~Never Let Me Go Kazuro Ishiguro In the late 1990’s Kathy H, 31, narrates the story of her two closest childhood friends and their days at Hailsham, a boarding school set in the quiet isolation of the English countryside. It was a privileged school, we are told, and its students understood that they were special. And while it is a classic coming-of-age story, it takes place in a world built on unsteady ground, where things don’t quite add up. The narrative unfurls gently with hints of this and glimpses of that: an odd scene, a suggestive word, a strange question. Its ultimate conclusion is revealed without any shocking moments, just stunning and heartbreaking prose as this books darkest secrets slowly reveal themselves.
~The Sweetness At The Bottom Of The Pie This book kicks off the currently ten book cosy mystery series starring the delightfully precocious eleven-year-old, Flavia de Luce. She lives during the 1950’s with her father and two sisters at Buckshaw, their crumbling estate just outside the village of Bishop’s Lacey. Her mother died when she was a baby, her father is absent- minded and her sisters are supremely happy to pretend she doesn’t exist, which gives Flavia plenty of time to indulge in her passion for poisons and putrefaction– and with her own lab, inherited from an uncle, she is able to while away her time on a variety of experiments which have a habit of getting her into trouble. When a dead bird shows up on the doorstep with a postage stamp pinned to its beak and, shortly after, a man is found dead in the cucumber patch, it would appear that our unflappable heroine has found something to put all of her skills to excellent use–solving a murder. With an unerring affinity for mischief and a deliciously wicked sense of humor, Flavia is able to cheekily talk her way into all the nooks and crannies of the village where the local constabulary can’t. With cleverly constructed mysteries, tongue-in-cheek humor and such a light and jaunty air, this series has all the ingredients you need for some good light-hearted reading.
~The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night Mark Haddon Fifteen year old Christopher Boone who hates to be touched and despises the color yellow is a self proclaimed mathematician with a very prosaic take on the world. When he wakes one morning to find his neighbor’s dog Wellington dead on the lawn, speared with a pitch fork, he is initially blamed and arrested. When a teacher suggests he write about the incident he decides to emulate one of his favorite characters, Sherlock Holmes, and solve the mystery of the killer and write a book about it. But in the process of doing so, he stumbles upon another much more personal mystery which leads him to take a very eventful train ride all by himself. The book isn’t about either mystery really. It’s about Christopher’s view of the world from where he stands and how the world responds to him. It turns out that when you remove all sentiment and emotion from life’s happenings, what you’re left with is pure logic and rationale, which is not only extremely enlightening but also very entertaining for the reader. This is beautifully written, warm and endearing and might just inspire you to look at life a little differently.
~The Earth Hums In B Flat Mari Strachan Twelve year old Gwenni Morgan lives in a small town in 1950’s North Wales where she flies in her sleep at night and can see the whole earth and hear it humming. When a man in the village goes missing, Gwenni decides to turn detective and in the midst of piecing together one mystery, unwittingly turns up another much closer to home. What ensues is a slow unravelling of dark adult secrets uncovered by the inquisitive imagination of a child with an amusing perspective on the world. It’s beautifully written in that lyrical and melodic way of the Welsh accent itself and while it’s a haunting look at family and community with a darkness at its core, the touches of ethereal dreaminess add just enough whimsy to prevent it from becoming heavy.
~The Go-Between L.P.Hartley A quintessentially British novel of a bygone era with its country house setting and people who spend days partaking of tea on the lawn. This is the story of twelve year old Leo who comes from a working class background but attends a wealthy boarding school. One fateful summer Leo is invited to Brandham Hall in Norfolk by his friend Marcus. Upon arrival he meets Marcus’ older sister, the beautiful Marian, and he is instantly smitten. Taking full advantage of this, Marian gets Leo to take letters back and forth between her and a local tenant farmer, Ted, with whom she’s having a clandestine relationship, despite her upcoming engagement to the local Viscount. The two lovers, over the course of a few days, emotionally manipulate the innocent Leo with disastrous consequences. This is a British classic, taught in schools everywhere and begins with the famous opening line “the past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.” Reading it as an adult as opposed to a teenager, it is so much easier to appreciate its subtleties and quiet devastation.
~The Secret Diary Of Adrian Mole, Aged 13-3/4 Sue Townsend Poor Adrian Mole – he contends with spots, pines for the love of his life, Pandora, and suffers through the indignities of his parent’s bad behaviour, all while being an intellectual with a tendency to neglect his brain. This book is an English classic, read and beloved my many a Brit child. It takes place during the year of the royal wedding between Princess Di and Prince Charles, so a while ago (!) and yes it’s silly (’cause teen boy), at times kinda gross (’cause teen boy) and Adrian is wildly self-centered, pompous and whiny (’cause teen boy) but this does give a window into a very English lifestyle, it’s fiercely snarky and Sue Townsend is ridiculously spot on in her teen boy viewpoint. To be honest, Adrian and his teenage angst is no more daft in his diaries than Bridget Jones is in hers.