Last Gasp of Summer

by Maddy Smith

As much as we’d like to deny it, August feels undeniably like the end of summer. Back-to-school fliers, summer reading lists and registration deadlines loom large, and tension starts to creep back into our lives and shoulders. It’s now more than ever that we need a really good adventure…

An adventure, perhaps, like The Death Defying Pepper Roux (Oxford University Press, 2010) by Geraldine McCaughrean. Haven’t we all at some point wished we could just walk into someone else’s life? Pepper Roux certainly has, and with good reason: he’s going to die by the time he’s 14, all because of his aunt’s vision from St. Constance. Since the morning of his birth, Pepper has been resigned to his early demise. But when the time comes, Pepper takes a chance to walk out of his life and into another’s. Filled with imagination, excitement and the rare sense of beauty that comes from an extraordinary book, The Death Defying Pepper Roux is one in a million. 11+

Another fabulous example of an unusual coming-of-age is Frank Cottrell Boyce’s Cosmic (MacMillan, 2009). Liam hasn’t had the easiest time growing up. Or rather, he’s had too easy a time growing up. Extremely tall from a young age, he’s always being thought older than he is. This has its advantages, of course—test driving a Porsche, for example, and getting to go on the really, really scary roller coasters. Even so, Liam never expected that being tall would send him to outer space on the thrill ride of his life. Suddenly he must become the adult he’s always been thought, and the person he’s always hoped he could be. Funny, moving and quite brilliant, Cosmic shines like a star. 11+

Nothing shines like a jewel-studded smile though. Frances Hardinge’s latest novel, Gullstruck Island (MacMillan, 2010), is set in the home of the mysterious Lace tribe, where beetle-song is deadly and Lost wander the wilds in spirit. It is home to Arilou and Hathin, two sisters with a dark secret. Arilou is a Lost, a magical child born with the ability to send her mind and spirit flying from her body a great distance—a great source of pride to the Lace. Hathin, her sister, is scarcely noticed; she serves merely as her sister’s aide and interpreter—on the surface, at least. But danger is coming: a time of tests and turmoil approaches, and the girls’ world is about to turn upside down. This is another spectacular book from the wondrous Frances Hardinge, and one no adventure fiend should be without! 11+.

Speaking of adventure, have you tried Janet and Allan Ahlberg’s It Was a Dark and Stormy Night (Puffin, 1994)? “The rain came down in torrents, and there were brigands on the mountains, and wolves, and the Chief of the Brigands said, ‘I’m bored. Tell us a story…’ These first few lines form the opening not only of the Ahlbergs’ delightful story, but also of their protagonist Antonio’s. Kidnapped by brigands and commanded to tell a tale, the young boy begins with those fateful words: “It was a dark and stormy night.” Very soon, however, Antonio’s story takes some unusual twists, and what starts out as an evening’s entertainment may just turn into an escape. More than just a fantastic beginner chapter book, It was a Dark and Stormy Night provides a wonderful introduction to the power of storytelling. A sublime story for 7+

Last but not least is Katie Morag’s Island Stories (Red Fox, 2003) by Mairi Hedderwick. Feisty, funny, and stubborn, Katie is a delightful heroine and role model. Katie lives with her family on the small Scottish island of Struay, where her mother runs the shop-cum-post-office, it’s very often raining and you never quite know what you’re going to find walking along the seashore. Katie Morag’s Island Stories—the first in a series—is filled with a wonderful cast of characters including Granny Island (wears gumboots and dungarees), Granny Mainland (wears perfume and pearls) and all the assorted Morag cousins. Whether she’s delivering the mail or hunting for treasure at the end of a rainbow with her little brother, Katie’s always up to something. A fabulous read for 4+.

August is filled with the last dog days of summer—a time of imaginings and escapes from the everyday. Go, enjoy! Sit in the backyard or at the beach and read. Soak up the sun and let your imagination take you wherever you want to go—anywhere’s calling.

Maddy Smith is a children’s bookseller and an Islander born and bred; she reads, writes, and believes in the magic of a great book.