Gill James's Blog, page 15

My Story: Suffragette, an Edwardian Girl’s Diary 1909-1913 by Carol Drinkwater

2011, fluent reader, Key Stage 2, Key Stage 3 ages 9-11, ages 10-13 
Dollie tells her own story through her diary.  She is a young girl who used to live in the slums.  She is given a chance in life and adopted by a rich family who make their money from the docks.  She becomes involved with Women’s Suffrage and Political Union.  
The text makes the difference between suffragettes and suffragists quite clear. We read some gruesome details of how women were imprisoned and what happened when they went on hunger strike. 
Dollie herself is imprisoned and is force-fed.  She is also present at the Derby at the Epsom race course on the 4 June 1913 where Emily Wilding Davison throws herself down in front of the king’s horse. Emily died of her injuries on 9 June 2013.   
At the end of the book is a useful timeline and there are also some intriguing photos. The author provides some historical notes.  
This is one of a series of “My Story” books where history is brought to us through the voices of young poeple.   

News 4 December 2018

 Bridge House, CaféLit, Chapeltown Celebration Saturday was hectic but very enjoyable. First of all Debz and I conducted a short story work shop that launched the 2019 Waterloo Festival Short Story Competition. The theme this time is “Transforming Being”. Stories and monologues must be no more than 1,000 words and the deadline is 28 February.  Full details are already on the festival site. And will soon be also on the Bridge House site. Find them here.      We really must thank Dianne Stadhams for putting us in touch with the Waterloo Festival. We had a super venue in the St Anthony’s Church Centre, a very easy walk form Southwark tube station and also close to some very good bars and restaurants. Several members of the group had lunch before the event and Debz, her dad and I had dinner together afterwards. The folk at St Anthony’s looked after us well. It was just right. There was the usual mingling and exchange of ideas. Ten writers read for us and we were very well entertained. We had a prize draw for another fun copy of Magical Christmas. The photo here shows Allison picking the winning ticket; she did not take part in the drawer as she has already reviewed the book for us.  And I the afternoon we announced the theme for the next Bridge House anthology; nativity. This may be because one of our delegates in the morning was on maternity leave. Is that how we got the idea? It may well be that the theme will, as ever, be skewed and the title of the book may be different.  Full details on the Bridge House site.                      News about my writing My own writing is carrying on much as I mentioned last month.  I'm now on  the third edit of Peace Child 4.  I’m continuing to work on my book about the dark side of children's literature – which is making me read a lot and also reread several works I’ve read before. Schellberg 5 is still on hold for the moment. I’m please to say that Peace Child 4 is settling down now.     More comments on AmazonOur good friends again. We actually have very little influence over what they do and they are in the end a retailer, a business who can do what they like.  It is frustrating when they say that  a book is going to take several weeks to deliver but we know that they only have to raise an order with Lightning Source / Ingrams and the book can be with them within 48 hours.  I believe they tend to put their orders in on a Thursday so it’s good if your friends and family order on a Tuesday.  That gives the order time to go through their internal systems. Note, it is only Amazaon.co.uk that does this. .com, ,au, .fre etc promises two to four days. Even The Book Depository, actually owned by Amazon offers a better delivery time. Other online retailers are also more optimistic. However, these sites often then take a little longer to deliver. Amazon UK is over-cautious.   I decided with one title to set up a “trigger”. I ordered a copy on 19 November. It promises delivery between 12 December and 12 January.  