A couple of kids books

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon

Christopher is an unusual boy who sees the world more literally than most kids of his age would and as such this story, told from his perspective, makes an interesting and often fascinating read. The story starts off as a straight whodunnit when a neighbours dog is found dead and Christopher decides to investigate its death - the story then twists and turns and exposes us to the difficult world that Christopher lives in. Difficult not just for Christopher but for those around him.

The way the story is told is clever in that it sucks you into seeing the world the way that Christopher does. However by the last third of the book I found myself getting tired of it, particularly as it seems to slow down the book just when the story should have been picking up pace.

Face by Benjamin Zephaniah

I somehow had expected a more poetic and magical story from a poet but Face was a very straight read and as much as I enjoy Zephaniah's poetry I must admit that this novel was pretty tame by comparison. The story is about Martin a bright but slightly wayward schoolboy in the east end of London and how he, and his friends and family, come to terms with a personal tragedy

The story was predictable and even the twists were telegraphed well in advance and the only thing that kept me reading was the fact that the story was at least an interesting one.