With the world as we know it shrunk to 2km, there is no better time to take a journey with a book. Twelve-year-old Orla Perry, the offbeat heroine of CJ Haslam's Orla and the Serpent's Curse (Walker Books, £6.99, 10+), is a reluctant traveller.
She was supposed to go to a campsite in Europe with her mum and brother, but it was too expensive, so when they get the offer of a cottage in Cornwall for free, her mum can’t resist. The cottage is a spooky sort of place called Konnyck Vean, which Orla soon discovers means “cunning people” in Cornish.
It is an ominous sign of the strange happenings that Orla begins to notice, both in the daylight hours and in her dreams. There are fallen trees, ancient treasure, messages carved in sand, oh, and a pirate-loving witch called Pedevander Mazey, who has poisoned “the very sprow of the earth”. Orla’s holiday soon becomes a quest to save the Cornish countryside from slow destruction.
Haslam’s debut injects well-worn tropes with original contemporary resonance: “pellers” like Mazey may be responsible for climate change in the locale, but spunky children, like Orla, can do their bit to stop it. Details of Cornish mythology and dialect combine with vivid description (sheep look like “crash-landed clouds”, trees have “Mohican haircuts”, Dave the family dog has his own unique perspective on life) to sustain a freshness of expression throughout that lifts even the most familiar elements of the storyline above cliche.
Damien Love's Monstrous Devices (One World, 10+, £12.99) is another assured debut that takes its protagonist somewhere unexpected.
When Alex’s grandfather shows up at his house unannounced, the 12 year old is delighted. His grandfather is a robot enthusiast who always brings him a new mechanical figure for his own growing collection. But the latest antique model his grandfather has gifted him is not just unique, it is potentially very dangerous. When a trio of villains arrive with some tiny vicious automatons to reclaim it, Alex and his grandfather set off across Europe in a quest to save it (and themselves) from the baddies.
The world that Love draws is familiar territory for pre-adolescent readers, with bullies and blended families providing context for identification. However, the history of robots provides an alternative potential reality that allows us to follow the story as it takes ever darker turns.
Alex’s dapper and dangerous grandfather is brilliantly drawn, with comic touches to ensure we view him tenderly rather than as terrifying. Fans of Anthony Horowitz will love Monstrous Devices, though readers of a sensitive disposition may find the filmic violence a little upsetting, so parental guidance is advised.
Speaking of Horowitz, the bestselling author of the Alex Rider series is releasing a new novel in instalments on his website to encourage children to keep reading during lockdown.
Where Eagles Dare takes up the travails of the Diamond Brothers, whose adventures preceded Alex Rider's success. Tim Diamond is "the world's most stupid private detective"; in this new novel he and his younger brother, Nick, come to the assistance of a young woman, whose father has gone missing. The opening chapter is full of hilarious gags and wordplay that promise plenty of comic capers to come. You can read it now on anthonyhorowitz.com, with further updates every week.
Carol Anne Treacy's Barney Goose (O'Brien Press, 3+, 12.99) brings the reader on a gentler journey. In this pretty picturebook, the reader travels along the Wild Atlantic Way with a migratory barnacle goose called Barney. Barney spends winter in west Cork with Tom the Lighthouse Keeper, who tends to him as he grows from a chick to a fully-fledged bird. Nature leads him north along the Wild Atlantic way, where the puffins on Skellig Michael feed him, the swans in Mayo wake him from a tired slumber and the seals in Sligo play with him on the beach. Finally, he joins his flock at Malin Head and heads to Greenland for the summer.
Treacy creates memorable visual imagery of distinctive Irish landmarks, but she pays special care to her characterisation of Barney, with his easily spotted red bobble hat. The circular structure makes for a comforting final double-page spread, which will have young readers hankering for Irish adventures of their own.
The little girl in The Longest Strongest Thread by Inbal Leitner (Scallywag Press, 3+, £12.99) is also migrating, moving to a new house far from her beloved dressmaker grandmother. On her final visit to her grandmother's studio, the girl makes a map so her grandmother can find her and an aeroplane from cloth so she can come and visit. In return, her grandmother gives her "the longest, strongest thread in the whole world", so that they will remain connected even when they are miles apart.
The soft focus of Leitner’s pale yellow and green palette creates a soothing visual backdrop against which her spare poetic text sings. This is a beautiful metaphoric story about maintaining connection in distance, and as such, it is a brilliant reflection of our time, when so many children are separated from the people they love.
