The Roman Citizens from Class 6B
A Bucket of Fish and Other Tales
Norah Harris & family in 45 stories
The Story Knights
On the 31st August, the most important night of the year, Alex Fey goes to bed, hoping that nothing will change. During the night she realises her wish hasn’t come true. This has many consequences.
Together with her new friend, Carter, she enters the realm of broken fairy tales, including Cinderella, Puss in Boots, and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. With each fairy tale she enters, she is tasked with fixing one of the seven stories that encompass the entire history of storytelling. If she fails, her world will remain in the colourless gloom of unimagination.
Assisted by the mysterious Mr Templar and Indigo, and pursued throughout by the darkness of the shape-shifting Kelpie, Alex and Carter are challenged to prove their worth as Story Knights.
The book launched at Script Haven in Worcester on Sunday 19 January, 2025. If you’d like to have a closer look, it’s available in store at Script Haven and also available to order from the publishers Black Pear Press
Reviews
I am extremely grateful to the young readers who have offered feedback on The Story Knights:
‘I loved it. By the time I’d finished it, I had a huge smile on my face.’
Elinor van Dam
‘I love this book because it’s about storytelling and creativity. I thought it was very clever finding the mistakes in the fairy tales. I’d never thought about that!’
Jack Manson
‘I loved this book, it was packed with adventure and excitement. I would recommend to all of my friends.’
Miles Kiddle
‘This story is about true friendship, adventure and doing anything you set your mind to. I couldn’t put it down!’
Ruby Edwards
‘A magical adventure.’
Stella van Dam
The Objectors
The year is 2042. England is cut-off from the former UK, Europe and the world. As resources dwindle, The Entitlement Party creates a devastating scheme to reduce the population. On their sixteenth birthday, young people of underling class are selected at random to eliminate six people. The reward for fulfilling their contract is to win their place amongst the elite.
Samarah, Ethan and Ellie-Mae, each of whom has a different reason to object, refuse to sign the contract. As civilisation crumbles, and a programme of genocide is uncovered, the regime deploys its synthetic warriors to destroy an underling rebellion. The only force that can prevent victory for evil is the spirit and collective strength of three young people.
If you’d like to have a closer look, it’s available in store at Script Haven and also available to order from the publishers and as a paperback & e-book via Amazon.
Reviews
The Creative Writing department at the University of Worcester has kindly written the most wonderful write-up and I am very grateful.
I am extremely grateful to the young readers who have offered feedback on The Objectors:
’I really enjoyed the idea of how the younger generation is often to blame for mistakes that the older generation has made. It made it relatable to issues in our society. I also felt that the range and depth of the characters made the book extremely interesting.’
Louisa Fullerton, 17
’The book is aimed at older children and this gave the story action and adventure. It had an interesting dark side and I couldn’t put it down.’
Noah Benedict, 13
’I thought it was great! It was super engaging and exciting to read and kept me on the edge of my seat. I like how different it is from Kevin’s other books, and I like how real the characters felt.’
Harriet Meek, 14
A five-star review on Amazon is as follows:
This novel for young adults is a real page-turner, right from the beginning. Brooke’s plot is full of action and dilemmas that challenge and develop the young protagonists. The narrative is focalised through three vividly drawn and rounded characters, Ethan, Samarah and Ellie-Mae. As with any work of speculative fiction, the alternative world that Brooke creates is removed from our own but at the same time disturbingly familiar. A powerful and oppressive right-wing elite exerts a totalitarian grip over Britain in 2042. The planet continues to be destroyed to suit capitalist agendas, and all hopes rest with the success of the uprising and the decisions of a young group of activists. What are their motivations? Will they succeed in their mission? People will die and the process will be traumatic for all. The novel engages with power and politics in a patriarchal society. The narrative emphasises the democratic right of citizens to protest, and engages with questions of race, gender, age, religion, and social class, showing how the issues are intersected. The novel’s themes and ideas have contemporary resonance and the discursive elements are ultimately empowering for the young reader.
Max & Luchia: The Game Makers
Max & Luchia: The Game Makers, is available to buy through the Black Pear Press website. The author has a few copies too.
After saving a man’s life, dyslexic Max meets Archie, a guiding spirit. When he finds out his sister, Luchia, is also under the guidance of Archie, they are given the chance to play the game they created in a scrapbook.
