I am equally divided – happy the kids are back at school and life is back in its usual rhythm but disappointed that all the unscheduled days are gone. Perhaps you feel the same?

Our holidays were lovely and relaxed – swimming, long meals with friends, kids constantly in and out of the house, more time to read, watching lots of cricket and tennis on tv, salads and ice-cream for dinner – perfect!

One of my wonderful brothers gave me The Little Library Cookbook by Kate Young for Christmas. It’s a recipe book, based on food mentioned in classic books. So there are 100 recipes from Harry Potter,  Love in the time of cholera, The book thief, Winnie-the-Pooh, To kill a mocking bird, Like water for chocolate, etc – and Anne of Green Gables.

Perhaps you remember the scene from Anne of Green Gables where scatter-brained Anne works very hard to make a layer cake for Mr and Mrs Allen, the minister and his wife. Anne is worried about whether the cake will rise but ‘the cake did rise, however, and came out of the oven as light and feathery as golden foam.’ Anne, ‘in her imagination, saw Mrs Allen eating it and possibly asking for another piece!’ However, Mrs Allen has a peculiar expression on her face after taking the first mouthful because Anne has used anodyne liniment instead of vanilla in the cake.

Mindful of Anne’s disaster, I concentrated very hard when baking this cake, because, as Anne says, ‘cakes have such a terrible habit of of turning out bad just when you especially want them to be good’. While it baked and then cooled, Miss 12 and I watched the 1985 version of Anne of Green Gables with Megan Follows.

Well, I have to say – with all modesty – the cake was delicious! It was light and moist, and Mr 9 decided it had become his number 1 cake instead of my chocolate fondant cake.

Flushed with success, I’m now planning to cook the crab and avocado salad from The Bell Jar and an enormous round chocolate cake from Matilda. I’ll keep you posted.

My favourite days of the year are these grace days between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. There’s a sense of slowing down, of breathing space, of clarity.

There’s time to bake a show-stopper of a dessert for three hours or there’s fifteen minutes to rustle up something for dinner using leftovers. There’s time to watch the cricket or play it in the backyard. There’s definitely time to read a book for more than twenty minutes.

There’s time to be really present with family and friends, to ask about plans and dreams for next year, and there’s time to play with the kids and let them make a big mess because there’s time to clean it up.

I find that because my mind isn’t filled with excursion notices and basketball training and how-can-we-run-out-of-milk again, that there’s more space to plan and dream. It’s more than just relaxing – it’s reminding myself of what’s really important and how I can make space for that.

It’s so lovely to have no plans or obligations – just spontaneous bike rides with the kids, walks with our newish puppy, reading on the couch (in the middle of the day!), watching the cricket, drinking my new literary tea (thanks, KK!) and maybe trying out a recipe or two from my new cookbook.

Wishing you lots of time for your passions and dreams, and your family and friends over these grace days.

Thank you for reading my blog this year. I hope you had a lovely Christmas and that 2019 is wonderful for you! I’m taking a break from blogging for a few weeks – see you soon!

Karen x

I’m running some more writing workshops for kids in the school holidays. This time we’re looking at developing fabulous story worlds and creating interesting characters. The workshops are for 8-12 year-old children.

I’m so passionate about encouraging kids to both express themselves creatively and to communicate with purpose.

In these workshops, young writers will learn how to write with passion, using art and games to spark ideas.

Writer’s Notebook

Each child will work in a special Writer’s Notebook, which contains prompts for further writing, reading suggestions, editing tips and much more. The Writer’s Notebook is a useful tool to take home for writing at school and home.

The writing workshops cater for children who are passionate readers and writers, as well as children who need a little more encouragement.

