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Hey-ho, reader guys, it's Carl and we've got a review of The Roar by Emma Clayton from our new friend Avery. Let's hear it, Avery:

Thanks, Avery! The Roar has generated more discussion lately than just about any other book. And with good reason! It's got a slam-bang good plot with vivid setting and characters but also gives you a lot to think about. Not many books do that! If you guys want to see what I and other guys have said about this terrific book, click on the "The Roar" label under this post. And if you live in the Charlotte area, Avery, come in to the Imaginon library and claim your free book.

When I got in today, after spending the weekend settling an argument between Darth Vader and Mace Windu (those two never get along), I found a really great comment from our new friend Toby. He wrote about a really terrific book, The Roar by Emma Clayton. It's an amazing book that I reviewed way back last April. (check out my original review here) Let's hear what Toby has to say:

When I was young and dreamt of being a children’s writer, I never imagined it would take me to China but that’s where I have recently been, invited by the British Schools of Beijing and Guangzhou to do my author/drama practitioner stuff for 3.5 days. Of course, by the time I’d added a couple of days sight-seeing in both Beijing and Hong Kong plus my time in transit, the whole trip took 11 days and I doubt if I’ll have made much profit but I have had an amazing, mind-expanding trip, moments of which I’ll never forget (especially three of us crammed into a motorised rick-shaw built for two, being driven down three lanes of heavy traffic in the Beijing rush-hour. Or my encounter with a taxi driver who, quite typically in Beijing taxi drivers doesn’t know where anywhere is but isn’t going to lose face by admitting it!)
This, however, is not the place for a travel blog. What of all of this, is relevant to children’s writing? Well....possibly the books I read. Late at night and on journeys, there was the luxury of time to read. On the flight out, I sweated my way through ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’. Very gripping. I would like to write gripping books for children, but without making readers nauseous with terror, without depicting scenes of violence degrading to women, without having a mind which pictures these things. I see from the sequel sample that the opening chapter is more of the same. Thanks but I think I’ve got the message!
With some relief I turned ot ‘The Roar’, the summer choice of my children’s book group by newcomer Emma Clayton. I enjoyed it. I had issues with the structure and the ending, all too frustratingly set up for what I expect will be a trilogy, but there was much to admire, not least the terrifyingly convincing picture of another world where the rich have quite literally built on top of the poor, condemning them to a life in the dreadful ‘Shadows’, a subterranean world of mould and darkness and squalor.
And then there was Leslie Wilson’s ‘Saving Rafael’, a refreshing spin on the holocaust novel – which I dropped in the bath! Really sorry, Leslie, but at least I was so gripped that I carried on reading and kept it in a plastic bag!
What connects there 3 books? Well...moral outrage, I think. It’s there in all of them. Steig Larsson, though I question his methods, is quietly ranting about violence against women and fraud, the strong terrorising those they perceive as weak. Emma Clayton is outraged by what we are doing to our world, both physically and socially. And Leslie, of course, is outraged by the holocaust – by our inhumanity.
We bloggers are all creators of story. We are all entertainers. But so many of us are also something else. Reflectors. Commentators. Prophets. Preachers. Voices crying in the wilderness?
So what, as I turn to story making again, be it on page or stage, should I be writing about? I could do moral outrage a-plenty after this trip. I have been treated with the utmost respect and courtesy throughout my stay in China – but supposing I had been a Chinese writer during the cultural revolution? Hmm. And Chairman Mao is still hugely honoured as a great hero by the ordinary Chinese. In Hong Kong I found a market full of stunning tropical fish, hung up in plastic bags, terrapins and turtles in tiny crates and puppies for sale in Perspex boxes measuring about 60cm beneath little dog jackets bearing the words. ‘We love all pets.’ Not far away, another market sold caged birds by the hundred.
A couple of weeks before I left, I stopped a child from kicking a plastic water bottle around during our break at Youth Theatre.

Wow, guys, this book really hit me hard! I finished it on Monday but had to take a couple of days and think about it before writing about it. Not many books will make you do that.

The story takes place in the not-so-distant future. All the animals on earth have been killed off because of the terrible Animal Plague, when all the animals stared attacking and killing all the people. Not only were all the animals killed but all the trees, forests, and habitats destroyed so the animals would have no place to live. All the people on Earth were moved to England and placed behind The Wall to keep them safe from animals. Of course, there's not enough room for everyone, so they have to build cities on top of cities. The poorest live in the Shadows, under the foundations of the new cities, while the richest live in the Golden Turrets on top.

Pretty bleak, huh? Well, into that world are born twins, Ellie and Mika Smith. Mika lives with his parents in the poorer areas above The Shadows. Ellie died a year ago--or so they believe. The truth is that Ellie was captured by the bad guys. The book begins as Ellie escapes in a pod fighter and tries to go back to her family because she's learned The Secret, but then......well, if I told you, you'd know what happens, wouldn't you? You're just going to have to read it yourself to find out! But I guarantee that you'll be in for a wild ride! There is enough action to please the most die-hard fan!! You'll get so pulled into the story that you'll spend every spare minute reading to find out what going to happen to Ellie and Mika. And the author does keep you in a lot of suspense! You've got chases with pod fighters, attacks by killer animal borgs, strange mental powers, and deadly secrets. Emma Clayton has written a book that really gets a hold of you! It really had a hold on me!!!

Until---

The end.The end didn't quite satisfy me. The author put a twist at the end and I thought the book would go in a whole different direction. The rest of the story would have been more interesting if she'd stayed with it, but she went back to the original direction of the story and I was disappointed. Does this sond confusing? Well, I can't tell any more without giving away major secrets. (That means you'll have to read it and find out!) Does that mean I didn't like the book? Well, no. I was just disappointed.

BUT-----

I didn't stay disappointed. As I said, this book was so powerful, that I had to sit and think about it for a while. And after that, I realized that the author was trying to make some points with this book. AND, in order to make those points, she HAD to end this book that way. As I see it, Emma Clayton wanted to make a point about the ecology (which I totally agree with) and some about politics and economics (which I totally disagree with). Are you interested NOW?? Go find it and read it!

In fact, I'd love to hear what YOU think about it!! In double fact, I'll give a prize package to any guy who'll write about all this or come to Imaginon and talk wtih me about it. Especially if you let me video the discussion and put it on the blog. OK??? ESPECIALLY if you can tell me how the poem at the end helps the author make her point. And Extra Espescially if you can tell me who the Green Man is and why he's important to the author's point. Got that?

There aren't many books that could create this much talk. And there aren't many books that I'd write this much about. Many books that are full of action don't you think and a lot of those that make you think may not have much action. This is one of the few that does both. And to think that this is Emma Clayton's first book!!!!!!!

Carl
PS--The Roar has one of the most spectacularly BAD buys I've ever seen, Mal Gorman. Even his first name means "bad." Literally. Go find a dictionary and see.

The only other action-packed book that made me stop and think was The Black Pearl by Scott O'Dell. Terrific book.