Medina Hill Review and Tour & Give Away

PUB DATE: October 13 2009

This is day two of the Medina Hill/Tundra Book Tour.

ABOUT THE BOOK:
In the grimy London of 1935, eleven-year-old Dominic Walker has lost his voice. His mother is sick and his father’s unemployed. Rescue comes in the form of his Uncle Roo, who arrives to take him and his young sister, Marlo, to Cornwall. There, in a boarding house populated by eccentric residents, Marlo, who keeps a death grip on her copy of The New Art of Cooking, and Dominic, armed with Incredible Adventures for Boys: Colonel Lawrence and the Revolt in the Desert, find a way of life unlike any they have known. Dominic’s passion for Lawrence of Arabia is tested when he finds himself embroiled in a village uprising against a band of travelers who face expulsion. In defending the vulnerable, Dominic learns what it truly means to have a voice.

Trilby Kent brilliantly handles a far-off time and place to present a story of up-to-the-minute relevance.

MY THOUGHTS:
I love discovering new authors especially debut authors and Trilby Kent fits right into this category. This is her debut YA novel. She is from Toronto but currently resides in London, England.

I have to admit that when I picked the book up to read I discovered that it was a historical fiction book which really hasn’t been a genre of interest for me but I admit I was pleasantly surprised once I began to read it. The book takes place in England in the 1930s.

Medina Hill is about two siblings, a brother (Dominic) and sister (Marlo) and their summer vacation at their Uncle Roo’s in Cornwall. Their uncle suggests that the kids go with him to Cornwall so that their mother can rest since she is sick and their father will be working and there is no one there to take care of them.

I enjoyed reading about Marlo she is a quirky girl. She uses her mothers cookbook to distract herself because her mother is very sick. Although she never cooks anything from the cookbook right away she reads it.

Dominic is very nervous around people he doesn’t know and that is evident in the book because whenever someone speaks to him he clams up. Nothing can make him speak in their presence. Even with some people that he does know he is still very nervous around them, I wonder why?

While they are waiting for the train to come Dominic and Uncle Roo walk around and stumble upon a bookstore. Its there that Dominic picks up Incredible Adventures for Boys: Colonel Lawrence and the Revolt in the Desert. Its not until he is at his uncle’s that he starts to read the book.

At their uncle’s boarding house they quickly discover that the group of people living there are all quite unique and different. There is Otto, Reverend Cleary and Birdie. Dominic quickly discovers that there is a connection between the Reverend and the book he is reading. Will be able to figure out what the Reverend knows?

There is alot of characters and alot going on in this book and I thought it was too bad that the other characters couldn’t have been explored more. I would have loved to know their story and why they were there.

I have to admit it was nice to see that Dominic made the connection with Sancha and that relationship was explored. It was nice to see that he felt comfortable around her to speak finally. He stepped out of his comfort zone to help her out in the end which was really nice.

Over all I was really impressed and looking forward to reading more by Trilby in the future.

I have to say that I really liked the cover of the book with the picture of the boy sitting on a suitcase and then the picture at the bottom that is in all black of a traveling family.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Trilby Kent was born in Toronto, Ontario, and grew up in cities on both sides of the Atlantic. After completing degrees at Oxford University and The London School of Economics, she worked in the rare books department at a prominent auction house before turning to writing feature articles for publication in Europe and North America. She now lives in London, England. Medina Hill is Trilby Kent’s first novel.

These blogs are on the tour schedule today:
Kerry from http://www.shelfelf.wordpress.com
Melissa from http://www.librarianbyday.blogspot.com
Melanie from http://www.melanies–musings.blogspot.com
Lauren from http://www.laurenscrammedbookshelf.blogspot.com

CONTEST TIME:
If this book sounds interesting and you would like the chance to win a copy I have been given the opportunity to give away 1 book to one of my lucky readers. Please note that you must have a valid mailing address. Sorry NO PO Boxes. Make sure when you comment that you leave your email address so that I have a way to contact you should you be a winner.

Thanks to Sylvia for asking me to read and review this book and for allowing me to be a part of the first ever Tundra Book Tour. Looking forward to being a part of future Tundra Book Tours.

This book was provided for review by Tundra Books.