Oliver, the baby from outer space by Joanne Baxter

This is a children's sci-fi  adventure. The writer wrote this back in 1987 when she was 10 years of age. Since then she has dug it out of a drawer blew away the dust and found the courage to try and make public. This is Joanne Baxter's first novel but has since wrote numerous short stories. Joanne Baxter is originally from Oxford but is currently resident in Bristol. When Joanne is not writing she spends her time researching historical figures, cryptozoology , is keen on the findings of paranormal activity and famous historical landmarks such as Gettysberg battlefield in USA, Stonehenge, and spending time with her son. 

Joanne can be contacted here  http://facebook.com/joannedrewett1 


The Review
After finishing reading ‘Oliver the baby from outer space’ I have to say is just absolutely ideal  for young readers and will capture their attention from the outset. This is a short story which also adds to the perfectness for young readers. The storyline it self is extraordinary with an easy to follow and understand dialogue children will immediately relate to. Straight from the start of the story the plot is full of immense imagination that will be exciting to young readers. The friendship Willow and Skye have is clearly a strong bond and go through a lot together, a friendship many young people wish to have or find. You will notice through the story each of the characters personalities and wit being shown, with mild humour.

My favourite part were when Willow and Skye went to rescue Oliver from another planet and had a run in with the bad aliens, Zarto being the leader accompanied by two half-wits Comic and dragon features. My second enjoyable part was when dragons and baboons were sent to attack earthlings and it hit a total sci fi climax.

To sum it up ‘Oliver the baby from outer space’ has everything a young reader would wish to find in a story, it has mystery, suspense, adventure, wit, strong friendships, fantasy, visit to other planet, rescue missions, alien and earthling fights.

Considering the writer wrote this when she was at a young age of ten she has done tremendous work here.Well done.

I Look forward to reading more of the writers work, Joanne Baxter is not only creative but has a great imagination too which is a vital ingredient.

Wild Child

I have just been kindly given "Wild Child" as an introduction to the creative work of Mike Wells the author by the man him self. Wild Child is a short, award-winning thriller written about young people for young people. Mike Wells is an American thriller & suspense author, and teaches part-time in the creative writing program at Oxford university in UK, though Mike is originally from Nashville,Tennessee US. Also where the King of rock 'Elvis Presley' and as some like it on the rocks 'Jack Daniels whiskey' also are from. Mike Wells is known for his fast-paced, action-packed novels and has been writing fiction  for 20+ years 9 of his works are available in ebook form. 

Here is where his work can be found http://www.mikewellsbooks.com/

Here is  Mike's brief introduction to 'Wild Child'  

'Two teenagers discover a source of magical green water in a cave, water that contains some unknown substance that gives anyone who drinks it superhuman capabilities, join Kyle and Briana on their exhilarating adventure as they try to outrun two government agents who will stop at nothing to get their hands on the green water.' 

My Review
To commence my review I would like to start with the cover of this book, starting with the title, this is great as it is short and gets straight to the point and captures the aimed audience’s attention immediately.

The illustration for the cover of ‘wild child’ is equally great, without a doubt this supports the storyline very well, I’m not sure any other illustration would have demonstrated as good as this one.

*about the cover in Mike Wells’s words-

“I was living in Atlanta, Georgia, at the time.  As I needed a book cover designed, I decided to hold a city-wide student art contest for the best cover illustration.  After all, Wild Child was a story about young people, written for young people—why not have young people come up with the cover picture?

The winning illustration came from a 17 year old at North Atlanta High School, a laid-back African American by the name of Seron Fuller.  Everyone agreed that his amazing, magical illustration for Wild Child perfectly captured the main characters, Kyle and Brianna, and the overall feeling of the story’. 
You can see more of his work on his website at http://www.cashkernelonline.com/

Wild child is fantastic for young people and even though it’s a short thriller, for the audience it is aimed for I think it is a fairly adequate length. Something a young person can enjoyably read without being dissatisfied or getting bored. I think the length is satisfactory.

From the start I immediately found the writer’s storyline easy to follow, understanding who was who, where they were and what they were doing and most importantly the dialogue. Early into chapter 2 I soon realized I was intrigued to where the plot was leading and going though the chapters I learned the author was not shy of adding a little suspense and therefore I couldn’t turn the pages quick enough. Wild child from the close as can get to the beginning is of a fast pace and is captivating plus has the fine mix of fantasy, adventure, mystery, and with a hint of gore. 


The characters are well written but my favourite has to be Kyle for he is loyal, caring and tries to do the right thing for his best friend Briana, who is very blessed to have a friend like him. Building up towards the ending I started to get engrossed in the storyline that I almost felt as though I was there standing in the shadows watching.

The lengths Kyle went to in order to help his friend Briana was endearing and as I got to the end I think in my opinion Kyle’s character was what helped make a good story a winner. 

The end was brilliant for suspense, bit of a cliff hanger if you like and leaves you wondering...

Wild child and the characters really come out at you. To sum up the book spectacular.

Also worth a read ‘The publication story of Wild Child’, just as wild it’s self.

http://mikewellsblog.blogspot.com/p/wild-publication-story.html

http://www.thegreenwater.com/