Junior Reading Room

This week's Junior Reading Room (in StarTwo, 29th June) selection includes a YA novel about a girl who fights her fairy destiny, a quartet of fantasy novels and a collection of poems about animals.

Filling the emptiness

Compiled by DAPHNE LEE

Eggs
Author: Jerry Spinelli
Publisher: Orchard Books, 224 pages

NINE-year-old David is miserable because his mum died in a freak accident, and angry because he’s been dumped at his grandmother’s by his busy dad. Then he meets fatherless Primrose, age 13, whose mum is emotionally absent and disturbingly eccentric. The two neglected children become friends and help fill up the emptiness in each other’s lives.

Wicked Lovely
Author: Melissa Marr
Publisher: Harperteen, 336 pages

AISLINN has been aware of the existence of fairies all her life. She has also been taught by her grandmother on how to co-exist with these beings, the main rule being that they should be avoided. 

However, fairies have been, of late, paying close attention to Aislinn. They practically stalk her and, one day, two of them actually approach and speak to her. One of them, Keenan, is Summer King and he thinks that Aislinn is destined to be his queen. 

Together they have to overthrow the Winter Queen, who is threatening to turn the world into ice. Aislinn is horrified. She has recently fallen in love and the last thing she wants to do is to become a fairy and spend eternity with Keenan!

Two Novels: Baby/Journey
Author: Patricia MacLachlan
Publisher: Delacorte Press, 224 pages

THIS book brings together two novellas by Patricia MacLachlan. In the first, a baby is left in the driveway of Larkin’s family home one day. The note, left in the basket, says, “This is Sophie. She is almost a year old and she is good.... I will come back for her one day. I love her.” 

Larkin and her family care for Baby Sophie and, as the days pass and she grows and learns to talk and walk, they grow to love her deeply. One day, they will have to say goodbye to Sophie, but not before they have gained so much from loving her. And one day, Sophie will return. 

In the second story, Journey and Cat’s mum leaves them with their grandparents one summer. Disappointed and hurt, Journey spends his time trying to understand the reason they have been abandoned. Studying some old photographs, he searches for memories of happier times and promises of more to come. In the end, Journey realises that although his mother is gone, love has not left him. 

The Shadows Beasts Series
Author and illustrator: Gregory Janicke
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish

THE Shadow Beasts quartet comprises The Dark Mystery of the Shadow Beasts, Attack of the Shadow Beasts, The Conquering Beasts and The Final Battle of the Beasts. 

The series is set on the Planet Dulunae, which is under threat from the ruthless dictator, CH’NOPS, and his army (dubbed the Antobodies). A small group of youths, made up of the planet’s many racial groups, band together in search of peace in place known as HayVen. 

Each book sees these youths, who call themselves the Outcasts, meet new dangers and challenges on their journey, as CH’NOPS unleashes his wrath upon the land in the form of horrifying and deadly monsters. The books are now available in a box-set. 

The Visitors
Author: Linda D. Delgado
Publisher: Muslim Writers Publishing, 169 pages

ROSE’S grandmother has two new tenants who are Saudi Arabian police officers. Rose is thrilled to meet new people and she is also keen on helping them learn English. In return, the two men tell Rose about their culture and religion. 

But although Grandma and Rose like the two foreigners, Rose’s dad seems to be deliberately avoiding them. What will it take for him to let his guard down and be a good neighbour? Rose has a plan!

Butterfly Kisses and Spunky Business
Author: Margaret Rose Francis
Illustrator: Khairul Azuwan
Publisher: Ameen, 64 pages

MARGARET Rose Francis’ debut children’s book is a collection of poems and short stories about animals, both wild and domesticated. 

The poems are highly evocative pieces, painting vivid pictures of the beasts they describe and celebrate. The stories make less of an impression, and are really short compositions based on, presumably, the author’s own experiences with pets and, in one instance, pests. 

The illustrations are beautiful, vibrantly hued, the animals shaped with broad and bold brush strokes and fluid lines. This is a book worth exploring. And Francis’ future work is highly anticipated.