Barrington Stoke at its very best

A round-up of titles from Barrington Stoke …

In this week's Blog, reviewer and teacher Simon Barrett rounds-up and reviews a selection of some of Barrington Stoke's excellent titles...

Barrington Stoke's latest publications offer great reads for young people with a reading age of eight.  There are a number of books aimed at young readers from eight to twelve years old.  As ever, it includes new stories by great authors, this time including Jonathan Stroud (The Ghost of Shadow Vale) and Terry Deary (The Hat Trick), not reviewed here but certainly recommended reads. 

A book I do want to tell you more about is written by Tony Bradman and tells the story of the legendary king, Harald Hardrada in Harald Hardnut.  Harald had fled Norway when he was fifteen, using his sword to carve out a fierce some reputation.  With his comrades-in-arms Ulf and Haldor, Harald became a bodyguard to the Emperor himself, before winning the hand of a Russian Princess.  Upon becoming King of Norway, Harald eventually became bored of court life.  Then, he accepted one last challenge, to take the throne of England.  Harald couldn’t have been happier than meeting Harold, son of Goodwin in battle at Stamford Bridge in 1066.

In addition there a number of books of interest to teenagers: Dream On, The Return of Johnny Kemp and The Devil's Angel and The Diary of an (Un) teenager.

In Dream On, Baljit dreams of being a football star.  His teacher thinks he is good enough even to go for trials at Leicester City.  Baljit’s parents however want him to stop dreaming.  They think he should focus on a doing well at school and getting a good job.  Then his cousin Mandip comes up with a brilliant idea of a school trip to fool Baljit’s parents, allowing him to go to the trials.   Baljit however will have to overcome racism off and on the pitch if he is to prove he is the better player.  It also means lying to his parents.

Dan, in The Return of Johnny Kemp, is in deep trouble.  The school bully – Johnny Kemp – is back and Dan is the one who was responsible for him being excluded for two weeks.  The message from the Baxter brothers and all his classmates is that Dan is a dead man.  No one seems to listen and no one is on his side.  So it is up to Dan to face Johnny.  There can only be one winner.  This is a brilliantly written story about school bullying with one surprising twist at the end.

The Devil’s Angel by Kevin Brooks explores the growing friendship between Jack and new bad boy in town, Dean.  In an intense summer, involving drink and drugs, Jack and Dean seem to relish the rock and roll life, until Dean picks a fight with the wrong people.  It is an interesting story of a band nearly making it and an unlikely friendship, beginning and then drifting apart.  This book will interest teenage readers with a reading age of 8.

Spencer is in shock.  His best friend Zac turns thirteen and changes into a skater, complete with a hoodie and a skateboard.  Spencer is thirteen in a few weeks, but vows to not change.  He is going to be an (un) teenager.

Diary of an (Un) teenager by Pete Johnson is the hilarious story of Spencer refusing to change.  His lego and model airplanes are firmly staying in his room.  Neither is he going to buy new trainers, when his old (and slightly smelly) ones are perfectly suitable for a kick about in the park.  Spencer's resolve is however fully tested when he receives an anonymous birthday card and a badly drawn heart in the corner.

Spencer is back in Return of the (Un) teenager.  This time Spencer has to contend with the fact his voice is breaking and that his best friend Zac has made loads of new friends on Facebook, including his new girlfriend Sarah.  Spencer's relationship with Emily is not going very well. Return of the (Un) teenager is another comic story of miscommunication.

The anniversary of WWI has inspired a number of novels from Barrington Stoke.  The two latest books by Alan Gibbons and Tony Bradman fictionalize their own personal, family histories relating to WWI and WWII.

Street Corner Dad by Alan Gibbons tells the story of Jimmy and his sister Molly who are forced to meet their father secretly on a street corner when a family tragedy tears the family apart.  Their Dad’s promise that nothing will keep them apart in this world or the next seems ill-fated as news arrives that his ship has been torpedoed.  This is an excellent story aimed at a reading age of 7 and an interest age of 7-12 years old.

ANZAC Boys by Tony Bradman is based upon the lives of his Grandfather Bert and his brother Frank.  Orphaned, the boys are transported by priests to the otherwise side of the world.  Upon arrival Bert’s promise that he will always look after Frank is quickly broken as Bert is sent to Australia and Frank to New Zealand.  Bert tries with no success to find Frank, until remarkably, they meet up by chance preparing for the WWI battle of Gallipoli.  Sadly the reunion is not the happy one Bert intends.  This is a story for a reading age of 8 and interest age of 9+.

Also published is a new story by Malorie Blackman illustrated by Matthew Griffin entitled Robot Girl.  The author brilliantly subverts the genre as Claire becomes jealous of her father’s new creation.  Once again he is spending hours in his laboratory, working on a new project to create an artificial intelligence, using Claire’s own brain patterns without her permission.  Claire’s new friend Maisie is the only person who seems to understand.  The story is intended for a reading age of 8 and an interest age of 8-12 years old.

Quite a selection so hopefully something for everyone and a great variety too!

Record Breaking Events

This weekend appears to be one for breaking records - the 'Spring' weather we are having is so wintry that it appears to be making this the coldest March for 50 years!

Add to this that this week as a new series of Dr Who launches, 50 years after it was first aired and here is another record.

A record number of cities and countries joined in with the WWF Earth Hour on Saturday 22nd March ... I could, go on.

So perhaps it is not just this weekend but this month which is a record breaking one, a lovely example of this is the Guinness World Record Breaking Penny Dreadful event which was held on World Book Day in Bath.  The attempt was aiming to create the biggest reading lesson in a single venue.  Whilst still awaiting the official confirmation I thought it was a wonderfully unusual event to report on in this most unusual of months! 

Such records are certainly a cause for celebrations and so it is with this in mind that now our Blog turns its attention to another record breaking celebration, the fantastic achievement of Barrington Stoke publishing who are celebrating 15 years of their specialist publishing.

Happy Birthday Barrington Stoke

It is the 15^th anniversary of Barrington Stoke and to celebrate there are four new titles from their most popular authors: Keith Gray, Bali Rai, Pete Johnson and Robert Swindells.  These four great stories are intended for teenagers with text suited for reading ages of eight and seven.  Unfortunately I was unable to obtain a copy of Robert Swindells ‘The Deep End’ about Olympic hopeful Lisa Seal.  The other three however will definitely appeal to boys.

Bali Rai’s ‘Shivers’ and Keith Gray’s ‘You Killed Me!’ are two very different supernatural stories.  Bali Rai’s contribution is certainly not one to read late at night with a stomach-churning twist at the end.  His main character Sam makes a new friend, Cassie on the estate where he lives.  She helps him out with a local bully and Sam must return the favour, no questions asked!  The ending is brilliant, raising many questions about what Sam might do next.

Keith Gray’s story couldn’t be more different, using the accusations of a ghost ‘You Killed Me!’, to explore life’s unintended consequences.  Toby -- the killer -- has to find a way of unravelling the mystery and coming up with a solution in which he achieves the greatest good.  As a teacher interested in philosophy, it is a great story encouraging endless speculation about what is in everyone’s best interest.

Awesome by Pete Johnson is a fantastic critic of celebrity as Ben gets mistaken for THE famous actor, Ben Moore.  He is happy to play along, but the situation spirals out of control.  Ben must make the decision, but he risks losing his date with the gorgeous Jasmine.  It is a story examining what it means to live a life when everyone round you sees the celebrity and not the real you.

Barrington Stoke’s latest collection is a great birthday gift and certainly one to share with as many readers as possible.  Many happy returns Barrington Stoke!