Favourite Historical Fiction of 2016 for Young Readers

This article is from the Irish Times last December but I neglected to post it so here we go. Last December the newspaper's were full of lists of best books of the year but they were for the most part all about books for adults. I was kindly asked my author friend E. R. Murray to contribute some thoughts on my favourite children's books from 2016 as were a variety of children's authors and booksellers. Of course being me I focused on the books that presented history to children, because obviously history is my thing. You can see the article in full at the link down below. Here however is my contribution. 

Lisa Redmond

For younger readers The Moon Spun Round is a collection of Yeats poetry, folktales and childhood writing stunningly illustrated by Shona Shirley MacDonald and collected by Noreen Doody while Kate Pankhurst’s Fantastically Great Women who Changed the World is fabulous fun and full of facts, a great introduction to women in history. Fans of history aged 9 and upwards will adore the moving and wonderfully written Kings of the Boyne by Nicola Pierce and Arrivals by Brian Gallagher about Irish emigrants in Canada may be his best book yet while Caroline Busher’s debut The Ghosts of Magnificent Children is an assured blend of history and the gothic.

Young adult fantasy fans should track down Emily June Street’s The Velocipede Races, a steampunk adventure set in an alternate 19th century, and Passenger by Alexandra Bracken, a time travel fantasy, while Catherine Johnson’s Blade and Bone pits a young black doctor against racial prejudice and the danger of the French Revolution.

Lisa Redmond is senior bookseller at Waterstone’s

https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/our-favourite-children-s-and-ya-books-of-2016-1.2906266

The Dream Snatcher by Abi Elphinstone

This review originally appeared on the Bookseller review website welovethisbook.com follow the link here http://www.welovethisbook.com/reviews/the-dreamsnatcher and Abi kindly got in touch to say that it was also published in the print edition which of course I was delighted to hear.

The Dream Snatcher is a wonderfully magical debut for the ten to thirteen age group which will appeal to fans of Philip Pullman and Michelle Harrison as it features a young girl, a tenacious wildcat and a beautiful woodland setting. Moll is a gypsy girl pulled into a world of dark magic. When she learns the truth about her parents and about who she is, she is revealed to be the key to an ancient prophecy. But danger lurks nearby as a witchdoctor known as Skull tries to lure her or "dreamsnatch" her away from the safety of the gypsy camp to prevent the prophecy from coming true and unleash his dark magic on the world. Moll needs all her determination and her friends to defeat him. This a beautifully written book with a wonderful cast of characters including some wonderful animals. I really enjoyed the fact that the adults are a part of the adventure, helping and protecting Moll and also acknowledging her importance to the camp.   The wonderfully atmospheric writing brings the ancient wood vividly to life. I was enchanted right from page one. It's dark, gripping and thrilling and I really hope it will be a long running series. 

You can learn more about Abi and her writing habits from this interview http://www.serendipityreviews.co.uk/2015/02/where-ideas-flow-with-abi-elphinstone.html be prepared for serious writing shed envy.