James Minter's Blog: Writers do it in Public... - Posts Tagged "growing-up"

A Boy Called Hope by Lara Williamson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is a story about an eleven year old boy, Dan Hope, seeking his estranged father who left the family home for another woman several years earlier. The father has had no contact with his son or the rest of the family since he left but Dan is forever hopeful he can still have a relationship with his dad. Dan’s older sister Grace is a great counterbalance to Dan’s naïve belief that their dad will return and all will be well.
Ms Williamson has an excellent writing style with a focus on pertinent descriptions—just sufficient to allow the reader to visualise the scene—emotional responses to the many and varied situations Dan finds himself in, and the action/reaction interplay of a young, nearly teenager boy, trying to make sense of his world. Written in the first person, Ms Williamson incorporates a great device – clichés – so we see a mainly humorous world through Dan’s eyes in which he tries to make sense of absurd phrases grownups take for granted.
Although written for young pre-teenage boys the story is a worthy read for children and adults alike, and has a theme ‘a little bit of hope can go a long way,’ which is relevant to everyone.
This is Ms Williamson’s debut novel. And rightly, she has received a lot of success and well deserved accolades, though for her next book ‘The Boy Who Sailed the Ocean in an Armchair,’ she has set the bar very high.
A thoroughly enjoyable read.




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Billy Saves The Day: Billy Growing Up, Book 6, Self-Belief is a novel for children, grades 4-6, written by James Minter and illustrated by Helen Rushworth. It was only eight weeks until year 5 would be over, and Miss Tompkins had a plan for the class's year-end production. They would be performing a musical play called The Keymaster, which told the story of a teacher who could travel through time and visit different eras in history. Miss Tompkins handed out copies of the play to all her students and asked them to read the play for homework. The next day, they were to tell her which part they wanted. A number of people were interested in being the Keymaster, and she would hold auditions for that and any other popular roles. While Billy, Ant and Tom were riding their bikes home after school, Ant told them that he wanted to be the Keymaster. He thought he'd be the best actor for the role, but Tom wanted a chance at the part as well. Billy was not at all happy with the whole idea of the play. He didn't think he'd be any good at acting and singing up there on the stage. His Granddad, however, was convinced that Billy could do it, and he would be more than willing to help Billy rehearse.

James Minter's novel for children, Billy Saves The Day, follows the three friends, Billy, Ant and Tom, as they and their classmates prepare for their end-of-term production. I loved seeing how Miss Tompkins and the class progress from that first day of looking at the script and proceed through holding auditions, building the set, learning about stage directions and holding rehearsals. The reader gets a real feeling for the conflict Billy faces as he deliberates whether to try out for a part. Inside, he really wants to be the one who gets up there on the stage and performs, but he doesn’t think he’s good enough. Minter admirably addresses the fears and stage jitters any actor - no matter how seasoned and accomplished - feels when they're preparing to perform. The reader just can't help but get involved in Billy's dilemma and caught up in the excitement of putting on a play. Can Billy be a superhero and save the performance that so many worked so hard to put on? Billy Saves The Day is a marvelous story that shows kids how great things can happen if you believe in yourself and are willing to put in the necessary effort. It's most highly recommended.