Elastic island Adventures. Rarotonga by Karen McMillan. Pub. Duckling publishing, 2023

The usual suspects of the previous books Kiri, Jed, Emma Ethan with Blong the cat and Heathcliff the dog (both of whom talk) travel by Elastic island to Rarotonga and get caught up in a robbery of all the black pearls on the island.

The thief has left clues all over the island and challenges anyone to solve the mystery of who dunnit.

Joined by a catankerous talking gecko called The Mighty Moko the group take up the challenger but will they solve it?

Easy to read and aimed at reluctant primary school readers the book really is a sightseeing tour of Rarotonga and there is nothing wrong with that.

It is a stand alone book from the elastic island series and paints a great picture of Rarotonga and its culture.

The Midnighters by Hana Tooke. Illus. Ayesha Rubio. Pub. Puffin, 2022.

One of the most unusual novels I have ever read, it’s not quite realism, it’s not quite fantasy but it is both of these. Set in the magical city of Prague with it’s spires, it’s bridges and its mechanical clock this novel takes you beneath the city to the dark magical world of the people that live after midnight.

Ema Vaskova was born at midnight on the twelfth day of the twelfth month at the same time as her grandmother Liliana died. She was one of twelve children-5 sets of twins and the oldest sister Frantiska, the only non twin, who takes responsibility for bringing her up.

Now Ema is twelve and she is sent to live with her uncle in old Prague where she meets a girl hanging upside down like a bat with a round face, round eyes and silver hair called Silvie. Ema lives in a state of impending doom, has a scientific mind like her other family members, has the ability to go unseen, people don’t notice her, and has a skill of being able to read people’s faces and know when they are lying.

Silvie sees Ema for what she is and tells her “nothing is impossible with a little imagination” and encourages her to have “less worrying and more daring.” Silvie tells Ema of a world beneath the city of Prague where the midnight Guild meet and react, and it is a strange world indeed. How will Ema cope? Then Silvie disappears and evidence of a murder starts to emerge. Where is Silvie and if there has been a murder who is guilty?

This is a novel about difference and in the words of the author Ema is an Enigma and quite possibly neurodivergent. This novel is not for everyone but readers of fantasy who love detail will love it to bits. I did.

Each chapter contains an illustration by Ayesha Rubio at the top which helps the intrigue and sets the scene for the action. A very nice package with short chapters and nearly 400 pages. You have never read anything like this before.

The Valley of Lost Secrets by Lesley Parr. Pub. Bloomsbury, 2021.

This might possibly be the best novel dealing with the evacuation of children out into the countryside from London and other cities in WW2, that has been written. Comparisons can be made to Goodnight Mr Tom but that would be wrong because there is the added dimension of mystery and relations between Wales and England.

Twelve year old Jimmy and his younger 6 year old brother Ronnie are evacuated from their home in London to a small Welsh coal mining village. Jimmy is determined not to like it when him and Ronnie are billeted with the Thomas’s who not topic of the week in their community.

Ronnie while very emotional takes to the Thomas’s straight away and starts calling them uncle and Auntie which Jimmy finds difficult to accept. Jimmy has his own problems as his best mate in London Duffy is billeted with the vicar and his bad boy Jack and they cease to be friends. A girl of similar age Francis who was an object of fun and derision in London has found great confidence in the change to Wales.

On a walk up the hills Jimmy and Ronnie discover a skull hidden in the trunk of a tree and expose a decade old mystery that deeply involve the Thomas family.

Strong emotions are evoked and cultural differences are exposed as well as family secrets and community relations. This book was compelling reading and would make a good read aloud at middle school and intermediate level.

A stron part of the novel and a source of mystery are the tree illustrations that begin each chapter. You will have to find this out for yourself plus and additional mystery in the written text.

A superb novel about this era of the phoney war inWW2 and very good social values as well as historical perspective.

What’s In The Box? by David Minty.

What’s In The Box? by David Minty. Pub. mintybooks.co.nz   2019.

This is a picture book of discovery and imagination. Aren’t they all?

