middle grade fantasy

REVIEWED BY EMILY, 9, WA (IONA PRESENTATION COLLEGE)

Wednesday Weeks and the Tower of Shadows by Denis Knight and Cristy Burne, Hachette Australia, ISBN 9780734420190

Alphabet Soup provided a review copy of this book.

I found Wednesday Weeks and the Tower of Shadows to be a fascinating fantasy fiction adventure, but it is missing the absence of surprise when Wednesday made the portal back home. When Wednesday and Alfie fight off the laundry monster I imagined it wearing Alfie’s hat and I almost laughed so hard!

I enjoyed this story because of its detail and how each character showed perseverance and resilience to help family and friends. When I read Wednesday Weeks I had to notice its similarity to Scarlet and Ivy because both books try to help family and are about magic! I liked the skull, Bruce, because he was funny and helped Wednesday and Alfie.

I rate this book a full 5 stars!

Read a sample chapter of Wednesday Weeks and the Tower of Shadows!

Emily is a member of Iona Presentation College’s student reviewers’ team. This is her first review for Alphabet Soup. To send us YOUR story, poem, artwork or book review, check out our submission guidelines. Happy reading!

https://alphabetsoup.net.au/2021/06/23/denis-knight-cristy-burne-and-wednesday-weeks-and-the-tower-of-shadows/

Book reviews by kids

Book review: The Heartsong of Wonder Quinn

December 18, 2020December 16, 2020 Alphabet Soup

REVIEWED BY MATILDA, 12, NT

The Heartsong of Wonder Quinn by Kate Gordon, UQP, ISBN 9780702262821

The publisher provided a review copy of this book.

The main characters in The Heartsong of Wonder Quinn are Mabel Clattersham, a bright young girl who has been held back by invisible strings, and Wonder Quinn a bookworm with a lot to share. Wonder has always been lonely with only a crow for company, until she meets Mabel. They become best of friends, but Mabel seems to have a secret, as she writes a strange list of things to do which she wishes to complete. Strangely, nobody else but Mabel and her crow Hollowbeak notice Wonder. Mabel soon reveals something unexpected. Can Wonder leave her somewhat dark past behind her?

I enjoyed reading about when Mabel comes back to school with a meat pie at the ready to throw at their arch enemy Georgiana. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, I loved the plot twist, and would recommend it to others.

I rate this book four out of five stars.

Read our interview with the author.

Matilda is a member of our 2020 Top Reads team. This is Matilda’s first book review for Alphabet Soup. To send us YOUR story, poem, artwork or book review, check out our submission guidelines. Happy reading!

Book reviews by kids, Book reviews by Kobe

Book review: The School for Good and Evil

December 11, 2020December 3, 2020 Alphabet Soup

REVIEWED BY KOBE, 9, WA

The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani, HarperCollins Publishers, ISBN 9780007492930

Kobe reviewed her own copy of this book.

Two girls that are friends are kidnapped at a certain time of their lives to find that one learns cruelty and evil while the other learns loyalty and good. In the end, the result is least expected because the two friends turn out to be great enemies.

Agatha was fine living in her town, Gavaldon and her friend Sophie. One night she was staying awake until she saw something black going towards Sophie’s house, she rushes over to find that they are both in a worse situation than she had planned. Then they are both kidnapped and taken to their true home. Agatha is surprised to see the location she is in because she had never known that fairy tales were real. She finds that she starts to like this new life that a black shadow of some sort has driven her in to. After that she finds that trying to be with her best friend Sophie was going to be impossible because a princess can never be friends with a witch. After an attempt to change clothes with each other, they find it not accomplishable to do.

My favourite part about this fantastic book is that this book always keeps you wondering what is going to happen, like when Agatha and Sophie both get kidnapped and Agatha tries to use matches, but it still doesn’t stop the shadow from pulling them on to a tree and a bird made from bones taking them to their rightful schools. You wonder which school are they going to go to and what they’ll learn and do in their school. I also like that it always seems that Sophie and Agatha are going to somehow die or at least be in great danger, but they always seem to avoid it, like when Agatha was hanging on the School of Evil’s roof and there was a gargoyle ready to breathe fire at her or eat her.

Kobe is a regular book reviewer for Alphabet Soup. You can read all her reviews here. To send us YOUR book review, check out our submission guidelines. Happy reading!

authors, interviews

The Lost Stone of SkyCity: an interview with HM Waugh

December 9, 2019April 29, 2022 Alphabet Soup

MEET THE AUTHOR

HM Waugh is an environmental scientist, writer and educator with a long-term love of wild places and high mountains. This has led to icy feet and sunburnt cheeks in magical countries like New Zealand, Nepal, Bolivia and Switzerland. She has studied dolphins in New Zealand and rare plants in the Wheatbelt, and worked in mining and construction projects across Western Australia.

When she’s not writing, she’s teaching school and community groups about science and the environment. This often involves working with children and animals concurrently, and Waugh loves being able to truthfully say she handles dragons for a job. HM Waugh’s new children’s novel is The Lost Stone of SkyCity:

Sunaya’s peaceful village life is turned upside down when a simple mountain mission turns into a death-defying quest for survival.

Winter treks to summer pastures, mythical Ice-People that are scarily real, avalanches, ice falls, power plays, mysterious magic and surprising friendships – it seems not everything in life is set in stone …

We are pleased to have HM Waugh visiting Alphabet Soup today.

