Review: The Marsh Road Mysteries by Elen Caldecott

Diamonds and Daggers

Hollywood sensation, Betty Massino, has come to star in the theatre down the road and Piotr and his friends Andrew and Minnie couldn't be more excited! But when the famous actress's hugely expensive diamond necklace goes missing, Piotr's dad, a security guard at the theatre, is a prime suspect. Soon, Piotr faces the very real threat of being sent 'home' to Poland. With the help of Sylvie and her twin sister Flora, can Piotr, Andrew and Minnie solve the crime or will they lose Piotr forever? The first in a fantastic new series filled with friendship, adventure and mystery!

Crowns and Codebreakers

When Minnie's gran comes to stay, all the way from Nigeria, Minnie KNOWS there will be trouble. And straight away Gran notices she's picked up the wrong suitcase at the airport. This one is full of boy's clothes, and she's not at all happy about it! But when their house is burgled and the only thing taken is the suitcase, Minnie realises there'll be much more trouble than she bargained for. Can the gang solve the crime or will the mystery of the little lost boy be forever unsolved?

Spooks and Scooters

Flora and Sylvie are going on the holiday of a lifetime with their dad. But - WHAT? - Dad cancels the trip only hours before the flight because - OH MY GOODNESS - someone has stolen precious blueprints of Dad's latest invention: an amazing new scooter. But who? And why? Time to call on the only five people who can possibly solve the crime!

Three was the magic number for Bob Dorough, Blind Melon and De La Soul, and it's also the magic number for these new style Book Zone reviews, as part of my seemingly endless quest for brevity when reviewing. So, here are three reasons to love Elen Caldecott's March Road Mysteries books, of which the third, Spooks and Scooters, is due to be published next month.

1. Diversity

It's fantastic to read a middle grade mystery story that follows the adventures of a group of friends of different races and backgrounds. Piotr Domek is a Polish immigrant and lives his parents, who moved to Britain in search of a better standard of living; Minnie Adesina is of Nigerian heritage; twins Flora and Sylvie Hampshire's parents are separated; and Andrew Jones is probably a young carer (I say probably, as each story puts the spotlight on a different member of the gang, and it hasn't been Andrew's turn yet). This diverse mix of backgrounds and ethnicities rings very true as a group of friends living in modern multi-cultural Britain, and it also lends itself to stories that, whilst being primarily mysteries, also touch on themes such as racism and prejudice.

2. Friendship

Elen Caldecott gets kids. She understands how they tick and how their friendships can be strong one day and fragile the next. Young readers will find it very easy to identify with the relationships between the five protagonists. The characters themselves are engaging and very cleverly drawn, with each child's personality shining just as much as the next, and they bring a wonderful air of humour to the stories that has the reader finding themselves grinning from ear to ear without even realising.

3. Mystery

The mysteries in which the group of friends find themselves embroiled are exciting and cleverly plotted. These aren't Famous Five style adventures, where the protagonists just happen to stumble on to the solution; our team of young sleuths really have to use their brains and combine their various strengths to solve these mysteries. As an adult reader, I have to admit to guessing the outcome of the first two books, but it took me quite a lot longer to work out whodunnit. But I'm reading with a lifetime of read mystery stories locked away in my brain, and I'm sure younger readers will find the solutions a little harder to predict.

Elen Caldecott's Marsh Road Mysteries are a must-read for any mystery-hungry young reader. It's great to see so many new mystery stories being published for this age group at the moment, as they do not appear to have been in vogue for some time. My thanks go to those wonderful people at Bloomsbury for sending me copies of the books to read.

Review: Haunt: Dead Scared by Curtis Jobling

When Will finds himself in hospital, but unable to make anyone see or hear him, he realises that he never made it home from his first kiss with the school hottie. Knocked off his bike in a road traffic accident, Will is now officially dead - and a ghost. But somehow his best mate, Dougie, can still see him, and, what is more, increasingly Will seems bound to Dougie, going only where Dougie goes. Once they've exhausted all the comic possibilities of being invisible, they set about unravelling the mystery of Will's predicament. Is it something to do with that kiss, or the driver of the car that killed him and didn't stop? Maybe they will find an answer by investigating the rumour that there is an unhappy spirit haunting the ruins in the school grounds, and if so, why? What they discover is a long-buried mystery, which stretches its fingers right into the present...

