'''Read [[Features|new features]].'''
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{{newreview
|author=Marcus Sedgwick
|title=Raven Mysteries: Magic and Mayhem
|rating=4.5
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=Life is never completely dull at Castle Otherhand. Edgar the resident raven may get bored a little, and end up pecking and plucking at things he shouldn't, but that at least keeps the humans there on their toes. And even Edgar must admit to being rushed off his talons when he has to save the day yet again, this time from death by cabbage, and things that go quack in the night.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1842556975</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Nick Hewlett
|summary=Miss Cluck's class are going on a camping trip. They've got a map, butterfly net, binoculars, and a tent. All the class are carrying something, be it Leticia the rabbit, Maxwell the mole or the little mice. Boris the grizzly bear gets to carry alllllllll the heavy stuff - well, Fergus the fox cub couldn't exactly carry a great big tent, could he? This being a camping trip, the class get up to all sorts of adventures and into all sorts of scrapes. Luckily, they have Boris on hand to help them out.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0192789783</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Philippe Claudel and Euan Cameron
|title=Monsieur Linh and His Child
|rating=5
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=From a war-ravaged country a bit like a Vietnam or a Cambodia an old man carries the fragile frame of his granddaughter aboard a refugee's ship, staring at the receding horizon all the weeks it takes to arrive at a city a bit like a Seattle or a New York. He and she are given the basics of a new life together but it's up to him, Monsieur Linh, to find friendship, which he does, accepting uncomprehendingly the chatty company of a fellow mourner called Bark.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1906694990</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Fanny Blake
|title=What Women Want
|rating=4
|genre=Women's Fiction
|summary=I'll be honest: I had my doubts about this book. Fanny Blake is a well-known journalist and she's also written for programmes such as ''Location, Location, Location'' and ''A Place in the Sun''. I wasn't entirely certain how this would fit with a book about the lives of three middle-aged women who are dealing with change in their lives – and they're not moving house. I sat down to have a quick look to see if it was going to be worth reviewing…
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0007359098</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Charles Emmerson
|title=The Future History of the Arctic: How climate, resources and geopolitics are reshaping the north, and why it matters to the world
|rating=4
|genre=History
|summary=Charles Emmerson examines the past history of Arctic exploration, economic exploitation and development and the policies of governments of countries which include Arctic territory (and others), with the aim of understanding the present and predicting the future better. He explains the apparently contradictory title in some detail in the Introduction. While history is about the past, 'ideas about the future have changed over time'. Also, the future of the Arctic will be shaped by its history.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099523531</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Caragh M O'Brien
|title=Birthmarked
|rating=3.5
|genre=Teens
|summary=Sixteen-year-old Gaia lives in a post-climate change America, near one of the Great Lakes - or the unlake as its waterless hollow is now known. Gaia is a midwife-in-training, following after her mother. For this family, the cool age - that is, our age - is almost forgotten. There is no power in Wharfton, and both water and food is in short supply. But Wharfton sits outside the walled city of Enclave, and things are entirely different there - the scenes of leisure, wealth and plenty are played out on the Tvalter's big screen, which serves as entertainment for Wharfton's residents.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0857071394</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Eva Ibbotson and Sharon Rentta
|title=One Dog And His Boy
|rating=5
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=All Hal had ever wanted was a dog. Other presents never mattered, expensive though they were: he wanted a dog. But – his mother wouldn't entertain the idea. She was far too busy (shopping) and neurotic about the possibility of dirt, puddles or ''hairs''. His father was busy too. He worked hard to fund their lavish lifestyle and was away so much that he spent more time in the air than he did at home. It wasn't as though Hal had many friends either. He'd just been moved from a school where he had friends (because he wasn't doing well enough) to another where he'd made no friends. All he wanted was a dog.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1407124234</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Gillian Philip
|title=The Opposite of Amber
|rating=5
|genre=Teens
|summary='Jinn was quick and shining bright; Jinn was motor-mouthed and nurturing... Actually she catered for my every whim to the point where she anticipated it asked for it, spoke for me There was never any need for me to speak and I know I could never say anything as well as she did, so I didn't bother. I didn't resent her or anything. I was proud to be spoken for by Jinn, sparky and bold. I was spoiled voiceless.'
''Spoiled voiceless'' - isn't that a whole world of meaning contained in just two words?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0747599920</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Judy Bartkowiak
|title=NLP For Teens
|rating=4
|genre=Home and Family
|summary=
NLP For Teens is part of the Engaging NLP series and is a follow-on from NLP for Children. Many a parent has been tempted to leave home when their children are teenagers; difficult as it is for the parents it's a traumatic time for the teens and anything which makes it a little easier is to be applauded particularly when the changes will come from the teens rather than being imposed by the parent.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1907685901</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=James Black
|title=Robin Hood Vs the Plague Undead (Mash Ups)
|rating=3.5
|genre=Teens
|summary=In 1194 AD, strange reports reach Robin Hood and his men in Sherwood Forest. There's an outbreak of plague in Nottingham and its victims are refusing to stay dead...
Robin Hood vs. The Plague Undead is a 'mash up' of the Robin Hood myth with contemporary zombie tales. All the usual Robin Hood characters are there - Friar Tuck, Little John, the Sheriff of Nottingham - but with loads of zombies thrown in as well. It must be very difficult to bring the two strands together and I don't think the author has quite succeeded. The problem is that both mythologies endure for different reasons and it's hard to fuse them together without compromising the strengths of both – zombies may work better in an urban setting, and having Robin Hood fighting zombies rather than the rich tends to undermine his leftwing credentials.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>140831388X</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Sophie Page
|title=To Marry A Prince
|rating=4
|genre=Women's Fiction
|summary=Bella Greenwood has just been away on a tropical island doing an eco-job for a man she though she rather fancied. She returned home when she realised that she was being taken for a mug and when it came down to it she didn't really fancy the man that much either. Getting back into the swing of things is a little difficult though – he mother and step-father have a full house and can't take her in. Her father is up a mountain somewhere and she's just thankful that her friend Lottie is prepared to take her in at short notice – and to take her to a posh party.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099560453</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Hugh Bowring
|title=Green Living Guide
|rating=4.5
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=The 'Green Living Guide' is a Magbook - so the format is like that of a magazine - and although it initially seems a little expensive for something that looks just like a magazine you quickly find, on opening, that it contains an enormous amount of interesting and useful information. Even already determined eco-warriors should find something of interest in this wide-ranging guide.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1907232060</amazonuk>
}}
