The Radleys
by Matt Haig
The Radleys are seemingly a normal family in an affluent area of England. Father is a doctor, mother also an ex-medical student, children Clara and Rowan both teenage schoolchildren. However, there are things about them that are rather odd - the children are very pale, always sitting in the shade and always tired during the day, and the parents only socialise during the night. The parents have a secret which they have kept from their children - until the day Clara is attacked on her way home from a party and she ends up killing him - by sucking his blood. The Radleys are vampires, and the few days after the incident are filled with getting over the shock of the revelation, being chased by the police, angry parents, and a brother-in-law infatuated with the wife, determined to have her as his own.
It truly makes you think there could be vampires living in your street....
Matt Haig's new book for adults, The Humans, is out 9th May 2013. He is also the author of brilliant books for 9-12yrs - To Be a Cat and the Shadow Forest series.
Tom-All-Alone's
by Lynn Shepherd
The name of the book is the name given to a graveyard where people can have their loved ones buried cheaply, or in the case of those dead who have no family or friends, chucked in one on top of the other. One of the first scenes in the book takes place here, but it is bodies of babies that are unearthed. The place is London 1850, and here begins a brilliantly written murder mystery, led by ex-detective Charles Maddox. He is led into a world of bribery, corruption, prostitution and murder. Will he himself come out of this unscathed? The murders are gruesome but the storytelling gripping.
The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out Of The Window And Disappeared
by Jonas Jonasson
Wow, what a tome of a book! Very detailed, very political, quite long (387 pages!), but quite enjoyable. I got quite irritated at times with his form of conversations - indirect rather than direct speech. A fascinating alternative history lesson too!
Allan Karlsson is in an old people's home approaching his 100th birthday. The home plan to throw him a party, but Allan doesn't plan to be part of it, so he climbs out of his ground floor flat window and starts on quite an adventure - unwittingly a life of crime - and finds himself wanted for murder (but completely innocent). The chapters alternate between his centenarian self, and his colourful and eventful life from birth to the present day - how he managed to meet the most powerful people in the world and be part of the most important world changing events (sometimes being the cause of them). You grow fond of Allan's character as he seems both politically innocent, naive and ignorant, but astute and aware at the same time.
The Borrower
by Rebecca Makkai
Lucy is a librarian in Missouri, and 10-yr old Ian Drake is a regular visitor and borrower. His parents start to disagree with his (and Lucy's) choice of reading material. Lucy then discovers that they have enrolled Ian in anti-gay classes (not that he is, just to make sure he won't be). Ian wants to run away, and he starts out on his plan by spending the night (unnoticed) in the library. Lucy finds herself part of his plan when she discovers him there the next morning, and drives him out of town, not knowing where they're going. So begins a journey of lies but also of finding oneself, and discovering an awareness of other people's feelings. At what point, if at all, should Lucy convince Ian that he must return home to his overbearing parents?
Very americanised, I must admit I only enjoyed about the last half.
The Absolutist
by John Boyne
Written by the author of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, this is another war story, but this time the First World War. Tristan Sadler feels he has something wrong with him because he has different feelings from other men. He commits an act which finds him cut off from his family and best friend. He lies about his age and enters the Army at age 17, with the last words his father uttered to him ringing in his ears - "I hope you get shot by the Germans". He befriends Will and they form a very close bond, but Will's feelings towards Tristan and the war itself change, with devastating results. We discover the events as Tristan tells them to Will's sister after the war has ended.
Another emotional story from John Boyne about the dramatic and life-changing events of the time, both for the servicemen and civilians.
Mr Briggs' Hat
by Kate Colquhoun
Having loved Kate Summerscale's The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, I was looking forward to reading this one and it didn't disappoint. Mixing facts of the case with photographs, historical facts about the railways, Victorian society, the judicial system, capital punishment and much more, this book about Britain's first railway murder is trully engrossing. Beware - do not look at the photos and captions in the middle of the book before finishing the story!
