keep most people reading like crazy! Convince your parents to buy it for you by telling them it is good for learning more about the Crusades! I think my rating for this book is 9/10.

The Youngest Templar: Trail of Fate – Michael P. Spradlin

This is the second book in this series and follows straight on from Keeper of the Grail. Tristan, the brave, selfless hero, with his two friends Robard, who is a crack shot with a bow, and Maryam, the amazing fighter, are stranded in France after a ship wreck. The loyalty of Tristan’s friends is tested and Sir Hugh is hot on their heels in his search for the Holy Grail. Then Tristan decides to help the beautiful Celia, leader of the heretic Cathars, in their struggle. Can Tristan help Celia? Will Sir Hugh capture the Grail?

This book is even better than the first in the series as it plunges straight into the action, which I found very exciting. It would not be good to read this book unless you have already read Keeper of the Grail, as the plot would not make sense. My advice is to buy them both; they are fantastic. I can hardly wait for the next book in the series!

Thanks, Jonathan! Tick Tock books tell us that the third and final book will be published next summer, and thanks to them for sending us review copies.

The Other Girl by Sarah Miller

Molly McGarry seems to have it all – she’s smart, she attends the prestigious Midvale Academy and she’s finally got the guy of her dreams, Gideon Rayburn. But now everything’s changing.

Molly and Gid got together in a very unusual way, when Molly mysteriously entered Gid’s mind and so could ‘guess’ exactly what he wanted. By a bizarre twist of fate, Molly suddenly leaves Gid’s mind and enters the mind of Pilar Benitez-Jones, possibly the hottest girl in the world. Pilar flirts with Gid. A lot. No longer inside her boyfriend’s head, Molly feels life is spiralling out of control. But she realises that being inside Pilar’s head has its advantages as she influences Pilar for her own schemes – with ensuing chaos.

The glamorous and sexy second Midvale Academy novel.

This novel tells the story of Molly McGarry, who attends posh boarding school, Midvale Academy. Being able to tell what you’re boyfriend is thinking seems good, right? Yes, that’s what Molly thinks. Until Molly stops being herself, and tries to make herself how she thinks Gid wants her to be. This leads to a break up, but then Molly somehow gets inside his new girlfriend’s mind. You’d think that would be bad, and it was at first…but it does have it advantages!

This was a very gripping novel, with other mysterious storylines weaved into it. It was an amazing book with a very unique storyline, but it wasn’t very realistic. Some of the things the teachers did weren’t what real ones would do at all! It was still a very enjoyable read, though, and I really, really, really hope there’s a sequel! There were a few faults to this novel, but other than that, it really is a novel worth reading.

I LOVE THE COVER! I wouldn’t change a thing! It’s quite simple, but that’s what makes it stand out. The real girl on the cover just adds to the brilliant-ness and she is just how I imagined Molly.

Some of this book’s content isn’t really suitable for younger readers, and there is a lot of sex and drugs in it, so I would recommend this book for 13+ although it depends what you’re used to reading/allowed to read. I give this awesome novel a rating of 5/5 stars!

Thanks, Amber, and thanks to Bloomsbury Children’s books for sending us a review copy. Hope you liked our review? If you’ve read it, tell us what you thought of it, too.

We told you about a new title out this month, The Oldmoor Orphans and the Rodents’ Revenge, by Simon B. Nicholson. Since discovering it ourselves, we’ve delved a little deeper to find out more about the book and the author, so thought we’d share our findings and our chat with you.

Simon has written lots and lots of children’s television, from BOB THE BUILDER to TRACY BEAKER to TIMMYTIME. Recently, he’s been writing books, and his new series of novels for children, THE OLDMOOR ORPHANS, is published from June 2010. It’s about two children called Ernest and Daisy who have been left in charge of an old hotel. Assisted only by an insane parrot, they must look after the peculiar grown-up Guests who come to stay…

Our Review:

“Before long, this hotel will be squirrel-free. Our Guest will be safe. All you need to do is go back to the lobby, stand by the front door, wait for every single squirrel to come racing towards you, chased by a bald-headed eagle. Open the door, then close it when they’ve left. Understand? Good.”

Ernest, and sister Daisy, one day awoke to find the woman they believed was their grandmother, as this woman helped these two related orphans, had left. She’d left a message, saying, “I may be away some time. Take charge of the hotel. Look after the Guests. Ernest to be Manager-in-Chief. Daisy, Head Housekeeper. Any questions, ask Samson.” (Samson was the rather annoying parrot, who was addicted to pratical jokes).

