The Night Spinner by Abi Elphinstone
The final, and in my opinion the best, book in the Dream Snatcher trilogy opens with Moll and Gryff back in Tanglefern Forest about to embark on their quest to find the last Amulet of Truth and defeat the terrible Shadowmasks and their dark magic once and for all. Their adventure begins with a night time journey by train to the far north where Moll and her friends must brave the barren northern wilderness, scale mountainous peaks, defeat goblins, bog-monsters, witches and giants while the sinister and evil Shadowmasks lurk unseen but always present. All the time Moll clings to the faint hope that her friend Alfie is not lost to them for ever. Full review...
Star Wars: Ahsoka by E K Johnston
The problem with having a past is the worry it causes in the present, and the risk of it turning into your future. Ahsoka has certainly had a past – she was with Obi-Wan Kenobi, and was Padawan to Anakin Skywalker. While able to experience the Force, she was not a full Jedi, but still suffers survivor's guilt after Order 66 wiped her kind out. She is forced to hide deep in the Outer Rim of the galaxy, under an assumed name, on a tiny farming moon. But lo and behold the Imperial nasties still seem to find her, even if by accident... Full review...
Dory Fantasmagory by Abby Hanlon
Dory – known as 'Rascal' – is the little one in her family. She'd love to play with her older sister, Violet, and her brother, Luke, but they both think Dory is too much of a baby. They find her very irritating, from the way she sees monsters everywhere to her constant stream of questions. That's why they decide they've got to think of something that will force Dory to grow up. Violet comes up with the perfect idea – they tell Dory about Mrs Gobble Cracker (a five hundred year old robber who steels baby girls.) They tell Dory that the only way to escape Mrs Gobble Cracker is to stop acting like such a baby. Their scheme, however, quickly backfires and they get much more than they bargained for. Full review...
Fish Boy by Chloe Daykin
Billy is struggling at school. He's being picked on by the school bully and he's starting to feel very alone. His mum is sick, although nobody seems to know what's wrong with her. She has been sick for a long time meaning that she can't work, so Billy's dad is working extra hours to try to keep the family afloat and Billy is frequently left to fend for himself. His only escape is in watching his favourite, David Attenborough, or in swimming in the sea. One day, however, things take a magical turn as whilst swimming Billy meets a mackerel who speaks to him! This, combined with the entrance of a new boy at school, starts to change Billy's life in some rather unexpected ways. Full review...
See You in the Cosmos by Jack Cheng
Meet Alex. He's just eleven, but is sure he has the responsibility age of a thirteen year old. He'll prove this by taking his rocket Voyager 3 and his dog Carl Sagan on an Amtrak train to the desert to a launch festival for hobbyist rocket-makers – and all without the help of the adult brother he only knows now from phone calls, his seemingly comatose couch potato mother, and the father he was told died when Alex was three years old. This book is a transcript of verbal essays and conversations he has made to put in his rocket to send to the stars, so aliens can learn about life on earth in 2017. The fact that we're able to find out what's on it does seem to suggest a failure with Voyager 3, but as for finding out about life – we can only suppose the lad is a bit more successful… Full review...
Frogkisser! by Garth Nix
Trallonia is in trouble. It's a kingdom – a very small one, mind – with no real leadership. Three months away from becoming queen in her own right is the older princess, Morven, but she's besotted with each and every prince that comes a-wooing, and would probably only want the pretty frocks side of reigning. Ruler regent at the moment is the second husband to the girls' stepmother (ie stepstepfather) and all round Bad Egg, Rikard. He's building his influence on the land, and increasing his magical power, turning all kinds of people into all kinds of animals. All of which means younger princess, Anya, will have to go on one of those capital letter-deserving Quests, to find a remedy for such species-swapping, and muster an army to keep Rikard from the throne. But even that hugely important demand might be swamped by what is really troubling the world… Full review...
The Moonlight Statue (The Hounds of Penhallow Hall) by Holly Webb and Jason Cockcroft
When Polly and her mum move to Penhallow Hall Polly hopes that it will be an escape from the continual reminders that her dad, who died, is no longer with them. With her mum's new job at the hall comes a fresh start for both of them. Polly, however, is left to her own devices a lot of the time, feeling lonely as she's wandering around the hall and grounds during the summer holidays. She had previously been sleepwalking in her old house, so she's worried when she finds herself wandering the grounds during the night, and when she sees one of the stone statues of a dog come to life, she is unsure if she is awake or dreaming! How does this mysterious dog come to life? And why are there canine guardians for the children of Penhallow Hall? Full review...
One Trick Pony by Nathan Hale
Forget the moon being made of cheese, here the Earth looks like it's a huge dollop of the finest Swiss stuff. Horrid, giant insectoid alien things have taken over, and they have zapped anything technological they can find – pumping a blob of something over it, and turning whatever turns up in the resulting spheres into sand, or carting it off to larger ships. Our heroes belong to a travelling caravan of a village, keeping intact as much human knowledge as they can (think a digital version of those readers in Fahrenheit 451), but they've left their compatriots behind to go exploring. They'll never expect to find a magical, wondrous, robotic horse, though – which is where their problems begin… Full review...
