Review & GIVEAWAY - To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo - BY Teen Reviewer

Lira is Royal, but unlike the any other Royal family, she is a siren. A killer, who will take a human heart for every birthday, and this year it will be her 18th. Her mother, the unforgiving Sea Queen, who cares little for her daughter as she does for anyone else, is sure Lira will not be worthy of Queen. So much, that when Lira disobeys the oldest rules, she curses Lira into becoming human, and without delivering the sirens most hated enemy; the siren killer’s, heart, she will stay human for eternity…

But Elian won’t give up, Prince of Midas, Captain of The Saad, and Leader of Siren killers. His mission is to defeat all sirens and in doing so kill the infamous Prince’s Bane, but when Elian rescues a defenceless woman floating in the water on his journey, he has to try and build trust if he wants her help…

This amazing book is full of twists and turns, as well as a brilliant plot. I love the way Christo has written this. The characters are so real, and intriguing that you find yourself rooting for even the most despicable characters. The incredible journey takes you on a whirlwind of adventures, I couldn’t put it down! I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a bit of fantasy, or twisted fairy tale or even pirates! It was one of the best books I have read, and I didn’t want it to stop!

Review by Bea aged 14

We are giving away a signed copy of To Kill a Kingdom, just retweet our pinned tweet on Twitter @BookshelfSpace& follow before 1st December 2018. Winner announcer 2nd December. UK only. Good Luck!

Firebird – Elizabeth Wein – Barrington Stoke – Review

People say that books are doorways into other worlds, but Historical Fiction doesn’t just open up another world, but also shines a light on parts of history that as lesser known, often forgotten entirely.

We all know about WWII, for people of my generation (I’m right on the cusp of Generation X and Millennial) we grew up amongst people that lived through it, both my grandparents on one side were in the RAF and had medals, my Gran refused to collect hers, and my granddad (twice shot down over enemy tertiary) refused to talk about it. My other grandparents worked the land and were in the Home Guard and saw action discovering a crashed German bomber. My neighbour was evacuated from London during the blitz to rural Oxfordshire, never to return.

Not only were we surrounded by people who survived the war, we were also immersed in literature about it, reading Michael Morpurgo, the Narnia series, and The Diary of Anne Frank, (even watching her father break down in tears on Blue Peter). And watching it, John Boreman’s Hope and Glory, Spielberg’s Empire of the Sun, and Goodnight Mister Tom. It’s a part of history we know well, from the troops on the front, the espionage and code breaking, to the way affected civilians in the UK, Europe and the US. Younger generations, may not be surrounded by people that were there, but they are still very well versed on the war experience from the perspective of the allied forces and nations. That is apart from Russia. Russia that fought on our side.

Russia and her people’s experiences and trials through the war have been barely mentioned, much like the German and Japanese’s experiences of the war (Grave of the Fireflies excluded). This is probably due to trust issues as a result of the Russian revolution, after all the Csar Nicholas II, the brutal execution of his children, and then the following cold War. So Historical Fiction really can expand our understanding of historical events by exploring these less written and filmed aspects of our past, and this is exactly what Elizabeth Wein has done with Firebird.

Firebird is the story of Anastasia Viktorovana , as told by her to a tribunal as she stands trial for treason. The first chapter is difficult reading, she is a true Communist, her parents were there at the beginning, fighting in the Red Army alongside Lenin, and her father drove the wagon transporting the corpses of Czar Nicholas II and his family. Anastasia known of Nastia was brought up fighting for the cause, learning to shoot a gun before she could walk. Nastia’s frank and unremorseful talk of these events are hard to read, but there is something that lies between her words that resonates deeply and demands empathy, the fact she is a loyal young girl, who fights for her beliefs but also is very loving and loyal to her family and friends.

Nastia a flight instructor for the Leningrad Youth Aeroclub, and is the only woman except for the Chief instructor. But on the advent of war, Natstia is devastated when she and her fellow instructors go to sign on for active duty, and she is the only one not accepted to fly fighters, despite her greater experience and more flight hours, the men are sent to the war, and she and Chief are left to train a procession of new male pilots. 