The Woman Who Went to Bed for a Year
by Sue Townsend
Eva Beaver - mother of super intelligent teenage twins Brian Jnr and Brianny and wife of astronomer Professor Brian Beaver (also philanderer) - has had enough of everyday life and organising everyone else's life. She wants peace, quiet, rest and avoidance of people's emotional problems. One day she gets into bed fully clothed and doesn't leave for a year. Food is brought to her by her exasperated family and friends, her children disown her, her husband's lover moves in, she gains notoriety, and members of the public start camping out on the pavement outside her house. It all starts to get Eva down and she slowly starts to break down and refuses contact with everybody. It's only the close friendship of a local artist and DIY man which finally saves her in the end.
Humorous, sad, upsetting, truthful - everything you'd expect from a Townsend novel.
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
by Jonathan Safran Foer
Oskar's father died in the 9/11 World Trade Centre disaster, when Oskar was 7. Two years later, he finds a key in a vase in his dad's closet and he ventures out to find the lock it fits - somewhere in the whole of New York. As well as the details of his search and the characters he meets along the way, we also learn about Oskar's Grandma and her heartbreaking relationship with Grandpa, who as a boy had survived the Dresden bombings.
It's a sad but wonderful and sometimes humorous account of death, mourning, love, survival, new friendships, and how the search for the truth can reveal more surprises than you expect.
The Sense of an Ending
by Julian Barnes
I was really looking forward to reading this as I absolutely loved Arthur and George. But I was a little disappointed. After reading so many teenage novels, this adult one appeared very pretentious. But perhaps it's just mature writing for the intellectuals! Much philosophising, debating every event in life, contemplating the meaning of life itself, our role in it, our memories of our life, and how our memories are not always to be believed. The story follows Tony, his schoolfriend Adrian, and mutual lover Veronica. Shocks abound, secrets uncovered. Not bad really.
The Lifeboat
by Charlotte Rogan
It is 1914, two years after the sinking of the Titanic, and a mystery explosion sinks the cruise liner The Empress Alexandra. Lifeboats are lowered, brimming to over-capacity with survivors. Grace Winter is separated from her husband, Henry, and finds herself in one of the lifeboats. So begins a diary of events told from the viewpoint of Grace in a letter to her solicitor while she is in prison, for a crime we are not fully aware of but can guess from the start. The book explains quite well the huge rollercoaster of emotions one must go through if you're floating at sea with little food or water, wondering if you're ever to be rescued. The physical and mental changes are well described, and you find yourself at one with Grace while she deliberates the meaning of survival, guilt, innocence and justice.
Unravelling
by Elizabeth Norris
A rather badly written book peppered with bad language, and very disjointed. However, amongst this awfulness is the start of a good thriller. Janell Tenner, 17, is hit by a truck and killed, but brought back to life by Ben. Her father is an FBI agent and is working on a case where unidentified victims are discovered with radiation burns. So begins a story of alternate universes, portals, murders, love and friendships. Slightly over-the-top but tiny bits of good thriller writing.
The second in the series, Unbreakable, is out 6th June 2013.
Pop!
by Catherine Bruton
Elfie, Jimmy and Agnes enter a local talent contest in Liverpool - Elfie and Agnes do the singing while Jimmy looks after Elfie's baby brother, Alfie. However, each of their parents know nothing of this - they all play a different part in the local union strike. The talent contest causes rifts in families and friendships, torn communities but ultimately a truly bonding experience.
Catherine's first book was We Can Be Heroes, which is definitely my favourite of the two.
The Case of the Good-Looking Corpse
by Caroline Lawrence
The follow-up to The Case of the Deadly Desperadoes, P.K. Pinkerton has set up a detective agency and his first case is the murder of Sally, one of the 'saloon girls'. P.K. battles with enemies old and new, and has the help of friends old and new to help solve the mystery.
I just love this series set in the Wild West of the 1860s.
Someone Else's Life
by Katie Dale
Overly long and overly complicated! Rosie and Holly were swapped at birth, so were brought up by the wrong parents. But then Rosie finds her real parents, but then one of them turns out to be not her parent, then Holly goes out for revenge on Rosie, Rosie loses her boyfriend, then gets him back again, then the same happens with Holly.....aarghh! Too much!
