Posts

The Creakers

      The Creakers Genre-  Children's fiction, Mystery, Fantasy Author -  Tom Fletcher Tagline - "Lucy woke up to find her mom missing'" The Creakers is a children's novel by Tom Fletcher. It is about a girl named Lucy DUngston who wakes up to find that her mother is missing. When she goes into the streets, she finds that all the children's parents are missing. Undaunted, she, along with the spoilt mayor's daughter Ella, and Lucy's quirky new friend Norman, lead the mission to find out what has happened to their parents, and explore the new upside-down, topsy-turvy and extremely weird world under their bed.  The story is written in a humorous manner with the author using a conversation-like writing style. Many of the main characters (and villains) are quite funny, enjoyable and relatable. Each of the main characters, their parents and the villains all experience moral growth, making the ending very satisfying. The book is also beautifully illustrated b...

From the mixed up files of Mrs Basil E Frankweiler

  From the mixed up files of Mrs Basil E Frankweiler Genre-  Children's fiction, Mystery  Author -  E. L. Konisburg Tagline - "Claudia had decided where their new residence was to be- The Metropolitan Museum of Art'" From the mixed up files of Mrs Basil E Frankweiler  is a children's novel by E.L. Konisburg. It is about Claudia and James Kincaid who run away from home. They decide to make their residence the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. The first part of the book chronicles their ingenious methods of escaping detection from museum staff and parents, and their methods of earning money. The second part focuses on Claudia's obsession with solving the mystery surrounding Michelangelo's 'Angel' sculpture and how they finally meet Mrs Basil E Frankweiler The story Uses a unique narrative structure. It is framed as a letter written by Mrs Frankweiler to her lawyer, Saxonberg, explaining why she is changing the contents of her will. The letter cont...

The view from Saturday

    The view from Saturday Genre-  Children's fiction Author -  E. L. Konisburg Tagline - "Nadia's prize was to select their group's name- 'The Souls'" The view from Saturday is a children's novel by E.L. Konisburg. It is about a group of four children, Noah, Nadia, Ethan and Julian who name themselves "The souls". They train under their paraplegic teacher, Ms. Eva Marie Olinski, for the Academic Bowl competition. When they win the competition, their teacher is often asked how she chose the team, a question to which she does not have the answer.  The story Uses a unique narrative structure. In the first few chapters, one chapter details a question of the Superbowl final, and the next is about an incident in the answering child's life. Noah relates his experience at being the best man at his grandfather's friend's wedding, and learning calligraphy. Nadia talks about saving pet turtles. Ethan talks about meeting Julian and attending...

The Chronicles of Chrestomanci Vol1

  The Chronicles of Chrestomanci Vol1 Genre-  Bildungsroman, Adventure, Magic, Fantasy Author - Diana Wynne Jones Tagline - "The castle had a stifling atmosphere for anyone who wanted to practice magic as Gwendolen realised" The Chronicles of Chrestomanci Vol1 is a part of a series. It comprises of 2 books - Charmed Life and The lives of Christopher Chant. Both are set in the fictional universe of Chrestomanci. This universe consists of a series of interconnected worlds, each of which again  comprises of a series of mini-worlds. Some worlds have magic while others do not. To prevent witches and wizards dominating over non magical people, a government official known as Chrestomanci is tasked with maintaining law and order. Due to the nature of the post, only a nine lived enchanter can become a Chrestomanci.  Charmed Life tells the story of siblings Gwendolen and Eric (Cat) Chant who come from a powerful family of witches and wizards. Gwendolen is an extremely powerful...

The Witch's Boy

The Witch's Boy Genre -  Bildungsroman, Adventure, Magic, Fantasy Author-   Kelly Barnhill Tagline - Can Ned trust Aine and can she  trust him? The story takes place in a land which is divided by a thick and unwieldy forest. On one side,  Ned and Tam, 2 identical twins, are sailing on a raft, when it capsizes. They are caught in the struggle for their lives. Their father only manages to save one, Ned. This incident leaves Ned stuttering and the village starts whispering that the father has saved the wrong twin. The adventure starts when the Bandit King, along with the king of the other side of the forest, decides to steal Ned's mother's magic. When Ned runs away to escape the King, he meets the bandit king's practical daughter, Aine. She has been instructed that the wrong boy will save her life and she his. The story is about whether Ned and Aine can trust each other enough to save each others lives, kingdoms and family. Each of the main characters deals with grief, ...