Peter and his father Tomas are woodcutters living on the edge of a small forest village called Chust. They are outsiders and for the most part keep to their own company. Tomas and Peter don’t have a particularly close relationship. “It seemed to Peter it had always been like that, living in the same room, but like leaves that fall from the same tree, always spinning ever father apart.”

This is a truly good book. It’s addictive, a quality that all good books need. It’s gripping. Full of suspense. And twists and turns. It follows Peter. The son of a woodcutter who just also happens to be a drunk. They now live in a village called Chust, after living a nomadic lifestyle, never being welcome wherever they choose to stay. And then things in Chust take a dark and sinister turn. Things begin to happen that can’t be explained. Deaths. The slaughter of animals. Bodies drained of blood. But Tomas seems to know something about it, and hides a deep secret. Pe larg, asa cum reiese inca din prima propozitie, avem de-a face cu o poveste care incorporeaza balada Mioritei noastre impreuna cu legendele clasice despre vampiri. One of the things I enjoyed about his writing is the way he instantly brings the reader into the terror of the characters.

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In a time of typewriters and steam engines, Iris Winnow awaits word from her older brother, who has enlisted on the side of Enva the Skyward goddess. Alcohol abuse led to her mother’s losing her job, and Iris has dropped out of school and found work utilizing her writing skills at the Oath Gazette. Hiding the stress of her home issues behind a brave face, Iris competes for valuable assignments that may one day earn her the coveted columnist position. Her rival for the job is handsome and wealthy Roman Kitt, whose prose entrances her so much she avoids reading his articles. At home, she writes cathartic letters to her brother, never posting them but instead placing them in her wardrobe, where they vanish overnight. One day Iris receives a reply, which, along with other events, pushes her to make dramatic life decisions. Magic plays a quiet role in this story, and readers may for a time forget there is anything supernatural going on. This is more of a wartime tale of broken families, inspired youths, and higher powers using people as pawns. It flirts with clichéd tropes but also takes some startling turns. Main characters are assumed White; same-sex marriages and gender equality at the warfront appear to be the norm in this world. Please feel free to leave a comment to this book review below. Or even leave your own review if you like. Hello Yellow - 80 Books to Help Children Nurture Good Mental Health and Support With Anxiety and Wellbeing - The historical context of most of your novels must mean a huge amount of research prior to writing each book. What does this involve and how long does it take? Effective gothic horror with a mystical touch. In 17th-century Europe, young Peter and his alcoholic father, Tomas, have settled down for longer than their transient life usually allows. They live in a vast forest, cutting wood for nearby villagers, but are always estranged. An eerie sense of menace haunts the area. Two bizarre and gruesome murders in a short time couldn’t be due to wolves, but Tomas insists that whispers of supernatural danger are mere superstition. Then, because one victim was unmarried, Peter’s friend Agnes is forced into a Wedding of the Dead and stowed away for 40 horrifying days of symbolic mourning. Visiting her cabin secretly, Peter confronts the chilling truth: Undead corpses are rising from graves, killing and recruiting more and more humans. Led by new friend Sofia and her Gypsy caravan, Peter and his historically unreliable father find that their only hope lies in a singular old sword and an ancient song with lyrics confronting the emotional essence of the zombie-vampires. Underlying tenderness, overt chills. (author’s note) (Fantasy. YA)

