Difference between revisions of "Newest Confident Readers Reviews"
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| + | |author=Martin King | ||
| + | |title=Jack Hunter: The French Connection | ||
| + | |rating=4 | ||
| + | |genre=Confident Readers | ||
| + | |summary=After solving [[Jack Hunter - Secret of the King by Martin King|the ancient secret of the King]], Jack Hunter's life has been brilliant. Finding a centuries-old key and unlocking mysteries dating back to the time of King Richard, as well as being integral in unveiling dangerous criminal activities and rescuing long-lost treasure have earned Jack and his friends a French holiday. But nothing is ever easy. Jack finds himself in the middle of a robbery, and nothing is what it seems. Russian gangsters, stolen jewels, a famous movie star.... and another historical secret pull Jack and his friends even deeper into the secrets of The Four Corners. What is going on? And how do they even know about Jack? With his family in danger, Jack can't even be sure who the good guys are. | ||
| + | |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0957102119</amazonuk> | ||
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'This is going to be fun.' | 'This is going to be fun.' | ||
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0007494823</amazonuk> | |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0007494823</amazonuk> | ||
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Revision as of 07:03, 4 April 2013
Confident readers
Jack Hunter: The French Connection by Martin King
After solving the ancient secret of the King, Jack Hunter's life has been brilliant. Finding a centuries-old key and unlocking mysteries dating back to the time of King Richard, as well as being integral in unveiling dangerous criminal activities and rescuing long-lost treasure have earned Jack and his friends a French holiday. But nothing is ever easy. Jack finds himself in the middle of a robbery, and nothing is what it seems. Russian gangsters, stolen jewels, a famous movie star.... and another historical secret pull Jack and his friends even deeper into the secrets of The Four Corners. What is going on? And how do they even know about Jack? With his family in danger, Jack can't even be sure who the good guys are. Full review...
Wendy Quill Is A Crocodile's Bottom by Wendy Meddour
Wendy Quill really wants to be 'a little bit famous', but her plans don’t always work out. Still, nothing can stop her from trying… and having the best time ever. First, she’s absolutely sure she’ll get the lead part in her school production of Peter Pan and Wendy. She has been Wendy all her life, after all. When that doesn’t work out, she stuns the audience with her performance as the crocodile’s bottom! Then, she gets dragged along to her best-friend Florence's tap-dancing class, and manages to land a part as a tap-dancing munchkin in their show… and she didn’t even know she could dance! But fame finally comes her way when she dresses up for a class project on the Plague and saves her teacher, Miss Pinch, from Kevin, the escaped school rat. Her heroic deed makes the front page, where everyone can see her! Full review...
My Big Fat Zombie Goldfish by Mo O'Hara
'My Big Fat Zombie Goldfish' is not a book that an adult would read unless they have children. This is a book written for children, and Mo O'Hara certainly has a very clear idea of what children like. This has none of the hallmarks of a first foray into fiction; O'Hara jumps right in with the confidence of a master. A bit of research shows she has in fact had time to perfect her craft, as a storyteller with live audiences where the immediate feedback would have shown what the children wanted to hear - and what they didn't. She has obviously perfected the art of storytelling for children before beginning her first book. Full review...
Lilliput by Sam Gayton
Sam Gayton's tale of a tiny girl who longs to go home has all the ingredients you need for a thumping good read. There are villains and heroes, adventures and deadly peril, new friends and wonderful animals, plus some charming illustrations. Oh, and chocolate. There's lots of that, and the book is all the better for it. Full review...
Dear Scarlett by Fleur Hitchcock
Shortly after her eleventh birthday Fleur receives a mysterious box from her father who died five years earlier. The box contains a strange collection of items that provide Scarlett with clues to her father’s life. For years she has accepted the story that her father had been a notorious jewel thief but as she attempts to make sense of the clues it becomes apparent that maybe things were not quite as they had seemed. With the help of her friend Ellie, Scarlett sets off on an exciting and at times dangerous mission to discover the truth. Full review...
The Last Wild by Piers Torday
The animals and the plants have all died, killed by the red-eye: only insects are immune. And the humans have all retreated to the Island, terrified that they too will catch the horrible disease. As there is nothing else to eat they live on formula, a sort of bright pink gruel which, no matter what they call it, always tastes of prawn cocktail crisps. The gloop is made by Factorium, the world's biggest food company, which has gradually taken over the running of the whole Island, including schools, hospitals and eventually the government itself. Full review...
