What other people say about Johnny Mackintosh
This section links to what people in the press and beyond say about Johnny Mackintosh and the Spirit of London. If you find an article or review that’s not listed here, please let me know so I can add it.
Amazon customer reviews – the views of real people buying the book. If you’ve enjoyed Johnny Mackintosh and the Spirit of London, why not post a review of your own so other people can see what you thought?
The Bookbag – Bookbag Towers is a great place to read unbiased in-depth reviews about hundreds of titles. I’m delighted they liked Johnny Mackintosh and the Spirit of London, even if they’re not fans of the title:
“The story is great … The characterisation in this book is fantastic and Mansfield paints some exceptionally believable, lovable and fun characters. The writing is engaging and accomplished. Mansfield succeeds in cutting out all the parts that children tend to skip over. It’s reminiscent of Rowling, yet still maintains an individual style”
Daily Express – Kati Nicholl includes Johnny Mackintosh and the Spirit of London in her roundup of best books for children for Christmas 2008. The piece (5 December 2008) reads:
“JOHNNY MACKINTOSH AND THE SPIRIT OF LONDON by Keith Mansfield (Quercus, £9.99) offers excitement all the way as Johnny, stuck in a children’s home while his mum’s on a life support machine, finds out how he has sister and ends up hurtling through time and space.”
East End Life – the weekly newspaper for the Tower Hamlets area of London. The taster for the Arts section (7-13 July 2008) reads:
“Meet the author who dreams of being an astronaut and has written the first instalment of an intergalactic trilogy, which he hopes will launch him into the stratosphere of children’s fiction.”
Hot Courses Magazine – if you want to improve your own writing, it’s a great idea to do a course. This is an old interview, soon after Johnny Mackintosh and the Spirit of London was commissioned, but the name of the book had been changed to Johnny Mackintosh and the FTL Gherkin. Happily, it later reverted to the original title.
joburg.com – somehow Johnny Mackintosh has made it all the way to South Africa and they seem to like him:
“Teenage boys will find Johnny Mackintosh and the Spirit of London by Keith Mansfield a very cool read . . . We think This well-written, gripping story will press the right buttons with teenage boys (and girls).”
Scholastic (the school book club/supplier) lists Johnny Mackintosh and the Spirit of London in a “Top 10 of Science Fiction reads for your class to enjoy” (November 2008):
“football lover and veteran of alien adventures, Johnny Mackintosh, discovers he has a sister and sets off on a treacherous quest of self-discovery through space and time.”
The Sun. Natasha Harding wrote a lovely review of Johnny Mackintosh in The Sun (Friday 23 January 2008):
“Although aimed at young lads this was a great read and I really enjoyed it.”
Click on the image to see a bigger copy of the whole piece.
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July 13, 2008 at 3:25 pm
[...] I’ve created a new section of the site so you can see all the different bits and pieces written about the book in one place. It’s called What other people say about Johnny Mackintosh. [...]
July 13, 2008 at 5:08 pm
[...] novel are beginning to be written, so I’ve created a space at JohnnyMackintosh.com where you can read everything together. So far the book’s been very well received. A few highlights [...]
January 26, 2009 at 2:17 pm
[...] read all the reviews of Johnny Mackintosh and the Spirit of London, go to the What other people say about Johnny Mackintosh page on the johnnymackintosh.com website. I have to say they’re all lovely and I’m [...]