The Merry Christmas Murders by Alexandra Benedict Brooke is starting a new school, this is always daunting but especially when your parents have recently separated and you’ve moved to a new town. Headteacher Dr Buxted isn’t exactly welcoming either, particularly when Brooke turns up with her emotional support dog, Buoy. In fact, he seems more…
Judy was HMS Grasshopper’s ship’s mascot. She kept an eye out for sailors who fell overboard, caught rats and had an amazing ability to detect incoming enemy aircraft and warn the sailors. When the ship was attacked, Judy was on hand to warn the sailors, telling them to abandon ship. The survivors end up on…
Delighted to welcome the lovely Cathy Faulkner to the blog today. Cathy’s gorgeous verse novel Digging For Victory was published earlier this year and we were swept away by Bonnie’s story. Read on to find out what’s next for Cathy! …
Alfie Wright, also known as Alfie Wrong to his bullying classmates, is an instantly endearing character who will tug at your heartstrings. A so-called outsider with a less-than-sympathetic mother, Alfie welcomes the wartime evacuation that sees him billeted to a farm in rural Devon. Indeed, under “Auntie” Bell’s motherly wing, Alfie flourishes, despite getting…
DISCLAIMER! I am Welsh, and therefore I may have been absolutely inclined to love this book before I read it, but I am sure I would have loved it anyway. I was completely swept away by this heartfelt book about evacuees from debut writer Lesley Parr, not because it’s set in Wales, but because Lesley…
The Midnight Guardians hooked me in from the very beginning and kept me up way past my bedtime as I raced to the finish line, desperate to find out how Ross Montgomery’s pacy middle-grade adventure was going to pan out. Set during the Blitz, grief-stricken Col is evacuated to the home of an unsympathetic aunt…
Much of Katharine Orton’s writing is inspired by folklore, fairy tales and ghost stories. In her latest novel, Glassheart, she’s combined this with the aftermath of World War Two. Here, she explains to MyBookCorner how war stories influenced the writing of Glassheart… I was chatting to a member of my extended family one day when…
Katharine Orton’s second novel Glassheart will first chill you then charm you with the story of Nona; a child whose life has been shattered by the bombs of World War II. With just a fragment of magical glass in the shape of a half-heart to remind her of the home she once shared with her…
As a fan of Tom Palmer’s previous wartime novels, I had been looking forward to this read for quite some time and it certainly lived up to expectations! Tom has a way of speaking to his young audience in a cleverly clear, concise manner, giving enough detail to portray the horrors of war but in…
My weekend was TOTALLY absorbed by Our Castle by the Sea – this is a fabulous middle grade adventure novel, with stunning writing and plenty of twists and turns. What a delight that Lucy Strange, (who also wrote the magnificent The Secret of Nightingale Wood), was able to pop into My Book Corner to answer…
Flight is the engrossing debut novel from Vanessa Harbour – it’s an action packed, edge of your seat drama involving the dramatic rescue of the precious Lipizzaner stallion horses against the back drop of World War 2. “If Jakob sneezed he could die.” How’s that for an opening sentence?! It’s 1945, and Jakob is hiding…
Paper Wishes by Lois Sepahban is a beautiful little book is written with such brevity and precise wording that, on occasions, it’s hard to believe a writer could be so ruthless with their words. But, because Lois has been, it makes the story of Manami – a Japanese-American prisoner of war – all the…
As a lover of cats and history, I was looking forward to reading Megan Rix’s Winston and the Marmalade Cat. My own marmalade cat, Horace, was interested too. He told me that he was especially keen to see how one of his brethren was portrayed in print. At least, I think that’s what he was…
The multi-talented (and now prolific!) writer of children’s books, the very lovely Emma Carroll, has done it again with her latest release, Letters from the Lighthouse. It’s a pacy, nuanced and stealthily educational middle-grade age story about World War II and the kinds of deeds local communities did in order to help fleeing refugees. Letters…
November 1938 and the second World War is just around the distant corner. In Annemarie Allan’s middle grade novel, Charlie’s Promise, Josef and his mum find themselves at the docks waiting to board a boat setting sail for Scotland. Sadly, she doesn’t have enough money to send them both. Taking the heartbreaking decision to save…
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Ooh, this sounds fantastic!
Great review, thanks for posting the pictures. Really makes a difference with picture book reviews. Will order for the store…
I often hope to find interviews with Margaret Wild who fascinates me and whose work I adore. Thoroughly enjoyed this…