The Chief, a formidable woman with short cropped hair, who wears men’s clothes and does her makeup like mask, and (rumour has it) has an taste for expensive French corsets. Is the person who got Nastia her job within the Areoclub, due to her friendship with Nastia’s father. Nastia knows that the chief and her father are close friends, close enough that the Chief to have picked Nastia’s name, but she is an enigma, and Nastia knows nothing about her. All Nastia knows for sure is that her father met Chief around the time of the Csar was overthrown.

Under The Chief guidance Nastia along with a selection of other female instructors train other pilots biding their time until it the females are called on to fly fighters. The night before her first mission Nastia receives news that both her parents have died leaving the Chief as the closest thing she has to family. Loyally Nastia goes in to battle as the Chief’s wingman, but when Chief’s plane is damaged and is under fire she is left with an impossible dilemma leave Chief behind or fall back from the fight and face a treason charge.

When the fight is over Nastia learns the truth about The Chief’s identity and in doing so reveals more about her father and the notion of loyalty itself.

Firebird, really opens a doorway into an aspect of history which is not often discussed, and does so with unflinching directness, whilst empathising and bringing out the universal aspects of the human nature; that most people fight for love and loyalty. But by blurring with the lines between fact and fiction Wein has woven an ending with a twist that is both elegant and poignant that’s akin to the closing scenes of Bernardo Bertolucci's 1987 Oscar winning epic ‘the Last Emperor’. Firebird is an engaging intelligent read, and well deserves to get on the shortlist for next year’s CLIP Carnegie.

Frankenstein at 200 – Review of Making the Monster, The Science behind Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein by Katheryn Harkup

When we posted our Frankenstein inspired Story Sack features a few weeks ago we promised you a full review of Katheryn Harkup’s ‘Making the Monster, The Science behind Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein’, and so here it is!

So firstly, this book does exactly what it says on the cover, and a more bedsides. Making the Monster is a non- fiction adult’s book that explores the sciences that Victor would have used to fashion his creation and history both social and Mary Shelley’s that went into the shaping of the book. Despite being an adult book, the book is accessible (for me a dyslexic who reads predominately children’s books, and who has not studied any science since the mid 1990’s, I both read and understood it without difficulty) so is definitely pitched at a level that older YA readers will be able to read and understand.

Making The Monster looks at the science that was known at the time and how Victor would have applied it to both construct and crucially to bring it to life. With this aim, Katheryn explores the history of science from the ancient times through alchemy to the life and times of Mary (and of course Victor), The Enlightenment. The Enlightenment being at time where great leaps in the understanding and the application of science, medicine and electricity took place, and when science was an everyday entertainment and subject of interest and conversation to the greater public. 

In addition to looking at the ‘nut’s and bolts’ of how the monster could have been made, Katheryn explores the science obsessed society in which Mary was surrounded, and the fascinating, eccentric, brilliant and often morally dubious real life figures that Katheryn poses as the influence of some of the books pivotal characters. The likes of John Hunter the famous surgeon, anatomist and dentist who pioneered may medical advances (many still used today) whose multi-faceted personality has said to have inspire, not only Frankenstein, but Jackal and Hyde, Doctor Doolittle, and Moby Dick.

But it is not just the science that makes the story of Making the Monster so fascinating, but the history, not only of science, and society at a whole, but of Mary herself and her unique, radical, and often uncontroversial upbringing. Kathryn begins the book, by exploring the lives of both Mary’s parents, Mary Wollstonecraft – writer, translator and pro-feminist and William Godwin a writer known for his radical views. Mary’s childhood, was one in which she was exposed to and immersed in the company of many of the great thinkers of the time, as many of her father friends would visit their home, which also doubled as a publishing house for her father and step-mother’s publishing business and bookshop meaning young Mary also had access to a wealth of texts. 

Making the Monster as part of our YA Frankenstein Story Sack

In the early chapters, Katheryn looks at how this unique upbringing helped shape Mary, and nurture her intelligence and creativity, it also looks at many of the family and her future husband’s (Percy Shelley) friends and acquaintances and how they also played strong parts in influencing the novel. Through reading these chapters of Mary own life experiences, Katheryn also explores the auto-biographical elements of Frankenstein, inspired by dreams of the reanimation of her recently deceased child, and of the aspects of both Percy’s personality and life that heavily influenced the character of victor.

