Tokyo

Title: Tokyo: All Alone in the Big City
Author: Graham Marks
Published: First published (UK) 2006, by Bloomsbury
Format: Paperback
Pages: 254
RRP: £6.99

rating: * * * * / 5

I was drawn to this book by the cover. Have you seen it!?! With quirky, interesting pictures taken by Graham himself, it tells you all about the book without actually saying or revealing anything. Sorry - rambling over now.
I suppose I'm just saying that Tokyo is different. In a good way, of course. The way Graham Marks writes about what it was like for our hero Adam in foreign Tokyo makes you imagine that you're actually there, with all the Japanese-speaking people and Japanese signs; completely new and confusing. It would work just fine if Tokyo was just about college student Adam Grey going on a holiday to Tokyo, but mystery and action are added as Adam goes - without telling his parents - because of his sister Charlotte's apparent kidnapping, which people, and I quote, 'are doing FA about'.
The plot may seem a little far-fetched; an 18 year old jetting off to Japan on impulse, but the way Graham Marks writes, it seems realistic. Adam occasionally gets sidetracked by things like beautiful, friendy Aiko and restaurants, but reminds himself it's all about Charlie. The fact he occasionally gets scared and wonders if he is doing the right thing adds more realism too.
There's also an interesting twist - this book just gets better as you go along - that you honestly couldn't guess (unless you're psychic or something *ahem*). The e-mail correspondence between Adam and Charlie seems a bit unrealistic when you find out the mysterious turn of events though. Wouldn't Adam have mentioned to Charlotte that the Tokyo police force are out looking for her?
If you like Japan, guessing right through a novel, scooters, mystery and drama, this excellently written novel is for you.

Fact Friday #4

What I'm Reading - Renegade by Alan Gibbons. Surprisingly it's not as spooky as I thought. It's more about demons and stuff. Just goes to show that you can never judge a book by it's cover, even though I'm just halfway through it :P

What I'm Reading Next - Style Sisters: California Crush by Liz Elwes. If I can finish Renegade, I might read it in the car when I go down South, as it's quite short looking. As in, South Scotland.

What I Want To Read - Cathy's Book, Cathy's Key and Cathy's Ring.

What I'm Rating - It's Summer holidays, and I'm gonna have fu-u-uuun!

What I'm Hating - Murphy's Law - absolutely sweltering when I'm stuck inside the Maths department, but oh, the sun just chooses to hide when it's actually Summer? :@

Judy Blundell

Thanks very much to the lovely people at Scholastic, and of course, Judy Blundell, for arranging this interview and anwering my questions.


1. Where do you like to write?

I write at my desk, in a narrow front room which was once the front porch of the house. I share the room with my daughter's toys, a piano keyboard, a big wardrobe, and an old sofa that is tantalizingly close for flopping on. But where I like to write is probably on my laptop, propped up with pillows on that same sofa, so I can look out at the trees.

2. Any music you listen to while writing?

When I worked on What I Saw and How I Lied, I listened to the music of the forties. I liked having the rhythm and swing of the period in the background as I wrote.

3. What gives you your inspiration?

I'm inspired by so many things-- stories I hear, turns of phrase, a line in a newspaper article, the way a stranger on the street walks or talks on the phone. Like most writers, I'm a shameless eavesdropper. I live very close to New York City, and I love overhearing random comments on the street. I'm also inspired by history-- tremendous events and upheaval and how they affect lives.

4. Can you tell Dragonfly Book Reviews' visitors a bit about What I Saw and How I Lied?

What I Saw and How I Lied is set in post World War II America and is about a fifteen-year-old girl named Evie who falls for a mysterious and charming ex soldier while on a family trip to Florida. The soldier may or may not be hiding a connection to her family. Evie is forced to uncover mysteries and motivations hidden by the adults around her. She has to grow up fast.

5. Are you writing another book? If so, can you tell us about it?

I'm right now in the middle of writing my next book. It's also set in the postwar period of America, and though it deals with different themes than What I Saw, it does involve mystery and suspense as well.

6. Ask yourself a question and write down your answer!

Q. Judy, why do you write about the postwar period, and what is your favourite snack?

A. I'm interested in the postwar period because it was a transitional time in recent history when many dramatic changes occurred in society, and I'm very fond of dark chocolate with bits of ginger in it.

Thanks so much Judy Blundell!

Look out for a review of What I Saw and How I Lied - coming soon!

In My Mailbox - July 8th

If I don't post before then, I'm just saying, if you don't get any posts from me next week it's NOT because I've vanished off the face of the Earth, it's because I'm going to visit my relatives in Edinburgh for a week - with no little brothers about!!! I'll try and schedule my Teaser Tuesday post, but there won't be a In My Mailbox (maybe a delayed or combined one the week after though) or reviews as my granny's internet is DIAL-UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I may try and use my trusty iPod, but no promises. Farewell! Although I'm not going 'till Friday.