Exploring Space: From Galileo to the Mars Rover and Beyond by Martin Jenkins and Stephen Biesty
I take it as read that you know some of the history of space exploration, even if the young person you buy books for doesn't know it all. So I won't go into the extremes reached by the Voyager space craft, and the processes we needed to be expert in before we could launch anything. You probably have some inkling of how we learnt that we're not the centre of everything – the gradual discovery of how curved the planet was, and how other things orbited other things in turn proving we are not that around which everything revolves. What you might not be so genned up on is the history of books conveying all this to a young audience. When I was a nipper they were stately texts, with a few accurate diagrams – if you were lucky. For a long time now, however, they've been anything but stately, and often aren't worried about accuracy as such in their visual design. They certainly long ago shod the boring, plain white page. Until now… Full review...
Helper and Helper by Joy Cowley and Gavin Bishop
Snake and Lizard, after deciding not to eat or be eaten by the other, have set up their business designed to help other animals in need. But they need a new sign for their premises, and work done to the entrance burrow. But what name goes first on the advert, and who is to do the labour for the expansion? Those arguments done – and there will be arguments aplenty before this book is out – they find a rival has stolen all their traffic. Can they get any business back to their door? A rabbit that's too pale for the desert life, critters in need of a bed for the night, and even one wondering if the world is flat or round, all prove they can. It's a hard life being such unlikely partners… Full review...
Secret FC by Tom Palmer and Garry Parsons
Meet Lily, Maddie, Zack, Khal, and James and Batts. They all go to a school together – and they do it eagerly, as their inner city life is so devoid of nature and the open space that the playground is the only room large enough for football. But lo and behold the new head teacher has banned all ball games, on health and safety grounds. How do these friends get over their disappointment? Why, with imagination, hard work and a firm belief that what they're doing is right, is how – they convert a rotting tennis court handily hidden in the school's woods into a pitch, where after a lot of labours they can play to their heart's content. Or so they think… Full review...
Good Dog McTavish by Meg Rosoff
McTavish did wonder whether he was making a mistake in adopting the Peachey family: it was a decision which came from the heart rather than the head. You see the Peacheys were dysfunctional: Ma Peachey, an accountant by profession, decided that she was fed up with chasing around after an ungrateful family, so she resigned and dedicated herself to her yoga with half a hint that she might also dedicate herself to her yoga teacher. She gave up cooking, cleaning, baking, washing and all the other things which kept the family going, such as finding lost keys and getting people out of bed so that they got to wherever they were going on time. And the family? Well, they had no idea of how to cope, with one exception. Full review...
Nancy Parker's Spooky Speculations by Julia Lee
Nancy Parker, likeable maidservant, and part-time super sleuth, returns in this enjoyable mystery story set in 1920. Nancy is delighted to be rescued from her job on the fruit and vegetable market stall when she is offered the job of housemaid at an old house by the sea thanks to her old friend Ella who lives nearby. However strange noises and bumps in the night coupled with ghostly appearances soon disturb Nancy's contentment. The two friends team up and decide to investigate the mysterious happenings. However all does not go smoothly for our young heroines as they cope with unfriendly neighbours, spooky cellars and Nancy's kindly but eccentric boss. Full review...
Born to Dance (Dance Trilogy 1) by Jean Ure
Maddy O'Brien is just eleven years old and her life revolves around ballet dancing. It's not surprising really: her father is a leading choreographer, her mother was a ballerina but now runs her own ballet school, her brother, Sean, has just been promoted to soloist and her sister Jen might be having a baby but she was in the business too. Maddy's enthusiasm for ballet isn't the usual passing interest which many young girls have - she's longing to be off to ballet school full time. In the meantime she and a couple of her friends are looking over the new arrivals at their school and Maddy is convinced that one of them is a ballet dancer. Only Caitlyn is adamant that she's not and quite definite that she doesn't go to classes. Full review...
The Misadventures of Max Crumbly: Locker Hero by Rachel Renee Russell
We start this book introducing us to Max Crumbly in the dark. Literally – I don't mean as regards knowing very little about him and it. It's clearly a diary-styled, heavily pictorial, light read for a young audience, but we're in the dark as regards Max because he is in the dark. School bully Thug Thurston has locked him in his locker, and he's scribbling a goodbye to the world in his journal, with the help of a handy pocket torch. Over an extended flashback – a flashback that would never really work otherwise in a diary-styled book – we see more of who Max is. He's buddy to the boyf of Nikki Maxwell from this author's other series, and is a friendless yet cool chap at his middle school, which he's riding out – complete with Thug – because the alternative is his gran's version of home-schooling, which is much worse. But when the locker, official notes of his attending late, and problems with classroom beauty Erin all conspire to make Max hate school even more, you might just expect him to change his mind. But events here will more than make up his resolve… Full review...
