The Nowhere Emporium: 1 (Kelpies)

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Daniel Holmes is the protagonist of the story. He's an unlikely hero and a lovable one. I adored him. He was brave, he was clever and he was kind. He's an orphan boy who lost his parents in awful circumstances and the orphanage he's been placed in is a building devoid of friends, kindness and warmth. I also loved that he was a realistic kid, he made some silly mistakes but he had a heart of gold and I LOVED HIM OKAY. I felt a burst of happiness for Daniel when he was taken under Mr. Silver's wing and discovered a life of wonder and magnificence because the precious marshmallow really, really deserved it.

HOWEVER, that hardly means this book is a rip-off of either of those books. Just because The Night Circus had magicians and magical rooms/venues, doesn't mean other books containing magicians and magic are necessarily rips-off of it. Similarly, just because Harry Potter featured a young boy who is introduced to a world of magic doesn't mean that this theme can no more be used in other books. Actually, my favourite place in the entire Emporium is the shop-front where Daniel first meets Mr Silver. It’s dim and dusty and mysterious, filled with so many treasures and curiosities. I could spend days looking around!Reading is acomplex skill, requiring coordination of several cognitive processes. To access this particular text, my pupils need the ​ ‘mechanics’ of word reading sorted: decoding, fluency, and more. To fully grasp the text, they also need to know most of the vocabulary. They need to understand the grammar and syntax. They must learn how to connect ideas as we read. There are a total of 167 SMART Notebook screens (in one file) and each lesson is clearly marked, along with details about which lesson each chapter should be read, to aid and link to the learning. Hello Yellow - 80 Books to Help Children Nurture Good Mental Health and Support With Anxiety and Wellbeing - I wanted to see more of their downtime when there wasn't a problem to be solved or a bad guy chasing after them. It almost feels like you got dropped into the middle of a breathless race without a second or two to catch your bearings. The plot was intense, bro. It was intense. There were plot twists and cliffhangers and secrets and IT WAS JUST AN EXPLOSION OF EPICNESS, BASICALLY. There's wonder woven through the exciting events but there's also a fuse of danger and suspense planted like landmines throughout. For a children's book, it's dark. There's cutthroats and murders, duels and death and chilling psychopathic villains, however, it's all intertwined in a magical conglomeration of delectable writing, loveable characters, friendship and imaginative wonder. BUT SERIOUSLY, the last part of this book was INCREDIBLE and my pulse was racing for the last few chapters. I was listening to the audiobook whilst volunteering at the library and the people must have thought I was deranged because these were my expressions...not a pretty sight. I was kept on the edge of my seat the entire time which was awesome.

I liked Mr. Silver too! He had a quiet kind of strength, he was kind, generous and utterly magical. However, he was also tormented by the ghosts of his past and it showed. He wasn't a perfect character but I loved him nonetheless. Commenting on his Scottish Book Awards win, Ross said: “I'm so delighted to have won the SCBA for ‘The Nowhere Emporium’! Scottish Book Trust do such an amazing job, and these awards are extra-special because it's the readers who make the final decision. Children don't often get the chance to have a voice on this sort of scale, and I believe it's important for them to know that they have that voice and that their opinions matter. Before I start this review, let me first point out something most people have or are likely to notice when reading this book. Yes, you can see that the author was inspired by Harry Potter and The Night Circus. Yes, there are a few similarities between these books and The Nowhere Emporium.The book was very well-written, fast-paced and had a cast of very interesting characters. The prose and beautiful descriptions also truly brought the Emporium to life for me. But when Mr Silver disappears, and a shadow from the past threatens everything, the Emporium and all its wonders begin to crumble.