Teens
Insignia by S J Kincaid
Tom is awkward, wary and self-reliant. He has spent his life on the road, moving from casino to casino with his dad and catching a little online education whenever the opportunity presents itself, but frankly he is far more concerned with finding his next meal than any more distant future. A poor diet and a life spent in gaming rooms has left him scrawny, small, and with a serious case of acne. He feels he is nothing and no one, and cannot imagine ever living any other life. Full review...
HAV3N by Tom Easton
Initially, people thought it was just another media scare. Unfortunately, HAV3N is real and it is apocalyptic. Incredibly virulent, it is a strain of bird flu to which no one has any natural immunity. It spreads through global populations with the speed and ferocity of a forest fire, killing its victims within hours of infection, making them literally cough out their lungs. The small village of Great Sheen put up barricades isolating them from the infected, in a desperate bid for survival, but it does little to stop HAV3N. It is only the timely arrival of scientist Michael Pirbright with an experimental vaccine and antivirals that saves the village from eradication. However, when the villagers are finally able to freely venture outside of the village, they discover the horrible truth. Pirbright's discovery of the vaccine was an incalculable stroke of luck, one that hasn't been repeated, and by making the choice to save his family and the village Pirbright was too late to save anyone else. The rest of the population appears to have been entirely eradicated by the disease. They might be the only humans left alive… Full review...
Debutantes by Cora Harrison
The year is 1923. Everyone who is anyone is enjoying themselves in London, coming out as a debutante and eagerly anticipating the royal wedding. But the Derringtons aren’t really anyone – they’re stuck in their run-down house in the country with their father and their great-aunt, without the money or fashionable dresses for eldest sister Violet to have the season she desperately wants. Can these four young ladies make their way in the world? Full review...
The Masque of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin
In a society devastated by an illness which is killing off the poor as the rich are kept safe by wearing special porcelain masks, Araby is seeking oblivion. She is trying to get over the death of her brother, Finn, who even her scientist father - the inventor of the masks - wasn't able to save. Feeling she has nothing left to live for, she's resigned herself to drug-fuelled nights in the Debauchery Club along with April, niece of the city's ruler Prince Prospero. When she meets two different, but enchanting, boys there, and becomes involved in events which will shape the destiny of the city, will she find something worth fighting for? Full review...
Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley
Lucy wants to celebrate the end of school by finding the mysterious graffiti artist Shadow, whose work she's becoming obsessed with. The last thing she wants is to be stuck with Ed, a boy she briefly dated a couple of years ago, especially since that date ended with her breaking his nose after he put his hands in an inappropriate place. Ed, though, is supposed to be able to help her find Shadow, so she puts up with him. During the night, we see the story from both Lucy and Ed's sides as they gradually grow closer to each other. Full review...
The Dead of the Night (The Tomorrow Series) by John Marsden
Months after the invasion chronicled in the first book in this series, Ellie and her friends are still fighting against the enemy. Their latest plan - to rescue Kevin, who's imprisoned, and Callie, who's in a coma, after the ending of the first novel. Can they succeed? Full review...
The Baby And Fly Pie by Melvin Burgess
Fly Pie, his sister Jane and his friend Sham live in an alternate London, one full of brutality and ghettos. They are rubbish kids, employed by Mother Shelley (an alternate Fagin) to pick through rich people's rubbish for profit. Their lives are hard and brutal and, often, hungry. But they still have their dreams. Fly Pie longs to become a baker. He has cold hands; perfect for pastry. Sham wants to become one of Mother Shelley's Big Boys - and, eventually, to rise as possible through the criminal ranks to become an important person in a big gang. Jane, she's a bit different. She wants more. Not more money. More integrity. Jane wants to live a life where lying and cheating aren't necessities. Full review...
The Terrible Thing That Happened to Barnaby Brocket by John Boyne
Whereas some children's authors make their young heroes and heroines out to be as regular human beings, John Boyne does things differently. After the boy whose dad had the strangest job in this world, came Noah Barleycorn and his unusual parentage, and now Barnaby Brocket. He shouldn't have turned out extraordinary in any way - both his parents are Mr and Mrs Average Australian, and his dad certainly keeps both feet on the ground - it's just Barnaby cannot. From the moment he was born, gravity has had the wrong effect on him, and he's spent his life bumping into the ceiling. Until one fateful day, when he is forced to both go and grow up, and finds out just what a rarity being normal is. Full review...
