By Philip Pullman (author) , Fred Fordham (illustrator)
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June 2017 Book of the Month | A Julia Eccleshare Pick of the Month June 2017 Master story-teller Philip Pullman is as brilliantly creative in this gripping, multi-narrative graphic novel story as ever. In an adventure which both pays homage to the best-traditions of the past and dashes into the future so enabling it to give an interesting commentary on our own time, Pullman’s lively cast of characters travel through time and place.
At the centre of the adventure is a mysterious ghost ship, the Mary Alice , crewed by men from all times including ancient Rome, the seventeenth century and the present. But someone in the present is desperate to get their hands on the boat and will stop at nothing to do so. When contemporary teenager Serena falls from the family yacht she is rescued by crew member John Blake.
How can he evade the present day evil and return her safely to her family? Pullman’s brevity and storytelling power are superbly realised in Fred Fordham’s atmospheric and equally taut illustrations. With the sea at the heart of them all, they conjure up the different times and places of the several narratives and define the characters in them. The result is a delight of a book for readers of all ages. ~ Julia Eccleshare
Philip Pullman says: “I wanted to do this because I love the comic form. You can do things in comics with great economy, swiftness, force and effect, and I just wanted to use those potentialities.”
Julia Eccleshare's Picks of the Month for June 2017
Aubrey and the Terrible Ladybirds by Horatio Clare
Adventures of John Blake, The: Mystery of the Ghost Ship by Philip Pullman
Axel Scheffler's Flip Flap Ocean by Axel Scheffler
Maisy Goes to the Bookshop by Lucy Cousins
Tender Earth by Sita Brahmachari
Old Hat by Emily Gravett
The Cow Who Fell to Earth by Nadia Shireen
High-octane action and a deep twisting mystery combine in this visual feast of a time-travel tale ofadventure on the high seas. Originally seen in The Phoenix comic.
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High-octane action and a deep twisting mystery combine in this visual feast of a time-travel tale of adventure on the high seas. Originally seen in The Phoenix comic.
Serena’s father is on a mission to sail the world, but when their ship is struck by a storm she’s swept overboard. Rescued by the mysterious schooner Mary Alice, Serena soon finds herself far from home… Lost at sea, and shrouded in the mists of time, the Mary Alice sails the endless waters, her crew desperate to find a way home.
But things aren’t that simple - each crew member has been ripped from their own time – from ancient Rome to the twentieth century. They must work together to find a way back to their families; to the places and years they belong to. But something is stalking them across the open oceans, an otherworldly, malevolent force hell bent on capturing the Mary Alice and her crew. And it will stop at nothing to get what it wants.
Join Philip Pullman's John Blake and the crew of the Mary Alice in an unforgettable time-travelling adventure on the high seas. With art by Fred Fordham.
Philip Pullman one of the most acclaimed writers working today.
He is best known for the His Dark Materials trilogy (Northern Lights, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass), which has been named one of the top 100 novels of all time by Newsweek. He has also won many distinguished prizes, including the Carnegie Medal for Northern Lights (and the reader-voted ‘Carnegie of Carnegies’ for the best children’s book of the past seventy years); the Whitbread (now Costa) Award for The Amber Spyglass; and the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, in honour of his body of work. The first volume of Philip Pullman’s long-awaited trilogy The Book of Dust, set in the same world as His Dark Materials, published in 2017, and the second volume followed in 2019.
Author photo © Michael Leckie portrait.
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The LoveReading4Kids Editorial Team have read and reviewed The Adventures of John Blake: Mystery of the Ghost Ship and determined it is suitable for children aged 9-12 years old
The Adventures of John Blake: Mystery of the Ghost Ship features in the following genres: Books of the Month, Recommendations, Featured Books for 11+ readers, Julia Eccleshare's Picks of the Month, Books Reviewed by our Reader Review Panels, Featured Books for 9+ readers, Adventure Stories, Children's and Young Adult Fiction, Children’s, Teenage and Educational, Graphic Novels & Comics, Science Fiction
Paperback, Hardback. Not Available.
The Adventures of John Blake: Mystery of the Ghost Ship was written by Philip Pullman and published by David Fickling Books
The Adventures of John Blake: Mystery of the Ghost Ship has 155 pages
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