Review + Giveaway: James and the Giant Peach

Happy Friday Everyone!

Today I have a very special review of James and the Giant Peach, my very favorite book by Roald Dahl. 2016 marks one hundred years since Roald Dahl's birth, so to celebrate Penguin has put together an epic blog tour full of reviews, excerpts, trivia and more, so be sure and check the bottom of the post for the full schedule!

JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH
Roal Dahl
Middle Grade/Fantasy/Adventure
146 pages
Puffin Books
Available Now
Source: Finished copy from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
When James accidentally drops some magic crystals by the old peach tree, strange things start to happen. The peach at the top of the tree begins to grow, and before long it's as big as a house. When James discovers a secret entranceway into the fruit and crawls inside, he meets wonderful new friends--the Old-Green-Grasshopper, the dainty Ladybug, and the Centipede of the multiple boots. After years of feeling like an outsider in his aunts' house, James finally found a place where he belongs. With a snip of the stem, the peach household starts rolling away--and the adventure begins!

Roald Dahl's first and most widely celebrated book for young people continues to thrill readers around the world.

MY THOUGHTS
James and the Giant Peach is the first book I can remember reading on my own. I'm sure I read shorter children's books on my own and I know my parents read to me all the time, but this is the first book I can remember choosing for myself and then settling into the corner of our couch to read. It doesn't take a huge mental leap to attribute my love for all things paranormal and fantastical when it comes to fiction to James and his group of extraordinary friends.

It had been a solid twenty years since I'd read this book, and I'd quite honestly forgot how brutal it was. James is orphaned in the first few pages thanks to a freak rhinoceros accident, and subsequently moves in with an abusive pair of aunts who treat him like nothing more than dirt beneath their feet for years. Thankfully fate–and magic–intervenes in the form of small green crystals that cause a peach to grow to enormous size, break free from its branch, and carry young James and his human-sized insect friends off on an overseas adventure. Oh, and his aunts are squished dead by the peach as it rolls down a hill. Brutal indeed.

James is a resilient young man, enduring the verbal abuse and threats of physical violence from his aunts with a strength no person should have to develop at so young an age. Once free from his life of labor under his aunts' watchful eyes, he proves himself to be a problem solver under pressure, helping his newfound friends survive the journey to New York in terms of food as well as keeping their mode of transportation safe from those beasts, real and paranormal, that try to bring them down or impede their progress.

In addition to an over-the-top fun adventure, Mr. Dahl also works in some tidbits and facts about each of the insects aboard the peach, letting all those who read walk way with just a little extra knowledge than they had when they cracked the spine. Overall, James and the Giant Peach remains an outstanding read no matter the age of the reader, and it will forever be one of my very favorites.

Amazon • B&N • Goodreads

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ROALD DAHL

 

Roald Dahl (1916–1990) was one of the world’s most imaginative, successful and beloved storytellers. He was born in Wales of Norwegian parents and spent much of his childhood in England. After establishing himself as a writer for adults with short story collections such as Kiss Kiss and Tales of the Unexpected, Roald Dahl began writing children's stories in 1960 while living with his family in both the U.S. and in England. His first stories were written as entertainment for his own children, to whom many of his books are dedicated.

Roald Dahl’s first children’s story, The Gremlins, was a story about little creatures that were responsible for the various mechanical failures on airplanes. The Gremlins came to the attention of both First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, who loved to read the story to her grandchildren, and Walt Disney, with whom Roald Dahl had discussions about the production of a movie.

Roald Dahl was inspired by American culture and by many of the most quintessential American landmarks to write some of his most memorable passages, such as the thrilling final scenes in James and the Giant Peach - when the peach lands on the Empire State Building! Upon the publication of James and the Giant Peach, Roald Dahl began work on the story that would later be published as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and today, Roald Dahl’s stories are available in 58 languages and, by a conservative estimate, have sold more than 200 million copies.

Roald Dahl also enjoyed great success for the screenplays he wrote for both the James Bond film You Only Live Twice in 1967 and for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, released one year later, which went on to become a beloved family film.  Roald Dahl’s popularity continues to increase as his fantastic novels, including James and the Giant Peach, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Matilda, The BFG, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, delight an ever-growing legion of fans.

