Itch by Simon Mayo

Itch is fourteen and has a slightly dangerous hobby. Like a lot of fourteen year olds he likes to collect things. Unusually though, Itch is an element hunter and so likes to collect the elements, with the ultimate aim of having all 118 elements from the periodic table in his collection. Being something of a science fan, he also likes to experiment a little with them - hence the dangerous part. Recently, his hobby has gotten him in a little bit of trouble, especially when an experiment with phosphorous lost him his eyebrows and the arsenic in his bag may have made his entire biology class ill. When his aquaintence (called Cake) gives Itch an unusual rock, things are about to get a lot more dangerous with potentially disastrous consequences, not just for Itch but for the whole world! He and his cousin Jack must stop the rock from falling into the wrong hands whilst putting both of their lives at risk.

I quite liked this one. This might be because I'm a little bit of a science geek and so think it's fantastic to have a children's book with a bit more scientific (rather than romantic) chemistry in it. In fact there is absolutely no romance at all (hurray!). It was also difficult to predict what might happen next which makes a nice change. It can be a little slow in places and I was a little disappointed that nothing extraordinary happened involving the mine, although I will concede that this perhaps makes the story slightly more realistic and less predictable as it did throw me off of the scent a little. Mayo does include modern day products which could potentially remove the timeless quality but does help the book to connect a bit more with today's readers (my friend has also informed me that the Lexus RX 450h would not be an easy car to break into and so might not be such a good example for car theft!). Mayo also knows the right amount of detail to withold from the reader to keep them intrigued and want to read more, especially at the end! I am a little confused as to what age this book is supposed to be for. The back says that it is for children aged 10+, it's classified as 9-12 in our store and yet the main character is 14 and the story potentially has slightly more appeal for older children who have a bit more of an understanding of some of the science. There is also a death from radiation sickness and lots of vomiting (but aside from that nothing too grown up).

Itch was an enjoyable read and it should appeal to both boys and less girly girls. It's fantastic if you want a book with absolutely no romance which can be a struggle when you're buying for older children. I do think there's also some future potential for this series (especially as I would love to know the answer to my questions!).

I give it 7/10 :)

Title: Itch
Author: Simon Mayo
Publisher: Corgi Childrens
9-12 Fiction

A Boy and a Bear in a Boat by Dave Shelton

Quite simply, this book is about a boy and a bear in a boat.

Not enough detail? The book begins when a boy gets into a boat (called Harriet) that is rowed by a bear. The boy doesn't expect the journey to take very long and has a nap. Unfortunately, some unexpected anomalies occur. The bear insists that all is fine and that they will get there in the end. The boy begins to be concerned that they are lost no matter how much the bear insists they're not. They encounter the dangerous Very Last Sandwich, a sea creature, an abandoned ship, a curious rock, some inclement weather, a bird that says "Kark!" and a storm (in no particular order). As I said, this is a book about a boy and a bear in a boat. There has never been a book with such a perfect title!

This book is fantastic! It had me laughing out loud in the staff room at work and getting overexcited as I shared various bits with my colleagues. And it took me completely by surprise! I think the reason for this was the cover. My first thoughts were that this book has a very dull cover and looks like a maths book and even though you should never judge a book by its cover I found that I had. In reality the cover is actually very clever as it is something from the story (I don't want to spoil it for you, not that it's a major spoiler but I had a big "oh I see!" moment when I got to that part and you should be able to have that too). Plus on at least three occasions during one lunch break I had left the book face  down on the table with the dust jacket off and found that I had attempted to brush the crumbs off the back. It is very convincing. I am a bit concerned that the first impression given by this cover will put readers off and that this will not be easily overcome even though this is a book that should be read but I also don't want it to change because it is so brilliant. Also, you should believe every word of the blurb on the back because it is completely true!

The book is very easy to read and the story is well paced. Shelton uses a good variety of language and even includes the phrase "tickety boo!" Neither the boy nor the bear are ever called by a name and are just referred to as the boy or the bear throughout the book which works brilliantly. They don't need a name to be good characters and being called the boy or the bear sums them up perfectly. The author captures each one very well through his descriptions, illustrations and the characters' speech and makes them utterly believable. The illustrations are fun and the colour ones are simply stunning. The colours used reflect those of the sea and really help to add to the whole feel of the book. It's a great adventure tale that the reader gets sucked into and I found that by the end I was actually a little sad that the pages had stopped and so I couldn't continue with them.