The suddenly it was 8 December, then 6 December, then1 December and finally on 28 November they said it would arrive the next day. It arrived at 9. 00 p.m. that evening.  The next day it said there was only one book in stock but it shows a four day delivery on that. Have we now sold a lot? Did they order two when I put my order in? However, yesterday, there were two books in stock and it was promising next day delivery.   I can’t keep looking at every book we publish all the time but if you see a title showing a silly delivery time, do write to Amazon from the book’s page. Point out that they should be ordering from Lightning Source who will deliver quickly so what they’re saying doesn’t make sense.        We’re now selling directly from our site again but we can’t match Amazon discounts or cheap delivery. Also, it is more work for us so we’re not really advertising it a lot.  But you are in the know and so you can offer this as alternative for your family, fans and friends.  And of course, there is our new catalogue …. See below. If we get more than 50 reviews on Amazon, they’re more likely to stock more of our books. So, keep those reviews coming.  Catalogue of our books I have for some time been quite impressed with how Endeavour markets book and have wanted to emulate that but without making tooo much extra work for myself.  I frequently buy books from them, actually. Thank you to the Scribblers group who’ve joined in the debate and helped me to clarify my thoughts. Now they have crystallised and this is what will happen:Every Friday I will “publish” a particular “demographic” of  Books e.g. “Our Little Square Flash Fiction Books” or “The Works: John Smith”There will always be some sort of offer e.g. buy all for … . the price here will be cost plus 10%.  As always buy five books and postage is waived. Even if you have a page the books on that page that we publish will be on some sort of offer. You may like to suggest your own offer.  I’ll advertise via Twitter and Facebook but I really want to build up an email list. I have quite a bit to get set up here, so this may well not start until January.  But watch this space and look out for me on Twitter and Facebook.                                    Catalogue of books for children I’ve added several titles to this over the last. It is growing apace.  You can find it here.  Do take a look if you’re into children’s books. Useful links for writersMy list of links for writers is also growing steadily. Find it  here.  1940s Group Just a reminder: this is a Facebook group for all people who write about the 1940s. Fiction and non-fiction, for young and old. Topics might then be: the Holocaust, World War II, Civilian Experience (all sides) and the battle front. We can exchange ideas about research and marketing. We may promote books and stories, - the last day of every month and on launch / release day. If you feel that is you, do join us: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2026868870924138/    Of course, with my Schellberg Cycle I'm constantly in that world.       Dreamteam Find members here.     This is a personal recommendation. Initially I intend to use my Dream Team a lot myself but gradually I would add in people that friends and friends of friends have recommended. What happens? You sign up to a mailing list and every time a request comes in we mail it out to you or the enquirer contacts you directly via my web site. The conversation then carries on between you and the person making the request. You may also have a page set up on my blog and you may update that once a year.  Interested? You may sign up for more than one category.  Beta readers sign up here.Reviewers sign up here. Editors sign up here.Illustrators sign up here.Designers sign up here.Proof-readers sing up here.    DO REMEMBER THAT AT ANY TIME YOU’RE APPROACHED AND YOU’RE BUSY IT’S PERFECTLY FINE TO SAY NO.   News from all of our writersDo keep sending news like this and remember to supply a link to where reader can buy the book. 

