'''Read [[:Category:Features|the latest features]].'''<!-- Remove -->
{{newreview|author=Rachel Ignotofsky|title=Women in Sport: Fifty Fearless Athletes Who Played to Win|rating=5|genre=Confident Readers|summary=''Women in Sport'' is coming to us just before the Winter Olympics in South Korea in February 2018. It celebrates a century and a half of the development of women's sport by looking at fifty of its highest achievers, covering sports as diverse as swimming, fencing, riding, skating, and much more. Think of a sport and a pioneering women succeeding at it is probably in this book somewhere. Each entry is a double page spread with a brief biography and a striking portrait.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1526360926</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Abi Elphinstone|title=Sky Song|rating=4.5|genre=Confident Readers|summary= The Ice Queen has cast a spell on Erkenwald, separating the Fur and Feather Tribes and making the third – the Tusk Tribe – the enemy of both. Eager to secure her position by gaining eternal life, the Ice Queen is consuming the voices of the Erkenwald people. There seems little anyone can do until three children – Eska, Flint and Blu – come together. With help from 'the wild', they set off on a quest to find the legendary 'Frost Horn' and the magical 'Sky Song' that will free Erkenwald from the Ice Queen's control.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1471146073</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Dan Smith|title=Below Zero|rating=4.5|genre=Confident Readers|summary=Twelve year old Zak Reeve is supposed to be enjoying a relaxing holiday in the sunshine with his family before he goes into hospital for surgery. Instead, the whole family are on a plane to the Antarctic because the 'spider drones' his parents have designed to support the Exodus mission to Mars have started to malfunction. His parents assure Zak and his older sister, May, that this will be a flying visit but, as you'd expect with any action adventure story, things go wrong from the moment their plane crashes into the ice outside Outpost Zero. Zak and his family are about to find themselves in a chilling adventure that will leave them fighting for survival.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1910655929</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author= Marissa Meyer|title= Renegades|rating= 3.5|genre= Teens|summary= ''So long as there are heroes in this world, there's hope that tomorrow might be better''Once the minority in a world of chaos and disorder, the Renegades fought for freedom and justice. Victorious in driving their opponents, the leaderless Anarchists underground, those specially gifted with an extraordinary range of abilities are now the lawmakers and leaders of the future, governing a new peaceful and prosperous society. They are the heroes of society; the role models young children look up to, the officers people look to for justice and strength. All except the fraction of Anarchists that hide in the darkness, plotting and planning until they are able to get back what was stolen from them.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1509876448</amazonuk>}}{{newreview <!-- remove 29/12 -->|title=Servants of the Underground|author=David Ssembajjo|rating=3.5|genre=General Fiction|summary=Having experienced a terrible famine in his own country, Kalamchi leaves to travel and learn. He returns with a burning desire to feed his people - but not only to feed their stomachs but to feed their minds, too. Kalamchi wants to raise his people's consciousness so that they can fight against the dictator Bamutu - chillingly known as ''president for life and after death''.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1848765800</amazonuk>}}{{newreview <!-- remove 28/12 -->|author=Rob Murphy|title=Rotten to the Core|rating=4|genre=Thrillers |summary=It's 2009, and Russia look like being awarded the football World Cup hosting rights for the oh-so-distant 2018 tournament - that is, until England stick their oar in. They have solved their hooligan problem, and improved their transport system, and so at last are valid final holders. Watching this is France, who have to reciprocate with the Russians who helped them get France '98, and they have a plan. At this stage the UEFA European championship of 2016 has not been awarded, and while France remain favourites to get the job, again some upstart idea has poked its head above the parapet - a joint offering from Wales and Scotland. Yes, these two tiny countries, separated by 200 miles and without a brilliant connection from one to the other, and without some vital posh hotels here and there, and with no serious claim to soccer fame when it comes to winning things, are unlikely hosts. But what if France could persuade the world it was a good idea - and let Russian espionage prove it not to be so, with all the while the French around to pick up the pieces? All of the UK would be damaged, meaning England '18 would be dead in the water, and Russia would win out. And who's to say the Brits, with their devolution habits, and their first coalition government in a long time, could not get through without damaging themselves?