Category: Blog Tour

Vox by Christina Dalcher

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100 words. That’s all you have per day. You are being watched, your every action and movement monitored and if you step out of line the consequences are unthinkable. This is America, once the land of the free but now the land of the ‘Pure’. The unimaginable has happened. For women the freedom of speech has been eradicated.

Amazing, thought provoking and absolutely terrifying, Vox is so relevant it’s frightening. It’s a stark message to never stop trying to be heard. Never let anyone take away your voice.

Absolutely brilliant, Vox is the novel that everybody will be talking about. (100 words)

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My Dad, The Earth Warrior by Gary Haq

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Today I’m delighted to be taking part on both Tales Before Bedtime and Tales Before Bedtime Juniors in the blog tour for My Dad, The Earth Warrior by Gary Haq.  I’m particularly honoured today because it is not only publication day but is also World Environment Day.  Now this is a children’s book and normally I would review books for children on Tales Before Bedtime Juniors (previously Story Makers) but I wanted to share this here too to mark the fact that it is World Environment Day and it’s a great book too. 🙂

My Dad, The Earth Warrior is funny, insightful, unique and full of fantastic illustrations.  Not only is it fun to read but it’s also full of important messages and touches on issues that young children have to deal with today from grief, loneliness to concerns about fitting in.

Hero’s dad hasn’t been quite the same since his mum passed away.  He disappears into books leaving Hero feeling a little lost and at times forgotten.  He wants his dad back but things go from bad to worse when a bookshelf collapses leaving his dad with a rather large bump on his head, his memory lost and convinced that he is an Earth Warrior who must do whatever it takes to help mother earth and the fight against a ruthless energy tycoon.  Much to Hero’s horror it seems to involve being naked quite a lot.  Follow Hero as he tries to keep things together AND keep his dad somewhat clothed.

This is a book that celebrates knowledge and how being aware gives us power and the ability to change things for the better.  It is also a book that will make you think twice about the impact each one of us has on the world today.  Yes, we can change the world.

This is a super book to share with emerging readers and newly independent readers too.  It’s fun to read but it’s also a great book to raise awareness with our children about the environment, the world we live in and the impact we have on it.  But that’s enough from me… here is a little more about the book and some words of wisdom from the author himself.

My Dad, the Earth Warrior - coverHero is an ordinary boy who wants nothing more than to have a normal dad. But Dad is only interested in reading his books and filling his head with useless facts. Then one day Dad has a freak accident and wakes up claiming to be an Earth Warrior sent to protect the land from a ruthless energy tycoon. Hero is forced to go along with Dad’s new personality. 

But when Gran mysteriously disappears, Hero and Dad embark on a dangerous adventure. Can Hero save Gran and get his old dad back before it’s too late? 

My Dad, the Earth Warrior is a heart-warming tale of a boy and his dad who reconnect their distant relationship and set out together on a mission to save Mother Earth. It is a story of personal growth, environment and discovering the warrior spirit that lies in all of us – written with humour sure to make children laugh out loud. 

Written by leading human ecologist Gary Haq and publishing to coincide with World Environment Day, the book addresses issues of our changing climate, heatwaves, flooding and the need for action in an engaging way which will inspire all young readers to be eco-warriors. 

So how can you become an Earth Warrior?  Here are Gary’s tips…

Gary Haq
Gary Haq, author of My Dad, the Earth Warrior


How to be an Earth Warrior!

Today is both World Environment Day and the official release day of my children’s book, My Dad the Earth Warrior. This is a story about the relationship between a boy called Hero and his Dad who have grown apart since the death of his mother. One day Dad has a freak accident and wakes up claiming to be an earth warrior sent to protect Mother Earth…

The Earth is our mother, our life-support system, our home. We depend on it for the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat. It provides us with shelter and warmth and all the materials that allow us to live our lives to the full. We need to take care of it, protect it, and make sure it’s in good shape, not only for ourselves but for future generations. We can all be earth warriors and take action to protect Mother Earth, so why not join the tribe and become one yourself? Here are some handy tips on how you too can be an earth warrior! 