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GIVEAWAY

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September 5 - Peace Loves Books - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Excerpt

September 5 - The Compulsive Reader - Danny, The Champion of the World Review 

September 5 - The Starry Eyed Revue - James and The Giant Peach Review

September 6 - Ex Libris Kate - The Witches Review

September 6 - Cracking The Cover - The Magic Finger Feature - Short Review and History 

September 6 - Lost In Lit - The Witches Feature - Revisiting The Witches as an adult 

September 7 - Cozy Reading Corner - Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator Excerpt 

September 7 - The Plot Bunny - The Magic Finger Review 

September 7 - Lilli's Reflections - The Twits Excerpt 

September 8 - The Irish Banana - Matilda Review 

September 8 - Ticket To Anywhere - Danny, The Champion of the World Excerpt

September 8 - Cuddlebuggery - Quentin Blake's Illustrations of Roald Dahl's Books Feature

September 8 - Beth Fish Reads - Going Solo Review 

September 9 -  Ravenous Reader - The BFG Excerpt 

September 9 - Paper Cuts - The Giraffe, the Pelly and Me Excerpt 

September 9 - The Lovely Books - The Witches Excerpt 

September 9 - A Glass of Wine - James and the Giant Peach Excerpt

September 10 - Novel Novice - George's Marvelous Medicine Excerpt 

September 10 - YA Bibliophile - Fantastic Mr. Fox Review

September 10 - Watercolor Moods - The Magic Finger Feature - Collage

September 11- Jessabella Reads - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Review 

September 11- Who R U Blog - Charlie and the Glass Elevator Feature - Trivia

September 12 - Belle of the Library - The Twits Review 

September 12 - Book Mania Life - George's Marvelous Medicine Review 

September 12 - The Book Swarm - Danny, The Champion of the World Excerpt 

September 12 - Book Belles - James and the Giant Peach Feature - Book to Movie

September 13- Roald's birthday! - Brittany's Book Rambles - Matilda Excerpt 

September 13 - Roald's birthday! - Mundie Kids - The BFG Review

September 13 - Roald's birthday! - Read Now Sleep Later - Boy Excerpt

September 13 - Roald's birthday - Consumed By Books - Matilda Excerpt 

September 13 - Roald's birthday - I Am A Reader - James and the Giant Peach Excerpt 

September 13 - The Novel Life - Lessons that Roald Dahl has taught me feature

September 13 - The Book Rat - Esio Trot Excerpt

September 14 - Belle's Bash - The BFG Excerpt

September 14 - WinterHaven Books - Esio Trot Excerpt 

September 14 - A Book and A Latte - The Magic Finger Excerpt

September 14 - Hello Chelly - Matilda Feature - BookBags

September 14 - Loving Dem Books - Youtube Feature

September 15 - Writing My Own Fairy-Tale - George's Marvelous Medicine Review 

September 15 - The Book Bandit -The Giraffe, and the Pelly and Me Review

September 15 - Hopelessly Devoted Bibliophile - Esio Trot Review

September 15 - Coffee, Books and Me - Top Ten Reasons You Should Read Roald Dahl's Books

September 16 - Undeniably Book Nerdy - Boy Review 

September 16 - Supernatural Snark - James and the Giant Peach Review 

September 16 - My Friend Amy - Going Solo Excerpt 

September 16 - The Quiet Concert - Danny, the Champion of the World Review 

September 17 - Book Briefs - Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator 

September 17 - Andi's ABCs - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Feature - ABCs

September 17 - Just Another Rabid Reader - The Magic Finger Review 

September 17 - Adventures of Cecelia Bedelia - Roald Dahl Feature - Food Feature

September 18 - Bumbles and Fairy-Tales - Matilda Feature - Reading With Dad

September 18 - Addicted 2 Novels - Esio Trot Review 

September 18 - Pure Imagination - Fantastic Mr. Fox Excerpt 

September 18 - Green Bean Teen Queen - What Roald Dahl Means To Me Feature

September 19 - Bookiemoji - The Witches Excerpt 

September 19 - Shooting Stars Blog - Roald Dahl Feature - Etsy Products

September 19 -  Alexa Loves Books - Matilda Feature - Style Files

September 19 - Nightly Reading - Matilda Review

Review: Salt & Stone

SALT & STONE
Fire & Flood #2
Victoria Scott
Young Adult/Sci-Fi/Adventure
320 pages
Scholastic
Available Now
Source: ARC from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
What would you do to save someone you love?