Long time readers of The Book Zone will already know that I am a huge fan of Curtis Jobling's Wereworld books. That series was epic fantasy for teens at its very best, and ever since it finished I have been waiting with baited breath to see what Curtis produced next. Given that this is the guy who brought us both Bob the Builder and RAA RAA the Noisy Lion I was not at all surprised when I discovered that his new book, Haunt: Dead Scared, was totally different: a creepy comedy story aimed at a slightly younger audience than Wereworld.

Although Haunt treads very similar ground to Tamsyn Murray's brilliant My So-Called Afterlife, and there are elements of the plot's central mystery that are not a million miles away from that of James Dawson's Say Her Name, the quality of Curtis Jobling's writing makes this an original and thoroughly enjoyable read for young teens. The real strengths of the book are the humour, and the tight relationship between Will (who dies in the first chapter but comes back as a ghost) and his best mate Dougie (the only person who can see Will's ghost). These are two somewhat geeky boys having to come to terms with a tragic accident, and the bizarre aftermath that sees Will stranded as a spook. Together they have to work out why on earth Will didn't move on, and in the process of their investigations they come across another stranded spirit, and take it upon themselves to help her too.

I've not read any interviews Curtis Jobling may have given about this new series but I would not be surprised if he has cited Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) as one of his inspirations when it came to writing the book. I loved the original series (watched as repeats - I'm honestly not old enough to have seen it when first broadcast) and even enjoyed the Vic and Bob reboot. The humour in Haunt, as the two boys try to get to grips with their rather unique situation, is certainly reminiscent of that TV show, with a heavy dose of Scooby Doo style shenanigans thrown in for good measure.

If you're looking for a creepy and funny book that is also a fairly quick read this summer then look no further than Haunt: Dead Scared. My thanks go to the fab people at Simon & Schuster for sending me a copy.

Review: The Tin Snail by Cameron McAllister

This is the story of a brave little car that helped to win a war.

In the 1940s world of elegant, luxury automobiles, the Tin Snail is no beauty. But it's facing a tough challenge: to carry a farmer and his wife, a flagon of wine and a tray of eggs across a bumpy field in a sleepy French village - without spilling a drop or cracking a shell.

And then an even bigger challenge comes along - staying hidden from an officer of the occupying Nazi army, who is bent on stealing the design for the enemy!

The Tin Snail tells the story of Angelo Fabrizzi, who at the start of the book is living in Paris with his Italian parents. Angelo's father is a car designer going through a drought period as far as inspiration is concerned, until one morning Angelo makes a comment that causes the metaphorical light bulb above his father's head to light up like a supernova. Unfortunately for the Fabrizzi family, the car's unveiling at the 1938 Paris Motor Show does not go as planned, and the fall out puts even more pressure on Angelo's parents' already strained marriage. His father decides he needs to get away, and he and Angelo head off to the countryside for some breathing space. Before long they are working on improving their design for a people's car, using the meagre resources available in the rural location.

Initially, the local villagers view the Fabrizzis with mistrust, feelings that escalate as the war in Europe starts and then escalates as the Nazis invade France, given that Italy has allied itself with Germany. However, work progresses on the car, but rumours of Fabrizzi's have reached the German High Command, and they descend on the village in search of any prototype they can steal away to deliver to their own car designers. What was just a simple engineering project in a rural French barn becomes a local symbol of Gallic honour and the struggle against the German invaders.

