Admiring Envy

In my last ABBA blog, I wrote about the three writers who, more than any others, made the young me want to try to write. This month, I’d like to acknowledge three children’s writers I look up to as I DO write. I’m not a fan of everything they’ve published, but when they’re good they’re so very, very good I can only shake my head in admiring envy.

 

Frank Cottrell Boyce has written three books -Millions, Cosmic and Framed – that never cease to amaze me with their humour, inventiveness and insight. They all have wonderfully bonkers plots – stolen money and saints; a Ninja Turtles fan and hidden art treasures; a 12-year-old who looks like a grown-up and ends up going into space - that would be impressive enough on their own. But what I really love is the way he weaves – without being preachy or overly sentimental – ideas about loneliness and loss and even what it means to be a parent into the stories. It’s a truly impressive juggling act.

 

Then there’s Lois Lowry. I’ve only read one book by her. It’s called The Willoughbys and it went instantly into my Top 10 Children’s Books Ever. Published in 2008, it’s a mock-Victorian tale of neglected children, abandoned babies and nefarious parents. If it sounds grim, it isn’t. It’s written with a delicate touch and a dry wit that are truly enchanting. (The Netflix adaptation was too self-consciously hip and Pixar for me.) Difficult to pick just one example, but I hope this offers a flavour.

[The children’s] mother, who was indolent and ill-tempered, did not go to work. Wearing a pearl necklace, she grudgingly prepared their meals. Once she read a book but found it distasteful because it contained adjectives. Occasionally she glanced at a magazine.

 

Finally, Louis Sachar. Holes is one of my favourite books. (Fuzzy Mud comes a very close second.) I’ve read it three times and I never cease to be amazed at the deceptive simplicity of its prose, or the intricacy of a plot that clicks so satisfyingly into place by the final page. But at its core, as in so many of his books, are thoughts about loneliness and longing and being misunderstood, about what it means to be cool, to be brave, and to be unwanted… all expressed in language that speaks to both children and adults. I find that truly impressive.

 

There are (many) others I admire - Patrick Ness, Sally Gardner, Eva Ibbotson and Philip Pullman to name just a few - but if I were forced to choose, then it's the three I've just written about that would come at the top of the list.