The Received:

• Renegade - Hell's Underground Book III by Alan Gibbons - I'm not sure what to expect from this book. It looks brilliant and enticing; it's quite small, hardback and black. It does look pretty spooky. This is gonna be a surprise, but I'm pretty sure it'll be more horror than anything else. Hmmm...
• Style Sisters: California Crush by Liz Elwes - I'm looking forward to this as it looks like a light-hearted summer chick lit. novel.
• Hattori Hachi: The Revenge of Praying Mantis by Jane Prowse - Yay! An assassin book! :)
• The Unauthorised Leona Lewis: Inside and Out by Mel Williams - A nice book to look through; expect a review soon.
  

Au revoir! (sp?)

ABC Authors Challenge List

It's here! This is what you've all been waiting for :) The official Dragonfly Book Reviews to-read list for the ABC Author's Challenge (hosted by Meggin) is here!

Sorry for the lack of an entry for 'X' and 'Q' - I tried my best, but couldn't find anything, but if you know of a YA book that's published in the UK with the authors forename, middle name or surnam beginning with those letters, please comment!

A - Chains by Laurie-Halse Andersen
B - Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway
C - L.A. Candy by Lauren Conrad
D - Don't Call Me Baby by Laurie Depp
E - The Dragonfly Pool by Eva Ibbotson
F - Ten Things I Hate About Me by Randa Abdel-Fattah
G - Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko
H - Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
I - The Star of Kazan by Eva Ibbotson
J - The Kissing Club by Julia Clarke
K - A Tangle of Tails by Liz Kessler
L - The Boyfriend List by Emily Lockhart
M - A Little Love Song by Michelle Magorian
N - Nevermore by Linda Newbury
O -Puppet Master by Joanne Owen
P - Huge by Sasha Paley
Q - /
R - (Un)arranged Marriage by Bali Rai
S - Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen
T - Boy 2 Girl by Terence Blacker
U - Just Sixteen by Jean Ure
V - The Carlyles by Cecily von Ziegesar
W - Cathy's Ring by Jordan Weisman, Sean Stewart and Cathy Brigg
X - /
Y - Emil and Karl by Yankev Glatshteyn
Z - Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin

I have to read all these by November 31st. Failure is not an option - wish me luck! :)

Check out the other challenge I'm doing at the moment: The Sarah Dessen Challenge, and look out for a special one year anniversary of DBR challenge!

Teaser Tuesday #8

Sorry - last minute posting here! I'll get onto my PC asap and fix this post up. I've been busy... Err, playing Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. Well, of course!

So, this week's Teaser is from the rather good Tokyo: All Alone in the Big City, by Graham Marks.

Send an e-mail out to Charlie? No point. She was missing, not sitting in some Internet cafe thinking about home.

I'll sort all the loose ends out of this post soon as poss - am off to practise songs with Iona, my fellow Caraidean (more later :P)

P.S. Sorry this posted yesterday, which was, in fact, a Monday. Not even a week into the Summer holidays and I've forgotten what day it is. It's Tuesday today which means I wasn't late - yipee! :-)

Remembrance

Title: Remembrance
Author: Theresa Breslin
Published: first published (UK) in 2002, by Doubleday
Format: paperback
Pages: 304
RRP: £10.99

rating: * * * * / 5

I really love books based on the sometimes horrific true events of theWorld Wars. Remembrance focuses on 5 main characters who all havedifferent views and roles in World War l. The wealthy, well-to-doArmstrong-Barnes family and the working class, friendly Dundas familyboth live in the peaceful, Scottish village of Stratharden. When the War starts, John Malcolm Dundas enlists while his younger brother Alexis jealous and his sister, Maggie, worries and envies Charlotte Armstrong-Barnes' loving relationship with her brother. Although most men are away at war, life in Stratharden seems almost idyllic, untilthe Dundas family get a dreaded telegram home and everything changes.

Maggie starts works in nursing and a munitions factory and writes to Francis Armstrong-Barnes who has given in and gone to fight, despite his cynical views on war. Meanwhile, young Alex will do anything to be able to go and fight. Some parts are shocking, some are sad, and sometimes you just go 'oh' when you realize how much sadness must have been imposed onto the poor families whose boys were killed. Theresa Breslin perfectly describes what life was like in that time. If it's your kind of thing, definitely check this one out.

Fact Friday #3

What I'm Reading - Tokyo: All Alone in the Big City by Graham Marks.

What I'm Reading Next - What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell - can't wait!

What I Want To Read - Hacking Timbuktu by Stephen Davies

What I'm Rating - IT'S THE SUMMER HOLIDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYS!

What I'm Hating - NOTHING, IT'S SUMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!

And no, that wasn't my Caps Lock getting stuck, I'm just happy :) 6 weeks of utter freedom!