Dates

• Tuesday 15th January – 10am-1pm – 8-12 year-old kids – mapping a story world
• Thursday 17th January – 10am-1pm – 8-12 year-old kids – creating characters
• Tuesday 22nd January – 10am-1pm – 8-12 year-old kids – mapping a story world
• Thursday 24th January – 10am-1pm – 8-12 year-old kids – creating characters

Venue
All workshops will be held at Side Door – 72 Willsmere Rd, Kew. It’s a fabulous space, with an indoor section for writing and an outdoor section for breaks and games, and is next door to Flatiron, fashion and homewares store. All participants will receive a Flatiron voucher for 10% off purchases on the day of the workshop – something for the parents! For more information about Side Door, please see www.flatironmelbourne.com.au/side-door/ or email Emma Bangay at emma@flatironmelbourne.com.au  

Logistics

BYO – drink bottle and snack.

All writing materials will be supplied.

Cost for each workshop is $50. Payment must be made by Friday 11th January.

Karen Comer
Acc. no: 1119 3537
BSB: 063-791

Please email me at karen@karencomer.com.au to register your child and bring the signed form  – link here – to the workshop.

Please forward this post on to your friends and family. I’m really looking forward to working with your children to create some amazing stories!

Younger readers are usually five to eight-year-olds – an exciting age where chapter books become a rite of passage. Of course, there are still five-year-olds who are mastering their sounds and at the other end of the spectrum, there are eight-year-olds who have already read the first Harry Potter novel.

The following list of titles are wonderful stand-alone books. These books are probably more for 8-10 year-old readers, but can be enjoyed as a story to listen to first, then as a book to read alone.

• Brindabella by Ursula Dubosarsky – this is a truly beautiful story about a boy Pender who finds a young joey in her dead mother’s pouch. Most of the story is told from Pender’s perspective but there are a few chapters from the joey Brindabella’s point of view. It would be a lovely story to read in class or at bedtime – I can’t imagine too many children who wouldn’t enjoy listening to a story about a kangaroo who is torn between the boy who loves her and her freedom in the bush. There are also gorgeous illustrations by Andrew Joyner.

• Have sword, will travel by Garth Nix and Sean Williams – Odo has never intended to have any adventures, even though his best friend, Eleanor, would like some. But when Odo pulls a talking sword out from the dried-up riverbed, he and Eleanor begin a quest to find and slay the dragon responsible for drying up their river. This is a classic quest story with lots of humour – and a great title! There’s a sequel available now.

• Flora and Ulysses by Kate diCamillo – this is a graphic novel with words by Kate DiCamillo and comic-book style illustrations by K. G. Campbell. Flora’s parents are separated, there’s an odd but intriguing boy who’s moved in next door with his aunt and there’s a squirrel who writes poetry. This book is about the loss of hope and finding it again – and this sensitive subject is told with heaps of humour by eccentric characters. I’m definitely going to read this one with Mr 9 these holidays.

• Bob by Wendy Mass and Rebecca Stead – Livy (ten and a half) has come back with her mother and baby sister from Massachusetts to visit Gran in Australia. Livy knows she’s forgotten things since her last visit five years ago. She certainly can’t remember the name of the green zombie (who’s not really a zombie) who’s wearing a chicken suit, lives in a closet and has been waiting for her to come back for the last five years. Livy tries to help Bob find a way back home by remembering how he saved her, and then how she saved him. The story is fresh and original – it’s a quest book and there’s magic but there’s nothing predictable about it. There are themes of friendship and memory, and a small thread of rain and droughts.

Many kids in this age group love series because it feels like such an accomplishment to have read some or all of the series, because it’s fun to compare notes with friends and because it’s fun to look forward to the next book.

Some fabulous series for this age group include:

• Billy B Brown by Sally Rippin
• Hey Jack by Sally Rippin
• Tom Gates by Liz Pichon
• The treehouse series by Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton
• The bad guys by Aaron Blabey

More sophisticated series include:

• The impossible quest by Kate Forsyth
• The mapmaker chronicles by A.L. Tait
• Ivy and Bean by Annie Barrow

Happy Christmas shopping and reading!

December is very demanding, isn’t it? It seems that my three kids at three different schools have more break-up parties, Christmas concerts, end of year assemblies than I can attend.

There’s also five family birthdays to celebrate – my husband and Mr 14, almost 15 – included.

I find it hard to fit in all the Christmas things that are meaningful to me, among the Christmas things that seem to take priority. And it’s not that any of those concerts or gatherings are terrible – it’s just that the combination of extroversion and commercialism can be a little exhausting.

