A huge Congratulations to CLIP CARNEGIE WINNER...

Sarah Crossan!

We are delighted that Sarah's marvellous book 'One' took home the Carnegie Medal on Monday!

Congratulations, Sarah! 

Also, a big Space on the Bookshelf congratulations to all of the shortlisted authors, we loved reading your books.

CLIP Carnegie 2016 - Who will take home the medal?

Every year we at Space on The Bookshelf shadow the CLIP Carnegie short-list, and every year we try to predict the winner with varying degrees of success. With each year that we shadow, we find predicting the winner ever harder as the quality of all the short-listed titles is go high, and ever book is unique. This years crop of short-listed titles are again all very different and all brilliantly written, so predicting a winner is again a troublesome task. However, with lots of lively debate and discussion, our bet is on the recent winner of the YA Book Prize 2016 Sarah Crossan's 'One'.

So, here is a big Space on the Bookshelf GOOD LUCK to all the authors on the shortlist, as we wait with boated breath for the announcement tomorrow to find out who will take the medal home.
 

Carnegie Shadowing 2016 review – The Ghosts of Heaven - Marcus Sedgwick

Marcus Sedgwick is no stranger to the CLIP Carnegie shortlist, having made shortlist no less than five times since 2002, a testament to the quality of his wordsmithery and storytelling. Having not delved into a Sedgwick novel before I was therefore expecting something spectacular, and I wasn’t disappointed.

‘The Ghosts of Heaven’ is intellectual and thought provoking not only with its content and messages, but also with its format, creating a new reading experience. Most books are read from cover to cover, starting at the beginning and going until the words run out. But with ‘The Ghosts of Heaven’, Marcus has created a story told in four parts, four standalone yet interconnected stories that can be read in any order.

“There are four quarters of this story; they can be read in any order and the story will work. The four quarters are assembled here in just one of twenty-four possible combinations; this order makes one kind of sense, but the reader should feel free to choose a different order, and a different sense, if desired.”

Now, I’m not a quick reader, I can’t scan read, or read a sentence at a time. I’m the kind of reader that painstakingly reads word by word (sometimes syllable by syllable), plodding away through a novel. So the notion of reading out of order did perturb me, but not to be out done, I started with the first part, then gained confidence and read part four followed by part two, finishing with part three. There was something quite liberating about reading out-of-order, igniting a rebellious streak which made for an interesting reading experience.

As the front cover design would suggest, with its spiral staircase ascending towards the heavens, ‘The Ghosts of Heaven’, is about spirals, the infinite shape that can twirl and twist around endlessly. A shape which is synonymous with existence, found in everything from molecules, architecture and plants. The novel starts with the definitions of the Spiral and the Helix, an introduction about the origins of the universe and the spiral form. Each of the books four parts spans a different era, and depending on the order in which you read the parts, a surmise a subtly different story. Ideally you need twenty four reviews, one for each combination, but I will offer you my review based on my reading in the order of parts 1, 4, 2 then 3.

Part One, is story told with short sentences and few words, following the trials of a young tribal girl, in what seems like a pre-historic era, who is fascinated by spirals that she sees in nature and by the drawing shapes in the sand. The girl see’s that the shapes she makes in the sand or paints in charcoal on stone have possibilities for wider communication, not exclusively to be performed by one for the purposes of creating magic upon which the whole tribe’s fate depends. The girls fate and that of her tribe hangs in the balance as the elder who performs the ritual of painting on the walls of the sacred cave is killed by a beast, and she must complete the ritual herself.

“The falcon, the ferns, the shell.
They are all trying to tell her something, but she does not know what it is.
She cannot not know what it is. Not yet.”

Part Four, takes on a science fiction stance as you follow the journey of Bowman, a sentinel travelling across space in charge of five hundred specially picked people in longsleep towards a new planet with the purpose of starting a colony. Bowman, is woken for one day every ten years to monitor and maintain ‘The Song of Destiny’ but discovers that someone is stalking the ship, murdering the cargo. In his infrequent days wake, Bowman tries to crack the mystery only to become caught in a spiral of his suspicion and his inner thoughts, tainted by the book of poetry he brought on the voyage and the number pi. When Bowman discovers the truth he is faced with a decision, one which affects all the cargo, and his sanity.

“he will take the Song of Destiny to the source of the spiral, and confront whatever lies waiting for him there; be it nothing, or ghosts, or God.”

Part Two, is the dark and forlorn tale of a town that is torn apart by suspicion, jealousy and fear when Farther Escrove, the hateful Rural Dene, comes to tend the congregation. Offended by the less than Christian traditions of the community, and their scared spiral, he wastes no time in finding a ‘cunning woman’ to dangle from a rope to serve as an example to the village folk. The story is one of betrayal and brutality as the villagers one by one seal the fate of the young girl, unware that their actions and hand in her death marks seals their own demise.

“She saw the rope around her neck, and its short journey to the branch. She noted how it twisted, round and round, that same shape.”

Part Three, delves into the dark world of Orient Point psychiatric home on Long Island, where Doctor James is the newly appointed Assistant Superintendent, a live in position where he resides with his young daughter Verity on the airy highest floor at the top of an ornate sweeping spiral staircase. The era appears to be early 20th century, where the term Lunatic is frowned upon but still widely used, and the method of helping the afflicted still hinging on the barbaric with the hope of a cure. Dr James soon realises that the Superintendent DR Philips has antiquated and dogmatic views on treatments, and that the institution is rife with abuse. As Dr James tries to make his, mark, he becomes intrigued by the apparent (relative) sanity of patient Dexter, a poet whose insight into life and Dr James’s own demons is remarkably accurate. Dr James becomes concerned for Dexter’s safety as Dr Phillips treatment plans escalate to gambling with the poet’s life, he begins to look more deeply as Dexter’s psychosis, a fear of spirals, so crippling that he can’t even set foot on the staircase. As Dr James tries to assist Dexter in battling his inner fears, he’s sinking in his own, and his relationship with his young daughter Verity is suffers, and she retreats into a book which chronicles the witch trials. When deception sets Dexter on a murderous path, Dr James must learn from the poets lessons how to quieten his own demons.

