Jennifer Killick's Reading List

"I do. It’s quite strong horror, but the format makes it much more palatable. Parents and librarians seem to be happy for their children to read it, and I think it’s a lovely way into horror. I love manga and anime , and Demon Slayer was the first one I tried because my oldest son loves it. As your children get older you have fewer things that they want to talk to you about. He had constant enthusiasm and passion for all these anime he was watching so I thought I would try it and then share it with him. Demon Slayer instantly draws you in. It’s really frightening but the characters are so strong. Characters in most manga are so well drawn; people are quite extreme and the main character in Demon Slayer , Tanjirō, is so brave and so kind. He’s your Luke Skywalker classic, you know he will always do the right thing, will always be brave, totally reliable, a loyal friend, just that lovely character that you absolutely want to succeed. Straight away from the first episode you are with Tanjirō, and then you’re desperate to find out how he gets on. I started on the anime and now I’ve got a growing collection of the books. It has really opened my eyes to a whole world of a different kind of storytelling, which is so interesting from a writer’s perspective. With manga, so much of it is kind of stream of consciousness stuff, so you’re inside the characters’ heads. That took a bit of getting used to. I’m hearing their thoughts and they’re telling me what they’re going to do before they actually do it, which is different to the way that novelists write stories, where you’re supposed to show not tell. But it’s really interesting how they make that work in manga and once you’re used to it, it becomes quite natural. “If you like stories, there’s a whole world there that’s just waiting to be explored” Whenever I speak to children age 9-12 or 13, so many of them are loving manga and it’s definitely getting more popular. For a lot of them their favourite is Demon Slayer , it just really appeals. It’s so simple in the way that it’s good and it’s evil, but Tanjirō is such an empathetic character and even with the demons that he destroys, he sees what happens to them in their lives, what made them become demons, what made them be so evil. It’s such a lovely way of seeing the world through Tanjirō’s eyes. The characters are amazing, and it’s funny. I think all manga have a lot of humour in them. Well, all of the ones that I’ve been through so far apart from Attack on Titan , that’s just horror, but amazing. Demon Slayer is funny, the characters are lovable and you’re with them on those adventures and battling those demons. It’s brilliant storytelling. I am very excited about Demon Slayer and manga. It feels very magical because it opened up a world of stories to me that have brought me so much happiness. It’s really comforting as well and got me through tricky times when things have been difficult. On school visits, it’s lovely to be able to engage with children about things that they love. You get that connection with them, and then when you tell them about your books they are far more likely to be interested because they know that you understand the things that they like."

"The settings in it are so beautifully drawn. It is one of those books that the moment you start reading you are in that world, you’re there with Alex and his grandpa, and you get to travel across Europe and it’s so atmospheric. The horror in it is really interesting. I would say it’s a read for 11-12 year olds, because it’s quite complex and it doesn’t shy away from dark thoughts, dark deeds. The villains in the story do some very horrible things but I don’t want to say too much and do spoilers. It’s really interesting how they use the robots and mix the human blood and skin with the robots. It’s disgusting, but it’s brilliant. And I love the relationship between the central characters. It’s unusual to have a child and a grandparent as your main characters, and it’s done so well. Grandpa is so eccentric and interesting. Alex is your normal teen suddenly being thrown into this really dark, deep, elaborate, complex world where everything that he thought he knew is not right. It’s different and it’s very scary. I’m a big fan of the series. I’ve read the first two books and I’m hoping there is going to be another one. Yes, it’s excellent. If you haven’t read the second book, The Shadow Arts , you should. They go to the Black Forest and it’s super creepy in the woods. It takes it to the next level."

"Dan Smith is an incredible author, he’s got such a range. He writes historical things but he also writes more horror-based books. He’s an author who obviously knows the horror genre; you know that he has watched every horror movie, he’s read all the horror books . There are loads of little nods to classic horror in his stories, which I really love. I think a lot of them are things that you’ll recognise as an older person reading it, which is really fun, like a nod to A Nightmare on Elm Street . As a child, you wouldn’t know those links, but you would still enjoy the scare in them. Below Zero , it’s got the setting. I think when you live in a country where you don’t get lots and lots of snow, any book that sits in ice and snow always instantly puts you in that different place. It’s all icy, and it’s got that more chilling atmosphere. There are some really scary bits in this book, so I’d say it’s horror for children age 10-12. He’s also got a great series for Barrington Stoke, the dyslexia-friendly books, called The Crooked Oak . He’s got three out so far, I’ve read them all. They’re brilliant because they’re shorter stories, they’re great for engaging children with all those classic little horror moments that make you go “ooh”, and really creepy villains. It’s well thought out, it’s not otherworldly, there’s always a solid reason behind things, which he explains. I think it’s nice for children to have things explained so they don’t get terrified that the same thing is going to happen to them. There’s always logic and somebody has done something that’s made that happen. He has really strong central characters. The children that are facing the dangers are brave, they deal with things really well, and I think that’s always lovely and reassuring to read, as a child reader especially. It’s so clever to write those moments of absolutely chilling horror where nothing disgusting has happened. There’s no big monster, just a little thing like a message that puts fear into you. That’s such brilliant writing, especially for children where you can’t be over the top with the gore. Dan is so good at those subtle touches that make you shudder."

"What I love about Bigwoof is how it combines horror and humour, which is obviously something that I really enjoy. Bigwoof I think is perfect for younger readers, 8-10 year olds, who like something a bit scary. It’s not going to terrify anybody so it’s a lovely way into creepier books without being anything too nightmarish. The main characters, Lucy and Milo, go along together in their funny little ways, investigating strange incidents that are going on in their town, Sticky Pines, which has a lot of secrets. Lucy likes investigating things, and in Sticky Pines there are a lot of things to investigate: UFOs, things disappearing, monsters, people acting very strangely, even people that Lucy knows and loves… It’s very clever how the biggest sequences are drawn out over the series, the overarching story of what’s happening in this town. But in each book, Lucy gets to solve a big case as well. The way it’s written is so engaging and fun, they are lovely reads. The third book, The Valley of the Strange , has just come out; it looks awesome."