Ada Goth

The good news is that Goth Girl and the Phantom of a Mouse, the children's book by Chris Riddell, was translated and published in Spain last month. Edelvives is the editorial that made it possible. Congratulations to everyone that achieved this!

Black Sun, Red Moon

During the last throes of the Second World War, the Japanese are reluctant to leave Indonesia, which they rule from 1942. Thus, in this novel we’ll witness the struggle for independence of other forces. Both, the Japanese and the Dutch, are undesirable settlers for many of the natives. 

Most of the Dutch were sent to internment camps, but some families had agreed to co-operate with the Japanese. That's how they could keep their houses. Kate van Dam and her family are in the group of the lucky ones until their accord with the invaders gets dissolved. Once at the camp, we’ll get to know thoroughly the daily routine of the internees. Kate’s life will surprisingly be interwoven with that of the Japanese official Kenichi Ota, a kamikaze who will be saved from an already defined fate due to the capitulation of Japan. 

I like the way the author takes us back to Kate’s childhood, there in the Dutch Java. It’s also nice being able to attend the girls’ confidences and longings. Also, the conversations between Ota and his colleague Nagumo (very well-argued and consistent) achieve their aim of exposing their vision on the situation: how they do before and after the capitulation, how Japan's surrender causes some consequences.

We already know History and its facts, but the way it was lived is not always something clear. Dutch colonialism is exposed from different points of view: settlers, for whom the Indies are their home, the colonized and, also, the occupants during the war. It's interesting being present at the end of the war through their eyes.

At that point everyone wants their part (the Dutch, the Communists, the Chinese, also the Japs…) and decisions are being made about giving freedom to Indonesia or not. We'll enter the offices and other more official places, and meet some personalities. Lord Louis Mountbatten, the British statesman to restore order after capitulation, will appear. But also Sukarno, the Javanese leader, backed by the Japanese, and Dr Mohammed Hatta, from Sumatra, both straining to declare the independent Republic of Indonesia.

The rebels’ perspective is represented in the person of Lamban, who is learning to become an ancient fighting arts master. He wants to work for Sukarno and the National Party and will be invited to become a Black Buffalo.

Rory Marron has made a big research on History, languages, sacred rituals, tradition... Almost at the end of the book a new character will appear: Meg Graham, an American war correspondent which is going to show the point of view of the Americans. This is evidently introducing us to the second part of the story, the novel titled Merdeka Rising.

Goth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse

It's been years since I haven't read an illustrated book. I also must admit that Chris Riddell was an unknown cartoonist to me, even though I had already seen some of his drawings without knowing they were his. In fact, I love drawings and pictures, so this work is one of those great opportunities to admire fantastic illustrations made by the same author of the story. And this story has been so beautifully published, that you handle it somehow like a jewel to keep on your favourite bookshelf.

Ada Goth lives with her father, Lord Goth, who compels her to wear a pair of huge noisy boots in order to be heard and not seen in his vast mansion house. Apart from that annoying issue, Ada will soon get into an investigation which is going to make her life far more exciting. From the moment she meets Ishmael, the ghost of a mouse, Ada will have the chance to inspect some of the unexplored spots of the house. She is also going to meet a bunch of new people and creatures, who will collaborate on figuring out what someone is plotting in relation to an important event that will soon be held there.

Brilliantly planned and full of excitement, exquisitely well chosen situations and smart details, I'm sure that children will love Goth Girl's pictures and its nutty details, but also grown-ups, as it is crowded with lovely references to History, Arts and Literature. Even if the plot was not so interesting to them, it wouldn't be hard to find many delightful niceties to keep on turning pages.

I definitely enjoyed the quirky humour and, again, the illustrations. I often went to the aerial view of Ghastly-Gorm Hall and its gardens  -displayed in the first pages-,  which becomes a fantastic way to keep well located in the property. It's a pity though that Ishmael, the ghost mouse, doesn't appear in the story as much as it might be expected, but the character really is a goal anyway. Nevertheless, you end up finding a great surprise at the end, or a teeny-weeny one, as it reads on the back of this lovely book!

www.bookdepository.co.uk/Goth-Girl-Chris-Riddell/9780230759800/?a_aid=dbuitrago

A Bright Moon for Fools

A debut novel is not always expected to be a rewarding read. This one, though, is centered in a fascinating character who makes it an outstanding first novel.

After having robbed a woman all her money, Harry Christmas has fled to Venezuela. He wants to be far away from ‘the Rot’, which is all that makes his country and the entire world unpleasant to him. He also aims to get to the beach of Guiria, a place he and his deceased wife wanted to visit together. His plan is to read poetry for her.

The stepson of the cheated woman, some sort of a psychopath who wants revenge on him, travels to Caracas and gets close behind him. This will cause serious difficulties to Christmas, who will betray some people he meets just because he is not capable to take control of the events.

Harry Christmas is outspoken, irreverent, disrespectful and a big liar. He is a rogue (somehow in the old style) who lives at the expense of others and indeed a repulsive character, but a fascinating one at the same time. I couldn't care less about what happens to him, but I get caught by his lurching back and forth and appreciate his tender aspect as I get to know more details of his bereavement. In fact, Christmas has not overcome his wife and daughter’s dead and, as a result,  appears to act in anger against the world. I end up feeling sorry for his reprehensible behaviour and binge drinking, which only brings more trouble to him.

In the first part of the novel, while reading on the things he can't stand I enjoy the way Jasper Gibson observes our civilization in a humorous, sometimes hilarious, manner. Some parts of the book become hard to follow as the author begins telling the main character's dreams. It is also difficult to enter the personality of Slade, the furious stepson, who is much more an archetype of an evil individual than a genuine cruel person.

