Catch Your Death

Ruby Redfort: Catch Your Death
Lauren Child
London, Harper Collins, 2013, 525p

I have been searching for a suitable book for the OSA Y7 Girls Book Club, due to start after Christmas, and I really wish this book was shorter - it is perfect in every other way!

Ruby's third mission takes her completely outside her comfort zone. Ruby is undergoing field training; despite the fact she has already been involved in many dangerous missions, she needs to complete this to become a fully-fledged Spectrum agent. But the wilderness test baffles her practical approach to danger; she cannot escape the unpredictable nature of the outdoors. 

Catch Your Death is the smelliest mission yet, in the sense, alongside all strange animal attacks happening throughout Twinford, a perfume-obsessed foe is haunting the town. And following an difficult night in the woods, Ruby has the flu, is unable to smell anything, and is struggling to keep on top of her school work and her Spectrum duties. 

I am a self-confessed fan of Ruby Redfort - I would have devoured Lauren Child's words when I was a kid, even more so than I devour them as an adult. I get completely lost in Ruby's adventures. In this third mission, her best friend, Clancy, seems to get a much bigger role - he is finally being recognised as a hero like Ruby. And he is fiercely loyal to her. 

In places, the physical book; something I noticed with the previous novels, also. There are pages where a new scene begins, but there is no distinction from the last page, meaning you have to stay on your toes to work out who you are reading about. (And I do not see this as an intentional ploy to get readers to practice their observations skills, simply an editorial mistake.)

Nevertheless, the story is action packed and the book does not feel as long as it looks. You are completely drawn into the action, following Ruby and Clancy every step of the way. 

Fortunately, the Milk

Fortunately, the Milk
Neil Gaiman
Ill. by Chris Riddell

After reading something as mature as The Manifesto on How to Be Interesting, I needed something a little more fantastical and extraordinary, in every sense of the words. 

When Dad pops to the shops to get some more milk, his children are surprised at how long it takes. They speculate that he may have bumped into someone they know and got caught chatting; but when Dad comes home, he has an epic tale to tell full of pirates, vampires (wumpires), and a time-travelling dinosaur. 

Fortunately, the Milk survives each element of the unbelievable adventure. This book is hilarious and ridiculous, but with illustrations from Chris Riddell, you cannot help but get caught up in the action. Each scene is so visual you barely have to suspend your disbelief. 

Apple and Rain

Apple and Rain
Sarah Crossan
London, Bloomsbury, 2014, 329p

This is such an incredibly and irresistibly heart-warming book, it was a joy to read.

Apple has vague memories of her mother leaving, late one night around Christmas, leaving her with her Nana. And every year, Apple dreams that her mother will come back and claim her again. Nana is loving and well-meaning, and Dad is distantly present, popping up at important holidays; but it is her mother that Apple wants back. 

But when her mother eventually does come home, things aren't quite like Apple expected. She moves away from her Nana, but her mother isn't around much anyway, and Apple has unexpected company in her mother's flat. Apple tries to find comfort at school - she loves her new poetry teacher, but is scared about opening up with the truth; and meanwhile, her best friend is moving on. 

As her mum's absence increasingly becomes a social welfare issue, Apple does all she can to protect her mother from a potential visit from the police. Apple is forced to grow up far quicker than any young girl should have to, and as you read you long for her to be returned to her Nana's guardianship. 

Despite all the badness happening around her, Apple is a patient, contentious young lady. She doesn't get mad at her mother when she is away for days; she is far from the typical teenager. 

Throughout the Apple and Rain, Crossan treats the reader to snippets of Apple's creativity, inspired by great poets and universal themes. At points, it seems like poetry is the only good and true thing in Apple's life. I love the infectiousness of her love for the written word, and I am sure many young readers (and writers) share Apple's fear of sharing her most honest feelings with her teachers and classmates. 

It is amazing that a novel that explores a young girl's confused feelings about her absent mother can be so uplifting and enlightening. 

Roy Kane TV Detective

Roy Kane TV Detective
Steve Bowkett
London, A&C Black, 2008, 80p

The Colour Graphix series has had a recent reprint and now they look great! Originally published in 1998, the books in this collection are brightly illustrated, full of drama, and ideal for reluctant readers.