Secrets, Lies and Locker 62 by Lil Chase
Ever since popular, bright, sporty Hillary Randle vanished from Mount Selwyn High 13 years ago her locker - locker 62 - hasn't been used. At least not in the normal sense. Instead, people have posted their deepest, darkest secrets into it, knowing that no-one will find them out. Until a new girl, Maya, comes to school and is given the combination to the locker - and to a generation of people's mysteries. Will she use them to become popular, or to help people? Full review...
Envy (Fury Trilogy) by Elizabeth Miles
Spring is coming to Ascension and, despite everything that happened in Fury, Em knows that the Furies will be back. With Drea's help, she fully intends to defeat them - only then will she be able to tell JD how she really feels about him. But the Furies are stronger than Em has realised. She's finding it hard to fit back in with Gabby and her old friends and she carries a dark feeling that she can't quite shake. JD isn't speaking to her and Crow, an Ascension high school dropout, seems to show up wherever she goes. Full review...
Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler
Minerva and Ed were in a relationship. For various reasons, that relationship has come to an end. Minerva decides to help herself to move on from her ex-boyfriend by packing up everything she connects with him into a box and leaving it on his doorstep, along with a long letter explaining why they broke up. A long, long letter. Full review...
The Twice-Lived Summer of Bluebell Jones by Susie Day
Bluebell Jones is worried about turning thirteen. How is she meant to become a cool, glamorous teenager without some help? When a wish summons Red, her confident, vibrant fourteen-year-old future self to join her on holiday, she thinks that she’s found the answer to her prayers. But Red has secrets of her own – and there’s some things that Blue needs to find out for herself. Full review...
Fire City by Bali Rai
Martha lives with other Unwanted in Fire City, a factory zone which supplies the Wanted and their demon masters. Nobody knows how the Wanted - a shadowy group of the rich and powerful from the world as it used to be - managed to summon the Demons, but all the Unwanted know what it's like to live under their rule - nasty, brutish and short. But Martha isn't the type to give up and she has joined the Resistance, fighting to save the old and infirm from the demons' regular cullings. It's a hopeless task though, and Resistance numbers are shrinking by the day... Full review...
The London Stone: The Nowhere Chronicles Book Three by Sarah Silverwood
Looking back at The Double-Edged Sword, when Fin set out on an adventure with his friends Christopher and Joe, everything seemed so much simpler and optimistic. Mysteries represented exciting revelations to be discovered rather than powerful secrets with dangerous implications, and the words of the Prophecy were just a warning for future times. Now the Prophecy, and the chaos it promises, has come to pass and Arnold Mather has seized control of power in Nowhere, becoming its dark king. Full review...
Such Wicked Intent (Victor Frankenstein) by Kenneth Oppel
Such Wicked Intent takes us to a few months after the shocking conclusion to Victor Frankenstein's alchemical attempt to save his brother's life in This Dark Endeavour. The Dark Library has been burned and the entire family is trying to move on. Elizabeth is secretly considering joining a convent. Henry is making plans to travel abroad with his merchant father. Victor's parents are trying to come to terms with everything but his mother is finding it particularly difficult. Full review...
The Blessed by Tonya Hurley
Three girls all find themselves in the emergency room at Perpetual Help Hospital on Halloween. Agnes - the hopeless romantic -- has just tried to take her own life. Cecilia -- the runaway rocker -- found drowned, face down in a puddle. Finally, Lucy -- spoilt rich party girl -- overdose. These three girls have never met each other before, and have nothing in common, until they all meet the mysterious Sebastian. He brings the girls together, and gives each of them what they have been searching for. But in the fight for his heart, will they lose something more important? Full review...
Tarzan: The Jungle Warrior by Andy Briggs
Rokoff, the world’s most notorious hunter is in Africa, to snatch a baby gorilla from its family. When he does so, it’s left to Tarzan to chase across several countries to rescue the youngster, Karnath. But there may be danger closer to hand – can all of the wild man's friends be trusted? Full review...
