Confident readers
Jack Hunter - Secret of the King by Martin King
Jack Hunter was not impressed by the idea of moving from Southend to Barnoldswick. It was a long journey, he'd left all his friends behind and to cap it all the rather sassy girl next door announced that his bedroom was haunted. The family had moved north because his Mum's father was getting a bit frail and needed looking after, but when Jack goes to see Grandad he realises that there's a lot more to the old man than meets the eye. He has a secret to share with Jack – and a gold coin which does seem to show that what Grandad says about buried treasure is true. He hunted for it for years and now he's handed the quest on to Jack. Full review...
The Demon Trappers: Forbidden by Jana Oliver
After the demon attack on the Tabernacle, Riley Blackthorne has got a lot to think about. Her (dead) Father turned up to warn her about the impending attack, but just made him and Riley look guilty in the process. Riley doesn't care about that, she wants to know who reanimated her Father and stole his body. Her bet is on Ozymandias, the creepiest of all the necromancers – plus she did tick him off. Full review...
The Considine Curse by Gareth P Jones
Fourteen-year-old Mariel and her mother emigrated to Australia when she was very small. It's just the two of them, apart from her mother's succession of boyfriends, and Mariel has always believed they have no family and are alone in the world. Then one day her mother tells her that her maternal grandmother has died and that they're going back to England for the funeral. And what's more, when she gets there she will meet her five uncles and six cousins for the first time since she was a baby. Mariel is both angry and mystified. Why did her mother keep the information about the family a secret? What right did she have to deny Mariel the opportunity to belong to a big loving family group? And what was it about Grandma that made her mother hate her so much? But Mariel's mother, true to form, won't answer any of her questions, and relations between them remained strained throughout the book. Full review...
S.T.I.N.K.B.O.M.B.: Secret Team of Intrepid-Natured Kids Battling Odious Masterminds, Basically by Rob Stevens
Archie loves planes, and is never happier than when his pilot father lets him take the controls of his Dragonfly 600 jet aircraft, with its ability to hover, move at five times the speed of a helicopter and land and take off vertically. But in the honourable tradition of the hidden hero, his slightly nerdy preoccupation with flying, not to mention going round with chocolate-guzzling Barney who lives in a dream-world of spies, conspiracies and enemy agents, gets him bullied at school and nagged at by his teachers. Full review...
A Tale Dark and Grimm by Adam Gidwitz
Not many books begin with the hero and heroine losing their heads (literally) before page thirty. And that's not the only misfortune to befall Hansel and his sister. No sooner are their heads and necks reunited, and they've fled their murderous parents, than the two children find themselves in front of an edible house. And we all know what happens if you eat people's homes, don't we? Well, maybe. Full review...
Serpent's Gold by Sam Osman
Most children probably know more about Hindu gods and Creation myths than they do about ley lines, so there is a whole wealth of new information and ideas to be found in this series of books about the adventures of Wolfie, Tala and Zi'ib. Ancient beliefs about stone circles and megaliths, magic circles, the Great Pyramid at Giza and the Knights Templar are linked through these mysterious lines with modern sites like Battersea Power Station and the Tate Modern as our three heroes battle the forces of wickedness. Full review...
Dragon Whisperer: Flight to Dragon Isle by Lucinda Hare
Quenelda DeWinter is the twelve year old daughter of Earl Rufus DeWinter, the commander of the Stealth Dragon Services. As a member of the nobility, Quenelda should be at Grimalkin's College for Young Ladies and learning how to curtsey properly, like her jealous brother Darcy's fiancee, the ladylike Armelia. However, Quenelda is a dragon whisperer, and can communicate both telepathically and through dreams with dragons, and her ambition is to enrol at the Stealth Dragon Services Battle Academy at Dragon Isle. Full review...
Where's Asterix? by Albert Uderzo and Renee Goscinny
Following in the tradition of 'Where's Wally' books here we have 'Where's Asterix?' There are 12 different scenes from the Asterix stories where you have to find not just Asterix but a whole range of other characters hidden throughout as well. Turn it into a competition as you win a laurel wreath for each character you find! Full review...
Tumtum and Nutmeg: Trouble at Rose Cottage by Emily Bearn
Mysterious things are afoot in Rose Cottage. It appears that some new mice, one with golden teeth, have moved into the kitchen and are threatening the tranquil lives of Tumtum and Nutmeg who live in Nutmouse Hall. After some investigation they discover the new mice are town mice, intent on causing trouble. Will the children discover who has been stealing their things, or discover a way to stop their father from selling Rose Cottage before it's too late and their lives, as well as Tumtum and Nutmeg's, are changed forever? Full review...