In Fire & Flood, Tella Holloway faced a dangerous trek through the jungle and across the desert, all to remain a Contender in the Brimstone Bleed for a chance at obtaining the Cure for her brother. She can't quit--she has to win the race, save Cody, and then fight to make sure the race stops before it can claim any more lives. In the next legs of the race, across the ocean and over mountains, Tella will face frostbite, sharks, avalanche, and twisted new rules in the race.

But what if the danger is deeper than that? How do you know who to trust when everyone's keeping secrets? What do you do when the person you'd relied on most suddenly isn't there for support? How do you weigh one life against another?

The race is coming to an end, and Tella is running out of time, resources, and strength. At the start of the race there were one hundred twenty-two Contenders. As Tella and her remaining friends start the final part of the race, just forty-one are left--and only one can win.

MY THOUGHTS
Salt & Stone is an action-packed follow up to last year's Fire & Flood, reintroducing us to the world and characters as they take a breather before beginning the third leg of the Brimstone Bleed, and then plunging us into the most perilous survival situations the contenders have faced yet. Ms. Scott does a fantastic job of seamlessly threading reminders as to the events of Fire & Flood–particularly the all-important “why” of the Brimstone Bleed itself–through this second installment, ensuring we’re up to speed without slowing things down with a full recap.

While the focus remains predominantly on the physical and mental challenges of the Bleed on the contenders, Salt & Stone also sees a significant shift in the relationship between Tella and Guy. For much of the first half the two are at odds, an offhand comment made by Guy causing Tella to question the way she’s run her race thus far and her ability to see it all the way through. The hot and cold nature of their interactions is frustrating at times, but just as we reach the point where one more change in mood from either of them is going to tip us over the edge, Tella decides to finally step up and use her words, cluing Guy in as to why things between them have changed. While Tella’s honesty doesn’t mend all their fences, it certainly removes a weight from our shoulders, freeing us from the tension of words unspoken.

The concluding chapters of Salt & Stone are one punch to the gut after another, and any animal lovers like myself should be aware that a number of scenes are brutal to witness, ratcheting up our hatred of those running the Brimstone Bleed to an entirely new level. We’re left on the final page as emotionally beaten and bruised as the contenders are, but Ms. Scott is considerate enough to leave us with a quiet moment that makes a smile break out even as we blink away tears.

Rating: 4/5

Find Victoria:

Website • Facebook • Twitter • Goodreads • Amazon

This book was sent to me by the publisher free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

I received no other compensation and the above is my honest opinion.

Guest Post: A.J. Hartley + Act of Will

I'm pleased today to have author A.J. Hartley stopping by the blog to talk a little bit about his young adult fantasy adventure novel, Act of Will. The fantasy genre as a whole is one that's really been growing on me this past year, so I'm always on the lookout for as many fantasy books as I can get my hot little hands on, and I can't wait to give this one a try. Welcome to Supernatural Snark, A.J.!

LIGHTHOUSES

I have a thing about lighthouses. I know that sounds weird when you put it baldly like that, but it’s true and I suspect (hope) I’m not alone. I’ll try to explain why in a second, but let me explain WHY I’m talking about lighthouses at all.

There’s one in my book.

That’s pretty much it. It’s not central to the plot or anything, but it features in a key moment. Allow me to set it up for you.

Will Hawthorne is an 18 year old actor in a world that looks a lot like late medieval or Elizabethan England (which is where I’m from: the country, not the time period [cause that would mean I am like 500 years old, which I’m not]). Will is a snarky, no nonsense kind of guy, used to living on his wits and theatrical talents, but he falls foul of the authorities (easy to do in this world) and winds up traveling with a group of high minded adventurers. These guys have been hired to figure out who is terrorizing a region far from anything Will has ever seen. It looks like there may be magic involved but Will thinks that’s absurd because there is, as everyone knows, no such thing as magic…

Anyway.

Will and his new found “friends” (at least one of whom needs the smallest of excuses to kill him right where he stands), have travelled to said far-off land and have been hired to escort a crucial cargo from a minor port to its market-town destination.

So far so good.

Except that their mysterious enemy have a knack for showing up in the middle of nowhere with just enough troops to wipe out their target with minimal loss to themselves, and then vanish into the mist as if they had never been there. Will, who is determined to find rational explanations for everything, insists his colleagues search a nearby ghost town where the enemy horsemen might be hiding out.

This is where they find the lighthouse and where things star to get hairy.

Now, I’ll be honest. When I was writing the book a few years ago, I had not intended to include this episode. I had the cargo idea in place and had imagined a scene on the road involving Will and the others encountering the enemy he comes to know as the Crimson Raiders, but I had not thought anything of the previous moments when the cargo first arrived by ship. This scene came to me when I was visiting a friend in northern California and we went out to a lighthouse. I had also recently visited one on Cape Cod, and one in Wales. I just can’t get enough of them, it seems.

Lighthouses are, for me, images of isolation, of defiance, of hope. Though their modern incarnations are heavily mechanized and computerized, there is something vaguely timeless about the idea of these beacons along the coast, the glimmer of light that keeps sailors alive as they navigate the cold, black water of the sea. I picture the solitary lighthouse keeper trudging those tight spiral staircases up into the storm, tending the lamp, alone and precarious up there on that narrow platform above the treacherous rocks. It’s a lonely life, I think, one driven by routine but also by a persistent idea that if you stop what you are doing, people will die.

Lighthouses are like castles, remnants of major events, witnesses to life-and-death struggles out there in the dark where the waves crash on the stony headland, where people’s very existences depend on that one rotating glimmer in the night. And like castles they are invariably desolate places, especially at night, places of shadow and wind where normal people don’t go. Outside they are haunting and isolate. Inside they are claustrophobic and cut-off from the rest of the world. They reek of atmosphere, of dread and danger…

How can I resist?


So yes, there’s a lighthouse in Act of Will. There wasn’t supposed to be, but there is, and I love it. I rewrote the plot to include it and the result is one of my favorite scenes in the book, but I’ll say no more about that for now. Wouldn’t want to spoil the story :)

• • • • • • • • • • • 

ACT OF WILL

Act of Will is a rollicking fantasy adventure that introduces us to Will Hawthorne, a medieval actor and playwright who flees the authorities only to find himself inextricably bound to a group of high-minded adventurers on a deadly mission. Will travels with them to a distant land where they are charged with the investigation and defeat of a ruthless army of mystical horsemen, who appear out of the mist leaving death and devastation in their wake. In the course of Will’s uneasy alliance with his new protectors, he has to get his pragmatic mind to accept selfless heroism (which he thinks is absurd) and magic (which he doesn’t believe in). Will must eventually decide where his loyalties really lie and how much he is prepared to do--and believe--to stand up for them.

Amazon • B&N • Goodreads

• • • • • • • • • • •

A.J. HARTLEY

Andrew James Hartley is the Robinson Professor of Shakespeare Studies, specializing in performance theory, theatre history and dramaturgy. His academic books include The Shakespearean Dramaturg (Palgrave 2006), Julius Caesar (Shakespeare in Performance series, Manchester UP 2013), Shakespeare and Political Theatre (Palgrave 2013) and Shakespeare on the University Stage (Cambridge UP 2014). He was the editor of the performance journal Shakespeare Bulletin (Johns Hopkins UP) from 2003-2013 and is an Associate Artist at Georgia Shakespeare where he was resident dramaturg.

He teaches Renaissance theatre history and Shakespeare, blending literary and historical critical practices with a material sense of contemporary theatre. He also works as a dramaturg and occasional director for campus productions of early modern drama.