Ernest and Daisy, on a very boring day, after being tricked by Samson YET AGAIN, heard the doorbell which was very rarely used being rung. Yes, it was the hotel’s VERY FIRST guest. The very first guest was named Elsie Tulip. She was very mysterious, which Daisy knew automatically, yet took some time for Ernest to understand. This women apparently had an ‘allergy’ to fur. In fact, she was recovering from Rabbit’s Fur she caught last week. Anyway, when Ernest offered to take her bags to her room, she instantly rejected this offer, while clutching on to her suitcase. But, what was mysterious, was that squirrels kept appearing in the hotel as soon as she arrived…

Our Q&A with Simon:

How did you come up with the Oldmoor Orphans?

I found a Victorian photograph of a boy working as a porter at a grand London hotel. He was staring in a mirror, adjusting his uniform, and smoothing down his hair. So he was Ernest, my main character. The rest just took a bit of filling-in.

Tell us about the main characters, Ernest and Daisy.

Ernest is the Manager-in-Chief of the hotel. He is twelve years old, perfectly neat, highly efficient and almost as clever as he thinks he is. Daisy is his younger sister and works as the hotel’s Head Housekeeper. An utter mess in every way, Ernest thinks she is extremely annoying; but she’s actually rather BRILLIANT.

Rodents’ Revenge features lots of squirrels, so what’s your favourite rodent and why?

My favourite type of rodent would be a chinchilla, due to their speed and extreme fluffiness. The most amazing individual rodent I’ve encountered would be the rat that turned up in my house one day and tried to hide in the piano. As I tried to chase it out it kept bouncing against the strings, with the result that it played an actual tune. Quite a good one too.

As this is the first of a six part series, what else can we expect?

In each book, new Guests turn up at the hotel. In Book One we grapple with Elsie Tulip and her terrible squirrel-allergy. Book Two introduces the Brothers Gym, two ninety-five year old athletes who are obsessed with defeating each other at sport, and choose the hotel as the site of their final showdown. Book Three features the rather sinister Lucy Brittle, who is addicted to bedtime stories. The Guests after that, I’m still thinking up. One thing I know: they’re even odder.

What are your favourite children’s books?

I loved a completely-forgotten book called BOTTERSNIKES AND GUMBLES, by S. A. Wakefield. It was about nasty little monsters playing horrible tricks on each other in the Australian out-back. I also read lots and lots of DOCTOR WHO books – pretty much all of them, I think. Almost my favourite evening of my childhood was going to the theatre to see Roald Dahl read aloud from The Twits. I’ve still got the signed copy of the book I bought, though unfortunately the actual page that was signed fell out and got lost long ago.

Thanks, Simon. Looking forward to reading more about the Oldmoor Orphans and, just so we all know, we’d pick rabbits as our favourite rodents – what about everyone else? Tick Tock books have also arranged for us to have a signed copy of the book to giveaway to a Bookbabbler – lucky us! All you need to do to enter is, comment on this post, Facebook ‘like’ it or retweet it.

You can follow Simon on Twitter here and find out more about Simon and his books here, and we’re sure he’ll be updating it with news of his next books as he’s writing them. Buy this book from our shop now, or just click on the link below.

Ondine – Ebony McKenna

One girl. One boy. One spell to be broken. Ondine de Groot is a normal fifteen-year-old who lives with her family in the European country of Brugel. She has a pet ferret called Shambles. But Shambles is no ordinary ferret… He’s Hamish McPhee, a boy cursed by a witch. A witch who happens to be related to Ondine.

When Shambles turns back into Hamish temporarily, Ondine knows that she has to help him break the spell. He is the most gorgeous boy she has ever met and her one true love! He just can’t remain a ferret forever. Can he?

This book has a fairytale feel to it, being set in the fictional country of Brugel, with a talking ferret, witches, dukes and Psychic Summercamp. The cover itself, with shiny lettering and flowing images, conveys this very well. I found it quite an easy book to get into, as it was fun, light hearted and moved at a good pace. I warmed easily to Ondine and Shambles – it’s not common to have a ferret as a main character, but it worked really well! Shambles provides most of the humour throughout the book, along with Ondine’s overprotective father, or ‘Da’, a parent which I suspect many teenage girls will recognise.

The book has footnotes on most pages, something I found quite irritating initially (even though they are pretty funny). However, after a couple of chapters, I found myself turning each page and being a little disappointed if there weren’t any! Many of them translate Shambles’ phrases for us and others give us extra background about Brugel and Ondine’s family life. All add to the humour of the tale and help us to better understand Ondine.

The ending, though a little predictable, was good. It did feel as though the book ended where another adventure should start, so I was pleased to find that there are going to be other books in the Ondine series – looking forward to the next one! An easy and enjoyable summer read.

Thanks to Egmont books for sending us a copy of this. Ondine is in our shop now and you can find out more about it and the author on Ebony McKenna’s website here.