Teens
King Lear by Gareth Hinds
Hound me out of town in a most appropriate manner, but I do not like King Lear. For me, even as a trained actor, the language is too dense and rich, the set-up too archly unfeasible to create the great tragedy it's thought to be. To my mind the acclaim and esteem in which it's held is only mirrored by its own over-long, over-blown blustering. Full review...
Ice by Sarah Beth Durst
Cassie lives on an Arctic research station in Alaska. She loves the ice and the wilderness of her remote home and she'd definitely prefer to spend her time on tracking polar bears and fending off frostbite rather than on mixing with her peers and enjoying college and home comforts back in Fairbanks. However, things aren't all rosy. Cassie's mother died when she was just a baby and she can't help feeling a huge hole in her heart. Her scientist father is remote and unloving and her grandmother left the station after an argument with him when Cassie was still very young. Full review...
Tommy Storm and the Galactic Knights by A J Healy
Meet Tommy Storm. He's one of five teenagers snapped up from around the universe to be a gang of heroic detectives charged with rescuing EVERYTHING from destruction. Not just the planet, or the solar system, or even the galaxy, but EVERYTHING. Nobody seems to know what's going to cause this destruction, or when, but he and his friends and their ship seem to be the only people proactively going about saving the day. So it's a pity that they start this book strung up by a nasty loony who's about to kill them. Full review...
The Battle of the Sun by Jeanette Winterson
London 1601. Elizabeth I is getting on in years. Her capital city is a busy, bustling place. Boats fill the river and people fill the streets. Jack is happy because it's his birthday and his present is his heart's desire: an excitable black puppy named Max, who's a licking and a running and a leaping and a jumping and a tummy in the air and a tail wagging and a barking, racing, braking, spinning energy dog of delight. Full review...
The Popularity Rules by Abby McDonald
This book is labelled as Abby McDonald's first adult novel, but a brief browse at the juvenile title, cover and formatted content bowls it straight down the teen read alley. The Americanised language, music scene setting and media heroine are aspirational stuff when you're stuck in the pre-scene years. So, despite its label, I've given it four and a half stars based on its appeal as a girlie book. That said, I'm well over eighteen, read the story avidly, and enjoyed the irony. So well done, Abby McDonald, for an entertaining story, cleverly told. Full review...
Furnace: Death Sentence by Alexander Gordon Smith
Meet Alex Sawyer. Framed for a murder he certainly didn't do, the lad is given life (of a kind) in the Furnace, a literal hellhole of a private prison, buried a mile under England. It's a vicious existence, with tribal gangs among the inmates, and worse on the staff - the warden is helped by his malevolent blacksuits, nasty medical aides called wheezers, and there are mutated, feral creatures of all kinds collectively called rats. After two previous books of failed break-outs, Alex is under the knife of the warden, who has a new tactic. He does not want to break Alex - he aims to remake him, with medicine, surgery and Clockwork Orange-style brainwashing, as one of his own. Full review...
Tales of Terror from the Tunnel's Mouth by Chris Priestley
Young Robert is put on a train back to school by his stepmother. It's the first journey he's made on his own. It turns out to be more of a challenge than he could ever have imagined. The train stalls at the mouth of a tunnel and while the other passengers sleep through the wait, a mysterious woman in white tells him a series of stories - stories with a difference. Full review...
Tales of Death and Dementia by Edgar Allan Poe and Gris Grimly
Wow! What a wonderful combination: Edgar Allan Poe, master of the gothic horror short story, and Gris Grimly, outstanding illustrator, known for his work with Neil Gaiman. Poe's Tales of Death and Dementia are shown off at their very best in this edition. Full review...
The Hollow by Jessica Verday
When Abbey's best friend, Kristen, disappears and is assumed dead, Abbey feels as though she has no-one left to talk to. Refusing to believe that Kristen is really gone, while struggling to come to terms with life on her own, Abbey meets the mysterious Caspian, a young man who appears to be the perfect gentleman, showering her with hand-crafted gifts and words of wisdom within weeks of meeting her. But beneath those piercing green eyes and soft-spoken manner, Caspian has secrets of his own. Hoping to uncover those, and determined to find out what really happened to her best friend, Abbey begins to question her sanity, as the truth proves more frightening than she thought. Full review...
The Youngest Templar: Trail of Fate by Michael P. Spradlin
After his ship is lost in a storm as he is returning to England, Tristan is washed up on some foreign shore, completely lost and with no sign of his companions. When he wakes, he's surrounded by four men and two women, all pointing swords at him. As soon as they talk, he realises he's in France. He explains his situation to Celia, one of the young women, and though cautious of him at first – believing he might possibly be a spy, she ignores his pleas for directions to the nearest port and offers (almost insists) to take him with them. Full review...