SWITCH OFF 

Turn off lights and electrical appliances when not in use. This saves money on electricity bills and reduces your carbon footprint too!

CLEAN YOUR PLATE
Food waste has a big impact on climate change. If it ends up in a landfill site, it will rot and release methane (a damaging greenhouse gas) into the environment. So, only take what you need and finish your plate. 

TURN DOWN THE HEAT
If you’re cold, wrap up and put on a jumper rather than turning the thermostat up. This saves energy and carbon. 

GROW YOUR OWN 

Growing your own fruits and vegetables will help prevent CO2 emissions from trucks, planes and ships that your bring your food from far away. 

PLANT A TREE 

Planting a tree can help remove CO2 from the atmosphere and help tackle climate change. 

REDUCE 

Reduce the waste you produce in your daily life. For example, by using a refillable water bottle or cup rather than buying a new plastic bottle each time. 

RECYCLE AND REUSE 

Recycle your waste and think about using second-hand items or swapping things you no longer want rather than buy new. 

WALK, CYCLE OR TAKE THE BUS
If it’s safe, then consider walking, cycling and taking the bus for short trips rather than going by car. 

SAVE WATER 

Consider how much water you need when washing and brushing your teeth. Try not to waste any by leaving the tap running too long. 

SPREAD THE WORD
Encourage your friends, family, neighbours and teachers to do their bit and become earth warriors too! 

***

Gary Haq is an earth warrior whose day job is saving the planet. He is an associate researcher at a prestigious global environmental think tank and a research scientist at a European research centre. He tries his best to be the change he wants to see in the world and hopes to inspire others with his stories. When he’s not involved in his own eco-adventures, he likes to write, read, learn languages and explore new cultures. Gary lives with his wife and young daughter, and spends his time between York, England and Laveno, Italy. 

It’s been such a pleasure hosting today’s stop on the blog tour for My Dad, the Earth Warrior and I thoroughly recommend sharing this book with your young readers today. This is our world and it is important we look after it and teach our children to do the same.  Looking at Gary’s advice I can honestly say that I am well on my way to being an earth warrior too.  I love this planet and its beauty fills me with joy every single day.  If we each do our best to do just these little things, then I believe we can all make a big difference.

There is so much more I could write about this book and the subject matter but for now I urge you to take a look at this fantastic book, Gary’s website and World Environment Day by clicking on the links below.

Discover more about Gary by visiting his website here: www.garyhaqwrites.com 

Follow Gary on Twitter: @drgaryhaq 

He’s also on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/garyhaqauthor

Find out more about World Environment Day: www.worldenvironmentday.global 

I’m absolutely delighted to be able to include a sample from My Dad, the Earth Warrior.  Just click on the link below:

Sample_from_MyDadtheEarthWarrior_Gary_Haq_

Thank you to Gary and Hannah Cooper for inviting me to review My Dad, the Earth Warrior.

If you haven’t taken a look at Tales Before Bedtime Juniors yet then why not take a look now and maybe give me a cheeky little follow. 🙂

 

The Cliff House by Amanda Jennings

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I’m so thrilled to be hosting today’s stop on the blog tour for The Cliff House by Amanda Jennings.

Synopsis

Some friendships are made to be broken

Cornwall, summer of 1986.

The Davenports, with their fast cars and glamorous clothes, living the dream in a breathtaking house overlooking the sea.

If only… thinks sixteen-year-old Tamsyn, her binoculars trained on the perfect family in their perfect home.

If only her life was as perfect as theirs.

If only Edie Davenport would be her friend.

If only she lived at The Cliff House…

Amanda Jennings weaves a haunting tale of obsession, loss and longing, set against the brooding North Cornish coastline, destined to stay with readers long after the final page is turned.

Cliff House

You sit and watch them from the same place you always do.

I spy.

With my little eye.

