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How to Stop the End of the World
Colin Coleridge is facing a long, boring summer holiday with NOTHING to do. But when he notices some weird markings outside his house, and some strangers acting VERY suspiciously in his neighbour’s garden, he decides to investigate.
And before too long, Colin and his new friend Lucy have found themselves caught up in a mission involving an ancient sword, a mysterious curse, and a plan to SAVE THE WORLD…
Hilarious, fast-paced, and action-packed, How to Stop the End of the World is an apocalyptically funny adventure for readers aged 9+, from the highly-acclaimed author of Escape from Camp Boring and When Things Went Wild.
And before too long, Colin and his new friend Lucy have found themselves caught up in a mission involving an ancient sword, a mysterious curse, and a plan to SAVE THE WORLD…
Hilarious, fast-paced, and action-packed, How to Stop the End of the World is an apocalyptically funny adventure for readers aged 9+, from the highly-acclaimed author of Escape from Camp Boring and When Things Went Wild.
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Published March 14, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 19, 2024
I got this book last weekend, during a visit to the bookshop. It is a book written for children, what might be called a middle-grade book. I told myself that I shouldn't get it, because I'm not a kid anymore, but the child inside me couldn't resist it and so I got it. I finished reading it today.
One day when Col comes back home with his parents after a weekend family sports competition, he notices strange markings on the street. They look like runes. Later he finds strange people at the next door yard doing suspicious stuff. When he asks them what they are doing, they say that they are installing broadband. But when he asks them simple questions about broadband, they don't have the answers. This makes Col even more suspicious. He calls the police. But the police believe the strangers' explanation and Col's parents are upset with him for his overactive imagination. Next day, Col goes out to investigate and he finds more such strange markings. He also meets a girl called Lucy, who seems to know more about it. Together they decide to investigate and get to the bottom of this. That night, Col discovers that the strangers are digging in his own garden. Now he knows that his suspicions are well-founded and something bad is happening. What happens after this and the adventures that Col and Lucy have and how the mystery is resolved forms the rest of the story.
'How to Stop the End of the World' is a fast-paced book. There is no dull moment, there is no wasted sentence. The pages fly as we want to find out what happens next. There are some archaeologist-type people, one of whom is a cool, stylish villain (her name is Draco. It is so hard to resist the comparison with the other more famous Draco, Draco Malfoy), there are Indiana Jones kind of adventures, there are secret tombs and treasures, and there is even an ancient sword with an attached curse. Tom Mitchell's prose is cool and stylish and is an absolute pleasure to read. His sense of humour is infectious and I was laughing through most of the book 😄
There were passages like this :
"There was the thinnest of thin silver linings to all this drama, however; a glimmer of joy in the otherwise overwhelmingly bad feels : she'd brought ice cream...Three small tubs of ice cream : two for the kids and one for herself. Lucy was already popping off the top and using her fingernails to lever out the plastic spoon embedded underneath, but Col waited and watched. It was only sensible to see if Draco ate her own. Because there was definitely a chance the ice cream was poisoned, even though the tubs were unopened, and there was no obvious reason why this woman would want them dead, despite his earlier fears. True, they'd acted fairly suspiciously so far, but they'd done nothing punishable by death. And poisoning by ice cream was quite a convoluted way to get rid of someone. This was a castle : there were bound to be ancient instruments of torture lying around. Maybe in the far corner of this room, where they hadn't yet looked."
And this :
"Collisions are often compared to hitting a brick wall, so much so that the simile has become a cliché. I'm told that good writing seeks to avoid clichés, but (and here's the thing) running into Ross really was like hitting a brick wall... if the bricks were reinforced with steel and also surrounded by some kind of force field made of diamonds and even more bricks."
And this :
"Col was a kid. He was weak. An adult, a strong(ish) adult, could do better surely? Why hadn't Stones tried shouldering the door? People shouldered doors all the time. This was the problem with being a Doctor of Literature : no practical skills; a lack of shoulder use."
And this :
"You might think that there now follows much description of digging. Well, I'm happy to say that you're wrong. Look at how many pages remain, for one thing. There aren't chapters upon chapters to go, each describing another hour of digging. Think about it. And be thankful. As with actual digging, there's only so much description of digging a normal person can take."
Did you like these passages? I loved them all, they made me laugh 😄 They sounded better in the context of the story though.
