![]() ![]() Unexpectedly, Josh meets a robot in his new classroom: the eyes and ears of Charlie, a kid who can’t (or won’t?) come to school, and participates remotely. The bully left and Josh is fine – until his mother gets a new job and they have to move. When Josh was younger, his confidence was upended by a bully. Post-pandemic, school refusal is also on the up. Hats off to Simon Packham, much-shortlisted, whose latest, Worrybot (UCLan) tackles anxiety. ![]() With appetite for fantasy at an all-time high, spare a thought for writers reflecting everyday life. Kòkú Àkànbí and the Heart of Midnight by Maria Motúnráyò Adébísí. Adébísí’s innovative debut mixes Yoruba, west African pidgin, Jamaican patois and London slang without missing a beat. As our reluctant hero discovers, however, very little is what it claims to be in this densely packed, shape-shifting world. The descendants of Ògún, god of iron and war, want to destroy night-time, ostensibly to stop demons crossing over and stealing children’s souls. It’s not just the longitude: night is in retreat. Koku’s Uncle Tunji sends him “home” to the land of Olori, which Koku, already laid low by his sickle cell anaemia, finds oppressively bright. (He’s in good company: Rick Riordan and the TV series Moon Knight have kickstarted adventures that way.) In the British Museum, Koku, a snarky 13-year-old, accidentally unleashes a demon. Yoruba legend is also the setting for Kòkú Àkànbí and the Heart of Midnight (Hachette) by newcomer Maria Motúnráyò Adébísí, at the upper end of the age range. It’s a hoot, with a message: humans are full of hubris. Her parents remain unconvinced.Įnlisting a motley crew of trickster gods who Trixie cons into helping her – Loki, the Monkey King (China), Huehuecóyotl (Aztec myth) and Exú (Yoruba myth) among others – her mission to steal back electricity takes her on a romp through world legends. As everything electrical stops working, the canny schoolgirl has a lightbulb moment: maybe the ancient gods have taken the power back. He crops up again in Old Gods, New Tricks (David Fickling) by Thiago de Moraes, illustrator and author of Myth Atlas, a compendium translated into 18 languages.Ībout to be expelled from school for putting fart powder in the ventilation system, half-Brazilian Trixie dos Santos is saved by a global blackout. ![]() Ratatoskr is, of course, the squirrel of Yggdrasil, the Norse myth World Tree. But Rundell remains original, fully fleshing both her human characters and her storied beasts: manticores, ratatoskrs et al. The quest the pair embark on – to save magic itself – has all the standard tropes: shady allies, various perils, a double-take when they discover who the chosen one is. Naturally, all is not well: someone is trying to kill Mal, a girl with a pet griffin and a coat that lets her fly. View image in fullscreen Old Gods, New Tricks by Thiago de Moraes. ![]()
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