Hellblazer: Family Man

I have just read the trade paperback edition of Hellblazer: Family Man, this is (to my knowledge anyway) the first compilation of the storyline that came out in 1990 and is one of the best storylines of Jamie Delanoe's run on Hellblazer. The story details John Constantine's run in with the serial killer Family Man or Homo Familiaris a feared killer who preys on happy families.

I first read a few issues of the original comics back in the mid 1990's in South Africa but was unable to locate the full set. This is an excellent story from the early run of Hellblazer and follows on directly from The Fear Machine also by Delano.

A visit to Walker Books (19/11)

I was fortunate enough to be invited to have lunch(Burritos) at Walker Books and discuss their forthcoming Graphic Novel and Manga line with Fiona MacDonald and a colleague (whose name escapes me at the moment).

The meal was excellent as I am a Burrito fan (picked that habit up from watching too much Invader Zim - but that is another tale altogether). What really made me excited was the books that they hav lined up for release starting next year. The first book we looked at was Skim a graphic novel written and drawn by Canadian cousins Jillian and Mariko Tamaki. This book has been nominated for a number of literary awards in the USA and Canada and has just been nominated for the Canadian Governor-General's Award which has sparked some controversy, for more details on that click here and here.

The other titles lined up for release include Glister by Andi Watson, Vermonia - a manga series by Studio YoYo. Vermonia will also contain hidden clues within the illustrations to enable readers to take part in an online game. Raven's Gate by Anthony Horowitz is also undergoing the Graphic Novel treatment, Salem Brownstone: All along the Watchtowers a gothic graphic novel by John Dunning and Nikhil Singh and finally (for now anyway) The Legend of Robin Hood.

For more details on Walker Books Graphic Novels click this link
x-posted to Teen Librarian

Empty Quarter by Julia Golding

Empty Quarter is the second novel by Julia Golding starring teen agent Darcie Lock.

When I first read the press release about Empty Quarter it made me think of the Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz. Once I started reading the book itself those thoughts were soon dispelled. Darcie Lock inhabits a world where her enemies are taken from the front pages of newspapers and are as sinister and unforgiving as their real-world counterparts. I have not yet read Ringmaster the first Darcie Lock novel but the flashbacks in Empty Quarter made it unneccessary.

While recovering from the injuries sustained in Ringmaster Darcie is unwititngly used as a pawn in international game of espionage and when the danger that she is exposed to becomes real she learns that danger comes not only from the enemies of her country but from supposed allies as well. At the endall she has to rely on are her friends and ingenuity and the machinations of a grandfather that has his own plans for her.

I am looking forward to the next novel titled Deadlock and would really like to know who would win in a face-off - Alex Rider or Darcie Lock?

Get your Paws Off by Rachel Weight

Get your Paws Off is the second book starring Lozzie Cracknell (described by the author as Kelly Osbourne without the drag queen make up) and her best mate Dex .

The series is aimed at a female teen audience, that said, despite being the wrong gender and a decade or two over the intended age range I really enjoyed it. It is an at times cringe-inducing book about Lozzie's life, friends and family; the descriptions of friendship at that age are spot on and the comedic moments are perfectly timed - from retrieving a set of keys from a dog to a grandmother with condoms falling out of her bag at dinner, and I haven't even got to the mysteries of what fiend is tampering with bags of sugar and who is abducting neighbourhood dogs?

Get your Paws Off is an engrossing and hilariously thrilling detective romp with (as the cover blurb says) dogs, snogs and dark, dark doings!

Reading

Despite the silence on the blog over the past week or two reading has been happening, I have just finished The Empty Quarter by Julia Golding as well as Get your Paws Off by Rachel Wright. Next on my reading shelf is the holy grail of British YA Fiction - Double Cross by Malorie Blackman, I can't begin to say how excited I was to receive this book.

I will post reviews and thoughts about the books at some point later this afternoon.

Stravaganza by Mary Hoffman

Mary and the Talismans from the series

On wednesday 23rd July I was one of a fortunate group of Librarians to be invited to the offices of Bloomsbury Publishers to meet Mary Hoffman (the author of the fantastic Stravaganza series as well as The Falconer's Knot and many other fabulous books).

We all sat round a table and discussed the Stravaganza series with Mary - how the inspiration for the stories struck, her love for all things Italian and heard her read an extract from the latest book Stravaganza - City of Secrets. We were also fortuante to hear er read the prologue from her latest (as yet unpublished) book set during the time of the Albigensian Crusade - the title escapes me at present but I will add it as soon as I recall it. We were also shown the talismans from each book that she acquired during the writing and used as foci to keep her mind in the project. Mary was also barraged with questions about her books, plans for future titles in the series and Italy. I was interested to discover that her family was close to one of my favourite authors when I was growing up the late Douglas Hill author of Blade of the Poisoner - the first fantasy novel I can recall reading and the Galactic Warlord series starring the last Legionnaire Keill Randor.


Mary and some of the Librarians from Youth Libraries Group: London

Merchandising: Black Light

Not really a book review but does tie in to a book I have recently read and enjoyed...

Susie Cornfield - the author of Black Light (formerly titled: The Sticky Rock Cafe) has sent me a 'Welcome to Dekaydence' t-shirt and a limted edition slab of Dekaydence chocolate made by Montezumas.

The t-shirt is fantastic - I will post a pic of myself wearing it soon and once I have sampled the chocolate will let you know how it tastes