The New Adventures of Mr Toad: A Race for Toad Hall by Tom Moorhouse and Holly Swain
Poop-poop! Yes, that must be the most inaccurate representation of the noise a toad makes. But of course, it's not just a toad, but Mr Toad – Toad of Toad Hall. The irrepressible juvenile driver, thrusting himself into the Edwardian era, and scaring the bejaysus out of his friends, Moley, Ratty and Badger. But he's long gone. Toad Hall is a shell – a ruin compared to what it once was. Stumbling into its underground regions (don't ask) are Mo, Ratty and TJ – Toad Junior, in full – and what they're about to discover will shock them. But that's nothing compared to the shock that what they find will face, for Mr Toad will be revived after a century of being frozen, and not like what he finds one bit. Apart, that is, from the modern cars… Full review...
My Name is Victoria by Lucy Worsley
Miss V is the daughter of Sir John Conroy. Sir John Conroy is the comptroller of the household of the widowed Duchess of Kent. And the widowed Duchess of Kent is mother to the young Princess Victoria, who will go on to be one of Britain's most memorable monarchs. Miss V is also called Victoria - well, Victoire actually - but distinctions of rank are important, especially when one of you will become a queen. Full review...
The Secret Keepers by Trenton Lee Stewart
Reuben is a small boy growing up with his mum in a big city full of injustice and fear. The family have little money and working two jobs means that Reuben's mum trusts him to be on his own a lot. For a young child Reuben develops a lot of independence, which really helps him when he finds an unusual and precious object and decides to try to uncover its secret. He hopes it might be valuable and dreams of being able to buy his mum her ideal home. Unfortunately there is someone else also looking for the object and Reuben enters into a dangerous game of hide and seek as he dares to take on the most powerful and ruthless man in the city Full review...
The Goldfish Boy by Lisa Thompson
Matthew has OCD. Not that he knows that's what it is. He just likes things clean, he really hates germs, or going outside, and he feels safest upstairs in his room and the front bedroom, where he can control the dirt, and where he can watch everything that's going on outside, making notes on his neighbours' activities. When a little boy, Teddy, from next door goes missing one day, it turns out that Matthew was the last person to see him, and with all of his neighbours as suspects Matthew struggles against his crippling anxieties in order to try and uncover the truth of what happened to Teddy. Full review...
All Mary (Mary Plain 2) by Gwynedd Rae and Clara Vulliamy
Mary is growing up – and going out into the world. Which you might expect of a young girl in society, but this is a young girl bear in society. Still, she's finding the Ps and Qs and her manners are equally as important as our daughters would. But when she's told to be on her best behaviour and she thinks it is something to sit upon, is there any hope? Full review...
Mostly Mary (Mary Plain 1) by Gwynedd Rae and Clara Vulliamy
Meet Mary Plain. She's a bear, living in a pit in the Swiss city of Berne, and bears have been there as a tradition for centuries. She's not been there long, for she's just an exuberant, slightly stroppy and definitely naïve, little cub, trying to catch up to her two slightly-older cousins, loving life with her aunt and uncle, and the generations above them. She's got a lot to learn about life, however – from how snow and ice change her world to what sitting on sticky paint can mean. Oh the innocence of little tykes – such as these books were written for. Full review...
The Painted Dragon (The Sinclair's Mysteries) by Katherine Woodfine
Ornate hats, the best cigars, fine foods and delicate perfumes – Mr Sinclair offers it all in his wondrous new department store, a marvel never before seen on the streets of London. Comfort, refinement and luxury abound, with smoking rooms, tea rooms and even an art gallery to excite and intrigue the haut monde as they examine the merchandise and chatter their days away. But beneath the wealth lies something more sinister, and once again Sophie and Lil find themselves solving a complicated and multi-layered mystery. Full review...
Who Let the Gods Out? by Maz Evans
Zeus retired as chief god a long time ago, so the rulers of things are the Constellations, even when they're a far-too-juvenile nineteen hundred year old like Virgo. Feeling left out, she steals the ambrosia that the Earth resident known as Prisoner Forty-Two needs, with hardly any clue as to what to do with it or where he is. So it's no surprise that she crashlands on the farm where Elliot lives. He's got enough problems without worrying about a girl who seems doolally arriving – his father is nowhere to be seen, his mother has got dementia and the farm is a week from being repossessed. It's the birth of a most mismatched partnership – the wise-cracking but hard-done-by lad, and his problems, and the godlike girl who thought she could do it all, but stumbles at the first receipt of sarcasm. But not even together can they see the bigger problems around the corner, for both of them – nor the enormity of the help they might end up calling on… Full review...
The Shakespeare Plot 1: Assassin's Code by Alex Woolf
Shakespeare's London – a vibrant, colourful city rich with promise, new discoveries and great art. A place, too, rife with conspiracies and schemes for murder and mayhem. Add to the mix a mysterious code, a girl disguised as a boy and a young servant asked to spy on his aristocratic master, and the stage is set for thrills and adventure. Full review...