The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer, and Showcase Sunday is hosted by Books, Biscuits and Tea
and inspired by Pop Culture Junkie and the Story Siren. They're a chance to share news, a post to recap the past week on your
blog,
highlight our newest books and see what everyone else received for
review, borrowed from libraries, or bought.
Book stuff this week on Girl!Reporter
Review: Hetty Feather by Jacqueline Wilson
Top 10 Tuesday (#14) - from page to screen
Literary London - Hampstead and Highgate Literary Festival
Review: The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick
Top five favourite moments from Roald Dahl's work
My week in books (#9) - Roald Dahl Day, types of readers illustrated by cats and dogs (so cute!), Model Misfit and more
Apart from the above, I've had a quiet week - no book shopping, no trips to the library. Which is actually a good thing, because I've been concentrating on reading some of the many unread books on my shelves, which means I've got three on the go at the moment!
Let me know what you've been up to.
Jacqueline Wilson is one of the most popular children's authors in the world, and having read Hetty Feather, I can see why.
Hetty is a Foundling - left at the Foundling Hospital in London by her mother. As Hetty grows up, she discovers her headstrong ways and big personality don't always fit in, but she doesn't care, no one is going to stop Hetty Feather.
Wilson's tale features a fabulous protagonist who is clever, brave and kind, and knows what's right and isn't afraid to stand up for herself, or others.
Hetty's tale begins as she is left at the Foundling Hospital, and then taken on the train to the countryside, where she grows up with a foster family. There, she forms a close bond with Jem, one of her foster parents' real children, and Gideon, her Foundling brother. The realisation that she will one day go back to the Foundling Hospital tinges Hetty's experience with sadness, but there's plenty of drama for the young girl too.
Once back in London, Hetty can't help but get into mischief, whether it's because she's fighting with other girls at the Foundling Hospital, or trying to find her real mother.
Told in first person, Hetty's voice is quickly relatable - the book might be set in the 1800s but many of Hetty's feelings (loneliness, uncertainty, a desire to belong) are feelings that many young girls reading Wilson's work will feel as they make the transfer from one new school to another.
Hetty Feather does deal with dark issues - first experiences of death, the sinister nature of strangers, old age - but it does so deftly. There is no danger of young readers being scared off, rather, Wilson chooses to introduce most of the darker episodes in the book in a way that will inform and perhaps spark a conversation with adults in the reader's life.
A heroine who I'd be happy to have influence any young girl, Hetty Feather and her adventures make a compelling read. I'm looking forward to finding out how the young Foundling gets on in future novels.
How I got this book: A Goodreads giveaway run by the publisher, Random House (Hetty Feather is published by the Corgi Yearling imprint) - thanks guys!
The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer, and Showcase Sunday is hosted by Books, Biscuits and Tea
and inspired by Pop Culture Junkie and the Story Siren. They're a chance to share news, a post to recap the past week on your
blog,
highlight our newest books and see what everyone else received for
review, borrowed from libraries, or bought.
Book stuff this week on Girl!Reporter
Review - Notorious Nineteen by Janet Evanovich
Top 10 Tuesday (#12) - things that make life as a reader/blogger easier
Elmore Leonard's 10 rules of writing
Review - Noble Conflict by Malorie Blackman
My week in books (#6) - a Roald Dahl competition, Margaret Atwood and how to get children reading
Books I added to my shelves
It's been a quiet week, which is no bad thing considering the amount of unread books I already own.
I won a copy of Hetty Feather by Jacqueline Wilson from Random House (thanks!) through a Goodreads competition. This will be the first Wilson book I'll ever read - I think I was a bit too old for her novels so missed the boat, and have never got into them. I will say that I know how popular she is from when I worked at Cheltenham Festival of Literature - the queue for her book signing was longer than anyone else's!
My brother lent me A Fort of Nine Towers by Qais Akbar Omar, which is a true story. It looks pretty good.
What have you been up to this week?
