Today on the blog I am going to review two books that I have finished recently. The first one I knew nothing about before I began reading, the next is the second in the Lockwood & Co. series by Jonathan Stroud which I was confident I would like as I loved the first  (The Screaming Staircase - read my review here: book-review-the-screaming-staircase-by-jonathan-stroud.html).

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So, let's turn to 'Rose Raventhorpe Investigates: Black Cats and Butlers' by Janine Beacham. It is the first in a series which is probably aimed at middle-grade readers. Not that I let that stop me, and I'm glad because I thoroughly enjoyed it and have been recommending it to anyone who I think will appreciate it.

As the title suggests, the plot centers around a mystery - in fact it is a murder mystery with a few other elements to it. Someone is killing butlers and the main character, a young girl named Rose from a well-to do family, decides to investigate the matter herself when events relating to the matter cross her path. It is set in a fictional version of York in (I think) the nineteenth century. Rose and her friend Emily are fun characters and the butlers who they encounter during their investigations are quirky and engaging (who knew butlers were so good with swords?). The plot moves along at a lovely pace, which was a relief as I have read too many books lately which progressed so slowly I lost interest. Not so here. Each time I put it down I was impatient to return and, in the days before I had so many other demands on my time, I would have read it in a couple of sittings. The setting, fictional Yorke, was nicely gothic and the whole thing had just a spice of darkness to it. 

As I live close to York and have been many times (I have set one of my own stories there), I did find it a little confusing at the beginning as I wasn't sure whether it was meant to be real York or not, but once I decided that it wasn't (getting to the bit involving the Shambles which had clearly been renamed demonstrated that it was a mostly fictional place), I was able to move on and just use my knowledge of York to compliment the descriptions within the book.

Overall, a fun and lively read which brought my imagination to life (and made me want to pop back to York!). I will definitely acquire the next in the series.

Now it's the turn of the second instalment in Jonathan Stroud's excellent series for children: Lockwood & Co.. It is called, 'The Whispering Skull' and it follows 'The Screaming Staircase'. Although Amazon places it in the same age bracket as Rose Raventhorpe (9-11), I have to say that Lockwood & Co. is likely to suit an older audience than Miss Raventhorpe. The prose and plot are more complex and the subject matter is darker (although Black Cats & Butlers is also quite dark).

Stroud has chosen to write this series from the point of view of a member of Lockwood's team, rather than Lockwood himself. Her name is Lucy and she has a special talent in relation to ghosts. She is one member of a three person team (the others being Lockwood and George) who are teenage ghost specialists in a world where only children can hear and sense the many ghouls which comprise 'the Problem'. As with the first book, there is a mystery at the heart of the plot, namely who has stolen a dangerous relic and to what ends? However, for me, the book's great charm comes from the interactions between the team members. I really care about what happens to them. Each is strongly written and individual. There is mystery, humour, tension and action and a wonderfully murky atmosphere. Whilst it didn't quite engage me as much as the first one, it was a close run thing and I will be reading the third. The writing is wonderful - seemingly effortless yet of very high quality.

​I wish I knew how he does it!  

You know when you read a book and love it so much that you want to tell everyone about it? That's how I felt about 'Wintercraft' when I first read it around 3 years ago. This was before my blog, before I joined Facebook and just about the time I ventured on to Twitter. Therefore I have never really shouted about it, except to people I know.

​Time to put that straight...

​'Wintercraft' is the first book in a fantasy trilogy. I suppose it would be described as 'young adult', though I am still getting to grips with these labels. The stories follow the adventures of Kate, a young girl living in Albion who discovers that she is one of the 'Skilled' - those with the ability to see through the veil between life and death. She becomes caught up in a chase to locate the lost book of Wintercraft before it falls into the wrong hands. The subsequent books are 'Blackwatch' and 'Legacy' and continue with Kate as she is pulled deeper and deeper into a dark and complex world.​

The books are beautifully written. The prose is flowing and wonderfully descriptive. The prologue of 'Wintercraft' (pictured right) gives a flavour of this. If you like your fiction gothic, broody and imaginative then these are the books for you. The covers are evocative and tactile and, something I absolutely love, each chapter begins on a decorated page.

The writer of this trilogy is Jenna Burtenshaw and I am beyond thrilled that she joins me today on the blog.

Thank you for agreeing to be part of this piece, Jenna. I've been wanting to ask you loads of questions since reading your books so I guess this is my big chance...