So this list is my non-negotiable one for Christmas

• watch at least one Christmas movie with the kids.
• spend a day baking, then spend a night with two close friends to wrap our baked goods and create hampers for teachers and neighbours – this is one of my favourite Christmas things to do.
• buy at least 90% of my presents in November – I can’t stand the idea of going into a shopping centre in December.
• make something, if not a few things. Last year, I sewed Christmas stockings in linen with red and white trimmings. This year, I’m going to sew some linen stars – yes, notice the traditional French theme going on! Crafting gives my hands something to do, while my mind slows down and stops racing.
• take the kids for a walk or drive along the streets that participate in Christmas lights.
• make peppermint bark with the kids – we always make extra and there is still never enough to go around!
• go to Christmas Eve mass – our kids have been angels and shepherds when they were younger.  I’m not sure whether Mr 9 is still up for a role this year …
• celebrate the December birthdays at two different gatherings.
• decorate the tree together – we try to wait until the December birthdays are over.
• decorate a gingerbread house – I shut my eyes and try to ignore all the lollies.
• celebrate Christmas Day with a meal with both families.
• open our Advent calendar each day. We have a tradition of mainly notes with only the odd toy or chocolate. Every day, a note tells the kids what Christmas festivity we are going to do that day – as elaborate as decorating the gingerbread house or as simple as showing kindness to someone. It has taken me a few years to hone this art, and to me, this is one of the most important things we do in December to focus on Christmas our way with creativity and connection.
• buy a new Christmas book – we do have quite the collection now!

And everything else is extra. We’ll go to most of the Christmas gatherings we’re invited to, but it’s not possible to go to all of them. We’ll stay up later some nights but I will tuck myself in bed early as often as I can. There’ll be a little more chocolate and champagne than usual but we’ll have more salad and summer fruit as well. There’ll be more money spent than at any other time of the year, but we’ll donate to a charity or two and will do our best not to give in to the general sense of consumerism by avoiding the shops.

And what’s on your non-negotiable list for Christmas?

Young adult fiction is strong in Australia right now, with adults as well as teenagers reading it. It’s a loose term and applies to the age group of 12-20 year-olds, rather than any genre. Within young adult fiction, there’s romance, crime, mystery, historical fiction and so on. It’s always a good idea to find out the age of the main character – that will give you a clue as to the appropriate age group if you’re choosing books for younger readers. Kids are aspirational readers and like to read about characters who are a year or two older than themselves. So a fourteen-year-old might be interested in a sixteen-year-old character but a book with an eighteen-year-old character might not be suitable for a thirteen-year-old. These are such loose guidelines – every book is unique! Here’s a list of my favourite young adult books which I read this year.

I am out with lanterns by Emily Gale – This book is told from seven different perspectives, which means that readers understand someone like Ben, who appears rather nasty to Wren, because we see his point of view and know what’s going on in his life. Most of the characters are about to start year 10. It’s the story of – Adie, who’s moved back to a home she lived in as a kid – Wren, a talented artist who likes both girls and boys – Milo, an autistic teenager who thinks he loves Wren – Sophie, Milo’s younger sister who gets caught up in a horrible online situation –  Juliet, who can remember everything that ever happened to her and anyone she knows – Hari, who also loves Wren and Ben, whose bullying tactics hide his far-from-perfect home life. I loved all the characters and felt it was so fresh, so contemporary. I hope Mr 14 will end up reading it.

The disturbed girls’ dictionary by Nonieqa Ramos – this book definitely deserves a blog post on its own, because yes, it is a disturbing read. I don’t think we – or our teenager readers – should shy away from reading something disturbing. This book transported me away to fifteen-year-old Macy’s life, where she lives with her mother in a small, one-bedroom apartment. She used to live there with her dad and younger brother but her dad’s now in prison and her brother was taken away by child protection services. Macy wants her mum to get a job instead of entertaining numerous men so that her brother can come back. But at least they’re not living in a car any more. Macy’s best friend, Alma, is becoming more distant and is trying to move away from her life of looking after her numerous younger siblings. Written in the form of dictionary definitions, Macy’s voice is strong, offensive, unapologetic and full of swearing. The front cover of the book has a picture of an old, rusty bath – to represent Macy’s bed when her mother’s ‘guests’ sleep over. A compelling and different read for fourteen-year-olds and up.

