Invisible Cities

Italo Calvino. Vintage. (160p) ISBN: 9780099429838
Invisible Cities

Invisible Cities

Another book in my classics reading exercise, amazingly enough a lot of the books I’ve read whilst doing this are from Vintage Books. Not only are the editions well-translated or adapted they are beautiful having wonderful covers.

Invisible Cities is a fictional set of conversations between Kublai Khan and Marco Polo, where Marco Polo is describing non-sensical and fantastical cities, one after the other broken every ten or so by a conversation between the Khan and Marco.

The cities can be seen as aspects of one city, Venice, but also as aspects of the human condition and experience. Marco explains various rules regarding the cities whilst talking to the Khan, going down often labyrinthine explanations of the conditions of never finding the same city twice and of no two cities being the same ever.

I was initially put off thinking that this may be too dense for me but the translation by William Weaver is fresh and readable making the whole book so accessible.

Each city is so wondrous that I didn’t put the book down until I had finished and had to read it a second time straight after finishing the first reading.


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Ghost Boys

Jewell Parker Rhodes. Hachette. (224p) ISBN: 9781510104396
Ghost Boys

Ghost Boys

Ghost Boys is another book I read a while back and am just getting around to reviewing.

Jerome is 12, Jerome is black, Jerome is shot dead by police whilst playing with a toy gun.

The story then continues of what happened up to and including where Jerome is murdered, but it also goes past as Jerome is now a ghost and the only person alive who can see him is the daughter of the police officer who shot him.

Themes of race, friendship, love, loss and more thread their way through this book and make it a great class read, each section is short and easy to pick apart for discussion.

This doesn’t in any way detract from the fact that this book is a really strong indictment of the problems in the USA at the moment and historically.


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Pax

Sara Pennypacker. HarperCollins. (288p) ISBN: 9780008158286
Pax

Pax

I will make this clear right from the start. Pax had me in tears at several points, the whole of the first chapter was so sad I had to put the book away for a week before I went back to it, but once I went back to it I couldn’t put it down.

A story of a boy and his rescued, but then abandoned fox (beautifully illustrated by Jon Klassen). We follow the trials of Peter and Pax through alternating chapters.

We watch them develop and grow and become independent. This story touches on a lot of difficult subjects, such as; truth, love, anger, and guilt, all against the backdrop of an escalating war.

Though we are unsure of which war and which country, there is a feeling that this could be in small, town America but also European. This ambiguity serves to highlight the universality of the emotions that are being explored.

I had an unsettling feeling throughout that the end was going to be extremely sad, but though there was a sadness it was triumphed by the independence that both Peter and Pax had achieved and was the correct ending.

Loved the book throughout even though I had to put it down, made all the more special by Klassen’s wonderful illustrations.


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What is Poetry?

Michael Rosen. Walker Books. (208p) ISBN: 9781844287635
What is Poetry?

What is Poetry?

Let’s just get it out of the way at the start – I love Michael Rosen. There I said it.

‘What is Poetry?’ is one of the funnest books on poetry I’ve ever read, it seems to be aimed at a young audience, probably middle-grade readers. This doesn’t stop me from saying that this book is one of the best books on writing poetry for all ages, especially for those that are frightened by the idea of poetry.

Broken down into digestible chunks, the encouraging advice is so clear and not patronising that I wanted to start writing poetry.

The images peppered through the book are also a nice touch.

Examples of poetry throughout the book don’t pull any punches either; from modern poetry by Rosen himself to work by Thomas Hardy, the excerpts and complete poems are used well to explain different facets of the craft of a poet.

I would say that this is probably one of the essential books for any budding writers, not just of poetry, as it explains things clearly and will help writers gain confidence in their art and skill.


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Beetle Queen

M.G. Leonard. Chicken House. (352p) ISBN: 9781910002773
Beetle Queen

Beetle Queen

Continuing the adventures of Darkus, Victoria and Bertolt, ‘Beetle Queen’ is another wonderfully crafted book. Written by M.G. Leonard, illustrated by Elisabet Portabella and published by Chichen House Publishing, and as with ‘Beetle Boy’ the special edition has a decorated fore edge.

Lucretia Cutter has got away at the end of ‘Beetle Boy’ to continue here evil, dastardly plans and Darkus’ dad is concerned for the children’s safety and forbids them to investigate Lucretia further and wants them to stay away from their beetle friends. Circumstances unfold which makes this impossible and Uncle Max helps once the children and their beetle friends once more.

Humphry and Pickering were imprisoned and have become even fouler and more desperate, still adding to the danger that the children face, but they’re also fast becoming two of my favourite characters for their comic relief.

The story goes deeper into the motives of Lucretia and her plans for the world and how she uses beetles to achieve this. Novak, Lucretia’s daughter has a larger and intriguing role to play in this book, and Darkus’ dad gets to have a much bigger part in the story also.

Wonderfully written, well-paced throughout another great book by M.G. Leonard and I am so looking forward to the story’s conclusion with ‘The Battle of the Beetles’.


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The Hate U Give

Angie Thomas. Walker Books. (464p) ISBN: 9781406372151
The Hate U Give

The Hate U Give

What can you say about a book that has won so many awards, been featured in so many blogs, has a film coming out and has had so many words written about it already?

The only thing I can add is that I love it, though it was an emotional read it was so worth it.

The Hate U Give is a book of a generation and a nation, highlighting the escalating issues of race and police brutality in the USA, which seem to be getting worse with the election of Trump.

Hard and unrelenting throughout, The Hate U Give is passionate and grabs the audience from the start all the way to the finish, pulling on punches when looking at all aspects of American culture.

If you haven’t already read this book, where have you been? Really this is a book that requires reading and talking about.


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