As A.J. Hartley he is also the bestselling author of a dozen mystery, thriller and fantasy novels for children and adults, including the Darwen Arkwright series for middle grades readers, the first of which won best young adult novel of 2012 by SIBA. With David Hewson he has written adaptations of Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Hamlet.

Dr. Hartley received his undergraduate degree from Manchester University (UK) and his Masters and Ph.D. from Boston University.

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Review: Nil

NIL
Lynne Matson
Young Adult/Adventure/Survival
384 pages
Henry Holt
Available March 4th
Source: ARC from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
On the mysterious island of Nil, the rules are set. You have one year. Exactly 365 days--to escape, or you die.

Seventeen-year-old Charley doesn’t know the rules. She doesn’t even know where she is. The last thing she remembers is blacking out, and when she wakes up, she’s lying naked in an empty rock field.

Lost and alone, Charley finds no sign of other people until she meets Thad, the gorgeous leader of a clan of teenage refugees. Soon Charley learns that leaving the island is harder than she thought . . . and so is falling in love. With Thad’s time running out, Charley realizes that to save their future, Charley must first save him. And on an island rife with dangers, their greatest threat is time.

MY THOUGHTS
Nil is a beautiful blend of elements, seamlessly weaving together adventure, romance and a little science fiction to keep the wheels in our minds constantly turning as we attempt to solve the many riddles the island has to offer. Ms. Matson keeps us on our toes throughout, the number of days Thad has left before his year runs out a pressure on our chests that grows more intense by the chapter, his impending doom making us twitch nervously with every flip of the page because we know it's bringing us one step closer to his end. As we struggle with the possibility of losing Thad when he hits day 365, we also take on an almost hyper-vigilance when we're with Charley, frantically trying to use her eyes to find the answers Nil seems intent on keeping from all of us, adrenaline pumping as we're constantly on the lookout for any clues that will see all Nil's inhabitants home safe and sound.

We spend our time evenly split between the perspectives of both Charley and Thad, the combination of island newcomer with island veteran a fascinating mix that allows us to approach the mysteries of Nil from a number of different angles rather than just one. As a result, we're able to see the island for the contrast it is: exquisite and cruel, safe and treacherous, and life and death; its secrets holding us transfixed as we wonder how everything for Charley, Thad and the rest of the young survivors will play out. This is a story where every page taunts us, daring us to flip ahead and learn the things we most want to know before we're meant to know them, and as the body count rises and the romance between Charley and Thad deepens, the harder that taunt becomes to resist.

Charley is an easily likable young woman, someone who takes her arrival on Nil in stride even when its dark side is fully revealed, jumping into the day to day life with both feet as she attempts to find her place amidst those who have been there far longer. She's a team player from the beginning, as is nearly everyone on the island, the sense of camaraderie between all of them both joyful and painful to see given the death sentence they all live with each and every day. Where Charley is all shiny newness, able to find some beauty in the island, Thad is more gritty realism, his time on Nil having taken its toll and robbed him of some of his hope. He's not overly negative by any means, but for him Nil is a sentient being–a prodigy in a game of survival being played unrelentingly, and one who has the decks stacked in her favor. Charley and Thad prove to fit together perfectly though, both opening the other's eyes to a way of seeing that increases their chances of making it home, partners in the truest sense of the word who we're rooting for with every fiber of our being.

The romance is prominent enough to make sure our hearts are in danger of breaking should things for either Charley or Thad not work out as we're desperately hoping they will, but the adventure and mystery aspect is the primary focus and the piece of this story that keeps us up late even though we know we'll pay for it the morning. The fact that the island of Nil remains as much a mystery at the end as it did at the beginning is both disappointing and not, our curiosity of course demanding answers for the how's and why's of everything we've seen, but in the back of our minds we know that any attempt at an actual explanation for Nil would have dulled this book's shine. Part of the appeal of the story is in the questions we're left with, ones that let us fill in the blanks as we see fit so that we become active participants rather than mere observers, and we can't help but find some satisfaction in the imagining.

Rating: 4/5 

Find Lynne:

Website • Facebook • Twitter • Goodreads • Amazon 

This book was sent to me by the publisher free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

I received no other compensation and the above is my honest opinion.