I loved 'How to Stop the End of the World'. Tom Mitchell has written four more books. I want to read them all now. If you have kids at home, this is a good book to gift them. Or if you are a child at heart like me, you can get it for yourself and enjoy the story 😊
Have you read 'How to Stop the End of the World'? What do you think about it? Have you read other Tom Mitchell books?
One day when Col comes back home with his parents after a weekend family sports competition, he notices strange markings on the street. They look like runes. Later he finds strange people at the next door yard doing suspicious stuff. When he asks them what they are doing, they say that they are installing broadband. But when he asks them simple questions about broadband, they don't have the answers. This makes Col even more suspicious. He calls the police. But the police believe the strangers' explanation and Col's parents are upset with him for his overactive imagination. Next day, Col goes out to investigate and he finds more such strange markings. He also meets a girl called Lucy, who seems to know more about it. Together they decide to investigate and get to the bottom of this. That night, Col discovers that the strangers are digging in his own garden. Now he knows that his suspicions are well-founded and something bad is happening. What happens after this and the adventures that Col and Lucy have and how the mystery is resolved forms the rest of the story.
'How to Stop the End of the World' is a fast-paced book. There is no dull moment, there is no wasted sentence. The pages fly as we want to find out what happens next. There are some archaeologist-type people, one of whom is a cool, stylish villain (her name is Draco. It is so hard to resist the comparison with the other more famous Draco, Draco Malfoy), there are Indiana Jones kind of adventures, there are secret tombs and treasures, and there is even an ancient sword with an attached curse. Tom Mitchell's prose is cool and stylish and is an absolute pleasure to read. His sense of humour is infectious and I was laughing through most of the book 😄
There were passages like this :
"There was the thinnest of thin silver linings to all this drama, however; a glimmer of joy in the otherwise overwhelmingly bad feels : she'd brought ice cream...Three small tubs of ice cream : two for the kids and one for herself. Lucy was already popping off the top and using her fingernails to lever out the plastic spoon embedded underneath, but Col waited and watched. It was only sensible to see if Draco ate her own. Because there was definitely a chance the ice cream was poisoned, even though the tubs were unopened, and there was no obvious reason why this woman would want them dead, despite his earlier fears. True, they'd acted fairly suspiciously so far, but they'd done nothing punishable by death. And poisoning by ice cream was quite a convoluted way to get rid of someone. This was a castle : there were bound to be ancient instruments of torture lying around. Maybe in the far corner of this room, where they hadn't yet looked."
And this :
"Collisions are often compared to hitting a brick wall, so much so that the simile has become a cliché. I'm told that good writing seeks to avoid clichés, but (and here's the thing) running into Ross really was like hitting a brick wall... if the bricks were reinforced with steel and also surrounded by some kind of force field made of diamonds and even more bricks."
And this :
"Col was a kid. He was weak. An adult, a strong(ish) adult, could do better surely? Why hadn't Stones tried shouldering the door? People shouldered doors all the time. This was the problem with being a Doctor of Literature : no practical skills; a lack of shoulder use."
And this :
"You might think that there now follows much description of digging. Well, I'm happy to say that you're wrong. Look at how many pages remain, for one thing. There aren't chapters upon chapters to go, each describing another hour of digging. Think about it. And be thankful. As with actual digging, there's only so much description of digging a normal person can take."
Did you like these passages? I loved them all, they made me laugh 😄 They sounded better in the context of the story though.
I loved 'How to Stop the End of the World'. Tom Mitchell has written four more books. I want to read them all now. If you have kids at home, this is a good book to gift them. Or if you are a child at heart like me, you can get it for yourself and enjoy the story 😊
Have you read 'How to Stop the End of the World'? What do you think about it? Have you read other Tom Mitchell books?
July 23, 2025
I loved this book! It had been sitting on my shelf since I won it in a Twitter giveaway, back when Twitter was Twitter and a good place to be!
I can’t believe I waited so long to read this. It is exactly the reason why, even though I’m an adult, I love to read middle grade books. The adventure was fabulous, getting right into the nitty gritty, and the characters were well developed. I can’t say I particularly warmed to Col to begin with, but he had a strong character arc through the story, and I more than appreciated the verbal slap Stones gave him!
The book has just the right amount of humour and I love the little side comments from the author… almost as if he is sitting in the room telling the story verbally.
