|summary=Whereas some children's authors make their young heroes and heroines out to be as regular human beings, [[:Category:John Boyne|John Boyne]] does things differently. After the [[The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne|boy]] whose dad had the strangest job in this world, came [[Noah Barleywater Runs Away by John Boyne|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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0857531468</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Andrew Norriss
|title=Archie's Unbelievably Freaky Week
|rating=5
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=Archie Coates has the most amazing talent for trouble, and whatever he does in all innocence, it's other people that suffer. On Monday he ends up with a teacher sitting on him, on Tuesday another one ends up half-naked. Both these and a lot more are shown with all the justification you need - and more humour than you could wish for - in this brilliant little book.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0857560115</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver
|title=Mind If I Read Your Mind? (Ghost Buddy)
|rating=3.5
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=Every boy needs a mentor, and Billy Broccoli is no exception. His, however, is The Hoove - a ghost, who is able to impart a hundred years' worth of nous and savvy, and yet still able to use words like ''doofus'' as if he was a real, live fourteen year old. With nobody else knowing about this friendship, life is certainly lively for Billy, but also helped - when a show-and-tell-type competitive school demonstration leads to the magic the title suggests. But can Billy really rely on such an opinionated, moody helper, when the crunch comes?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1407132296</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Allan Stratton
|title=The Grave Robber's Apprentice
|rating=5
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=Families separated and reunited, wandering actors, lovers pretending to be dead so they can be together — is this really a book for confident readers, or a Shakespeare play? Don't worry. The author Allan Stratton may have a deep affection for the Bard, and delight in borrowing some of his most famous ploys, but they are set here in a story which is fresh, funny and more than a little gruesome. After all, one of the two main characters does dig up dead bodies for a living!
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0571284078</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Sarah Hammond
|title=The Night Sky in my Head
|rating=4
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=Mikey Baxter isn't an ordinary fourteen-year-old. Ever since the accident, there's been the Backwards - shadows that come to life and reveal glimpses of the past. And Mikey's past isn't something he particularly wants to revisit. His dad did a bad thing, and now he's in jail. His mum isn't coping well, and it's up to Mikey to make sure she's okay.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0192733192</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Allan Jones
|title=Codename Quicksilver 2: The Tyrant King
|rating=3.5
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=Normal life for Zak was lots of running, lots of computer games, and idling his time away in London, either talking to his old homeless friend, or living at the care home. But how normal life has changed. Now he's a secret agent to do what Britain's adult spies can't, his friend has been replaced by the Crown Prince of a Monaco-type country, and his job is now bodyguard to royalty in ancient Mediterranean castles, and five star London hotels. But if he is as bad a bodyguard as first appears, you can guess that he'll still be doing a lot of running...
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444005464</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=John Dickinson
|title=Muddle and Win: the Battle for Sally Jones
|rating=4.5
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=Hear the name John Dickinson, and you expect something intriguing and original. And with this fascinating book for younger readers, you won't be disappointed. His premise? The struggle between good and evil, as embodied in the figures of angels and demons. So far, so traditional — a story as old as humanity itself, and done pretty well already by that Milton chap. Ah, but when did you see it portrayed as a series of skirmishes between a chisel-jawed angel wearing Ray-bans, and a tiny imp roughly fashioned from a grey, leathery wart? Oh, and please don't ask what happened to the previous owner of the wart. Just accept that it was painful. And really, really messy.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0857560360</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Allan Jones
|title=Codename Quicksilver 1: In the Zone
|rating=3.5
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=Zak's day is full of surprises. First his mate bumps into him when he's setting an arcade record at his favourite game, then he sees said mate plummet to his death in front of him. ''Then'' he adopts the friend's killers, who want to get their hands on him. '''Then''' he gets rescued - by a girl, who is a member of a secret agency - what on earth is happening?!
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444005456</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Andy Briggs
|title=Tarzan: The Jungle Warrior
|rating=4.5
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=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?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>057127353X</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Anthony McGowan
|title=Leopard Adventure
|rating=4.5
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=For older readers, the name Willard Price will bring to mind classic wild-life adventures in exotic locations. The heroes were two brothers, Hal and Roger Hunt, and now, 125 years after the birth of the man who created them, we meet their children. Young cousins Amazon and Frazer are destined, like their fathers, to travel the world, rescue endangered animals and battle against the adult greed and thoughtlessness which threatens fragile eco-systems. The settings, the issues and the gadgets are completely up-to-date: what remain from the old stories are the excitement and the danger.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0141339454</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Michelle Paver
|title=Gods and Warriors (1)
|rating=4.5
|genre=Teens
|summary=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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0141339268</amazonuk>
}}
