Mission Find Mum by Jo Somerset

I’ve only read a few books this month and one of those was Alan Bennett’s Untold Stories. I quite enjoyed that but it didn’t wow me and it did take me over half the month to read.

I’ve decided on Mission Find Mum, a middle grade story of abandonment and reconciliation.   Isla and Lac’s mum goes missing. I’ve picked this partly because I am so chuffed that one of my former students from the University of Salford has published a children’s book. 

‘Aunty Lou’ – not really their aunty but a friend of their mother who looks after them from time to time – cannot help his time as she has to go to hospital for an operation.  Mum had not realised this.

Isla, who is partially deaf, and wears an aid, is bullied at school and now has to act as parent to Lac, short for Lachlan, her younger brother.  A look at her mum’s browsing history indicates to Isla that Mum has gone to the Hebrides.

So, she Lac, her hamster Weasley and Lac’s Luke Skywalker toy set off. They manage but don’t shine at camping and fending for themselves. Jo Somerset really has got rid of the adults and left the children to have the adventure on their own.  Unlike in the Enid Blyton books this isn’t fun and it isn’t even too comfortable.

The police and social workers are now looking for them.  

There are some charming coincidences, just like in all the good works by Dickens, Molière and Shakespeare. The children inadvertently end up at their Granny’s home. The co-pilot in the helicopter that is looking for them is their father. Granny recognises the ring Isla has brought with her.

It’s all a slightly uncomfortable read.  Was Mum negligent to go off and leave them like that? Why had Dad abandoned them?

It comes right in the end but still leaves questions.    

The book is 209 pages long.  It uses a blocked text and an adult serif with difficult   ‘a’s and ‘g’s.   Each chapter heading has a black and white picture of something to do with the chapter.

In the acknowledgments Somerset refers to her work with Greenback Primary school.

There is also a note for children about where they might get help if they are facing problems like Isla’s. 

 

Find your copy here 

Note, this is an affiliate link and a small portion of what you pay, at no extra cost to you, may go to Bridge House Publishing.    

 

The Others by Sarah Merett

 

I have to confess to knowing Sarah from a long time back: we did our MA in Wring for Children together at the University of Winchester, 1998 to 2000.  The college was rather charmingly then known as King Alfred’s College. 

Reuben and his grandmother are constantly looking from their observatory for visitors from another planet.

One day those visitors arrive. Grandma rushes off to meet them and Rueben is home alone.  A friend appears in the forms of Archie, the son of a local grocer. There is something wrong with Reuben’s eyes and he has to wear special glasses. 

Reuben gradually finds out that not everything is what is seems.

Sarah Merrett offers us pace, tension and loveable characters in The Others.

  

Find your copy here.      

 

Note, this is an affiliate link and a small portion of what you pay, at no extra cost to you, may go to Bridge House Publishing.    

The Royal Librarian by Daisy Wood

 

This month I’m recommending The Royal Librarian by Daisy Wood.

Two sisters are torn apart by the Nazi’s cleansing of Jews in Vienna.

One becomes the Royal Librarian at Windsor castle. We do not find out what has happened, to the other until her granddaughter starts to investigate other than that she emigrated to America.

So, we have two time-lines here and we do have several points of view.

This works very well in this case.

The fictionalised versions of Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret are also very convincing.

This is well written and for me a page-turner. Daisy Wood entertains and gives you food for thought in her compelling The Roya Librarian.    

 Find your copy here.      

 

Note, this is an affiliate link and a small portion of what you pay, at no extra cost to you, may go to Bridge House Publishing.    

Harpy by Caroline Magennis

 

This month I’ve enjoyed Harpy: a manifesto for childfree women by Caroline Magennis. Caroline is a former colleague of mine.  She has chosen to remain childfree; this has not been imposed upon her.

It has been a delight to read this book.
Magennis manages to combine a very engaging and readable style with some academic rigour. She recounts instances of how she enjoys her childfree status and how that is challenged socially and in the work place.

As one would expect in a book like this, she quotes accurately from many sources and never forgets to show her own opinion about what others have said. She has interviewed many other childfree women and this gives us a rich combination of many different stances.
It certainly made me think more carefully about the childfree women I know.

A very rewarding read.
 
Find your copy here.      
 
Note, this is an affiliate link and a small portion of what you pay, at no extra cost to you, may go to Bridge House Publishing.    
 

The Lost Diary by Rose Alexander

 

I loved The Lost Diary by Rose Alexander.

Two riveting stories form the past combine with a more recent dilemma.

This story covers three of the grimmest aspects of World War II, aspects not often covered in mass market lit: the Death Marches, German civilian refugees and rapes by Russian soldiers.
The personal story of Katja and Lou is gripping and we are kept guessing right until the very end.

The framework is of Katja at last telling her daughter Jo the true story of what happened to her and of Jo reading Lou’s story in the forgotten diary.

There is surprise after surprise.

Jo too has her problems but realises that they are of little significance compared to what happened to her parents.

Yet Katja’s narration of what happened also helps to solve Jo’s problems.

A fantastic read

Find your copy here 

Note, this is an affiliate link and a small portion of what you pay, at no extra cost to you, may go to Bridge House Publishing.    

Someone Else's Shoes by Jo Jo Moyes

 

I read Someone Else’s Shoes by Jo Jo Moyes for our book club and then we didn’t meet. Nevertheless, it’s a good read.

So, two women end up swapping gym bags and therefore shoes when one of them leaves in a hurry. The gym goes bankrupt, and there is more to the designer shoes than either woman could possibly imagine.

Neither has a perfect marriage and having to live in each other’s shoes for a while makes life even more complicated.

Some say the story is far-fetched. It is and it becomes almost like a Whitehall farce towards the end. Yet it comes good for all of the women involved. It is all a little improbable but sometimes stories have to be that way.  Think Dickens, Molière, Shakespeare and most pantomimes.

Jo Jo Moyes certainly persuades us to watch the backs of all of the ladies that feature in Someone Else’s Shoes.

Note, this is an affiliate link and a small portion of what you pay, at no extra cost to you, may go to Bridge House Publishing.    

Worth a read. 

Find your copy here 

Note, this is an affiliate link and a small portion of what you pay, at no extra cost to you,  may go to Bridge House Publishing.