CHERUB

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

CHERUB is a series of young adult books, written by the author Robert Muchamore. They are sometimes compared to the Alex Rider books by Anthony Horowitz[1], or the Six of Hearts series by Jack Heath. The books feature a division of the British Security Services employing orphaned children. The majority of missions are contracted by MI5, and agents are used based on the assumption that criminals are unlikely to suspect children to be intelligence spies. According to the website since the release of the first book, CHERUB: The Recruit, over a million CHERUB books have been sold worldwide.[2] After the massive success enjoyed by the series in the United Kingdom, the books have been released in the United States of America , New Zealand and Australia, and translated into several languages including French, Russian and Portuguese. Following the success of the series in Britain, a film adaptation was commissioned; however, there has been little progress made public to date.

Contents

[edit] Series

[edit] Novels

  1. The Recruit UK:(15 April 2004)[3]
  2. Class A (October 14, 2004) (titled The Dealer in the United States)[4]
  3. Maximum Security (14 April 2005)[5]
  4. The Killing (13 October 2005)[6]
  5. Divine Madness (6 April 2006)[7]
  6. Man Vs. Beast (19 October 2006)[8]
  7. The Fall (15 March 2007)[9]
  8. Mad Dogs (1 October 2007)[10]
  9. The Sleepwalker (7 February 2008)[11]
  10. The General (4 September 2008)
  11. Brigands MC
  12. Help Earth

[edit] Short stories

  1. Dark Sun (6 March 2008)[12] released for.World Book Day)

Dark Sun was originally planned not to be released in countries outside the UK, as it is a mini book. Countries such as Australia did not stock the small book; however, individual bookstores in some countries (including nations in Asia/Pacific, and bookstores connected to International Corp.) did stock the book, though only a limited number of books were ordered.

[edit] Future books

  • 1. CHERUB: The General (Australia in August/UK in September 2008)
  • 2. CHERUB: Brigands MC (2009)
  • 3. CHERUB: Help Earth (2010)

[edit] Henderson's Boys

The Henderson's Boys is a planned eight-book series about the early days of CHERUB when Charles Henderson founded the organisation.[citation needed] The first book, The Escape, is due out October 2009, the second, Eagle Day (TBC), is due in October 2010 and the third (as yet untitled) in October 2011. The following books' release dates are yet to be confirmed. Although eight books are planned, only three are definite. Although we know very little about the content of these books, we do know that it will contain only one character we see in the CHERUB books and that is "Mac", who will be a child in this series.


[edit] Film

Production company Jigsaw Films have bought the rights to a film version of the CHERUB books. The script is being written by Christopher Smith, director of horror films Creep and Severance. The release date is thought to be late 2008 or early-mid 2009 according to an interview. [1].

[edit] Characters

Main article: List of CHERUB characters

[edit] CHERUB Campus

CHERUB Campus is located in the English countryside, with barbed wire and large boundaries separating it from farmland. The locals know it as a military firing ground. It is well equipped, with facilities including 4 swimming pools, 3 obstacle courses (1 for all cherubs and 1 for basic training), 6 tennis courts, an athletics track, 2 all weather football fields and a dojo. It also has a lake, a chapel, 4 Helicopter Landing Pads and a nuclear bunker. As well as the Main building, Juinor Block, Mission briefing block & the newly refurbished Library.

Each cherub has their own room, separated into two blocks with different facilities. Red Shirts, who have not yet passed basic training, often share rooms. They are also allowed to keep pets in their rooms. Light blue shirts, who are undergoing basic training, live in the Basic Training Compound, and are not allowed contact with cherubs outside of the compound. Grey, Navy and Black Shirts have their own rooms in the main building, with an en-suite bathroom, a microwave, a television, a bed, a mini-fridge and a computer.

There is an RAF airstrip behind CHERUB Campus that cover the campus for a no-fly zone. The no-fly zone rule is - you must be over 35,000 feet for 15 miles. There is also a town nearby, where cherubs are allowed to spend free time.

[edit] T-shirts

The rank of a cherub is displayed by the colour of the t-shirt worn by the child.

  • The orange t-shirt is for guests on campus. CHERUBS are only allowed to talk to someone in an orange t-shirt if the Chairperson gives them permission. Failure to comply with this rule results in the CHERUB in question being permanently expelled. The first mention of the orange t-shirt is when James is drugged and taken to CHERUB campus to perform his tests for admission.
  • The red t-shirts are worn by CHERUBS who are not qualified to enter basic training. This is usually because they are too young to do so (the minimum age of entry is 10 years and 4 months), or they failed to complete basic training. CHERUB accepts children from age 6 upwards, though sometimes a younger child is admitted if they have an older brother or sister.
  • The blue t-shirt is the trainee shirt and is worn for the duration of the 100 day basic training program, and occasionally for a short time beforehand as James had to do when he entered CHERUB.
  • The grey t-shirt is what Cherubs acquire if they pass training and qualify as an agent.
  • The navy t-shirt is awarded for outstanding performance on a single mission or a very high performance in two or three missions.
  • The black t-shirt is awarded for outstanding performance over a number of missions. They are given entirely at the discretion of the Chairperson. One third of CHERUBS can expect to receive one before they retire. In CHERUB: Divine Madness, Lauren Adams becomes the third youngest person in CHERUB history to have received her black t-shirt. In The Fall Dana and James receive black shirts for saving Ewart. Bruce receives a Black shirt in Mad Dogs.
  • The white t-shirt is worn by CHERUB staff and by retired cherubs when they return to the CHERUB campus to visit friends or attend a reunion.