Catching Teller crow by Ambelin Kwaymullina and Ezekiel Kwaymullina – this is an exciting book, published this year about ‘the enduring strength of Aboriginal women and girls’ (quote taken from the writers’ notes at the back of the book). Beth Teller, fifteen, is dead, but she’s not reunited with her Aboriginal mother who died a long time ago. Instead, she and her white Australian dad can still communicate. Her dad’s a detective and Beth is trying to help him solve a case so she can ease him away from his sadness over her death. The story is told from Beth’s point of view as well as Isobel Catching’s – she has a connection to the case that Beth and her dad are trying to understand. The writers explain that ‘we are Aboriginal storytellers, but we are two voices amongst the many Aboriginal peoples and nations of Australia and we speak for ourselves alone; there is not a single Aboriginal story, nor a definitive Aboriginal experience.’ I’m going to pass this on to Miss 12 to read – it’s a great book for 12-15 year-olds.

His dark materials by Phillip Pullman – The first book of the trilogy, Northern Lights, introduces us to Lyra, a young orphan girl who lives with the Scholars in an alternative Oxford. Lyra is given a special instrument called an alethiometer which uses layers of symbols to tell the truth. The Master of Oxford tells Lyra to learn how to read it for herself once she has been taken to live and work with Mrs Coulter, a fascinatingly beautiful woman. But Mrs Coulter proves to be as confusing and sinister as she is beautiful, and Lyra escapes when she realises she might end up as one of the kidnapped children who have been taken from Oxford. Lyra’s quest to understand the alethiometer and to find her friends Roger and Billy who have been kidnapped by the Oblation Board brings her into contact with the gyptians, who support her. Younger teen readers will enjoy it, and it’s also suitable for 11 and 12 year-olds but it’s a thick trilogy and quite intense. I loved it! There is action, a quest theme, high stakes, the continual problem of who to trust and an amazing fantasy world with witches, talking bears, angels, humans and their daemons. You can read a longer review here.

Begin, end, begin – a #Love Ya anthology edited by Danielle Binks – some of my favourite authors have contributed to this anthology – Ellie Marney, Melissa Keill, Jaclyn Moriarty and seven other Australian young adult authors. An anthology could be a great way to tempt reluctant teens into reading again – just one short story, that’s all you have to read! It’s also a good way to find new authors through their short stories. There’s a mix of stories told from the point of view of girls and boys. My only complaint is that the cover is more directed to girls with its floral theme. There’s a new edition coming out next month  – perhaps that one will have a more appealing cover for boys? This book is young adult fiction at its best – smart, sassy, perceptive.

The road to winter by Mark Smith – this book is the story of Finn, whose community has been wiped out by a deadly flu which killed his parents. He’s managed to survive for two winters alone on the coast, keeping out of sight from the Wilders. Everything changes when he sees Rose on the beach – she needs help. I found this book gripping and I’m looking forward to reading the sequel. This would be a great book for 13-16 year-old readers.

Other wonderful YA authors include Ellie Marney (her Circus Hearts is out now and is on my list of books to read), Melissa Keill (I loved The incredible adventures of Cinnamon Girl), Jaclyn Moriarty (also the author of the middle grade book, The inconvenient adventures of Bronte Mettlestone) and Cath Crowley (I loved her Graffiti moon and Words in deep blue).

And the winner from last week’s giveaway is – JANE! Congratulations, Jane – I’ll be in touch to deliver your book! Thanks to everyone who left a comment.

Happy Christmas shopping!

In case you’re already hanging out for some summer holiday reading bliss or you need to buy Christmas books for friends and family, here’s a list of my favourite adult books I’ve read this year. The links lead you to a longer review that I wrote earlier in the year.

