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Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker RhodesHow small I look. Laid out flat, my stomach touching ground. My right knee bent and my brand-new Nikes stained with blood. Danny was playing with a toy gun his friend Carlos had lent to him when he was shot by Officer Moore, who claims he was in fear for his life, that Danny, a five foot tall, twelve-year-old boy, was a threatening thug whose menace was such that Officer Moore had no choice but to reach for his gun and eliminate the threat. Full Review |
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How to Bee by Bren MacDibbleImagine a world without bees. Not just how nice it would be to eat jam sandwiches in the garden without having the little yellow and black torpedoes attacking you - really imagine it. No bees, no pollination. No pollination, no new plants. No new plants, no food. Simple. So, if those pesky chemicals we use kill off practically every bee in the world, humans will have to take over their work. Children, in fact, because you need small, nimble fingers to work those tiny feathers full of pollen into the flowers and turn them into delicious fruits. Full Review |
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The Chocolate Factory Ghost (The Dundoodle Mysteries) by David O'ConnellArchie McBudge is sitting in the of Honeystone Hall with his mother. And a lawyer called Mr Tatters has some important information for Archie. A great uncle he has never heard of has died and Archie is his sole heir. This means that Honeystone Hall now belongs to Archie. But that isn't all - this young boy is now sole owner of Scotland's premier sweets giant: McBudge's Fudge and Confectionery Company... Full Review |
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The House with Chicken Legs by Sophie AndersonMy house has chicken legs. Two or three times a year, without warning, it stands up in the middle of the night and walks away from where we've been living. Ok. I dare you to tell me that you don't want to read a story about a house with chicken legs. There is no way anyone could resist. I certainly couldn't! Marinka lives in this chicken-legged house with her grandmother, Baba Yaga, whose job it is to guide dead people through The Gate. But Marinka is lonely. The house, her grandmother and Marinka never stay anywhere long enough for Marinka to make any friends. And Marinka is determined to change this. But the chicken-legged house has its own agenda... Full Review |
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When the Mountains Roared by Jess ButterworthMy fingers come away deep red. My breath catches. Blood. I wipe my shaky hands on my trousers. There's a leopard out there, injured. And I have to find it before they do. Two months earlier, Ruby's dad had dropped a bombshell. They were moving from Australia to India, where her father had got a job at a hotel in the mountains. It was to be a new start and it would help both Ruby and her father get over the death of her mother. Ruby wasn't so sure about that and didn't get more optimistic on arrival - to find a rundown building full of scary corners in a place where the dark is really dark and the wildlife includes scorpions, bears and, well, you get the picture. Ruby has struggled since her mother died and it pretty much feels as though her father has brought her a place that makes everything worse... Full Review |
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Rory Branagan Detective by Andrew Clover and Ralph Lazar
Ten-year-old Rory Branagan isn't just a normal kid. He's a detective and he has a mystery to solve – why did his dad disappear when he was three? Rory doesn't know where to start but, then, Cassidy moves in next door and he discovers he has an accomplice who is full of ideas. This is just as well as they soon discover a very serious crime: Corner Boy's dad has been poisoned and is at risk of dying but no-one else will believe he's in danger. It's up to Rory and Cassidy to uncover the truth and save a life. Full Review |
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To the Edge of the World by Julia GreenJamie loves his new island home. He likes the school and he has even made some friends. But, with his history of being bullied, Jamie knows that he has some fears to conquer if he wants to follow his grandfather in the traditional island occupation of boat builder. His fear of the sea in particular. And this is what draws him to Mara, a strange, wild, independent girl who can handle a boat with aplomb. But Mara has her own demons and an approaching show down with the island authorities because of them...Full Review |
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The Catchers in Pirates, Thieves, Zombies and Magic by Stuart J KentMeet the Catchers – a mix of young and old, magical and human, smart and, er, less smart. It's their job to round up Fabulous Beasts, and right from the get-go they have a job on their hands in this, the second book to contain their adventures. Colin, the older and magical (if not completely smart) one, is tasked with a recovery mission by a friend who boasted about having a wonderful lion griffin, only for it to vanish. Well, wouldn't you, if you were a lion griffin called Muffin? Either way, we know the adventure is going to include more than that simple task implies, as the extended title of the book suggests, but is it any good? Is it rock bottom on the pile of juvenile fantasy reads, or does the combination of Pirates, Thieves, Zombies (both tame and wild) and Magic make this particular Muffin top? Full Review |
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Elise and the Second-hand Dog by Bjarne Reuter and Kirsten RaagaardWhilst Elise's mum is away in the Amazon, building a bridge, she and her father are struggling to get along in her absence. Elise begs her father for a dog, for company, and in the end he agrees, though the dog that they get is most definitely second-hand, rather ugly, and smelly and, remarkably, he talks! Full Review |
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The Seer's Curse by J J FaulksAlthough The Seer's Curse is billed as a pre-teen novel, I would say that it would appeal to a wide audience interested in fantasy and mythology, as well as just a good tale. Full Review |
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Max and the Millions by Ross MontgomeryTen year old Max likes being alone – it's easier than trying to cope with the feedback from his hearing aid when he's surrounded by loud noise or attempting to swivel his head fast enough to lip read when several people are speaking at once. However, when he discovers a civilisation of millions behind the door of the school janitor's room, Max has to learn to lead a team. Max finds a way to communicate with Luke, the tiny boy who's Prince (and almost King) of one of the three tribes now living on the floor of the caretaker's room. Supported by his roommate, Sasha, Max has to find a way to bring the three feuding tribes together and find a safe place for them to live before the school's Headteacher disposes of the little people for good. Full Review |