Anne Goodwin’s Becoming Someone is published in paperback and e-book formats on 23rd November, 2018, by Inspired Quill. Generally, her books are most easily accessed through online retailers, through my publisher’s website or at author events:Amazon author page viewauthor.at/AnneGoodwinAuthor page at Inspired Quill publishers http://www.inspired-quill.com/authors/anne-goodwin/  Read an fascinating article by one of our Bridge House authors here:  https://qwfwrites.wordpress.com/2018/07/13/amazing-grace-a-literary-friendship-by-s-nadja-zajdman/         Bridge House Crackers is out. We sold out at the event last Saturday. And it has a ranking on Amazon. Find it here. You can see excerpts from the stories here  We’re still getting plenty of interest in our single-author collections. These are now only for authors we’ve published before and they may include stories we’ve already published, ones they’ve had published elsewhere and new ones. The description for this is now on the web site. http://www.bridgehousepublishing.co.uk/index.php/single-author-collectionsYou may recycle stories we’ve already included in another anthology, and you may reedit these if you wish. You may also add in new stories. We’re aiming at a total word count of between 30,000 and 70,000 words.
Your work will go through three stages of editing, and will be proof-read twice in-house. We design the book and the cover. We hook it up to all the distributing channels and we complete first-level marketing. We are risking all of this on you as well as the set-up costs and the copies to the British Library and legal deposit agency.   
You’ll probably not get rich quick: anthologies by new authors do not sell in big numbers initially. Each month we post to a dropbox information about books’ performance. A link is sent with the monthly newsletter. See below for how to access this newsletter.          We have a huge backlog so please be patient. You can always check our progress at: http://apublishersperspective.blogspot.co.uk/p/work-flow.html
      CaféLit One of my own stories will appear in the Christmas run. This rather reminds me of how I came to set up Bridge House in the first place. As an alternative to all of those letters that people sent out at Christmas, I started including short stories with the Christmas cards. I then had the idea that it might be nice to put them together into a book and make a kind of Advent Calendar. But that would take me twenty-four years to complete.  So, I invited others in. Now Bridge House produces an annual anthology that contains twenty-four stories. Debz and I no longer contribute as writers.Story Goes Missing that will appear on CaféLit on 24 December may seem like a story for children at first and children will understand it at face value.  Adults will probably understand it in another way. Isn’t that after all how all good fairy / folk stories work? A few more Christmas stories are still needed.  Stories are now all being posted at 4.00 p.m. Afternoon Teatime, Kaffee and Kuchen time and it's also when the kids are home from school. Just the right time for a cuppa and a good story. In November we had stories from: James Bates, Janet Bunce, Lynn Clement, Penny Dale, Jo Dearden, Margaret Drummond, Susan E Eames, Joseph Isaacs, Gill James, Dawn Knox, Mark Kodama, Roger Noons, Martin Parker, Sylvia Patsalides, Paula R C Readman, Michal Reibenbach, Hannah Retallick, Bruce Rowe, Allison Symes, Nanette Tames, Alex Womack and Robin Wrigley.   
Highest performing posts were:She Says We’ll Get There Soon She Saysby  Hannah Retallick 278On the Other Side of Peace Dawn Knox 172 Cider by Lynn Clement 128The Return by Janet Bunce  104The Princessby Michal Reibenbach 94 
Facebook no longer allows me to schedule posts. If when I go to my editor’s dashboard I see that a story has fewer than 20 hits, I put it on my own Twitter feed and the Facebook page.   Our stories are generally spread in the following ways: 36 people have signed up to have the stories fed from the blog site  I tweet about the site from time to timesome members visit daily or when they have time  authors make efforts – blog, website, FB, email signature, word of mouthcasual readers come across the site      one story being read leads to another  Maybe you could all share your ideas of how to make us more visible and tell us what you do? You can read all of the stories  here.
Here's a reminder of how we select stories: I open my inbox and I'll often see four or five submissions. I'll select the best of the bunch and schedule it for in a few days' time. I'll let you know. I may reject one or two but ones that are basically sound I'll keep forever or until they’re published.  Consequently if one you've submitted to us has not been rejected, and you find a home for it elsewhere, let us know the name of the story and the date you submitted and we'll remove it from the archive. Try to include the drink each time. Do put CaféLit in the subject line so we can identify your submission. Remember to include your bio (50-100 words including links for longer stories, just links for 100 words or less) each time. I haven't got time to look up an old one and in any case your bio is probably changing all the time. .           We're always open to submissions. Find out to submit here. Remember, this gives you some exposure, you can add in a short CV each time, and there's always the chance that your work might be accepted for the annual anthology.    
We have some seasonal opportunities coming up now:Winter ChristmasNew YearValentine's DaySpringEaster  So, get writing. On offer for CaféLit authors is a page on our web site. See examples here.  This month I’ve added Charles Joseph Albert. Read about him here.   The list is growing. Click on the names to find out more about the authors and to access their work. If you're a CaféLit author and would like a web page, use the ones there to get ideas. You need to send me between 250 and 350 words about yourself, an attractive image, a list of up to six publications, up to six awards and up to six links. I then also link the page to your stories on CaféLit. Send to gill at cafelit dot co dot uk.  I’m happy to update the pages each January.   
