Coventry Inspiration Book Awards: The Evictions, Week 5

It’s the final week of evictions before we find out this year’s winners of the Coventry Inspiration Book Awards, so it’s time to get voting for your winner. But before we do, let’s have a look at what you can read next if your favourite was voted out this week.

The final book to be voted out in What’s The Story? is Books Make Good Pets by John Agard, illustrated by Momoko Abe.

Books make good pets and don’t need going to the vet. You don’t have to keep them on a lead or throw them a stick. They’ll wag their words whenever you flick their dog-eared pages. Even howl an ancient tale for the inward-listening ear. Did you know that a book can take you anywhere? You only need to turn the pages of a story, and in a moment, you and your book could be crossing the waves in a pirate ship… or diving with mermaids… or even snoozing with a dragon. Books really DO make good pets! Why don’t you peep inside this one and take your mind on an adventure.

If you loved this book, try Not Just A Book by Jeanne Willis and Tony Ross.

A book is not just a book. It can be so many things, a hat or as a building block, a flower press or a fly-swatter. But books are so much more than that. They can make you feel, they can take you anywhere, they can make you laugh and can teach you anything you want to know.

Count by Melvin Burgess, illustrated by Chris Mould is the last book to be evicted in Telling Tales.

When Boastful Brandon brags that he can count to 10 million no-one believes him. It sounds impossible. But once Brandon has started, nothing is going to stop him! He counts all through school – and gets into trouble for doing so. Even when he is sent to the furious head teacher who has never seen such disobedience, he doesn’t stop counting. He counts at home, through meals and all through the night. Soon, his extraordinary feat becomes a money-making sensation.

If you loved this book try, Max Counts To A Million by Jeremy Williams

Do you like epic quests of amazing counting? Do you dislike global pandemics, being stuck at home, and the number 7? Then I have a story for you. It’s about how I counted to a million during lockdown – with help from Mum and Dad, friends and neighbours, and Grandad. And some birds. And a bucket of marbles. And an awesome TV reporter.

Sometimes, just keeping on going makes you a hero. Eight-year-old Max is counting to a million. Normally, school or having anything interesting to do would get in the way, but school is shut and everyone has to stay home because the UK is in its first lockdown. Max’s dad works at the hospital and counting helps Max with missing him, but as the pandemic progresses and Max’s grandad journeys through his own battle with the virus, what starts as a distraction turns into record-breaking effort that brings Max’s community together.

Suitable for readers aged 7 up, this funny, uplifting story reflects the experiences shared by so many during the Covid pandemic and celebrates how ordinary people accomplish epic things. £1 from the sale of every copy of this book will be donated to NHS Charities Together

And finally, the last book to be voted out of Hooked On Books is Escape Room by Christopher Edge.

Ami arrives at the Escape Room expecting a game. Only when they are locked inside does she realise it’s much more serious and Ami and her teammates are the ones chosen to save the world. They must learn how to work together quickly so they can solve all the problems they are presented with. There are a series of different games and puzzles to solve – from beating a chess computer to finding a way out of a tomb until the final showdown in a computer game simulator that seems suddenly to be out in space and the asteroids heading for the ship are real. However, it’s not until the final chapter when a surprising reveal shows there may be a way forward to save the world.

If you loved this book, try Adam-2 by Alastair Chisholm. With incredible twists and turns and an action-packed story, this is a thrilling, unputdownable adventure.The robot Adam-2 has been locked in the basement of a lost building for over two hundred years – until one day he is discovered by two children, and emerges into a world ruined by a civil war between humans and advanced intelligence. Hunted by both sides, Adam discovers that he holds the key to the war, and the power to end it – to destroy one side and save the other. But which side is right? Surrounded by enemies who want to use him, and allies who mistrust him, Adam must decide who – and what – he really is.

Happy reading, and don’t forget to vote for your favourite to win!