Earlier this year I attended another of Random House's brilliant blogger brunches. As far as my blogging and reading life is concerned these are always definitely up there as some of the highlights of my year, as RHCP always have a fab list of books to tell us about, and even more importantly the team who give up their Saturday morning to welcome us so warmly are among my very favourite book-world people. Like many of the publisher events I attend, the focus was more on YA than 'middle grade' books, but as a lover of MG there were two books in their presentation that totally grabbed my interest more than any others. The first was Django Wexler's brilliant The Forbidden Library, and the second was this little beauty.

I'm always on the look-out for books like this: well plotted middle grade stories with great characters and plenty of typically British humour (yes, it is set in France, with Italian and French characters, but the writing is undeniably British). The publishers make mention of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Dad's Army in their blurb, which covers the car aspect, the WWII setting and, to a degree the comedy, but this book is much more than that (and I am a lover of both of those). The humour is never slapstick or farcical (so no allusions to 'Allo 'Allo here whatsoever): it is subtle, heartwarming and intelligent and readers will find themselves grinning from ear-to-ear without even realising it.

The story itself is a fabulously well-plotted character driven piece, that uses action set-pieces and the tension of the villagers' anti-German 'resistance' to add to keep the pace moving and readers turning pages. It is one of my favourite books of 2014 so far, and Cameron McAllister writes with a voice that is reminiscent of the likes of Frank Cottrell Boyce and David Walliams. In fact, much as I am a great lover of Walliams' stories and their TV adaptations, if I had to choose it would be The Tin Snail that I would much rather see adapted for TV at Christmas this year.

Another great plus about this book is the 'is it fact, or is it fiction?' feeling that you get when reading it. At no point in the narrative does the author mention Citroen or the 2CV, but as readers we know there is only one car that is being designed by Angelo and his father. In his author's afterword McCallister gives us a very brief explanation about the event that inspired him to write about this special car, and as a reader who knows nothing about the history and development of the real Citroen 2CV, I loved the fact that at no point was I able to distinguish between what was a product of the author's imagination and what was something rooted in historical fact. Young car lovers will probably do exactly what I did on finishing this book - read up on the real history behind the development of such an iconic car.

I can't finish this review without also mentioning the wonderful black and white illustrations of Sam Usher that accompany each chapter heading, and also the lovely overall effort that the publishers have put into packaging this book. The Tin Snail comes as a lovely hardback edition, sans dustwrapper, and makes for a very attractive and enticing present for a reader, young or old. Yes, this is one of those rare books that will delight readers from 8 up to 80 and beyond, and deserves to become a much read family favourite in the future. My thanks go to the ever-wonderful Lisa Mahoney at Random House for sending me a copy to read.    

Review: The Lost Journals of Benjamin Tooth by Mackenzie Crook

My name is Benjamin Tooth. This is my journal.

One day I will be remembered as the greatest scientist that the world has ever known and so it is my duty to mankind to record my thoughts that future generations are able to study the progress of a genius.

I am eleven years old.

These are the recently discovered journals of Benjamin Tooth: alchemist, inventor and discoverer of the Windvale sprites. They chronicle his journey of scientific discovery from pompous boy to mad old man in his pursuit of the sprites on Windvale Moor. The sprites hold the key to eternal life, and Tooth is determined to capture it.

I was very fortunate to be sent The Lost Journals of Benjamin Tooth and its predecessor, The Windvale Sprites, both by Mackenzie Crook, in the same package by the lovely people at Faber. The Windvale Sprites was published two years ago, and received many rave reviews for its humour, charm and old school story telling magic. It told the story of Asa, a young boy who spots the remains of an unusual creature after the great storm that hit the UK back in 1987. His curiosity suitably piqued, Asa embarks on a mission to find more of these otherworldly creatures, and along the way he discovers the lost journals of one Benjamin Tooth, an eccentric resident of Mereton back in the eighteenth century. This latest publication from Mackenzie Crook and Faber, is that journal.