When a diamond is stolen from the city museum, Roy Kane TV Detective is on the case.  The diamond belongs to Magnus Carmody, a billionaire. CCTV footage shows a mysterious dark shape entering and leaving the room, so Kane and his partner, Vicki Stand, turn to local celebrity magician for ideas. But Doctor Praetorius is unable (or unwilling) to help. He seems like the obvious suspect, but nothing is ever what it seems. 

The story is accessible and not overly complicated, but engaging enough for younger readers to want to keep reading. 

Oliver Fibbs: Attack of the Alien Brain

Oliver Fibbs and the Attack of the Alien Brain

Steve Hartley

ill. Bernice Lum

London, Macmillan, 2013, 181p

Oliver feels pretty average compared to his family. His mum is a brain surgeon and his dad is a brilliant architect. His sisters are great at dance and his younger brother is a maths genius. However much they try to work out what Oliver is brilliant at, he still finds himself escaping into the world of his comic books, dreaming of aliens and mysteries. 

At school, he tells epic tales of fantasy adventures, but the other kids just laugh and his teacher simply commends his imagination or tells him off. Unfortunately, being grounded isn't helping Oliver's mission for something real to show and tell. 

Oliver Fibbs is one of those books that is great for the younger or reluctant reader. As we wait for the next Wimpy Kid and Tom Gates books to come out, the boys in my school are occupying themselves with Hartley and Lum's mix of illustrations and comedy storytelling. 

Charlie Merrick's Misfits

Charlie Merrick's Misfits
Dave Cousins
Oxford, OUP, 2014, 201p

With a new cohort of eager year 7s, I have been trying hard to keep up with the latest publications for boys of this age (girls typically find it much easier to find a book they enjoy). I saw Dave Cousins talk about his new books at the SLA Conference back in June, so when they were delivered last week, I got reading!

Charlie Merrick's football team is made up of those who stayed behind when all the good players moved to the rival team, Goldbridge Colts. When Jack starts at school, fresh from an academy club, North Star are eager to snap him up, so Charlie tells Jack he will put in a good word with his sister, Emily. Unfortunately, things do not go according to plan, and as Charlie struggles to convince Jack to stay, it seems the rest of his squad are falling apart. 

Charlie isn't a flawless protagonist - in fact, as the novel goes on he realises that he has been responsible for the low morale in his team. He will put it before everything, even his friendships. 

Cousins has created an elaborate and original format within this book, which included written passages, illustrations, scenes in comic book form, snippets of fantasy commentary, and match player cards detailing strengths and weaknesses of each character. Personally, I struggled to take everything in, with so much going on, but I can definitely see the value in the variety for the more reluctant readers. 

I wish I had had this book during the World Cup, but I am glad there is still momentum in school for students to read in this area. And regardless, with humour and relatable characters, I know many junior boys who will love this.

Clockwork, or All Wound Up

Clockwork, or All Wound Up
Philip Pullman
London, Corgi, 1996, 92p

Clockwork is one of the novels the year seven read towards the end of the academic year. I am pretty sure I have read it before, but as I reread, I was delighted that I couldn't remember it, so got to enjoy it all over again. 

In a small German town, everyone is buzzing with excitement about the new figure that will appear in the clock tomorrow. An apprentice clock maker is coming to the end of his training, and tradition dictates he must add his own touch to the town timepiece. But Karl is not ready - he has not managed to create anything, so he sits in the Tavern listening to the dark and terrible tales of the local storyteller. 

And when one of the so-called characters of the story arrives in the Tavern, a man who some say is the devil, it becomes clear that the wind up figures might be more than they first appear. 

Pullman's short story explores some complex ideas about good and evil, and about the power of pure love. It draws on tropes from traditional fairy tales, with murder and death contrasted against the innocence of a child, wrapped in a moral about having a good soul. 

But it is also surprisingly haunting - I haven't read a gothic tale like this in some time, and expect to find myself having some weird dreams tonight...

Cakes in Space

Cakes in Space
Philip Reeve
ill. Sarah McIntyre
Oxford, OUP, 2014, 213p

Astra is both nervous and excited about her one hundred and ninety nine year journey from Earth to Nova Mundi, a planet where a select few are being sent to establish a base for people to move to. She is a little peckish before her journey, and accidentally breaks the Nom-o-Tron, a machine designed to make any food she wishes. 

