To celebrate the Year of Reading, The National has teamed up with Scholastic, the specialist educational publisher, to give away more than 40,000 books to schoolchildren. To find out more and enter the weekly draw to win, visit www.thenational.ae/uaereadschallenge.
Black Powder
Ally Sherrick
Chicken House, Dh32
Suitable for readers age 10+
Under the reign of King James, Catholics in England fear for their lives. Twelve-year old Tom Garnett learns that his father is to be executed for doing what any decent human being would. Desperate, he makes a deal with a man known only as the Falcon. But soon, he discovers that everything is not as it seems and the Falcon has not been entirely honest with him.
Black Powder is a slightly accelerated, fictitious retelling of the real life event, the Gunpowder Plot. In 1605, Guy Fawkes, Robert Catesby, Thomas Percy, and eleven other men plotted to blow up the House of Lords in Westminster, London, during the State Opening of England's Parliament. They had plans to install the daughter of King James I, Elizabeth, as the Catholic head of state, despite the fact that she was only 9 years old. Sherrick tells the story from Tom Garnett's point of view. A boy too young to know who to trust and too desperate to take stock to figure it out.
One thing I can say about this book is that you will never be bored. With countless plot twists and action, there is no telling what might happen when you turn the page.
This book is perfect for readers who, like me, are always wondering what it was like to live during other time periods. As a whole, I think Black Powder is a must-read for lovers of action, adventure and history.
Radeeyah Ebrahim, 16, is a student at Horizon Private School, Abu Dhabi. She blogs about books at worldofpossible.tumblr.com