|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1546282998</amazonuk>}}{{newreview <!-- remove 28/12 -->|author=Paul Stidolph|title=Forests in the Sahara|rating=4|genre=Thrillers |summary=''Everyone I speak to thinks you are going to come to some sort of sticky end.'' Those are not the most promising words a man can hear from his new partner, but she doesn't lie in this instance. He is Jeffrey Harvey, a young Cambridge professor, who has been dabbling with some extra-curricular work, creating GM trees that can keep vast quantities of water purified. Get an iceberg or three worth of H2O near Africa, where clean water is still a scarce resource, and the trees can do their bit and the water will advance the place and make Jeffrey a well-respected global entrepreneur. If, that is, he can get round all the problems in his life - fractions in the start-up involved in the project, a finance officer embezzling the funds for gambling - oh, and a man ready to accuse Jeffrey of murder and theft of research data on a case reaching back several years. It seems the lovely girlfriend was right to see no shortage of possible sticky ends...|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1546282351</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author= Jenny Quintana|title= The Missing Girl|rating= 4|genre= Thrillers|summary= In the unseasonably warm autumn of 1982, fifteen-year-old Gabriella Flores goes missing. Her younger sister Anna is torn up by her sister's disappearance and for the next thirty years, no one knows what happened to Gabriella. Decades later, Anna has built a life for herself in Athens and has tried to put the past behind her. But the sudden death of her mother forces Anna to return to her childhood home and the village where she and her sister grew up. Being the only Flores left in her family she is left to sort through her mother's possessions, and having to reconnect with her past makes Anna question something she hasn't dared think about in years – what happened to Gabriella?|amazonuk=<amazonuk>150983950X</amazonuk>}}{{newreview <!-- remove 23/12 Burrows -->|title=The Adventures of Billy Bog Brush!*[[image: The Fire Brigade |author=Ian Campbell and Tim Constable |rating=3.5|genre=For Sharing|summary=Billy Bog Brush's family have gone out for the day, leaving him staring out of the window at the lovely weather outside and wondering what he could do to pass the time. Suddenly, he hears a desperate cry for help. Mrs Brown's house is on fire, the key is inside, and her little boy Tommy is locked in. Tommy is in terrible danger and what if the fire brigade doesn't arrive in time?|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1546282718</amazonuk>}}{{newreview <!-- remove 21/12 -->|author=Andrew Mackay|title=Trials and Tribulations of a Travelling Prostitute|rating=3.5|genre=Lifestyle|summary=Just chance you think that you're picking up a book about what can go wrong in life for an itinerant sex worker I'd better explain exactly what it was that author Andrew Mackay did for thirty three yearsBurrows_Siege. A travelling prostitute is a worker who is employed by one company but his services are sold out to other countries, usually at a substantial profit to the employing company and a lot of inconvenience to the employee. Mackay was an engineer who knew all that there was to be know about turbines and generators, or if he didn't could soon be up to speed to the extent of being able to teach other people. Occasionally his skills were used in the UK, but frequently he was abroad. Just every now and again he would be in those parts of the world which has the rest of us green with envy, but then there were those areas which feature heavily in the news and not in a good way.