Young Knights of the Round Table by Julia Golding
Rick is thirteen hundred years old — not bad going for a teenager. He has been living in Avalon, where time moves differently, and training (along with another two hundred human changelings) to get his revenge on the human family which abandoned him so long ago. And now he has his chance. Full review...
Keras by Simon Rae
Ever since reading The Enchanted Wood as I child, I always enjoyed stories about children who had the freedom to explore the world and go off finding adventures, unencumbered by the protective restrictions that most children face. Fantasy indeed, but this kind of world without limits often produces the most imaginative and memorable childhood tales. Full review...
Rotten Romans (Horrible Histories) by Terry Deary
'History with all the nasty bits left in' is the catch phrase for Terry Deary's Horrible Histories series. Deary hasn't just left the nasty bits in, he has built a whole series around them. His stories are gruesome, revolting, vile and disgusting at times. That is precisely why the children love them. But underneath all of the nasty bits, there is quite a lot of history as well. Rotten Romans covers an area of history I am fairly well versed in. Even so, I learned a few things myself. At ages 4 and 8, my sons certainly learned a lot more. This book is equally enjoyable for young children with no prior knowledge of Roman history - or an adult who has actively studied this period. Full review...
Sun Catcher by Sheila Rance
The Bronze Age is an intriguing time, where the fight for survival and the harshness of greed and war co-exist seamlessly with the fabrication of beautiful artefacts and a profound belief in occult mysteries tied to the seasons and the natural world. Tareth, the crippled weaver, earns his keep in the community which rescued him and his daughter from the sea by making and dying brightly coloured cloths to sell at the annual Gather. But he has another, more secret skill. While Maia sleeps he spends his nights, almost against his own will, weaving an extraordinary silken garment for her, one which whispers to her of her far-away home and her dark destiny. For she is no ordinary girl but a princess of the Eagle People and the chosen heir to the sun stone. This stone is a revered and powerful crystal which is needed to channel the sun and use it to warm the land at the end of each winter, and without it famine and cold reign eternally. At the same time, it extracts a terrible price from the Catcher, causing her intense pain and eventually blinding her. In a bid to protect the infant Maia from her fate Tareth stole and hid the stone, and fled with her across the sea. Full review...
Will Gallows and the Rock Demon's Blood by Derek Keilty
The Great West Rock has never been the most peaceful place in which to live. There is a healthy attempt at multiculturalism, with humans, elves, dwarves and good trolls getting along OK, but for the bad trolls nobody likes. Unfortunately they're making themselves more and more known. Will Gallows is a little upset that he's not being allowed to learn any magic, but the unease and tetchiness throughout the land will hit his small family when someone makes off with a herd of their new calves. Even worse, who – or what – is behind a lot that is going on has a game-changing connection to his family's immediate past… Full review...
Goblins vs Dwarves by Philip Reeve
Goblins are the bad guys, right? Everybody knows that. They're just like orcs and trolls: ugly, smelly, and evil through and through, with no interest in life but eating anything that moves and having a good punch up now and again (preferably both at the same time). But what if they weren't all like that? What if one of them turned out to be a tad brighter than his greedy, thieving, brawling brothers? Full review...
My Best Friend And Other Enemies by Catherine Wilkins
Jessica and Natalie have been best friends for ages. But in the last year of primary school, when new girl Amelia moves to their school, she starts to come between them, forming a secret society with Natalie - and not letting Jessica join. Can Jessica repair her friendship with Natalie, or find some new friends? Armed with only her ability to draw great cartoons, she sets out to find out. Full review...
Grown-ups Can't be Friends with Dragons by Antony Wootten
Brian finds home a bit of a trial these days. Since Mum went, Dad seem to have spent as much time as he could down at the pub. Big sister Emily does her best to keep them all fed and the washing done, but she's not that old herself and her only support is her boyfriend Mark. School's not going too well for Brian either. Whatever he does he seems to land in trouble, even when he doesn't mean to and his teacher sometimes despairs of him. What that boy needs is a good listening to. Brian does have a secret though - his cave. Full review...
Three Pickled Herrings (Wings and Co 2) by Sally Gardner
Emily Vole and the rest of the team at Wings and Co Fairy Detective Agency are worried. They have been open for five months and have not had a single case to solve. Then Sir Walter Cross dies in strange circumstances; shooting into the sky in a cloud of purple smoke before falling to his death. Shortly afterwards they receive more tales of bad luck and disaster from Mr. Rollo the tailor and the Smith family who have been preparing for their daughter Pandora’s wedding. Suddenly Emily, the Fairy Detectives and of course, the remarkable talking cat, Fidget, find themselves with not one but three cases to solve. Are Wings and Co. up to the task? Of course they are! Full review...