 ChapeltownWe’re very excited to have produced out first hardback highly-illustrated book Magical Christmas. It is a delight. See it here.And of course, I hope you’ll give us a review.       Our Chapeltown authors continue to be very proactive in promoting their work. They have managed to get their books into shops and libraries. They are also buying lots of author copies and are getting on to blogs – mine included, of course. We’re still interested in producing flash collections but only by authors we’ve already published on CaféLit or in a Bridge House anthology or who already have a collection out with Chapeltown.     Creative CaféI’ve added an American café in this month: http://www.creativecafeproject.org/2018/11/club-cafe-pittsburgh-usa.htmlKeep sending suggestions and review them if you can.  Cafés might further support the project in the following ways.  I could provide you with flyers about The Creative Cafe Project and CafeLitYou could have the ezine up and running for people to browse and search – they should pick stories according to the drink they fancy!run an event on writing for Cafelithold an event for local writers published by CafeLit stock some of anthologies (they are available through normal distributors)host a Writer in Resident – see  http://www.creativecafeproject.org/search/label/writers%20in%20residence / http://www.creativecafeproject.org/search/label/Writer%20in%20Residence     host a readers’ event where readers all read the same anthology and then talk about two or three favourite stories       Do you have any further suggestions? I'm continuing my tour of creative cafés where I collect stories for an anthology. In some cases, writers may offer them and in others customers may tell me their story and I'll write it for them. Do you know of a café that might be interested in this? Let me know if you do.         Remember you can now buy merchandise for the Creative Café project. The profit on anything you buy here goes to the Creative Café Project. Check this out here.    We’re always looking for new cafés.  If you visit one of the cafés in the projectand would like to write a review of between 250 and 350 words – nice, too, to have a couple of pictures – send it to me here.Do the same if you find a new café.  The Red Telephone I have some books now lined up to read. I'm particularly interested in near-futures speculative YA fiction. Again, I’m only accepting proposals form people we already know.      Facebook Group for the Imprints Scribblers Sans Frontières - Here you can:·         Discuss all technical issues re our books·         Exchange marketing ideas·         Advertise and report on your events·         Promote any of your titles or successes ·         Share good practice and ideas·         Get help with writing problems ·         Anything else appropriate The page URL is https://www.facebook.com/groups/185719828704485/Please come and join us if you're eligible. Or you can ask me to sign you up.  
School Visits I’m proactively promoting my school visits associated with The House on Schellberg Street project. I’ve now developed a whole workshop for this. It starts off with a board game, includes some role play and creative writing and ends with a discussion. It is now possible to purchase the kit to work on on your own. Find details here.Costs for my workshops = travel expenses plus £400 for a full day and £200 for a half day. This includes all materials and some freebies. Two schools near to each other might consider splitting the day and halving the travel expenses and fees. This is open to negotiation in any case.        I also offer a free half day visit, though you pay my travel expenses, if you allow me to promote my books.       I’m continuously adding materials for schools to the site that are different from the ones I use for the workshops. I’ve recently added in resources and books to do with the topic. See them here:       Query for a school visit here.I’m also happy to tailor a visit for your agreed donation. This can be for either a Schellberg Cycle visit or a creative writing workshop. Any monies raised this way will go specifically to a project I have for a non-fiction book about a journey that will follow the footsteps of Clara Lehrs. I’m hoping to do the whole journey by train, including departing via my nearest Metrolink station. It’s important to feel the rails beneath my feet.       I offer as well standard author visits which include readings from my books, Q & A sessions and creative writing exercises. Please remember, with these as well, I’m open to negotiation if you can’t afford the full price. Free listing for our writers If you are one of our writers and would like to offer school visits, please contact me. I'm offering a free listing on the imprint pages. State: age groups you are prepared to work with, a definition of your work, distances you are prepared to travel. Appropriate links. Please provide an image.           Upcoming eventsScribblers Celebration EventYOU DON'T NEED TO BE AVAILBALE ON 23 DECEMBER TO JOIN IN.  https://www.facebook.com/events/528939584193914/23 December 14.00 – 17.00 GMT. Do come even if you can't come at that time. Items will be added to before and after that time.This is for all those people who cannot attend the event on 1 December; perhaps you live too far away or you have something else on. You can attend outside of those times but it will be live then.    Take a look at my blog post about cyber events: http://apublishersperspective.blogspot.com/2017/12/the-on-line-launch.htmlThere is also a chapter about this in my book on marketing:  So Now You're Published, What Next? This gives you some idea about how this all works. In addition, I ask that everybody who attends offers a secret Santa. This could be a physical gift that you send to one other attendee. One of your books, a notebook with your book cover   or coffee mug. Or you could offer a one-off service such as a critique of a short story.  