Newest Confident Readers Reviews
Confident readers
Liar and Spy by Rebecca Stead
Georges is named after Seurat, who created his paintings by using thousands and thousands of tiny dots of colour, and in this delightful book his style becomes a leit-motif for Georges' movement from fear to bravery. His mum always tells him not to fret about the little niggles and miseries of life: they're just tiny coloured dots which help to make up the big picture. His dad sees things differently, though. To him, you mustn't turn your back on bad things. They may not seem important when looked at from the future, but they matter right now and shouldn't be ignored. Georges will need a little wisdom from each of his parents to navigate the many challenges he experiences. Full review...
Fire Spell by Laura Amy Schlitz
There is a lot of magic in this wonderful book, but for the most part it is not the children who wield it. They are, at least to begin with, mere pawns in a deadly struggle between the puppeteer Grisini and a dying witch, quite unaware of the battles being raged between the two immensely powerful magicians. But as they come to understand the full horror of their situation, they find themselves having to work together to survive. Full review...
Lousy Thinking: Hitching a Ride on a Schoolboy's Mind by Mike Davies
Jake is a nice boy, navigating the later years of primary school with varied success. He has a secure home, a nice mum and dad, and plenty of friends with whom he enjoys energetic playtimes. But Jake isn't realising his full potential in lessons. He tries to listen, really he does, but his attention keeps wandering. And his performance in tests is more than a little disappointing. With SATs looming, Jake really should buckle down to some work. But, try as he might, buckling down isn't Jake's strong point. Full review...
Tales from Schwartzgarten: Osbert the Avenger by Christopher William Hill
Schwartzgarten is an odd place. Oh, it has all the usual stuff, like banks and libraries and palaces and glue factories, but it also has a somewhat excessive fascination with the gruesome and gory. This is due in large part to the fact that the city was embroiled in civil unrest, assassinations and battles for over two hundred years, and in consequence the cemetery where Nanny takes Osbert for his daily walk is a quarter the size of Schwartzgarten itself. Roads have names like Bone-Orchard Street, and the Old Town is rife with cut-throats. Full review...
Monstrous Maud:Big Fright by A B Saddlewick
Meet Monstrous Maud. Fed up with her pink and perfect sister, and the boring, do-goody types she suffers at school, she is not too disappointed when she – and her pet rat – are expelled, and forced to attend a very different institution. Rotwood School is a veritable hell-hole for anyone else, with maggoty food, and all the stereotypes of horror fiction as the pupils. Maud – being so monstrous – fits in perfectly – or at least she would if she is allowed to stay… Full review...
The Factory Made Boy by Christine Nostlinger
Mrs Bartolotti has a rather bad habit of ordering things...things that she usually doesn't need. One day a large parcel arrives in the post. Mrs Bartolotti can't think what it can be. What has she ordered recently? She thought she'd been very good! When she opens it she finds, inside, a perfect factory-made little boy - she definitely never ordered a little boy! Conrad and Mrs Bartolotti soon grow to love each other, but what will they do when the factory realises the mistake they've made and attempt to reclaim their goods? Full review...
My Happy Life by Rose Lagercrantz and Eva Eriksson
When Dani can't sleep she doesn't count sheep, she counts all the times that she's been happy! And Dani has been happy a lot of times. She's happy because she's about to start school, though she's nervous about making new friends. But then she meets Ella, and Ella becomes the very best friend she could ever have wished for. They have so much fun together, but then one day Ella tells Dani that she is moving house, and suddenly Dani isn't happy any more. Full review...
George and the Big Bang by Lucy Hawking and Stephen Hawking
John Lloyd's First Rule of the Universe is that it must contain three things – entropy, trouble, and mis-sold PPI claim adverts. However this book only contains one of those – trouble. Eric is using the Large Hadron Collider to delve into the secrets of the universe and the first micro-seconds of its existence, but he has trouble in the shape of Luddite people who think his experiment will cause the end of our solar system. He has his super-computer, Cosmos, which is able to transport him and his daughter Annie and the kid next door, our hero George, anywhere they desire throughout the universe, but there's only trouble when two of them are discovered larking about on the moon. And, as we've come to expect – this being the closing book of a trilogy – there is an evil scientist somewhere who is just intending to cause a different kind of trouble – making the big bang in the title something you might not have initially expected. Full review...
