If you are of an imaginative disposition, you go to school in an elegant building which used to be a button factory, and your house is full of giraffes, ostriches and badgers - stuffed, of course - then the odds are that you'll end up on some kind of adventure. And if your grandparents happen to be famous explorers who've managed to get themselves lost on an iceberg in Antarctica then your particular mission is pretty well handed to you, wrapped up neatly with a big bow and a label on top saying 'quest starts here'. All you have to do is work out the fine details and set off. Easy-peasy.
| The Doldrums by Nicholas Gannon | |
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| Category: Confident Readers | |
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Reviewer: Linda Lawlor
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| Summary: Eleven-year-old Archer intends to travel to the Antarctic to rescue his grandparents. In this funny, exciting and yet gentle tale, a boy who dreams big, his constantly anxious friend and a girl with a wooden leg and a dreadful secret embark on a madly impractical and over-ambitious quest. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 368 | Date: October 2015 |
| Publisher: Harper Collins Children's Books | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 9780008149390 | |
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And yet... the subtitle of this excellent book is 'A Badly Planned Adventure' which gives you an idea of what's going to happen. Or, depending on how you see these things, not happen. So, a book that's not about the death-defying antics of sword-or-laptop-wielding heroes, those young people who are crammed to the back teeth with extraordinary skills, brains the size of an articulated lorry and unlimited finances. Worse still, it features a boy who's never, ever allowed to leave his house except to go to school. Frankly, such a book could be in line for Dullest Story of the Year, but it's really, really not. Quite the opposite, in fact: it's funny, utterly gripping and, most striking of all, way up at the top of the quirkiness meter. Apart from anything else, the hero spends the first few pages deep in conversation with the animals that line the corridors and staircases of his home.
Archer is in serious need of friends – human ones – and he soon stumbles across two stalwart companions, though Oliver is a constant worrier who has so little courage he actually trembles when he hears the word 'sidekick', and Adélaïde has just arrived from abroad, where she lost her leg in a terrible accident. Together the three companions begin to sort the details of the Great Rescue, though Archer's mother keeps such a close eye on him it isn't easy. The woman is so strict she won't even allow him to go on a school trip to the museum, would you believe? Mind you, considering what happens there, she may have a point...
Unusual characters, an enthralling plot and impossible odds aren't the only things about this book which make it stand out. The book itself is beautiful, printed on luxuriously smooth, thick paper and full of the kind of illustrations that make you want to sit down and spend a couple of hours re-examining every detail while you're waiting for the next book in the series. There are a generous number of them, too, including several full-page coloured images which add enormously to the atmosphere of the story. The illustrations are all done by the author, and for those who want to find out more about how he creates them there's a fascinating video.
Solving mysteries, rescuing lost or kidnapped relatives and travelling the world are the stuff of dreams for many imaginative readers. In Young Sherlock Holmes: Snake Bite by Andrew Lane, the fifth in the series, our hero finds himself on a ship to China, while The Treasure House by Linda Newbery provides a gripping tale if you prefer something a little less swashbuckling. And for those who enjoy the occasional dollop of fantasy along with their quest, you'd be hard-pressed to find anything better than The Abominables by Eva Ibbotson. Funny, touching, thrilling – it has it all.
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You can read more book reviews or buy The Doldrums by Nicholas Gannon at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy The Doldrums by Nicholas Gannon at Amazon.com.
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