Leeds Book Club are delighted to present one of our most popular writers - Evan Shelton. Evan happens to also be the youngest on our writing team. Evan is an avid reader and enjoys reading and writing about books. As always, huge thanks!
RUSSIAN ROULETTE
ANTHONY HOROWITZ
REVIEW Russian Roulette is a spin-off of the hugely popular Alex Rider series of books, which I have read and are extremely good. It is about the life story of a Russian contract killer by the name of Yassen Gregorovich and what it would take him to kill. The way it fits into the Alex Rider series is that Yassen is hired to kill a fourteen year old Alex Rider.
It is a thrilling story of how a boy lived in poverty in a tiny village, saw everyone he loved die, turned to a life of crime in Moscow, had been in slavery and joined a worldwide crime organisation.
I think, in the book, Horowitz gets across perfectly that with Yassen (or anyone in fact) taking other people’s lives is the least natural thing anyone can do – it takes a great many horrific things for someone to become a killer.
I would highly recommend this book to an eleven to fifteen year old. All in all, I think this is a real page-turner style book which is certainly worth reading.
The
Sheep-pig is one of Dick King-Smith's most famous tales. It shot to further
fame when the film adaptation – Babe - was released in 1995.
'Why can't I learn to be a
Sheep-Pig?'
When
Babe, the little orphaned piglet, is won at a fair by Farmer Hogget, he is
adopted by Fly, the kind-hearted sheep-dog. Babe is determined to learn
everything he can from Fly. He knows he can't be a sheep-dog. But maybe, just
maybe, he might be a sheep-pig.
Dick
King-Smith served in the Grenadier Guards during the Second World War, and
afterwards spent twenty years as a farmer in Gloucestershire, the country of
his birth. Many of his stories are inspired by his farming experiences. He
wrote a great number of children's books, including The Sheep-Pig (winner of
the Guardian Award and filmed as Babe), Harry's Mad, Noah's Brother, The Queen's
Nose, Martin's Mice, Ace, The Cuckoo Child and Harriet's Hare (winner of the
Children's Book Award in 1995). In 2009 he was made an OBE for services to
children's literature. Dick King-Smith died in 2011 at the age of eighty-eight.
BLURB (GOODREADS)
Babe is a
sensitive soul, deeply loyal to those who are kind to him. So when he is taken
in by Farmer Hogget's sheepdog, Fly, it's only natural that he would want to
follow in his foster mum's paw-steps.
Even with
Babe's considerable handicaps as a sheepdog - namely, that he's a pig - he
manages to overcome all with his earnestly polite and soft-spoken ways, proving
once again that might doesn't always make right. After saving the sheep from
rustlers and wild dogs, Babe convinces Hogget that his idea of becoming a
sheep-pig "b'aint so stupid" as it might look. But neither Hogget nor
Babe, nor anyone else, could have predicted what follows.
As
utterly charming as Charlotte's Web, this book is bound to pluck even the
tightest heartstrings. Masterful characterization brings every personality to
vibrant life, while Mary Rayner's lively line illustrations only elucidate
images Dick King-Smith has already planted in the reader's mind. Herd the whole
farmyard together: readers of all ages, ambitions, and antecedents will love
this one.
Emilie Coulter
THE REVIEW
I can't
believe this story is 30 years old!!!
The story
begins in the house of Mrs Hogget and Farmer Hogget hearing the sounds of the
fair deep from the Valley. It is There that Farmer Hogget first encounters
Babe.
After
dropping off some produce he hears a squealing noise and discovers it is coming
from Babe. A small creature making so much noise all for a competition to guess
its weight. The Vicar persuades Farmer Hoggart to have a go and guess his weight
and the moment he picks Babe up there is a connection, He goes quiet. Later in
the day Farmer Hoggart is told he has ‘won’ Babe. He returns and places him in
the barn not sure what to do with him other than his wife thinking he’ll make a
great meal for Christmas.
This is
where the story begins. Alone and afraid, Babe’s first encounter with another
animal is with Fly and her pups. The pups are told ‘pigs are stupid because
people only eat stupid animals like, sheep and pigs’. This is because Fly has
never encountered a pig and didn’t want to appear ignorant to her
children. Our first lesson of judging a
book by its cover.
It is not
until she speaks to Babe and realises he scared and lonely from being separated
from his Mum and takes him under her wing that she builds a relationship and following
the loss of her pups to other farms, that she discovers how intelligent the
little pig is and what he can achieve.
The same
goes with the encounter with the sheep. When Fly is showing Babe how to bring
them back, she believes they are stupid when in fact they just get a bit
confused at the orders being shouted and would much prefer it they were all as polite
as babe and treat them ‘ a bit decent’, then they would do as they were asked.
A bit of common courtesy goes a long way.