Making the Monster, The Science behind Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, is a fascinating read, which would appeal to adults and YA readers who are interested in sciences, social histories or literature, as it brings a beautifully penned and accessible in-depth look at all the aspects that had to culminate for Mary to write the book. It is definitely worth investing the time to read this fascinating book.

Frankenstein at 200 – The Monster Re-Envisioned for 2018 –A Review of Shell by Paula Rawsthorne

Continuing our bicentenary celebrations of all things Frankenstein, we bring you a review of Paula Rawsthorne’s YA Frankenstein inspired YA Shell.

Published in early January this year, Shell hit bookshops almost 200 years to the day that Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein first editions appeared in print. Frankenstein is an obvious inspiration for Rawsthorne’s Shell, and indeed appears in the book in a literary equivalent of a TV or Movie camo.

Shell, follows the death and life of terminally ill teenager Lucy. The first chapter reads like a ‘sick-lit’ showing Lucy in hospital trying to prepare her optimistic, best friend Mak for the inevitable, until Lucy’s death at the end of the chapter. At this point Sick-Lit is definitely put to bed as Lucy’s body is buried, and Lucy regains consciousness.

Lucy is awake, alive, in pain, and confused, but soon discovers that her wealthy desperate parents have gone to extreme lengths to cheat death. With the assistance of Dr Radnor and his revolutionary, unsanctified, unregulated research, her brain and eyes have been transplanted into another body. The procedure is revolutionary and top secrets, so Lucy’s extra life is a poison chalice as she struggles to accept her new life and the donor’s faces that stares back at her from the mirror.

Lucy’s struggles with her place in the natural world and her questions about who she is are compounded when she returns home under the premise of troubled teen Renee who has been befriended by and staying with her parents. All the people she loves cannot know who she actually is and treat her with suspicion and hostility. Her Gran, best friend Mak and even her horse and beloved dog are terrified of her.

Lucy’s life seems destined to be one of solitude and deceit until she embraces her new Shell and begins to forge friendships with people that would have never given her a second glance in her own body. The harmony of her new life is on a knife edge when a movie of her is posted online and goes viral, igniting the interest of a boy from the other side of the world who is desperately seeking someone dear him. Someone with the same face, who has disappeared.

When Lucy uncovers the dark and deadly secrets about her resurrection, she becomes trapped in an intricate web of lies and deception. With no one to turn to, she is totally at the mercy of her parents and the obsessive Dr Radnor. Can she alone defeat the madness? Or dare she hope for help?

Shell is a page turning thriller, which has identity and friendship at its core. Emotional, exciting and engaging, it explores the notion of self – what makes us who we are, and acceptance as it follows the strained relationship of Mak and Renee to its conclusion.

With Shell Rawsthorne has created a Frankenstein for the twenty first century, carefully preserving the key themes but keeping it appealing for a YA audience. I know from experience that you can have a monster in a YA novel, as long as it’s sexy. Werewolf – Sexy = Good. Dog Headed Human – grotesque = bad. Patchwork corpse monster - grotesque = bad. New body which is a beautiful upgraded from the original – sexy = good. So Rawsthorne’s choice of an appealing Shell for Lucy to take on her adventure was definitely a good one! 

As in the original Shell has looked at current science procedures and how they may advance in the near future. After all in 2018 people having organ transplants is not science fiction, it is science, so the stretch to brain transplant seems feasible, much like Mary’s monster must have seem possible, two centuries ago at the time of scientific, surgical and electrical revolution.

Many of Mary’s themes of acceptance, sense of self and isolation is highlighted as Lucy questions her being, and is shunned by people. It isn’t as extreme as the Monsters experience but again, it is perfectly pitched for its target audience, after all what teenager isn’t concerned with the notion of being unaccepted and ostracised by their peers?