Or you may offer a file that I'll put into a dropbox and you could expect multiple downloads. This could be a mobi or PDF of one of your books, an audio file, an excerpt, or a tip sheet. Would you like to make a short video of you reading?     Current reading recommendationOnce again I’ve read some great books this month. This one, though, might seem an odd choice but I did find it engaging. Winnie M Li was herself assaulted it took her nine years of recovery and hard work for the novel to become a reality.  This is not the story of the assault upon Li but at least we know that she writes with authority.Protagonist Vivian likes to take herself off on lone hikes and it is whilst on one of these on the outskirts of Belfast that she is raped by fifteen-year-old Johnny. Perhaps it is risky for a young woman to set off alone like that and in an early scene she is propositioned by middle-aged man. Indeed Johnny’s defence argues about that risk. Yet we probably all think that a woman ought to be safe on her own.    Li gives us both Vivian’s and Johnny’s points of view up to and including the trial and beyond. The trial scene is particularly gripping.Li does not spare us the horrors of the rape itself, nor of the discomfort of the police examinations and of the trial. The writing throughout is tight. Both characters are exquisitely drawn.  Find it here.              Calling all writersI'm running an occasional series of interviews on my blog. If you would like to be on my blog just answer the questions below and send them with appropriate images to gill dot james at btinternet dot com. Please feel free to pick and choose which of these to answer.  1.      What do you write? Why this in particular?  2.      What got you started on writing in the first place?3.      Do you have a particular routine?  4.      Do you have a dedicated working space? 5.      When did you decide you could call yourself a writer? Do you do that in fact? 6.      How supportive are your friends and family? Do they understand what you're doing? 7.      What are you most proud of in your writing? 8.      How do you get on with editing and research?9.      Do you have any goals for the future? 10.  Which writers have inspired you?Please write as much or as little as you like for each section and supply as many pictures as you like. Also let me know your latest publication and supply me with a link if it's not on Amazon.  I 'm also happy to offer you a post whenever you have a new book come out, even if I'm not your publisher. In this case answer the following questions:Tell me about your book. Tell us about your research for this book. What inspired you to write this?What's next? How can we get a copy of the book?Do you have any events planned?Again write as much or as little as you please. Alter and add to the questions if you wish. Provide as many pictures as you wish. Send to: gill dot james at btinternet dot com Giveaway I’m giving away the Kindle version of my young adult paranormal romance, Spooking . Access it and lots of other freebies here.  Note, that normally my books and the books supplied by the imprints I manage sell for anything form £0.99 to £10.99, with most on Kindle being about £2.99 and the average price for paperback being £7.00. We have to allow our writers to make a living. But we’re offering these free samples so that you can try before you buy.   Naturally we welcome reviews. Some notes about my newsletters and blogsThey do overlap a little but here is a summary of what they all do.
Bridge House Authors For all those published by Bridge House or interested in being published by us. General news about the imprint. News for writers. Link to book performance. Sign up here.
CaféLit Writers For all those published by CaféLit. General news about the imprint. News for writers. Link to book performance. News about the Creative Café Project. Sign up here.
Chapeltown Authors For all those published by Chapeltown or interested in being published by us.  General news about the imprint. News for writers. Link to book performance. Sign up here.  
Chapeltown Books News about our books and our authors. Sign up here.
The Creative Café Project  News about the project and CaféLit – for the consumer rather than for the producer.  Sign up here.   
Gill’s News: News about my writing, general news about what the imprints are doing, news about other writers I know, news about the Creative Café  Project, a recommended read, a giveaway each month. Find it here.   
Opportunities List Remember I keep a full list of vetted opportunities on my writing blog. See them here. New ones are added several times a day. Roughly once a month I go through it and take out all of the out of date ones. At that point I send it out to a list. If you would like to be on that list, sign up here.  
Pushing Boundaries, Flying Higher News about conferences and workshops to do with the young adult novel. (infrequent postings) Sign up here.  
Red Telephone Authors For all those published by The Red Telephone or interested in being published by us.  General news about the imprint. News for writers. Link to book performance. Sign up here.
Schellberg Cycle Workshop News Offers and news of events to do with Schellberg Cycle workshops. Sign up here.  
School Visits Offers and news of school visits. Sign up here.
Red Telephone Books News about our books and our authors. Sign up here.
A Publisher’s Perspective Here I blog as a publisher. Access this here.   
The Creative Café Project Listings and reviews of creative cafés. See them here.   
CaféLit Stories Find these here
Gill James Writer All about writing and about my books. View this here.
Gill’s Recommended Reads Find information here about books that have taken me out of my editor’s head.    
Gill’s Sample Fiction Read some of my fiction here.
The House on Schellberg Street All about my Schellberg project. Read it here. Writing Teacher All about teaching creative writing.  Some creative writing exercises. Access this here.       
Happy reading and writing.