In this
story Babe has to show courage, strength and loyalty to his foster mum, the
farmer and bravery against all odds. It’s about how one little animal/person
can have such an immense impact on everyone’s lives. He changed the animal’s/people’s
views about others and proved to everyone that anything is possible no matter
who you are or what you look like.
THE MEETING
This was
the second choice for LBCPuffins, a well known story, made famous by the film
Babe released in 1995. To be honest I didn’t know the film was based on a book
until it was pointed out at the last meeting. I have always loved the film
especially when the mice pop up and did think that they would in the book, but
of course they don’t.
With all
children’s books; they take out all the unnecessary fillers and just create a
beautiful story that can be told again and again. This one exceeded that with
masterful characterization which brought every personality to life in such a
way you forgot they were animals.
Dick
King-Smith wrote this story after becoming inspired by his farming experience
and what an amazing idea to portray a lovely message. The group believed that
he was trying to say that the story was about not being prejudice about other
people because of their appearances, as in the sheep dog accepting Babe as one
of her own, and to always be polite to others. It also was a very positive
story and that when people believe in you like the farmer did in ‘pig’ aka Babe,
it shows how confidence can grow, when believing in yourself.
Again, as
mentioned in other reviews, we went back to the subject of film adaptations
from books, and couldn’t quite decide which was better. There were slight
differences, which I’ll leave for you to spot, but the lovely thing about this
book is the illustrations. Illustrations can be a huge positive for a book
sometimes and can break the story up. These were created by Ann Kronheimer and
one of my favourites was the diagram of the sheep dog trials or ‘pig’ chasing
the animals and barking.
Once
again I love the idea of this book club – adult reading kids books. I think
reading is an amazing gift and once in a while we need to take a break from our
busy lives and read children’s books as sometimes the stories can still have an
impact - though not necessarily be as intense as an adult's book, This such a
heart warming story that can make you look at the world in a different way.
I highly
recommend it to everyone; I think it's one that will stay with me for a while.
SCORE:
9/10
To find other members of the club, search on twitter for #LBCPuffins
Leeds Book Club are delighted to present - due to popular demand - another review by the youngest on our writing team - Evan Shelton. Evan is an avid reader and enjoys reading and writing about books. He's also had a birthday since his last review - so many happy returns for that too!
Here is his review of the Percy Jackson series as a whole - SPOILER ALERT - he really likes it!
It's all Greek to me
The books are all about American children, who are half mortal and half Greek god. They spend their summers in Camp Half-Blood, which is a protection from monsters, where they train to get assigned for quests.
Percy Jackson is a son of Poseidon, the god of the sea and his girlfriend Annabeth is a daughter of Athena, who is the Goddess of wisdom and Athens. The most recent book is The Mark of Athena, which is partially about Annabeth. This book is in the Heroes of Olympus series, a sequel to the Percy Jackson Chronicles.
Some people might have heard of The Percy Jackson books because Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief was film adapted.(NOTE FROM LBC - the second film is due to be released this year - but this is subject to change). From the moment I picked the first book up and read the blurb I fell in love with them (I know you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover but there you go).In my opinion, Greek myths are absolutely fascinating so a book that’s flooding with myths and is modernised sounded ideal.
One of the reasons I am so interested in Greek myths is because I have been to Greece twice and both times was engrossed in their regional myths. I read my first book in Knossos, where the labyrinth is supposed to be and appropriately the actual book I read was the Battle of the Labyrinth.
Riordan’s skill to write what the myths would be like in 2013 is fantastical. Even better is that nearly everything is set in the U.S.A.. Although my favourite is how modern landmarks are famous mythical places – the Empire State is Mount Olympus!
These are my favourite books and I learnt loads of myths they are certainly in my top 10 favourite series. I would strongly recommend these books to anyone. By Evan Shelton: Age 10
Leeds Book Club will be participating in the Arts and Minds Network's new project on raising awareness of mental health issues.
The Why...
A few years ago, I inadvertently turned my mother off a
whole swath of books with one flippant remark.
Allow me to explain.
I have someone in my life who lives with mental health
issues.
Most of the time, that's by the by.
They just get on with it but every now and again, they suffer with
mental health issues, or they livein
spite of mental health issues.
And - as is always the case with a new friend - I began to learn a
little bit more about living with a disorder and the way that mental health difficulties are portrayed, just by having this person in my life.
A few years later, I went book shopping with my mum. We
picked up a very popular thriller - one of those books that has brought
saturation marketing to its knees and, despite our having very different tastes
in our literary choices, we had both read it.
My mum thought the story had been all right, but nothing to get
too excited about. I concurred, following up that it only worked because of
'convenient crazy person' bigotry, or (my preferred term)
mad-person-itis.
The Definition Bit:
What I mean by this is that the plot, crime and resolution only
worked as a coherent whole because - as an audience - we
are inured to that most useful of devices - blaming the mad person.