Binny for Short by Hilary McKay
It can be quite risky to start a book with what is almost the final scene, especially for younger readers. Prize-winning author Hilary McKay, however, writes with such a sure hand that by the time the end comes round for the second time everything has dovetailed beautifully and is yet, somehow, full of surprises. In fact, it is a sure bet that many readers will want to immediately return to the beginning and read the book again, just to see how she does it. Full review...
Curse of Kings (The Trials of Oland Born, Book 1) by Alex Barclay
In a land tormented by the screams of 999 souls, victims of dreadful experiments which have taken place since the despicable coward Villius Ren betrayed a king and seized power for himself, a young boy is about to become a hero. Servant to Ren and the rest of the Craven Lodge, 14-year-old Oland Born takes a stand and is forced to flee the castle after reading a mysterious letter addressed to him, but written by a king who died before he was even born. Trying to find out more about his background and how to save the kingdom from the Lodge, Oland sets out on a quest. Full review...
Tarzan: The Savage Lands by Andy Briggs
Lord Greystoke is looking for his cousin Tarzan – but while he claims he merely wants to be reunited with his long-lost relation, Robbie and Jane are suspicious of his true motives. Can they find their friend to warn him before the nobleman reaches him, and just why is Lord Greystoke so keen to brave the wilds of Africa? Full review...
The Hanged Man Rises by Sarah Naughton
The Wigman is at large, murdering children. You'd think this would be the first concern for Titus Adams, as he's only fifteen, his parents are incorrigible drunks and he has a young sister, Hannah, to look out for. But in London in the late 1800s, there are more pressing concerns than serial killers on the loose. Like how to pay the rent. Like where the next meal is coming from. Like staying out of the workhouse. Like keeping your sister on the right side of the law. Thankfully, Titus has a friend in Inspector Pilsbury. He doesn't arrest Hannah when she's caught with pickpockets. He feeds her and keeps her safe at the station until Titus comes to collect her. Full review...
Back to Blackbrick by Sarah Moore Fitzgerald
Cosmo thought he had enough problems, with his absent mother, ridiculous name, and status as 'loser kid' at school. But his Grandfather isn't the man he used to be - the man that Cosmo idolised. Sometimes, he can't remember what day it is, or where certain things go in the kitchen. And then other times, he can't remember who Cosmo is, or that Brian, Cosmo's brother, died. Cosmo does all he can to help him, but post-its on the cupboards and omega-3 oils aren't enough to keep doctors from coming to assess Grandfather and deciding he needs to be taken into full time care. Full review...
Sorrowline by Niel Bushnell
Jack's mother was killed when he was a young boy and now, just before his thirteenth birthday, he learns that his father is leaving him too — for a spell in prison. And then things get seriously weird, because his long-dead grandfather appears to warn him that his life in in danger. The old man is closely followed by a bunch of murderous creatures called the Dustmen, and in order to escape them Jack is forced to flee back to 1940, using a sorrowline. Full review...
Angel Creek by Sally Rippin
It is Christmas Eve and Jelly's family are gathered together to celebrate. It should have been a perfect night but for Jelly it is not because her family have recently moved to the other side of the city, far from all her friends, just as she is about to start at senior school. She is feeling so alone and miserable that nothing will brighten her mood and to avoid the festivities Jelly and her two cousins slip away in the darkness to the nearby creek. Full review...
House of Secrets by Chris Columbus and Ned Vizzini
The Walker family used to have a big house in San Francisco, but after their father lost his job in mysterious circumstances, they were forced to move into the spooky Kristoff House, a strange place once occupied by a disturbed fantasy author. Soon after they move in, they realise that their arrival has set terrible events in motion, and children Cordelia, Brendan and Eleanor are forced to try and rescue their parents from a terrible fate. Full review...
About Zooming Time, Opal Moonbaby! by Maudie Smith
Martha feels lonely without her Best and Only Friend, Opal Moonbaby. That's obviously a rather unusual name but it's not the only thing about Opal which is unusual. She's an alien from Carnelia and she originally came to earth as part of a challenge. She had to make a human friend and despite the fact that Martha was determined that she would never have another friend, the relationship somehow worked. When we last saw her she was on her way back to Carnelia and Uncle Bixie. Martha was heartbroken to see her go - and I'll confess to being just a little bit upset myself. But don't worry - she's back! Full review...