This Is Not Forgiveness
by Celia Rees
Nothing like other books I've read of hers (Sovay is a brilliant historical fiction novel for teens), this is a disturbing story of a teenage girl, Caro, who gets mixed up and deeply involved in marches, riots and finally terrorist plots. Her partner in crime is Rob, ex-army, injured in Afghanistan by a bomb, now deeply mentally affected with post-traumatic stress syndrome. Caught up in the middle is Rob's younger brother, the innocent Jamie, who has fallen in love with Caro, without realising what type of person she is.
The element of guns runs through the book - Caro's father shot himself following a spate of depression from losing his job; her stepfather has a gun licence, owns and keeps many guns in the house, and has taught Caro how to shoot (for game only); Rob and Jamie's father, also in the Army, shot himself; their Grandpa, again ex-Army, also has a violent past and owns guns, but is now in a home suffering from Alzheimer's. So from the beginning, when we know that Rob and another has died in an incident which has affected the whole community, there is an underlying sense of unease, and you're waiting for the inevitable to happen.
A slow and confusing start, but improves.
The Other Life
by Susanne Winnacker
There has been a rabies outbreak in Los Angeles and the government's militia have advised the public to spend the next 4 years in confinement in their bunkers, with regular updates over radio. Sherry and her family have run out of food, and contact has been lost with the outer world. Sherry and her father decide to exit the bunker and find food, but instead of finding food they find the Weepers - rabies infected humans with puss oozing from their eyes. The father is taken away to a weeper's nest, and Sherry finds help in the form of Jacob and other survivors who have taken refuge in a big villa - the Safe Haven. It slowly emerges that the area the survivors live in is actually fenced off from the rest of the country, and the military have no intention of letting those survivors - or the weepers - through back to humanity.
A good story - first in a series - a bit too fluffy when the romance is described. Jacob and Sherry seem to quickly form a relationship before they even know much about each other. But they are both sharing an existence of fear, and worry whether they'll survive another attack from the weepers.
Falling Fast
by Sophie McKenzie
From the author of the Girl, Missing series and the Medusa Project series - both brilliant.
River is 16 and a true romantic. She wants to find THE ONE, she wants to fall head over heels in love and never fall out of it. She auditions for the role of Juliet in an inter-school production of Romeo and Juliet, but due to a bit of a fluster, ends up with the role of the nurse. The fluster comes in the role of Romeo - Flynn, a brooding, fiery, serious moody teenager from the local boys school. River is hooked - he has to be THE ONE. Then he falls for her. But he's hiding many secrets - his father was an abusive alcoholic who his mother threw out the house. They now live in a tiny flat with his two sisters, and Flynn tries to protect them all. A huge job for a teenager with multiple jobs, school work, a play and a violent past. Can River cope with his behaviour? Is this what she wanted from her dreamy ideal of her one first and true love?
I read this in a day. A great teenage love story, describing all the emotions a teenage girl would go through on falling in love for the first time. Not for readers under 12 - very powerful language and descriptive scenes only for 13+.
Miss Peregrine's School for Peculiar Children
by Ransom Riggs
This is marketed as a horror book, but in our bookshop it has proved very popular with the teenagers.
Jacob gets on well with his Grandpa, even if he is a bit strange, talking of monsters and children with strange abilities, and an orphanage in Wales. Then Grandpa is savagely killed and Jacob goes to Wales to track down the orphanage and find out the truth of Grandpa's strange life. He uncovers time loops, peculiar children with abilities straight out of old-fashioned circuses, monsters, violent murders - and the truth.
The story starts out well, then loses its appeal slightly at the talk of time loops, and from there slight confusion begins. The author seems very rushed at the end to tie all the loose ends together. A slightly disappointing end to a promising start, but still worth a read.