I definitely recommend this book, and this author! 5 stars!
I can’t believe I waited so long to read this. It is exactly the reason why, even though I’m an adult, I love to read middle grade books. The adventure was fabulous, getting right into the nitty gritty, and the characters were well developed. I can’t say I particularly warmed to Col to begin with, but he had a strong character arc through the story, and I more than appreciated the verbal slap Stones gave him!
The book has just the right amount of humour and I love the little side comments from the author… almost as if he is sitting in the room telling the story verbally.
I definitely recommend this book, and this author! 5 stars!
March 28, 2024
Absolutely loved this book! It is a great adventure story but also with a touch of fantasy thrown in (magic sword, King Arthur type myth). I really enjoyed it and I know the students in my school will too.
April 13, 2024
Absolutely perfect for 9-12 year olds and even for 60+ year olds who like dry humour, a fast paced plot with lots of twists and turns and characters who you will recognise as you know someone like them - well hopefully not the villain…
March 24, 2025
The author had a very "English", chatty and amusing writing style, and this was quite a decent adventure, but could have done with some editing to bring it down to about 200 pages. I'm not sure many modern kids would stick with it!
October 9, 2024
Very funny, perfect for age 9+, love the humour regarding parents, friends, girls, odd people, being terrified, having a healthy disregard for exercise. Would make a good read aloud for year 6+.
January 5, 2025
Really solid MG and I think will appeal to young readers who love an adventure story
October 3, 2025
3.5 stars. A fun story, just slightly heavy handed writing style at times.
June 1, 2024
Summer holidays, you look forward to them from the moment they end each September and you have to go back to school for almost a whole year before you can enjoy them again. And you are determined you will enjoy them, after all it is summer, there is no school, no work to do. So why is it that as soon as they arrive they bring with them an endless road of boredom? Tom Mitchell’s biography on the press release which came with this book describes him as “partly a teacher” which must mean that at one point he was also a young person. He is one of the lucky ones who, once upon a time, enjoyed school holidays as a child. Now he is one of the lucky teachers who continues to enjoy them and as “mostly a dad…sometimes a writer” he probably manages to fill them. He is therefore of course the ideal author for How to Stop the End of the World, which, believe it or not is actually a school holidays boredom busting story. It will get you thinking and laughing, maybe even planning!
Colin Coleridge is looking down the lens of a long, boring summer holiday with absolutely NOTHING to do. Does that sound familiar? It may be the last time that it does for after reading about the adventure Colin and his new friend Lucy are going to embark on you may never see the summer holidays in the same light ever again… It is when Colin notices the strange markings outside his house, no in fact make that the weird markings and then some strangers who appear to be acting very suspiciously indeed that things take a turn. A turn for the more exciting. The markings, we have established, are outside his house, The strangers are in his neighbour’s garden. Of course he has to investigate, what good neighbour wouldn’t. He has a new friend, Lucy, to aid him too and together they are about to embark on an adventure that will involve and ancient sword, a mysterious curse and of course, a plan to save the world from an apocalypse…! Buckle up and prepare for the summer holiday story of a lifetime, one that will mean you never think of holidays, or reading, as something other people have fun with ever again. From now on you will be loving both.
I write reviews for Armadillo Children's Books and this one appeared in my weekly newsletter, Postbag Picks, in March 2024.
Colin Coleridge is looking down the lens of a long, boring summer holiday with absolutely NOTHING to do. Does that sound familiar? It may be the last time that it does for after reading about the adventure Colin and his new friend Lucy are going to embark on you may never see the summer holidays in the same light ever again… It is when Colin notices the strange markings outside his house, no in fact make that the weird markings and then some strangers who appear to be acting very suspiciously indeed that things take a turn. A turn for the more exciting. The markings, we have established, are outside his house, The strangers are in his neighbour’s garden. Of course he has to investigate, what good neighbour wouldn’t. He has a new friend, Lucy, to aid him too and together they are about to embark on an adventure that will involve and ancient sword, a mysterious curse and of course, a plan to save the world from an apocalypse…! Buckle up and prepare for the summer holiday story of a lifetime, one that will mean you never think of holidays, or reading, as something other people have fun with ever again. From now on you will be loving both.
I write reviews for Armadillo Children's Books and this one appeared in my weekly newsletter, Postbag Picks, in March 2024.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews