The Taexali Game by Nancy Jardine

2019 

Twins Brian and Fianna, and their friend Aron take part in the twins’ father’s experiment.  We are talking about the most sophisticated of computer games.

They are propelled back to the AD250, the time when the Celts are invaded by the Romans under the Emporer Severus. Aran knows his history well and is perceived by both the Celts and the Romans as some sort to soothsayer.

The three young people take quite a few risks. There is an ‘ejector seat’ and they can all finish the game if they agree.

They keep going and find out a lot about the time they are visiting. Fianna begins to take an interest in all of the handsome young men she encounters. She also discovers that her twin brother is far more caring than she’d thought.

They all learn a new respect for Callum, the twins’ father and also the computer expert.

The video game here is quite sophisticated not just because it takes them to a past that feels very realistic. It is also way ahead of what we know already. Or perhaps  Nancy Jardine has recognised something that is  just around the corner?

The text is 250 pages long. I read the book on Kindle so the font may vary. The text is blocked.

There is information about the author and her research at the end of the book.  

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The House of Serendipity: Sequins and Secrets by Lucy Ivison and Catharine Collingridge

 

2021 

Myrtle Mathers is a very skilled seamstress. She is the daughter of a tailor.  But when her father dies her mother has to sell the shop and goes to live with a relative who owns a farm.  Myrtle goes into service.

Slyvie Catrwright is one of the daughters in the big house and has a talent for drawing haute couture clothes.

Myrtle and Sylvie become a team. First of all they design and make a superb dress for Sylvie’s sister Delphine.  Then they become involved with Agapantha Portland-Prince who wants to wear trousers for her coming-out ball and also wants to disguise herself as a man so that she can go on an exotic adventure.

It almost all works but a misunderstanding about a tiara leads to Myrtle getting the sack. However, the girls’ designs are taken up by Hollywood, leaving the story open for another adventure.

The story is 267 pages long in blocked text with a classic serif font though it is double-spaced.

There ae several beautiful dress designs in the text and there is a pair of scissors underneath each page number.

At the end of the book we are treated to the opening pages of the next story.  There is also a note from the author. There are instructions for how to make glamorous headbands there are recipes for afternoon tea and Shirley Temple mocktails. Usborne provides some  “quick links” where you can access more dress designs, photos, videos and more activities.  

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Torn Apart The Partition of India by Swapna Haddow

2021  

This tells the story of Ibrahim and Amar at the time of the partition in India in 1947.  Ibrahim, Muslim, is separated from his family as they flee to Pakistan. Amar is Hindu and lives on the streets of Delhi. Despite the fact that Amar’s best friend was killed by Muslims he decides to help Ibrahim get to the border. We don’t get to find out whether Ibrahim survives or meets his family again.   Neither do we learn whether Amar eventually gets a better life for himself.

Unusually for this age group we have two first person narratives.    

This book almost become a hi-lo.  It is short at just 119 pages but the text is blocked and uses an adult font with difficult ‘a’s and ‘g’s.  It is quite a tricky subject.

There is a glossary of the most important words at the front of the book and a longer one at the back.

The author gives us a note about what happened in 1947 and there is also a useful time line.

This is a thought-provoking book for the young reader.   

 

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Friend or Foe by Brian Gallagher

2015 

This book really does straddle two reading groups. Because of the age of the protagonists it fits the fluent readers group.  However, complex issues, including politics, and sophisticated language make it also suitable for the older reader.    

Emer Davey and Jack Madigan are members of a close circle of friends. Emer saves Jack from drowning. Emer’s father is a member of the Irish Volunteers, who are fighting for a free Ireland and Jack’s is a member of the Dublin Metropolitan Police who has to keep law and order for the British.  During the uprising Emer’s father is shot and Jack’s is kidnapped.  Jack and Emer stage a daring rescue to get Sergeant Madigan out of the clutches of the Irish Volunteers. Friendship proves to be stronger than politics.

All of the characters are interesting.  The really poor Gerry lives with his uncle.  Joan ends up marrying an American naval officer. Gladys is a model student and goes on to be a teacher. Phelim and Brother McGill are ardent nationalists. Miss Clarke is a teacher who really gets her students to think. Sister Assupmta is a stickler for discipline and routine. All of these characters are fictitious but they are made to seem all the more real when Brian Gallagher gives us an epilogue at the end of the story that tells us what happens to the children when they grow up. Of course the Easter Rising is a real piece of history.

The story should provoke a few talking points.       

The novel is 235 pages long but has endpapers which contain the epilogue and an historical note from the writer. There is as short biography of him at the beginning.

The text is blocked with a serif font that has difficult ‘a’s and ‘g’s.  

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Note, this is an affiliate link and a small portion of what you pay, at no extra cost to you,  may go to Bridge House Publishing. 

A High Wind in Jamaica by Richard Hughes

 

2002 (first published 1929)

fluent reader, upper primary, Key Stage 2, ages 9-11, Hughes Richard, historical,  classic, pirates,

A group of children are sent from Jamaica to England after a hurricane strikes and ruins their home.  But on the way their ship is captured by pirates. The children befriend the pirates who later hand them over to a passing steam ship with an elaborate story that the pirates actually rescued the children. The children collude with the pirates about this.   

I’m not a great fan of trigger warnings but I will post a few here. There are some very dark sides to this story.

·       One child remains missing.

·       The parents are wrongly informed that the children have died – and seem indifferent about this.

·       A girl murders a man.

·       The pirates make mild sexual advances to the children but the children don’t realise that’s what they are.

However, there are many arguments that children should be exposed to the darker side of life. There is a little of the style of the Lemony Snicket books in this. Of course it is a much earlier text.

Robert Hughes really captures the point of view of the children. However, he seems to be writing to an adult rather than another child.

The language is quite advanced, even for the fluent reader.

This may be a text that could lead to an interesting set of discussions. It will give the discerning young reader plenty to think about.

The text is blocked in the paperback version of the novel and uses a serif font and has difficult ‘a’s and ‘g’s. It is 195 pages long.

Never Forget You by Jamila Gavin

  

2022

Dodo, Gwen, Noor and Vera meet at boarding school.  Just before the outbreak of World War II.   Dodo’s parents live in Germany and are Nazi sympathisers. Gwen acts as narrator and is at school because her parents live in India. Noor is from India, daughter to a Sufi philosopher and sees fairies.  Vera is Jewish.  Her parents and younger brother have been seized by the Nazis. She lives with her aunt and uncle in Paris.    

Noor’s story is partly true.  The other characters are fictional.

Dodo dies when she becomes involved in the rescue form Dunkirk. She has been working as a spy, looking into the work of Nazi sympathisers.

Gwen tells us very little about her work but it is top secret and involves maps.      

Noor becomes a member of SOE – Special Operations Executive. She works with the Resistance in France but is captured and executed.

Vera works for the Resistance in Paris and is very involved in forging documents in order to allow Jews to escape the Nazis.

There is some romance for all four girls and an upbeat ending for Gwen and Vera.   

This is a very long read – 500 pages of blocked text. There is a short note at the end about Noor Inayat Khan      

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