The Lightning Catcher

This is a fabulous book for primary aged readers. It’s an adventure story steeped in mystery and every page is filled with an energy that grabs the interest and won’t let go.Alfie has moved to a village with his mum and his sister, Lily. Lily is recovering from an eating disorder triggered by bullying at her previous school. Dad works in Sweden. Mum is keen that they settle into village life as quickly and with as little drama as possible. Hopefully Lily will make new friends and build herself a happy, healthy new life. But Alfie craves drama. And it’s not long before he discovers strange, villagey goings-on. There’s weird weather, an odd giant(ish) man who is rumoured to carry out scientific experiments and keep strange creatures. The giant’s strange behaviour unsettles and unnerves the majority of village residents, but they immediately set Alfie’s investigative antennae twitching. What young boy doesn’t want a mystery to solve? Alfie rises to the challenge and, after a little persuasion, he enlists his big-brained best friend, Sam, to help.Of course adventures don’t always run smoothly, and being the new kid in town, when things don’t go according to plan, Alfie attracts the blame. After all, before he arrived life was peaceful and uneventful, so the trouble must be down to him, right? Alfie wants to do the right thing. He wants to help the strange escaped creature and he wants to keep the village safe, but somehow he finds himself in a world of trouble.There’s a lot going on. There’s the bullying, the eating disorder, the being new, the being different (giant scientist/brown), the small village suspicions, the sibling rivalry/jealousy, the best friend’s loyalty (or perhaps lack of it), trust, truth, family… even climate change – all beautifully and intricately woven so seamlessly and naturally into this wonderful action adventure they feel accidental.I’d like to see this book in every primary school’s library. Required reading, even. Brilliant book.

A delightful story that can be read for enjoyment by all, it is an adventure story with just the right mix of the ordinary life concerns of a young boy and the introduction of some pretty weird stuff as an imaginative idea is developed with pace and a lucid prose style with a fine turn of phrase. The characterisation is excellent, especially Alfie, the narrator of the tale as it develops in the pages of his journal. His best friend, Sam, who is so smart you can hear his brain working, his formidable mother and a fascinating and original take on the nutty professor motif are only a few of the memorable cast in a book filled with effective pen pictures. The central idea is original and clever, well worked out and with a satisfying climax. A book I can recommend to all ages.

Such a wonderful, fizzing, magical children’s story, up there with David Almond’s Skellig in my opinion! A subtle message about being misunderstood and making judgements about others. A beautiful friendship between siblings and two boys that comes under pressure. My kids loved it. Perfect for 8 to 11 year olds.

And my son was hooked. As soon as he finished the 77 page preview book he asked for the full copy, which again he consumed within a weekend.Great find 👍

My son really enjoyed this book - he got through it quickly, he was very keen to talk about it with me, and wanted to know if it would be a series - sadly not yet - but maybe one day?

TW: bullying, mentions of eating disorderThank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Children's Books for allowing me to read an eARC of this book! All opinions discussed here are my own.The only way I can think to describe this book is weird. I thought it sounded really good in terms of the synopsis but when actually reading it it just became a very bizarre book which was hard to follow. At times some of the language seemed made up - like slang words for this world, which never works for me.But just the whole story started off as an intriguing sci-fi story and then became some bizarre story with clear racism themes (that were never addressed), a sister with an eating disorder, a best friend who's grandfather has a stroke, an absent father, and then our main character ending up in a youth prison... before he breaks out and rides on a cloud and ends up in his own bed. I just couldn't keep it straight in my mind - at times it felt like a parody...This just wasn't a winner for me - despite the very catchy cover.

Alfie and his family have moved from a city to Folding Ford in the countryside. He and his sister are the only non white children. Alfie makes a new good friend Sam and they start to notice strange weather patterns - perhaps a frozen pocket in unexpected places, or a tiny whirlwind out of nowhere.One day, following something into someone’s garden, Alfie finds a strange box which he absolutely has to peek into. This lets out something very fast and very sparky. Alfie is determined to discover more, especially when this electric current seems to cause havoc around Alfie and gets him into trouble with their new neighbours in the village.There is quite a bit of science incorporated into this diary format story. Alfie’s sister Lily also has a story of her own as she was the reason why the family moved, but Alfie hasn’t been told the full story, although anorexia is involved, but never thoroughly explored. The children’s Dad works away and their video calls always revert to Dad enquiring how Lily has been, while only half listening to Alfie.When this electric something starts to cause trouble between Alfie and Sam as well as the local busy body, Alfie knows he has to consider the feelings of others as well as his own.