Department 19 - The Rising
by Will Hill
Part 2 of the vampire-hunting saga. Dracula is on the rise. There is yet another spy within Department 19 feeding back scret ops information to the vampire community, especially Valeri Rusmanov. Two people who Jamie thought he'd never see again are resurfacing. Jamie, Kate, Larissa, Shaun and Admiral Seward all return for more emotional, mental and physical shocks. More gore, more adventure, more terror - more cliffhangers. Brilliant.
Mortal Chaos
by Matt Dickinson
A chain of horrific events is sparked by the flap of a butterfly's wings, the events occurring all over the world. How can such huge devastation be caused by such a minor event?
A brilliant page-turner, helped by short chapters and the author's great descriptive writing.
Fever
by Dee Shulman
Quite a long story - I skimmed through quite a lot of it as I thought it was too long and was taking a while getting to the main story. Sethos is a Roman gladiator in AD152. He loves Livia, but she is betrothed to a powerful man, one not willing to let her go. Eva is a student in 2012. She is super intelligent and loves the sciences. A lecture and show by an American scientist goes drastically wrong, and Eva is unknowingly infected with a deadly virus which kills her but then immediately brings her to life again. Meanwhile, Livia and Sethos are discovered by the betrothed and both murdered, but Sethos wakes uninjured in a parallel world. He finds he can time travel, and journeys to 2012 to find the cause of a fever which killed him in the end and ended the life of many others. He bumps into Eva who looks uncannily like Livia - in fact, is her. She starts to have flashbacks of her previous life as Livia, and realises she and Sethos are destined to be together. Complicated, eh?
The Haunting of Tabitha Grey
by Vanessa Curtis
Tabitha's dad has a new job as Keeper of Weston Manor, so Tabitha, her brother Ben, her mum and dad move into the flat in one of the manor's wings. It seems this move should be a 'fresh start' for the family, but we are not immediately told what has happened. Tabitha's mum is on medication and sleeping pills, Ben never speaks (he is five, Tabs is 15), and the Dad is easily distracted by the pretty young receptionist at the manor, Dawn. However, the manor is haunted, but only Tabitha sees the ghosts, and her dad doesn't believe her. Tabitha is all alone in her nightmare until the security guard, Sid, tells her a bit more about the manor and its past inhabitants. He says he too has seen the ghosts. The lady ghost is after something that Tabitha has and she must let it go. We are then told of the tragedy that occurred a year ago in Tabitha's life, and who she must finally set free.
Edgy, keeps you reading, not too scary.
Ben Kingdom - The Claws of Evil
by Andrew Beasley
Victorian London - but not quite as you might have learnt it in school! Ben's mother died during childbirth, and he, his father and his brother all live in a tiny room in a shared house, with no heating. But what Ben doesn't know yet is that he is the chosen one of a prophecy, and many of the characters around him are actually 'Watchers' looking after him making sure he is not recruited by the evil underground people. Ben comes into possession of an ancient Roman coin which the evil people would also like to have. So begins a cat and mouse chase game, followed by a tug-of-war between the do-gooders and the claws of evil to see who can keep Ben.
The second in The Battles of Ben Kingdom series is out in September 2013.
Dear Dylan
by Siobhan Curham
The story is told through the format of e-mail. Georgie is a fan of Dylan, a teen actor in a soap. She e-mails him a few times and tells him of her love for him and also a little bit about her life. At first, the response e-mail seems automated and generic, but slowly they are addressed to her personally and contain words of wisdom and advice. She is then told that 'Dylan's' e-mails are actually written by his mum Nancy. After the initial shock and anger Georgie and Nancy become e-mates and Nancy is a constant source of comfort for Georgie while she is going through a very traumatic personal life - bad friendships, boyfriends, an abusive step-dad and the loss of her dad in a motorbike accident.
Humorous but melancholic.
The Name of this Book is Secret
by Pseudonymous Bosch
Cass's 'grandparents' are antique dealers. They are paid a regular visit by Gloria, an estate agent, who comes with boxes of items left in old houses up for sale. One day, the box she brings has intriguing items that used to belong to a magician, now missing, presumed dead. One item is a box containing many vials, named the Symphony of Smells. Thus begins a magical adventure full of drama and suspense for Cass and her schoolfriend Max-Ernest. They find out sinister information about Ms Mauvais and Dr L., and discover that they themselves have something these two baddies desperately want.
With lots of humour, this is a good start of a series for 9-10yr olds.
All The Wrong Questions - Who Could That Be At This Hour?
by Lemony Snicket
This is book 1 in a series, and being Lemony Snicket, it is a bit weird and off-centre, but a great spy adventure for 9+.
Lemony is 13 and is assistant to S.Theodora Markson (she never tells us what the 'S' stands for), who is a secret agent/private detective. Their job is to find a stolen object 'The Bombinating Beast' (a mythical monster) and return it to its rightful owner. However, many people seem to be involved in the 'theft', if it is indeed that, and there are many people not telling the truth. Lemony attempts to get to the bottom of the mystery (without much help from Theodora - as it turns out she is quite a useless private detective), and along the way makes friends with a few unusual, colourful characters. A bizarre, but good, read.
One Dog and His Boy
by Eva Ibbotson
Hal's parents are very rich. He wants for nothing and owns toys and gadgets most boys can only dream of. But all he really wants is a dog. Mother will absolutely not have a dog because it will poo and wee all over her expensive carpets and chew all her expensive furniture. One day, after asking them for the umpteenth time, the father decides he will get Hal a dog. What Hal does not realise is that the dog is from a pet hire shop, and he will only have it for a weekend. When he realises the dog has gone back on the Monday morning, he makes a plan. He will break into the pet hire shop late one night and steal it back and run away with it to his grandparent's house in Northumberland. However, his plan does not go smoothly, and he ends up on a trip up north with more company than he expected, and along the way meets both colourful and unsavoury characters.
Eva Ibbotson is truly a literary treasure. I implore you all to read at least one of her books.
A lovely, sweet book for 9+.
Liar and Spy
by Rebecca Stead
What a great story! Georges and his parents have to move from their large house to an apartment after dad loses his highly paid job. Mum works as a nurse in the local hospital and takes on extra shifts to make ends meet. Georges only manages to communicate with his mum through messages left via Scrabble letter pieces. He makes friends with Softer, a boy in the apartment above, who gets him to join his spy club. He is spying on one of their neighbours, 'Mr X', who Softer is convinced is a murderer. Together they try to find out what Mr X is up to, by watching his comings and goings on the block's video intercom system, and by breaking and entering his flat. However, Georges finds he is mixed up in rather more than a schoolboy spy club, and events at school with the classroom bullies, together with events taking place within his family, all lead him to question friendship, loyalty, truth and love.
Rebecca has also written the wonderful When You Reach Me, which was shortlisted for Waterstones Childrens Book Prize 2011.
The Falcon Chronicles: Tiger Wars
by Steve Backshall
This was brilliant! The precis on the inside cover doesn't do it justice. The storyline revolves around animals and places Steve knows much about, and his love for them shines through in his wonderfully descriptive writing.
Set in India, Saker is part of 'The Clan', a group of boys who have been unwittingly brought up being trained as hunter warriors, of both men and animals. If they show signs of wavering from their duty or questioning the reasoning, they are either drugged or they simply 'disappear'. Saker was on a mission to supply live tigers for a big client, who would then make millions out of the pelts and body parts. He escapes during the mission, but unavoidably has to take Sinter, the daughter of a wealthy tea plantation owner, as hostage. However, the two soon realise they have a lot in common when it comes to the protection of endangered wild animals, and they follow the trail of two tiger cubs to track down the evil mastermind. Their journey takes them through India, across the border to China and through the Himalayas to Tibet, with a surprise awaiting Sinter.
