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Critics' Opinion:
Readers' Opinion:
First Published:
Jan 2007, 448 pages
Paperback:
Apr 2008, 416 pages
Book Reviewed by:
BookBrowse Review Team
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An enchanting tale of heart-stopping music, magic, enchantment, and time passing to quickly; set in Ireland. For ages 10+.
Who knows where the time goes?
There never seems to be enough time in Kinvara, or anywhere else in Ireland for that matter. When J.J.'s mother says that what she really wants for her birthday is more time in her day, J.J. decides to find her some. But how can he find time for her, when he barely has enough time to keep up with school and his music? And where will he get time to find out if the shocking rumor is true—that his great-grandfather was a murderer?
It seems as though J.J.'s given himself an impossible task. But then a neighbor reveals a secret to him—there is a place where time stands still. J.J. realizes he's the only person who can make the journey, but to do so he'll have to vanish from his own life.
And when J.J. disappears from the village, enter the new policeman. . . .
Chapter One
J.J. Liddy and his best friend, Jimmy Dowling, often had arguments. J.J. never took them seriously. He even considered them a sign of the strength of the friendship, because they always made up again straightaway, unlike some of the girls in school, who got into major possessive battles with one another. But on that day in early September, during the first week that they were back in school, they had an argument like none before.
J.J. couldn't even remember now what it had been about. But at the end of it, at the point where they usually came round to forgiving each other and patching it up, Jimmy had dropped a bombshell.
"I should have had more sense than to hang around with you anyway, after what my granny told me about the Liddys."
His words were followed by a dreadful silence, full of J.J.'s bewilderment and Jimmy's embarrassment. He knew he had gone too far.
"What about the Liddys?" said J.J.
"Nothing." Jimmy turned to go back into ...
If there was ever a book that deserved to be listened to rather than read, The New Policeman is it. Not only because the writing has a distinct Irish lilt but because each short chapter ends with a musical score for an Irish jig, so unless one happens to be a dab hand on the keyboard, or better still, the fiddle, there is an element of the book that one misses out on (in fact it's a little frustrating that this otherwise wonderful book, winner of the Guardian and Whitbread children's book awards, didn't come with an attached CD for the musically-challenged amongst us). Having said that, even without being able to fully appreciate the musical elements, all four of us (aged 11 to 47) very much enjoyed reading The New Policeman...continued
Full Review
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(Reviewed by BookBrowse Review Team).
Eoin Colfer
The New Policeman is charming, seductive and completely enthralling. Everyone with even a passing interest in Irish music, or magic should read it.Kate Thompson was born in England in 1956, the youngest of three children. Her parents were social historians, both writers, and both very active in the peace and anti-nuclear movements during the cold war years. After she left school she worked with racehorses for several years in England and the USA before going to college to study law, which she left after a year to go traveling to India, where she spent the best part of two years. She moved to Ireland in 1981 where she lives with her partner Conor Minogue and their ...
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