Book Reviews and More: Have a Go - Jon Mayhew

Monday 18 October 2021

Have a Go - Jon Mayhew - YA Reads II

Have A Go

YA Reads II

Jon Mayhew

aka J.E. Mayhew

Badger Publishing

ISBN 9781788371995

I first encountered Jon Mayhew’s works through his adult fiction, a mystery series under the name J.E. Mayhew. I love his writing and have been tracking them all down and reading them. I found that he had a lot of Teen and Young Adult books under this name. And that he has another awesome series under the pen name of Edwin Torr. This is one of 4 that Mayhew wrote for Badger Publishing. It is very different than the other three. This one is what I call realistic fiction, it could be about me, or you, or kids we know. Madeleine L’Engle split her works into 2 classes Chronos and Kairos. This would be Chronos, ordinary, wrist-watch, alarm clock time. The description of the book is:

“Sixteen-year-old Jamie Garson thinks the world of his dad. To Jamie, Dad is a hero. When Jamie and his dad foil the robbery of a corner shop, their lives are turned upside down. Dad becomes a hero to everyone and Jamie is a celebrity at school. But not everyone is so happy for them. Heroes attract enemies and Jamie finds there’s a deadly downside to fighting crime.”

This story follows a family, as the dad becomes a local hero for stopping a robbery. And The Son starts facing consequences and bullying because of it. But at first Jamie thinks it is great. Then things start going sideways very hard and very fast. Soon it appears his friends have abandoned him. Thugs have it out for him and his father. He has been beaten up, bullied and had much worse threatened.

This is another great read especially for reluctant readers, and especially for middle school or secondary school readers. It will grab their attention and keep them hooked. And they will be able to see themselves or their friends in the characters or situations. It might just help them to look at those around them through new lenses. As mentioned, it is one of four by Mayhew for Badger Learning. I can really appreciate the fact that this is available in print, or in book packs for the classroom. I appreciated that there are book packs of PDF’s available for learning purposes. This one comes in a pack with 7 other volumes. I just wish more of the books from Badger were available as traditional eBooks for those of us who are not students, or not in the UK, as many of them are hard to track down in North America, and eBooks would be a great option.

This is one that I am thankful to have tracked down from the publisher. I have now read all the books by Mayhew from Badger and have plans to share them with my youngest two children. This is a story will have readers of all ages on the edge of their seats; it has an important message, and is masterfully written. It is another excellent story from Mayhew!

Books as J.E. Mayhew:

DCI William Blake Series:

0.5 Tyger Tyger

1.0 A Poison Tree

2.0 Fearful Symmetry

3.0 The Bones of the Dead

4.0 Cruelty Has A Human Heart

5.0 All the Lies

6.0 Death's Cold Hand

7.0 No Time For Sorrow

8.0 Dark Visions of Torment

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