Time Travelling with a Hamster by Ross Welford: Book Review

A truly original debut novel from an extraordinarily talented new voice in children’s books. Laugh, cry and wonder at this race-against-time story of a boy who travels back to 1984 to prevent a go-kart accident, and save his father’s life…

“My dad died twice. Once when he was thirty nine and again four years later when he was twelve.

The first time had nothing to do with me. The second time definitely did, but I would never even have been there if it hadn’t been for his ‘time machine’…”

When Al Chaudhury discovers his late dad’s time machine, he finds that going back to the 1980s requires daring and imagination. It also requires lies, theft, burglary, and setting his school on fire. All without losing his pet hamster, Alan Shearer…

SPOILER FREE REVIEW

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To be fully honest I wasn't totally sure about this book when I first received it in the mail from HarperCollins New Zealand. The main reasons were because: a) It is a middle-grade book and I usually don't like anything too plain like these unless it's by the exception of Stacy Gregg in which I will happily accept anyone of her books to read and keep. b) Because of the name and the cover. Yes I know that is a quick and harsh judgement but I mean come on, I'm not the biggest fan of cheesy titles and kiddy-ish looking books unless it has anything to do with horses or spiritual stuff. Basically I'm a really fussy reader (which is really strange because I'm not that fussy with other things but there are probably a million different foods I wouldn't eat even if you offered me a million dollars. Okay in that case, I wouldn't be that fussy. I need a new laptop anyway and the money would come in handy. I'll shut-up about that now). The cover is honestly the type of image that I would have seen as a kid and head off running in the opposite direction. It brings back the memories of being the weird kid that didn't read because all the books I found in my opinion sucked and my attention span was the length of my pinky toe. Depite the obvious and the fact that I do judge a book by its cover (the literal term) I do have a completely different opinion about the actual story.

 This book is about a kid named Al Chaudhury who is a quarter Indian and is basically best friends with his full Indian Grandfather, Grandpa Byron. His father died when he was eight from a piece of metal that was lodged up through his nose into his brain from a go-gart incident which eventually killed him and left Al to survive with his mother, and now at twelve years old, with a new step-father (or step-loser) called Steve and a step-sister (step-sister-from-hell) called Carly. Al has just celebrated his twelfth birthday with everyone and has finally received a very secretive letter that his father wrote to him before his untimely death. Al finds out that his father Pye was working on a time-machine project that involved his old Apple Mac laptop, a bunch of cords, and a zinc tub, all concealed in the safety of a cellar-turned-safehouse in his old house which is basically a while away from where he lives now. He has been instructed by his father to use this time-machine to go back to 1984, two days before the incident, and prevent this go-cart accident from happening and therefore saving his dad's life. Basically if the accident never happened, the metal that got shoved up his nose as a kid wouldn't be there as an adult to eventually kill him. Thanks to this, Al feels a responsibility to save his father and have a complete family once again. Not only does he need to attempt this in order to change history, he cannot tell anyone about it because they would either try stop him out of fear for his safety, or tell him that he is crazy and that it would never work. Despite everything, Al manages to find his way around but ends up finding a bunch of obstacles in his way and everything changing before his eyes in ways he could (almost) never explain, all while being accompanied by his pet hamster, Alan Shearer.

Things I LOVE about Time Travelling with a Hamster:

* Again like the memoir thing, I love the "10 Things I Know About. . ." list! It gives the book some personality and I've never really seen any author use a list in a fictional novel before so it's pretty cool. Plus it gives a lot of quick insight to the characters that he is referring to, such as his Grandpa Byron, Mum, Dad or Steve.

* How logical most things sounded but some confused me a little! I absolutely loved how the idea of time-travel and the fact that you couldn't travel to a time where you already existed. The way the time travelling worked using a computer and coding is so unique. The way his Dad explained the way it worked and experimented it. Though I noticed that some facts that were originally stated early in the book weren't thoroughly kept up with when Al was thinking of all the things he could do with time-travel, he mentioned going back a week to get a lottery ticket and winning it with the numbers he'd retrieved from that following week. But he wouldn't have been able to having been alive a week ago and he wouldn't have been able to travel to then due to that simple fact.

* The hamster was adorably cute and I think it helped make the story better! The fact that Al was galavanting around back and forth with time-travel with his hampster and having to look after it all the time was so cute. He worried about it constantly and lost it about twice but the fact that he made sure he always saved it was the cutest thing. Plus (believe it or not) we can't have hamsters here in New Zealand and so for some reason I imagine it to be the most adorable little critter ever and I had a rat once (it was an albino with red eyes so it wasn't ugly like some rats) so I totally get the little bond between owner and pet.

Overall I have given this book a three out of five stars. I won't lie, it was a little boring for me mainly because it wasn't really the type of thing I was interested in and there wasn't a romance therefore I was at a lost for words when I finished it. However it is a great book for kids who are just starting out reading in middle school/intermediate and may be interested in the concept of time travel and computers. For a debut novel I think the author did a great job with writing this book and it will be nice to see what he writes in the future.