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1524683094</amazonuk>}}{{newreviewjpg|author= John Banks|title= W|rating= 4|genre= General Fiction |summary=On the slopes of Mt Hood in Oregon, an 1000-year old Viking is discovered frozen - three thousand miles further west than any previously known Viking exploration. Josh Kinninger is inspired by the Viking discovery - three personal catastrophes having left him angry, unmoored and with his world in turmoil. Beginning a journey westward, he's filled with a desire to wreak vengeance on the individuals he finds morally corrupt. |amazonuklink=<amazonuk>0983333416</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author= SM Wilsonamazontext|titleamazon= The Extinction Trials|rating= 4|genre= Teens|summary= Storm and Lincoln live on Earthasia, a continent ruined by overpopulation. Space is scarce and energy and food are rationed. Education is minimal and mostly focused around searching for new, efficient food sources. Storm's mother has died and she never knew her father, so she lives in one of Earthasia's overcrowded shelters, goes to school for one day per week and wrestles hay bales for a job. Lincoln's sister is dying from the blistering disease and he has no access to the healthcare that could save her. It's a mean, desperate existence for them both and so they are first to volunteer for the Stipulators' trials for a new mission to the neighbouring continent of Piloria. The aim is to retrieve dinosaur eggs so that a virus to kill them can be engineered and the citizens of Earthasia will have access to the space and abundant food sources Piloria offers...|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1474927343</amazonuk>1780748434}}{{newreview|author= Erica James|title= Coming Home to Island House|rating= 4|genre= Women's Fiction|summary= Much to the disgust of the village and his estranged children Jack Devereux has a new wife, the 'scarlet woman' Romily Temple. But, can his death and final demand that his children spend seven days together at childhood home, Island House, bring about a reconciliation and forgiveness from his much loved family? With sadistic Arthur, grief-consumed Hope, remorseful Kit and fiery Allegra this seems like an impossibility but then war is declared and the family find themselves pulling together.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1409159590</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author= Joshua Davidson|title= Night Zookeeper: The Giraffes of Whispering Wood|rating= 5|genre= Emerging Readers|summary= A straight-laced student makes one defiant act of creativity and has a world of magic and imagination opened up for him. Will is the new Night Zookeeper and his tenure in the role of protector to a magical world starts with the repulsion of a dangerous invasion.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0192764055</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Alison Donald and Ben Whitehouse|title=Pirates in Classroom 3|rating=3.5|genre=For Sharing|summary= Not all of us were the child that paid attention in class. Some would look out of the window and let their minds wander. Why be stuck in a stuffy room when you could be in space or on the high seas? Sometimes you do not need to seek adventure as it may just find you. It makes perfect sense to me that if the teacher leaves the classroom there is ample time for a pirate to enter and ask all the children to help him find some lost treasure. Who could possibly give up this opportunity?|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1848862474</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=James Thorp and Angus Mackinnon|title=The Elephant in the Room|rating=3.5|genre=For Sharing|summary=Somebody has smashed Father Giant's elephant. Who on earth could it be? Can Father Giant unravel the mystery of what happened, and who will face being banished from the house forever once he discovers the truth? Told in a rhyme that gets more and more surreal as it goes along, this is a wild and brightly illustrated mystery story, with an interesting moral at the end.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1783707739</amazonuk>}}{{newreview <!-- remove 13/12 -->|title=It's Worth a Try|author=Nicola Goodland|rating=4|genre=Home and Family|summary=This is how Nicola Goodland introduces her book, ''It's Worth a Try'':]]
''I wanted to write this kind ===[[A Siege of book because when I was a young woman, ladies and gents told me that they suffered from abuse of some kind as children and only found the courage to talk about it as adults. Maybe this book can deter children from becoming future abusers and stop abuse so it goes away for good.''Bitterns by Steve Burrows]]===