Sometimes
this is a stranger that unexpectedly shows up. However, more often than not, it involves
creating a hidden back-story for a character, giving them a form of mental
health disorder (the more controversial the better) and blaming the
whole of the crime on them.
As an added benefit, an author doesn't even have to provide a
decent motive. After all, they are a crazy person. They don't need one to head
off on a crime-spee. Right?
Most of the time, this device allows the reader the fallacy that a
criminal couldn't possibly be one of 'us' (one of the primary protagonists), it
must be An Other. It must be someone who is fundamentally flawed, someone
broken on the inside, someone...MENTAL.
The truth of the matter is that when I was a kid, no one really
talked about mental health problems, but it was recognised that you'd likely
know someone with a few issues.
Today, they estimate that 1 in 4 people in the UK will experience
some form of mental health issue in thecourse
of a year.1 in 10 children
will suffer from a mental health issue at any one time.
Oh, and in a glorious acknowledgement of our tendency to vilify
rather than treat appropriately, only 1 in 10 of those incarcerated in prisons
will have NO mental disorder.
The Project
The Arts and Minds Network in Leeds is determined to use 2013 to raise
awareness and promote positive mental health via the arts. (Tweet them @ArtsMindsLeeds)
They have compiled a reading list with Leeds Libraries, NHS Leeds
and Leeds Waterstones. The plan is to read and review one book a month creating
a conversation on and about the realities of mental health issues versus the
depictions in the books and therefore the stereotypes that ‘regular’ people buy
into.
Here at Leeds Book Club, we think that’s INSPIRED! After all, I
acquired most of my social skills from books (explains a great deal!) and I’m
not alone. So many of us use literature to inform our day to day lives. Where
information is clearly out dated (racist passages for example), it’s interesting to see how much society has
changed. However, where changes are taking place in the contemporary world, the
facts can all become a little fuzzy. The only way to really change a situation
like this is to increase dialogue about it.
Each month, a variety of book clubbers will be providing a review of
the book, paying special attention to descriptions, characters and plot that
include those facing mental health issues. Hopefully, we will then take part in
a vibrant discussion online, on social media and IRL at book clubs.
This is just the starting point. I’d like to invite
anyone who is interested to submit their own thoughts, reviews, recommendations,
playlists, videos - anything at all to enhance our conversation. Ideally I'd love to have more than one perspective on each piece selected - particularly the Ted Hughes/ Sylvia Plath choices!
Where indicated, I’ll happily post blog posts anonymously – I appreciate
that not everyone will want to discuss their personal reflections on a sensitive topic on a public
forum like this. Obviously, on the other hand, I'll also include links to twitter names, your blogs and so on.
Also, read any books that feature mental health? Then let us know - the good, the bad and the ugly!
*Update - like any other really annoying thing, my mother has subsequently informed
me that since our conversation, she now notices mad-person-itis everywhere - in
films, on TV and in books and it ruins her enjoyment of them. We both of us think its very lazy writing.
One of our Superstar Guest Stars has agreed to a new challenge based on our chats relating to #LBCPuffins. Helen was intrigued about our constant references to the various series created by Enid Blyton and decided to set herself the task of reading one a month to see what all the fuss is about! Can't wait to read each review as they come! Thanks Helen!
Enid Blyton is one of the most-loved authors in children's publishing. With over 700 titles published, Enid Blyton's stories remain timeless classics, adored throughout the world. As a young woman Enid was faced with many choices: her father had planned a career in music for her, while she felt drawn to writing. In the end, she became a teacher. In 1922, a collection of poems by Enid was published, it was her first step towards her dream of becoming an author. Aged 27, Enid married Hugh Pollock and moved to London. Enid had two children with Hugh, and soon after wrote her first novel, The Adventures of the Wishing-Chair. Enid divorced Hugh after almost 20 years of marriage, and married Kenneth Waters in 1943. Throughout the 40s and 50s, Enid wrote books at a colossal pace: adventure stories, mysteries, magical stories, farming stories, stories for younger children, best-selling series like The Famous Five and Noddy. Enid fell ill with Alzheimer's disease and she died in 1963. Her spirit lives on in her books and she is remembered as one of the most-loved and celebrated children's authors.
For 2013 and leading from Book recommendation discussion for LBCPuffins I have set myself a challenge to read some Enid Blyton books. I think as a child I only read one and it’s one that my
Grandma gave me and has always stuck with me and it’s first on the list is - The Book of Brownies!
So here is the list. It’s 12 so I can read one a month and hopefully, borrow or find them in charity shops.
The Book List
Dec - The Twins at St Clare's Nov - The Mystery of the Pantomime Cat Oct - The Naughtiest School Girl Sep - Mr Galliano’s Circus Aug - The Boy Next Door Jul - Adventures of the wishing Chair Jun - The Magic Faraway Tree May - The Enchanted Wood Apr - The Adventures of Scamp Mar - Secret Seven Feb - Five on a treasure Island Jan - The Book of Brownies