But halfway through the journey, she is woken from her space pod to discover the space ship is overrun with evil cakes, created by the Nom-o-Tron after some confusion about her snack request. With her robot friend, Pilbeam, Astra must fix the Nom-o-Tron and set the ship back on it's correct course. 

Cakes in Space is a delightful, merry jaunt through space - I adored Astra's innocence, determination and bravery, and felt like I was taking an adventure with her.

Unfortunately, I only have a proof copy of this book (it comes out in September), meaning the illustrations are not all completed. Yet, within just a few pages, you get a great idea of Sarah McIntrye's skill and what the pages will look like - full of bold pictures with colour spilling over the pages - simply gorgeous!

Now I have to go back and read Oliver and the Seawigs, which I know I should have read long ago!

Clarice Bean, Utterly Me

Clarice Bean, Utterly Me
Lauren Child
London, Orchard Books, 2012, 188p

What's not to love about Clarice Bean? She's cheeky, clever and confident. Admittedly, she has been around for quite a while now, but I have failed thus far to jump on the bandwagon, so thought I would indulge in something I knew I would love.

Clarice Bean is an avid reader of the Ruby Redfort books (which Lauren Child has since published as another series). When their teacher sets them a project to make a book exhibit, Clarice Bean and her friend, Betty Moody, decide they can demonstrate what they have learned from the great child spy. And when Betty Moody mysteriously disappears without a trace, Clarice Bean is able to put her spy skills into action in an attempt to find out what has happened to Betty and the Moodys.

Lauren Child's novels are artistic masterpieces. Each page is meticulously planned and executed, filled with illustrations and text swirling around the page. Sometimes you have to spin the book around just to read a sentence. 

There is some great junior fiction available these days (despite the plethora of books about fairies and puppies), and this republished issue of Clarice Bean demonstrates the popularity of the genre. But what I love most of all is that this book made me really want to read more Ruby Redfort!

Boom!

Boom!
Mark Haddon
London, Red Fox, 2009, 195p

At Oxford Spires, we will shortly be launching our 2013-2014 First Story anthology, and this year our special guest is Oxford local author, Mark Haddon. I adore his writing, but it has been some time since I have read anything from his repertoire, so thought I would rectify that by reading Boom!

Jimbo and Charlie are adventurous, mischievous boys, often up to no good. So when they land themselves in intergalactic trouble, they know no one will believe them, a little like the boy who cried wolf. It all starts when they use a walkie-talkie to listen in on their teachers' conversations, which leads them to discovering that some unusual staff members talk in a strange language. When Jimbo wants to back off, Charlie pushes full steam ahead, determined to find out what is going on. But Charlie disappears, and Jimbo knows he has to go and rescue his best friend.

'Strange' doesn't even begin to describe this book. It is the weirdest adventure story I have ever read, but so brilliantly crafted that I could not help but become engrossed. Haddon has created a weird and wonderful alternative universe - a planet recruiting human sci-fi fans to keep it going.

As Haddon notes in his introduction, this is not his first attempt at this story, but an intricately edited version. But he got it perfectly right with this peculiar adventure, mixing comedy, the supernatural, and 

The Killer Underpants

A Jiggy McCue Story: The Killer Underpants
Michael Lawrence
London, Orchard, 2009, 145p

I haven't read any Michael Lawrence before, despite strong recommendations from many of my students. I suspect it is because I am not concerned about the content and am confident in their appeal to teenage readers, so feel little need to actively promote the Jiggy McCue books.

Jiggy hates new underwear - they just take way too long to wear in. Instead, he wears the same pair every day, even when they get holey and smelly. His mum is fed up, so buys him some new pants, only this new pair won't come off. And every now and then, they start to ripple and suddely whatever Jiggy says comes true! Unfortunately, what comes out of his mouth seems to always get him into trouble, and he's scared these pants are doomed to ruin his life.

This story is so ridiculous it is brilliant. I had no problem completely suspending my disbelief and falling right into Jiggy's strange world of killer underpants. In fact, there were moment when I strangely believed this might actually happen!

Reading Michael Lawrence was a welcome break from some of the heavier teenage fiction I have been reading recently, full of family drama and dystopian action. Jiggy McCue is a simple, comic character created to entertain, and it was delightful to read about such an unfortunate fool.

Extra Time

Extra Time
Morris Gleitzman
London, Puffin, 2014, 224p

It is a rare thing for me to enjoy a football orientated book, but there is so much more to Extra Time than sport. 

Matt and Bridie Sutherland are very close. Matt is a skilled soccer player, and Bridie acts as his manager - and she does a brilliant job! When Matt is spotted by an English club and given the chance of training with their academy, the siblings leave their parents behind and travel to London with their uncle for the opportunity of a lifetime. But at premiership level, football isn't as friendly as it is when played on the field by their house in Australia. 

Bridie is a wonderful story-teller - very observant and intuitive, able to read exactly what her brother is thinking and to articulate his feelings to the reader. She has a huge heart, and it breaks when she sees Matt changing under the pressures of the academy training routines. In the practice sessions, the young players are expected to demonstrate their best skills, even if it involves hurting others on the pitch. Friendship with team mates seems impossible, but Bridie and her uncle are determined to rectify this. 

I adore the relationship between Matt and Bridie in this novel - in fact, I am a little jealous - they are loving and honest through and through, and not in an annoying way! For Bridie, family and friends come first, and she is always seeking ways to make people happy, even if it proves to infuriate the mean-faced academy coaches. 

In Extra Time, football is just a means through which Morris Gleitzman can demonstrate the importance of family and friendship. The sport element will attract many boys or reluctant readers, whilst the beautiful protagonist will appeal to young girls. At the end of the novel, you feel a better person for reading it, rediscovering the value of love. 

Liar & Spy

Liar & Spy
Rebecca Stead
London, Andersen, 2013, 180p

Last term, my colleague, Hannah from Oxford Youth Works, and I embarked on establishing a Girl's Book Club for Year 7. Now, we are making some of the boys happy by making a club exclusively for them, using Rebecca Stead's Liar & Spy as our book for discussion.

Georges is a funny, clever narrator. There is a lot going on in Georges' life when he moves into a new apartment and meets Safer, a skilled spy. Safer invites Georges to join his spy club, the main mission of which is to find out what is going on in the apartment of the mysterious Mr X. As time goes on, Safer becomes more demanding, and Georges starts to question if the friendship and the spy club are worth sacrificing his morals for.

Yes, the names of these characters are rather strange, but seeing as the whole story is delightfully uplifting, it doesn't really matter. And in some ways, the friendship between the boys is strengthened by their mutually unusual names.

Although the main plot focuses upon the spy club, Georges and Safer both have issues they are struggling with and unwilling to share. The club helps distract them from their hopes and fears, but also helps them process some of the challenges they are facing.

Georges is an adorable protagonist - I love Rebecca Stead's style and the voice she has created for our narrator. Not only is does the plot swiftly progress, but you learn little facts along the way as Georges describes his lessons at school and learns from Safer in spy club.

I cannot wait to see what my year 7 boys make of this novel!

To see the rest of my Carnegie reviews, click here.

The Last Wild

The Last Wild
Piers Torbay
London, Quercus, 2013, 326p

Usually, I don't really like books with talking animals - they are very hard to take seriously, especially when they are highlighting an environmental issue such as this novel. But somehow, Piers Torbay has created an original and fascinating dystopia with a true spirit of adventure.

The world of The Last Wild is very different from that which we live in. There are no animals left alive - all have been killed by a disease known as the red-eye. The people are confined to the cities, protected and fed by Factorum, a huge omniscient company that appears to be a little suspect.

Kester doesn't talk. Separated from his father, he is locked up in Spectre Hall where they send kids who are a burden on or embarrassment to society. In his room, he pretends to talk to the cockroaches, which apparently were not affected by the red-eye. Then he discovers he can communicate with animals, of which there are in fact some left alive, and a hoard of pigeons and varmints are plotting to help him escape. They take him north and show him more animals, living in solitude away from the humans, but everyday at risk from infection. They have brought him there because they have a shared dream: they believe Kester is the one who will cure them.

With a stag, a wolf-cub, and a cockroach, Kester sets off to Premuim, the city where he grew up and where he hopes his father still lives. He thinks his father, a vet, might be able to cure the red-eye. Kester is a reluctant hero, never fully believing that he will be the one to save the animals; but he is eager to be reunited with his father so agrees to help.

The Last Wild carries a strong environmental message about the impact of science and the economy on wildlife. I feel guilty about not being a vegetarian after reading about these colourful, loveable animals.

The creatures in this book a beautifully personified, making me wish I knew an adorably eager wolf-cub and a dopey pigeon. In contrast, humans don't come across well, from murderous Facto bullies to misleadingly friendly farmers. Every page of this book presents a new danger to the team, both man-made and natural. And you come away from this read feeling increasingly aware and strangely horrified about the evil we inflict on the animal world.

But the adventure doesn't end here - Kester and his friends still have a long way to go.

When the Guns Fall Silent

When the Guns Fall Silent
James Riordan
Oxford, OUP, 2013, 153p

The events of Christmas Day in 1914 is the stuff of legends. It is written about, adapted for television, and heralded as one of the great symbols of humanity.

When the Guns Fall Silent is another account of this day. When veteran Jack takes his grandson to see the graves in France, he finds the grave of one of his friends has been recently visited. Upon the memorial sits a picture of a group of young men on Christmas Day in 1914, Brits and Germans together on that unique day. Jack sees a face he recognises, and visions of the war return to him.

This novel recounts how Jack ended up on the front line, even though he was too young to be there. When war breaks out and young men join the army, Jack and his friend Harry are recruited to the Portsmouth FC first team. Part of their commitment involves training with the military reserves, and the boys soon find themselves beaten down and remoulded into soldiers. Taking pride in their new-found heroism, they sign up and are shipped to France, where the horrors of war are like nothing they could have imagined.

Then, on Christmas Day, a German soldier plants a Christmas tree, and soon the two sides have agreed a temporary ceasefire. It is almost unimaginable that they can go back to killing one another the next day.

The trenches have become such a vivid image in the minds of the public that Riordan does not need to waste time describing the grime and horror, but instead can concentrate on the development of Jack and his German comrades. He also fills the book with facts about the war - little snippets of information about the suffrage movement and war propaganda disguised as fictional elements of the story.

When the Guns Fall Silent is a touching, beautifully written story; perfectly timed for republication this year.

Cosmic Disco

Cosmic Disco
Grace Nichols
London, Francis Lincoln, 2013, 79p

I am a huge fan of everything Grace Nichols does. Her poetry is full of imagery that seeps into your subconscious and roots itself there in your dreams. This collection has a variety of themes, focusing on space and the natural world.

Nichols is an observational poet, finding beauty in the world and describing it through simple language and vivid images. She pinpoints details in ways you never thought about before and makes them seem so obvious; for example, her poem Sky Artist looks at the clouds and imagines who is moulding them into shapes.

Elsewhere, she personifies the seasons as if they were people, calling them Lady Winter and Miss Spring. She uses rhythm and rhyme in some, where others are left less structure. Some are short, and some are long, but all bring to mind vibrant images of the world around us.

My only slight issue with Cosmic Disco is the cover. Within the pages are black and white illustraations from Alice Wright, which perfectly match the corresponding poems and add to the power of the imagery. But I think the cover is a little childish, and might put some teenage readers off opening up the book and discovering the amazing writing within.

The Great Ice Cream Heist

The Great Ice Cream Heist
Elen Caldecott
London, Bloomsbury, 2013, 181p

This week, Book Trust were excited to announce the selection for the Bookbuzz scheme 2014. To join in the celebrations, here is my review of one of the short listed books - The Great Ice Cream Heist.

During a long and potentially boring summer, Eva's father volunteers her to help rennovate the local community centre. There, she makes friends with Jamie, despite being told repeatedly that he is nothing but trouble. When the centre is vandalised, everyone assumes Jamie and his brothers are responsible, but Eva really wants to give Jamie the chance to prove his innocence.

The friendship between Eva and Jamie defies parental consent and social expectations - all the other kids at the community centre think Eva is silly to befriend such a devious boy. But Eva shows them that there is more to Jamie than the bad behaviour of his family, and that you can never judge a book by it's cover.

Through her friendship with Jamie, Eva is also able to work through her confusing feelings about her mother, who died in a skiing accident. Eva's father is overprotective, bubble-wrapping Eva to protect her from harm, be it physical or emotional. But with Jamie, Eva feels most alive, and comes to understand the value of adventure.

Caldecott's novel also explores the challenges of dyslexia for a teenager. Eva struggles with reading, describing the words on the page as they blur together into a incomprehensible mess. She has to recruit friends to help her read - she is embarrassed by her problem but her friends are happy to help.

The ice-cream heist comes towards the end of the book, where adventure peaks and madness ensues. Eva's story is uplifting and heart-warming, a great fun read.

You can find the rest of my reviews for the 2014 Bookbuzz selection here.

Stay Where You Are and Then Leave

Stay Where You Are and Then Leave
John Boyne
London, Random House, 2013, 247p

I love the way John Boyne writes - it is so poetical and descriptive that you become completely lost in his world. His novels are so emotional, taking you on a journey of love, loss and hope.

Alfie's fifth birthday is overshadowed by the outbreak of the First World War. At the last minute, most of his friends find they cannot come to his party, caught up in their own family concerns. And those who do attend are distracted by the impending stress and fear of war. The next morning, Alfie's father volunteers, convinved it will be over by Christmas. But four years later, he still isn't home and his letters have stopped coming.

Although his mother tells him his father is away on a special secret mission, Alfie is convinced his father is dead. Until one day, shining shoes in Kings Cross station, he accidentally reads the papers of a  doctor and discovers his father is actually in a hospital in Ipswitch. He sets out to bring him home, but finds himself totally unprepared for the impact the war has had on the mind of his father.

John Boyne is the kind of writer who manages to make you completely adore a character before putting them in a situation of drama and heart ache. Stay Where You Are and Then Leave is slow paced in the early chapters, setting a scene of wartime poverty and family separation. Alfie is a fundamentally good young boy - perhaps a little idealised in contrast to many teenage protagonists of today - but he is determined to go about his secret mission alone rather than asking his mother or neighbours for help and advise, which innevitably cannot end as well as he hopes. So as the reader, you watch helplessly as Alfie stumbles into territory from which you are convinced will only end in tears.

Today, we have a much better understanding of shell shock than doctors had in the early twentieth century. We can empathise with the distress of battle and the struggle faced by soldiers returning to everyday life. But people continue to suffer from the psychological effects of warfare, and not all families are as lucky as Alfie's.

The Montgomery Murder

The London Murder Mysteries: The Montgomery Murder
Cora Harrison
London, Picadilly, 2010, 246p

Years of watching murder mysteries with my mother have led to a love of crime dramas. So when they are successfully created for a teenage audience, and set in Victorian London, we are onto an instant winner.

Alfie lives with his brother Sammy and his cousins in a Covent Garden cellar. They are children of the street, begging  and performing tricks with their loyal dog to bring in enough for food and rent, but they are savvy and knowledgable. When a murder happens in a nearby street, Alfie is recruited by Inspector Denham to find out the talk about town and solve the mystery.

Mr Montgomery is recently returned to his wife and son from India, where he owned a tea plantation. It seems the crime was not commited for theft, as the body still has many valuables about it. The initial suspect is an Indian boy whose father was hanged for stealing - is this boy out for revenge? But could it be the wife or son, their peaceful lives disrupted by the return of their breadwinner; or even the suspicious Butler, clearly an angry and dangerous man?

The story is led by the young protagonists, who work almost completely without the support of any adults. They manage to find ways into the Montgomery household through a connection with the scullery maid, and they use their knowledge of the city to find people with the answers they need. But the children increasingly find themselves at risk, drawing attention to themselves as they poke around in other people's business, eager to discover the truth.

Cora Harrison has an easy, smooth writing style on which the reader can float along with the story. It is fast-paced and expertly plotted, leaving no opportunities for the reader to get bored with all the action that takes place. And the characters are succinctly developed, though you can tell there is more to learn about these four boys as the series progresses.

Why Spacemen Can't Burp

Why Spacemen Can't Burp
Mitchell Symons
London, Random House, 2013, 209p

The format of Mitchell Symons' non-fiction books is pretty flawless: filled with comedy and illustrations, sampling facts in bite sized chunks, with answers to questions you never even thought to ask.

In this book, Symons picks the brains of scientists, historians and sociologists to better understand why it is considered unlucky to spill salt, why people say "I'll raincheck", and who invented crisps.

I learnt lots of new facts reading this book, though I cannot really remember anything specific now. This is the kind of book you dip in and out of over time, readign a few facts here and there over the course of several weeks.

As such, it is ideal non-fiction reading for reluctant teenagers or high ability younger children. Symons is accessible and friendly, admitting when he has struggled to find an answer and engaging extensively with his audience - most of the questions in this book have been sent in by his readers, giving us an interesting insight into the mind of the curious teenager...