The intention [[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] Detective Chief Inspector Domenic Jejeune is for any adult who knows a child - whether family friendnew to Saltmarsh, godparent or relative - to create but his reputation has come before him. Success in a relationship that is open, high profile case has trust, and creates a space made him the poster boy for children to able to share both the good and bad things police. There's a snag though: Jejeune isn't ''actually'' that are currently going keen on in their lives, with confidencethe job.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1546281398</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author= Ellen Wiles|title=The Invisible Crowd|rating= 4|genre= General Fiction|summary=This novel follows the plight of Eritrean Yonas Kelati as he tries to make a life for himself in England He'd much rather be out birdwatching, but that doesn't bring in an income and there's a simple fact. He and Jejeune is ''very'' a very good frienddetective, Gebre, escape from prison only with insights which few other people possess. There's one advantage to be thrown into captivity againthe job too: trafficked Saltmarsh is situated in a shellfish factory where they have to earn their ‘payment’ to North Norfolk, the malicious Aziz for entering UK's premier birding country but sometimes Jejeune's mind is more on the UK illegally. When Yonas escapes, birds than the story really startsjob.[[A Siege of Bitterns by Steve Burrows|Full Review]]|amazonuk=<amazonukbr>0008228817</amazonukbr>}}{{newreview <!-- remove 9/12 Sparkes -->*[[image:Sparkes Night.jpg|left|{{amazontext|authoramazon=Patricia Watkins0192749951}}]] |title=Hurricane Justice|rating=4.5|genre=Thrillers|summary[[Night Speakers by Ali Sparkes]]=Finn Westlake was first amused and then horrified when he saw the attractive young woman jumping up and down in the road as his jeep turned the corner== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category: the amusement came from the fact {{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]] Three young people meet up in unusual circumstances to find that she was wearing just soaking-wet bra and pantiesthey all share a strange experience: waking at exactly 1. It was when he saw 34am, the tears streaming down her face that he realised that there was a serious problemsame time each night. Diana McGuire's father's plane had crashed into the river Elena, Matt and she had tried and failed Tima try to get him out. Sending her back to get more help Finn dived sleep, but after a few days of broken sleep they are drawn outside into an adventure that tests their ingenuity to the river limit. Together and managed completely sleep deprived, they decide to extract Chester McGuire investigate this strange night waking phenomenon, and his business associate, Sandy Moseley, but whilst checking that there was no one else in the plane he was seriously injuredtheir searches take them to a different and scary world where inexplicable things are happening.[[Night Speakers by Ali Sparkes|Full Review]]|amazonuk=<amazonukbr>0957210493</amazonuk!-- Miranda -->}}*[[image:Miranda_Fragments.jpg|left|{{newreviewamazontext|authoramazon=Jessie Miller and Barbara Bakos0399556729}}]]|title=Rooster Wore Skinny Jeans|rating=4.5|genre=For Sharing|summary=One [[Fragments of the best things about modern online shopping is the knock on the door and the parcel arrivingLost by Megan Miranda]]=== [[image:4.5star. What was it I ordered again? It could be something as exciting as a new toy, or something as boring as a new mixer for your showerjpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Teens|Teens]] Jessa Whitworth has lost the only boy she has ever loved. Jessa Whitworth has lost her friends. Jessa Whitworth has lost ''herself''. The anticipation of opening Many months have passed since Jessa's ex-boyfriend, Caleb, died but she still cannot find the box is as close strength to the feeling of Christmas that an adult is going move on with her life. So when Caleb's mother asks Jessa to clean out his room, things go from bad to get (except perhaps for Christmas)worse. Rooster has ordered something online and it arrived quickly. Will his farmyard pals appreciate his buy as much as he does?[[Fragments of the Lost by Megan Miranda|Full Review]]|amazonuk=<amazonukbr>1848862822</amazonukbr>}}{{newreview<!-- Kidd -->*[[image:Kidd_Hoarder.jpg|authorleft|{{amazontext|amazon= Karen Perry1782118497}}]]|title= Can You Keep a Secret?|rating= 5=[[The Hoarder by Jess Kidd]]===|genre= Thrillers[[image:4star.jpg|summarylink=Thornbury Hall is the grand ancestral home of the Bagenal family headed by taciturn Peter with his wistful wife Heather and their two childrenCategory:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]] Cathal Flood is an old, belligerent man, Patrick and Rachel. It living in a filthy, crowded house that was once a family home. When Maud Drennan – underpaid carer and unintentional psychic is also employed to look after the setting for many secrets and tragedies all of which resurface twenty years later as Patrick reunites childhood friends, Niall, Marcus, Hilary and main character Lindseyancient Cathal, she assumes she'll just be the next in a long line of short-term dogsbodies for one final party before selling the old man. Instead, Maud finds herself drawn into the mysteries concealed within Cathal's once great house.