The Swift family
Beth Lincoln: The Swifts – A Dictionary of Scoundrels (Penguin Random House 2023) In the Swift family, when a child is born, a name and a definition are chosen from the large family Dictionary, which the child will resemble when grows up. The name Shenanigan means troublemaker, which the little girl really lives up to. Her favorite hobby is mapping their house. The House itself is no ordinary building either. While the Swift family had more power and more money, the house were always nicely painted and tattered. Each generation added more and more parts to it – with quite a few secret passages and peepholes. However, as the family’s influence declined, so did the house’s charm. Even today, it cannot be called ugly, but it can only be beautiful if you tilt your head a little to the side and squint. There is also a family legend: one of…
Our life on Mars
Jennifer L. Holm: The Lion of Mars (Random House 2021) What will life be like living on Mars? When people populate the planet, build modern houses, and roads criss-cross the landscape? But what will it be like when they just arrive? When everyday life becomes a constant struggle and they can only rely on each other? Bell has lived on Mars all his life. He only knows as much about the Earth as the adults who came from it tell him and he learned from books and movies. Few people live on the American settlement, so everyone has to do their part in the daily tasks. Apart from the algae and some plants they produce themselves, they are kept alive by a supply ship that arrives from time to time. Their only cat, Leo is one of Bell’s best friends. One day the boy discovers an unknown phenomenon, but the…
Classics – Pride and Prejudice
Jane Austen – Katherine Woodfine: Pride and Prejudice (Hodder and Stoughton 2019) Almost everyone knows Jane Austen’s perhaps most famous work, even if they haven’t read it. It has also been adapted to several films and books by several authors. One of its modern reinterpretations is, for example, Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding, but it has also been rewritten from the perspective of other characters: Jo Baker focuses on the servants of the Bennet family in her book Longbourn, and Natasha Farrant concentrates on Lydia in her novel of the same title. Now I read a book specially designed for younger readers, in which Katherine Woodfine rewrote the classic. At the age of 12, the writer received a hardcover edition of Pride and Prejudice and the BBC TV adaptation on videocassette for Christmas and immediately became a fan of the story. She has read every Jane Austen novel, but…
Kiki’s Delivery Service
Eiko Kadono: Kiki’s Delivery Service (Originally published in 1985) Eiko Kadono Japanese writer was born on January 1, 1935 in Tokyo. In addition to children’s books, she also writes picture books, non-fiction works and essays. She currently works as a university professor. Her most famous work, Kiki’s Delivery Service, was first published in 1985, from which Hayao Miyazaki made a successful animation movie. There were 5 sequels to the novel, but unfortunately they cannot be read in English. In 2018, the writer received the Hans Christian Andersen Award. The story is about Kiki, the little witch, who has to spend a year in a town, where she has to not only get by on her own, but also serve the good of the town. Kiki only has one ability, she can fly, so she must use that and her wits to complete her mission. She comes to the bustling city…
A wonderfully messy family
Elisa Puricelli Guerra: Un Ciclone In Salotto (A Cyclone In The Living Room* originally published by Giunti Editore in 2012) Elisa Puricelli Guerra: La trisnonna in cima all’albero (Great-great-grandmother at the top of the tree* originally published by Giunti Editore in 2012) Elisa Puricelli Guerra was born in Milan, Italy. She always dreamed of being a writer (or an astronaut or a witch) and her love of books was born when her mother read her the Pippi Longstocking books. Like Pippi, Guerra also has red hair and this caused her a lot of problems. She never got away with anything at school because her flaming red hair always caught the attention of the teachers. As a writer, the protagonists of her stories are often redheads, but in return they are extra skilled, so they get away with a little more than her. Guerra also works as a freelance writer and…
The endless sea
Jonne Kramer: The Riddle of the Sea (Picadilly Press 2022; originally published under the title Het raadsel van de zee by Billy Bones in 2019) This year, the Netherlands will be the guest of honor at the Budapest International Book Festival. Now I recommend you a novel by a Dutch writer. Jonne Kramer is a Dutch children’s book writer. After her studies in Amsterdam, she studied linguistics and creative writing at the University of Westminster in London. In 2017, she returned to Amsterdam, where she began studying Dutch as a second language and multilingualism at the University of Amsterdam in 2020. The writer also worked as an advertising writer, singer-songwriter, and multilingual education consultant. Since 2019, she has been teaching language and storytelling classes, and since 2020 she has been teaching at a language school and working as a consultant. Already in high school, she participated in the production of…
Emily Windsnap, the mermaid
Liz Kessler: Emily Windsnap and the Castle in the Mist (Orion Children’s Books 2006) Emily Windsnap is a completely ordinary girl who lives with her mother in a small seaside town. The family’s only friend is the lighthouse keeper. However, Emily’s life changes when she discovers during a swimming lesson that her legs turn into tails in the water. Emily is the kind of girl who never looks for trouble, but always finds it… However, with her perseverance and kindness, she always solves problems and helps others. I read the first two volumes of the series last summer, and the third one this year. In this story, Emily finds a special ring that belongs to Neptune, the lord of the seas, thus angering the king (again). However, Emily doesn’t just have to put her own life in order, the fate of several people depends on her. You might think this…
Looking for Emily
Fiona Longmuir: Looking for Emily (Nosy Crow 2022) Lily Hargan moves to a small seaside town with her mother. That sounds good, but in reality Edge is such a small town that if you drive by and blink, you’ve already passed it. It is nice and quiet, but Lily loved the noise of the city and the fact that there were so many people she didn’t know, so she could make up stories about them. In Edge, everyone knows each other. She doesn’t make friends at school either, so only the books remain because you can’t be disappointed in them. However, one day she finds a secret museum that introduces the life of an ordinary girl, Emily. The girl lived in the city years ago, but disappeared without a trace. Lily decides to find out what happened to her. In the meantime, she even finds friends. I really liked the…
Falvia Sorrentino Readathon Wrap-Up
Sylvia Bishop: The Midnight Thief (Scholastic 2021) Cerrie Burnell: Wilder Than Midnight (Puffin Books 2022) Molly Brooks: Sanity and Tallulah (Little, Brown Ink 2018) Justyn Edwards: The Great Fox Illusion (Walker Books 2022) Justyn Edwards: The Great Fox Heist (Walker Books 2023) Ally Carter: Winterborne Home for Mayhem and Mystery (Orchard Books 2021) The Flavia Sorrentino Readathon was the second book challenge I organized as part of BogiWrites. It was inspired by my favorite illustrator, whose books I have read before. I was so taken by her style that I looked for the works she illustrated. In doing so, I also got to know many new-to-me authors, from whom I read other books later. During the Readathon, I read six books, five of which were illustrated by Flavia Sorrentino, and the sixth was written and drawn by another talented illustrator, Molly Brooks. The latter one is a comic book about…
Home sweet home
Ally Carter: Winterborne Home for Vengeance and Valour (Orchard Books 2020) Ally Carter: Winterborne Home for Mayhem and Mystery (Orchard Books 2021) April has never had a home, just a key that she always wears around her neck. Her mother left her when she was two years old and she has been waiting for her return since then. She has never felt at home anywhere, but she doesn’t need to, because one day her mom will come back for her anyway. However, now she enters the Winterborne Home, where she is shocked to find that it is not as horrible as the places she had to live until now. For example, all the children who live here are special and unique in their own way. She might even find a home now, but nothing at Winterborne Mansion is what it seems and it’s up to the kids to unravel the…