Cassie's Crush by Fiona Foden
Cassie falls head over heels for the new boy at school from the first moment she sets eyes on him. The only problem is, her crush makes her so nervous she can barely even pluck up the courage to say hello, let alone ask him out. With a bit of help from her friends, can she convince Ollie she's the girl for him? Full review...
Rebel Heart (Dustlands) by Moira Young
Saba has retrieved her brother Lugh, kidnapped by the Tonton, but at great cost. She's haunted by dreams of Epona, the friend she killed during the battle so that she wouldn't fall into enemy hands. Lugh is clearly damaged - affected by captivity in ways he just won't discuss. And she misses Jack, who has gone to tell Molly that Ike is dead, with a deep, inconsolable desperation. Travelling through the Waste is difficult, made even more difficult by the ghosts that haunt Saba's dreams. Halting at the camp of a seer, the party is reunited with Maev, who brings terrible news. Not only is there a price on Saba's head, and a terrible new leader for the Tontons, but Jack has changed sides and joined the enemy... Full review...
Gods and Warriors (1) by Michelle Paver
Oh, I'm so glad this series has finally arrived! Paver's Chronicles of Ancient Darkness about Torak and Renn and Wolf is my absolute favourite middle grade sequence of recent years. Michelle has a such a way of writing. Her books are identifiably children's books - there's no diluting attempt at crossover fiction. Her research is impeccable but she uses it to flavour and colour her stories, never to be didactic. She writes from the point of view of animals but is never twee and anthropomorphic. Her characters - human and animal - are truly alive; vital and colourful and, as in all good children's books, called upon to show extraordinary courage. There's a little bit of magic but not enough to get in the way of the story or the characters, and it's all in keeping with prehistoric, superstitious societies. Full review...
Dark Thread by Pauline Chandler
Kate is an artisan weaver, like her mother. But she is so full of grief and guilt that she can't even think about returning to her craft. Because Kate's mother died in a road accident and Kate thinks it was all her fault. And, all of a sudden, everything gets too much - the kindly-meant but oppressive sympathy - and Kate collapses. She wakes, still at the mill, but in a long-past time. Here, Kate must learn to weave the dark threads of her life into its overall picture. Until she does, she can't return home... Full review...
Love at Second Sight by Cathy Hopkins
Jo is tired of being 'Miss Tag Along' as friends Effy and Tash hang out with their boyfriends. Jo has never had much luck in the love life department. Yes there's Owen, Effy's brother - but though they get on so well, and are so perfect for each other (according to everyone else) Jo's never really felt that special something with him, that spark. Full review...
A Witch in Love by Ruth Warburton
Anna has sworn off magic since she accidentally bewitched Seth into falling in love with her. He's convinced the spell has been lifted and his feelings for her are genuine - but she's not so sure. Anna might want to be finished with magic, though - but it keeps leaking out. When a visit to her old home reveals that someone placed a powerful spell which was the reason she didn't discover her abilities until coming to Winter, she's left wishing she knew more about her family history. As if that wasn't enough, the Ealdwitan are still taking an interest in her and she's also being threatened by a group of 'outwiths' who appear to have found out her secret... Full review...
Grymm by Keith Austin
Mina and Jacob are step siblings. Unwilling ones. Mina thinks Jake is a mummy's boy. Jake thinks Mina is weird and witchy. In fact, the only thing these two can agree upon is that they both dislike new baby Bryan even more than they dislike one another. And who could blame them? Not only does Bryan take up all the attention of both parents, but he's also a colicky baby who cries from morning 'til night. And when he's not crying, he's farting and pooing and polluting the air with the foulest of smells. So when Dad takes a three-month contract at a mine on the edge of the Great Desert, neither Mina nor Josh are pleased to learn they'll be spending their summer in the back end beyond. With each other. And Bryan. Full review...