Still, A bright moon for fools is fun and many times you think it's worth getting to the end, which is not too bad at all.

www.bookdepository.co.uk/Bright-Moon-for-Fools-Jasper-Gibson/9780957468108/?a_aid=dbuitrago

Monkey Wars

A novel with a powerful beginning: a troop of Langur monkeys kills most of the group of Rhesus monkeys that live in the old cemetery of Kolkata. The survivors are snatched from their home in this dramatic attack. After this opening Richard Kurti guides us to a place where time is measured in Seasons, Moons and maybe other forms of more primitive lapses. In fact, we assist to one of those episodes that determine the course of history of… only monkeykind?

 

The author starts from a real incident that connects this story of apes with the human beings. In 2007 the Deputy Mayor of Delhi died after being attacked by a gang of Rhesus macaques. In order to find a solution to this sort of acts of violence the authorities tried using Langurs, a fiercer breed of monkey, to put the Rhesus off.

In Monkey Wars, the Rhesus live peacefully and safe before the attack. They actually believe monkeys are gods and have the perception that people pay homage to them as the living representation of the Monkey-God they worship.

As for the Langurs, the Rhesus territory squatters, their assumed duty is to bring peace to the city. They know what means to be a Langur and will face all attempts of destabilization and terrorism by the means of a militarized state based on ideological control and totalitarianism.

In a delicious night adventure Papina, a young Rhesus female, meets Mico, a small but smart Langur monkey. Their complicated relationship will end up being crucial in this story. Mico will be in between the Langurs and the Rhesus. Commanded by Tyrell, a paranoid monkey that strangely trusts Mico at first, he’ll help Papina and the other Rhesus to survive far from home.

Loyal to Tyrell but not a sellout, Mico will ask himself about the others. Are they as wicked as they say? He casts doubt on Langurs’ morals and realizes that under Tyrell’s instructions everything is meant to be conspiracy and threat. That’s why the Langurs have assaulted in a pitched battle not only the Rhesus but also other group, the Bonnets.

What I find in this novel is dynamic narrative, as agile as its characters’ movements, which are natural to monkeys and also crucial for them, especially for the Rhesus to keep safe. Richard Kurti has shaped a great fresco of society for those who may take this monkeys chronicle as an obvious metaphor for human power structure. Kurti has not just observed the monkeys but above all humans, from which he's taken psychology to depict characters. The dark ones, such as Deputy Tyrell, are really well created. He is a manipulative monkey who surrounds himself with circles to get reinforced as the new leader-to-be. Regarding Mico, Papina and the others, they all own a rich and humanlike profile.

This novel’s got potential as a movie. I could see the images while reading and thought about it once and again. I admire how the atmosphere in the intimate or massive situations is so properly grasped. In short, this is a great and very well written novel about military organization, its hierarchy, corrupt practices of politics, mistrust, betrayal, power struggles and a nicely finished criticism about manipulation.

www.bookdepository.co.uk/Monkey-Wars-Richard-Kurti/9781406346107?a_aid=dbuitrago

My Friend The Enemy

What is exactly children's and young adults’ literature? I’m afraid that books must be classified to be fit into some categories or age-graded, making them an accessible object in some sense. But when it comes to many books of those called for young adults I can’t help but wonder what then is a grown-up’s novel?

My Friend The Enemy is mainly an adventure novel in which many things happen, leading you to an exciting, stimulating and moving end. I love books that take the reader into the 'events speed', keeping an own ‘inner tempo’ throughout their progression, getting us to notice (in this case) there's a different life pace when we are children. That’s also an achievement of this novel, one of those stories placed in a little area where the author, Dan Smith, has created a small perfect universe. 

We are in 1941. Peter Dixon, a twelve-year-old boy, wishes there was no war. His dad’s gone away to fight the Germans and war is apparently far from the country house he lives in with his mother. One summer night a plane crashes nearby and Peter decides to go and look for a ‘souvenir’ to keep, maybe a piece from the aircraft. After the crash, a parachute was found hanging from a tree in the surroundings. That’s what makes people wonder there’s a German soldier wandering not too far. 

Peter meets Kim, a girl from the city who knows a lot about planes. Actually, she knows a lot about many things and behaves as a wise and mature person. They will band together to go ‘souvenir hunting’ in the wreck site. It will become a thrilling objective and Peter and his new friend-to-be will not only find something, but somebody. 

A German airman appears and a dilemma also comes up all of a sudden. Will they take him to the soldiers? Well, the thing is… they all have dads and brothers in the war and, for sure, they would want someone to help them if they were in trouble. But, is it right to look after a German when the Germans attack them frequently? Friendship might not take long to come. Are they going to be friends with the enemy? 

As war changes everything, it often makes it hard to identify the righteous and the wicked. Through the main character’s questions the reader will ask himself many of those same questions. Not all the Germans are Nazis? Maybe the real enemy is not the German soldier, but the boy that bullies Peter every day… In this initiation story he will face many facts, getting his feelings mixed up. 

Not just for Peter, but for everybody it is quite easy to be confused when everything’s upside down, food is rationed, justice is a complex term, Churchill’s words and propaganda are not especially encouraging and you and your mum have the constant fear to the telegram boy and his dreadful messages. The one clear thing for Peter will come to be that war doesn’t exist when you are laughing. 

My Friend The Enemy is a fantastic novel, full of good values, which will totally catch the readers up.

www.bookdepository.co.uk/My-Friend-Enemy-Dan-Smith/9781908435811/?a_aid=dbuitrago