Eleven Eleven by Paul Dowswell
It's 2am in Paris on Tuesday 11th November 1918. Negotiations for ending World War I are almost complete and both sides will announce the Armistice at 11am. But the people actually fighting the war don't know that yet... Full review...
I'm Dougal Trump... and it's not my fault! by Dougal Trump
Dougal Trump is worried about dying. You might be surprised that a young boy is already writing (and rewriting) his will, but that's because you haven't met his sister Sibble (it's Sybil! - sorry Sibble), the mysterious creature in the shed, or the even more mysterious person who left the creature there with a note saying 'If it dies so will you.' If you were in his circumstances, wouldn't you be worried about your life expectancy? Full review...
Kitty Slade: Raven Hearts by Fiona Dunbar
Thirteen-year old Kitty Slade is a normal girl in many ways; she bickers with her younger brother and sister, enjoys having fun and watching DVDs. However she is different in one very important way… Kitty can see ghosts. Not only can she see ghosts but she also uses their help to solve mysteries. In the fourth book in this popular series, Kitty and the rest of her family are staying on a caravan site on the Yorkshire Moors when they hear that a local man has disappeared without trace and he is not the first person to do so either. Kitty also learns of a terrifying ghost hound that is said to prey on humans on the bleak moors. Can Kitty solve both these mysteries with the help of the strange ghost called Lupa with whom she forms an uneasy but growing friendship? Full review...
Zom-B by Darren Shan
Strange news reports are coming out of Ireland. YouTube is buzzing with clips of zombie infestations and the military clearing remote villages. This is all taken with a pinch of salt by B Smith, schoolfriends, teachers and parents. Most people think it's all a promotion campaign for a new film, but there are also scatterings of various conspiracy theories. None of it really impinges on B and pals though - they carry on with life regardless. There's hanging out in the park to be done, after all. Various peer group scores to settle. Fake IDs to find and attempts to buy alcohol. You get the picture. Some silly fake zombies barely register. Full review...
Fantastic Mr Dahl by Michael Rosen
Reading this book is rather like curling up in a deep, squishy armchair with a cup of cocoa and some squashed-fly biscuits while a favourite uncle chats to you about books. He tells you interesting things about Roald Dahl's life, and then he discusses how those events may have affected his writing, secure in the knowledge that you already know and love the stories. Just as important, he pauses in his chat from time to time to ask your opinion — and it's clear he's really interested in your answer. Do you prefer the original version of James and the Giant Peach, or the one which was eventually published? Can you imagine how funny it would be to see your grandfather looking in through your bedroom window, like the BFG? Full review...
ParaNorman by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel
Things are not easy when you're the only kid in town who can see, and talk to, ghosts. You can't bury your own grandma in peace without other ghosts asking you to pass on messages to those they left behind. You can't study biology without the toad you're supposed to dissect asking for a better end. And you can't take an unwanted starring lead in the school pageant, even when it's a special one for the three-hundredth anniversary of the town's own witch trial, without getting a message from beyond that means the legacy of that historical event will be a life or death matter… Full review...
Arthur Quinn and the Fenris Wolf (The Father of Lies Chronicles) by Alan Early
It's been 3 months since Arthur Quinn and his friends, Ash, Max and an army of dead Vikings, handed an amazing defeat to the trickster god, Loki, and saved the world from the threat of certain annihilation. Everything is back to normal and all but a very few even remember. But Loki has not been resting idle. After the destruction of the Jormungand at Arthur’s hands, he now seeks the Fenris Wolf. Amassing an army of vicious wolves to do his bidding, he will take back the world this time and have his revenge. So Arthur, finally settled into his new life in Dublin, is enjoying time away in the countryside with Ash and her family. But it’s all about to begin again… Arthur’s visions return as his pendant glows stronger than before. Max’s nightmares of the past begin again. There are strange stirrings among the Viking army and a growing unease surrounds our hero. Exactly who are these two new classmates in Arthur and Ash’s school? Why is Arthur so suspicious of Ash's new puppy? What is Loki after at the National Museum? Once again, it's all down to Arthur and his friends to save the world from the Father of Lies… but this time, Loki has help. Full review...