The opening lines to this thrilling novel are sinister and full of meaning. The prologue setting the tone of the book from the get go. I read this in two days straight. I loved it. It held my interest and sparked a need in me to find out what happened and who indeed would become the victim in the end. I could feel it coming. The sense of foreboding that ran through the novel like a stream rushing towards the ultimate deluge when all was revealed.

The characterisation was fantastic. The different view points gave an interesting perspective on proceedings never quite allowing me to work out who I should feel sorry for, who was the victim and who was really injecting the posion that threaded its way through the story. I have my theory now but not wishing to spoil the story for you I’ll keep my thoughts to myself. Do message me though if you’d like to know.

The characters are complex, all damaged in their own way. This novel has so many layers. It looks deeply at how past experiences can taint our actions and lives forever but it also looks at how memories are never quite true but heavily influenced by who owns it. The same experience is never equally remembered by two different people and time has the power to change and alter events so that the reality can become grotesque and unbelievable in our self editing minds. We remember what we chose to remember from our own view point.

So what is the story about? The central character for me, is the house itself. Echoing faintly of Daphne DuMaurier’s Rebecca, The Cliff House not only takes the title but also takes centre stage. It seems to have a life of it’s own and possesses people in an unnatural way that makes them either love or hate it. Jennings has done a wonderful job of creating the atmosphere, providing the contrast of a hot summer in 1986 and the cold, sinister evil that seems to catch hold of both the occupants and visitors of The Cliff House.

As you read you know that things are going to go horribly wrong but you can’t quite work out what or who it will happen to. It was a thrilling read and one that lingers in my mind. I can almost hear the soft lapping of the water as Tamsyn swims through the still, dark water or the ‘caw’ of the raven.

Tamsyn has never recovered from the death of her father six years ago. The whole family have been suspended in their grief, doing all they can do to survive but never quite living. She takes solace in stolen visits to the house she and her father adored from afar when he was alive. The house they crept into to swim in the pool on the day he died. For Tamsyn there was always a part of her father still at the house and there wasn’t anywhere in the world she’d rather be. One day she sneaks back into the house only to be surprised by the early return of the owner and she soon becomes a part of the lives she has spent so long watching and idolising. And so begins a story of obsession and jealousy that can only lead to catastropy.

Amanda Jennings has a beautiful way with words. Her descriptive prose is stunning as she gets to the heart of the way her characters are feeling and sets each scene perfectly.

I turned my attention back to them all as they danced and screeched and smoked and drank. I was mesmerised by it all and relieved I’d stayed and not run back to St Just. This world was Wonderland and I was Alice. The characters around me were as weird and wonderful as the Queen of Hearts and the smoking Caterpillar and the Cheshire Cat’s floating smile. I thought of my father, hear the voices he used when he read me that story. Saw his face twisted into the manic grin of the Mad Hatter as he poured tea on the Dormouse. As I watched them they seemed to grow more fantastical. Their clothes brighter and more outlandish. I watched them pop whole eggs into their mouths, the eggs so tiny it gave the illusion they were giants.

Tamsyn longs to be part of the life at The Cliff House. She longs to run away from the pain and frustration of her family, a family left splintered by the death of her father.

He drags his feet up the stairs. He can never be the man he knows he should be. A man his father would be proud to call his son. While his mother worries about red-topped bills and food in their bellies, what does he do? Kicks around feeling sorry for himself. Moans about unemployment and the government and Tory wankers who live up their own arses. He smokes weed he can’t afford. Apathy is his constant companion, his Peter Pan shadow, sewn to his heels so he can never escape. It’s like he’s slipped into a waking coma. He is numb.

Just wonderful. I especially loved the line ‘Apathy is his constant companion, his Peter Pan shadow, sewn to his heels so he can never escape’

This was a thrilling, exciting read and one that I would thoroughly recommend.

The Cliff House is published by HQ, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd in Hardback on the 17th of May 2018.

You can find out more about author Amanda Jennings here.