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1405920335</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Anne Rooney – and as Maud begins to clean and Suzanne Carpenter|title=Discovering Dinosaurs|rating=4|genre=Children's Nonsort the rooms she uncovers secrets about the old man that awaken long-Fiction|summary=Lift hidden memories within Maud herself. With the flap books have progressed somewhat since I was aid of her highly glamourous yet utterly agoraphobic landlady and a child. This one comes with sounds! Taking us layer troop of holy ghosts, Maud must uncover the secrets at the heart of the house – and exactly why they were buried… [[The Hoarder by layer, through various different ages of dinosaurs, we meet a variety of creatures, some of whom are very familiar but some I'd never heard of beforeJess Kidd|Full Review]]<br> <! Each scene peels open, layer by layer, showing you what the various dinosaurs are getting up to, with background noises, roars and squawks to accompany them! -- Gonsalves remove 8/2 --> *[[image:Gonsalves_Queen.jpg|left|{{amazontext|amazon=1546287663}}]] ===[[Lamellia: The book creates a dinosaur experience, rather than just being facts about dinosaurs it's very visual, placing the dinosaurs in their habitats and giving us sounds too that spike your imaginationWicked Queen by Gloria D Gonsalves]]=== [[image:4star. jpg|amazonuklink=<amazonuk>1784938750</amazonuk>Category:{{{rating}}}{{newreviewStar Reviews]] [[:Category:For Sharing|author=Paul Mason and Tony de SaullesFor Sharing]]|title=The Poo That Animals Do|rating=5|genre=Children's Non-Fiction|summary=I knowLamellia is a kingdom of mushrooms in a land far away. Many types and colours of mushroom live there and they are all ruled over by King PoliPoli, I know, sometimes you really don't want to encourage your children's poo jokes, but this book a big brown mushroom who is brilliant! I sat a wise and read it by myself when kind leader. King PoliPoli is married to the kids had gone to school beautiful Queen Nobilia. But Queen Nobilia cannot conceive a baby and found it fascinating! Who knew there was this makes her very sad. She sings a sad song so much I didn't know about poo? emotive that her sorrow infects the whole land. [[Lamellia: The book manages to be both funny (and silly) as well as being very interesting and educationalWicked Queen by Gloria D Gonsalves|Full Review]]<br><br> <!-- Kiernan -->*[[image:Kiernan Begone. Using a mixture of facts and figures, photographs and funny cartoons, you come away having sniggered a little at the vulture who poos on its own feet, but also knowing a lot about different types of poo, why poos smell, and why wombats do square poosjpg|left|{{amazontext|amazon=1406366021}}]] ===[[Begone The Raggedy Witches: The Wild Magic Trilogy by Celine Kiernan]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|amazonuklink=<amazonuk>1526303949</amazonuk>Category:{{{rating}}}{{newreviewStar Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|author= Ngugi wa Thiong'oConfident Readers]]|title= Birth of a Dream Weaver: A writer's awakening|rating= 5|genre= Autobiography|summary= The true story of Kenya's foremost author in his own wordsAunty has died. Ngugi wa Thiong'o is Mup, her little brother Tipper and Mam are driving back from the most important writer that you've (or at hospital, and already it seems everything has changed. It was Aunty who kept the very leastfamily going, who cared for them all and made sure they were happy, I've) never heard ofwarm and secure. In this colume of his autobiographical series we follow Ngugi But then, as he ventures they approach the house, Mup is astonished to University in Uganda and starts writing professionally. Ngugi tells see the story white, uncaring faces of British colonialism at witches above them, darting from tree to tree as they follow the end of the Empire as clearly as his own tale – making this one of the most important books on the market todaycar. Things are going to change even more suddenly and dramatically than she could ever have imagined. [[Begone The Raggedy Witches: The Wild Magic Trilogy by Celine Kiernan|Full Review]]|amazonuk=<amazonukbr>1784701300 </amazonuk!