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
Looking back on my childhood the book which made the most impact and one of the few which has remained in my bookcase ever since is 'The Wind in the Willows'. I've returned to it many times over six or more decades and it's frequently brought comfort in bad times. It was the basis of my love for the countryside, which became a joy in itself rather than something to pass through on the way somewhere else as my parents would have had it. It was a good story, which - like all the best books - revealed a little more on every reading. Full review...
A Sea of Stars by Kate Maryon
Maya wishes Mum would let her hang out with her friends and go surfing at the beach. But ever since Alfie, Maya's little brother, and the incident with the red London bus, her mother has been totally overprotective. Cat is younger than Maya by two whole years, but she has the freedom to do whatever she likes - she's even got the bus on her own into town. But Cat's mother is barely able to take care of herself, let alone her children, and Cat is about to be separated from her little brother, who she loves more than anything, to be adopted by Maya's family. Full review...
Pirates 'n' Pistols by Chris Mould
Out of all the unusual careers focused on in primary school activity – you know the ones, astronaut, footballer, dinosaur hunter, Olympic torch relay bodyguard, that sort of thing – that of pirate seems to be the most bizarre. Yes it brings an easy stereotype when it comes to fancy dress time, but why the tales of skulduggery, piracy and fatal thievery are so common and so popular among that age group is a bit beyond me. It's nothing to aspire too, really, is it? Still, for those still of that age, here is a very good, entertaining and commendably presented anthology of short tales of seafaring, treasure hunting, and their consequences. Full review...
The Enchanted Riddle by Charlotte Kandel
Daphne, a thirteen-year-old orphan in London in the 1920s, has two dreams. She longs to find a family and to become a ballerina – but both seem equally impossible. Then a package from an anonymous sender, with a magical pair of stockings and a strange riddle, seems to give her the opportunity to make her dreams come true. Can she get the happiness and success she's always longed for, or will the interference of others stop her from achieving it? Full review...
Wolfie by Emma Barnes
Lucie has always wanted a dog and then one day her Uncle Joe arrives at her front door with one especially for her. However Lucie’s new pet is very big, with pointed ears, sharp teeth, a silvery coat and glinting eyes. Lucie realises instantly that her present is in fact a wolf but, incredibly, no-one else thinks so. Not only is the animal a wolf but a talking wolf with magical powers that becomes a trusted and wise friend to the little girl. Unfortunately, it is increasingly difficult to hide a talking wolf from family, friends, teachers and especially from the horrible bully who lives next door. Gradually Lucie realises that her new friend is in great danger and she resolves to help Wolfie before it is too late. Full review...
Ribblestrop Forever! by Andy Mulligan
It's a new term for Ribblestrop, the weirdest boarding school in the world of fiction. The pupils, who of course include a bus-load of orphaned Himalayan circus stars, are so used to the extraordinary that when three returning children arrive by landing the plane they're travelling in - onto the said bus - nobody bats an eyelid. But problems begin when they stray onto a rival school's ground, and practically rescue a historian living in a stolen mobile library, who is tracing the ghosts of an ancient tribe across the local region. Soon things conspire to put the whole faculty on the same path... Full review...
The Mystery of Wickworth Manor by Elen Caldecott
Paige Owens is really looking forward to going to secondary school. She's sure that a school trip to Wickworth Manor, to meet up with the other students who will be starting their new school in the autumn, will be fabulous. Newcomer Curtis Okafor is far more nervous about the visit, especially since he doesn't know anyone. When he finds a portait of a young black servant hidden away, though, and Paige finds an old letter which mentions it, the pair team up to do some detective work to try and work out why the portrait isn't on display. Full review...
Laura Marlin Mysteries: Dead Man's Cove by Lauren St John
Laura has been in foster care since she was born, but Social Services have recently discovered that she has an uncle. So, at the beginning of this adventure mystery she finds herself moving to a house by the beach in Cornwall to live with Calvin Redfern, a man she has never met before. Laura's experiences have taught her to question everything, to be independent and to stand on her own two feet, so having an uncle who trusts her to be sensible, rather than lay down a list of rules, seems ideal. But Uncle Calvin and his house are shrouded in secrets. Why does he work such strange hours? Where does he go late at night? And why are there no signs of his past in the house? Full review...
