First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?

• Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
• Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
• Finally… reveal the book!

Once there were no giants. It was just us, and we lived peacefully on a little island in the middle of the ocean, surrounded by one or two other little islands, which we didn’t bother, and which didn’t bother us. Life was good and quiet, and our people went about their business. Then the giants came.

Any ideas?

I’ve loved all of Nicola Skinner’s books, so I’m really looking forward to reading this one which is sitting patiently on my TBR!

Goodreads Synopsis:

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with Minnie’s island. Nothing, that is, apart from the earthquakes, which pull buildings and schools and houses down on a regular basis. Luckily, the island’s inhabitants have found a way to fix their crumbling walls: giants. Giants look after human children, like eleven-year-old Minnie. When Minnie turns twelve, she’ll kiss her giant, turning her into a stone statue forever. The stone will be used to repair buildings. And there’s nothing wrong with that either . . . or so Minnie thinks. But when a dreadful earthquake strikes, Minnie realises she’s not quite ready to say goodbye to her giant – not forever – not yet. So Minnie goes on the run, betraying her parents and everyone she knows. The secrets she uncovers on her journey threaten to pull everything down: and so begins a desperate race against time in which she will confront the truth about her island, her giant . . . and ultimately herself.

Autumn Moonbeam:  Dance Magic! is an absolute joyous, fun-filled magic-tastical adventure which completely enchanted me.

Young witch, Autumn Moonbeam loves gymnastics and dance but can sometimes find it hard to practise her dance magic at home as she is often interrupted by her wonderfully loud, messy and amazing family.  When she discovers that Sparkledale Dance Academy are having try-outs for their dance team, Black Cats, she can’t resist the dance-tastic opportunity to follow her dreams.  Will Autumn have enough self-belief to get through try-outs successfully? Will her mean neighbour, Severina Bloodworth, spoil her chance of getting on the team?

I adored Autumn who is full of joie de vivre, enthusiasm and kindness, but also doubts her talent, and worries that she will not be good enough to get a place in the Academy. She is such a great role model for young children who may be worrying about taking on new challenges or doubting their ability.  Autumn has a wonderfully warm and supportive friendship with Edith and Leif who also love to dance.

I loved the playful use of language:  I’d definitely like to watch the Aaarghlympics on the spell-a-vision whilst eating an ice-scream!  This is a beautifully illustrated chapter book with vibrant partial and full-page illustrations throughout which complement the story perfectly.  I really liked that the characters are introduced through portrait illustrations at the start of the book which I think is a fantastic way for young readers to get to know and remember the brilliantly diverse group of characters.

This is sure to delight young readers of 6+ who I have no doubt will be trying out some of Autumn’s dance moves, and will be looking forward eagerly to her next adventure.

Thank you to Uclan Publishing and Emma for providing me with a copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

I’m currently reading The Lost Girl King which is just as brilliant as I thought it would be! I love stories steeped in Irish mythology, and have been completely mesmerised by this story. Amy is the most wonderful young girl and I can’t wait to see where this goes next. I’m continuing reading Gallant which is such an intriguing, dark read. I’m really looking forward to discovering the house’s secrets.

I’ve finished Mia and the Lightcasters which I really enjoyed. I loved the bond Mia has with the magical umbra and the dark edginess to the story. I will be posting my review shortly. I then read Onyeka and the Academy of the Sun which is a wonderful, supernatural adventure set mostly in Nigeria which gave me X-men vibes. When I was in Ireland, I picked up Fin and the Memory Curse and it became my airport/flight read. This is such a great read and took me on a path I wasn’t expecting, but which I loved. Fin is a foundling who has been brought up by Ma Stump. She has had a hard life but, one day, whilst taking leeches to a customer, she discovers that she is the long-lost daughter of a rich family. She is taken to Castle Kaminski which holds a secret evil which only Fin has the power to defeat. I loved the link to Slavic mythology in this which gave it a darkness I wasn’t expecting. A gripping read. Finally, I read Flight which I downloaded on BorrowBox. This is an engrossing and at times heart-breaking story set in Austria during the final days of WWII. Jewish boy Jakob has lost his family and has been given shelter by Herr Engel, a groom at the Spanish Riding School where they are staying in a remote stables in the country where they are hiding Lipizzaner stallion. When a German Officer suspects Jakob is there and finds the horses, they are put in terrible danger and must escape across the mountains to try to keep Jakob and the stallions safe. On the way they meet a Roma girl, Kizzy, who has witnessed her family being killed, and she joins them on their mission. This is a compelling read with some truly heart-breaking moments which I think makes it suited to top end of Year 6 and into KS3.

I’m hoping to read The Extraordinary Voyage of Katy Willacott and How to Hide an Alien next.

What are you reading? Have you read any of these?

And, I’ve finished another year of teaching! It was such a lovely end to the year with our school production, Leavers’ Assembly and Leavers’ Treat afternoon. I won’t deny that I’m looking forward to some down time, and hopefully lots of reading. This wrap-up is a little later than usual for me, but I’ve been on holiday to Ireland and have just come back.

Books I’ve read:

I’ve read 11 books this month: 9 physical copies and 2 audiobooks.

NetGalley:

My Feedback Ratio is at 95%. I have requested and been approved for two books this month. I absolutely couldn’t resist getting an early read of Emma Carroll’s next book, The Tale of Truthwater Lake. The Girl, the Ghost and the Lost Name sounds like a perfect spooky, dark read.

Books sent by publishers:

I have been lucky enough to have been sent these books by publishers this month.

Books bought:

I’ve bought 6 books this month. Some are next books in series or books by authors whose previous books I’ve enjoyed and a couple are new-to-me authors.

How has your reading month been? Have you read any of these? Have you any of them on your TBR?