Book Review: The Chosen One

I picked up this book from the Simon and Schuster stand at the Federation of Children's Book Group conference, and I read it at every opportunity thereafter because the quote on the back cover is completely accurate: It is indeed 'intensely gripping and grippingly intense' (Kirkus Reviews)

Kyra is thirteen, and lives in an isolated polygamist community with her father, his three wives, and her twenty brothers and sisters. 'The Prophet' who leads the community enforces rigid rules, by force if necessary, and is seen as a direct conduit to God, thus making any challenge to his authority a challenge against God. Punishment for offences is severe - that given out to a baby because she cried while The Prophet was speaking is truly shocking, even in a book with many shocking elements.

But Kyra is growing up. She is noticing things and asking questions. She sneaks out to the mobile library, being careful not to be away long, and bringing back books which she hides and reads in secret - since The Prophet decreed all books other than the Bible must be burned because the words they contain are 'of Satan'.

But Kyra's biggest secret is Joshua, the boy she sneaks out to meet. The boy she falls in love with. So when The Prophet proclaims that God has revealed that Kyra is to marry her sixty year old uncle, a desperate and tragic series of events begin to unfold.

A simply superb story of a young girl wrestling with a desperate choice. Pulling no punches in the telling, it is utterly gripping, compelling and convincing.

Carol Lynch Williams is reported as saying: "Many years ago I heard of a young woman who ran from her polygamist community. She was dragged home, beaten and yet she ran again. I knew at that moment - at least a decade ago - that I would write this novel."

Price: £6.99
ISBN: 9781847389381
Published by: Simon and Schuster (Publishing August 2010)
Available to pre-order through any good bookshop or online

Review copy supplied by Simon and Schuster

Book Review: The Crowfield Curse

This book was recommended to me by someone who knows I enjoy good children's fiction and I have no hesitation in passing on their recommendation.

William is an orphan sent to live at Crowfield Abbey when his parents die in a fire. He himself escaped the fire without a scratch, a fact which means the villagers view him with suspicion. He discovers he has 'the sight' when he rescues a creature from a trap in the forest. The creature is a hob, a being few humans can see. (The hob is rather an endearing chap, with a central role through the story.)

But all is not well at the Abbey or in the surrounding woods. An ancient document shows that years earlier an angel was shot with an arrow, and buried by the monks of the Abbey. But how could an angel die? Is it really buried in the woods behind the Abbey? And why have two strangers come to stay in the Abbey? Before long Will finds himself caught up in a dangerous and frightening search. One which has implications reaching far beyond his own life...

This is a great read. The characters are interesting. Complex, varied and believable. There is a good sense of place and time (the story is set in 1347 and the historical 'feel' works well without being too dusty and 'old-fashioned') and there is a nice degree of threat/tension. Although a fully rounded and complete story, by the end I found myself hoping there will be a sequel.

Chicken House have a great track record with their children's authors and it looks like they have another great one in Pat Walsh.

Price: £6.99
ISBN: 9781906427153
Published by: Chicken House Ltd
Available through any good bookshop or online

Aiming for an 'L' - I made it!

I made it! I achieved my 'L'.

My assessment was held at the NEC in Birmingham, alongside the 'Focus on Imaging' exhibition. After all the preparation, I wasn't particularly nervous until I arrived, and then the nerves got worse as the morning progressed. I found the room in which the assessments were being carried out, and handed over my panel to Ben from the RPS. I'd emailed Ben a few times when I put in my application so it was good to meet him and put a face to a name. At that point we (Mum had come with me for moral support!) decided to stay in the room and watch some of the other panels go through the process. Originally this was influenced by the length of the queue to get into Focus, but it turned out to be really interesting so I'm glad we didn't just drop my pictures and leave.

However, the more you sit and listen to the comments being made about other panels, the more neurotic about your own forthcoming panel you become! I arrived at the NEC uncertain about one of my images. By the time my panel was put up for assessment, I was worrying about three!

As at the advisory day I attended in January, there was a vast range of subject matter across the various submitted panels, and some of them really had the 'WOW' factor for me, while others were interesting but didn't necessarily appeal to my own taste. At least one other person who'd been at the same advisory day as me submitted a panel for assessment, and I was really pleased to see it pass. It struck me that it must be interesting for distinctions panelists who advise on the advisory days to see re-worked panels subsequently submitted for assessment. I know that my final panel looked much better than the one I took to the advisory day, even though there were actually only a few changes made between one and the other.

As each panel was put up, the 'judges' viewed the panel as a whole, from a distance. Then they considered each picture from close to - sometimes lifting an image down so as to see it more clearly. After each panel had been assessed, a comment or two was made about it to the audience by one of the panelists. In the case of failed panels these comments included reasons as to why the panel hadn't been recommended for the 'L'. Reasons for failure included colour casts, lack of sharpness (although over-sharpening was also warned against), and issues with tonal range. By far the most regularly occurring issue was that of 'blown highlights', resulting in loss of detail in the images.

When one beautiful panel failed on blown highlights in an image of a horse's head my 'worry level' went up another notch. I really felt for the person who'd submitted that particular panel, as in every other way their pictures were fantastic, and I felt quite gutted on his (or her) behalf. But it did confirm what I'd been warned of - that wow factor alone is not enough and you only need one problem in one picture to end up with a 'fail', even if all your other images are spot on.

One thing I found encouraging was that positive comments were made about each failed panel. There was no 'tearing down' of any candidate's work, but helpful criticism and comment. Therefore I hope that although disappointed, no-one failing to achieve their goal on this day would go away feeling ridiculed or made small.

