Crowvus Book Blog

 We are thrilled to share with you the cover for the prequel to Taking Wing , Carnwennan . Carnwennan will be published on 24th June , and is set early on in the crows' and owls' war. It gives a glimpse into the tribal world, building on the magic of Taking Wing and Doorway to the Sunset . And now, for the reveal... If you'd like to pre-order the ebook, then here is the Amazon link. Book Reviewers, let us know if you would like an ARC

 Welcome back to Middle Grade Monday! Today, I'll be discussing how to deal with adults in middle grade fiction because, and I hate to break this to you, kids just don't want to read about adults stealing all the fun. Consider your favourite books from when you were younger. Mine was The Moon of Gomrath by Alan Garner. It's a story about a brother and sisters - kids, of course - who have magical adventure in the English countryside. There's danger, magic and battles. What's not to love? And yes, there are adults. But they are kept on a very short lead by the author. The most powerful character in the book, debatably, is Cadellin. He's a wizard who has a startling knowledge of the secret world of magical beings. He would find it so much easier to win in the end, but it has to be Susan and Colin (the kids) who are the centre of the book. So, what can you do with adults in middle grade? How can you make sure they get out the way? Some authors take the orphan option...

 I'm sorry I haven't posted a Middle Grade Monday post for a few weeks. The summer holidays have been in full swing and we have been far from idle. At the start of the holiday, I published the sequel to my debut novel. "Taking Wing" came out in July 2019, and it's a great relief to have launched "Doorway to the Sunset" which continues the story. Not only does it feel great that it's finally out there, but it was super to be back with those characters again. The Feather Down series is a story I tried multiple times to write. Slightly different over the years, of course. Each time, I could never get beyond the first couple of chapters. I don't know what about "Taking Wing" made it stick. Perhaps because, by then, I was older and had more writing experience. Perhaps because I was teaching children who were the same age as my ideal audience. Either way, "Taking Wing" continues to be the book of mine that sells the most. Freya, the...

 Today was supposed to be a book review day, but with everything that is currently needing attention, I haven't got round to reading my backlist yet and, rather than skim read one of the books, I would rather do it the credit of giving my full attention. So, I thought, that I would introduce my favourite book from when I was little. The Moon of Gomrath is a fantasy adventure, which I partially credit with my love of the genre. It is heavily woven with myths and legends from rural England and, while I grew up many miles away from Alderley Edge where the book is set, I could imagine the story happening close to where I lived in another corner of the English countryside. The book is actually the sequel to The Weirdstone of Brisingamen but I read them out of sync, and it didn't matter. Sure, there were parts that made more sense once I'd read the first book, but I managed well enough. The first book is great, too, but I don't have the same attachment to it. There are mythic...

      Review When you love a book, there are two differents approaches to reading it and, after reading The Alchemist , I realised that I do both - depending on the way the story moves and inspires me. The first is to gobble up the book: tearing through the story and utterly immersing yourself in the world it creates. I often do this when I'm reading my sisters' writings for the first time, but I also do it with Neil Gaiman's work and (randomly enough) Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. The second is to eat it a little piece at a time, to make it last as long as possible. Roald Dahl described this perfectly when Charlie (of eponymous Chocolate Factory fame) nibbles his one bar of chocolate to make it last as long as possible. Before reading The Alchemist , I had only ever thought of myself as a gobbler. Books I absolutely love  always got read very quickly. But you don't want to do this with this gem by Paulo Coelho: you want to eat it slowly and feel yourself graduall...

This is a lovely story about Norman, a little bat who is perfectly happy with his “particularly average life” until he accidentally ends up going on a series of amazing adventures. He is kidnapped, he goes into space, he is trained to save the world! It’s a great thing to teach children about how exciting things can happen despite modest beginnings! Throughout the book, he meets friends like him and others who are very different, a fantastic thing to encourage children to embrace friendships with others from various backgrounds. The story is enhanced by exciting illustrations which show the variety of characters as they undertake their adventures. I absolutely fell in love with the Overwatchers, and the villains were wonderfully dastardly! The tone is perfect for 5-7 year olds, but the language used in the story is really advanced for a child to read themselves. It is somewhere between a picture book and a chapter book. I would recommend it as a book for an adult to read  to  ...

"Barely fourteen, Ceci Prejean is a tomboy running wild in the hot Louisiana summer. After breaking the nose of a local boy, her father decides to enlist the aid of Hecubah, a beautiful Creole woman, with a secret past, who takes Ceci in hand and turns her into a lady.  Now, eighteen-year-old Ceci meets and falls passionately in love with a handsome young northerner, Trent Sinclaire. Trent is a cadet at the West Point military academy. He acts as if he knows Ceci. They begin a torrid affair, even as the southern states begin to secede from the Union.  Only weeks before their wedding, the Confederate army attacks Fort Sumter and the civil war begins. Trent is called to active service in the north, leaving Ceci heartbroken in the south. Swearing vengeance on the union, after the untimely death of her family at the fall of New Orleans, Ceci meets with infamous spy master, Henry Doucet. He initiates her into the shadowy world of espionage. After her failure to avert the catast...

Tomorrow (Thursday 1st March) is World Book Day! At school, we are supposed to be dressing up as book characters but we had a snow day today so I'm wondering if school will open tomorrow. To honour, World Book Day, I thought I would write about 2 children's novels (1 today, the other tomorrow) that I have serialised for my Primary 4 class. I will also write a lesson plan for each, which I will post on Friday. The 1st novel I read to them was "First Aid for Fairies and Other Fabled Beasts" by Lari Don. This is a great book for adults and children (I first read this when I was studying at university and loved it!). It is about a girl in Southern Scotland who meets a young centaur and his friends who have done something foolish that could threaten fabled beasts and humans alike. It's a book full of suspense and adventure. Here is the blurb from Goodreads: "Helen has absolutely no interest in becoming a vet like her mother. So she isn't best plea...