Goth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse (Goth Girl, 1)

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Sooo... Don't do what I did and go into this thinking its all about goth. It has a goth MC but it is not about the fact she is goth. The title was misleading... The cover and writting was juvenile which lead me to believe it was Middle grade. Goofy, geeky Oscar was absolutely adorable and stole my heart early on. His enthusiasm and passion were infectious and I wanted to watch him as he created the foam weapons of my dreams. Or, if someone insists that it's still a children's book at heart, let me put it this way: it's a book for intelligent children, meant to both educate and introduce them to advanced literary works as well as entertain them. Everyone happy? I got this as a birthday present last year from a Goodreads friend and I finally got around to reading it! (But honestly most of the books I want to read on my bookshelf have been lying there for years because I'm never in the mood or whatever.) I'm a huge fan of children's books and this one is lovely. Aside from currently being the prettiest book I own (kudos to my Kindle for stopping pretty books, or really books in general, from being on my shelf), the story is pretty good too. This is a crazy - zany kind of a book that is really fun to read, and as it progresses, it becomes crazier and zanier still, until the last few chapters and the end of the story when it almost becomes nonsensical as it reaches its crescendo!

I understand that the last third of the book was focused on wrapping things up but I wish it still had some more of those sweet bonding moments squeezed in between the eventual end game. Probably my only complaint is that the book was shorter than I would have liked, having some more bonding time and maybe a bit more of sharing from Jess’ side would have made the final parts have a bit more impact. In the beginning I was a bit skeptical about the story but after the first few chapters I just fell in love with the different characters and their stories. I really loved the characters. Even though she seems a bit cold towards others, Jess is such a strong and loveable person. Oscar is also really cute and all of them are very supportive, especially Barbra, the foster mum. I enjoyed the talks about mental illness a lot, it was really interested. I like how this book pushes us to put into question how we view mental illness such as schizophrenia. I’m also a big fan of cosplay so what more could I ask for. For eight and above, there’s a fascinating Swedish fantasy from Pushkin: The Murderer’s Ape by Jakob Wegelius, translated by Peter Graves. Sally Jones – always given her full name – is a silent but multitalented gorilla; engineer, chess-player and cargo-boat companion of the Chief, a Finnish seaman and her greatest friend. But when the Chief is framed for murder, she falls in with fado singer Ana Molini and Luigi Fidardo, a repairer of musical instruments, and begins the arduous, far-flung process of clearing his name. Sally Jones’s dispassionate, delightfully old-fashioned diction is a perfect match for Wegelius’s nostalgic monochrome illustrations.Her new foster mom is so cute. She’s trying so hard to give Jess a healthy, happy space and encourage her sewing and creativity. I love it. the most covetable book of the year. It is simply the most outstandingly beautiful piece of book design and production...This book is a triumph from an author and illustrator at the height of his powers... ReadingZone Goth Girl by Chris Riddell is a beautifully illustrated series about the adventures of Ada Goth - a lonely girl living in a very strange house - from the bestselling author/ illustrator of Ottoline. Thank you NetGalley, Flux, and Lindsay Zrull for providing this e-ARC for an exchange of honest review!

Ada Goth lives with her very odd father, Lord Goth at the enormous Ghastly-Gorm Hall where children are meant to be seen and not heard. Whatever is going on at the Hall - whether it is the Ghastly-Gorm Garden Party and Bake-Off, the Hall’s music festival or a gamekeeper with dastardly plans - Ada is on hand to make sure the ghastly going-ons don’t get out of hand and to solve the spooky mysteries. For lovers of stark, intense landscapes, Gill Lewis’s Sky Dancer (Oxford) is essential. Joe and his elder brother Ryan are mourning their gamekeeper father, who died after serving time for shooting an endangered bird of prey: a hen harrier, scourge of the young birds he reared on the grouse moor. Now the community is bitterly divided between tradition and conservation. With a nod to Mervyn Peake, the Goth family home is named Ghastly-Gorm Hall. The grounds hold not only the Secret Garden, but also the Even-More-Secret Garden, along with the Unstable Stables, the Dear Deer Park and the Lake of Extremely Coy Carp, all crafted by the renowned garden designer, Metaphorical Smith. Jess’s inner thinking is super fun and I love seeing the portrayal of fashion and make up as a way of enjoying someone’s creativity and self expression. I love her extra-ness when it comes to her “goth identity”. Oscar is an adorable blushing boy and they have such well written convos and I love all the sweet moments they share as they get to know each other. I love that they can share a hobby and goof off and pay attention to the other’s interests but above all else, they trust each other to open up about the serious things too and discuss it in a mature way, reassuring each other. This book is so well illustrated that nothing and no-one is left to the imagination. I particularly enjoyed being able to see Ishmael, Ada and the other creatures in the story, and it certainly helps when trying to visualise the gothic, dark surroundings. I'm a big fan of illustrated books, mainly because that extra element adds a certain magic not found in normal, text-only novels. It's also a treat to see an author's own illustrations, which in this case are as much a part of the story as the words.The wonderful illustrations by the former children’s laureate (2015-2017), Chris Riddell, make these mystery stories perfect for readers 7+ who love adventures with a dark or fantastical twist. My favorite character was definitely Barbra, the foster mom, but I can’t tell a lot about her without spoiling the whole story. She is one of the kindest moms I’ve ever read about! It has several other discussions as well. Everything from the stigma horror movies tend to bring on upon mental illness, the effects on a child after being placed in foster homes, the effect mental illness has ones self and loved ones, body positivity/fat shaming, so many important discussions! Discussions that I think a lot of young adults can relate to and learn a lot from. Discussions that Young Adults should be a part of. I truly think this book could really help a lot of kids! Jess has moved from house to group home to house for the past nine years. Having entered the foster care system at seven, Jess doesn’t know what it’s like to have a safe place to call home. Foster Care Pro-tip number eight: Never become emotionally involved with anyone. Ever. Jess doesn’t expect this placement to be any different but Barbra, Jess’ new foster parent, is unlike any of the ones she’s had before.

From Bloomsbury, there’s complex emotional fare for teenagers in Carnegie-winner Sarah Crossan’s latest verse novel Moonrise, told from the perspective of another Joe: a 17-year-old who has not seen his older brother Ed for 10 years, becasue he is on death row. Joe now has only a few visiting hours to spend with him as the calendar moves inexorably towards Ed’s execution date. Mistrust, forgiveness and the premeditated stripping away of a future, distorting many other lives in unfathomable ways, are communicated through Crossan’s spare, expressive free verse, with understated, heart-breaking clarity. This changes when she gets a sudden insta message from someone claiming to be her biological mother and asking her to meet up. While Jess is aware what it means that they are messaging secretly- her mother is probably not stable enough for the government to allow them to meet up- she cannot say no to her. No matter how complicated and confusing their family is, she is still her mother and she still loves her. Family and blood is forever, for the better or worse. So Jess joins the cosplay team with the goal of using it as a way to get to her mom.The Costa Book Awards honour some of the most outstanding books of the year written by authors based in the UK and Ireland. The first Goth Girl book, Goth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse, came out in 2013, winning the Costa Children’s Book Award and getting nominated for the CILIP Kate Greenaway and the Children’s National Book Award. There are now four books in the series. There are pop culture references and little gems of geekdom throughout and these had my smiling at almost every chapter- hello scream queens and Labyrinth! There is a strong message of inclusivity which is something I am constantly seeking in books. Zrull really creates a wonderful world here.