Three for the price of one.........

 So back to that thing about reading books that are marketed for young people ("even though you are so old and wise")* and here`s three authors who never let you down. And as an added bonus three spirited, joyous female characters who refuse to be pigeonholed. 

I read The Outlaws Scarlett & Browne  a while ago and I`m not sure why I didn`t write about it then as I loved it.  It`s set in a futuristic world where our heroine  is doing her best to survive in  hostile and dangerous surroundings. From the opening paragraph it is clear that to date she is managing pretty well: 

 "That morning, with the dawn hanging wet and pale over the marshes, Scarlett McCain

 woke up beside four dead men. Four! She hadn`t realized it had been so many. No wonder she felt stiff".                  

 It doesn`t take long for us to discover that she is alone, self-sufficient and fiercely focused on staying alive. Somewhat incongruously though she also carries a prayer mat and a "cuss-box"  into which she drops a penny every time she swears, which she does regularly. What she probably doesn`t need is for her life to be complicated by one Albert Browne, in almost every regard completely different, given to staring dreamily into space, not paying attention and apparently pretty helpless. 

Thus begins the tale of The Outlaws Scarlett & Browne. It is full of derring-do naturally but also slowly begins to build up the stories of these two unlikely partners and how they got to where they are. Their developing relationship as well as their adventures makes for a page turning narrative, written with sparkle and energy and - a stand out feature - great wit. 

How lovely then to find the second in the series is just as good, if not better, simply because it digs even deeper into Scarlett`s and Albert`s backgrounds and develops their relationship. They are now  The Notorious Scarlett & Browne, their reputation for "magnificent hold-ups, confounding robberies and perfect getaways" meaning there is a price on their heads and their exploits become more dangerous than ever. Jonathan Stroud`s writing is so good it carries you along effortlessly and makes you hope there`s a third story in the pipeline.

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I think Scarlett and Maggie McGregor, the central character of One Shot  by Tanya Landman, would have got on well, despite living different lives, in different places and altogether different times.  It is, as the author herself says, "inspired by the real-life "rags to riches" story of famous sharp-shooter Annie Oakley.....an imagined tale of how it might have felt to have had a childhood like hers." And what how wonderful to find a story that packs such a punch into such a relatively short book. 

Maggie is born into poverty. Her mother is "tired of raising babies" by the time Maggie is born and their relationship is non-existent whereas Maggie is very close to her father. When he dies everything changes and she is forced out into a world of drudgery, violence, exploitation, prejudice and abuse. Her one real skill is shooting, which she learnt with her father along with a deep love of the forests and wilderness around her: 

                      "When Pa used to take me out hunting, we`d walk along, my palm in his, joy radiating from his skin. It filled Pa`s soul - the wonder and beauty of the trees, the way the sun shone through the leaves and dappled the forest floor, the sound of birdsong."

But shooting and hunting are considered inappropriate for a young lady and however hard Maggie tries to fit in - partly in the hope of some sign of approval from her mother - she finds it impossible. Eventually though, with persistence and bravery she wins her freedom and of course (plot spoiler!) the heart of a young man who sees her for the person she is. 

Published by Barrington Stoke Teen in their "super readable" series, with dyslexia friendly font and off white paper, this is an accessible, beautifully written inspirational tale.

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And then there`s Mina, the sensitive, inquisitive, wonderfully imaginative eponymous heroine of David Almond`s novel. This has to be one of the most joyful books it is possible to read about nurturing a child`s curiosity and fascination with the world (not to mention with words themselves) as well as negotiating their place in it, especially hard if sometimes one is seen as different: as Mina herself says

                             "She was just nine years old. She was very skinny and very small and she had jet black hair and a pale pale face and shining eyes. Some folks said she was weird. Her Mum said she was brave."  (And by the way - her Mum needs a shout out) 

Though she is younger, Mina has the same persistence and courage as Scarlett and Maggie, the same determination to live life on their own terms. You could hardly wish for three better role models. In our local library (https://www.livelifeaberdeenshire.org.uk/libraries ) Mina is categorised as Junior Fiction, The Outlaws Scarlett & Browne, The Notorious Scarlett & Browne and One Shot as Young Adult but frankly who cares? Forget categorizations (I think Mina would approve) and just read them.

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Banish...despair...all ye who enter here........

 Can`t believe I nearly didn`t read this. I knew, vaguely, about Good Law Project. Knew, vaguely, who Jolyon Maugham was. Thought it might be a bit dry and probably a bit depressing. And thought that nevertheless I should read it. So I did. And soon found out it was neither dry nor, ultimately, depressing though there are some depressing stories in it.

The depressing part of it is how, in order to maintain their status, influence and wealth, the powerful and rich are able to bend and twist and not least afford what should be a tool equally accessible to all. Having explained broadly how the system should work, Maugham examines in some detail how again and again it  fails to hold power to account.

So far so disheartening but this is where Good Law Project comes in. Established in 2017 it intially had what Maugham calls a "modest" infrastructure - a bank account, a website and email but also Maugham`s unwavering belief that the law could do better.

At first glance he might have seemed an unlikely campaigner: comfortably off as a tax lawyer, he was a member of the very establishment he started to challenge, whose members it should be noted became very irritated, not to say angry, at what they saw as his betrayal of that club.  Maugham also made himself more and more unpopular with politicians and sections of the press and often came under fierce even hostile criticism..

Nonetheless, working with other like-minded campaigners, carefully addressing amongst other things the issue of how to fund their work to maintain independence, Good Law Project is now the biggest legal campaigning group in the country. 

Maugham himself comes across as self-deprecating, under no illusion that he and his colleagues are going to change the world overnight nor even that they always get things right. But Bringing Down Goliath is a vital and motivational read and best of all can be put on the bookshelf labelled Hope.