Yvonne
HOMEWORK
It was not a great way to get out of History.
And it hurt.
A lot.
One minute Emma was sitting at her desk half-listening to Miss Houghton explaining why the Romans had such a big influence on how we live our lives today, when she suddenly felt a sharp stab of pain in her left leg.
“Ow, ow, ow!!!” she jumped up from her seat.
“What on earth is the matter Emma?”
“Ow!”
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These opening words are from a children’s book, by new author Miranda Newboult and equally new publisher Tannbourne Ltd.
Now all I need to know, is who or what is stabbing Emma and causing her pain, and why?
This is a complete turn around from my normal reading genres, but one that I am quite looking forward to embracing, as I am keen to see just how much children’s fiction has advanced over the the last few years.
Book cover art has certainly moved on apace and this book is definitely eye-catching and bright for the younger reader. The book is deemed suitable for readers in the 8-12 year age group.
It is probably not a book that I would not have requested to review, however, Tannbourne’s social media co-ordinator, Jazz, handed out the invitation, which I was pleased to accept.
As usual, the link to the image will enable you to peruse the full synopsis and my thoughts about the book, will be published in due course, when I have managed to clear the backlog of reviews I have partially completed and littering my ‘ wordpress dashboard’!!
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Want to take part in ‘Book Beginnings?
If you want to share the first lines of a book you are reading, click on the link and visit Katy, at ‘A Few More Pages’
You can then leave a link to your own book beginnings post, or just browse for some great reads, there are always plenty of new authors and titles to be found.
Don’t forget that Katy and all the other contributors to this meme love to hear from you, so why not leave a comment or two, at the same time.
I’ll be interested to hear what you think. I think children’s lit is some of the most innovative and imaginative around. I too am reading a series for 8 to 12 year olds (Angie Sage’s Septimus Heap books), borrowed from my grand-daughter, and finding them hugely entertaining. I hope yours is too.
Hi Cath,
Not having any children or grandchildren, I don’t generally get to see a lot of what is out there for them in print, these days, so this is the perfect opportunity for me to catch up.
I checked out the ‘Septimus Heap’ books, they sound great and the covers are amazing.
‘Emma’s Stormy Summer’ is definitely one for the girls and is a little more like I remember ‘The Famous Five’ books being.
I am wondering whether girls still read ‘nice’ stories any more, or if your grand-daughter’s taste in books is more indicitive of what the modern child reads?
I have also thought about the age group the book is aimed at and had considered that 7-10 year olds may be slightly more appropriate.
It is still proving to be an entertaining read and a nice change from my usual genres.
Yes, girls still read nice books. My grand-daughter adores Enid Blyton for instance. I say ‘girls read nice books’, sadly the real truth is that the vast majority don’t read *anything*. My grand-daughter is very unusual in that she reads all the time and is also an eclectic reader, although she does, like the whole family, have a bent towards fantasy.
Hi Cath,
It’s good to hear that Enid Blyton is still a popular author, at least with some youngsters.
As she was the defining influence on my reading when I was a child, this was the comparison I was making with ‘Emma’s Stormy Summer’ and I have to say, that after taking into account the change in language and social content, the style of Miranda Newboults writing is very similar to that of Blyton.
I am a little disappointed that my love of reading, which I seem to get from my father, hasn’t rubbed off on any of my family members. My brother, sister-in-law and both my nieces, are never to be found with a book, which saddens me somewhat, although my eldest niece’s fiance is as bad as myself and always has his ‘nose in a book’, albeit non fiction as a rule.
From these opening lines, I am very curious about what is happening to Emma. The cover on this book is very captivating, too. Thanks for sharing.
Here’s MY FRIDAY MEMES POST
Hi Laurel-Rain,
I have to say that the great colourful covers that are appearing on so many new books, especially those for children and YA, make a refreshing change to some of the more sombre images that used to appear as the book covers of my youth.
I only wish that they would encourage more youngsters to pick up a book and see what they are missing.
That’s pretty good 🙂
Thanks for sharing it!
Here is my BBF 🙂
Hi Juju,
Yep! reliving my childhood for a few hours has done me the world of good, although I think that being a young person in today’s hectic, commercialised, consumer driven world, is much more stressful than life when I was a child.
A great entertaining read, that made me feel good!
That’s exactly the type of interesting, amusing opening I would have enjoyed had I been several years younger! Thanks for sharing 🙂
The opening lines do grab the interest of the reader and introduces us to Emma at a time when, unknown to her, her life is about to undergo several dramatic changes, which will be the catalyst for a period of development and maturity in her adolescence.
Interesting! What on earth could be causing the sharp stab of pain in her leg? Hmm… An interesting opening to a book.
When I was between 8-12 years old (which was rather a long time ago now!), I think I was reading Roald Dahl and Judy Blume books.
Hi Nikki,
Both of those authors are way after my time, I’m afraid, I am more of an Enid Blyton baby.
I did check out Judy Blume though and on comparison, I should take back my comment about the age group thing, as it would seem that this book is pitched just about right at 8-12 year olds. You can tell that I have not got any children, can’t you!!!
Yes, that is quite an interesting beginning. I want to know more!
Thanks for participating in Book Beginnings!
Hi Katy,
The whole book was well thought out and put together, I really enjoyed it.
The review will out soon, although I do seem to be getting a little behind with all the posts I need to write.