About BBNYA
BBNYA is a yearly competition where book bloggers from all over the world read and score books written by indie authors, ending with 15 (17 in 2025) finalists and one overall winner.
If you want some more information about BBNYA, check out the BBNYA Website https://www.bbnya.com/ or take a peek over on Twitter @BBNYA_Official.
A Gift of Words was the 14th place BBNYA 2025 finalist!
I was delighted to read this book whilst on holiday in the last week. It is aimed at the younger end of the Middle Grade age range and has a mix of magic and down to earth life at as a year 7 pupil at an ordinary secondary school. The central character Cam has just reached his 12th birthday and is about to follow in the family tradition of signing a special book, called “Libris Sapienta”, or the Book of Wisdom. The idea is that he will then discover what his hidden ‘witch talent’ is. Unluckily for Cam, nothing seemed to happen, so he thinks that he is a failure and will not be following in the footsteps of his mother and aunt (both of whom have witch powers). The other main character is Cam`s best friend Alice and they have known each other since their early days in primary school. Alice is something of a loose cannon, but there appears to be an underlying issue that means she is having regular meetings 
with the school counselor.
Cam begins to realize that perhaps he does have some special talent when strange things start to happen at school, the day after he signs the book. During an English lesson about Beowulf he writes that he wishes that Loki, the Norse trickster god, was real. Then a new pupil called Loman arrives and Cam finds himself involved in some very unusual happenings.
What follows is a mix of magical adventure and some quite worrying events at school. There is bullying and some very strong hints that Alice is leading a double life, hiding the traumatic events that take place in her home. How all of these events are resolved makes for a tense and often sad read. Thankfully Cam has the support of his mother and aunt and they are also there to help Alice as much as they can. This is a lovely book, where you really feel for the main characters and want there to be a positive outcome. It is also something that could prove helpful to the young readers in need of support.
Author Bio
Rosalind Dando is an author, artist, and primary school teacher living in the north of England. She has written several novels, and her debut, A Gift of Words, is
published in April 2024 by Shadow Spark Publishing. She can be found on various social media sites, including Bluesky, X, and Facebook.
Contact her through any of the above sites, or email: rosalinddando@gmail.com
Book Details
Page Count: 201 Pages
Genre: Fantasy, Contemporary Fiction
Age Category: Middle-Grade
Date Published: April 29, 2024
Amazon Link: https://a.co/d/53GKq0t (Canada) https://a.co/d/g6um4gi (USA) https://amzn.eu/d/cEfrXA0 (UK)
Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/212346189-a-gift-of-words
The Story Graph Link: https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/b75f3a64-013f-45b9-92de-703bdb250234
I love it when I come across a book that feels both original and believable, so I was delighted when I was asked to read this title. I have not read any of this author’s work before, but I was in for a real treat. It may well be that the magical atmosphere is an echo of the author’s Irish heritage, but being half Irish myself, I can only congratulate her on this fact.
acted as a panellist for the CYBILS awards in the middle grade speculative fiction category and served as a Reading Ambassador for Louth Libraries. Her short stories for adults have appeared in numerous publications. She is the author of The Lucky Diamond trilogy, a middle grade children’s fantasy adventure series. In 2023 she was short-listed for the Staróg Prize. When not writing, she loves visiting schools and libraries to talk to children about books and writing.
part of a series which follows the main character called Maya as she travels across the world having lots of adventures on the way. There is a real feeling that the stories are based on the author’s own experiences, as she has travelled to over 40 countries. I am delighted to be part of this blog tour as it has enabled me to learn more about Sri Lanka, especially from the viewpoint of young people who live there.
home in Wales for the festivities. The boys are sleeping in a mobile home away from the main house, but are warm and well fed. Like all young people, they are up early on Christmas morning to explore the fascinating parcels under the tree. What they did not expect was to find the house empty, with all of the adults missing, even their beds had not been slept in! The strangest thing was a series of weird miniature christmas trees that had suddenly died during the night; could there be a connection between these events? As the boys begin a search for the adults they discover that all the other local houses are also empty, then they see some people who appear to be in a daze and are walking southwards, towards the sea. It is only when they encounter a young girl called Gloria, that they think they might get help. She and her father have avoided the infection and will provide a safe haven until the family is found, but what has caused this catastrophe in the first place? Of course the main question is whether the families can be found and just how widespread is this contagion that is affecting everyone?
creative but deep down she knew she could be both.