The Wizard of Crescent Moon Mountain by Oldman Brook
Greybeard is the wizard of Crescent Moon Mountain and when we first meet him he's expecting guests at his home. The first to arrive are three dwarfs, Wattlespalf, Gendralf and Igralf and whilst they might not be the most becoming of creatures they have expertise with some unusual weaponry. Not long afterwards they're followed by Forrester and Stryker. The two young men arrive in human form but the reality, as we'll find out, is that they're shape-shifters. The six thought that the gathering was complete but they're joined by two elves as a result of a dramatic rescue mission. That the two boys survived the snows which surround the wizard's house is surprising enough, but elves have been extinct for thousands of years and Finn and his younger brother Beezle arrive through an accident in time. Full review...
Whisper by Chrissie Keighery
Demi is starting a new school. It's a nervous time whenever this happens - but the reason she's moving is because an attack of meningitis 18 months ago left her profoundly deaf. She's learnt to sign, she's learnt how to deal with the problems that crop up every day - but will she ever learn to accept who she is now? Full review...
Silenced by Simon Packham
Soon after the death of his best friend and comedy double-act partner Declan, Chris loses the ability to speak. The rest of his class are initially sympathetic but quickly turn on him – with the exceptions of new boy Will, and Declan’s ex-girlfriend Ariel. Can Chris find his voice – and tell someone what actually happened on the night that Declan died? Full review...
Soonchild by Russell Hoban
Sixteen-Face John needs all sixteen faces to cope with his many fears. He's an Inuit shaman but all that shaman stuff got a bit too much - especially considering the fear thing - and so these days in the North, he spends more time drinking Coca Cola and watching TV than he does shamanising. It's less anxious that way. But there's a problem. John's wife, No Problem, is pregnant, and their Soonchild is refusing to come out. John must go on a dream journey to rescue the World Songs if Soonchild is ever to be born. Full review...
Goliath by Scott Westerfeld
This is 1914 and there is a World War going on, but this is not the WWI we know of. While a lot of it concerns allies and enemies in common with our reality, disagreement also surrounds one's nature and attitude to technology - Clankers have mechanical, industrial inventions, while Darwinists have more natural help, from huge flying whale-type creatures down to lizards taught to personally deliver voice messages that mimic the sender, and fleets of attack bats and birds. On one such zepellin-type beast is Austro-Hungarian Prince Alek, caught up in the war against his will by his parents' death, and his best friend, about whom he actually knows far too little. He knows even less of another passenger it picks up - a scientist in electricity and mechanics, who says he is giving his ultimate prize - a machined weapon mighty enough to cease the war for good - to the Darwinists... Full review...
Between The Lines by Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer
Delilah is a teenager who probably should have moved beyond fairy stories, but there’s one in particular that has her hooked. Between the Lines – a book within a book – is a classic story of a prince searching for true love and battling all sorts of dragons and demons on the way, and for Delilah it’s the perfect escape. Plus, the handsome hero, Prince Oliver, doesn’t hurt. Like Delilah he’s growing up without a father (though this matters far less to him than it does to her) and like Delilah he can feel something of an outsider, a little bit different from everyone else around. One day, as Delilah is reading the story for the umpteenth time, she gets the odd feeling that Oliver is talking back to her from the pages. But could there really be a whole other world that goes on between the pages when the book is closed, are they all just characters acting out the script of the story but different people when the spotlight is off, and is there a chance that, between the lines, there’s a lot going on that is not for readers to know about? Full review...
Spy for the Queen of Scots by Theresa Breslin
Jenny is not only a lady-in-waiting to Mary, Queen of Scots; she's also one of her oldest and closest friends, brought up with her at the French court during Mary's long betrothal to the Dauphin. Jenny is fiercely loyal to Mary and so, when she overhears a whispered conversation about poison, she decides to turn spy for her queen. The French court is full of plotting and spying but, when Mary returns to Scotland after her young husband dies, Jenny discovers the warring clans of Scotland present her mistress with even more danger. Full review...
Signs of Love: Stupid Cupid by Melody James
Gemma is still stuck writing horoscopes for the school webzine instead of any real journalism – but that may be about to change, as she’s given the chance to work with an older student on an actual article. The only problem is, the older student is the seriously annoying Will – but putting up with him is a small price to pay for the chance to see her name in print. Of course, she’s already the star of the webzine in many ways – but her role as Jessica Jupiter is still top secret, so barely anyone else knows this. Can she use her column to sort out Savannah’s love dilemma in the same way she so successfully helped out Treacle in the last book? Full review...