Conclave by Robert Harris: Guest Review from Liz McHale.

Big thanks to Liz McHale for her guest review of the bestselling title, Conclave.  Here are her thoughts:

From the moment I started reading this book I could not put it down. Robert Harris draws you in from the start, you really feel you are there.

118 Cardinals come together to elect a new Pope. Simple? Anything but!

Central to the unfolding story, Cardinal Lomeli, confidant to the late Pope and Dean of the College of Cardinals struggles to make sense of the death of the Pope and the enormous task of organising the Conclave.

The wonderful descriptions of the Vatican, the Sistine Chapel and the surrounding buildings guide you through the heart of the Catholic Church and the hierarchy that dwells within.

There are ego's, friendships, alliance's, secrets and the appearance, at the last minute, of a new member to vote. 

"I'm afraid there's nothing simple about it" 

Some are pure of heart, some wallow in a sense of their own importance, some have secrets only a few are privy to. All this leads to a very organised and not so pure system of voting. Will the most deserving become the next Pope or the one others are afraid to stand up to. As the voting begins you find yourself taking sides also. 

I was so disappointed when I came to the last page as I wanted the story to continue, but.....the last page gives the biggest surprise of all !!

Liz McHale

*We received a copy of this title, via the publishers, in return for an honest review.


Conclave is published by Arrow and is available in paperback and ebook format. Available from all good bookshops and via the amazon link below:

"I Totally Funniest: A Middle School Story: (I Funny 3)" by James Patterson & Chris Grabenstein

We received a copy of this title, from the publishers, for review purposes...

Review by Mia Madden, aged 11 years.

This book is the third installment of the I Funny series from James Patterson.  It is about Jamie Grimm, a boy in a wheelchair, who is extremely funny.  Jamie has entered the planet's funniest kids comic contest and is through to part one of the finals.  The only problem is, he has a bad case of stage fright.  But his trip to fame will help him learn that there is no need to be afraid on stage.  With his friends and family behind him, will he be 'totally funniest'?

I loved this book because there were really funny puns and jokes (which I love).  It is a great story which says that it doesn't matter what your physical abilities are, we are all good at something.  It was well written and had really cool pictures in it too.  I don't actually know anyone in a wheelchair, so it was nice to read about someone who is.  The book is set in Long Beach, California and it was interesting reading about the hurricane, as we don't get many of those in Ireland!  

Although this is the third book in the series, you don't have to have read the first two.  Things are explained in this installment. 

I would recommend this book for ages 8+

I Totally Funniest; A Middle School Story: (I Funny 3) is published by Arrow Books and is available in hardback and ebook format

"The House of Robots" by James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein

Thanks to the publishers for sending us an ARC of this title....

Review by Mia Madden, aged 11 years.

This book is about a boy called Sammy.  His mother is an inventor and is making him a robot to bring to school.  She thinks it will help his sister, Maddie who is housebound due to an illness.  The robot can then teach her all the things he has been taught in school.  The robot is called 'E' (short for egghead). 

'E' goes to Sammy's classroom to learn, but gets suspendended for interrupting teachers and having food fights.  When he is allowed to return to the school, he behaves better after some 'cool' lessons from Sammy.  The book takes a turn when 'E' is kidnapped and Sammy and hos family need to find him.

I liked this story, especially as it had some great puns included.  Sammy is just an average boy with a very special robot brother.  Coming from a family if inventors means his life is unusual, but fun.

Hanging out with 'E' has it's benefits (like having a personal bodyguard to protect him against bullies).  Because Maddie is stuck at home, 'E' is her way of seeing what is happening outside of the house.  

I loved the drawings.  They helped make the book come to life.  I can't wait to read the next in the series of House of Robots!

I would recommend this book for ages 8+

The House of Robots (House of Robots 1) is published by Arrow and is available in hardback and ebook format.

"Middle School: Save Rafe! ": (Middle School 6) by James Patterson. Review from Mia, aged 11

We received a copy of this book, from the publisher, in return for an honest review.