As for the Scientist, the iconic Victor Frankenstein, in Shell Dr Radnor is a charismatic, talented, obsessive genius. He is on the surface a Victor for the twenty first century however he differs from Mary original. Victor Frankenstein is indeed vain, obsessive and misguided, but he is hounded by the turmoil of his moral campus, spending the whole book endeavouring to rectify his actions, but ever tormented by the knowledge that there is no moral right answer, that he cannot save the Monster, humanity and his family. In short Victor is emphatic and as a reader you feel sorry for him as much as you do for his creation. Radnor by comparison has a moral compass that is decisively stuck on amoral. He is dark, manipulative villain with no redeeming qualities. But if like in Shelley’s original the scientist a metaphor for something else – government, ruling classes or even multinational companies - the profiteering and vain Radnor has indeed hit’s the nail on the head.

With Shell Paula Rawsthorne has brought Frankenstein up to date for a modern audience whilst being sympathetic to the source material, whilst also referencing other–re-envisioning’s with shades of Masamune Shirow's ‘Ghost in a Shell’ and Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse. Shell is a brilliant read as a standalone book, but also a great text to use as an introduction to the original or to be read alongside Shelley’s original. I believe it would also go well as an addition to a YA Frankenstein Story Sack.

Tinder – Sally Gardner & David Roberts – Young Adults Story Sack

Another day, another post, another Story Sack, but todays isn’t the usual story sack; yes it’s constructed around a picture book, but it’s not for Key Stage One children, but for Young Adults, and older adults too! Continuing on our features on stretching the scope, and challenging the pre-conceptions, of Story Sacks we bring you a story sack inspired by Sally Gardner and David Roberts’s beautiful re-imagined fairy tale yarn, Tinder.

Tinder was penned by the hugely talented Sally Gardner who took come the Carnegie medal in 2013 for her novel Maggot Moon, and was inspired by Hans Christian Anderson’s fairy tale The Tinder Box. It’s is a touching story for older YA readers and is beautiful accompanied by David Roberts monotone and atmospheric illustrations, and it was also shortlisted for the Carnegie in 2015, for a full review press here.

I chose Tinder to be the basis for a YA Story Sack for a few reasons; firstly because it’s a wonderful book, and secondly because it is one of a few (but ever increasing) number of highly illustrated books for young adults, and lastly due to the current debates about the changing of Fairy Tales that have recently been in the news, (for find out more press here), my use of Tinder illustrating my opinion that Fairy tales should and have to evolve in order to remain relevant to society and therefore survive.

So as you may know from our previous post story sacks usually have: a picture books, a non-fiction book, a soft toy and a game, that are all to be related to the story in the picture book.

As Tinder was inspire by Hans Christian Anderson’s The Tinder Box, it seemed right to also include a copy of The Tinder box, for comparison, and to see how fairy tales have changed across time and generations. For the non-fiction element I picked Jack Zipes’s What Dreams Come True, which explores the history, eviloution and social life of fairy tales from the sixteenth century to current day, including The Tinder Box. However, being a YA Story Sack I thought it’d be fine to include more than non-fiction books, so if What Dreams Come True looks a little heavy there is also a lighter biographical book about Hans Christian Anderson, and his work.

Adapting the concept of a story sack for young adult readers, has meant that the soft toy and games, can be replaced with alternatives like the little wooden Tinder Box that can be decorated, and the sketchpad and pen, so the reader can try their hand at both penning and illustrating their own fairy tale. Thereby not being childish, but still incorporating the educational element and inspiring imaginative flow.

I believe this show one way that a story sack can be assembled to inspire and interest Young Adults, but there are many more books which would produce equally lovely story sack, like Patrick Ness’s A Monster Calls or Marcus Sedgwick’s Ghost of Heaven to name but a few.

Carnegie 2016 Shadowing: Review - The Lie Tree - Frances Hardinge

After storming its way to win the title of overall best book of 2015 in the Costa Book awards, it's a delight that Frances Hardinge's 'The Lie Tree' is on the shortlist for the  CLIP Carnegie Medal, awarded annually to the writer of an outstanding book for children. Because this is a book that deserves to be read and enjoyed widely.

The Lie Tree - Frances Hardinge

One of the best and cleverest things about 'The Lie Tree' is that it has the pace and page-turning absotbtion of a thriller, but Frances Hardinge cleverly uses the murder-mystery platform to weave in truly complex themes - scientific jealousy, how lies can damage small communities, and the role of women in Victorian society. And deals with these big issues in a really gripping way

The main character is a feisty heroine, courageous, intelligent and stubborn. Faith would love to be a scientist and serious, like her father. She rather despises her mother's fripparies and choice of pursuits. But in Victorian times, this is definitely a man's world and Faith may know a lot about science, but she has much to learn about society.

Faith can be more intelligent than most of the people around her and know and learn plenty, but she's encouraged to keep these talents a secret. It's a real challenge to be taken seriously, particularly when she becomes convinced her father has been murdered. 

But as she starts to investigate on the sly, she learns what women can be good at - manipulating and working behind the scenes and secretly doing things no-one would expect a woman to do. She sets about covertly trying to find out what her father was really working on and who might have guessed his secret.  Because, as a woman, no-one really suspects what she is up to.

Without any of her growing number of enemies knowing, she gets closer to bringing her father's secretive scientific studies to fruition, while also plotting how to reveal what really happened to her father.

This is a page-turner with a serious heart. It's a thought-provoking and imaginative tale that manages to weave a historical scientific adventure with a thread of feminism and fantasy. Not an easy thing to pull off, but Frances Hardinge does it with lashings of style.

There is much discussion about the elusive 'cross-over' novel - one that can be read and enjoyed by both children and adults. But these are more rare than you might think. It is not an easy path to walk to write something that can be enjoyed on so many levels - being both simple and complex at the same time, but 'The Lie Tree', in its complexity and ambition, moves writing for children definitely into an adult sphere, yet bringing also a page-turning quality. 

So can Frances pull it off - 'The Lie Tree' being the best novel of the year and being the best novel for children?

We will wait and see, but whatever happens it should bring many new readers to Frances Hardinge's tremendous writing. She is well worth discovering.

Really enjoyable, very clever, and a seriously impressive read.

Carnegie 2016 Shadowing: Review - One - Sarah Crossan

Spring time is here, and that means it's the season for awards, most notably the CLIP Carnegie Award, and so we commence our annual shadowing of the shortlist.

Our first Carnegie shortlist reviews is the adptly name ONE by Sarah Crossan. I’ve been a fan of Sarah Crossan’s work since I reviewed ‘The Weight of Water’ for our 2013 Carnegie coverage [to read press here]. I’m not the only one, as she made it on to the Carnegie shortlist again this year with Apple and Rain which Claire reviewed a few weeks ago [press here to read].

One of the things I love about Sarah’s work is that she tells her story through verse, initially I was concerned that it may make the novels stodgy and difficult to read but I could not be more wrong. As the poems are short they minimise description therefore getting to the action, story and emotional heart of book without long wordy passages making them easy to read.  Each poem tells an extract of the story, together building up to deliver the whole story. Using this unique form of storytelling, Sarah Crossan tackles subjects which become dark and gritty in a little and engaging way.

Sarah’s latest book, ‘One’ is told in this way, it brings you into the mind of teenager Grace, displaying her insecurities and all her teenage anxieties  as she deals with her complicated family life and her twin sister Tippi. Being sisters and twins, Grace and Tippi have a strong bond, they have all the issues any other siblings face, and a good few more besides as they are conjoined. One, shows Graces inner feelings as she and Tippi venture to school for the first time, and as her family’s situation spirals when her mum is made redundant, and with medical bills piling up her Dads drinking problem worsens, even their younger sister Dragon has to work.

Seeing her family struggle, Grace persuades Tippi to allow a journalist to make a documentary about them, but as the camera’s begin to roll Graces secret is unveiled, and her health begins to fail, jeopardising both her and Tippi’s life.

One, is a moving story, it depicts the complications that life brings being conjoined, but it also explores the themes of family, love and individuality.

Carnegie Review - In Darkness, by Nick Lake

In Darkness is dark. That's worth saying up front. The story of Shorty, a fifteen year-old boy buried beneath rubble following the 2010 Haitian earthquake, this book doesn't pull any punches. The voice is contemporary, easy to relate to. It's also gritty and honest, and takes an often brutal look at what life in Haiti is like for a boy as he grows up.

Trapped under the rubble, Shorty starts to dream and hallucinate about the life of Toussaint l'Ouverture, a slave turned revolutionary living in Haiti 200 years ago. And before long, Toussaint starts to dream of a boy trapped beneath rubble in a future Haiti. Both men are determined to change their lives - Toussaint is driven by a need to free himself and others from slavery, and Shorty by a need to find his sister, kidnapped in a gang attack that killed his father.

There are scenes in this book that made me want to look away - when Shorty kills his first man aged just twelve, when his father is butchered in front of him - and that's an important aspect of it, because this isn't a culture that is often examined in literature, either for children of adults, and Nick Lake immerses the reader in it completely.

In Darkness is a story with a complex structure, interweaving past and present in a tale of revenge and fate. It's a tough read, a gutsy effort, and it's just superb.

Carnegie Review - Code Name Verity, by Elizabeth Wein

I first read Code Name Verity a year ago. I re-read it when it was short-listed, and I'm no less stunned by it now than I was then.

Code Name Verity is the story of 'Queenie', a young Resistance Agent taken captive in Nazi-occupied France. On the surface, it's a war story, a story of Queenie's struggle and bravery and daring. Queenie has taken a huge gamble: she has agreed to tell everything she knows about the British war effort in exchange for time, because knowledge is the only thing she has left to bargain with, and time is the only thing the Gestapo are willing to give. Constantly watched and tormented, she is in a situation that offers very little hope.

Except that Queenie is strong, and gutsy, and in a world where she has nothing but the scraps of paper she's writing on, she has the one thing that matters to her most: a best friend.

Because as much as this is a story about war, and bravery and daring, it's really a story about friendship. As Queenie writes her story, she tells of the moment she first met Maddie, and how they became the closest of friends, summing their friendship up with the line:

'It's like being in love, discovering your best friend.'

I can't say much more without giving things away, but I will say this: buy some Kleenex before you read this book!

We asked Elizabeth Wein what her favourite thing about Code Name Verity is, and this is what she said:

What is my favourite aspect of my short-listed book - FRIENDSHIP. Absolutely, the fact that I sat down to write a book about war and torture and spies and pilots and it turned out to be none of the above - it is first, and foremost, a book about friendship. I didn't see it coming. It made the book a wonderful thing to write, a pleasure to write, and I think it's what makes the book appealing - and maybe surprising - to other people too.

If you want to win a copy of Code Name Verity along with several other shortlisted books, just email us at SpaceOnTheBookshelf@yahoo.com with your name and address, and Carnegie in the title bar. Good luck!

Editor Interview: Claire Westwood from OUP on Waiting for Gonzo by Dave Cousins

Claire Westwood is an Editorial Assistant at Oxford University Press. Previously, she worked as part of the editing team at Taylor & Francis. Here, she talks about her love of children's books, and working on Waiting for Gonzo...

What was your favourite children's book as a child? 

Ooh, that’s a really tricky one! I’ve always been a bit of a bookworm and picking just one book from my childhood is impossible. Having said that, I devoured pretty much everything by Roald Dahl, and of all his wonderful books, Matilda was a particular favourite of mine.

Miss Trunchbull is definitely one of literature’s all-time best baddies, and the bit where Bruce Bogtrotter succeeds in eating the entire chocolate cake still makes me wants to punch the air with elation. I saw the musical version of Matilda at the theatre recently and I think I actually did punch the air at that point! 

What is your favourite children's book as an adult?

Again, that’s almost impossible to answer. My favourites are constantly changing depending on what I’ve read recently. I read Wonder by R.J. Palacio last month and it left me on such an amazing emotional high that when I finished the last page I quickly turned back to page one and read the whole thing again! I’m also a huge Harry Potter fan and have lost count of the number of times I’ve got into arguments with people who say they don’t like it. Usually it’s because they’ve only just seen the films, and I have to resist the urge to become overly zealous about how much better the books are!

What do you think makes children's books so inspirational?

I think it could be something to do with the fact that when you read them, you’re still forming a sense of who you are as a person, and so the books you read as a child have a massive impact on the sort of person you end up becoming. 

I know from my own experience of the characters who really inspired me— characters like Pippi Longstocking, Jo from Little Women, and Georgia Nicholson in the books by Louise Rennison– who made me think, ‘Wow, they’re awesome—I want to be just like them!’

What do you love about Waiting for Gonzo, and what makes it stand out?

From the first few pages I just fell in love with the main character Oz. He’s a bit of an idiot to be honest; he’s always putting his foot in it and makes some very bad decisions along the way, but he’s a good egg really and you can’t help rooting for him in spite of everything.

I think that’s one of the main strengths of Dave’s writing: he can make you care deeply about the characters in his books, and you just have to keep on reading to find out what happens to them next. 

The other thing that makes Waiting for Gonzo stand out is how funny it is. There are loads of laugh-out-loud moments—many of them involving Ryan – Oz’s friend who likes to dress up as a hobbit!

What made you want to work in children's publishing?

Well I’ve always loved reading children’s books and this way I get to do it every day and get paid for it! It’s a win-win situation, really. Is editing a debut author any different than editing an established author? Well sort of yes and no. In my experience every author is different and has his or her own individual way of working. I think one of our main jobs as editors is to understand that and adapt our editing style to suit the author.

Don't forget - if you want to win a signed copy of Waiting for Gonzo, just email us at SPACEONTHEBOOKSHELF@YAHOO.COM with your name and address! Competition closes on Friday 10th May.

Author Interview: Dave Cousins, Waiting for Gonzo

The book up for review this month is Waiting for Gonzo, by Dave Cousins. We loved Dave's debut, Fifteen Days Without A Head, which has just won the Crystal Kite Award for Europe! Over the next few days, you can catch up on all things Gonzo, with an interview with the book's editor, a Spotlight on Writing feature, and two book reviews - one from us, and one from 15 year-old Emily. If you want to find out more about Dave, you can also find him at www.davecousins.net.

To kick things off though, a few words from the man of the hour himself...

Dave Cousins hard at work on his Acme Machine...

What was your favourite children’s book as a child? 

The Machine-Gunners by Robert Westall. If there’s one book that made me want to write, this is it. I loved this book from the moment I first picked it up, aged eleven. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve read it since. Even though it was published in the early seventies, the quality of the writing and storytelling means it still feels as fresh and exciting as ever.

What is your favourite children’s book as an adult? 

Difficult question! There have been so many great books published in recent years it’s impossible to choose just one. I recently enjoyed Daylight Saving by Edward Hogan and Grounded by Sheena Wilkinson. I was lucky enough to get an early copy of Sara Grant’s Half Lives, which is brilliant, and I’m really enjoying Slated by Teri Terry at the moment. I’m also halfway through re-reading Bryan Lee O’Malley’s superb Scott Pilgrim series of graphic novels.

What makes children’s books so inspirational? 

To keep young people reading, stories have to really engage. There’s no room for self-indulgence, clichéd characters or lack of story. Secondly, I think the teenage years are a fascinating time to write about – filled with doubt and discovery – the time when we struggle to learn who we are and find our place in the world.

Why did you start writing for children? 

Ever since I was quite young, my response to things that happened to me, or stuff I heard about, was to turn them into stories, songs or drawings. Many years later, inspired by some of the fantastic books I’d read, I decided to sit down and have a go myself! The fact that the stories I find myself writing always have a teenage character at their heart makes me suspect I’m still roughly thirteen in my head!

What made you want to write this book? 

To keep going for the length of time it takes to write a book, I have to really care about the characters and the things that are happening to them. 

Waiting for Gonzo started as one of many ideas that sat around in a notebook for years, before my narrator Oz arrived and transformed the spark into a story I wanted to tell. Once characters come to life a story gains its own momentum and I have to type fast to keep up! I knew I wanted the book (and Oz’s character) to make readers laugh, but there were also some serious things happening to the characters. Getting the right balance of humour and heart was quite a challenge.

What’s your favourite aspect of writing for children? 

Being a writer is my dream job, but one of the most rewarding aspects of writing for young people is getting the chance to meet and talk to readers.

Teenagers are too often demonized, but I’m constantly inspired by the humour, ideas and enthusiasm of the students I meet in schools. I believe that sharing stories is hugely important, and it’s great being able to play a small part in this process.

And to top it all off, you can also win a signed copy of Waiting for Gonzo! Just email us at SpaceOnTheBookshelf@yahoo.com with the name of the book in the header. The winner will be drawn on Friday 10th May - good luck!