Hamish and the WorldStoppers by Danny Wallace

I'll be straight with you here, I've been a fan of Wallace's writing ever since I picked up 'Join Me - the story of a man who started a cult by accident' and am usually there to buy his books on day 1. With 'Hamish and the WorldStoppers' though I struggled to find a copy anywhere. This turned out to be because I hadn't done my homework properly.

I knew 'Hamish' was classed as a book for children, what I didn't know was that the children were in the 'age 8-12' bracket. I never looked there, only in Young Adult.

Anyway, to the book in question. The general gist of the story is that our hero Hamish has a problem. The world keeps stopping. That's THE WORLD and EVERYTHING IN IT!!! Except Hamish! At first Hamish thinks he is the only one affected by this but he soon realises there are other children who can move about during the Stopped time. The reasoning behind the Stopped time, you'll not be surprised to find out, are aliens who want this world for themselves and Hamish and his new found friends are the last hope for mankind........and they've only got till Saturday!

As I said earlier this book is aimed at the 8-12 year old child market but please don't let that put you off. I found it to be a really good, fun read and a well told story. Utterly ridiculous and silly at times but in a good way that reminded me very much of the works of Roald Dahl. There are illustrations throughout (by he excellent Jamie Littler) and the occasional newspaper type articles which all add to the humour. The ending sets things up nicely for a sequel (out now - Hamish and the NeverPeople) and I really hope there will be many more to follow.

If you have a child get them this book, they will love it. If you are a teacher or teaching assistant I strongly recommend this to you too (do you still have reading time at school?)And read it for yourself too, you'll thank me later.

The phrase 'a book for children of all ages' is used often I guess but in this case it would be well deserved. Danny Wallace has hit the jackpot again.

10/10 stars