Review by Mia Madden, aged 11.

This is the sixth book in the Middle School series, but you don't have to read them in order.  This is the first one that I read.

Rafe Khatchadorian is a boy who always seems to get into trouble.  It's back to school time and Rafe is not looking looking forward to it.  He was in trouble last term, and to be re-enrolled, back with his class, he has to go on a military camp-style wilderness expedition.  He has no idea what to expect and doesn't know anyone else going there.  All eight kids are there for a reason and need to learn about respect and teamwork.

I loved this book.  It was hilarious, had lots of funny illustrations and there were even some pages that were comic strips.  Rafe was funny but a little bit stupid.  He struck out with a girl from school many, many times and his heart was broken.  The other characters, Burp, Thea, Veronica, Arnie, Diego, DJ and Carmen, join Rafe in learning how to make fire, go white water rafting and climb mountains.  It seems one of the girls even had a crush on Rafe!

This book made me want read more of the Middle School series.  I think james Patterson is a brilliant writer and the illustrations by Laura Park were great!  I think kids who like David Walliams and Barry Loser would love this series too.

Age 9+.

Middle School: Save Rafe! is published by Arrow on 9th October 2014 and is available in Hardback and ebook format.

" I Came To Say Goodbye " by Caroline Overington

I received a copy of this from the publishers for review purposes.....

Caroline Overington is an Australian author who has worked as a journalist on a daily newspaper covering child murder and neglect cases for over seven years.
I have never read any of this authors work and did not know what to expect.   The cover reminded me of those terrible "true life" books that insist on clogging bookshelves and hogging bestseller lists despite the appalling writing.  Luckily, a quick read of the blurb on the back cover made up for the front....

" It was a crime that shocked the world.
The CCTV footage shows a young woman pushing through the hospital doors.
She walks into the nursery, picks up a baby and places her carefully in a shopping bag. "

This is the story of what led up to that moment.

Fat Atley is a young woman with lots of problems. A mother who left her when she was a baby, a below average intelligence, an unstructured family life and a dead-beat boyfriend who may or may not have shaken their baby, almost to death.  Then, when the State are called in, things just go from bad to worse.
You would think that Government officials, worldwide, would be equipped to deal with the most difficult cases of child abuse and of guiding and helping the parents with the aim of reuniting these families.  From reading this, you will learn that it not always the case.  Paperwork, inadequate facilities and overworked social workers and case workers can be the cause of many of the "fell through the crack" cases we read about in newspapers or see on television.
In this novel, we see the whole situation play out from all sides of the family but not from the side of the government officials.  This may seem a bit biased but from experience ( I am a foster carer), I can tell you that you rarely get all the information from officials and they will stick to their State guidelines even if it makes no sense in some cases.

Further into the book, the reader is left dumbfounded by some of the actions of officials, as they try to remove a child from the hospital while it is only minutes old.  This is the beginning of yet another slippery slope to disaster and one that is caused by overzealous social workers who are clearly not allowed any kind of scope for individual cases to be treated as such.

Although the style of writing is a bit rough, as written in letter form , from the family members involved, and perhaps there is a little too much emphases on Fat Atley's Father, it is essential to know how this poor girl became the woman she became.  Had the system not let her so badly down earlier, the tragedies may never have happened.  Unfortunately, this is the way of the world we live in.

This book actually brought tears to my eyes, which is very rare, and should not be dismissed as another
book about abused children, their horrible parents and how the children are so much better in care.  This novel is so much more than that.  It is a study of one family, how they tried to cope without a mother around, and how the system let them down, in more ways than one.

I really look forward to reading more of Caroline Overington's work and hope people don't always judge a book by it's cover.



This title will be released on September 26th 2013
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Came-Say-Goodbye-Caroline-Overington/dp/009958476X/ref=sr_1_1_bnp_1_pap?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1379241168&sr=1-1&keywords=i+came+to+say+goodbye