I was recently sent a copy of the book Shoutykid – How Harry Riddles Made a Mega-Amazing Zombie Movie by Simon Mayle to review. The author of the book Simon Mayle grew up in the USA but now lives in Cornwall with his wife and their own Shoutykids. He works in film and TV and amongst his credits are ‘THERE’S ONLY ONE JIMMY GRIMBLE’ – winner of a Brown Bear at Berlin Film Festival, Golden Griffin at Giffoni, best feature at Vienna and best feature at Kyoto.
The Synopsis of the book.
Hi there,
My name is Harry Riddles and I am ten years old which my mum says is too young to have problems but she is WRONG. My dad just lost his job, which means we might have to move house and I need money to make my mega-amazing zombie movie but there is NO WAY I will sell my X-box! I’ve written to the Queen, Harry Styles, and the people off Dragons’ Den who might be able help but I don’t know if they’ll write back. If you have any bright ideas for making money I’d love to hear them and I can tell you how to get past level 6 on World of Zombies if you like.
Good luck and have fun
Harry Riddles
Harry Riddles is a ten year old kid who constantly plays games on his X-Box, he is stuck in Cornwall with his sister who he hates and her boyfriend Spencer who has smelly feet. His dad who is a failed writer of movie screenplays that are supposed to be humorous , but he just isn’t funny and his mother who thinks her husband should become a teacher. The family home is under threat from bailiff’s and its looking like Harry will have to move schools as his family cannot afford his school fee’s. Harry thinks he can solve all their problems by making a television series about a vegetarian baby Zombie. He is encouraged to write to his transatlantic cousin whom is only writing back to Harry as he has been told to by his dad. Harry learns lessons from his cousin from dealing with bullies to asking for help when he needs it. Harry turns to writing to the Queen, Sam Mendes and Harry Styles asking for help with his problems in his life. But can these people help?
The format of the book is an unusual one as it is made up from emails and letters which makes the 400 page book easy to read. The first chapter of the book starts of with an email to Harry’s cousin which sets the story for the rest of the book. This leads onto continuous emails from his cousin who at first constantly puts Harry down for being a gaming loser but eventually helps Harry out with his problems. Harry then starts to ask for help with the start of chapter three see’s Harry writing to the Queen.
The light-hearted wit of the book is what made the book enjoyable to read, discovering what was going to go wrong for Harry next, all influenced by his decisions and his ability to say the wrong things.
This book is the first in a series of three books, whilst this book is an easy read I felt the book didn’t define the character enough. I did enjoy reading the book but also felt the end of the book was rushed, going on from a school play to then writing to the Queen saying how Harry is possibly saving the day.. The format of the book is not one I would normally chose to read, but as the book is aimed at eight year olds plus, I can imagine it is very appealing to that age group.
As a whole Harry Riddles is an endearing character who you cannot help but feel a little bit sorry for and this book does give light-hearted entertainment.
The book is released on 5th June 2014 and will retail at £6.99. The book can be purchased on Amazon. There is also a Website that is currently being developed all about the books and Harry Riddles.
I have kindly been given another copy of the book to giveaway, so if you cannot wait to get your hands on Shouty Kid why not enter to win a copy using the Rafflecopter link below. The competition is open to the UK only and ends on the 9th June at 11pm.
Disclaimer :- I was sent a copy of this book to review, all opinions are my own.
Sounds like the kind of stuff my son would love to read, I like how it is in a different format to standard books, the emails and letters will be fun to read.
Thank you for the lovely review and giveaway! I think my two boys and girls would enjoy this!