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The Children of Castle Rock by Natasha FarrantEleven year old Alice Mistlethwaite used to be brave and adventurous but after her mum died she withdrew into herself and started to live in her own world of stories. Unfortunately her dad is an actor and isn't around enough to help. Instead, Alice is shipped off to boarding school in the Scottish highlands. But she quickly finds that this isn't an entirely normal school – for example, the last student to arrive at the start of term is given the responsibility of waking the rest of the school every morning for the rest of term. Soon, however, the strange school curriculum becomes the least of Alice's worries. She receives a secret package from her dad with strict instructions not to open the parcel and a request to deliver it to a remote Scottish island. Will she be able to persuade her new friends to break school rules and help her deliver the mysterious parcel to her dad? Will she be able to resist opening it? Full Review |
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Planet Stan by Elaine Wickson and Chris JudgeStan is a space freak. He's nuts about it – to the extent of having too many embarrassing experiences in his rocket undies, but that's by the by. He's trying to win a telescope, and diligently do all his science-based homework, but one thing stands in the way. Space. Or, more precisely, the space he has to share with his incredibly snotty, annoying, dumb, messy little brother Fred. Stan has a project on the go, which is to get three helpers and enter a science fair, but Fred has also found something to concentrate his erratic mind on – the local museum is thinking of ditching its T-rex fossil for a huge light-up Earth in a new eco gallery. Fred almost thinks of Rory the T-rex as a pet, and is certainly more friendly to it than he is to Stan (when he's not colouring the poor thing's legs in with crayon, that is). Can Stan get something to take to school without bogies all over it, and will Fred get his way where Rory is concerned? Full Review |
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Night Speakers by Ali SparkesThree young people meet up in unusual circumstances to find that they all share a strange experience: waking at exactly 1.34am, the same time each night. Elena, Matt and Tima try to get back to sleep, but after a few days of broken sleep they are drawn outside into an adventure that tests their ingenuity to the limit. Together and completely sleep deprived, they decide to investigate this strange night waking phenomenon, and their searches take them to a different and scary world where inexplicable things are happening. Full Review |
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Begone The Raggedy Witches: The Wild Magic Trilogy by Celine KiernanAunty has died. Mup, her little brother Tipper and Mam are driving back from the hospital, and already it seems everything has changed. It was Aunty who kept the family going, who cared for them all and made sure they were happy, warm and secure. But then, as they approach the house, Mup is astonished to see the white, uncaring faces of witches above them, darting from tree to tree as they follow the car. Things are going to change even more suddenly and dramatically than she could ever have imagined. Full Review |
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Tin by Padraig KennyChristopher can't remember much about his life before he came to live with Mr Absalom. Snatches of memories sometimes surface; images of his mother and father that appear suddenly before fading into the smoke, blackness and flames of the fire. He remembers the fire most of all; his last, most powerful memory of his old life that chokes out everything else. However, his present life working for the eccentric engineer isn't all bad. He has his mechanical friends to keep him company. They are his family now. Full Review |
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A Different Dog by Paul Jennings and Geoff Kelly
Our hero is a boy, whose name we never learn. We know what he wants in life – with his mother exceedingly poor, and even his bed burnt to keep the two of them warm, he wants the prize offered by a down-a-mountain-and-back-up-and-down-again foot race. Winning the race and the large purse would also give him more status in the eyes of those kids that bully him, and it might even give him a voice – for he is almost mute. We quickly learn he never talks back to anyone, whatever the motivation, and can only speak aloud to himself – and, so it turns out, to a dog he rescues from a bad road accident he finds on his way up the hill to the start line… Full Review |
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Twister by Juliette ForrestTwister certainly lives up to her stormy name. She's so stubborn and determined that she's almost a force of nature in her own right, and she's fiercely loyal to her family. Her beloved father has disappeared and her mother is sunk in a dreary depression where she barely seems aware of her daughter's existence: if it weren't for Aunt Honey and her wonderful cooking, and Point the dog, she would feel all alone in the world. Full Review |
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Rebel Voices: The Rise of Votes for Women by Louise Kay Stewart and Eve Lloyd KnightRule breakers. Risk takers. Rebel women. Law makers. A celebration of women rallying around the globe to win the vote. Let's just get straight to it. I loved Rebel Voices: The Rise of Votes for Women. And I can't let a review pass without a brief note on the fabulous production values. The cover is stunning and deeply impactful as you can see. It has that lovely, bookish smell. The paper is thick and heavy. Everything about it tells you that this is a book with interesting and important information. It simply begs to be picked up and read. Full marks to Wren and Rook for this investment. Full Review |
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Star Quality (Dance Trilogy 2) by Jean UreMaddy, Caitlyn, Roz and Alex have all just been tested to go to the prestigious City Ballet School full time. Caitlyn, Roz and Alex all get their acceptance about a week later, but Maddy's is a little slower in coming. It was obviously delayed in the post. She was never actually worried that she wouldn't be accepted: well, she's an exceptional dancer and her family is ballet royalty. Where else would she be but City Ballet School? Caitlyn still can't quite believe the opportunity she's been given, particularly as she's not been dancing anywhere near as long as the others. It means so much to her. Full Review |