The Templeton Twins Have An Idea
by Ellis Weiner
Abigail and John are the intelligent twin children of Professor Elton Templeton, an inventor. Their mother has died and the Professor wants to move, so when the opportunity arises to teach at a different college and to use their facilities, the Professor jumps at it. They acquire Cassie, the Ridiculous Dog, and Nanny Nan the Nanny is employed to look after them. However, Dean D. Dean and his twin Dan D. Dean claim they gave the Professor the idea for one of his inventions, and when the Professor refuses to hand over the rights to it, they kidnap the twins. But they are soon to discover that the 12-yr old twins are not easy to outwit.
A very original story with an equally original layout. I loved that at the end of each chapter there are 'Questions for Review', but they are just hilarious bits of fun, not serious questions at all. The author is also constantly joking with the reader and explaining long words, but mostly blowing his own trumpet by saying what a great author he is!
Osbert the Avenger
by Christopher William Hill
Osbert is very intelligent, so intelligent he passes an exam to get into the top school for intelligent children! However, inside the school, the children are physically and mentally abused, and in no way are loved or even liked. When Osbert does not get the prize he deserves and is expelled from the school, Osbert vows to get his revenge. One by one, the teachers in the school come to a grisly end, and the local police are out in force to track down the Schwartzgarten Slayer. Is Osbert in over his head?
Very grisly, very long, very Snicket-esque, and packing in more of a storyline than should possibly be there, this book is quite enjoyable, but even more so if it was half as long! This is the first of the Tales from Schwartzgarten series.
Journey to the River Sea
by Eva Ibbotson
A lovely story which transports you to the Amazon, and you can just visualize the sights and sounds of the river creatures and jungle animals. Maia's parents have died and she boards at a girls school in England. Distant cousins of her parents offer to look after her, and to Maia's delight she finds that they live in the Amazon right on the river. However, delight turns to dismay when she discovers just how awful they all are. Her only allies are Miss Minton her governess, Finn an aristocrat-born jungle boy, and Clovis a travelling young actor. Adventures and disasters befall Maia in this beautifully told book.
The Grimm Legacy
by Polly Shulman
Elizabeth writes a project for school on the Brothers Grimm, and as a result gets a good mark and a job in The New York Circulating Material Repository - a lending library for all things historical, fantastical and magical, the most magical being the Grimm Collection. It contains items such as the magic mirror from Snow White, the spindle from Sleeping Beauty, and all the shoes of The Twelve Dancing Princesses. When these important items start to go missing, Elizabeth and her friends from the Repository go out to find the culprit, using anything magical to help them.
Hard to pin down an age group for this - first I thought 9-10, then there was lots of kissing which increased it to an 11! Bit of a weak ending after a good adventurous story, but I still enjoyed it.
The Secret Hen-House Theatre
by Helen Peters
Hannah lives with her 2 sisters and one brother on a working farm. Their mother has died and so their father struggles with looking after his children and running a loss-making farm. The rent has doubled and he is slowly selling farm machinery and cattle to pay for it. Hannah and her best friend Lottie yearn to put on a play at the farm and enter it into the local drama competition. Two acts of vandalism occur on the farm which threaten the future of the play, but the show must go on, and Hannah and Lottie are determined to overcome any obstacle put in their way.
A charming story of life on a farm based on the author's real childhood of growing up and working on her parents' farm.
The Messenger Bird
by Ruth Eastham
Nathan's dad works for the Ministry of Defence. One evening, he is abruptly arrested and charged under the Official Secrets Act. Nathan, his sister Hannah and their mum all know he is innocent, and so Nathan tries to find evidence to prove it. Following clues left by his father and by Lily Kenley, a young lady who worked at Bletchley Park during the Second World War using the Enigma decoding machine, and who used to live in Nathan's house, Nathan and his best friends Josh and Sasha throw themselves into danger and risk their lives to help prove his dad's innocence.
Tilly's Moonlight Fox
by Julia Green
One for lovers of nature and animals, this is a sweet ghost story for 9+. Tilly has moved to a new house left to her mum by an elderly friend. Her mum is heavily pregnant, but due to complications is bed-bound. The worry of this, the house move, a new school, and lack of friends all lead Tilly to an anxious state of mind. She has vivid dreams and sleepwalks. The presence of a fox in the garden and the discovery of an old dolls house in the attic both lead Tilly to meet Helen in a newly made den in the old garden. Once Tilly's mum has the baby and all is well, Helen disasppears, Tilly makes a friend at school ,and there are no more strange dreams or sleepwalking.