Can we start with how you got into writing?
​Hi, Bernie. Thank you for inviting me! Writing has been part of my life in different forms for a long time. When I was nine I realised that writing stories, creating books, was something anyone could do. Writers weren’t these mythical beings, a ‘precious few’, who made up stories and sent them out into the world. I realised I could have a go at it myself. I started off writing poetry in little notebooks right through my teens (I still have some of them) but only really got into writing full length books in my twenties. Someone told me writing a full fantasy novel would be too difficult, so - of course - I had to give it a go!

Who are your influences?
This is a tricky one. I love Marcus Sedgwick’s books. I had the chance to meet him at a signing a few years ago at the Edinburgh Book Festival, which was very exciting. (I was a little bit starstruck, and I’m sure I babbled like an idiot at the signing table.) I am a huge fan of dark, gothic stories. There’s a touch of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in Silas Dane, and his crow owes a lot to Edgar Allan Poe’s poem ‘The Raven’.

​Was 'Wintercraft' your first completed novel?
No, it was my fourth. I finished two books in a planned trilogy in the early 2000s, the first of which attracted interest from a couple of agents, but it wasn’t good enough to get me representation. My third story was about a girl haunted by a sinister presence (which was when I started experimenting with darker themes) and the world in that book became a starting point for what would become the Wintercraft series. Looking back, I think of the first three as practice books. I learned so much from writing them, but they’ll never exist in the world outside my manuscript drawer.

​And something all unpublished writers are interested in... how did you secure representation and then a publishing contract?
As I mentioned, my first trilogy drew a couple of nibbles from literary agents. Some said they liked my style, and one agent wrote me a very encouraging letter, which gave me hope that I was on the right track. Charged with fresh determination, I set aside the first trilogy, and decided to take what I’d learned and start again. I would write something I would love to read. I’d send it out to agents, and if this book didn’t attract any interest, at least I’d given it a good shot.
Kate and Silas’s story began that day. I worked on Wintercraft, polished it up, and submitted the early chapters to agents I thought might be interested. After weeks of rejection letters dropping through the letterbox, a few agents requested the full manuscript, and soon after, one agent invited me for a meeting. I travelled down to London on the train, had lunch and a chat, and signed a contract with her that day.
My agent started submitting Wintercraft to publishers and within weeks the book went to auction. That was a tense day! I waited at home for the call that told me Headline had won the UK rights, and the rollercoaster started all over again from there. My agency sold the US rights to Greenwillow/HarperCollins a few months later. 

​Have you always been drawn to fantasy? Have you/will you write outside that genre?
Fantasy is my first love. I enjoy the freedom and flexibility of it, but I’ve experimented with sci-fi ideas recently, so I’m open to different things.

Do you write full time? What's next?
​Yes, I’m lucky to be able to write full time. I have a messy desk, a cat that likes to sit on my keyboard, and a good supply of Yorkshire Gold tea, so I’m very happy. As for what’s next: I’ve written two new stories since Wintercraft: Legacy was published - one sci-fi, one fantasy - but they still need some work. I’m looking forward to seeing where this next year takes me.  

​What advice would you give to unpublished writers, especially those with an eye on the young adult fantasy market?
Read everything you can. Walk around your local area and search for inspiration in places you think you know. There’s always something new to discover that might click something in your imagination. And most important of all, turn off your internet. If you’re writing, don’t have the internet chattering away in the back of your screen tempting you in. It’s a time killer. Block out thirty minutes, an hour, however long you fancy, turn off that wi-fi and claim your writing time. Just you and the words.

​And finally, we've heard all about Jenna the Writer, can you share with me a little about what you get up to when you are not writing? Am I right in thinking that nature and animals feature heavily?
Ah, yes! I do share a lot of photos of my dogs and cats online, don’t I? I have two dogs, an ex-feral cat, and a calico cat who moved into my writing hut three years ago and set up home. Add to them the goldfish, the garden birds, and the odd injured pigeon, and they all keep me busy. Meanwhile, I’m teaching myself to crochet (slowly), I love walking in my local area, and whenever I’m feeling stressed, I bake. I’m also a bit of a gamer. World of Warcraft and the Elder Scrolls series are my personal favourites, so if I’m not reading or spending time in one of my written worlds, you’ll often find me adventuring through one of theirs.

