Review: Street Heroes by Joe Layburn

Georgie's dad, George Smith is a highly controversial politician whose message is to get rid of non-white people from London's East End. Everyone assumes Georgie shares his father's views, even his father. But while he loves his dad, he's really not sure what he thinks. And then he begins to hear a voice in his head, the voice of a Muslim girl called Fatima ... Meanwhile Fatima is also contacting other children in difficult situations. When an attempt is made to kill George Smith he responds by planning a repeat of the historical Battle of Cable Street when Fascists demonstrating against Jewish immigrants confronted local people. How can the mysterious Fatima and her gang stop Smith, and which side will Georgie be on?

If you believe the media then young people today are either hoodie-wearing thugs who hang around on street corners causing mischief and accumulating ASBOs, or they are computer game obsessives who rarely interact with others except at school or via MSN. If you believe the media then young people today have little interest in current affairs or politics. However, as any primary or secondary school teacher and they will tell you that children who fit these labels are very much in the minority and instead, they are very much concerned about the issues affecting modern Britain. Issues such as knife crime, racism and religious fundamentalism are very much on their minds as they try to make sense of their world and that is why books like Joe Layburn's Street Heroes are so important.

The publishers bill this book as "a Heroes for children". I'm not sure this is an accurate comparison as there is no team of characters with super-powers tasked with saving the world. Instead we have the mysterious Fatima, a young muslim girl who is able to link telepathically with any number of other children, and it is a handful of these children who narrate the story for us. The first chapter introduces us to Georgie, son of George Smith, the leader of the British Fascists. Georgie is still trying to find his own identity in the world, but his is not an easy lot, with a fiercely nationalist father as his primary male influence, and the taunts he receives from his peers at school as a result of this. Of course, the last thing he expects is to hear the voice of a young muslim girl in his head. 

Next up we meet Omar, a young Muslim boy who just happens to be Fatima's brother. Fatima's telepathic communication is nothing new to Omar as she has always been able to get inside his head. However, his principle worry is his brother Sadiq, an angry young teenager who Omah feels is on the verge of Fundamentalism and when he finds a scrapbook about George Smith and his family under Sadiq's mattress Omah's concerns multiply exponentially.

Finally we are introduced to Melissa, and ten-year old girl with behavioural issues. She is also signiifcantly larger than most of the other chidlren in her class at school, and as a result of this combination she has no friends and delights in being nasty to others. Along come the voice of Fatima, and we very soon see a marked change in Melissa's self-estemm and her attitude towards the people around her.

In a mere 132 pages Joe Layburn delivers a group of characters that children of 9+ will find find easy to associate with. He also manages to deliver a very important message about racial and religious tolerance without coming across as 'preachy'. One of the tools he uses to achieve this is by bringing factuak anecdote into the plot - in this case the very real Battle of Cable Street, when Oswald Mosley attempted to lead his Blackshirts through this predominantly Jewish area back in 1936. The shameful event in the history of Britain is used well to highlight the dangers of fascism both then and today, and how normal people can successfully group together to fight these exremist attitiudes.

This is definitely a book for younger readers, and I feel that teenagers will find it below them despite its important message. The 9+ age group will find some of the vocabulary challenging, but this is a good thing as this is how young people develop their own confidence in the use of language. The story is certainly set at the right level for children of this age. Street Heroes is published by Frances Lincoln, who kindly sent me a copy of this book, and is available to buy right now.

Review: Captain Pugwash by John Ryan (reissues)

Captain Pugwash and the Pigwig
 
That most unlikely of pirates, the greedy, selfish Captain Pugwash is at the helm once more. And his familiar crew are all aboard. In these four adventures the crew turn vegetarian, their enemy Cut-throat Jake is defeated by a parrot, there's a fierce battle on the poop deck, and the pirates find a whole new way to walk the plank. Pugwash fans old and new will revel in these stories. John Ryan's text and drawings are as full of comic vigour as ever.
 
Captain Pugwash and the Wreckers
 
Plundering porpoises! I suppose I ought to put you all in irons! cries Captain Pugwash, on discovering his crew about to tuck into a tasty midnight feast. Luckily for the crew, Pugwash decides to join in the feast instead! But then more uninvited guests drop in - and a most unwelcome bunch they are too. But there's a surprise in store for Jake and his evil gang - the mysterious islanders from nearby Rummi-Tummi are on their way! And in the second of these two exciting stories, Captain Pugwash is in a jovial mood. He's about to set sail for the Indies with the greatest load of silver bullion ever! But Cut-throat Jake overhears his plans and is determined to wreck the Black Pig. John Ryan's jolly captain is as bumbling and amusing as ever in these two pirate stories.

Hmmmm.... do these count as graphic novels? There are illustrations on just about every page (some with speech bubbles) and the series did, after all, start off as a comic strip back in 1950 in The Eagle and then in the Radio Times for most of the 1960s. Hell.... I don't care whether they count or not, the nice people at Frances Lincoln sent these reissues to me and Mr Nostalgia appeared from nowhere, slapped me in the face and demanded that I mention them on my blog.