Set in a fairy-tale world of castles, knights, spirits and dragons, eleven-year-old Max & Luchia make their way through seven increasingly difficult levels until finally, they are forced to make the biggest decision of their lives.
BOOK REVIEW (by Mad Hatter Reviews – http://www.madhatterreviews.co.uk)
Max & Luchia is a charming story of how friendship, family, and a wild imagination can do wonderful things, resulting in two children (and, eventually, a friend and enemy or two as well) creating a labyrinth world of mind-blowing challenges that see them work together in order to conquer the game.
Brooke’s rich imagination does wonders for the game-world itself as we’re drawn into an unfolding map of vivid descriptions and wild monsters that live and breathe off the page as well as on, and this vivid quality is aided hugely by the presence of illustrations throughout the book – provided by one Seraphim Bryant (a talent worth watching, for sure).
As children’s books go, this is certainly one that I wish I’d had on my bookshelf a few years back. It’s beautifully written and wonderfully illustrated and, as collaborations go, the Brooke and Bryant dream team is something that I’d love to see more of in the future. A wonderful and exciting tale of good versus evil (and good versus vampires, and dragons, and…), Max is a wonderful character carried along a strong plot, and Brooke should feel truly accomplished with this latest release.
Jimmy Cricket
Jimmy Cricket is currently being studied in Austria:-
It is available to buy now from Amazon and through the Black Pear Press website (the author also has a few copies):-
A reading of Chapter 1
BOOK REVIEW: JIMMY CRICKET BY KEVIN BROOKE
(MAD HATTER REVIEWS)
Jimmy Cricket tells the story of 15-year-old Jimmy who is forced to move in with his aging grandmother following the death of his parents. As if that wasn’t difficult enough for any teenager to deal with, Jimmy repeatedly falls in with the wrong crowd and finds his adolescence hi-jacked by his best friend, Dean, who often seems to hinder more than help.
It’s emotional, touching, and entirely accurate and that’s why, irrespective of the age of the reader, Jimmy’s antics – that involve petty theft, too much alcohol, and, shock horror, the first love of his life – will prove to be completely relatable.
The reader observes Jimmy pushed from pillar to post by his friends, whilst making a number of typical teenager mistakes with his first girlfriend, Dayla – who proves to be an important character in the book. However, she’s not quite as important as Mark, the latest in a long line of family support workers who are sent to help Jimmy and his grandmother.
Overall, it’s a neat little novel. Brooke writes his characters with conviction, creating convincing scenarios in which the reader can’t help but feel sympathy, disappointment, and sometimes even embarrassment as we are catapulted into the all-too-familiar world of teenage life, as seen by Jimmy.
The Roman Citizens from Class 6B
The Roman Citizens from Class 6B was ‘Commended’ in the Words for the Wounded Independent Author competition in 2015. It was recently used as a key stage 2 resource in Malvern Wells Primary school.
It is available to buy now from Amazon and through the Lulu website (the author also has a few copies)
Ben has an amazing talent – his pictures come to life! When he and his friends Calum and Maisie are transported onto a Battlefield, their Roman adventures begin.
Aimed at an approximate reading age of 6-10, the story includes a chariot race in the Circus Maximus, a day in the Roman Senate and a daring rescue of a slave girl called Phina from the lions in the Colosseum.
After hiding in the Catacombs, Ben draws one last picture and he, Calum, Maisie and Phina are transported back to England – 61Ad England to be precise where they are soon charging towards the Roman Army alongside Boudicca, the Iceni Queen.
A Bucket of Fish and Other Tales
Aimed at an older audience, A Bucket of Fish and Other Tales is filled to the brim with flash fiction and short stories. Sprinkled with a mixture of comedy, realism and fantasy, the collection of tales is guaranteed to create a SPLASH!
It is available from the Lulu website
Front cover by Seraphim Bryant
Norah Harris & family in 45 Stories
Published by Lulu publishing, this is a biographical account of Norah Harris, who lived until 2020 and reached the incredible age of 105. Born in Birmingham, her final months were spent in a care home in Worcester and the pamphlet includes anecdotes of her life during both the First and Second World Wars and beyond, along with stories of those closest to her.
Kevin Brooke's writing 