==Confident readers==
__NOTOC__
{{newreview
|author=Robin Price
|title=I Am Spartapuss
|rating=3.5
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=This is a slightly strange book. It's history, disguised as the diary of a slave-cat in Ancient Rome, and full of groanworthy puns. As I read it, I found myself unsure, at times, whether it was really very clever, or just irritatingly silly. It somehow managed to be both. The blurb on the back describes it as a 'witty Roman romp', which is exactly what it is. It's Ancient Rome - approximately - in a universe where cats rather than humans are in charge. Indeed, humans don't seem to exist at all, although other animals and some birds feature in the book. There's plenty of romping, and it's certainly witty.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0954657608</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Colin Bateman
|summary=I thoroughly enjoyed Kit Salter's previous two adventures, [[The Mummy Snatcher of Memphis: A Kit Salter Adventure by Natasha Narayan|The Mummy Snatcher of Memphis]] and [[The Maharajah's Monkey: A Kit Salter Adventure by Natasha Narayan|The Maharajah's Monkey]], so I was looking forward to her latest outing. Here in ''The Book of Bones'' I read anxiously as Kit and her friends were kidnapped by their arch enemies, The Baker Brothers. The Baker Brothers tell them that one of the friends has been poisoned, but not which one, and the only way to save themselves is if they undertake a dangerous journey to China in search of an ancient book about martial arts, the Book of Bones. En route the children do battle with pirates, doctors of phrenology as well as the Emperor's army. Will they discover which of them has been poisoned, or find the magical book, before it's too late...?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1849162417</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Pippa Funnell
|title=Tilly's Pony Tails: Parkview Pickle, the Naughty Show Pony
|rating=4
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=Here at Bookbag Towers we first met Tilly Redbrow in [[Tilly's Pony Tails: Neptune the Heroic Horse by Pippa Funnell|Neptune the Heroic Horse]]. Tilly's back home from her holiday in Cornwall and back at the Silver Shoe Riding Stables as often as she can be – which is before school, after school and every minute she can be at weekends and in the holidays. There's a lot of excitement at the stables when they find out that a new show pony is moving in. Parkview Pickle is a real beauty, although perhaps a little bit on the plump side and with a rather nervous rider and the ultimate pushy parent.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444000837</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=David Whitley
|title=The Children of the Lost
|rating=3.5
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=Mark and Lily have left Agora and they have no idea what to expect from the land beyond the city walls. They have been brought up within a rigid system based on barter in a city where everything can be traded: goods, services, people, even emotions are up for sale. They have also been taught that outside the city walls is a wilderness, with no civilised life. Do bear in mind here that their idea of civilisation is Agora…They are ill equipped to survive, and immediately make things worse by arguing with one another. Mark is furious with Lily for her part in their banishment and his actions lead to Lily being placed in great danger.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0141330120</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Aesop, Fiona Waters and Fulvio Testa
|title=Aesop's Fables
|rating=4.5
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=Everyone knows and loves ''Aesop's Fables''. They're part of our literary tapestry and our everyday lives. We know sour grapes, we know [[Tortoise vs. Hare - The Rematch! by Preston Rutt and Ben Redlich|the tortoise and the hare]], the boy who cried wolf and so many more. Fiona Waters has retold 60 of the most famous fables in this delightful anthology.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1849390495</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Sara Starbuck
|title=Dread Pirate Fleur and the Hangman's Noose
|rating=4
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=When a mysterious young girl in a barrel is fished from the sea and rescued by the pirate ship belonging to Fleur's uncle William, it seems bad news might be on the way. The girl turns out to have psychic abilities - and they're just about to hit landfall at Salem, right in time for the witch-hunts. But worse is to come. William gets captured there, and someone Fleur thought long dead starts to take his place on board instead. Fleur then has to skipper the craft herself, on a rescue mission, in a very tense domestic situation. That's hard enough when you're a mere teenaged girl, against ruffians and pirates, but when the ship has secrets of her own to be revealed...