Two friends coloured yellow, one wearing a pirate hat, the other a hat with a pompom and long straps, find a box on the shore. They ponder what’s inside it their imaginations run wild.

Could it contain “a crab with wonky eyes” “an entrance to a tunnel full of turkeys” ‘a box full of treasure” or “penguins with rocket boosters”.

I am afraid it is none of these but there are visual clues on nearly every page as to what is inside the box. See if you can spot them.

Simple written text and simple expressive illustrations full of colour. An excellent second book to My New red Car also reviewed on this blog.

The Wonderful Whippet of Winifred Weatherwax by Philippa Stasiuk.

The Wonderful Whippet of Winifred Weatherwax by Philippa Stasiuk. Pub. Tivoli Press, 2018.

I laughed all the way through this sumptuously written story about Kennel Clubs, best in Show dog competitions and the dog owners. I think Philippa Stasiuk is taking the water and she does it superbly well.

Heroine is Freddy, a 15 year old girl, real name Winifred Weatherwax. Freddy’s mother buys a whippet called Shumba. It has something unusual about it which Freddy recognises immediately even though she has no knowledge of dog breeding.

It turns out Shumba is of mysterious pedigree which the breeder is hiding from the rest of the dog world. Freddy brings the best out in the dog and it wins it’s first show in unprecedented fashion. Suddenly the best in Show world looks up determined to solve the mystery of this familiar first time winner.

Then champion dogs start to go missing and Shumba’s fortunes rise. Who is behind the missing dogs and will Shumba be next? Freddy and her friend Eli investigate.

Wonderful satire of the dog world and of New York social whirl. Freddy utters at one stage “I watched a woman spoon-feed her dog an organic, grass-fed lamb smoothie” and of New York society she describes Upper East Side tenants of having two things – a doorman and a therapist.

The writing is lofty, tightly written and hugely funny.

Savour this one.

For capable intermediate  and High school students. Adults will get a laugh out of it too.

Whispers by Greg Howard.

Whispers by Greg Howard. Pub. Penguin Random House, 2019.

This novel for gifted intermediate readers and secondary school students, is a slow burner. It takes a while to get into it, but once it takes off, you will be hooked.

Eleven year old Riley James lives with his father and older brother in a deeply religious country community in South Carolina. There is no room to be different in this community and Riley knows that he is. He has the same feeling for boys that most boys have for girls. He is by his own admission a mummy’s boy and he clashes with his gun-toting elder brother Danny and with his father.

Crisis comes when his mother disappears and the police are constantly questioning Riley about it. He says he can remember nothing but events in this story, particularly a Stand By Me type camping trip into the woods with some other boys, jog his memory.

At the beginning of the novel is a story about Whispers told to Riley by his mother. When she disappears he retreats into his imagination and creates a bizarre fantasy explanation about things in life based on the whispers story, but reality is close at hand.

Where has his mother gone? Is she still alive? and what about his awakening sexuality? Read this intense novel and find out.

Missing by Sue Whiting

Missing by Sue Whiting. Pub. Walker Books, 2018.

People go missing all the time. Some mysteriously, some by design, some by accident. This is a story of how 13 year old Mackenzie deals with the disappearance of her mother in the jungle of Panama.

The novel starts 114 days after Mackenzie’s mother disappears when her father wakes her in the middle of the night with the news that they are going to Panama to search for her right now. They go to the place where Mackenzie’s mother was last seen and start their own search. Things do not go well.

The story then backtracks to the day the mother went missing and works up to the day they leave for Panama. In that time we learn something of what has gone before. There is a wiped out file titled Panama written by her mother to consider, a postcard received from UK and some erratic behaviour from Mackenzie’s  mother and father. Is there deception?

In the meantime Mackenzie’s imagination runs wild and her school life is in chaos. The answer will be found but you will have to read the novel to find out.

Well structured and written and a profile of what can happen to families in a crisis. The setting of Panama is a character on it’s own. Will appeal to middle school readers and pre-teens.

Frankie Potts & the Postcard Puzzle and The Wicked Wolves by Juliet Jacka, illus. by Phoebe Morris.