Armistice Day: A Collection of Remembrance - Spark Interest and Educate Children about Historical Moments The book's dark and brooding pace suits the story's mood. Written in third person, the tale oversees the life of Peter whose secretive father hides a tragic past and whose distant and offhanded demeanour makes growing up in the cold wild of 17th century Romania difficult. After moving from place to place we find father and son beginning to settle on the fringes of the village of Chust. Here, Peter tries to forge relationships with the guarded locals, but all is not as it seems as the nights are plagued by vampires. Peter finds himself not only entangled a web of deceit within the village but also in the grip of his father's past which will not leave them alone. Whenever I read a vampire book, I am suspicious. Modern vampire books tend to romanticize them - to portray vampires as gentle creatures. I hate those versions of vampires. I love them bloodthirsty, evil and soulless. My Swordhand is Singing is a book with that kind of vampires. Many of your novels are inspired by history and by myth and legend - have these areas always been a fascination of yours since childhood and if so how did this passion come about? Marcus also wrote with his brother Julian, and contributed to a short story collection with fellow YA authors.Peter doesn’t understand why his father has done this, nor why his father carries a long battered box everywhere they go, and why he is forbidden to know its mysterious contents. But when a band of gypsies comes to the village Peter’s hard existence is turned upside down. Drawing on extensive research of the vampire legend which permeates traditions throughout the world and set in the forbidding and remote landscapes of the 17th century, this is the story of a father and his son, of loss, redemption, salvation, and the acceptance of death. When we first meet Tomas and his brother Peter they are heading from their hut on the outskirts of the village to attend the funeral of Radu. I read this years ago when I borrowed it from a library. I can remember thinking what a brilliant book it was, and I can also remember going the next day to get the sequel from the library. I decided to read it again to see if I thought it was still as good. City girl Rebecca, spending the summer in a remote East Anglian seaside village, encounters Ferelith, a Goth who lives in a commune.

I cannot say this is the creepiest book I've read in my life, but I admit it gave me many chills up my spine. The atmosphere and the writing were factors that contributed to it: Both were dark and gothic. During a fierce winter, young Peter and his father Tomas, itinerant woodcutters, settle in the forest outside the tiny village of Chust. Strange doings have disturbed the sleepy town: mutilated cattle, bloodied sheep, and unexplained deaths. The villagers react in superstitious ways Peter doesn’t fully understand: They paint their doors with tar, smear their windowsills with garlic, sing a nonsensical folksong at funerals, and perform weddings between young maidens and the recently dead. As the murders multiply, Peter begins to realize that his own father—tormented by a past he will not share with his son—is one of the few who fully understand what is happening. Furthermore, Tomas may hold the key to stopping the horrors, if only he can find the courage to fight.

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He is currently working on film projects and graphic novels with his brother, Julian. He has judged numerous books awards, including the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize and the Costa Book Awards. Marcus began to write seriously in 1994. His first book, Floodland, was published by Orion in 2000, and won the Branford-Boase award for best debut children's novel. Witch Hill followed in 2001, and was nominated for an Edgar Allan Poe Award. Thank you , this is great. We usually send this novel off with children to read over summer but this year we will use these novel-study activities and read it alongside them (it will be that sort of year!) on their return. Useful PEE, show-not-tell, character work to enable the children to use their reading to inform writing. stars. This book already deserves all the stars for presenting vampires as the terrifying, dangerous, non-seductive monsters that they are.

Marcus is the winner of many book prizes, most notably the Printz Award (Midwinterblood), the Booktrust Teenage Prize (My Swordhand Is Singing), and the Blue Peter Book Award. His books have been shortlisted for over thirty other awards, including the Carnegie Medal (five times), the Edgar Allan Poe Award (twice) and the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize (four times). In 2011 Revolver was awarded a Printz Honor. There is a little bit of romance in this book, but it isn’t in a Twilight way as I previously mentioned. No hostage/human loving. And it isn’t even an important theme. More of a sub-plot.I have to say that I love the way the vampires feed in My Swordhand Is Singing. I’m not going to spell it out, as you need to read this book, and you’ll find out doing so. But it’s very different to the ways in todays literature. And they are called hostages, rather than vampires. To illiterate the idea that they really are the living dead, a hostage in their own body, rising from the grave to feed. Something I love about this book, is that it really has stayed true to these Eastern European legends. The hostages are devoid of any humanity. They are cruel and hell bent on only one thing. Blood. No love. No compassion. The true monsters they were before todays generation gave them the ability to love. These hostages are far more effective. How can you really be scared of a vampire that can love you just as much as they love drinking your blood? Marcus has been shortlisted for the CILIP Carnegie Medal five times, the Edgar Allan Poe Award (twice) and the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize (four times). He is also the most noted author in the history of the Printz Award, with one win and two honour books,for Revolver, The Ghosts of Heaven and Midwinter Blood. In his spare time, was also a stone carver and wood engraver and illustrated all his novels. Marcus was also an enthusiastic drummer.