Return to the Hundred Acre Wood by David Benedictus
Christopher Robin is back! At least that's what the Rumour spreading like wild fire through the Hundred Acre Wood says. He's returning for more adventures with Pooh and Piglet and Rabbit and Owl and Kanga and Roo and Tigger and Eeyore and, as I'm sure you'll agree, that is a Very Good Thing. From exciting new friends (Lottie the Otter giving Kanga some welcome female company) to adventures and competitions, with water slides to locate, bees to relocate, books to write and schools to found, this book picks up where the previous one left off, and really does read like an organic 3rd part of a trilogy (poetry books excepted) rather than a tag on that comes some 80-plus years after the original and from the pen of another. Full review...
Burglar Boy by Jackie Martin
Burglar Boy opens with a big scene - Dean is halfway though robbing a house when the owner returns. Chased by an irate man with a good aim and a golf club, he barely makes it out in one piece. But he dutifully returns home and divvies up a pile of ill-gotten goods to Callum, his older brother, who rewards him for the risk and the bruises with a paltry fiver. Still, it's more pocket money than Dean is likely to see from his mother, who has lapsed further and further into a bottle of vodka since her most recent boyfriend left. Full review...
Wilma Tenderfoot and the Case of the Rascal's Revenge by Emma Kennedy
Wilma Tenderfoot, assistant to the great Detective Theodore P. Goodman, is off to solve another case with the help of her loving dog, Pickle. The future of Copper Island hangs in the balance, and Wilma thinks it's possible that she may just yet discover who her parents really are...make sure you're sitting comfortably, you won't want to put this one down! Full review...
Wuthering Hearts by Kay Woodward
book a real pain, she still wants to be Cathy in the school production - who wouldn't, especially with the utterly gorgeous new boy Robert as leading man? Robert, though, resembles Wuthering Heights' moody Heathcliff in more ways than just being good-looking, and Emily finds it very hard to get to know him properly, even after a development which means they're spending much more time together. Can two people find romance on the Yorkshire moors? Full review...
Star Makers Club: Polly Plays Her Part by Anne-Marie Conway
Polly Conway is having to deal with rather a lot at the moment. Her mum has got a fabulous new job – but it’s in Spain! That leaves Polly to live with her dad, her new stepmother who she can’t stand, and her baby brother who’s just annoying. Depressed by the problems in her life, she ignores her dad’s rules and turns to the friend2friend website to find comfort. As she gets increasingly addicted to the site, she starts to lose focus on the important things in her life – including her family and the Star Makers’ new production. Full review...
Neversuch House: Mask of the Evergones by Elliott Skell
The Halibuts are an extraordinary family. Almost two centuries ago the Captain used his immense wealth to buy up land and surround it by a high wall. He took a wife, and employed families of servants to serve his every need. Money was no object, and subsequent generations of Halibuts had anything they desired on one condition: if they ever left the grounds of the House, they could never return. Full review...
Earwig and the Witch by Diana Wynne Jones
Earwig lives at St Morwald's children's home. Unlike some orphans in literature she's perfectly happy there since she seems to have everyone answering her every whim, and she loves spending time with her best friend Custard. Things are soon to change though as one day a rather strange couple, Bella Yaga and the Mandrake, come to look for a child to foster and the one they pick is Earwig! Full review...
The Parent Swap Shop by Francesca Simon and Pete Williamson
Ava's parents like to nag. They nag her about her spelling, about eating with her knife and fork, or sitting straight on her chair, or going to bed on time...nag, nag, nag! But then one day she finds a card advertising 'The Parent Swap Shop' and when her parents nag her one more time she packs them off and sets out to find herself a new set of parents! Full review...
The Eddie Dickens Trilogy by Philip Ardagh
Meet Eddie Dickens. Aged eleven years old, he's only been allowed to be away from home twice in his life - once for about eight years on a boat, when a crate of luggage went to school in his place, and once for about three years. Now though he is being forced to move in with Mad Uncle Jack and Even Madder Aunt Maud, as his parents are very ill. But they're so deliriously bonkers, there's very little chance of him getting to actually move in with them. Who knows - he might even end up stuck in an orphanage instead? Full review...