You live in Western Australia. What inspired you to write a book set in the snow?
I absolutely love mountain landscapes, I love to travel to them and I love reading about them in books. For me, they’re both beautiful and dangerous. There are so many different challenges you have to face and issues to deal with when it comes to snow, and – honestly – I’m not always that good at them. I remember wearing gumboots sledding when I was a kid living in New Zealand, and the snow all got stuck down my boots, partially melted and then froze solid so I couldn’t get the boots off. Ouch.

So one day I was thinking – wouldn’t it be awesome if you could understand and read mountains as naturally as people who’ve grown up in those areas seem to be able to? And from that thought came the world and the magic of The Lost Stone of SkyCity.

How long did it take you to go from the story idea to the published book?
I like to let my ideas bubble away and pick up extra details and join with other ideas before I start to write them. I first thought of the idea for The Lost Stone of SkyCity in 2015 but there wasn’t enough for a story so I jotted it down in my notebook and left it. It wasn’t until late 2016 that I actually wrote the book, but then I basically forgot I’d written it. I found it again near the middle of 2018, did some serious editing and submitted it to my (now) publisher. And they loved it! Hooray! I signed the publishing contract at the start of 2019 and had a whirlwind nine months of preparation before it came out in October.

So, that’s a bit over four years from first thought to having the book on shelves.

What’s the most recent children’s book you’ve read?
Because I love these books (and books you love are like old friends) I’ve recently re-read Scorch Dragons by Amie Kaufman, which is the second book in the Elementals series for middle readers. (I’m being very patient waiting for the next instalment!)

Writing a book: pen and paper, or typing straight into the computer?
I plot and brainstorm with pen and paper, but then it’s absolutely writing on the computer. I can write much faster, and it’s so much easier for me to read what I’ve written!

What are you working on next?
I’ve just finished the first round of edits on a really fun middle-grade adventure set on a dying Mars of the future, where kids can basically fly and, in order to save their planet, have to team up with those they’ve always been taught to fear.

But I’m pushing my Mars story to the side at the moment, because [as I write this] it’s National Novel Writing Month time, and I’ve got a super-secret-squirrel story idea on the go. I love new ideas!

Awesome extras:

Click here to WIN a copy of the book

Click here to read a sneak peek inside the book

Click here for Teachers’ Notes

Click here to visit HM Waugh’s website

The Lost Stone of SkyCity is out now! Look for it at your nearest bookstore or library.

Book reviews by kids, Book reviews by Matilda

Book review: The Endsister

May 5, 2018May 22, 2018 Alphabet Soup

REVIEWED BY MATILDA, 12, WA

The Endsister by Penni Russon

The Endsister by Penni Russon, A&U Children’s,
ISBN 9781741750652

Matilda reviewed her own copy of this book.

The Outhwaite family is a carefree Australian family but when their father inherits a huge house over in London, the whole family moves. Clancy, the twins, and even Else have to settle into their new lives, and Sibbi knows what an Endsister is …

I really enjoyed The Endsister. It had wonderful twists, and I really liked how small things turned out to be important. The characters were really relatable and lovable, especially Clancy’s new best friend, Pippa.

I would recommend this story for readers 10 years and older who like spooky books, haunted houses, and books about families.

Matilda is one of our regular book reviewers. You can read Matilda’s other reviews here. If YOU would like to send us a book review, check out our submission guidelines. Happy reading!

Book reviews by kids

Book review: New City

December 22, 2014December 18, 2014 Alphabet Soup

New City by Deborah Abela, ISBN 9781742758558,
Random House Australia

New city

REVIEWED BY VERONICA, 11, NSW

A review copy of this book was provided by the publisher.

New City is the sequel to Grimsdon, but you don’t need to read the first book to appreciate New City.

The book is set after the events of Grimsdon, when Isabella, adult friend Jeremiah, and her other friends, who survived together in the first book, are taken from the flooded Grimsdon to the beautiful New City. They are treated like heroes and live in luxury. But is it such a wonderful place, or do darker secrets lie beneath?

The kids have faced sea monsters and evil lords, but now they have new threats to face.

New City shows how the people can make change happen, and how just one person can make a change in the world. I like how Deborah has used real events from our times for her own story, and she has made her characters likeable and believable. They have developed over the course of the story and you can see their friendship with each other.

Deborah’s writing is is simple and sweet. But I do believe that some of Deborah’s ideas are unrealistic.

As this is set in the future, all sorts of new inventions have been invented, like invisible wings called Ornithopters. They have cameras everywhere, and hi-tech technology is a solid part of the people’s lives. Yet, they still use eagles as messenger birds, when technology would’ve normally replaced them.

Deborah has brought out a unique story that will be enjoyable for children of ages 9 and up. If you enjoy adventures in worlds that are both like and unlike our own, then this book is worth a try. In my opinion, this is an improvement on Grimsdon. Deborah has explored new ideas and has presented them well. I rate New City 4 stars out of 5.

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Do you think you’d enjoy this book? You can read a sample of New City on the publisher’s website.

Veronica is a member of our Top Reads Team, and this is her first book review on Alphabet Soup’s blog. If YOU would like to send us a book review, check out our submission guidelines. Happy reading!

Tag: middle grade fantasy

Book review: Wednesday Weeks and the Tower of Shadows