The Worlds We Leave Behind: SHORTLISTED FOR THE YOTO CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR ILLUSTRATION

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Again, no favourites, per se, but at various times in my life the following five have been important to me: Barbara Firth (the greatest illustrator of bears in children’s books full stop, no argument); J.R.R. Tolkien (for, almost accidentally, allowing us a glimpse into his lifelong private world-building exercise); Norman MacCaig (one of the great poets of nature and time and thought – never fussy and complex, but always sharp, charming and short); Iris Murdoch (for her ungainly, unlikely, unworldly novels of love and philosophy; Jill Bennett (I have a print of her drawing of the BFG (from Danny Champion of the World) on the wall by my desk, which is so many times more mysterious and fascinating than Blake’s BFG that became the standard).

Holy hell this was good, good, good. And freaky. And intelligent - I used my dictionary quite a bit with this one but that's okay because I love learning new words. I will say the ending is abrupt and it looks like some readers aren't enjoying it but honestly I don't think that this author could have ended it in any other way. It's sometimes the not knowing that makes something truly scary. There are so many themes to discuss that this would make an excellent choice for book clubs. 5 *terrifying* stars!Hex never meant for the girl to follow him and his friend Tommo into the woods. He never meant for her to fall off the rope swing and break her arm. When the finger of blame is pointed at him, Hex runs deep into the woods and his fierce sense of injustice leads him to a strange clearing in the woods - a clearing that has never been there before - where an old lady in a cottage offers him a deal. There wasn't anything truly wrong with The Worlds We Leave Behind, only that it felt, to me, like the first draft of a greater project. I didn't really get to know the characters - all the boys were much the same to me. According to the plot, the boys were seemingly interchangeable, which was a bit sad. Enraged at how unfair life is, Hex runs into the woods and finds himself in a strange clearing-a clearing that can't possibly exist-where a strange old woman offers him a she'll rid the world of those who wronged him. All he has to do is accept and they'll be forgotten, forever. But what Hex doesn't know is that someone else has been offered the same deal. I received an ARC of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The quotations are taken from an unfinished copy and are subject to change.

Coffee house Caffè Nero has announced the 16-strong shortlist for the inaugural Nero Book Awards, recognising the outstanding books of the past 12... And that was when I really felt that this was the lesson to be learned from what took place. Life with it's infinite do-overs will still make you lose what you hold dear - if you don't learn to live with the feelings and moments that shape who you are. 🥺 A young girl named Sascha had followed him and his best friend Tommo into the forest. They told her she couldn't come, but she followed anyway, keen to do what they were doing. But before Hex knew it, the girl was lying in the creek bed with her arm looking strange and her cries ringing out. Bestselling author Alexandra Christo, author of TikTok sensation To Kill a Kingdom, introduces her new book, The Night Hunt (Hot Key Books), a dark... Hex never meant for the girl to follow him and his friend Tommo into the woods. He never meant for her to fall off the rope swing and break her arm. When the finger of blame is pointed at him, Hex runs deep into the woods and his fierce sense of injustice leads him to a strange clearing in the woods—a clearing that has never been there before—where an old lady in a cottage offers him a deal. She’ll rid the world of those who wronged him and Hex can carry on his life with them all forgotten and as if nothing ever happened. But what Hex doesn’t know is someone else has been offered the same deal.Content warnings: depiction of racism, vomit, loss of teeth, disease on unknown origin, alcohol abuse, spiders This is a lucid collection of short chapters on some of the world’s most intractable issues like globalisation, climate change, human population and migration. It is a unique and prescient contribution that helps make sense of an increasingly unpredictable and unsustainable world." When he and Tommo return to the swing, Sascha's older sister is ready for them. Hex comes off second best, bruised and sore. He runs again, only to find himself in an unfamiliar clearing. A small cottage sits in the centre and an old woman welcomes him inside. She cleans up his cuts and then offers something strange. She believes revenge is called for. An eye for an eye. A tooth for a tooth. She can arrange it. All Hex has to do is crush an acorn she offers him, and the bully will vanish!