My hopeful doodle of 2020 -before it happened!

I hope you are keeping well and keeping warm: today it has turned very cold, but the bookshops are open again and my spirits are lifted by all the beautiful shopfronts on our little high street here in Hebden Bridge.

What a year it has been.

I remember last January I went on a yoga and journaling day hosted by the wonderful Hannah Nunn. We snipped out images and made big collages of our hopes and dreams for the coming year – all a bit tough and bittersweet to look at now, when we know how 2020 pulled the rug from under us. How odd it feels now to see that I was also wishing for ‘time at home’ and ‘walking the dog every day’ as I doodled here - well, that certainly came true, even if most of it didn’t!

I don’t want to skip over how hard this year has been for lots of us - all the things lost, and all the months of relentless worry, and the terrible grief for some. But for balance, I’m also seeking out the bright spots in the hard times and trying to remember what was good, too. I got more time than expected (!) with my family at home, and we did walk, a lot. Reading was more important than ever. And baking! Oh, the comfort food we made.

A lot of work vanished, events and projects cancelled, which made the things that did happen even more precious. I wrote a short story which was published here; and a story for The Handmade Parade that was adapted into this brilliant collaborative community arts project: We Are Here - see the youtube clip above. Especially lovely that we had good vaccine news just as the film came out, so its happy ending echoed real life!

When the bookshops were closed, a new online bookseller opened, which aims to support bookshops and publishers.. Here’s a little corner of it where you can find my lists of some favourite books, and some that kept me afloat in lockdown.

From this list, I’ll highlight a few brilliant middle-grade novels that I have loved recently, which would make fab Christmas gifts for readers aged 9-12 or so.

There’s Boy, Everywhere by A.M. Dassu - an unforgettable story about Sami, an ordinary boy who likes computer games and football, who is forced to leave his comfortable life in Syria and undertake a dangerous journey to the UK. On the subject of journeys, Voyage of the Sparrowhawk by Natasha Farrant, is set in the first spring after the Great War. It has courageous child protagonists who embark on a madly daring cross-Channel expedition, and the most lovely warm tone. There’s When Life Gives You Mangoes by Kereen Getten. The main character Clara lives in a small tight-knit village surrounded by friends and family, but there are dark clouds on the horizon. She can’t remember the previous summer at all, she only knows that she won’t go near the ocean, even if it means giving up her beloved surfing. I loved A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll, and have been recommending and giving it a lot this year. It has two wonderful autistic characters in the same family, and it is so refreshing to see that kind of representation. The story follows Addie as she campaigns for a memorial to those killed as witches in her home town. And recently I adored October, October by Katya Balen. The writing is so beautiful, I wanted to read it so slowly and savour every page. It’s about October who lives a wild existence in the woods with her father, but when he is injured, everything changes for October and she has to survive in her new life in the city with the mother she can barely remember.

And as I’m feeling festive, I’m giving away two signed copies of Rise of the Shadow Dragons, over on Twitter. You need to follow me there (@lizziebooks) and RT the original tweet. UK only, ends Friday 11th Dec at midday and I’ll draw the winner & post out that day. I hope a teacher wins for their class, but the randomiser will decide!

And if the randomiser doesn’t pick you, you can also find the book using these links.

Signed copies are available here from Kenilworth Books, or you can order it from Waterstones, from Blackwells, from Foyles, or your local indie bookshop.

OK, I’ll stop there and wish you good health, happiness and heaps of good books this holiday season. Let’s hope next year is a better, brighter one for all of us. Take good care, with love and best wishes

Lizx