Precious and the Monkeys by Alexander McCall Smith
Someone has been stealing food at Precious' school. There are suspicions about who it might be, but no one is sure so Precious sets out to try and discover the truth as to just where all those snacks are disappearing off to... Full review...
Eight Keys by Suzanne LaFleur
On moving to middle school, eleven year old Elise's life takes a turn for the worse. She's bullied by her cool and popular locker-buddy Amanda, and embarrassed by her best friend Franklin – who's decidedly uncool and certainly not popular – she's also struggling to cope with the new arrivals at her home, Aunt Bessie's younger sister Annie and her baby daughter Ava. Just when she doesn't know how she can cope with everything, help arrives in the form of a strange key with her name on it. As she opens a door to find out about her past, Elise starts to realise that she can take control of her future. Full review...
Too Small to Fail by Morris Gleitzman
Oliver's parents own an investment bank. They are very rich and also very busy and they need to be in the city for their work. This means that Oliver lives in a penthouse flat, largely in the company of a succession of housekeepers, and he can't have a pet. Of late, Oliver has been spending a lot of time with his nose pressed up against a pet shop window, falling in love with a black-and-white dog that he knows he'll never be able to take home. Full review...
Jake Ransom and the Howling Sphinx by James Rollins
James Rollins has hit upon a truly brilliant premise in this series. People and creatures from our world have been transported at various times to a savage, prehistoric place called Calypsos, and in the first volume, Jake Ransom and the Skull King's Shadow Jake and his sister find themselves suddenly whisked to a city where Romans, Mayans, Neanderthals and groups from many other societies, places and eras live more or less peaceably side by side. Their archaeologist parents disappeared three years before, and the two young people's struggles to survive, and to defeat Kalverum Rex, the Skull King, go side by side with their hope of finding a trace there of their mother and father. Full review...
King Arthur and a World of Other Stories by Geraldine McCaughrean
The prolific, award winning author Geraldine McCaughrean has collected together twenty four stories from around the world in this highly impressive collection, garnered from four earlier collections. It includes the familiar from the Western tradition (Wilhelm Tell, Pygmalion, King Arthur) to those that are completely new to me, from Bolivia, Togo, Japan, the Middle East. The stories are no more than five pages long, making them ideal for bedtime reading (or hometime reading in a school). Full review...
Strong Winds Trilogy: The Salt-Stained Book by Julia Jones and Claudia Myatt
Donny and his mother left their bungalow on the outskirts of Leeds and headed off to Suffolk to meet Donny's great aunt. It was never going to be easy as Skye, Donny's mother, was deaf and just about mute. She and Donny communicated by signing and usually they managed quite well, but when Skye had a breakdown in a car park in Colchester, their camper van was towed away and fourteen-year-old Donny was taken into care. He couldn't understand why none of the officials would believe him – in fact, were they all that they seemed? And why will no one let him see his mother? Full review...
The Melancholic Mermaid by Kallie George and Abigail Halpin
Maude is a mermaid who was born with two tails. Her parents tell her it makes her special, stronger and faster, but amongst the other mermaid children it makes her an outcast. She is lonely, and she longs for a friend. Feeling sorry for herself one day she isn't paying attention and she is captured by a fisherman who sells her to a circus. On the same day that Maude was born, Tony was born in a cottage by the sea. He has webbed hands and, like Maude, is teased at school and left lonely and sad. His parents send him to live with the circus, believing he will be accepted and happy there but Tony is still lonely and he misses the sea. But then one day he is put in charge of a new attraction for the circus. A mermaid with two tails... Full review...
Celebriteens: In the Spotlight by Joanna Philbin
Girls usually get together because they've got something in common and for Lizzie, Carina and Hudson it's their famous parents. Lizzie's mother is a supermodel and even in her thirties she's still one of the most beautiful women in the world. Lizzie's – not. Well, she's not exactly ugly but compared to her mother (and she always is) she just doesn't come up to scratch. Carina's dad is a rich (very rich) businessman and he's determined that C (as she's known) is going to join the company and eventually take over. Carina has other ideas. Hudson wants to make music and you might think that having a pop diva for a mother is a good start, but Hudson's style is different and her mother can't accept that. Full review...
