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{{newreview
|author=B R Collins
|title=Gamerunner
|rating=3.5
|genre=Teens
|summary=The Maze is more than just a role-playing game. Rick is one of the many who immerse themselves entirely in the game, and essentially live their life in its virtual reality. He is one of the lucky ones. Thanks to the fact that his guardian, Daed, is the mind behind the Maze and is employed by the powerful and merciless firm Crater, Rick has lived a protected life, one spent inside the thick walls of the multi-storeyed headquarters of Crater. He has never had to go outside and live a life of extreme poverty under the constant threat of gangs or, even worse, the lethal acid rain that is a part of the intensely polluted atmosphere.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1408806487</amazonuk>
}}
 
{{newreview
|author=Roy Jacobsen, Don Bartlett (translator) and Don Shaw (translator)
|summary=It's 1501 and Gabriele is in Florence without a penny to his name. As a greenhorn country boy, he managed to get himself robbed almost as soon as he arrived in the city. But he does have one big advantage: a renowned sculptor as a step-brother. Gabriele hopes this will be enough to find him work, but little does he dream that he will soon find himself the model for one of the world's greatest pieces of art - Michelangelo's David. Or that he'll become intimately embroiled in the deadly rivalries and politics of the city. As the statue of David is slowly created, Gabriele will have to walk the line between the republican faction and those supporting the return of the Medicis without being exposed by either. It won't be easy...
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1408800527</amazonuk>
}}
 
{{newreview
|author=Michael Foreman
|title=One World
|rating=5
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=In 'One World', a young girl is found staring up at the sun and watching it go down at the end of the day. She then watches the moon and stars come out. Although no further comment is made, she obviously finds it most awe inspiring. This makes the reader think about the sheer magnitude of the world we live in especially when we are reminded of all the creatures that share it with us.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1849393044</amazonuk>
}}
 
{{newreview
|author=Michael Palin
|title=Ox Travels
|rating=4
|genre=Travel
|summary=Ox Travels is an anthology of travel writing compiled to raise funds for Oxfam, but it is well worth buying and reading in its own right. Its generous 432 pages offer the chance to meet 36 writers, including travel writers, journalists and novelists, with an introduction by Michael Palin and an afterword by Barbara Stocking, Oxfam's Chief Executive.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>184668496X</amazonuk>
}}
 
{{newreview
|author=Sarah Rees Brennan
|title=The Demon's Surrender
|rating=4
|genre=Teens
|summary=Cynthia 'Sin' Davies is a Market girl through and through. Her whole life has been about the dance, the performance and the Market. But now the Market is at war with the magicians, Merris has pitted Sin against Mae – a tourist – for leadership of the Market, and everything is coming apart around her. Sin needs a plan, and fast. Unfortunately, Sin is more of a doer than a thinker. Thinking is where Mae excels, and the pink haired tourist is winning the race for leadership despite Sin's lifelong service to the Market.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847382916</amazonuk>
}}
 
{{newreview
|author=Ian A Griffiths
|title=DMD Life Art and Me
|rating=5
|genre=Autobiography
|summary=Ian Griffiths suffers from Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy - a form of muscular dystrophy which causes muscle degeneration. It begins in early childhood with difficulty in walking and progresses to cause problems with breathing and all the voluntary muscles. Ultimately it's fatal. Men and boys – it's linked to the X chromosome so affects only males – with the disease have a life expectancy of between the late teens and mid-twenties. Ian's in his mid-twenties now and he's written 'DMD Life: art and me' to explain what it really feels like to live with the disease. And when I say 'really feels like' I do mean that. Ian doesn't gloss over ''anything''.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1907652337</amazonuk>
}}
 
{{newreview
|author=Mira Grant
|title=Newsflesh Trilogy: Deadline
|rating=5
|genre=Horror
|summary=Ever since the untimely death of his sister, Shaun Mason has been alive, but not much more so than the zombies that populate his post-apocalyptic world. For the man who built a career on poking dead things with a stick, just for laughs, life's just no fun anymore.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1841498998</amazonuk>
}}
 
{{newreview
|author=Roberta Angeletti
|title=The Golden Goose
|rating=4
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=The eldest of the three brothers set off to cut wood and on the way he met an old man who asked if he had any food. The brother refused as he would need what he had for his lunch. He gave the same answer when he was asked for water – but as he cut wood he injured his finger and had to return home, wondering all the time if the old man had anything to do with his injury. The next day the second brother went to cut wood – and much the same thing happened, only this time it was his toe that was injured. There was but one brother left and the two older brothers thought that he was too weak to cut wood. But when the brother met the old man he was happy to share what food and water he had and – well you don't really need to tell me what happened next, do you?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>184643324X</amazonuk>
}}
 
{{newreview
|author=Diane Chamberlain
|title=The Midwife's Confession
|rating=4
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=I feel that I've barely finished a Chamberlain review when up pops another of her books - such seems to be proliferation. The story opens with the build-up to the death of middle-aged midwife, Noelle. Her friends, all a little younger than herself and with families of their own, are busy getting on with their daily lives. But someone - suddenly - remembers they haven't heard from Noelle for some days. It's unusual as this group of chatty friends are forever phoning, texting or popping round to each other's houses.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0778304663</amazonuk>
}}
 
{{newreview
|author=Alison Murray
|title=One Two That's My Shoe
|rating=4.5
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=We've met Grace and Georgie before, in the excellent [[Apple Pie ABC by Alison Murray|Apple Pie ABC]]. She's the owner of the scampish dog, who then snaffled her apple pie and now is skedaddling with her shoe. As with the earlier book, Alison Murray takes a familiar rhyme (this time ''One Two Buckle My Shoe''), tweaks it slightly, and tells a fresh story through her fantastic illustrations.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1408311968</amazonuk>
}}
 
{{newreview
|author=Giles Paley-Phillips
|title=The Fearsome Beastie
|rating=3
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=When night comes, the fearsome beastie roams the streets, looking for children to eat. He's quite the monster and gobbles up some little 'uns, but doesn't notice little Pete, who enlists some help to do battle with the beastie.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1848860668</amazonuk>
}}
 
{{newreview
|author=Bella Pollen
|title=The Summer of the Bear
|rating=4
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=Letty Fleming, recently widowed, is driving her three children hundreds of miles north to a new and hopefully happy life on a remote Scottish island. We get a peek at the personalities of the children straight away: Alba is opinionated and strong-willed, for example. Still young she's managed to acquire a list as long as her arm of her 'hates' in the world - fish, English teachers and doors which are ajar all feature and I didn't care as I couldn't help liking her. At least she knows her own mind. What will she be like when she's grown up, for heaven's sake?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0330519069</amazonuk>
}}