​Thanks so much for sharing with me, Jenna. I can't wait to read your next books and, in the meantime, I hope others discover the world of Wintercraft.

Jenna can be found on Twitter as @JennaBurtenshaw.
​'Wintercraft' Book 1 can be viewed on Amazon HERE.

This is the first book I have read by this author, although I know that he is well-established, having written the Bartimaeus sequence of novels and a number of others. It was the cover which drew me to this one whilst I was browsing around Waterstones about a year ago. I had a flick through it and placed it on my 'to be read' list and I finally got around to it over Christmas. I'm so glad that I did. From the first page the reader is drawn deftly and cleverly into a well-drawn world of teenage ghost-hunting with darkness and humour in equal measures.

The book is written through the eyes of Lucy who is a young ghost-hunter with special talents. This surprised me at first as I had expected the viewpoint character to be Anthony Lockwood, given the title of the series, but it worked extremely well.  Lucy interacts closely with Lockwood, together with a third agent, and the reader therefore sees these characters through her eyes and all three of the teenagers are central to the story. 

A sinister atmosphere of spookiness and mystery is established quickly at the outset and the style of writing is extremely accomplished whilst being accessible. For me, every aspect of this book delivered strongly: from vivid characterisation to a plot more complex and satisfying than I was anticipating to the detailed world-building involved in setting up an England in which different types of ghosts roam free after sunset and are hunted by talented children. It is lively, funny and chilling with wonderful attention to detail. I will definitely be reading the rest of the series and would recommend it as an original and gripping read. For those of you interested in categorisation - this is not a book aimed at grown-ups, although it is definitely one that many adults would enjoy. (When it comes to categorisations for books for middle grade and teens, I get confused but I think that this probably falls within the 10 plus range, although I've noticed a review or two on Amazon suggesting that 10 might be a little young - I wouldn't like to say as I suppose it depends on the child). 

​With 85 out of 87 Amazon reviews giving this book 4 or 5 stars (the majority give it 5), I am clearly not alone in appreciating the work of this imaginative and talented writer. 

​Loved it!

First up is The Case of the Exploding Loo, the first book in a developing series starring twelve year old Noelle Hawkins and her unusual family. You can probably tell by the title and the cover that this is a children's book and one that promises to be full of quirkiness and humour. The plot is centred around the apparent death of Noelle's wacky scientist father, who the police believe self-combusted whilst visiting a portaloo. But Noelle isn't convinced and sets about trying to uncover the truth about her father and the mysterious 'brain ray' he had been working on before the explosion. 
This book moves at an engaging pace and I found it refreshing to read something which was pure fun, with pieces of science thrown in to add an extra layer of interest. It is written in a hugely entertaining style and the characterisation is extremely strong. Humorous illustrations complement the text and there is a series of 'clue boxes' which set out various important aspects of the investigation and help the reader to follow a plot which turns out to be more meaty than I expected. In my opinion, this is a terrific read for children. I know I would have absolutely adored it thirty years ago and it still gave me much pleasure now. 

The Case of the Exploding Brains is the second book by Rachel Hamilton and follows on from The Case of the Exploding Loo, reviewed above. Once again Noelle Hawkins has a mystery to solve. This time it involves the seemingly impossible theft of a moon rock from the museum. But nothing is that straightforward for Noelle. It turns out that the moon rock isn't quite what it seems and needs to be recovered before it affects the brains of everyone who comes into contact with it. As if that wasn't enough, Noelle strongly suspects that her father is once again at the heart of the puzzle as his behaviour becomes increasingly bizarre. 
As with its predecessor, this book is paced beautifully and engaged me from the start. If anything, I enjoyed it slightly more than the first one as the characters were familiar and had come together to form a team. This mystery involved more clues, more red-herrings and lots of fun. There is teamwork, deduction, humour and slap-stick comedy. What's not to like? I'm very much looking forward to the next installment and can only applaud Rachel for coming up with such off-the-wall, clever and well thought out stories. Great stuff.

I am due to post a book review - I haven’t written one for a month or so and have recently finished reading a novel. BUT the novel in question was Tom’s Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce and it just doesn’t seem right for me to review such a classic. I’m not saying that there is no place for reviews of classics, not at all, simply that I don’t want to write a review of this one. I’m not sure why. Perhaps part of me feels that some of the magic will be sucked out if I try to dissect or distill this part of my childhood into something as seemingly trivial as a few paragraphs. Suffice to say that I loved the book as a child and have a warm appreciation for its charm and skill as an adult. The prose is beautiful, the escapism perfect. She was a woman of exquisite talent. That is all I shall say.