Gifted: Here Today, Gone Tomorrow by Marilyn Kaye
Emily has a gift – she can predict the future. But her visions aren't always clear and she sometimes gets them wrong. She is one of nine students from the Gifted class, though at the moment she feels like the weakest person there. But now her classmates need her, they are starting to disappear and Emily is their only hope. Will she learn how to interpret her blurry visions in time? And be able to use her gift to save her friends? Full review...
The Last Thing I Remember (Homelander) by Andrew Klavan
Charlie West - US Air Force hopeful and karate expert - remembers when his main concern was whether schoolmate Beth would go out with him. So why is he strapped to a chair in a windowless cell? Full review...
Pastworld by Ian Beck
In the future, London has been restored to its Victorian state and turned into a theme park. Pastworld prides itself on its authenticity and indeed many of its full time residents don't even realise that they're living in a fantasy recreation of an old reality. Eve is one such. Cossetted and over-protected by her guardian, Jack, she feels a desperate need for freedom and runs away to join a travelling circus. Here she discovers not only the truth about Pastworld, but some remarkable, almost supernatural, talents. Full review...
The Immortals: Evermore by Alyson Noel
Sixteen-year-old Ever used to be normal, popular even. She had a best friend, a cute boyfriend, and her whole future ahead of her. Then a tragic car accident claimed the lives of her family – her parents and her little sister Riley. Ever survived, but not unscathed. Full review...
The Alchemaster's Apprentice by Walter Moers
Meet Echo the Crat. He is a rare example of his species, which is a cat that can speak every language known. His life among the miserable, permanently ill citizens of Malaisea is not great, which is why, when the strange scientist from the castle that looms over everyone and everything offers him a month of entertaining gluttony before he kills Echo, as opposed to three days' starving penury on the streets, the offer is accepted. Full review...
Dark Visions: The Strange Power, The Possessed, The Passion by L J Smith
Kaitlyn Fairchild has always known she was different. She's able to draw things that haven't happened yet - although the drawings are never specific enough to be of any use. Worse, they scare people, as do her weird eyes. So, when she's given the opportunity to go away to an Institute where she, and four other teens with other powers, will be trained to control their abilities, she jumps at the chance. After meeting charismatic healer Rob, psychokinetic Lewis, and Anna, who can talk to the animals, she already feels at home. Even the addition of the fifth teen, convicted murderer Gabriel, can't dull her happiness. Full review...
The Plague by Joanne Dahme
The story begins in 1348, the year in which the Black Death first reached England. Nell and her younger brother George lose their parents to the plague, and as orphans their future looks bleak. But a chance meeting leads to Nell's lookalike similarity to the Princess Joan transforming their fate. She is taken into the royal household to act as a double for the Princess in times of danger. Two years later she and her brother accompany the Princess on her voyage to marry the Prince of Castile. Nothing goes as planned, and Nell finds herself being passed off as the Princess against her will. Full review...
Perfect Girl by Mary Hogan
Homework. Drinking your milk. Coming home on time. Keeping your mouth shut. These are the sort of rules you would associate with 14 year old Ruthie's mother. Her mother's glamorous sister, Aunt Marty (aka the Goddess of Love at a swish NYC-based magazine), on the other hand, is a different story. And when she swoops into town and sweeps Ruthie away in a whirlwind of silk underwear, virgin Cosmopolitans and a whole career's worth of advice on all things boy related, Ruthie has a feeling things will never be quite the same again. Full review...
Ember Fury by Cathy Brett
Ember Morton-Fury is the daughter of rock super-star Lyndon Fury and artist Amica Morton, who died when Em was a small child. It's the beginning of the school holidays and she's on her way to Los Angeles to see her father (well, his entourage, actually as he doesn't do the dad thing) and his new wife the actress Charity Lane. I say that it's the beginning of the school holidays, but that's a moot point as Em has been expelled from yet another school because of the small matter of a major fire which she started. You just know that things are not going to be any better in LA. Full review...
The Eternal Kiss by Trisha Telep (Editor)
Do you love vampires but aren't sure where to go from here? Perhaps you've just read the Twilight series everyone's talking about but don't know what else is out there. Maybe you've always been a die-hard vampire fan and aren't sure which of the contemporary fantasy authors fit your taste. Full review...
Mariah Mundi and the Ship of Fools by G P Taylor
Mariah Mundi is leaving the famed Prince Regent Hotel of his past adventures and going out into the wider world. This time, his friend and mentor, Captain Charity, is bringing him along on board a luxury liner called the Triton, as it races another liner, the Ketos, across the Atlantic. Charity's mission is to protect the prize money that the Triton carries in its hold. But someone doesn't want the Triton to win. In fact, they don't even want to give it a chance. What they want is the prize money, preferably before they sink the Triton to the bottom of the sea. Full review...
Alice in Love and War by Ann Turnbull
Alice Newcombe is unhappy, and has been since the death of her father five years ago. Living on a farm with an uncle who makes advances on her whenever he can, and an aunt who doesn't believe a word she says, and never really wanted her anyway – Alice dreams of escape, to run away and find something better. Now, with the Civil War on, everything is about to change. Royalist soldiers soon set up camp on the farm and one soldier in particular catches Alice's eye – Robin. Full review...