Frankie Potts & the Postcard Puzzle by Juliet Jacka, illus. by Phoebe Morris. Pub. Penguin, imprint Puffin, 2017.

Part three in this mystery and detective series for 7-10 year olds. Frankie Potts has red hair, a super dog called Sparkplug and a very good friend called Mac. They love mysteries and with a family like Frankie has there is always a mystery.

The family has hidden secrets and when Frankie finds a postcard sent to her mother saying “dearest Tania I do think we should give it another try, don’t you? Gideon xxx” Frankie’s methodical brain goes into over drive.

Frankie and her friends take a bus to Giggleswick to search for Gideon and what they find is going to unleash a hoard of family secrets.

All is revealed at a family dinner with the Marvellous Mildred, Frankie’s grandma and an array of animals including a parrot called Firefly who says “Potamus-otamus-hippo-whatamus”

There are other mysteries too. Great reading for newly confident readers.

Frankie Potts & The Wicked Wolves by Juliet Jacka, illus. by Phoebe Morris, Pub. Penguin, imprint Puffin, 2017.

This is part 4 and since the above part Frankie has found her long lost grandad, Sparkplug’s girlfriend has had 7 puppies, The Marvellous Mildrid has entered a competition with her dogs and Frankie’s mother is expecting twins.

Frankie doesn’t want the puppies to be sold so she sabotages her mum’s attempts at selling them. Then a group called The Wicked Wolves let people know that they are coming to get them.

Who are the Wicked Wolves? Is Frankie’s arch enemy Ralph Peter- McGee behind it all and will the puppies go to good homes?

There is much to ponder in this part which as always is superbly illustrated by Phoebe Morris. Her pen and ink drawings of all the characters and the animals enhance the stories.

These two parts are released on February 1st 2017 and  reviews of parts 1&2 are also on this blog.

They really are great reading for young readers and are a must for primary school libraries.

Middle School. Treasure Hunters: Peril at the Top of the World by James Patterson, illus. Chris Grabenstein

Middle School. Treasure Hunters: Peril at the Top of the World by James Patterson, illus. Chris Grabenstein. Pub.Penguin Random House, 2016.

Book 4 in the Treasure Hunter series from prolific writing duo James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein. Sure they are formulaic but hell they are good reading for middle school kids.

They are funny, informative, action packed with both male and female heroes who are flawed but essential well meaning. The Kidd family of Treasure Hunters are a together family and this time they are with their recently found parents trying to solve a great conspiracy by a secretive group who like to toy with eggheads and do-gooders like the Kidd family.

They call themselves the Enlightened Ones and they are stealing and have already stolen some of the World’s greatest works of art and this time it is set in Russia and the North pole under the Aurora borealis or Northern Lights.

It isn’t going to be easy and they are going to be imprisoned in some of Russia’s most notorious prisons. Narrated by twin Beck there is lively dialogue, informative information from Russian trivia expert Larissa and clues to solve to find the missing art collections.

Chris Grabensteins illustrations and oddball comments are a highlight.

Detective Gordon: A Complicated Case by Ulf Nilsson Illus. Gitte Spee

Detective Gordon: A Complicated Case by Ulf Nilsson Illus. Gitte Spee. Pub. Gecko, 2015.

It’s just not possible to dislike this book about Detective Gordon who is a toad and his assistant Buffy the mouse. They are the police in a large forest and rule by the big Book of Law which says such things as “you can’t push a squirrel into the river” and more importantly you cannot tease other animals because it is hurtful.

Unfortunately there is a culprit teasing other animals and all is not well in the forest. Toad and mouse must investigate.

Perfect stories for the reader who is starting to read alone. Lots of fun, good values and at the bottom of it all some good common sense that everyone can learn from. For example ” everybody knows inside them what is right and wrong” how true. and for the adults who believe in freedom we have the advice given to Buffy the mouse by Detective Gordon when she becomes his assistant – Police must always tell the truth. Whatever happens!

Once again superbly illustrated  by Gitte Spee. The lonely sight of a hedgehog crying on a rock after being teased is very memorable.

You can’t beat a book like this. The first book in the series is reviewed elsewhere in this blog.