📚’A journey of discovery and friendship’. Rosie’s #Bookreview of #ChildrensFiction The Song Walker by @ZillahBethell #TuesdayBookBlog #BookTwitter

The Song Walker by Zillah Bethell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Song Walker is a children’s story suitable for the ages of 9-12+. The two protagonists are both 13 years old so this would easily suit middle grade readers.

The story is set in the Australian outback, primarily in the Northern Territory, a very hot dry place with large open areas and few towns or people.

A young girl is alone walking through the wild landscape; she can’t remember who she is, where she is or why she is here. After a long cold night out in this place she is found by another young girl. This one is native to the land, a First Nation Australian; her name is Tarni.

Tarni is on a journey to find her sister; she is using her knowledge of the land and she invites the unusual girl with no name to go with her. Tarni gives the girl a name —Moonflower. Together they follow unseen ‘Dreaming Tracks’ as they make their way from one place to another.

This is a journey of discovery and friendship while it gently teaches the reader about Australia and some of its history and ancient belief in ‘The Dreaming’. I learnt quite a lot myself. The ending pulls together another aspect of First Nation beliefs, and flows easily into the final chapter.

I really enjoyed this; it would suit young readers who are looking for a friendship and adventure story or who are interested in cultural fiction.

There are no colour pictures, but chapter headings are decorated with black and white images of birds. The book is also split into four main parts; each begins with a double page depicting the Australian setting. Happy to recommend.

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Book description

“There are three questions that I need to find the answers to:
-Where am I?
-What am I doing here?
– And… Who am I?”

When a young girl wakes up in the middle of the desert, she has no idea who she is. She’s wearing one shoe, a silky black dress, and she’s carrying a strange, heavy case.

She meets Tarni, who is on a mysterious quest of her own. Together, the two girls trek across the vast and ever-changing Australian Outback in search of answers. Except both are also hiding secrets…

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📚A Cartoon Style Children’s Superhero Story. Rosie’s #Bookreview of Super Ghost by @gregjames and @itschrissmith #KidsLit #ChildrensBooks

Super Ghost: From the hilarious bestselling authors of Kid Normal by Greg James
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Super Ghost is a children’s story with a suggested reading age of eight – twelve years of age.

The tale is based around a superhero called Doctor Extraordinary who becomes a ghost early in the narrative. The city that he once guarded now comes under threat. Only his number one fan, a young boy called Sonny, keeps faith that the Doc can return to save the day—but it’s tricky when the superhero is a ghost.

The Doc’s arch enemy Captain Chaos is also featured in this hectic and fast-paced plot, while panda bears make an appearance in a final city takeover bid.

Throughout the story the writers add breaks to talk to the reading audience about details of the story using the fourth wall technique. It allows them to explain points or just to add more fun to the script.

The book is sprinkled with black and white illustrations in a cartoon style and there is good attention to detail with eye-catching graphics used for page numbers and word fonts to boost the appeal to the target audience.

Overall, a good example of an appealing children’s book.

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Book description

Super hero. Super DEAD!

It’s just another day at the office for world-famous superhero Doctor Extraordinary as he battles his arch-nemesis Captain Chaos in yet another epic showdown. Unfortunately this one doesn’t quite go to plan and they both get blown up inside a giant robot.

Dr Ex’s number-one-fan, twelve-year-old Sonny Nelson, is devastated. A world without heroes is totally rubbish! But things take an even more extraordinary turn when Doctor Ex returns as a ghost and only Sonny can see him . . .

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📚A Contemporary #YoungAdult Story With A Sprinkling Of #Fantasy all Set In England. Rosie’s #Bookreview of Ice Cooper And The Depton Shadelings by @JBowler_author

Ice Cooper and the Depton Shadelings by J.A. Bowler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Ice Cooper And The Depton Shadelings is a contemporary young adult story with a sprinkle of fantasy set in England.

Thirteen-year-old Ice has moved from London to Depton, Warwickshire with her dad and her younger brother. Most things in Depton are normal, except for the large amount of rain and the shadowy creatures (Shadelings) that only Ice can see.

During her first day at her new school, Ice gets into trouble when she stands up to the bullies. But then the boy that she rescues goes missing and the Shadelings want Ice to follow them.

This was a quick read in a realistic setting which had a secondary environmental theme. I liked Ice and her younger brother. The Shadelings were very interesting and I believe that they were influenced by a variety of myths from the county. I could easily envisage this book being longer and delving deeper into the fantasy genre.

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Book description

This is the first in the Ice Cooper series of YA fiction with a touch of the supernatural.

Rainswept Depton is a town with dark secrets. New to the area, young teen, Ice Cooper is alarmed to see the strange creatures from her dreams. She would prefer to stay home with a book or take her dog on lonely walks, but when the earthquakes start and people go missing, she is forced out of her comfort zone. She knows when people are lying, so what is her own father hiding? And where is her mother? She may need help from her friends and an unlikely source if she is to survive and discover the truth.

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