-- Kenny -->*[[image:Kenny_Tin.jpg|left|{{amazontext|amazon=1911077651}}]]{{newreview|author= Pop Up Projects==[[Tin by Padraig Kenny]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|titlelink=Rising StarsCategory: New Young Voices in Poetry{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|rating= 4Confident Readers]]|genre= Anthologies|summary= This collection brings together five emerging voices in poetry. And despite what the publisher says, I wouldnChristopher can't personally impose an age restriction on the writing here. Each poet uses words that will appeal remember much about his life before he came to many readers. I found this particularly so live with Jay Hulme's poetryMr Absalom. |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1910959375</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author= Sue Moorcroft|title= The Little Village Christmas|rating= 4|genre= Women's Fiction|summary= For meSnatches 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, the best Christmas books are unapologeticmost powerful memory of his old life that chokes out everything else. There is no such thing as too much mistletoe and magic as far as IHowever, his present life working for the eccentric engineer isn'm concerned and sentiment should absolutely be the order of the dayt all bad. Whilst Moorcroft offers a rather more tapered version of this Christmas ideal, I still thoroughly enjoyed ''The Little Village Christmas'' and was definitely left with a warm and fuzzy festive feeling!|amazonuk=<amazonuk>000826001X</amazonukHe has his mechanical friends to keep him company. They are his family now. [[ Tin by Padraig Kenny|Full Review]]<br>}}{{newreview <!-- remove 5/12 Graff -->*[[image:Graff_Find.jpg|author=J S Landorleft|{{amazontext|titleamazon=The Mirror of Pharos1788034546}}]] |rating=4==[[Find Another Place by Ben Graff]]===|genre=Confident Readers[[image:3.5star.jpg|summarylink=12 year-old Jack Tideswell is not your typical adventurer. In factCategory:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Biography|Biography]], [[:Category:Autobiography|Autobiography]], he spends most [[:Category:Home and Family|Home and Family]] When Ben Graff's grandfather Martin handed him a plastic folder of handwritten notes from his time trying to prevent his Nan worrying and trying to avoid journal, he didn't take much notice of it. At the gang age of school bullies. This24, however, changes when a seagull delivers a strange package through Graff didn't realise the cat flap. Suddenly everything is different. Jack finds himself briefly catapulted into gravity of the future and then into the pastpages he was holding. It takes him a long time to understand what's happening but luckily he has several friends to help him[[Find Another Place by Ben Graff|Full Review]]<br><br><br> <!-- Jennings -->*[[image:Jennings Different. There is his best friend from school, Charlie (occasionally known as Charlotte), the people he meets in the past jpg|left|{{amazontext|amazon=1910646423}}]] ===[[A Different Dog by Paul Jennings and the future (several of whom claim to have met him before), the stranger Jago Flyn, and the magical wolf, AlphaGeoff Kelly]]=== [[image:4.5star. With their help, Jack learns that he's jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Dyslexia Friendly|Dyslexia Friendly]], [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]] Our hero is a fledging Magus (a true magician) boy, whose name we never learn. We know what he wants in life – with his mother exceedingly poor, and comes even his bed burnt to realise that keep the two of them warm, he alone can prevent wants the prize offered by a down-a Titanic-like disaster in mountain-and-back-up-and-down-again foot race. Winning the race and the large purse would also give him more status in the future. Sadly one eyes of his friends isn't everything they claim 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 be. Will Jack realise in time?|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1788039203</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author= Bob Graham|title= How the Sun Got anyone, whatever the motivation, and can only speak aloud to Coco's House|rating= 4.5|genre= For Sharing|summary= A tale of small moments: sunlight on himself – and, so it turns out, to a dog he rescues from a sailor's cap as bad road accident he sets out finds on an early-morning fishing expedition, a rainbow after a shower and a glint of light in a whale's eye. While Coco sleeps, curled his way up snugly in her bed, creatures and people across the world are waking up hill to the sun. It chases the night away across the globe, until at last a bright ray finds its way to Coco's window start line… [[A Different Dog by Paul Jennings and wakes her to another day of fun and laughter as she plays outside in the snow. Geoff Kelly|Full Review]]|amazonuk=<amazonukbr>1406373451 </amazonuk!