[edit] Awards

CHERUB: The Recruit

  • Red House Children's Book Award 2005 Winner - Older readers category[13]
  • Bolton Children's Book Award 2005 - Winner[14]
  • Medway Children's Book Award 2005 - Winner
  • Bishop Luffa Children's Book Award 2005 - Winner
  • Salford Children's Book Award 2005 – Winner[15]
  • Doncaster Children's Book Award 2005 – Runner Up
  • Sakura Medal - Winner 2007[16]
  • Richard and Judy Best Kids' Books 2007 - Fluent 12+ category - Winner.[17]
  • Kingston Young Readers Award 2007 - Winner

CHERUB: Maximum Security

  • Portsmouth Children's Book Award - Winner 2006 and other
  • Grampian Children's Book Award - Runner up 2006
  • Doncaster Children's Book Award - Runner up 2006

'CHERUB: Divine Madness

[edit] Other countries

Below is a list of years when the CHERUB books were/will be released around the world. So far CHERUB has been released in twenty-two countries with twelve of those in 2007.[19]

[edit] 2004 releases

[edit] 2005 releases

[edit] 2007 releases

[edit] 2008 releases

[edit] The acronym "CHERUB"

The acronym 'CHERUB' has an unknown meaning. However, it has been promised that the acronym will be revealed in the final book. The story James is told in the first book is thus, though it is widely believed to be untrue. The founder of CHERUB, Charles Henderson, was murdered by his wife before he could reveal why he named the organization such. However, since he had already had several items monogrammed, the name was kept. It has been revealed that the first two letters stand for the initials of the founder, Charles Henderson. There is a long discussion thread on the forums speculating what the remaining letters stand for, though the author, Robert Muchamore, has not yet confirmed any suggestions. There is a possibility that it stands for Charles Henderson's Elite Reconnaissance Unit for Boys, or Charles Henderson's Elite Recruitment of Undercover Boys but it is still unsure, yet the name will be revealed in the last CHERUB book according to an interview with Robert Muchamore, although he has later said that he may never reveal the true meaning of CHERUB or it may be revealed in one of the books from the up-coming "Henderson's Boys" series.

[edit] References

  1. ^ CHERUB VS. Alex Rider - Powered by CO.CC
  2. ^ Robert Muchamore - The official site
  3. ^ "The Recruit Bk. 1", Foyles. Retrieved on 2008-03-08. 
  4. ^ "Class A Bk. 2", Foyles. Retrieved on 2008-03-08. 
  5. ^ "Maximum Security Bk. 3", Foyles. Retrieved on 2008-03-08. 
  6. ^ "The Killing", Foyles. Retrieved on 2008-03-08. 
  7. ^ "Divine Madness", Foyles. Retrieved on 2008-03-08. 
  8. ^ "Man Vs Beast", Foyles. Retrieved on 2008-03-08. 
  9. ^ "The Fall", Foyles. Retrieved on 2008-03-08. 
  10. ^ "Mad Dogs", Foyles. Retrieved on 2008-03-08. 
  11. ^ "The Sleepwalker", Foyles. Retrieved on 2008-03-08. 
  12. ^ "Dark Sun", Foyles. Retrieved on 2008-03-08. 
  13. ^ "Baby book wins children's award", BBC, 2005-05-11. Retrieved on 2008-03-08. 
  14. ^ "Robert Muchamore wins Bolton Children's Book Award", SLA, 2005-07-04. Retrieved on 2008-03-07. 
  15. ^ "The 2005 Award", Salford.gov.uk. Retrieved on 2008-03-08. 
  16. ^ "Sakura Medal 2007 Winners", ASIJ. Retrieved on 2008-03-08. 
  17. ^ "The eight best books every child should read, by Richard and Judy", Daily Mail, 2007-09-25. Retrieved on 2008-03-08. 
  18. ^ "News : 'Divine Madness' named Lancashire's Children's Book of the Year", Lancashire.gov.uk, 2007-07-29. Retrieved on 2008-03-07. 
  19. ^ "Brush up on languages for 2007!", cherubarchives. Retrieved on 2008-03-08. 
  20. ^ MOKKA

[edit] External links

v • d • e
CHERUB series
Novels
Other books
Major characters
CHERUB Agents
CHERUB Staff
CHERUB Villians and Targets
* Not yet released
Languages