Teen books

Easter treats for older readers

From the tender tale of a nurturing house-elf to Jacqueline Wilson on dysfunctional family life
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boy who climbed moon
An illustration by Polly Dunbar from The Boy Who Climbed Into The Moon.

The Easter holidays offer opportunities to introduce children to gentle activities in the garden, allotment or window box. Willing or not, they will have no better companion than Lob, the trusty magical helper of Lucy's green-fingered Grandpa Will in Linda Newbery's tender, appealing short novel.

  1. Lob
  2. by Linda Newbery

The cranky trickster house-elf of English folklore shows his nurturing side as a little green man of the garden, secretly doing chores for those who bother to notice him. When Grandpa Will dies, the memory of the creature's spirit helps Lucy recover while Lob sets out on a scary journey to find his next special person. With timeless line drawings by Pam Smy, this is a family classic for children from seven with no upper age limit – Lob will sneak under the skin of cynical early teens – and it could be a soothing bereavement story to read with younger children.

David Almond, who has just received the international Hans Christian Andersen Award for lifetime achievement in children's books, continues to publish illustrated fiction for a new younger readership with imaginative, intrepid and sensitive heroes. Paul, The Boy Who Climbed into the Moon, could be the little brother of Michael in Skellig or Davie in Clay with his loving family and ability to inspire others with his magical quest: he is a lonely boy who lives in a basement flat and longs to touch the sky. Polly Dunbar's illustrations capture the delightful eccentricity of the story, but in many of the images Paul looks younger than his potential readers: the story could have the same wide appeal as Lob.

Jamila Gavin's excellent historical novel The Blood Stone, has been recast for younger readers in Danger by Moonlight. It is rooted in the true story of a Venetian jeweller who visited the Moghul court of Shah Jehan. In Gavin's story, he is captured by bandits and his son must travel to pay his ransom. There is enough excitement on the perilous journey, alongside big questions about trust and betrayal, to keep seven- to 10-year-olds hooked.

This is also the season for days out. Tassie, in Katie Roy's laugh-a-minute story Tassie and the Black Baron, is far from willing to traipse round Huffington Castle in the wake of her enjoyably monstrous twin siblings. Then she finds that she can step into a Blackadder-style medieval era to help the hapless Prince Billy defeat the baddie Black Baron, and the comic chaos accelerates. If Roy, a former news reporter for British Forces Television, had not sadly died since completing her first novel, there would have been more Tassie tales to entertain eight-year-olds and above on wet bank holidays.

Alex Scarrow's TimeRiders have a wider brief in an exciting, well crafted fantasy thriller which will leave readers of 10-plus hungry for a sequel. Liam, Maddy and Sal have been saved from death in their own time (1912, 2010 and 2026 respectively) by Foster, a Gandalf figure, and recruited to correct adjustments to history made by less scrupulous time travellers who have, for example, led the Nazis to invade the United States. The team are based in New York, endlessly rewinding the two days in history when their presence will be ignored: 10 and 11 September 2001. This novel by a former games designer demonstrates depth as well as breadth as the young people and their mentor experience the isolation and responsibility of cutting loose from time.

Isolation and lack of responsibility contribute to faded pop idol Danny Kilman's troubles in Little Darlings, in which Jacqueline Wilson impresses upon her older fans (10-plus) that talent contests are not only about talent and that celebrities are not necessarily the winners of life's great talent contest. Danny's daughters, Destiny and Sunset, share some of his gifts as well as silly names. The girls have grown up separately (Destiny is the unacknowledged daughter of a lovestruck fan) but their bond changes their lives. This is Jacqueline Wilson in her darker vein, verging on The Illustrated Mum territory. When sensible Destiny eventually enters the dysfunctional Kilman family fold, I longed to parachute her out of there.

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http://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/apr/04/easter-books-for-older-readers/print
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