Blog tour - Review & Guest Blog Post: The Case of the Exploding Loo by Rachel Hamilton (Children’s, 9 years +, 10E/10E)

 May 2014, Simon & Schuster, 256 pages, Paperback, Review copy

Themes: disappearances, suspicious goings ons, portaloos, brainwashing, high intelligent criminals, clues, awesome sister sidekick,

Content: Lots of laughs, tension, great peril, and happy moments

Summary from Simon & Schuster

Quirky twelve year old Noelle Hawkins may be one of the brightest girls in her class but even she can't explain how her dad, wacky scientist Big Brain Brian, spontaneously combusted while sitting in a portaloo.
It's true that he was working on a new top secret Brain Ray machine and was on the point of a great break-through - could this have had something to do with his disappearance? Know-All is sure all is not as it seems and with the help of her sister Holly she is determined to find out what really happened to her dad. - See more at: http://books.simonandschuster.co.uk/Case-of-the-Exploding-Loo/Rachel-Hamilton/9781471121319#sthash.gUEbHqvo.dpuf

Quirky twelve year old Noelle Hawkins may be one of the brightest girls in her class but even she can't explain how her dad, wacky scientist Big Brain Brian, spontaneously combusted while sitting in a portaloo.

It's true that he was working on a new top secret Brain Ray machine and was on the point of a great break-through - could this have had something to do with his disappearance? Know-All is sure all is not as it seems and with the help of her sister Holly she is determined to find out what really happened to her dad. 


Nayuleska's thoughts 
For reasons which will only be understood when you read this unputdownable tale I'm looking at my turquoise  tablet case with suspicion. Suspicion is something Noelle had a lot of when her father disappears. It leads her to lots of danger, horrid realisations, and, on a more positive note, new friends. I think Aisha needs more page time in the next book (there has to be one!). Noelle is cool with her photographic memory and a habit of connecting dots together (not literally) when given sensible clues. Ridiculous clues remain unsolved. I love how geeky she is, because it gets her both into and out of trouble. She endures a lot of crazy goings on yet keeps those she loves, as well as total strangers safe from her, all on a mission to find her father when the authorities give up searching for him.

The star of the book isn't Porter whose loyalties can be questionable, certainly not Noelle's odd maths teacher, it is her sister Holly. Holly is a legend. Her violent tendencies did, admittedly, class her as a crazy girl, but these tendencies proved essential to help Noelle out-plus they are hilarious. Her love of power tools made me grin at the book while feeling unwell. She has an admirable attitude, might not have a photographic memory but she doesn't need that with her active legs and feet. She pulls through for Noelle at crucial moments which provided sweet sisterly moments. Noelle deserves her own book!!

For more info check out Rachael's website.

Suggested read

For a sister with spirit like Holly, so much so that she chucks her sewing machine out her bedroom window, older readers need to try Kimber An's Sugar Rush (Young Adult, 9/10E)

Guest Blog Post

Nayu here! Today's guest blog post is a little different. It's not Rachel who is spilling the beans about her life/book - it's her son! I'm sure you're enjoy Dylan's take on living with a writer as much as I do ^o^

HAVING A BOOK WRITER AS A MUM

Name & photo printed with Rachel's permission, for those concerned about Dylan's safety.

(written by me, who is the 9 year old son of Rachel Hamilton)

So, you’re probably wondering what is it like for me having an author as a mum? Actually, you’re probably not wondering that because you don’t know who I am yet, which means you don’t care. So I’ll tell you about me first and my mum second.

 

(If you follow my blog you know I used this picture in my ‘Fortunately The Milk’ review already.

 But Neil Gaiman liked it! And recycling is good!)

So this is me. My head is in a book because I like books (and because it’s hard to draw faces). I am nine, I am a boy and my mum is Rachel Hamilton who wrote ‘The Case of the Exploding Loo’.  She said I should tell you it is brilliant. Ha ha. No she didn’t but I’m going to leave that in as revenge for her making me write this blog post. 

She also makes me write book reviews for Book Walrus because she says people will like me being honest about things. I am not sure about that. People do not always like me being honest unless glary faces are a sign of liking things. I am expecting my mum to pull a glary face when she reads this :) 

(Mum’s glary face. She does have a nose. I just don’t like drawing them)

I don’t know if all this blogging and reviewing is what people who have authors as mums usually do. I am starting to think it’s just me and I should ask to be paid.

(I wrote money jar on the money jar so you didn’t mistake it for a puddle on the floor. I don’t make puddles on the floor)

First I should tell you the stuff about having a mum who is a writer. Firstly, most of the time you have to say the same thing twice to her because she’s too busy writing her book to listen to you. This makes my sister cross. I get cross sometimes too but there are good sides to my mum not paying attention. She sometimes forgets bedtime and homework. That is good. Although she also forgets dinner and that is bad.

(This is an empty plate. Although if mum forgets to make my dinner, she usually forgets to give me a plate too. Giving me a plate and no dinner would be evil)

Secondly, I’m not sure how much of her ‘busy time’ Mum spends writing her book. She spends 50% of her time looking at YouTube and Twitter and Facebook, and 75% percent of THAT time is spent doing things that aren’t related to books in any way and is just her laughing at stuff.

Thirdly, I have to read her book. First I refused to look at it until it was a proper book because mum kept trying to give me big piles of A4 paper and saying it was a manuscript. Er, no it’s not. It’s a big heap of paper!

 

Finally I gave up and read it. And, yeah, okay, it was funny and it was good. But it was a bit spoiled because mum came in the room every time I laughed and said ‘What are you laughing at? What is funny? Can you mark it with a highlighter?’ 

Mum also pulled one of those glary faces like in the picture when her friend asked if I liked it and I said ‘yes, but it is not as good as The Wimpy Kid’. Sorry, mum!

 

And finally, I’m not sure it’s fair that mum gets to have her own laptop when the rest of us have to use the same computer, which for the past two years or so has had a virus known as our-computer-sucks-because-everyone-in-my-family-uses-it-itis. 

Well, that’s what it’s like having a mum who’s a writer. AND NO, I’M NOT WRITING ANY MORE, MUM. AND WHERE IS MY DINNER?