Tucked within a YA adventure story full of magic and intrigue is a powerful message on being you. Holding onto your principles despite the cost, and hoping but not expecting that those with closed minds/ who write you off, will eventually see you for who you actually are, not what they’ve assumed.
Wonderful start to a new series by B.B Alston, read with feeling by Imani Parks. Enjoyed it immensely.
This is a book with the focus on children. Yes they are technically teenagers, but who are held accountable as adults. Children who are fulfilling adult obligations within their homes and on the streets. Even at school there is only a cursory attempt to treat them as minors. Femi Fadugba takes these issues and more, and crafts a a book that crosses genres, it is fantasy, it is science fiction, yet it is poignantly contemporary.
Kindred is about about Dana Franklin a black woman from the 1970’s who keeps accidentally travelling back in time and meeting with her slave-owning ancestor. Don’t imagine what happens, pick up up this graphic novel to read and see what this journey is like. You will feel all the feels.
The Midnight Guardians is a journey about a boy and his imaginary friends on a mission to save the world from darkness. This is a fine intertwining the history and mythology of England and providing a message of hope despite overwhelming odds.
I loved Mills and Boon as a tween/teen and avidly consumed this sub genre of romance novels on a frequent basis. So much so that they were battered beyond recognition. Now I look at that time and think, why don’t I read that genre as much now. Why are some of my old favourites out of favour?
If you were a babysitting, event planner and mortician would your life be this much fun? Stone Cold Mortal is a nice blend of humour, supernatural happenings and a cast of eccentric personalities. Come, join in the mayhem.
Call it Science Fiction or Fantasy, either way you will revel in this Africanfuturism novella. Binti by Nnedi Okorafor will take you on a journey to the future where tradition and technology blend and war looms. This short read is intense and covers so much in terms of family, acceptance, dreams, independence and communication. Enjoy.
“Adults always pretend the things they do are terribly complicated and unknowable. For the most part, they’re walking into rooms and pressing buttons of one sort or another.” Best friendsOleg and Emma are clever, they have us sussed. They do something incredible and create an Impossible Boy. Reading about what happens next will be the highlight of your day. The crazy shenanigans that ensue are random and satisfying. The tender, sweet way that family and tough real life issues are discussed and portrayed is marvellous.
Wonderscape is one of those books that you pick up and after a couple of paragraphs ,think why isn’t this happening to me and why am I not on this adventure of a lifetime?
Gargantis is another cracking read, full to the brim with more sinister happenings in Eerie on Sea. Verdict: Lovely place to visit, too scary to live there, never a moment’s peace. A thrilling middle grade mystery.