The beauty of pirate stories like these is that they are timeless. Reading through these two slim volumes brought back many fond memories from when I was a kid, yet they seem as fresh and enjoyable as ever. Younger boys (and of course girls) will lap these up, both when read to them as bedtime stories and when read themselves. The publishers suggest they are for ages 7+ but I am sure that there will be a number of slightly younger children whose reading abilities will be advanced enough to cope with them.

Reviewing stories that are already such a huge part of the national consciousness is very difficult, but then again there has to be a reason why they have become so well known, and that is simply because they are really, really enjoyable to read. These are not stories that should lie dormant because they were written some time before the Harry Potter phenomenon kicked off and created the renaissance in children's literature; these are stories that should be read again and again, each generation passing on to the next at bedtime. I mentioned these books to some Year 10 boys and girls the other day, expecting them to say "Captain... who?", but I was very surprised to find out that they had all heard of the character even though some of them had never read the books or seen the animated TV series.

John Ryan once said in an interview: "Pugwash has two qualities which I believe are present in all of us to some degree: cowardice and greed. It is the conflict between these opposing emotions which make the stories work. It may be that the Captain is popular because we all have something in common with him. What would you do if you saw a delicious toffee on the nose of a crocodile?" Answer honestly..... what would you do?

These two volumes were published by Frances Lincoln Limited on 4th March, with two more reissues scheduled for September 2010.

Review: When I Was Joe by Keren David

When Ty witnesses a stabbing, his own life is in danger from the criminals he s named, and he and his mum have to go into police protection. Ty has a new name, a new look and a cool new image life as Joe is good, especially when he gets talent spotted as a potential athletics star, special training from an attractive local celebrity and a lot of female attention. But his mum can t cope with her new life, and the gangsters will stop at nothing to flush them from hiding. Joe s cracking under extreme pressure, and then he meets a girl with dark secrets of her own. This wonderfully gripping and intelligent novel depicts Ty/Joe's confused sense of identity in a moving and funny story that teenage boys and girls will identify with.

Readers of my blog will know by now that I thrive on action and adventure stories; tales that help me escape the pressures of my job. For this reason, and the fact that I hear enough about this sort of thing as part of my day-to-day work life, I would rarely ever buy a book that deals directly with the issues that face the modern teenager on a daily basis. I have taught Citizenship; I have discussed these issues with countless young people; I really don't feel the need to be reading about these issues in my spare time. However, thanks to the kind people at Frances Lincoln, this book arrived on my doorstep and due to school being closed as a result of the snow I decided to promote it to the top of my reading pile. Truth be told.....  I am really glad that I did as When I Was Joe is a compelling, fast-paced modern thriller that had me gripped almost from the start.

I say almost from the start and this is probably the only negative thing I have to say about this book, so I will get it out of the way now. Ty, the main character of the story, has witnessed the murder of a fellow fourteen year old, as a result of which he is fast-tracked onto a police witness protection programme. Ty's interview by the police and his and his mother's relocation all occur in the first two relatively short chapters of the book; personally, I felt that this all seemed a little too rushed and therefore less believable and I would have preferred another chapter to help ease me into the story. Then again, my only knowledge of witness protection in the UK stems from my wife's love of The Bill on TV so maybe things do move this fast in real life?

That aside, the rest of the book is very realistic and despite it being written in the first-person, present tense (normally one of my pet hates) I loved it. In fact, I have to admit that the author's use of tense and point of view works really well with the story, for the main focus of the story isn't witness protection; it is really about how Ty copes with this sudden and dramatic upheaval in his life. Identity and image are all-important for young people, so how would you react if you suddenly had to re-invent yourself and become someone totally different? Would you be able to keep your past a secret to protect you and your loved ones? Once you have told one lie about yourself, and then another and another, where do the lies stop? Scary thoughts aren't they, but all issues that Ty has to deal with in this book once he becomes Joe.

Incredibly, Ms David has really managed to get inside the head of a teenage boy and portrays Ty's feelings brilliantly. Boys of this age really do think that way and her characterisation of Ty and the other young people in the story is spot on. The dialogue is also very realistic - some readers may not like the way that Tye slips into using "youth speak" (horrible phrase, but I'm not sure what else to call it), and the use of swear words, depending on who he is talking to. Wise up people - this is what teenagers do when they are with their peers. It gives them a sense of belonging within a group; it distinguishes them from their seemingly boring elders; it makes them feel relevant in their society, and the author's use of this technique is used well in the story amd makes the dialogue more realistic.

Above everything else, this story is relevant. I have lost count of the times I have had discussions with students at school where they have told me that some of their main worries in life include bullying and knife crime. In addition this book also addresses the topic of self-harming in a sensitive manner; this is an issue that is very relevant in today's teenage society as more and more young people feel the need to harm themselves for a multitude of reasons, that are often incomprehensible to their peers. However, the adressing of these issues in the story, as well as some of the swearing in the dialogue, would lead me suggest that this book is most suited to readers of the 13+ age range. 

When I Am Joe is available to buy now and if, like me, you enjoy reading this book you will be overjoyed to hear that there is a planned sequel entitled Almost True due to be published in August 2010.