From the ground, all the way up to the seventh, is a giant curved stairwell… a vast open cylinder, with a staircase that winds up and up, each elegant turn bringing you to the floor above.’

In addition to the tales that all linking together in a subtle nod to the notion that every event in time and space is contacted, the book has also a hidden code. Whilst reading I noticed that the chapter numbers were not numbered in usual consecutive manor, and I had a fleeting thought that perhaps it was a code, but being un-mathematical I promptly forgot all about it. However someone much more mathematically minded was inspired enough to tackle it, and even break it. To find out more Press Here.


All in all, ‘The Ghosts of Heaven’, is an engaging and intelligent novel which is multi-faceted; bringing with it hidden meanings and coded messages along with challenging the notion the reading experience itself. ‘The Ghosts of Heaven’ his sixth Carnegie shortlisted book, could very well be the one that takes home the medal.

Carnegie shadowing review - Lies we Tell Ourselves

America’s Deep South, 1959. Black children are educated in segregated schools, but a High Court ruling means the white schools must allow in black pupils, opening the way for explosive conflict in a dark period of US history - and one that quite likely UK children will know little about. 

'Lies we Tell Ourselves' thrusts us right in the heart of the issues, in a gripping and thought-provoking story that centres around Sarah, a bright student and one of a handful who is chosen to be on the frontline - taking on white society by taking her place in one of the elite white-only schools. 

Sarah's politically motivated father tells her she has a duty to get ‘the very best education I can’. Yet this is impossible as in the white school she is not only put in remedial class and ignored by the teachers, she and the handful of other black students endure constant verbal and physical abuse, from other students, teachers and senior staff. 

Sarah and her incredibly brave friends become political footballs and no-one, not even the movement supporting her, takes any steps to ensure their safety and what follows is shocking, raw and based on real-life events.

Yet the main thrust of the story is not only Sarah's heroism, but her growing friendship with Linda. Linda, daughter of an ardent segregationist, is distressed when put on a project with Sarah, but the two girls spark off each other, and it shocks them both when a romance blossoms, giving a surprising emotional heart to a political story.

The real strength of the book is the success of the twin narrative and readers will easily find themselves asking what they might do if faced with a similar situation. Even if you think how everyone behaves is wrong – how many people have the courage to stand up for it?

The story of two girls, finding courage in their own way, is what makes this a constantly surprising novel.

Carnegie Shadowing 2016 review - The rest of us just live here

Patrick Ness’s ‘The Rest of us Just Live here’ has the feel of those very familiar novels very popular just now, where teenagers tackle immortal foes, vampires or paranormal beings threatening to take over the world - and win against impossible odds.

Yes, all of that happens in this story. 

Only, the hero of this story is not that guy. He’s the guy who just wants to get a girlfriend and, if possible, graduate before the school gets blown up again. Because all of that hero-stuff is happening, just not to him.

Siblings Mikey and Melissa have got plenty of problems. Their alcoholic dad stole a ton of money and avoided jail, but it means the family will be repaying the debt forever and family tensions are high. 

Their mother has rolled up her sleeves and has ploughed all her energies into supporting her beliefs that she can change the world in her own adult way and is going for a political career and everyone is pretty tough on Mum for this choice.

It means there is no adult really steering the family and Melissa’s eating disorder got so she would have died. And Mikey has anxiety problems and OCD so bad sometimes it takes the muscle of his best-friend, Jared, to physically get him to stop. 

So how will he cope when they all graduate and Mikey will be on his own at college? This is what worries our hero. But for now, though, Mikey is also focused on whether his feelings are returned by long-time best friend, Henna. 

Oh, and What is happening with the zombie deer? What about the car crash and are the police really doing nothing because they have all been taken over by a mysterious blue light?  Should our hero get involved? Or is that really not his story? 

The whole ‘war with the immortals' story is confined mostly to snippets in a chapter heading, until the action of those kids and the 'rest of us' begins to collide.

The tantalising chapter headings are a smart and sometimes very funny way to keep us up to date with the huge battles the cool ‘indie’ kids are waging, while everyone else just gets on fretting about parties, their love lives and whether they will get to the college they want. I loved the back-story in chapter headings device. 

The end-of-the-world plot never quite wrestles the emotional heart of the story, and the juxtaposition of the weird and the ordinary works really well. It is a sly satire on some of the more predictable teen stories around (everyone is in love with the heroine, but which of them is her true love and how will it be revealed?).

The story has a wide character list, a good bunch of personalities, there is teenage angst as well as the bonkers other-world sub-plot. 

Patrick Ness is a quality writer and he deftly treads a fine line.

It’s well-observed, whether poking sly fun at all those over-the-top-brilliant kids in so many novels, but mostly what it does well is in just saying that ordinary teenagers can have interesting stories too. Because just dealing with real life sometimes takes heroic action, even if you are never called upon to be part of the gang that saves the world, it doesn't mean you have to be a bystander, that you are not grappling with serious things and your victories are not worth celebrating.

We all have our own stories – and that real life is sometimes just about enough for anyone to deal with and a much more messy journey where we really can't see which are the bad guys.

Loved this book. So clever, funny and compassionate. And weird. All of my favourite things.

Will it win? Possibly not going to be the children's shadowing favourite. It's pretty clever and complicated and it's a fine line to tread to not be too complicated. But Patrick Ness's writing is both so original and very fine he has to be in with a shout to take the Medal again.