And there’s a book giveaway, too, to say thank you to all of my wonderful blog readers, who leave comments, share their book recommendations, support my workshops and encourage my writing! The book is Storyland by Catherine McKinnon – there’s a review below. If you’d like the chance to win this fabulous book, leave me a book recommendation in the comments below. The winner will be drawn on Thursday 22nd November, and I will contact the lucky winner to organise delivery of their book.

Bookshop of the broken-hearted by Robert Hillman – It’s 1969. Tom Hope is a Victorian farmer in his early thirties – quiet and stoic. He’s the sort of man who has to practise smiling because he doesn’t do it very often. Hannah Babel is a Jewish woman in her mid-forties from Budapest who lost her husband and small son at Auschwitz in World War II. She’s vivid and eccentric and she wants to open a bookshop in the small town of Hometown. Tom’s wife, Trudy, left him – twice. But she only came back once. Hannah is a widow two times over. Can they make their relationship work? I devoured this book – you can read more here.

The helpline by Katherine Colette – the protagonist in this debut novel, Germaine, made me laugh and cringe – often at the same time. Germaine is a character along the lines of socially-awkward Eleanor Oliphant (see review below) and Professor Don Tillman of The Rosie Project. Germaine is forced to look for another job and when she can’t find one at her competence level, accepts a role at a council, answering calls for a senior citizens’ helpline. There’s a hilarious scene involving biscuits from the staffroom, and then there’s the constant pleasure of wondering exactly how Germaine is going to respond next to the mayor’s requests, the annoying man from IT and Don Thomas, a sudoku champion who now runs the golf club next door to the seniors’ building.

The lost flowers of Alice Hart by Holly Ringland – this is such an amazing book and rightly deserves all the attention it received as a debut novel. Alice Hart loses both her parents in a fire at the age of nine. She’s taken to Thornfield, her grandmother’s flower farm, a long drive away and doesn’t talk for a couple of months. There’s a strong matriarchal history of her family at the farm, and she slowly understands her family and her place in it, surrounded by the care of the twelve women who are also working and healing at the farm, under the care of June, Alice’s paternal grandmother. June teaches Alice to use the language of flowers as a way to communicate the words that are too hard to share. There are many secrets and many unspoken words at Thornfield. Have a look at the video clip with the author here. This was my choice for our bookclub this year.

Home fires by Kamila Shamsie – this was one of the best books I read this year. It was published in 2017, long-listed for the Man Booker Prize in 2017 and won the Women’s Prize in 2018. This book was unlike anything I’d read before because it follows the story of three British-born, Pakistani siblings who become entrenched in a political and personal situation. Told from five different viewpoints, each character has their own voice, story and motivations. It’s definitely not a light read – I read the last page with my hand over my mouth in shock! You can read a longer review here, with a video clip of the author.

Radiant shimmering light by Sarah Selecky – A gentle satire, this novel set in Canada and the US lightly mocks the social media world where every turmeric latte is photographed in the best light and newsletters are sent out to reflect the glossy surface, rather than the banal or the debris of real life. Lillian Quick, forty-years-old, is a struggling artist who paints pet aura portraits. She connects with her long-lost cousin, Eleven, who is a gifted speaker and entrepreneur in women’s empowerment circles. All of a sudden, Lilian’s life changes – she’s earning money, she’s part of a team, she’s being supported to be her best self in her own empowerment journey. But is it real and will it last? Such a quirky, original and clever book – don’t be fooled by the supposed lightness! I could read it again.

The anchoress by Robyn Cadwallader – Sarah is seventeen, living in a small village in England in 1255. After the death of her beloved sister, Sarah willingly commits to becoming an anchoress, a holy woman who encloses herself in a small room built off the side of a Catholic church for the rest of her life. Once she enters, the door is nailed shut behind her forever. I enjoyed reading this gentle and captivating story – with its relevance to the current Me Too movement. There’s a longer review here.

