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BfK No. 105 - July 1997

Cover Story
This issue’s cover is from the gift edition of Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory illustrated by Quentin Blake and with design and typography by Peter Campbell. The successful collaboration between Roald Dahl and Quentin Blake has played an important part in the popularity of Dahl’s work over the last fifteen years. Blake’s unmistakable artwork truly complements Dahl’s writing. His economical, amiable, illustrative style balances out Dahl’s often expansive language. And the liveliness, humour and pathos of the drawings offer a softer side to Dahl’s sometimes gloriously grotesque, sometimes cruel descriptions of his characters.

Thanks to Penguin Children’s Books for their help in producing this July cover which commemorates the thirty years anniversary of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’s first UK publication.

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Solo Act

Helen Dunwoodie
(Young Corgi)
192pp, 978-0552545242, RRP £3.99, Paperback
10-14 Middle/Secondary
Buy "Solo Act" on Amazon

Iris Campion loves being the star of school shows and she is furious when Jimmy Garcia, the drama group's trendy new director, criticises her acting. Meanwhile Iris' best friend, Aly, seems to prefer the company of wimpish Janine to hers. Then to her horror, Iris thinks she has fallen in love with Jimmy - but is it love or the need for something deeper?

Curtains certainly swish quite a bit in this debut novel and there are some unlikely twists of the plot but it is more than a tale of wannabe luvvies. As Iris learns to recognise and deal with her jealousy and anger, chance leads her to a meeting with the father she has never known. It is an unpromising encounter but one which, with her newfound sense of herself, Iris knows how to confront.

Dunwoodie sweeps the reader along in a most agreeable and enjoyable way in this debut novel.

Reviewer: 
Rosemary Stones
4
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