This brilliant meme belongs to to Book Craic who hosts it on her blog here . Each week the aim is to celebrate Middle Grade books, those amazing books being written for 9-12 year olds.
The idea is that you choose a book, post a picture of the cover and also show the publisher and illustrator. Then turn to page 11 and find your favourite sentence on that page. After that, describe the book in three words ( I always find this really hard) and finally, write your review or post a link to your review of the book. What could be easier especially as there are so many fabulous books being published at the moment?
I can’t believe that I haven’t posted a M G post since December last year. Now that I am only in the classroom part time, I don’t get to read so much MG fiction. I have read some brilliant books lately though so these posts will be a bit more frequent.
This week I’m celebrating The Last FireFox by Lee Newbery and illustrated by Laura Catalan
Favourite sentence from page 11
You’re in Charlie’s garden, not he jungle Lippy. It’s not like you’re going to get abducted by an enemy tribe.
Ok, that’s two sentences but you get the idea.
This book in three words:
Family Friendship Magic
This is a brilliant story about friendship, family and a little bit of magic. I was hooked from the very first chapter which was absolutely hilarious and involves a very angry goose.
Charlie goes to a deserted castle to hide a stone and is handed a fox cub to look after by a mysterious stranger. It’s not just any fox cub though, it is the last fire fox cub and it has an alarming habit of setting things on fire. Charlie tries to look after the cub, Cadno, by himself but has to let his friends into the secret as the cub is being hunted.
The story has the perfect blend of adventure, magic and normal life. There is a lot going on in Charlie’s life at the moment as he is being bullied, he is about to leave primary school and his parents are thinking about adopting another child. All of these things arise normally out of the story together with the fact that Charlie has two Dads. It’s lovely to see a different family set up as well as a story set in Wales where the children are learning Welsh.
This is a lighthearted story with lots of humour and some laugh out loud moments. However, it also deals with big issues such as bullying and adoption. Charlie’s relationships with his friends and family shine through and the cub is simply adorable. The illustrations by Laura Catalan are great too. A fantastic read.
Thank you to Net Galley and the publishers, Puffin, for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on March 3rd 2022.
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