The Lost Journals of Benjamin Tooth is, as the title would suggest, written in the form of a journal or diary. It begins on Monday 18th April 1768, with eleven year old Benjamin confidently proclaiming that 'one day I will be remembered as the greatest scientist that the world has ever known' before going on to tell us that 'Today for supper I ate of a buttock of ham with plum pudding and greens'. Whilst wandering on Windvale Moor, Benjamin spots what he believes to be an exceptionally large species of dragonfly. When he returns to make more drawings for his teacher he has a run in with the seemingly barking mad Farley Cupstart, a particularly odd and potentially dangerous character, and Benjamin's interests in the Moor are multiplied a hundredfold.

Benjamin's journal continues on to 1780, in which time his life sees many ups and downs, and yet through it all Benjamin never loses his hunger for notoriety in the field of science. Through his journal we are introduced to a number of colourful characters, all of whom help take the edge off Benjamin's arrogance. He is not, you see, a particularly likeable character at times, so as a reader it is hard to root for him, but this doesn't matter as it is the sheer conceit and haughtiness that permeates through his writing that makes it so funny for us to follow.

When I first received an email from Faber asking if I would be interested in copies of these two books, I was told that it probably wouldn't matter which order I read them. I decided to read the Journals first, and then moved on to The Windvale Sprites, and I really enjoyed reading them in this order. However, I think the stories would have been just as enjoyable if I had read them the other way around, so it really doesn't matter which one you pick up first. But please do pick them up and read them - they are both funny, whimsical stories full of old school, almost Blyton-esque adventure, but given a dark and occasiionally grusome edge.

Not only is Mackenzie Crook an accomplished comic actor (his Gareth Keenan is one of my all time favourite sitcom characters), but with these two books he also demonstrates that he has a talent for writing as well. But that's not the limit to his talent either as both stories are accompanied by lovely black and white illustrations drawn by the author himself.

The Lost Journals of Benjamin Tooth was published in hardcover by Faber on 7 November, on the same day that The Windvale Sprites was published in a paperback edition. You can find out more about The Lost Journals of Benjamin Tooth over at http://benjamintooth.co.uk where you can also find details of an exciting competition. Come back here later in the week for your chance to win a signed copy of The Windvale Sprites.

Review: Swim The Fly by Don Calame

Fifteen-year-old Matt Gratton and his two best friends, Coop and Sean, always set themselves a summertime goal. This year's? To see a real-live naked girl for the first time — quite a challenge, given that none of the guys has the nerve to even ask a girl out on a date. But catching a girl in the buff starts to look easy compared to Matt's other summertime aspiration: to swim the 100-yard butterfly (the hardest stroke known to God or man) as a way to impress Kelly West, the sizzling new star of the swim team.

The 1980s brought us Porky's, the '90s saw American Pie unleashed on an unsuspecting world, and at the tail end of the Noughties UK TV audiences were given the chance to follow the hilarious antics of Will, Jay, Neil and Simon in The Inbetweeners. All screen comedies that had great appeal to the teen male audience, which begs the question: why have there been so few books published during this time that deal with the problems teenage boys start to experience once their hormones begin to rage? I don't answer the answer to this question, but screenwriter (and now YA novelist) Don Calame didn't bother to ponder this question, instead he wrote the brilliant Swim The Fly, one of the must-read books for teen boys (and many girls) this summer.

Matt and his two friend, Sean and Coop, are not exactly the coolest kids at school, and as such every single male who find/found themselves in the grey area between uber-geek and cool will be able to identify with their characters and escapades. Even if you aren't/weren't one of these boys at school then I still guarantee that you know exactly what I am talking about, as let's face it, even the coolest boys in school have cringeworthy moments from time to time. I keep on wanting to say that this is The Inbetweeners in novel format, as pretty much every British teen boy will know exactly what I am trying to say, and this is also some of the greatest praise I can give to Swim The Fly. Just like that TV programme it had me laughing out loud, sometimes so much that I had to stop reading in order to get my breath back and wipe the tears from my eyes. The similarities between the two are lengthy: the filthy humour; fixation on sex and girls (with little chance of success); constant attempts to out-insult each other; and even the mix of personalities within the group of friends. And like The Inbetweeners, and American Pie before it, these boys in their quest to see a naked girl, at no point come across as seedy or perverted - theirs is a tale that is pants-wettingly funny, with a heart-warming poignancy to it.