I could easily imagine being given this as a present when I was younger and finally deciding to read it on a rainy day after several choruses of "I'm bored" have driven my parents mad and then having them looking for me an hour or so later concerned that I haven't pestered them since I picked it up. This book would certainly have sucked me in and even now I would have read it to the end in one sitting if I wasn't a grown up with work to do.

I honestly cannot recommend this book enough. Buy it, read it, laugh and be sad when you reach the end! It's fantastic!

I give it 10/10! :)

Title: A Boy and a Bear in a Boat
Author: Dave Shelton
Publisher: David Fickling Books
9-12 Fiction

Fizzlebert Stump: The Boy Who Ran Away From The Circus (and joined the Library) by A.F. Harold

Fizzlebert Stump lives in a circus that travels around the country. His mother is a clown and his father is a strong man. He gets taught his lessons by a variety of circus performers and has even put his head in a lion's mouth! However, life in the circus is very lonely when you're the only child and also when you're a book lover without many books. One day he meets some children and hopes they might become his friends, until they learn his name and find it hilarious. One of them happens to leave a library book behind and so one of Fizz's "teachers" recommends he returns it. So begins Fizz's adventure...

This book was lots of fun. Fizzlebert is a very likeable character who is perhaps a little naive having had his sheltered life in the circus. This is partially how he ends up on his adventure but you can't blame him for it. The author tries to engage with the reader through the use of the narrator and whilst this can be slightly irritating if you're a grown up trying to read the book all at once, it is great if you're younger or reading the book aloud. The tone of voice allows you to use great expression when reading aloud too. The illustrations (along with the story) remind me a little of Roald Dahl and it should appeal to his fans.

However, there was one thing that irritated me a bit about this book. Harrold uses far too many brackets! In fact, on page 128 you can find this: "awfully.)))" The author loves to go off on a slight tangent and whilst this can get irritating if you're trying to read the whole book in one go, it does give the book a bit of character and is quite fun in small doses.

Overall I give this book 6/10 :)

Title: Fizzlebert Stump: The Boy Who Ran Away From The Circus (and joined the Library)
Author: A.F. Harrold
Publisher: Bloomsbury
9-12 Fiction

Barry Loser: I am Not a Loser by Jim Smith

The best thing about this book is that if you're a grown up and a confident reader it will be over quickly.

Barry Loser is a child with a bad attitude and an unfortunate name which is a magnet for name calling. He loves Future Ratboy and hopes to win the talent show as the prize is a Future Ratboy costume. His main 'enemy' is Darren Darrenofski. Darren has an addiction to a fizzy drink called Fronkle and so his breath usually smells of it. He likes to make fun of Barry (Barry is usually quite mean back).

This book is trying very hard to be another Diary of a Wimpy Kid. It has the cartoon drawings and handwriting style font. The illustrations are fun and basic. It attempts to be funny. Young boys who like Wimpy Kid will probably enjoy it but I would never recommend it. It's incredibly insulting, irritating and terribly written. I can't imagine a parent being happy with me if I did (unless this also appeals to their sense of humour). One of Barry's teachers has cross eyes and a bent finger and so Barry constantly makes fun of the fact that you can never be sure who he is looking at. Barry is at least as rude to Darren as Darren is to him. Barry also thinks it's hilarious to harass a single mother by calling her up and asking for poopoo (very mature humour!). He also says "keel" instead of "cool" which was just irritating. The author could potentially pull this off if there was a bit of character redemption at the end or if there was a character like Perfect Peter in Horrid Henry but there isn't. The closest it comes is that Barry has to write an apology to the single mother but you can tell he's not really sorry. The characters all have really irritating names too (Mrs Trumpet Face or Darren Darrenofski for example). He also uses the phrase "history of the universe amen" (or something similar) more than once - I'm not really sure why the "amen" was necessary and it just bugged me.

The final thing that bothered me about this book is the bit about the spellchecker (author) in the back as it states that he graduated with first class honours from art school. If that is the case then I would expect him to produce something of a much better quality than this.

As I said, I think young boys who enjoy books such as Tom Gates and Diary of a Wimpy Kid will enjoy this book but I would much rather recommend the other better books from this genre instead of this one.

I give it 1/10.

Title: Barry Loser: I am Not a Loser
Author: Jim Smith
Publisher: Jelly Pie
5-12 Fiction