Wish Me Dead by Helen Grant
Rural Germany, in modern times. Steffi and her five friends lark about in a deserted building to summon a witch and get her to kill a local celebrity - who does indeed die. When a repeat attempt gifts a decent amount of cash to Steffi it becomes clear she is alone in having her wishes granted. So what will happen when she wishes for the town hunk - hasn't Steffi heard to be careful what you wish for? But how on earth can things get so bad she feels her story deserves *that* title? Full review...
Kill Fish Jones by Caro King
There are plenty of books around where the main character has to escape the murderous clutches of a magical or supernatural being. There are even a few which look at things from the demon's point of view. But it's rare to find a book which not only recounts the adventures of the intended victim, but also presents the demon as a complex and sympathetic personality in his own right. And which, as a bonus, allows the demon to grow as a character during the course of the story. A difficult challenge for any writer, but 'Kill Fish Jones' by Caro King manages to pull it off with panache and humour. Full review...
Skinny Melon and Me by Jean Ure
After Mrs James at school suggests writing a diary is a healthy and cathartic activity, Cherry decides to chronicle her own life. She's of the view that her mental cupboard is in definite need of a good clear out. This is not an entirely surprising view: Cherry's parents went through an acrimonious divorce and things were just getting back to normal when Slimey Roland appeared. Can you believe it, but Cherry's mother only went and married this chinless wonder! And then she moved him in. And then she reneged on her promise to buy Cherry a dog because Roly had allergies! Full review...
The Breakfast Club by Kate Costelloe
Billie and her three best friends have grown to love the breakfast club they've formed, meeting every Saturday morning to pass the time and discuss the week they've had. Mario's is the perfect venue for it - so it's a huge shock when they find it's closing down! In addition, Billie's mother is adamant that she shouldn't pursue the career in music she wants more than anything, and Billie can't understand why. Can the girls find somewhere else to spend Saturday mornings, and can they persuade Billie's mum that music is what really matters to her? Full review...
The Butterfly Heart by Paula Leyden
'The Butterfly Heart' takes place in Zambia, the beautiful 'butterfly heart' of Africa. The story is told through two voices: Bul-Boo, a young girl who lives with her family and twin sister Madillo, and Ifwafwa, the Snake Man. He is old and wise and has the unique ability to communicate with snakes. The twins' lovely and gentle friend Winifred is in trouble. Her father has died, and his brother has arranged for her to marry his friend, a man old enough to be Winifred's grandfather. Winifred seems resigned to her fate, but Bul-Boo is determined to do something, and in desperation, the twins turn to Ifwafwa. Full review...
Island of Thieves by Josh Lacey
While Tom's parents have their first childless holiday in decades, our hero is supposed to be staying at his uncle Harvey's flat. Unfortunately his uncle is a roustabout adventurer, and with a clue to a treasure's location is himself going to Peru to seek the rest of the map. When Tom invites himself along he has no idea Harvey is already wanted by Peru's biggest criminal, nor what this impetuous decision will lead too... Full review...
Agatha Parrot and the Floating Head as Typed Out Neatly by Kjartan Poskitt by Kjartan Poskitt and David Tazzyman
Agatha Parrot lives on Odd Street, which is appropriate since her story is rather an odd one. Part school drama, part slapstick farce this is a funny, ridiculous romp of a story! Full review...
Luka and the Fire of Life by Salman Rushdie
Back in 1990, Salman Rushdie followed up his controversial 'Satanic Verses' with a book dedicated to his then nine year old son, Zafar, called 'Haroun and the Sea of Stories'. Now, his second son, Milan, finally gets a book of his own, although he had to wait until he was 13 for his father to get around to it. 'Luka and the Fire of Life' is very much a follow up to 'Haroun' and it is certainly helpful, although not necessary, if you have read that book as many of the events in the first book are referred to here. Full review...
We Can Be Heroes by Catherine Bruton
Ben is spending the summer with his grandparents because his mother is ill again. She won't stop going out for runs and is not eating properly. She's gone back to stressing out about having the "right" cutlery and worrying about technology and health hazards. And her beautiful hair has started falling out. Ben's father was killed in the 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and with his mother incommunicado, he's feeling very lonely indeed. Full review...
Dork Diaries: Pop Star by Rachel Renee Russell
When I saw that both the first and second books in this series had already been put into one compendium, I wondered quite why. Were they not selling quite as I expected they would, despite their breeziness and simple charms for the beginner reader? Would the third book prove to be a major change in format, hence an early wrapping-up? Well, the answers are in here - as are all those assets, and no real surprises or alterations. Full review...