For me there are two key elements to Don Calame's writing that set this book head and shoulders above many comedy books for teens. The first of these is the characters: Don Calame earned his writing spurs as a screenwriter, and he has used all of his skills in character creation in Swim The Fly. This never reads as a book where the author had thought up a series of hilarious set-pieces and wrote the characters to fit, instead everything that happens to these boys will have you thinking: "OMG, that could so happen", or "Ha! That happened to just last week", or if you are really unlucky "OMG, I am still trying to forget that incident from my teenage years". The secondary characters are also just as memorable, with my favourite being Matt's horny old grandfather, who has his sights set on a local widow, and whose behaviour is just as cringeworthy and immature as the boys' at times. The other standout element is the dialogue. Every single words these boys utter adds soomething to their characters and the relationship between them as a groups of friends, and the people they interact with.

I really can't praise this book enough in terms of its potential for getting a reluctant male teen reader to start and complete a book. It is also the kind of book that dads should read and laugh over with their sons. Mums and sisters, you also will find this an incredibly funny insight into the mind of a teenage boy, although you sons/brothers will not thank you for reading it as it will only giving you more ammunition when it comes to laughing at their antics. I cannot think of a more perfect read for boys this summer. My thanks go to the generous people at Templar for sending me a copy to review. Come back to The Book Zone on the 29th May for more Swim The Fly fun when Don Calame will be appearing here as part of the book's blog tour.

Review: That's So Gross series by Mitchell Symons

Boys love facts. And the more disgusting these facts are, the better. As I have mentioned on The Book Zone in the past, some of the most popular books in the school library are The Guiness Book of Records and Ripley's Believe It Or Not. Every break time there are groups of boys gathered around the various volumes of these that we have on the shelves, and sometimes we have to step in and encourage them to enjoy them in a slightly less rowdy manner, especially where Ripley's is concerned. Thus, when these four books arrived from the generous people at Random House I decided that before going through them myself I would put them to the test in the school library. We took the boys' favourites off the shelf for one break time and had these ready in their place, and then sat back to observe their reaction.

Their reaction spoke volumes. After the initial disappointment at the absence of their glossy, large format favourites they were soon gathered around in their groups, taking it in turns to flick through whichever book they had in search of the grossest fact they could find. Cue raucous laughter and non-stop giggling for the next twenty minutes - Mitchell Symons's That's So Gross books passed the test with flying colours!

If the name Mitchell Symons sounds familiar to you it is probably because he has won several awards for some of his previous fact-filled books, most notably the Best Book With Facts category of the Blue Peter Book Awards in both 2010 and 2011. The end of March saw the publication of his brand series, titled That's So Gross, consisting of four books aimed at the 7+ age range. The four books in the series each focus on a different theme: Human Body; Animals; Creepy Crawlies; and History, and they are all totally rammed full of facts that kids will find really cool and totally gross. And if I'm perfectly honest, I reckon a good number of adults will also have a lot of fun flicking though these - us Brits are world renowned for our fondness of toilet humour and these certainly deliver in that respect.

These books are aimed at the 7+ market, but they definitely have appeal to older children (the boys we tested them on in the library were 11/12 year olds). Some more conservative parents may be surprised at the content of these books as a handful of the facts might be deemed a little too 'extreme' for kids of this age, so if you feel that this might be a problem it is definitely worth having a quick read through these before giving them to your children. However, if this sort of thing doesn't bother you, or your children are a little older, these are perfect for journeys or holidays as not only are they great fun to read, they are also fairly small format and easily packed in a child's day bag. To find out more then why not pop over to Mitchell's Gross Books website at http://www.grossbooks.co.uk

Review: Alex and the Ironic Gentleman by Adrienne Kress

Often mistaken for a boy because of her haircut and name, Alex Morningside is an inquisitive girl of ten-and-a-half who attends the prestigious Wigpowder-Steele Academy. Unfortunately, though she loves to learn, Alex just can’t bring herself to enjoy her classes. Her teachers are all old and smelly and don’t seem to know about anything that has happened in the world the past thirty years, and her peers…well they are quite simply ridiculous.

