The subtitle is Six Stories to Twist Your Brain and that is most certainly true. With tittles like, Tick Tock Time Machine, It began with a Tingle, Alive Again, these stories, all of varying length with really hook in readers who want something not suite so predictable.
Tick tock Time Machine - about a clock, given as a present (Sam really wanted a surf board) from her ingenious Uncle, that becomes a time machine…
It Began with a Tingle - an itch on the arm that soon grew to be a rather useful appendage, that is about to surgically removed!
These are FUN! Great for jump starting imaginations too.
With war raging in London, and Vinnie homeless after a bomb destroys the pub where he was living, Vinnie is evacuated on a train to the countryside with nothing but the clothes he is wearing (he doesn't even have a gas mask) and his harmonica and amazing musical talent. Vinnie and his three friends arrive in Netterfold to begin their wartime stay. The children, labelled the Vaccies by the locals, are soon entwined in mystery as things start to go missing in the town and the blame is laid right at their feet. Vinnie stands tall, the truth is revealed, and his life after Netterfold will be amazing.
This author writes wonderful fiction and this one is just fantastic. It is a wonderful crafted story about the impact of World War 2 in wartime Britain. It is the story of Vinnie, a homeless boy who starts by losing everything, and - through his experience as an evacuee in World War II - finds friendship, vocation and a place to belong. The characters and settings are vivid, the drama is real, and emotions, raw. I couldn't put this book dow. It is one of he my favourite reads so far this year.
Imagine being twelve and half years old, starting your sixth school in six years and finding out that in you are the only boy in the final grade at our Lady of Perpetual Succour ("a school that even Catholic boys avoid") - that's what happens to Henry Hoey Hobson - and he's not even Catholic. Henry also has braces, unfortunately they make his mouth bleed so he soon is known as a vampire. And when the strangers move in next door, with some very strange nightie activities, Henry really thinks his life has taken a plummet. Henry just doesn't fit in … but all is not lost. There is always the school swimming carnival for Henry to redeem himself (as well as seeing the school queen fall) and the neighbours next door one of whom has a secret that changes Henry drastically. heroes come in all sorts of styles.
This book, shortlisted for the 2011 Children's Book Council Awards, is a terrific read.
Yep - these are great reads.