Skylarking by Kate Mildenhall – this novel is set on the Australian coast in the 1880s, with a focus on the lighthouse and the families who live close by. It’s the story of a friendship between Kate and Harriet, two girls growing up together, without many options for friendship or love. The friendship highs and lows are contemporary, and I can see why this book is also popular with secondary school students. Although the ending is hinted at all the way through the book, I was shocked when I found out how it happened. This is a beautifully written book, which stayed with me for many days after I finished reading it.

Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine by Gail Honeyman – This debut novel is written in first person from the perspective of Eleanor Oliphant. And as you can infer from the justification word ‘completely’ in the title, she’s not so fine after all. She’s a twenty-nine-year-old woman living alone in Glasgow, working as a finance clerk. Her weekdays and weekends run with monotonous certainty until she comes into contact with three men – a singer she falls in love with who doesn’t know of her existence, Sammy, an older man who has an accident in the street and Raymond, the new IT guy at work. My bookclub is discussing this one next week – I loved it so I’m looking forward to hearing what the others thought of it.

Storyland by Catherine McKinnon – this was shortlisted for the 2018 Miles Franklin award. It’s the story of Australia, told through five different viewpoints at different times. We have Will, a cabin boy on a voyage with Matthew Flinders and George Bass in 1776, Hawker, an ex-convict in 1822, Lola working on a dairy farm with her brother and sister in 1900, Bel, a young girl spending her time rafting with friends in 1998 and Nada, a woman who witnesses her world collapsing in 2033. All of the stories connect – not only because of the setting but in the subtle ways the characters are linked. Each new chapter begins on the same page that the previous one ends. In fact, the last sentence of each chapter is left incomplete for the next chapter to finish. It’s such a sweeping story, so large in its premise yet the details of each individual strand hold readers captivated. ‘I wanted to write something about what it meant to be Australian,’ McKinnon says in an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald. ‘Go back a few generations and many Australians have grandparents who come from diverse cultures.’ There’s so many stories to delve into in this book.

The clockmaker’s daughter by Kate Morton – I’ve heard so many good things about Kate Morton’s books and she is such a prolific writer but this is the first book of hers I’ve read. I’m only a little way through it but so far I’m enjoying the dual narrative – one told in the 1860s by the clockmaker’s daughter and one story in the present about Elodie, a London archivist who is about to marry and stumbled across an old archive box which hadn’t been stored correctly. The brown leather satchel contained inside connects both stories – I haven’t read enough to tell you how! This is a lighter read – perfect for summer.

I’m also looking forward to reading Liane Moriarty’s latest novel, Nine perfect strangers, as well as Bridge of Clay from Markus Zusak.

Thank you for following my blog! I’m trying to attract more blog readers, so if you have some bookish friends or family members, I’d be really grateful if you could recommend my blog by forwarding on this post.

Remember to leave a book recommendation for me in the comments below to go into the draw to win Storyland by Catherine McKinnon.

I’ve read many fabulous middle-grade books for 8-12 year-olds this year. This list might help you to choose some books for a Christmas stocking. Of course, some eight-year-olds may read these books on their own and others will need to read them with an adult. And some of these books may be too young for a mature 12-year-old. But all of these books are well-written with fabulous plots and interesting characters.

One dog and his boy by Eva Ibbotson – if you have a dog-loving reader in your home, they’ll love this book. Hal has always wanted a dog but his parents don’t want one – imagine the ruined carpets! Eventually, Hal’s dad rents him a dog for the weekend, assuming Hal will have lost interest by the time the dog needs to be returned. But Hal is devastated when he finds out Fleck the terrier is only his for the weekend, and his only choice is to run away with Fleck, followed by the rest of the dogs in the Easy Pets rental agency. This is a story with lots of action and lots of heart. We borrowed it from the library but I’m tempted to buy our own copy because I know it would be reread.

Bob by Wendy Mass and Rebecca Stead – this story about an alien who waits for years in a cupboard in an Australian country house for his friend Liv to return from America, is heartwarming and quirky. Rebecca Stead is one of my favourite, favourite writers and her collaboration with Wendy Mass is a winner. It’s perfect for 8-11 year-olds. You can read a longer review here.

