Tag Helen Harvey

George and the Mini Dragon

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George and the Mini Dragon
George Webster with Helen Harvey, illustrated by Tim Budgen
Scholastic

George loves animals and longs for a pet but his parents say it would be far too much work. Consequently when he discovers a tiny dragon at the bottom of his garden after making a wish at his 7th birthday party, he smuggles her inside so his mum and dad don’t find out. George names his new pet Lava and soon discovers that she’s a lively, strong minded, mischievous creature so concealing her is going to be something of a challenge not only at home but at school too.

It’s not long before Lava’s mischief making is noticed by George’s school friends; the art lesson rapidly becomes a glitter scattering opportunity for more than the pupils. Before the lesson ends their class teacher announces that there’s to be a school talent show on the coming Friday. George and his pals, Faiza and Jason. sign up to do a magic show using the set George was given for his birthday. George also has to work out what to feed Lava on.

As the week passes, it seems that the dragon is unhappy. Could she want a friend; she even tries to do the Makaton sign for ‘friends’. – I love that. Maybe though, it’s a dragon friend Lava wants. Then things get a tad chaotic with the fire alarm being set off not long before the talent show begins; it’s a false alarm but Lava is missing. Can George’s Amazing Magic Show even take place? Happily yes and it might just prove even more magical than the contestants or participants could ever have imagined.

Written in collaboration with author Helen Harvey, it’s great to see an inclusive story for younger readers; this one celebrates friendship, family and being yourself, (George has Down syndrome and uses Makaton to help him communicate). Tim Budgen’s illustrations further enliven the tale.

Emmy Levels Up / Amber Under Cover

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These are two immersive stories for older readers – thanks to Oxford Children’s Books for sending them for review

Emmy Levels Up
Helen Harvey

With a back drop of gaming and a school setting, this is a superb story that focuses on bullying, mostly of the spiteful verbal kind that includes name-calling and other covert psychological nastiness which can make a person feel utterly worthless.

Emmy is on the receiving end of this terrible treatment but finds solace in gaming and the gamer community wherein she feels confident. So we actually have an interweaving of two narrative threads: online Emmentine – confident and highly skilled, and real world Emmy – ridiculed by some of her class for not having the ‘right’ trainers and other gear that her family can’t afford.

The biggest bully is sly vicious Vanessa and it’s she who makes Emmy’s life a misery at school. Her home life too is far from harmonious, in part due her older brother Ryan’s aversion to mum’s boyfriend , Paul.

What Emmy needs to do is apply some of what she’s learned through gaming to her school adversaries, find a real life supportive tribe of her own and in so doing feel able to tap into her inner resilience and speak out against those whose desire is to humiliate her.

Helen Harvey explores the issue of bullying with enormous sensitivity and empathy in her debut novel that I have no doubt many youngsters will relate to.

Another terrific read is

Amber Under Cover
Em Norry

Meet Amber, in her early teens, bookish, under confident and able to keep her cool, in contrast to her best friend Vi who loves to be in the limelight but apt to panic under stress. Amber is shocked to learn that she’s to become a big sister but that’s only the start of her troubles; she then discovers that she’s been under surveillance by a mysterious spy agency – specialists in global espionage. This organisation were watching her performance in a supposed virtual reality game and she’s been selected to train as a teenage spy.

So clever is this agency that they successfully dupe Amber’s somewhat preoccupied parents into believing her week’s residential training is part of an inter-school programme in recognition of her superior STEM skills.
Staying in an underground bunker, Amber is plunged into a secret world where she has to undergo training in self-defence and surveillance, about which she mustn’t tell a soul: not her parents, not Vi (who would love the stylishness of the place) or anybody who isn’t ‘authorised personnel’. What has she got herself into, Amber asks herself.

However, at the end of the weekend she’s deemed ready for her first mission. What will she say to Vi having to let her down again?

Before long it’s destination Sankt Hallvard Manor an exclusive Norwegian boarding school suspected to be harbouring members of CHAOS an organisation intent on destroying the existing world order. Is she up to the task of fitting in while spying in this world of the super-rich?

Seemingly it will have to be ‘Fake it till you make it.’ in this gently humorous, tense, fast paced story at the heart of which is a girl growing up and finding her place in the modern world.