When my own panel was put up, I couldn't watch but found myself scrutinising the carpet. I was amazed by how nervous I was - I could feel my heart pounding and realised I was holding my breath. When my name was announced with 'congratulations' I couldn't contain a huge smile! Well, it was a lot of work and effort, so why not show that I was pleased! Some nice comments were made about my panel, which I noted down as I knew I'd forget them in the euphoria of the moment otherwise.

To see the panel I submitted, follow this link: http://www.annerogersphotography.co.uk/section382203.html

So what next? Well there's the 'A', of course, and I'd quite like to submit a few competition entries this year. So watch this space...

On Running...

"Every Morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up.

It knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed.
Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up.
It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve.
It doesn't matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle
- when the sun comes up, you better be running."

Roger Bannister
First man in history to run a mile in less than four minutes

I enjoy running, even though I am neither a lion or a gazelle! This year my aim is to run a half marathon. I am barely three weeks into my training programme and have already been derailed by a nasty cough which is currently stopping me running at all. But distance running is about perseverance and time. You can't gain enough fitness in just a couple of weeks to run 13 miles. It's about sticking to the training programme when really you'd rather not! And about getting back to it when you've taken a knock.

I'm not aiming for a fast half marathon. For me it will be a major achievement to complete the distance having run all the way. Some are lions, some are gazelles. And some are tortoises! But even a tortoise would need to train for a half marathon...

Book Review: The Silent Governess

Julie Klassen's third novel is definitely her best yet. Olivia Keene is a runaway with a big secret, who blunders across Edward Bradley's own secret with life-changing consequences for them both (not just in the obvious or expected ways!). A multi-layered 'mystery romance', with lots of twists and turns and a whole host of great characters.

Olivia Keene flees her home after a violent incident there. She finds herself on the Brightwell Court estate, where she overhears a highly sensitive conversation. A conversation which, if circulated, could have devastating effects for Lord Bradley. When Olivia's presence is discovered, Lord Bradley gives her little choice but to accept a post as under nurse at Brightwell Court, effectively imprisoning her on the estate, in order to ensure she cannot spread what she has heard.

Positives:

• Engaging and likable lead characters, with plenty of light and shadow in their personalities, especially in the case of Edward Bradley.
• A good 'cast' of supporting characters who are well-defined, well-rounded people.
• Subtle romance - did not dominate the story.
• Plenty of mysteries! Not just Olivia and Edward, but several others, big and small. Great for this reader who likes mysteries and rarely reads romances.

Negative:

• I found the vicar's conversations with Olivia about God and faith a bit strong, and the approach in these seemed a bit too 20th/21st century for a historical novel. But it wasn't enough to be off-putting.

This book passed a long transatlantic flight enjoyably. I have to say that by the end of the book I still hadn't quite worked out why a three month period to Olivia's employment was significant - maybe I was just jet-lagged - but I really liked this story anyway.

Rating: 4/5


Price: £8.99
ISBN: 9780764207075
Published by: Bethany House (Distributed in the UK by Lion Hudson)
Available through any good bookshop, online, or via Baker Publishing Group UK:
http://tiny.cc/sgov

Review copy supplied by Bethany House/Lion Hudson.

Aiming for an 'L' - After the Advisory Day!

Three weeks and three days until 'D (distinctions) Day'!

You might think it wouldn't be difficult to finalise a panel, given that there were fairly few 'action points' resulting from the Advisory Day... But you'd be wrong.

I'm worried about the adjustment I've made on the image which was commented on from a technical perspective (too much/too little? Right/wrong?), I'm still undecided as to the final print sizes for the images on the 'bottom row', and I'm edgy about ensuring the final standard of presentation is spot on.

It's a bit worrying that I can be this neurotic...! But I am going to be very, very disappointed if I miss the mark.

With an business trip and conference coming up before my assessment, all decisions on my panel must be made within a week. Otherwise there won't be time to put everything together before the 'big day'. EAK!

Book Review: Eye of the God

The story opens with Dr Abby Mitchell finding herself caught in the middle of an armed robbery at the Chacara do Ceu Museum in Brazil. The robbery has been carefully planned on behalf of a shadowy organisation known as 'The Collectors', and the robbers' next target is the Hope Diamond. This is a priceless stone, believed to be cursed, and Abby is its curator at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington.

The opening pace is maintained throughout the book, which manages to tell two stories convincingly interwoven - the story of the Hope Diamond itself, and the story of the attempt to steal it and the consequences.

There is plenty of suspense and tension, and some nice twists. I wasn't totally convinced by the resolution to Alex & Abby's relationship at the end of the book, especially Alex's responses but I could suspend my skeptiscism! Mainly because the author knows how to tell a story well!

As a mystery/suspense novel it works very well. Enjoyable, pacy reading with engaging characters and enough complication to keep it all interesting, without it becoming impossible to hold on to all the threads.

However, the 'Christian bit' just doesn't work for me. It feels 'bolted on' and superficial. In fact, the faith element is really condensed into just one paragraph where Abby verbalises her prayer, which I feel adds nothing whatsoever to the story. It's like the book suddenly becomes a 'christian novel' well over 300 pages in. For me, the faith elements need to be woven in all the way through or not at all. There are references to church from time to time, but not in a way which made me think of Abby as believing in God.

The back cover copy refering to Abby's faith being put to the test therefore to me seems rather misleading as I wouldn't have said that Abby appears to have any kind of faith through most of the book.

That said, this is one of Abingdon Press' first fiction offerings, and on the strength of this one, I would happily look at more - especially from this author.

Rating: 4/5

Price: £7.99
ISBN: 9781426700682
Published by: Abingdon Press (Distributed in the UK by Alban Books)
Available through any good bookshop, online, or via Alban Books: http://tiny.cc/eog760

Review copy supplied by Alban Books, with thanks.