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1862307296</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Rupert Kingfisher
|title=Madame Pamplemousse and the Enchanted Sweet Shop
|rating=4.5
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=This is not a stereotypical fantasy. Madeleine, the heroine, is not required to find mystical items or defeat evil beings in order to save the world. And although she lives in a world where magic exists, she does not have any other-worldly powers herself. She is quite simply, despite her young age, an extremely good cook. Mind you, this quaint little book is set in the centre of Paris, so to be gifted in ''la gastronomie'' probably does count as magic - the French see these things differently, after all. No, she is just a little girl who is bullied at school by someone who seems determined to humiliate and hurt her by preying on her natural shyness. The bullying is skilfully done, by emphasising Madeleine's gift for creating wonderful meals and turning it into a reason to pity her. Fortunately for our heroine, she is noticed crying in Notre-Dame Cathedral, and is comforted by a kindly sweet-shop owner, Madame Bonbon. But is this woman really so kind? And doesn't Madeleine know she shouldn't take sweets from strangers?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1408805057</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Holly Webb
|title=Rose and the Magician's Mask
|rating=4
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=The cover of this book has lots of pretty gold stars and a girl with a cute round face, but don't be fooled: while young girls will love all the magic and adventure, there is a fair amount of darkness in this third book in the Rose series. A magical mask has been stolen by an evil magician, and if he wears it in Venice, on the first Sunday of the New Year, he will gain enormous power. Needless to say, Rose and the other members of the household set off to prevent this.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>140830449X</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=L J Smith
|title=The Night of the Solstice
|rating=3.5
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=Claudia knew she wasn't really supposed to follow the fox - not on her own, to the old, forbidden house on the hill. But she did. And it will change everything. The fox is the familiar of Morgana Shee, powerful sorceress and only guardian of the passageway to another universe, Wildworld. But Morgana has gone missing and she must be found before the solstice, for then the gateway will be open to all, including Cadal Forge, an evil magician dedicated to conquering Earth. Claudia, and her siblings, Charles, Jane and leader Alys, must find her. And find her quickly, for everything hangs in the balance on the night of the Winter Solstice.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0857070509</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Cathy Cassidy
|title=Cherry Crush: The Chocolate Box Girls
|rating=4.5
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=When Cherry Costello told her teachers that she was leaving Glasgow and moving to live in a cliff-top house in Somerset where her father would make organic chocolates everyone thought that it was just another of her tall tales. But this one was true. Not only was Cherry moving to Somerset the Costellos, father and daughter, were going to live with his girlfriend and her four daughters. From it just being the two of them there would be seven altogether. How will Cherry cope? And how will the Tanberry family cope with two new members?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0141384794</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Kelly McKain
|title=Half a Sister
|rating=4
|genre=Teens
|summary=When Hannah's parents begin to have whispered, but obviously heated discussions about something her immediate thought is that they're splitting up. There's quite a bit of that at school and Hannah would hate it to happen to her. But when it all comes out the reality is rather different. Sam has just discovered that he has a fifteen year old daughter living in Paris and that her mother has been in a serious car accident. Sam sees no alternative but to bring Ellie to live with them, but Charlotte is worried about how this will affect their daughter. When it's put to Hannah she has visions of long girly chats and swopping clothes and makeup and agrees without further thought. To begin with it's everything she hoped it would be but then a darker side of Ellie emerges and life turns into a nightmare for Hannah.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0746091249</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Jenny Nimmo
|title=The Witch's Tears
|rating=4
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=Theo and Dodie's cat is missing, it's snowing, their clock-mender dad is away, and Mr Oak from the village has warned Theo all about witches. It's almost impossible to detect a witch, y'know, but if by some small miracle you can get them to cry, their tears turn to crystal. When Mrs Scarum turns up at Theo and Dodie's house, Theo is incredibly wary...
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0007364717</amazonuk>
}}
