Jayben and the Golden Torch: Book 1

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Jayben discovers that many moons ago, a giant put a dark spell on the golden torch, and the elves forgot everything that had come before. Now they hang precious memories in jars on trees, just to try to remember. But a new darkness grows among them. An evil villain called Null is burning down the forests, hellbent on finding the torch and becoming the most powerful being ever to live. If Jayben can find his own magic and ignite the torch with its fierce violet flame, his power will be unstoppable ... Buy from our bookstore and 25% of the cover price will be given to a school of your choice to buy more books. *15% of eBooks. Home > Having researched the author on finishing the story I learned that he suffered a traumatic brain injury as a young adult and suffers from seizures and memory loss himself. They say to write what you know, and I think that is why this aspect of the story read very realistically. I hope that children living with brain injuries and epilepsy will feel encouraged by Jayben, the hero I've longed to see for many years. But I believe that his story, the first in a series for ages 9+, is for everyone, and its message of courage and hope will appeal to readers of all abilities.

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I think there were just too many new names and plot ideas for the story to be easy to follow - every creature, place and food had a totally unfamiliar and unusual name, and whilst this was interesting it meant it interrupted the flow of my reading constantly trying to remember what was what! I went to a lot of the places I was told I had been to as a child, all the parks and shops and old schools. I went to places we’d been to on holiday and travelled the tube on the routes I had taken in my teens. We tried everything, but as time went on, the boy with my name in so many stories and grainy photographs remained another person in another world. As I learned to live with memory loss and epilepsy caused by my brain injury, I rediscovered the magic of reading and I fell in love with stories set in fantasy worlds, where the heroes were confronted with the unknown. It was the closest I could get to seeing myself on an exciting adventure, because when you have memory loss, the real world is a mysterious place. This book starts with us meeting Ben, an unhappy boy who suffers from seizures. He is living with his aunt, who doesn't like him very much. After having a weird dream, Ben has a seizure and suddenly we find ourselves in another world. Here we meet Jayben, an elfling who wakes up with no memory of who he is or where he's from. Jayben goes on a journey to try to find his memories and on that journey he discovers that he is the Ninth Dreamer and the key to saving both the Earth and Elf world. He also makes friends with a group of beings who help him and each other to overcome their fears. Apr 19 2023 Jayben and the golden torch by Thomas Leeds Hachette, 2023. ISBN: 9781444968637. (Age: 10-14) Recommended.

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If your young reader is a fan of Francesca Gibbons and the Wizards of Once series, then Jayben and the Golden Torch will be right up their alley! I recommend it for children aged 9+. Ben has lived with his unkind Aunt Samantha for six years. He has no memory of his parents or why they left him. In fact, he has no memories at all of the first six years of his life. And the brain injury that stole his memories also causes him to have seizures. Readers who enjoy an exciting adventure with added depth and intensity are sure to be captivated by this funny, heart-warming and imaginative voyage into memory, meaning and identity. Libraries are places of comfort, friendly faces and opportunities. It’s an absolute privilege to do what I do”

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I was very fortunate to have a family who supported me at home while I recovered. There was so much to learn and with every answer came more questions; soon, the questions became bigger and tougher. What am I going to do with my life? How can I get a job when I don’t remember school? Who am I, really? My head was flooded with questions. Everything was new. At first, the questions were small and simple and very much in the present. What’s an ice-cream? How do I make that music play? Who are they? Then I pressed ‘skip’ one more time, and that’s when it happened – the most surreal moment of my life Jayben's seizures and memory loss added a different dynamic to the story which was a welcome change from all the action at times - it was about halfway through the book when he started experiencing absences that I became more invested in the character and the story. The idea for my book Jayben and the Golden Torch came exploding into my head and I've never felt so compelled to do something. I had to write it. The author clearly has a massive imagination, with the world he has created filled with unusual creatures, delicious sounding food and a 5 different realms. I particularly lived the sound of Dropcorn and Gribblenuts (these gave me the same cravings as Silky's popcakes did in the Enchanted Wood when I was a child!)Finding a world of clans that descend from old magic & someone who is draining their memories by taking magic away. But a new darkness grows among them… An evil villain called Null is burning down the forests, hellbent on finding the torch and becoming the most powerful being ever to live. An evil villain called Null is burning down the forests, hellbent on finding the torch and becoming the most powerful being ever to live. Then I pressed “skip” one more time, and that’s when it happened – the most surreal moment of my life. A song I had somehow not heard in all that time, The Whole of the Moon by the Waterboys, began to play, and I was transported.