Roald Dahl was the most amazing storyteller. He had a knack for always using just the right word or turn of phrase to enthrall, amuse, or disgust his reader. Boy is the story of his early life, from birth until leaving school to work for the Shell Oil Company as a salesman prior to World War II. Somehow he turns even a typical British childhood into something truly special. Dahl grew up in Wales but was educated in England, per his father’s wishes. The most […]
How do I hate thee? Let me count the ways
It’s probably safe to say that Harper Campbell has a Type A personality. In fact, in order to cope after the death of her mother, Harper has developed exactly 537 rules that help keep her life orderly and predictable, both academically and socially (not that she has much of a social life to speak of). Her first rule is to always take care of her twin brother, Cole, who seems to have gotten himself into some fairly serious trouble recently. Harper is convinced that the reason […]
Never meet your heroes, and never reread your childhood favourites
Darrell, Sally and Alicia stood together in their North tower dormy, gazing out over the lovely blue sea. Truly, their last day at Malory Towers had been a marvellous one. “The weather is truly wizard, isn’t it?”, Darrell remarked. “How wonderful to have this kind of weather on our last night here!” “My, I shall miss it so much”, Sally declared. “I know we’ll have loads of fun at university, but still. Our time here has been wonderful. I really feel this school has transformed […]