Month: November 2024

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Skyfleet by Victoria Williamson and James Brown

I am delighted to see a resurgence in the number of science fiction stories being written for the middle grade reader.  The genre allows for a huge range of plots, from those set in this world, but with aliens, to those set in  worlds ‘far far away’.  Victoria Williamson has chosen to send us to an unknown distant colony, far from Earth and in this instance the colony is facing terrible danger.

The heroine of this story is twelve year old Amberley Jain, who was paralyzed in the jet crash that killed both her parents.  Her close friend is Ricardo, a young technical genius, who is blind and depends on the high tech glasses that allow him to see the world around him.  Their home colony has been under threat from giant mutant insects, that were created after a deadly meteor strike.  Because of their young age, the children are not allowed to help in fighting this threat, but they know that they need to do something.  Re-building her parents’ spaceship, the ‘Firehawk’  and its very specialized firepower seems to be the only way to save the world that they know.  However, the two young people face opposition form the adults who do not really believe that they have the skills to complete this enterprise.  But as the mutants get ever closer and even more large and dangerous, the options seems to be diminishing at a rapid rate.  Can Amberley and Ricardo defy expectations, despite the risks to themselves, and save the only home that they know?

What an absolute roller-coaster of a ride this is.  A fast paced and exciting adventure that has you hanging on to your seat.  It is one of those extremely readable stories that is as much about the action as it is about the characters.  In this case the two central characters are having to overcome physical disabilities but they are determined to still be useful, despite the misgiving of the adults.  I love the way that the book is laid out in different sections, with different fonts to designate their purpose.  Firstly there is the old type, that looks as if it is written on an old typewriter and which shows the messages being sent back to Earth from the colony.  We also have other fonts to show different members of the defending pilots and council.  My favourite sections are those where we see the images and technical data for the various ships that are used by the defenders; they feel almost like the descendants of the  Thunderbird’s rescue machines.  Overall this is a wonderful science fiction story that feels as if it reflects elements from the classical sci-fi of the 1950s and 1960s.  It is going to appeal to both boys and girls and maybe even those who have not tried this genre before.

 

About the Author

Victoria Williamson grew up in Glasgow, Scotland, and has worked as an educator in a number of different countries, including as an English teacher in China, a secondary science teacher in Cameroon, and a teacher trainer in Malawi.
As well as degrees in Physics and Mandarin Chinese, she has completed a Masters degree in Special Needs in Education. In the UK she works as a primary school special needs teacher, working with children with a range of additional support needs including Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Down Syndrome, physical disabilities and behavioural problems.
She is currently working as a full time writer of Middle Grade and YA contemporary fiction, science fiction and fantasy, with a focus on creating diverse characters reflecting the many cultural backgrounds and special needs of the children she has worked with, and building inclusive worlds where all children can see a reflection of themselves in heroic roles.
Victoria’s experiences teaching young children in a school with many families seeking asylum inspired her debut novel, The Fox Girl and the White Gazelle, an uplifting tale of redemption and unlikely friendship between Glaswegian bully Caylin and Syrian refugee Reema.
You can find out more about Victoria’s books, school visits and free resources for schools on her website: www.strangelymagical.com

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How to be a Revolutionary by Lucy Ann Unwin

Given the events of the last six months, both in this country and abroad, it is easy to understand that young people will perhaps wonder what the adults are doing and how it will affect them.

The heroine, Natalie, is suddenly aware that her home is being filled by an assortment of people, including her father, and they are spending hours folding leaflets and then going out and putting them through doors.  Her mother calls them ‘revolutionaries’, but as we find out during the story, they are actually local labour party activists.  The situation is not helped when her mother moves out and a couple of days later her father says that one of the female helpers, Kali, and her son Avinash are going to be moving in.    As an addition to all of this, Nat is an avid fan of Rats and all of the campaigning makes her decide to try and improve the image of her beloved pets, both at school and in the wider community.  Of course utter chaos ensues and the rats begin to proliferate at a rapid rate.  Can Natalie and friends find homes for these new additions and how will the situation at home resolve itself?

This is an extremely funny story in parts, but it is then mixed with some very serious elements.  The breakup of a family unit is always traumatic, and in this case not helped when their father springs the situation on Nat and her sister. We also have the election campaigners who are so keen to help the cause, but who were in this scenario, doomed to failure.  It is fascinating that Nat is so unaware of the  world around her;  she is only eleven years old and like many of that age, thinks that she knows a lot about life.  However, as adults we grow to realise that we are always learning something new and that youth has much lower horizons than their adults, but we should be encouraging young people to think about the world they want to live in.  This is one of those books that make a great read for young enthusiasts, but it could also be used as a discussion point for classes looking at the world of politics and how the normal citizen can get involved in a positive way.

The author

Lucy Ann Unwin worked as a music journalist at BBC 6 Music for 10 years, where she was privileged to interview the likes of Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder and Adele. Brought up in Birmingham, she lived for a year in the Chilean city of Valparaiso and for three years in San Francisco, where she tutored children and young adults in creative writing as part of the 826 Valencia writing programme, set up by Dave Eggers.

Now settled in Sussex, she divides her time between writing, editing and reading as much children’s fiction as she can. Her first Book, The Octopus, Dadu and Me, was shortlisted for multiple awards, including The Brilliant Book Award.

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The World’s First Roller Coaster by Mike Barfield and Franziska Wollbacher

National Non-Fiction November has been part of the book scene for nearly 15 years  years now and its importance has grown dramatically over that time.  As chair of judges for the Information Book Award I have been very conscious of the impact that these different projects have on highlighting information books and their importance, not only in studying but also as part of Reading for Pleasure.

This book is not just about the first roller coaster, it also covers a wide range of amazing inventions  from skyscrapers to cars, but also including the domestication of wild dogs and the development of fizzy drinks.  As you can see from the illustrations, this is intended for lower KS2 readers and shows how learning about things can be enjoyable, as well as informative.  There is a real sense of fun in many of the facts and I particularly enjoyed finding this comment which is very amusing; it is definitely a case of “what goes around, comes around”, as cotton nappies were the norm until the 1980s in the UK; I am sure many people still have memories of the daily task of washing them.

The book is divided into 8 sections, which each focus on a different theme and have titles such as ‘Fun and Games’, ‘Run and Jump’ and ‘High and Mighty’.  The contents page is clear and easy to follow and when showing an article about a person, it is actually highlighted, which is very helpful.  there are two really useful sections at the back; one of them has information about inventors, many of them from around the world and very young when the first had their ideas, whilst the second gives information about how you can patent your ideas to keep them safe.

With the new report on ‘Reading for Pleasure’ from the National Literacy Trust it is even more important that young people are able to access as wide a range of reading materials as possible.  The ability to chose what you read is something that most adults take fore granted, but children are often told that books are ‘too difficult’, ‘too easy’, or even ‘not a real book’. All of these things are likely to put young people off reading for enjoyment.  Beautiful, well written and fascinating information books are a large part of the positive support that we can give children in making their reading choices and developing a sense of enquiry and enjoyment.  This is one of those great books that people love to just dip into, so that they can impress their friends with weird and wonderful facts, but it can also  be used as part of the curriculum when studying STEM topics such as friction, velocity and digital technologies.  It is very highly recommended for primary schools.