Secret Lives (Darke Academy) by Gabriella Poole
Cassie Bell knows the value of information. Raised in a care home, she's tough and smart, and when she earns a scholarship to the exclusive Darke Academy, she knows it's her ticket to a new and better life. The snobby, upper class students who bought their way in aren't going to stop her experiencing life at the Academy to its fullest, and taking all the opportunities it offers. Full review...
Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld
You have to hand it to Scott Westerfeld. He writes a great page-turner and he has an enviable eye for a good angle on contemporary interests. In Leviathan, he's bringing steampunk to junior readers. If you're not a trainspotterish fan of the maze of sci-fi and fantasy sub-genres, you may not know what steampunk is, let alone whether you or your children will like it. Basically, steampunk fiction is set in a world in which steam is still the main source of power. Often, the world is an alternate history past, but it can be the future too. Westerfeld's chosen an alternate history for Leviathan - we're in 1914, the Archduke Ferdinand has just been assassinated and Europe is on the brink of WWI. Full review...
The Enemy by Charlie Higson
HA! 28 Days Later and Shaun of the Dead meet Lord of the Flies in Charlie Higson's latest series. A mysterious disease has decimated the population, attacking everyone over fourteen. Most of the adults are dead but the ones that remain are shuffling zombies with just one thought in their addled brains - killing and feasting on children. The narrative focuses on London, where pockets of children are holed up in old supermarkets and tourist attractions. Rumour has it that there's a group in Buckingham Palace who are not only safe, but who are beginning to envisage ways of building a new life. Both the Waitrose and the Morrisons crew know that they can't last forever by scavenging, and so they decide to make the dangerous journey across London to the Palace. Full review...
Tim The Tiny Horse At Large by Harry Hill
It's been a while since Tim and Fly's last adventures, and changes are afoot in Tim's tiny world: Fly is getting married to his girlfriend. Tim's a little worried because they've only known each other for a week. The marriage goes ahead, and Tim finds himself kicking his heels, so he gets a pet. And so the brief episodes in the life of a horse who lives in a matchbox continue. Full review...
Dreadnought (Hive) by Mark Walden
Life goes on at H. I. V. E. (the Higher Institute of Villainous Education), with the pupils heading off to the 93%er - an Arctic training exercise where only 93% of students survive. Things are going less smoothly at the parent organisation, G. L. O. V. E. (the Global League of Villainous Enterprises): Jason Drake has broken away and is planning to overthrow his former colleagues, installing himself as the new head. Why oh why can't villains play nicely with one another? Full review...
Ganglands: Brazil by Ross Kemp
Luiz Alves and his sister Ana were adopted into a good home and escaped the favela which is now under the control of a vicious gang, the Comando Negro. Only a matter of days ago a young basketball star had been murdered on a bus for no better reason than that he had once made the killer look bad. Luiz had no intention of getting involved with the gang, or with another shadowy organisation, Trojan Industries, but events dictated otherwise. Full review...
X-isle by Steve Augarde
It was a momentous day when the salvage ship sailed up Baz's street. This is a future England, where an eco-catastrophe has drowned the world, and left just pockets of humanity, with no power, no Internet, little hope. But this is a momentous day, not because of the boat travelling across Baz's town, not because this is the only powered vehicle anyone knows of, but because today is the day Baz and his best-friend-to-be Ray manage to barter their way on board, and across to a different island, and a land of milk and honey. Full review...
The Bride's Farewell by Meg Rosoff
Pell Ridley runs away from home on the morning she's supposed to get married. She just can't face it. Birdie is a good man, a good friend even, but Pell doesn't want a husband. She doesn't want to end up like her mother - worn and shapeless with a leaking bladder, great knotted blue veins, and breasts flat as old wineskins. And who can blame her? So she saddles up her white pony Jack and, at the last minute, takes her foster brother Bean along for the journey. Full review...
Strange Angels by Lili St Crow
Most teenagers think their lives are over when their crush rejects them, they get an ugly zit on their foreheads, or their parents do something unspeakably embarrassing in public. But that's the normal world. Dru lives in The Real World – a world populated by ghosts, suckers, werwulfen and zombies, and when her Dad doesn't come home from a hunt she knows she's got things far worse to worry about than boys and zits. Full review...
Wicked: Witch and Curse by Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguie
Holly Cathers always thought she was a normal teenage girl. Until one day when she's forced to move across the country to live with her aunt, Marie-Claire, and her twin cousins, Amanda and Nicole. Struggling to cope with the loss of her parents and trying to settle into her new environment, Holly can't help but notice strange incidents surrounding her new family. Plagued with visions from her mysterious ancestors and struck with an immediate enchantment to a boy she hardly knows, Holly is thrown into the world of magic and witchcraft with her cousins and drawn into a voracious war against a warlock clan that has been spanning generations. Full review...