-- Quine -->}}*[[image:Quine Beasts.jpg|left|{{newreviewamazontext|authoramazon= Tony Peake0992754941}}]]|title= North Facing|rating= 4.5|genre= General Fiction=[[The Beasts of Electra Drive by Rohan Quine]]=== [[image:3.5star.jpg|summarylink=At school in Pretoria in 1962Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]], Paul Harvey struggles [[:Category:Fantasy|Fantasy]] Meet Jaymi. He's a world-class video games designer, and fresh to fit a new mansion in - desperate to join the popular group no matter what it may take. His focus Hollywood Hills on surviving the perils basis of school so intense, that some recent success. But he fails to see 's seen the turbulence in both South Africa future and the larger world - with the arrest he doesn't like it. His current employers, able to bring any amount of Nelson Mandela class, skill and culture to the Cuban Missile Crisis affecting the actions world of gameplay, are beset on appealing to the adults around himmost lunkheaded and lowest common denominators instead. A new and charismatic teacher decides to educate Indeed, their next big thing will change the boys in world for the unstable situation in worse – it will be a massively disturbing environment, where people progress through the world outside - of the entity by spreading fake news about anyone and everyone else on the planet, whether they're playing along or not, and a growing awareness by getting kind of both that prestige points on spoiling and his sexuality pushes Paul Harvey into decisions that he later comes to regret shaming anything beyond a user- accepted, algorithm-designed, status quo. With a much more Reithian approach, Jaymi goes freelance, and their weight pushes him to return to South Africa in sets up a way of restoring the present day - balance with a man in launch of his sixties keen to make sense of own, where aspects of his more humanitarian mind are played out by avatars of him in the game. He sees this as a troubled way to improve society and utterly fascinating past. |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0995590028get his own back – but the chance of getting revenge more quickly comes about when those avatars leave their encoded background, and become fully playable characters in reality… [[The Beasts of Electra Drive by Rohan Quine|Full Review]]</amazonukbr>}}{{newreview<!-- Shaw -->*[[image:Shaw_Outwalkers.jpg|left|{{amazontext|amazon=1788450000}}]] ===[[Outwalkers by Fiona Shaw]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|author= Richard Girling|title= The Man Who Ate the Zoo: Frank Buckland, forgotten hero of natural history|rating= 4.5|genre= Biographylink=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Teens|Teens]] Newly orphaned Jake is determined to escape from his Home Academy and to find a new home with his dog, Jet. He thinks his biggest challenge is going to be getting out and over the wall but, when he does, he finds this is the least of his worries. The governing 'Coalition' is able to track everyone in the country via the 'hub chip' in their neck and in no time 'the hubbers' (police) are on his trail. All seems lost until Jake stumbles into a gang of ''outwalker'' kids. After proving his worth, he is permitted to join their gang and together they set out on a perilous journey north towards the heavily guarded border with Scotland.[[Outwalkers by Fiona Shaw|Full Review]]<br> <!-- Forrest -->*[[image:Forrest_Twister.jpg|left|{{amazontext|amazon=140718511X}}]] ===[[Twister by Juliette Forrest]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]] Twister 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. [[Twister by Juliette Forrest|Full Review]]<br><!-- Saulles -->*[[image:Saulles_Bee.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0192763873?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=0192763873]] ===[[Bee Boy: Clash of the Killer Queens by Tony De Saulles]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Emerging Readers|Emerging Readers]] Young Mel's friend has left and the beehive is now his to look after. Unfortunately Mel lives in a tower block and not all of his neighbours agree that it is the correct place for a hive. Things change when Mel suddenly realises he has an amazing superpower; he can become a bee. [[Bee Boy: Clash of the Killer Queens by Tony De Saulles|Full Review]]<br><!-- Llewellyn -->*[[image:Llewellyn-Walking.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1473663075?