Tarzan: The Greystoke Legacy by Andy Briggs
Robbie Canler is on the run. From what, it takes us a while to find out, but it's clear that it's something bad when the alternative is working for an illegal logging team in the jungle of the Congo. The work is tough at the best of times, and when things start going wrong for the team, it's definitely not the best of times. And then Jane Porter, his boss's daughter, disappears... Can she be found? And why do all these strange things keep happening to the loggers? It's almost as if there was a weird presence in the jungle. Full review...
The Wide-Awake Princess by E D Baker
Princess Annie is Sleeping Beauty's younger sister. Her sister, Gwendolyn, was given various magical gifts at her birth making her graceful and beautiful, but then a bad fairy created the spell that Gwendolyn would prick her finger on a spinning wheel before she turned 16 and sleep for one hundred years. So far, so familiar. All of the upset over Gwendolyn's christening led to the King and Queen being very scared when their second daughter, Annabelle, was born. They invited only one fairy along and asked her advice. She cast a spell on Princess Annie that made her impervious to all magic. Although this seemed like a good idea it means that none of her family like to be too near her because her spell tends to affect their own magical enchantments, making them less beautiful, more wrinkled and aged. Annie does her best to please her parents and to try and protect her sister, but in the end the wicked fairy's magic spell comes true and Gwendolyn and everyone in the castle falls asleep. Everyone, that is, except for Annie... Full review...
My Name Is Mina by David Almond
We first Mina in Skellig. A homeschooled, William Blake-loving, slightly precious child, she arrived in Michael's life with not a little whiff of the culture shock about her. Now, we can find out what really makes Mina tick as we read through her journal. Mina is full of contradictions. She likes to be different, individual, but she doesn't like being a misfit. She wants friends but she doesn't know how to make them or to keep them. She is both reflective and impulsive. Full review...
Operation Eiffel Tower by Elen Caldecott
Jack, Ruby, Lauren and Billy live in a seaside town. Jack helps out at the crazy golf course and he's got a mean shot or two up his sleeve. Lauren likes boys, Teen Thing magazine and looking down her nose at her younger siblings. Ruby's world revolves around winning a teddy on the grab-a-bear machine in the amusement arcade. Billy is just a baby so he doesn't do very much if it doesn't involve cuddling Teddy Volvo. Full review...
A Million Angels by Kate Maryon
Mima's father is the light of her life. She loves him more than anything. But he's also an army officer and this story opens with him leaving for a six month tour of Afghanistan. Her mother is heavily pregnant and her grandmother is spending all her time thinking about her childhood sweetheart. Her friend Jess is busily trying to make friends at school - army brats are forever having to make new friends. So nobody really has time to pay attention to Mima, who can't get her fears about her father being killed and injured out of her mind... Full review...
Adventure Island: The Mystery of the Whistling Caves by Helen Moss
There must be many a parent around who grew up devouring Famous Five adventure stories. I certainly did, so I was excited to read the first in a new series of stories by Helen Moss which bring a flavour of Blyton's famous books into the present day. Full review...
Everfound by Neal Shusterman
We rejoin the limbo world of Everlost for this final volume in Neal Shusterman's Skinjacker trilogy with Mary Hightower asleep and encased in a glass coffin, Allie tied to the front of a train, and Nick still amnesiac and still puddling chocolate wherever he goes. Milos is trying to continue with Mary's demonic plan to end the living world, but he lacks her charisma and the vapour of Afterlights is getting smaller as a steady trickle decamps. Full review...
Just One More by Joy Cowley and Gavin Bishop
What happened when a dragon moved into the town's library? Or when Cowgirl Katie's horse went shopping and rode on the escalator? This fun collection of short stories is unusual, odd and very entertaining! Full review...
Queen of the Falls by Chris Van Allsburg
Annie Edson Taylor was sixty-two years old and a widow. She didn't have very much money saved and she was worried about her future - until she had an inspiration. She would have a barrel made - a very stout and water-tight barrel - and she would be the first person to brave the thundering waters of Niagra Falls in this barrel. Chris Van Allsburgh tells us her story from the moment of inspiration right through to the times after the epic trip, but in truth the words are simpy there to eleborate on his wonderful drawings. They're so good that you could be forgiven for thinking that they're black and white photographs on occasions. Full review...