Figgy in the world by Tamsin Janu – while this story had a slow start, it did become a page-turner as I wanted to read on to find out whether Figgy, an orphan in Africa, could find her way to America to buy medicine for her sick grandmother. Figgy, while innocent of the ways of the world, is resourceful, hard-working and utterly likeable. Miss 12 studied this book in class – there are themes of resilience, geography and working out what type of people can be trusted. It is a slim enough, and simple enough story that 8-10 year-olds could enjoy on their own.

The three doors trilogy by Emily Rodda – a fantasy trilogy for 11-13 year-olds, these books follow the adventures of Rye and Sonia. After Rye’s village has been threatened by skimmers, large birds who destroy and kill, the young men of the village are invited on a quest to venture through one of the three doors to find a way to stop the skimmers. In true quest fashion, Rye’s two older brothers, one by one, leave but never come back. Rye is determined to find out what happened to his brothers, and Sonia, who has her own reasons to hunt the skimmers, joins him. I read these books one after the other, eager to find out the overarching story behind each of the three doors. This is a more sophisticated read for older middle-grade readers.

Louisanna’s way home by Kate di Camillo – for those fans of Kate di Camillo – author of Because of Winn Dixie, Flora and Ulysses, Raymie Nightingale and other titles – Louisanna’s way home follows Louisanna Elefante, Raymie’s friend. Louisiana has a strong voice, a distinct way of thinking and a problem because her Granny wakes her up in the middle of the night to drive across the state in order to break the curse of their family. This is a beautiful, tender book for thoughtful, perceptive readers. It’s currently available in hardback and my copy came with a matching bookmark.

Wundersmith by Jessica Townsend – this is the highly-anticipated sequel for Nevermoor, the book many critics claimed to be the next Harry Potter. I wasn’t disappointed – I read this thick doorstopper of a book in a day. I’d suggest reading Nevermoor first, so you can understand how Morrigan Crow, a cursed child, became the protege of the elusive and quirky Jupiter North and how she made her way through the trials to enter the revered Wundrous Society. Wundersmith continues with Morrigan looking forward to her education within the Wundrous Society but its limited curriculum, her group’s fear of her and the people who go missing in Nevermoor mean all is not what it seems.

The slightly alarming tale of the whispering wars by Jaclyn Moriarty – I haven’t read this one yet but I certainly will because I loved the first book, The extremely inconvenient adventures of Bronte Mettlestone and reviewed it here. As far as I can tell, there are a different set of characters but it’s still set in the same fantasy world. I really love reading books where the characters are so solid and real that it doesn’t matter how many pirates or water sprites turn up, the story just rings true. The main action of the whispering wars – alluded to in the first book – takes place between the  orphanage school and the boarding school. There are stolen children to be rescued, witches and sirens to be dealt with and the darkness to be fought against. I may be fighting Miss 12 for the privilege of reading this book first!

The bubble boy by Stewart Foster – Joe is eleven and has spent all his life in his London hospital room. His only family is his older sister, Beth, who is studying to be a doctor and sees him as much as her studies allow her. His only friend – apart from the hospital staff – is Henry, a boy in Philadelphia who has the same rare condition as Joe which means they can’t go outside. To venture outside could mean death. Although Joe’s world is small, Joe is a large character. His acute observations, his courage and his positive attitude all make for a wonderfully interesting character in a unique book.

The war that saved my life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley – Miss 12 suggested I read this book and its sequel, The war I finally won, because she claimed I would just love them and as usual, she was right. These two historical novels are set in the second world war in England in 1939. Ada has a club foot, a horrible mother and begins a new life when she and her brother are evacuated to the country. You can read a longer review here.

Have sword, will travel by Garth Nix and Sean Williams – Odo and Eleanor stumble on an ancient sword in a dry riverbed and Odo is immediately knighted by the talking sword. And as the title says, once you have a sword, you’re expected to save the day. Odo and Eleanor set off on a quest to fight the dragon who is drying up the rivers. Odo is reluctant, Eleanor excited. I really enjoyed this quest story for younger middle-grade readers because it followed quest traditions with a light touch and lots of humour.

Happy Christmas shopping! Let me know if I’ve missed any other wonderful middle-grade books.