The Chronicles of Egg: Deadweather and Sunrise
by Geoff Rodkey
Egbert (the titular Egg) lives on Deadweather Island - dull, grey, humid and sticky. He is constantly picked on and punched by his brother and sister and ignored by his father. His mother has passed away. One day, his father comes home from a walk to his plantation of 'ugly fruit' and the cleaning of the cannon which keeps the pirates away, and announces they are to take a trip to Sunrise - the beautiful island a short boat trip away. So begins the adventure. Dad, brother and sister die in a ballooning accident, Egg befriends Millicent whose father is super rich and powerful but who also has a dark side, and who sets out to kill Egg in order to get to treasure hidden on Deadweather. Along the way we meet scary pirates and an unlikely friend in Guts, a one-handed cabinboy.
A great adventure story for 9-12yr olds.
Tom Gates is Absolutely Fantastic (at some things)
by L.Pichon
(First review by Megan)
A fantastic book(the fith book in the series) about a boy called Tom,who is going on his first School Camp Activity Trip! A really funny read written in the format of a doodle journal,with the embarrasing moments of a 10yr old's life and revenge of a teenage sister on her first job!!!
Great for lovers of the Diary Of a Wimpy Kid series.
Small Change for Stuart
by Lissa Evans
Stuart's mother is a scientist, his father a crossword compiler (he always uses very long words when a short one would be more understandable). More importantly, his great uncle Tony used to be a magician -that is, until he mysteriously disappeared 50 years ago. Stuart finds a secret message from his great-uncle implying there is a warehouse full of his magic implements hidden somewhere. Stuart and also Alice, one of the annoying neighbouring triplets, try to solve the puzzle of the missing uncle and his warehouse.
A fab story for 8+. The follow up is called Big Change for Stuart. If you like this, also read The Name of this Book is Secret by Pseudonymous Bosch (reviewed below).
A Year Without Autumn
by Liz Kessler
A time travel story that starts really well, then gets quite complicated and long-winded, but then has a good ending. Jenni and Autumn are best friends and every year they and their families go on holiday together. Jenni discovers an old fashioned lift in the apartment block where Autumn is staying, but when she uses it to go up a level or two, she finds herself in the future by that many years. A year in the future, a terrible accident has occurred which has upset the relationship of everyone around her. Jenni tries to discover a way of stopping the accident and hence re-instating the equilibrium.
I enjoyed Liz's latest book North of Nowhere much more. Once again Liz revisits the time travel theme. Also look out for Liz's popular mermaid series for 9-12yrs Emily Windsnap.
Butterfly Summer
by Anne-Marie Conway
I loved this - I read it in a day. It's about Becky and her mum, secrets about a tragic past involving an older sister, a father who can't cope with the grief and runs away to Australia, but ultimately a ghost story about Rosa-May and her Butterfly Garden. An engrossing read.
A Dog Called Homeless
by Sarah Lean
I'm not really sure about the cover, but this is actually a lovely book. It's about overcoming loss, coming together as a family, patience, acceptance and friendship. Cally lives with her dad and her brother Luke. Their mother died a year ago on the dad's birthday. Cally wants to talk about her mother to make it seem she's still alive, but her dad seems to want to leave it in the past and move on. Cally struggles with her friendships at school and sees a sponsored silence as a way out of her troubles. She doesn't speak for over 30 days. Meanwhile, the father has trouble at work and they have to move to a flat where Cally makes friends with the downstairs neighbour and son, Sam, who is blind and partly deaf. Then Cally starts to see her mother's ghost but no-one believes her. The appearance of Jed, a homeless juggler, and his huge dog, who takes an instant liking to Cally and who she names Homeless, help Cally through this difficult time by answering questions - with surprising results.
A beautiful, moving story about mourning the loss of a mother. Look out for Sarah Lean's next novel out now A Horse for Angel.