Luckily for Alex, the new school year brings an exciting new teacher. Mr. Underwood makes lessons fun and teaches her how to fence. But Mr. Underwood has a mysterious family secret - the swashbuckling and buried treasure kind - and not everyone is glad he has come to Wigpowder-Steele. When the infamous pirates of a ship called the Ironic Gentleman kidnap Mr. Underwood, Alex sets off on a journey to rescue him, along the way encountering a cast of strange and magical characters, including the dashing and sometimes heroic Captain Magnanimous, Coriander the Conjurer, the Extremely Ginormous Octopus, and the wicked Daughters of the Founding Fathers’ Preservation Society.

Adrienne Kress has one of the most unique writing voices I have come across in years, but now I come to write about this book I am finding it very difficult to describe it in a way that will do it justice. It is a little bit Roald Dahl, a little bit Lewis Carroll and a little bit Lemony Snickett but by saying that I almost feel I'm not being fair to Ms Kress as her work is certainly not a copy of these authors' styles. In addition to being a writer, Ms Kress is an actress and also does some teaching of drama to 8-12 year olds, and I suspect this contact with children has had a great influence on said writing voice. Her writing shows that she knows how children think,how they speak and most of all, how surreal their ideas can sometimes be, for Alex and the Ironic Gentleman is incredibly surreal in places. This author certainly knows her audience and that is one of the reasons I am very comfortable in comparing her work with Roald Dahl.

This is a great book for children of age 8 and above, whether read by themselves or as a bedtime story read out loud by someone else (believe me... this book was made to be read aloud by a confident reader - I need to get my hands on a copy of the audio book!). It is chock-full of humour and adventure that should appeal to both boys and girls, and boys should not be put off by Alex being a female main character - girly, she is not! There are also some delightfully creepy villains along the way (the nasty old ladies of the  Daughters of the Founding Fathers' Preservation Society are truly priceless), and best of all, because of the way Ms Kress writes I found it very easy to picture these various characters in my head. Like I said, this book is pretty surreal, and Alex's adventures are far from ordinary (have you ever come across an Extremely Ginormous Octopus drowning his sorrows in a bar bemoaning the fact that film directors prefer using CGI?). Alex's tale also involves many other literary elements including light horror and fantasy, and I love the way Ms Kress has skilfully combined these elements together.

Ms Kress is from Canada, but spent three years of her life studying in England, and this is very apparent in her writing as there are elements from both sides of the Atlantic in her story. In fact, at times it is difficult to determine whether her tale is set in a fantasy place akin to Britain, or whether is it more like the USA/Canada. Similarly the placing of the time period is difficult. At the beginning you feel it is a fairly modern setting, but then something else happens and you change your mind and decide that it must be set in the past, but then all of a sudden there is mention of a laptop (owned by the chronicler of the pirates' adventures). This is not a case of poor writing or editing, it is just something else that adds to the delightful quirkiness of the story. 

And then we come to the plot. Please don't go expecting a linear plot whereby Alex sets out on a mission to rescue her teacher and by the end of the book is successful in that quest. This is more a series of mini-adventures, some of which distract the reader from the main plot completely, all rolled into one big story arc. It is here that the various secondary characters really play a huge part in making this such an enjoyable read, for instead of impatiently flicking through these scenes quickly in order to get back onto the primary plot, I instead found myself reveling in the sheer variety of the hilarious personalities of the multitude of lovingly created supporting characters that Alex meets along the way.

Alex and the Ironic Gentleman is published by Weinstein Books and is available to buy in the UK. It has been around for a couple of years and is a real gem of a book. If you have younger boys or girls it is well worth buying. Somehow I now need to get my hands on a copy of Timothy and the Dragon's Gate, Ms Kress' second book (in which, I gather, Alex and some of the other characters also make an appearance).