Wed Wabbit by Lissa Evans

2017, fluent reader, Key Stage 2, upper primary, ages 9-11    
This is a proper book.  It has a thick spine.  It is 243 pages long. The text is blocked .  It uses a serif font and has difficult ‘a’s  and ‘g’s.   However, it does make a few concessions to the fairly new  reader:  it has short chapters,  it uses double spacing and includes some different fonts for different types of text.  The chapters are short. 
Fidge is thrown into a bizarre fantasy world with her awful cousin Graham shortly after her sister Minnie has been run over. Thus  Lissa Evans cleverly gets the adults out of the way.  Fidge grows in the other world:  she takes responsibility for Minnie’s accident.
We have a recognisable story arc: Fidge crosses the threshold, refuses the call and faces trials and enemies. 
The novel may remind us of other stories. Fidge and Graham are perhaps like Mary and Colin in Secret Garden.  It may also remind us of the Alice book; toys come to life and there is some nonsense verse. 
Pace is maintained through the short chapters, a quick exchange of dialogue, cliff hangers at the end of many chapters and plenty of action. 
It is certainly quirky.     

Peter in Blueberry Land by Elsa Beskow

2003, pre-school, ages 3-5  
This book was originally published in 1901 in Sweden. The pictures and the story are delightfully old-fashioned.  Peter wears a smock over short trousers.   As always in good picture books the pictures tell more of the story.       
There is rather more text than in a modern picture book. The text uses a serif font with difficult ‘a’s and ‘g’s.  Oddly, every other page is blank. 
Peter is looking for cranberries and blueberries to give his mother on her birthday but there are none to be found.  He is helped by the King of Blueberry Land and Mrs Cranberry.  (Are blueberries more important than cranberries and / or men more important than women?)  Anthropomorphic animals also help. 
There is a fantasy element; Peter is shrunk to the size of the blueberry and cranberry children then returns to his normal size easily at the end of the story.     Friendship is a strong theme here. 

Today's Specials: A Selection Of Literary Delights

Today's Specials: A Selection Of Literary Delights by Oldham Writing Cafe
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This anthology is produced by the writing group that call themselves the Oldham Writing Café. They meet twice a month in Oldham. See their Facebook page here .
As a publisher who produces anthologies I know how difficult it can be putting together a cohesive book where every piece pleases the reader. This can be even more difficult when it is a collection by diverse connected writers rather than something where all pieces revolve around a central theme.
However, this one succeeds in keeping the reader engaged throughout. Whilst I liked some pieces more than others there was nothing I disliked and I enjoyed reading some fine writing.
The stories and poems are grouped in to Starters, Main Courses and Deserts. The final section of the book is called Speciality Coffees and gives information about the writers and the group. This section also includes acknowledgements.
Worth a look.


View all my reviews

The Tracey Beaker Trilogy by Jacqueline Wilson

2006, Key Stage 2, ages 9-11, fluent reader, upper primary  For all Tracy Beaker fans this volume combines three of Tracy’s best-loved stories:  The Story of Tracy Beaker, Starring Tracy  Beaker and The Dare Game.  Tracy Beaker has become one of Wilson’s iconic characters. A television series arose from the books and another one, The Dumping Ground, followed on. The concept of The Dumping Ground is important to Tracey. It is a home for children whose parents cannot look after them. Though they are supported by caring adults, and they also support each other, the children lack the attention they would be given if they lived with their own well-functioning parents. Many of the children in the Dumping Ground are damaged and are gradually working through their issues. Tracey herself is no exception and her problems are quite severe. At times she is exceptionally naughty and shocking to normal parents. Some Mumsnet subscribers decided to ban the TV series and the books (Mumsnet 2013). We see Tracy make many mistakes but she gradually learns to take responsibility for her actions and to control herself to the extent that in the TV series, when she grows up, she actually takes on a role as a carer at The Dumping Ground. Tracy horrifies us at times and we may understand the Mumsnet stance. She “borrows” £10 form Cam and doesn’t see it as stealing. She also “borrows” a good pen from Cam. She fiddles with Cam’s locket that has a picture of Cam’s mother inside it. Tracy wants to put a picture of her own mother there. She manages to damage the locket in the attempt. Even worse, Tracy cannot see that she is wrong in her attitude here. She also thinks that Cam should be spending more money on her. Sadly, when Tracy’s mum does actually come back on the scene, Tracy interprets Cam’s reasoned reaction as indifference. As Tracy packs at Cam’s place to go and spend time with her real mum, her insecurity makes her quite cruel towards Cam. However, the good life is soon over. Mum is pale and the curtains must stay shut. The house smells of cigarettes and alcohol. Though Mum has a present for Tracy she claims she is not made of money. The dream begins to break. Mum become irritated with Tracy and leaves her home alone. Later she comes back with a strange man, forgetting Tracy will be on the sofa. Tracy overhears her mum say that she is funny looking. At breakfast Mum tells her she has the chance to meet a film producer. Tracy understands that she is lying. She steals some money and runs away.               Football dares her to take her knickers off and hang them on the fir tree outside. Sometimes the naughtiness gets out of hand.  She, Alexander and Football almost set fire to an abandoned house because they get mad as their parents don’t want them. Alexander gets hurt.                         Tracy is frequently antagonistic towards the other children. Fellow resident Justine helps with interviewing children who live at the Dumping Ground but finds operating the tape-recorder difficult. She is scathing. She admits that she can become violent when the others tease her if she says her mum is a Hollywood star.Tracy is acutely self-aware and presents the readers with truths that may be difficult to accommodate. Yet she continues to dream about her mum becoming rich and famousand that she will come to fetch her. She becomes so obsessive about this dream that she almost gives up good reality e.g. a trip to MacDonald’s with journalist Cam. Is Wilson warning her readers off grandiose dreams or is she suggesting a practical means of being happy? However, when Tracy “downsizes” her dream to that of Cam fostering her she encounters other obstacles. Cam claims her flat would be too small and we sense that she is not too keen on this idea.                            There is some mitigation. When Tracy’s punishment for fighting with Justine is to clean the whole of the Dumping Ground, the others rally round had help her. She gives a marvellous interpretation of Scrooge in the Christmas play. However this is spoilt; her mother is not there. A bouquet arrives- supposedly from her mum.  Tracy complains that the writing on the card isn’t her mother’s but Cam explains how flower deliveries work. We suspect that Cam may have sent it all up. Tracy describes the miserable Christmas she would have in the Dumping Ground. She and Cam decide to join forces. Tracy does not yet realise that this is a solution that could lead to happiness. 

