Septimouse Supermouse

So, first off is Septimouse, Supermouse (and its sequel) by Ann Jungman. The book is about a mouse, Septimouse, who is the seventh son of the seventh son, and therefore, magical... ooh.. and with the help of Oscar the cat, he decides to open a cheese factory.. Its more magical and fun then it sounds! Ha.. I've never quite forgiven the publishers for the fact that the Septimouse on the cover of the first book is brown and on the second, he is grey... Still bugs me to this day, let us have a bit of continuity people! Even 'little big people' as Septimouse calls them, are smart enough to tell the difference between two entirely different mice! But I digress. I can't throw this book away for a few reasons. One is the fact that is cost £3.25!! I don't remember the last time I saw a book that was pulished at £3.25, I need this book as evidence that those glorious days existed. Secondly, I keep it because that little mouse with a big, cheese based dream actually changed my life. Before this book I had no specific purpose in life (which is fine, you know, I was only about eight years old after all!) But I actually remember the day I read this book, and I was SO proud that I had finished an entire book in a day. I'm going to ignore the fact now that is it the thinnest book I have seen in my life, with huge font and lots of pictures, because I refuse to take that moment of triumph away from eight year old me. This book was the first that made me really realise the joy literature can bring, and more importantly the role I wished to play in that. Before Septimouse I was below par in English - a year before I'd written a book of the things I liked entitled 'What I Lick,' and thus followed a string of pages describing how I licked my teacher, my cat, but thankfully a page determined that I did not lick spiders. Small graces and all that... So yes, I love this book because it gave me the reading bug, and that in turn gave me the writing bug, and even if I never make it as a writer, at least that has been the one stable dream I've had for the last twelve years of my life. All thanks to wee Septimouse.

Then there are a few point horror books that I can't part with. I've managed to find a selection that I'm going to give to a charity shop, but two are staying with me, and those are Caroline B. Cooney's Freeze Tag, and Diane Hoh's Prom Date. Between the ages of 11 and maybe... 13, I was obsessed with the idea of the American way, and American high school. I blame Buffy for making it seem so cool, and Point Horror for making those the places where the down trodden under-bitch always got the guy.. (Don't worry, I've since woken up to the realities of life, but for a few years there I did live my own little version of the American Dream.) Out of the many, many simplistic teen point.horror books I read, these two have always stood out. Prom Date I just generally loved. The Queen Bee bitch actually dies early on in the novel in quite a cool scene involving a light house, as these books always do. I can't put my finger on what made it better than the others but it spoke most to me... which is worrying, as in essence its about a teenage girl that goes crazy and kills/terrorises her friends to become the Prom Queen... but still, the heroine was extremely likable, which was rare in these books, and it was always just a fun read. Freeze Tag on the other hand stood out for different reasons. First of all, it is the darkest Point Horror book I've ever read. Lannie and her icey (literally) ways are terrifying, particularly as I always imagined the street that Meghan, the West and his family, and Lannie lived on as the street my mums sister actually lives on to this day. That made the whole book stick in my mind too I guess, because I set it in a place I loved - bad idea if you ever want to it off again. I just found the whole thing entirely unique, watching West and his family being turned into monster's by the monster of the piece, Lannie, and seeing Meghan being the only one that keeps her humanity at the end of the novel, regardless of the horrors Lannie has put her through her whole life... Goodness, I know this is in essence a list of childrens books that I can't get rid of, but I'd still advice reading this if you get the chance! If re-written for adults, it would still be a chilling story. Its hard to explain how awesome this book is without you having read it, but there we go - another book I can't ditch.

And I'm aware that is just three of the many books I was going to ramble about, but I've rambled too much, so I'll do part two of this another time, perhaps when I've actually finished sorting out this bloody bookcase?

xxx