Granny Grabber's Whizz Bang World by Charlotte Haptie
It takes a very good writer to make a robot seem endearing, and an even better one to make it nicer and kinder than most humans. But that's what Charlotte Haptie manages in this wonderfully daft tale of a child care robot called Granny Grabber that has more common sense than several parents, a firm called The Happy Home Robotics and a King. Full review...
Space Lizards Ate My Sister! by Mark Griffiths
On a school trip to an observatory, a scientist is being very stupid and silly in trying to impress the class of visitors about his work, which is very ironic considering what will happen to two of them. When the session leads to the discovery of an asteroid on its way to collide fatally with Earth, Lance and Tori are shocked to see the evil lizard they had to defeat in the first book in this series being asked for help. Soon they have to enter a cat-and-mouse chase across the very galaxy the scientist was so uncool about, to save the planet - and, as the title says, Lance's sister. Full review...
Too Many Blooms (Flower Girls 1) by Catherine R Daly
Delphinium Bloom is devoted to her grandparents and enjoys helping out in their family flower shop. For Del the shop is a haven of peace, quiet and orderliness compared to the rather chaotic, noisy but loving home she shares with her parents and three younger sisters. Del is a sensible and responsible girl and is horrified when her grandparents announce that they are moving to Florida leaving the shop in the tender care of Del’s scatter-brained parents and family. The family’s first order is for a large and very important wedding and one of the bridesmaids is to be Ashley, Del’s arch-rival at school. Will the family, and Del, be able to cope with the stress? Full review...
The Apothecary by Maile Meloy
When 14 year old Janie Scott moves to London from California, she finds it cold, dreary and endlessly dull. She doesn’t fit in at her new school, St. Bedens, and getting used to life in 1950’s London, a life so different to the one she left behind, seems impossible. Then she meets Benjamin Burrows, another misfit. Benjamin wants to be a spy, and at the height of the Cold War, opportunities for espionage abound. But when Benjamin’s father, the local (and mysterious) apothecary is kidnapped, Janie and Benjamin get pulled into a world they could only imagine. Entrusted with the apothecary’s book of ancient knowledge, they must use it to track down Benjamin’s father, all the while keeping it from the hands of Russian spies with nuclear weapons. It seems the only chance to save the world may actually be magic. Full review...
The Baby And Fly Pie by Melvin Burgess
Fly Pie, his sister Jane and his friend Sham live in an alternate London, one full of brutality and ghettos. They are rubbish kids, employed by Mother Shelley (an alternate Fagin) to pick through rich people's rubbish for profit. Their lives are hard and brutal and, often, hungry. But they still have their dreams. Fly Pie longs to become a baker. He has cold hands; perfect for pastry. Sham wants to become one of Mother Shelley's Big Boys - and, eventually, to rise as possible through the criminal ranks to become an important person in a big gang. Jane, she's a bit different. She wants more. Not more money. More integrity. Jane wants to live a life where lying and cheating aren't necessities. Full review...
The Dotty Dalmatian by Anna Wilson
Mrs Fudge's hairdressing salon and pooch-pampering parlour is doing great business and it's obvious that she can't really cope with just Pippa Peppercorn's occasional help. She needs another assistant, but finding one proves to be more difficult than she expected. Pippa's quite pleased about this as she really doesn't want to be ousted as THE personal assistant. Then Minx Polka arrives on the doorstep and she seems to have a real affinity with dogs - Mrs Fudge jumps at the opportunity to employ her. Pippa's not pleased, but she has something else on her mind. Who owns the out-of-control Dalmatian who is terrorising the neighbourhood and causing quite a bit of damage too? Full review...
The Terrible Thing That Happened to Barnaby Brocket by John Boyne
Whereas some children's authors make their young heroes and heroines out to be as regular human beings, John Boyne does things differently. After the boy whose dad had the strangest job in this world, came 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. Full review...
