Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith

This is definitely the best so far of J.K Rowling's pseudonymously written Cormoran Strike crime novels. Strike's partner Robin is sent a severed leg in the post with a message that relates to Strike's past. Strike can immediately think of four men who hate him enough to have targeted his partner and his business. The story unfold as they try and track down each of these men.

Robin's impending marriage to the good looking but shallow Matthew and her past secrets, feature prominently. One of the four suspects is Strike's former step-father, so more is revealed about his past and his childhood.

By basing the case around Strike himself, the book avoids wasting time building up background stories for a whole array of possible suspects. Each suspect reveals something about Strike's past. Business plummets as a result of the publicity from the severed leg. This allows the story to focus on the single case. The police investigators are all characters from the earlier books; this again saves time sketching out new characters.

Rowling seems to enjoy writing about the seedier side of life, the drug dealers, the sex trade and the paedophiles. These are all in the book but they're nicely balanced with details about wedding planning and expensive restaurants. Strike's life sits uncomfortably between the seedy world of the people from his past and the monied world of his girlfriends, his father and his clients.

The complexity of language and sentence structure, compared to the Harry Potter series, show Rowling's skill as a writer. There are plans for a BBC miniseries based on the books. I look forward to seeing who is chosen to play Strike.

The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith

This is the second book in the Cormoran Strike series, which currently includes three books, penned pseudonymously by J.K Rowling.

Strike is again working with his beautiful, but spoken for, sidekick and secretary Robin. They are investigating the disappearance of an erratic writer, who has recently completed a book seemingly designed to offend everyone in his life including his wife, his mistress, his agent and his publisher.

The case is more interesting than the one in the first book, but suffers from a similar weakness; there are so many thinly sketched suspects, the reader is left guessing but not necessarily caring, which of them committed the murder. This is particularly true of the male suspects. In contrast, the background stories of Strike and Robin are expertly developed. So again, I can't wait to read the next book.

George by Alex Gino

This is an engaging story, suitable for Stage 2 or 3, about ten year old George, a boy who identifies as being a girl. The narrator uses feminine pronouns to refer to George while the other characters refer to him as male.

George has a secret stash of teen girl magazines, dreams of wearing skirts and make-up, and longs to play Charlotte in the school production of Charlotte's Web. When his desire to play Charlotte is dismissed by his teacher, George and his best friend Kelly hatch a plan.

What I liked about the story is that it's not all high drama. A number of characters tell George that if he were gay it would be no big deal but this is just a bit more. Neither his mother nor his teacher are particularly onboard, but his friend Kelly welcomes a new girlfriend with open arms. It's a simple heart warming story that aims to increase empathy for transgender children.

There are parallels between the story and Charlotte's Web e.g. themes of tolerance and friendship. However, the story has a clear enough message that no deep analysis or comparison is required.

One day children's books with transgender characters won't be about transgender; children's books will just have diverse characters. Until then, we need more books like this one.