But reading the book rekindled something within me – a desire to reconnect with the primary school me, perhaps. Or even the simple yearning for the touch, feel and thrill of a little magic; magic that might just, if I close my eyes and wish hard enough, actually exist. So I thought back to the very first books which not only spirited me away but which left a little piece behind in my subconscious, contributing to the person I am today; a person who still hopes to find a touch of magic in the nooks and crannies of life.

This passage of thought led me first to Narnia and then on to Hobbiton. After a stay at The Chalet School it took me along the Yellow Brick Road and then on adventures with Mrs Pepperpot and The Famous Five. And I wondered how many of them, like Tom’s Midnight Garden, had won the Carnegie Medal.

So I checked.

For anyone who is unfamiliar with the award, the Carnegie Medal is given out annually to an ‘outstanding book for children’, selected by librarians and information professionals. It began in 1936 and honours the memory of the Scottish-born philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919). He had a great belief in libraries and established more than 2,800 during his lifetime. The first winner of the award was Arthur Ransome who won for his novel Pigeon Post.

I was a little surprised when I read the list of winners (available HERE). I hadn’t read as many of them as I’d expected. I’d spent so much of my childhood with my head buried in a book that I thought that the list would read like a roll-call of long lost friends. It wasn’t the case and I’m sorry to say that I had not heard of many of them. I was born in 1977 and so would have thought that the titles on the list up to, say, 1987 would have been familiar but, out of the awards given between the inception of the prize and 1987, I have read only FOUR of the books. That’s four out of forty-nine (some years the prize was withheld as no book was considered to be suitable). In case you are wondering, these are:

1937 Eve Garnett, The Family from One End Street

1952 Mary Norton, The Borrowers

1956 C S Lewis, The Last Battle

1958 Philipa Pearce, Tom's Midnight Garden.

Obviously I’ve heard of some of the other authors and a few of the books (Noel Streatfeild –who I have just discovered was a woman – was big among my classmates, I loved Swallows & Amazons but Arthur Ransome won for Pigeon Post which I have not read and I could never bring myself to read Watership Down – too many dead bunnies) but there are many names completely new to me. And where is E. Nesbit, Enid Blyton, L. Frank Baum? I haven’t studied the criteria for eligibility so it may be that some of these were not available for the award and, of course, having not read many of the winners, who am I to suggest that they weren’t more worthy than those I have mentioned? It just surprised me that’s all.

Perhaps I was looking too far down the list? Maybe I should take a look at books published when I was 10-15 (ie 1987 to 1992). Nope, haven’t heard of any of them. I don’t know why this is. Perhaps marketing wasn’t as developed then as it is now. I just liked what I liked and read what I could get my hands on. Other than the occasional brochure which came around school and the odd display in the library, I just picked titles off the library shelves at random and when I found a series I liked I stuck with it. Maybe it was partly because I moved on to Agatha Christie and Ellery Queen before my tenth birthday. Who knows? I would be interested to find out whether the titles which have won the award over the past few years are known to the majority of children in the relevant age group.

So let’s just take a quick look at the rest of the list – the last twenty years, say.  Actually, it is a little more familiar. Theresa Breslin, Philip Pullman, Terry Pratchett, Frank Cottrell Boyce, Neil Gaiman, Patrick Ness. These are all names I have heard of, although I have to admit to having read only one of the books which actually won: the masterful The Graveyard Book from the rich and lurid imagination of the incredible Neil Gaiman. Again, there are some names missing from the list: J.K. Rowling, Michael Murpurgo, for example. I am assuming they made the shortlist at least.

So how many have you read? Do they represent your treasured bookish memories from childhood? Do they conjure up a place which once seemed as real to you as your own bedroom and which still exists, somewhere in your mind, teasing and tugging at the rational side of your brain? It can’t be real, there’s no such place. It was never real. It was just a story. Written in a book. A book with a light blue cover with a photograph of a scarecrow wearing a crown, a small tear in the top right hand corner. A book with cream pages which smelled of auntie’s perfume, which took me to a land of talking lions and lunchboxes which grew on trees. A land I visited often. A land I never really left.