Silver and Captain Hook. However there are also a wealth of pirates who actually lived and whose exploits formed the basis of these fictional stories. So, it is no wonder that we still have an abundance of stories which include these mythical sounding characters.
to come from the book called “The Pirate’s Portolano”, which is designed as a guide to the sea world they inhabit and also the pirates who are the greatest danger. The “Amazon Princess” is a multi tiered vessel, with a similar number of decks to some of the mega-liners that cruise the world today. In some ways they remind me of the travelling cities imagined by Philip Reeve in “Mortal Engines” and by William Nicholson in the “Windsinger” series. The author has created a world that is both familiar and also strange, so that the audience is never quite sure what will happen next. Luckily the plot seems to suggest that we should be ready for another thrilling instalment in the future and I will definitely be looking forward to learning more about Kitty and her adventures.
with additional support needs in the UK.
completely wrong about so many of my assumptions. This is one of those books that really makes you wonder about what is real and what is in the characters’ imagination.
exchange for the children being taken to the largest town in the region of Dickerson’s Sea. What follows is the most amazing and fantastical tale of pirates, spirits and the power of family and friendship. However, the pirates are undercover, after they were all banned fifteen years before and most were actually killed by the Queensmen, followers of the late lamented Queen Hail Meridian, who had also been killed in the uprising. The story is a complete roller-coaster ride, where you are not always sure what is real and what is a form of hallucination.
of a sailor and obeying orders from those more senior. Viola, on the other hand, wants to discover the mystery surrounding the book and also what happened during the bloody uprising, which took place when she was a very small child. The author has blended the main story, with a sub text about how seagulls can attack humans and turn them into spirits and giving them a silver circle within the eye. Viola discovers that she has this issue and yet she has not been turned into the spirit, although she does start to hear the voice of others.
What an absolutely fabulous but crazy adventure this is. When wannabe tyrants Prince Perseus and his arch enemy Princess Cassiopeia, both land on Earth, together with their robot guards, it is with the intention of wiping us out. The trouble is they don’t choose the right place, or people, to negotiate with. Hillman is a young boy, being looked after by his granddad and doesn’t take kindly to his dad’s car being flattened by an alien spaceship. This is Cassiopeia’s ship; the only one, as the rest of her invasion fleet has been accidentally miniaturized, putting her plans in danger. Prince Perseus finds himself at the local rubbish dump, where he is saved by a young girl called Roz; she sees the potential to use the invaders to save her granddad’s care home, but is robbing a bank the way to achieve this?
Perseus, arrives on Earth with one mission: destroy the planet. Why? Because he feels like it—and because he thinks Earth smells funny. (To be fair, he has landed on a rubbish dump).
from the embarrassment of shrinking her entire space fleet while making a smoothie. Their bickering, as the story goes on, starts to resemble two local councillors arguing furiously about the size of a hedge.
reads, but this one definitely fits the bill. Not least because the author loves my favourite authors, especially Dorothy L Sayers, but also because he comes from Bristol, where I worked in libraries for 20 years.
book: The Penguin Complete Sherlock Holmes. For the next few days I sat in the garden, moving only to eat and sleep, and read my way through those 56 short stories and 4 novels – diving headlong into the world of
In this story, the central character is a young boy, who is full of life and enjoyment of the people and world around him. Then one day he wakes up and the world seems a dark and upsetting place and he doesn’t know how to cope with the changes. The appearance of a magical pink light acts as a catalyst, in that the boy is able to speak to it and explain his feelings. He says that nothing seems to make sense anymore and he can’t find a way to feel better.The pink light tells him to take the light into his heart and whenever he is sad, to think about the warmth and love of the lights. This works for the young boy and he is able to use the pink light to help himself, but he is also able to help others who are in need of help and support.
About BBNYA
Whilst this story is listed as being adult, I think that it will be enjoyed by quite a number of Young Adults. This is a novella of just over 100 pages and follows 12 year old Mina, as she desperately tries to escape from the solders who had just killed her father. She finds refuge in the caravan of an old woman called Gam Gam, who manages to get rid of the soldiers, at least temporarily. Mina discovers that she and her saviour have more in common than she could image. Whilst Mina is a neuromancer and can read and remove people’s thoughts, Gam Gam is a necromancer and can raise the dead, even if only for a short while. The events of the story take place over just a few days.