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1473663075]] ===[[Walking Wounded by Sheila Llewellyn]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Historical Fiction|Historical Fiction]] David Reece was called up in 1941 and sent to fight in Burma. On his return in 1946, he finds a return to civilian life quite beyond him and, after a brawl, is sent to a military psychiatric hospital. There, he is treated by Daniel Carter, a psychiatrist whose instincts tell him that talking therapies can work with men like David, but who is working in a profession enthusiastically adopting invasive procedures such as ECT and lobotomy. ''Walking Wounded'' follows both men as they both try to come to terms with traumatic experiences and find a place in a world moving on from WWII. [[Walking Wounded by Sheila Llewellyn|Full Review]]<br> <!-- Arden -->*[[image:Arden_Girl.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1785031066?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1785031066]] ===[[The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Fantasy|Fantasy]] In the second book of the trilogy Katherine Arden builds on her original story to create something even better. This book is utterly wonderful and it is at the same time complex and gentle. The [[The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden|first book]] set up the characters in the Petronova family but sometimes left the characters feeling a little thin; this book builds on the first to give depth to the family members and their ties to each other. It's a great story but I would strongly advise reading the two books in order to get the full effect of the plot. [[The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden|Full Review]]<br> <!-- Khan -->*[[image:Khan Thunder.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1509874054?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1509874054]] ===[[I am Thunder by Muhammad Khan]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Teens|Teens]] Adhering to the recent trend for politicised YA novels, ''I am Thunder'' explores several controversial topics relating to being a Muslim in modern Britain. It tells the story of Muzna, a shy teenager who is flattered when Arif, a fellow Muslim, chooses to ask her out despite interest from several other girls at school. However, her delight wavers when she discovers how Arif, influenced by his manipulative brother Jameel, has become angered by Western culture. [[I am Thunder by Muhammad Khan|Full Review]]<br> <!-- James: remove 31/1 -->*[[image:James_Righteous.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/154628673X?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=154628673X]]===[[A Righteous Killer: Blood Murder Betrayal by Ellace James]]=== [[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Children's Non-Fiction|Children's Non-Fiction]] In the crazy world of Arthur Brown, he can be standing at the altar giving his dutifully prepared sermon one minute, and wasting bad guys with his guns the next. What's inspired this? Two low-lifes, way from the top of the crime ladder in this particular city, who stole millions from a shady casino, and stashed the money in his basement. Two other lowlifes, working for the drug lord who owns the casino, come for the money, kill Arthur's family, and leave him so badly knifed on his floor that he's taken for dead when he's discovered. But he's not dead, and nor is his God-given hope to redress the balance in his town, and to right some very big wrongs. Yes, truly is he the god of hell fire, and he will take some men to burn… [[A Righteous Killer: Blood Murder Betrayal by Ellace James|Full Review]]<br> <!-- Bancroft -->*[[image:Bancroft_Senlin2.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0356510816?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=0356510816]]===[[Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Fantasy|Fantasy]] Thomas Senlin embarks on his honeymoon with high hopes. He and his young wife Marya are travelling on a sleeper train across Ur to that engineering marvel, that fabled centre of culture, the Tower of Babel. It's a place he's read books about, taught his pupils about, and longed to visit, but the bustling and chaotic surroundings of the Tower in the desert are a long way from the quiet fishing village in which Senlin teaches. When he loses sight of Marya shortly after their arrival, he has no option but to look for her in this strange and overwhelming place. For all his background reading before the trip, he is ill-prepared for what he finds in the Tower, both its marvels and its horrors, and thus begins Thomas Senlin's arduous quest to recover his wife. [[Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft|summary= As a conservationist in Victorian England before the term existed, Frank Buckland was very much a man ahead of his time. Surgeon, naturalist, veterinarian and eccentric sums him up perfectly, and any biographer is immediately presented with a colourful tale to tell.Full Review]]|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1784701610</amazonukbr>}}