RELEASES FEBRUARY 1ST 2016!

Thank you HarperCollins New Zealand for the review copy! Go like their Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/Harpercollinsnz?fref=ts

Go add Time Travelling with a Hamster to your Goodreads list HERE

Go buy it on MightyApe with 1 day delivery in New Zealand HERE

Buy it on Book Depository with free shipping world wide HERE

Find more out about my writing career at:

http://ellafleming-christie.weebly.com

My YouTube Channel: FeathersandFaith

The Island Of Lost Horses by Stacy Gregg: Book Review

Two girls divided by time, united by their love for some very special horses – an epic Caribbean adventure!

On a remote tropical island, twelve year-old Beatriz is about to embark on an epic journey, through hurricanes and across the high seas and back to the time of Christopher Columbus…

When Beatriz stumbles across a wild mare with strange markings in the jungle she can’t believe it is real. Yet from that moment on the strongest connection grows between them, and she begins to uncover an incredible history. For centuries ago, Felipa and her horse, Cara Blanca, were running for their lives.

As the fates of Beatriz, Felipa and their horses become entwined, Beatriz realises that the future of the world’s rarest horses depends on her.

Based on the extraordinary true story of the Abaco Barb, a real-life mystery that has remained unsolved for over five hundred years.

SPOILER FREE REVIEW

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If "The Girl Who Rode The Wind" didn't convince you how beautiful and majestic horses can be, then this book definitely will. The third stand-alone book written by Stacy Gregg will have you wondering why you're not out in the wilderness searching for long-lost, ancient species of wild horses. The unforgettable tale of the Abaco Barb horses which somehow descended from Spain to an island in the Bahamas; this is Stacy Gregg's version of her theory woven into an amazing children's novel which has stunned enough to win an award. This is the story of a twelve year old girl who has an undying love for horses (much like any horse obsessed person) yet can't manage to convince her marine biologist mother to let her move in with her Dad back in Florida in order for her to be able to do riding lessons, instead of travelling in a large boat they now call home looking for Jellyfish.

Beatriz is a typical horsey kid, much like how I was having a mother who would refuse to let me go have lessons, though our problem with that was more so having no money for it rather than living on a boat in the ocean for a living. I love how she was so interested in the wild horses and her wild imagination automatically thinking that the mare she finds in the forest is hers by default. It is definitely something I would have thought as well at that age. Immediately, showing the first diary entry of hers, Beatriz struck me as an adventurous and imaginative kid. Making friends with a native on the island was pretty risky, especially Annie being an old woman living by herself with no family or friends around her and who owned a seriously strange home in the middle of nowhere. That type of thing generally brings up a few questions as to why and I felt Beatriz' mum's concern when she realised that Annie had kept her at her house for two days straight. For some reason I automatically liked Annie, maybe it was just how open minded she was about everything from the wild horses to the crazy herbs she used to keep negative influences away. I guess that's typical from someone like an old woman who lives by herself. Throughout the novel, Beatriz seemed to gain a great sense of maturity and ownership and that type of thing is major for a kid her age. I bet most kids who read this book would be thinking, "Wow I would totally love to have a mum who had a job as a marine biologist and lived on a boat in the Bahamas". As Beatriz explains, it isn't as glamorous as it sounds but personally I wouldn't mind it, despite probably feeling a little seasick. Stacy managed to write a story which created a fantasy world for a horsey girl and made it feel almost real. Comparing Beatriz to the girl, Felipa from the 1600's, who had a long-lost diary which Annie found, showed a great contrast in the time and age of now. It would show younger children reading this novel what it was like back in the day of royalty and how the gender roles have dramatically changed in the past few centuries. But most importantly I felt like it was a tool for Beatriz to gain the courage to stand up for what she believed in and felt passionately about.

The basis of the story was about the famous Abaco Barb horses, the Medicine Hats that somehow mysteriously ended up on Great Abaco Island in the Bahamas. This is what I love about Stacy's latest work: she has started to do background research on her stories before she writes them and I absolutely love that because it give the book more of a purpose, makes it more special than any other fictional work, and it acts as a beacon of information - teaching kids the more important things going on in the world. This story in particular is special in its own way because its about the beloved Medicine Hats with bloodlines dating back to Spain in the early 1500's. Here is a picture of one if you would like to visualise it better while reading this book:

Overall I have to give this book a 5 out of 5 stars because it is so unique and well thought through, You have to give Stacy extra points for her research and time spend creating such a childhood masterpiece. This is one story that will stick with you for the rest of your life!

Thank you HarperCollins New Zealand for the review copy! Go like their Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/Harpercollinsnz?fref=ts

Go add The Island Of The Lost Horses to your Goodreads list HERE

Go buy it on MightyApe with 1 day delivery in New Zealand HERE

Find more out about my writing career at:

http://ellafleming-christie.weebly.com

My YouTube Channel: FeathersandFaith