Theatrical by Maggie Harcourt

2018, Key Stage 3, age 10-13, lower secondary
This is a long book –some 439 pages in fact – excluding end matter. It use a serif font with difficult ‘a’s and ‘g’s .  It is also quite a small font.  So, this presents some reading challenges. 
The novel is packed with details of the theatre. This would be a very good read for any young person who is thinking of a career in the theatre. Maggie Harcourt, a lover of theatre herself, includes  all of the technical details into the story, without detracting from it.   
Hope Parker is the daughter of well-known theatre costume designer, Miriam Parker, but secretly applies for an internship in stage management with the Earl Theatre.  It is important that she manages her life in the theatre world without relying on her mother’s influence.  To her great surprise she is successful at her interview. 
There is a gentle romance as well. 
Hope’s relationship with her parents and her two perfect sisters is strained but all of the characters remain rounded. 
There is plenty of tension and pace as Hope overcomes problem after problem.      

Thornhill by Pam Smy

2017, fluent reader, Key Stage 2, Key Stage 3, YA, junior school, lower secondary, tertiary college , ages 9-11,  ages 10-13, ages 13-17      
This is a very tactile book and quite heavy. I t tells two parallel stories. One is in normal prose.  The other  is told in black and white pictures.  
The pictures to some extent work the same way as they do in a picture book for pre-school children; there is more story in the pictures, though here it could be argued it is a supplementary story rather than an extended story. The eye is drawn from left to right, from the top of the page to the bottom.  Double spreads create drama.
The text is formatted raged right and this may suggest it is suitable for an emergent reader.   However, if follows a normal story arc. The font has a serif and the difficult a and g.   
It may also be suitable for the teen reader :  it contains the themes of peer pressure and bullying.  In these two stories adults let the protagonists down.  The prose story includes a first person narrative and reads like a diary. The story in pictures contains a newspaper article.  The reader needs to have a sophisticated level of understanding. 
The first person narrative may also make the books suitable for young adults.  There is a high emotional engagement with the girl who writes the diary. There is also a shock element: was Ella burnt alive?  
Above all else, this is a beautiful book and I can quite understand why it was short-listed for the 2018 Greenaway medal. 