Monstrous Maud: Scary Show by A B Saddlewick
If you have a series of books set in a school, all to feature a different aspect of school life, you are duty bound it seems to feature a talent contest for the pupils. This series is no different, although of course the school is. It's where Maud goes, and she's the only human. So her fellow pupils can do formation vampire bat flying, or a wicked spell casting, and even the invisible girl will join in, showing off her gymnastics. What hope the poor human girl Maud, who has pretended to be an evil nasty 'Tutu' all year just to try and fit in? Full review...
A Horse For Angel by Sarah Lean
Eleven year old Nell feels as though her life is a list of pointless activities that she didn't choose and that she doesn't enjoy; the drama club, the maths tutor, the swimming lessons and the endless waiting for her busy, single mum between them all. Nell is looking forward to spending two restful weeks with her Grandma over the Easter holiday but at the last minute she discovers that she is to stay with relations that she doesn't know. Nell has a secret and when she travels to her Aunt's home she takes a suitcase containing her secret with her and on the first day of her stay she has a chance encounter with a local girl, Angel, who has secrets of her own. Despite the initial hostility between the two girls they gradually realise that they must learn to trust each other if they are to care for the things they love. Full review...
Monstrous Maud: Horror Holiday by A B Saddlewick
And you think you have it tough… Maud is the only human at a school entirely populated by monsters – vampires, zombies, invisible people and so on. So just put yourself in her shoes when it's parents' evening, trying to divert her family from realising the truth about everyone and everything around them. Worse than that, try and put yourself in her shoes when it's revealed that she has to get an impossibly high score on an essay to not be kept back a year and lose contact with all her best friends. Worse than that, empathise with Maud as her folks meet another pupil's family at the parents' evening, and they therefore agree to go on holiday with a family of werewolves… at full moon… Full review...
The Queen at War (Chronicles of the Tempus) by K A S Quinn
Katie Berger-Jones-Burg is puzzled. Living with her former pop-star mother in a New York apartment she is having strange visions. It seems she has forgotten all about her previous time travelling adventures (in The Queen Must Die) although someone appears to be trying to send her some clues to prompt her memory. Her friends from Victorian England, Princess Alice and James, are facing difficulties of their own, with a very sick friend and also the threat of war. They need Katie's help, but how can they get her to travel back in time to them? Full review...
The Revenge of the Ballybogs by Siobhan Rowden
Not much has changed in Barnaby's world since the first book in this series. His grandmother is still smelly, burpy, purple and a pickler on an industrial scale. Barnaby is at last working alongside her as opposed to hating her, but not everything is running completely smoothly, and Barnaby still doesn't know everything there is to know about his heritage – either the pickle factory he is supposed to inherit, or the bogle blood his unusual background has left him with. These short, dirty, hairy, stinking critters live in a world of their own underneath an unusual nearby bog – when they're not invading people's homes and causing mischief. Once again, however much Barnaby is reluctant to, he is forced to enter their world in an effort to solve a major calamity in his family, but this time without the help of his mother – for someone or something has kidnapped her… Full review...
How To Scare The Pants Off Your Pets (Ghost Buddy) by Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver
Billy is the only person who can see the ghost of Hoover Porterhouse the Third that he shares a bedroom with. While nobody else knows about the phantom's existence, Billy certainly knows about his character – his arrant braggadocio and the many self-serving rules he demands he lives his afterlife by. The problem is that that same lack of respect and responsibility is what is keeping Hoover in Billy's life and not moving on, and his attitude is so bad he's been grounded by the Higher-Ups in charge of such things. Billy's not one to live with an annoyance like that, though, and decides to prove the Hoove can be responsible – and caring for a pet should be the obvious proof with which to start… Full review...
Little Manfred by Michael Morpurgo
In The Imperial War Museum, a little wooden dog stands in a glass display case. He was donated to the museum in 2005 by a family who lived at a farm in Kent. The little dog was made from cast-off apple boxes by a German prisoner of war who worked at the farm. Full review...
Stick Dog by Tom Watson
'I Can’t Draw, Okay?' Tom Watson apologises in the opening chapter of Stick Dog. He then goes on to lay some ground rules with the reader, explaining that:
'....this Stick Dog story (with the bad pictures that my art teacher doesn’t like) will also be told in a way that I like (but my English teacher doesn’t).'
'Good deal?'
'Excellent. Let’s move on.'
'This is going to be fun.' Full review...
