==Confident readers==
__NOTOC__
{{newreview
|author=Anne Rice
|title=Angel Time
|rating=2.5
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=Toby O'Dare is an extremely efficient hit man with a passion for music, history and playing his beloved lute. He's also something of a lost soul having turned his back on God many years ago. One day while on a 'job' he is visited by an Angel who offers him a chance at redemption. Toby agrees to become the Angel's human instrument and help save lives rather than take them. He is sent on an assignment to help a Jewish couple accused of murder in 13th Century England.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0701178140</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|summary=Fangs 'n' Fire is a compilation of ten short stories about dragons, some original to Chris Mould, and some are traditional ones that he's retold in his own words. The traditional ones include the tale of St George, a Greek myth called the Dragon's Teeth and the Chinese story of the eyeless dragons. The original ones vary in content from dragons taking over England to dragons being tiny and living in the spines of books, but they share one thing in common: they are all surprisingly anti-dragon. There's only one in which dragons are portrayed as noble or peaceful, and that's the ancient Chinese fable. I found this slightly odd, as the children who will want to read this book will be fans of, or at least interested in dragons. It also shows a lack of imagination as it's not mandatory for every dragon to be Smaug.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0340944757</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Joe Miller
|title=Beetle Power! (Bug Buddies)
|rating=3
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=In the [[The Big Game (Bug Buddies) by Joe Miller|first book in the Bug Buddies series]] we met Zap, Buzz, Lurch and Crunch - insects living in Spinner's Wood. Five books later, they're still doing battle with the evil spider Spinner, and receiving wise advice from Gonzo. This time, everything's coming to a head as either Gonzo or Spinner will have to leave the wood for good.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>000732247X</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Mary Hogan
|title=Perfect Girl
|rating=4.5
|genre=Teens
|summary=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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847382290</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=G P Taylor
|title=Mariah Mundi and the Ship of Fools
|rating=5
|genre=Teens
|summary=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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0571227007</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Scott Westerfeld
|title=Leviathan
|rating=4
|genre=Teens
|summary=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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847385192</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Gennifer Choldenko
|title=Al Capone Shines My Shoes
|rating=4.5
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=It's 1935 and Moose, the son of a prison guard, is living on Alcatraz Island. His most notorious neighbour is none other than Al Capone. And Capone has done Moose a favour - somehow, he's managed to get Natalie, Moose's autistic sister, into the Esther P Marinoff school, where she'll get specialist help. Nobody must ever find out though - Moose's father would get the sack and they'd be thrown off the island, at the mercy of the Great Depression.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1408801558</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Tony Robinson
|title=Bad Kids: the Worst-Behaved Children in History
|rating=5
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=I'm starting to wonder about the type of person who would write such a horrible and terrifying book for children; it's as confusing as trying to work out an age category for this book. ''Bad Kids'' is a gruesome look through history using the ways children were punished through the ages as a central core. It runs right through history from ancient Iraq, where you could get your fingers chopped off for hitting your parents (they only recently abolished that one) to the modern day and the use of ASBOs.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0230737870</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Mary Hooper
|title=The Betrayal (At the House of the Magician)
|rating=3.5
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=In this third Elizabethan adventure, our friend - and Dr John Dee's nursemaid - Lucy moves to London. Dr Dee wishes to follow the court as he is as in need of money as ever. Lucy is ecstatic. She's longed to see London and she loves being close to the court, not least because it means she's likely to see more of Tomas. And it's quite clear to Lucy that Tomas needs her eye upon him more than ever. The new lady-in-waiting, Juliette, seems to be taking up far too much of his attention.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0747599106</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Charlie Higson
|title=The Enemy
|rating=4
|genre=Teens
|summary=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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0141384646</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=T S Eliot
|title=Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats
|rating=4.5
|genre=Children's Rhymes and Verse
|summary=In 1939, TS Eliot's cat poems for his godchildren were first published. Seventy years and an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical later, they're republished here, complete with illustrations by Axel Scheffler, best known for his work on [[The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson|The Gruffalo]].
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0571240615</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Harry Hill
|title=Tim The Tiny Horse At Large
|rating=4
|genre=Humour
|summary=It's been a while since Tim and Fly's [[Tim the Tiny Horse by Harry Hill|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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0571244157</amazonuk>
}}