A Note of Madness by Tabitha Suzuma

2006, YA, Key Stage 4, Key Stage 5 ages 14-17, upper secondary, tertiary 


Music student Flynn is bi-polar. It takes a while for him to gain a diagnosis. Flynn seems at first to be clinically depressed. Only later is it clear that this depression is because of his bipolar condition. Flynn and his two friends, Harry and Jennah, attend the Royal College of Music. Life is very competitive. Flynn’s illness creeps up on him. It starts as exhaustion. He is tired all the time despite sleeping for twelve to thirteen hours a night. An early manic episode manifests as he transposes a piano sonata by an obscure Russian into a piece for piano, cello and voice. This could be innocent enough but it is his excitement that is disturbing. Shortly after this, he goes for a run and then stops up all night composing. This is quickly replaced with “impostor syndrome” when he finds he can’t play the Rach Three - a piece he had almost mastered previously. After Flynn takes a lot of aspirin and drinks half a bottle of whisky, Harry realises that there is something wrong and sends for Flynn’s brother, Rami, a doctor Typically adolescent, Flynn thinks one thing and says another. He sees Rami’s suggestion that he take anti-depressants as a ray of hope but is adamant he will not take them. He does take them and they work but Flynn feels there is no need to carry on seeing the psychiatrist. He is functioning better but the “impostor syndrome” continues. Despite the medication, Flynn is tormented. As he drives himself and Rami to the family home for their father’s birthday. He has suicidal thoughts. He also suffers from paranoia. He believes that his father and Rami have been talking about him. He is convinced that his parents hate his old piano. Just before he goes to the first rehearsal for an important concert he pours the remaining anti-depressants down the toilet. He has decided they are ineffective.  The pressure about the concert becomes enormous. When Harry invites his girlfriend Kate and Jennah over for a curry Flynn has what looks like a psychotic episode: he thinks the ceiling is going to fall on them. He gets angry with his friends. He admits he is very worried about the third movement. As they drive over to Rami’s house he is convinced that the car is buckling and will crash. At Rami’s house he feels the wall closing in.  The novel raises the topic of public perception of mental health issues. Even Flynn labels himself as “mad”. He sufferers a common side effect from taking lithium: he feels very tired. His doctor assures him it will get better. He stops taking the lithium. He agrees to his professor’s suggestion that he tries the Rach Three again. He promptly has another manic episode but doesn’t recognise it. It carries him though his exams and then he plunges. He considers suicide  Flynn is at times petulant. It is sometimes difficult to distinguish between his mental illness, normal adolescent behaviour and even his artistic temperament. There is as strong possibility that readers may think they share his symptoms. The story of his relationship with Jennah lifts the text somewhat. He has been in love with her for seven years but only admits it right at the end of the story. The epilogue shows us him with Jennah, on his meds, and making his way to the International Piano Competition. The ending is upbeat and hopeful though the prologue did suggest something else. 

Endings – getting them right

I’m currently working on my second edit of my fourth Peace Child novel. I call this edit “Is the resolution satisfying?”  The Peace Child novels are YA or new Adult so a somewhat open ending is possible and actually desirable. But “open” doesn’t mean dissatisfying. A common fault I note that new writers often do not make their endings satisfying. This is in fact one of the most commonly occurring faults in new writing.  I notice this often as a publisher and as a creative writing teacher in higher education. If the ending isn’t right the story isn’t right. As a publisher I reject most often because the story is not well-formed. My students get lower marks when their ending is poor as they are not showing that they understand story.  What constitutes a poor endingI’ve established three main faults: 1.      Nothing much happens 2.      The ending is melodramatic and improbable 3.      The writer has used a ‘deus ex machina’. This is another improbable ending. This expression refers to Greek drama when a god appears in the story and is whisked on to stage through some clever contraption. The god makes everything all right.  In the 21st century this often translates as a hurried ending with an unlikely set of circumstances solving all of the issues.  Where an how open-ended can be fine Indeed young adults like to have some control over the ending. They like to interpret what has actually happened and what will happen to the protagonist after the story has ended.  Endings for this reader tend to be upbeat but inconclusive. If the work is part of a trilogy or series, the ending of one book may point to the beginning of the next. Even if some matters are resolved news issues may be raised at this point. At a book reading of a so-called literary novel, tongue in cheek, I asked the author how one defined a literary novel. He explained that if you turned to the last page before you’d finished the book you didn’t get a spoiler. Well, well. Let’s see.    How to avoid poor endingsMake sure there is growth in your protagonist. Are they different at the end of the novel / story from how they were at the beginning?
Make sure that throughout the story there is cause and effect and that this is logical.
If you’re a planner, you should know how your story is going to end.  Make sure you work towards that ending all the time.
If you are a panster you should at least know what your story is about.  Keep that in mind all the time.  Maybe have a post-it note stick to your computer screen.
Some examples The second book of Malorie Blackman’s Noughts and Crosses trilogy ends with us not sure whether someone has died or not. Actually though you only have to read the blurb for book three to find out the answer.
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles has a surprise ending. We don’t see it coming and we wouldn’t have thought it of the protagonist.  However, you soon realise that all the clues were there. The has been cause and effect.  
Maggie Gee’s Virginia Woolf in Manhattan has a surprising premise; Virginia Wolfe comes back to life and must learn to live in the 21st Century. The ending provides a plausible explanation for why and how this has happened.