Wonder
by R. J. Palacio
August was born with a rare genetic deficiency which has caused the malformation of his facial features. He has been home schooled by his mother but now, aged 10, he is entering the first year of middle school. In turn, the story is told from the viewpoint of all the main characters. We learn about people's ignorance, prejudice, naivete, and how even if someone looks different on the outside, they are the same as us on the inside. Bullies, friendships and families are all under the spotlight, but the happiness of a beautiful 10-yr old boy who has feelings like the rest of us, is what is to be achieved.
A moving story which, in places, will bring tears to your eyes.
Ellie May Would Like to be Taken Seriously for a Change
by Marianne Levy
I was very disappointed with this. There's a quote from Andy Stanton on the book "Made me laugh out loud" - had he actually read it? Very drawn out and longwinded with an obvious moral story but taking too long to tell it!
Ellie is a famous child actress (with many films under her belt already), totally ignorant of anything worldly (eg, doesn't know that caterpillars turn into butterflies), loves tea, fudge cake, clothes and make-up. She is eventually brought back down to earth by a brown jumper-wearing, insect-loving school girl called Lettice. The book has tiny snippets of humour, and good-story potential, but other than that, a thumbs down from me.
My Funny Family
by Chris Higgins
Mattie lives with her two brothers, two sisters, mum and dad, and Jellico the dog. She is 9yrs old and a bit of a worrier. When she has things on her mind, she writes them down in list format so as to try to empty her mind of them. At the moment she's worried that her mum looks tired and peaky and has been to the doctors, her sister doesn't want to practice her reading, her best friend's parents may be getting a divorce so perhaps mum and dad will, some of the newly planted seeds in the garden aren't growing properly. Will everything sort itself out to stop Mattie worrying?
The first in a series about the Butterfield family. A sweet, light-hearted story for newly confident readers.
Wendy Quill is a Crocodile's Bottom
by Wendy Meddour
Perfect for lovers of the Daisy and the Trouble With...books by Kes Gray (very funny), Mr Gum by Andy Stanton, and the Clarice Bean series by Lauren Child.
Wendy Quill would love to be famous, but each time she tries, (trying to get the lead role in the school play, for example), something or someone upsets the plan.
The story is laugh out loud funny, with great illustrations by the author's 11-yr-old daughter. Their next story will be Wendy Quill Tries to Grow a Pet - can't wait!
A Boy And A Bear In A Boat
by Dave Shelton
A boy steps into a boat and asks to be taken "over to the other side".The person rowing the boat is a bear! We are told no names apart from that of the rowing boat - Harriet - and the town the boy comes from - Cromer. So begins a very peculiar story about a very peculiar voyage across a sea with no destination in sight. You wonder how the author can keep up nearly 300 pages of this, but surprises are in store in the shape of sea monsters, storms, rocks and ghost ships. The boy and the bear help each other through tricky situations like near starvation and near drowning. They manage to lose three boats and end up using the bear as a boat, a suitcase as his float and a ukelele as a paddle. Will they ever reach "the other side"?
A quaint original story with loads of great illustrations.
Agatha Parrot and The Floating Head
by Kjartan Poskitt
(Review by Megan)
This is the first book in the series with a really funny story-line and silly characters! From the author of the Murderous Maths series, a fantastic book has come to life.
Agatha Parrot is a young girl with a great expectation to become a famous actress, but right now at school they have been offered a trip to the museum to look at dead boddies and mummies if they get full attendance! How cool is that? But when Agatha's best mate Martha cluelessly eats octopus paste on her pizza and becomes ill, can Agatha save the day? Lets hope she can, because a balloon can sometimes be dangerously lethal!!!
A book for about 7+.
Claude In The Spotlight
by Alex T.Smith
(Review by Megan)
This is the fourth book in the series, and Claude has journeyed his way into a theatre to perform a dance routine, but he doesn't know what could happen...
On his way looking for an adventure, Claude finds himself entering a dance class, and the teacher is so impressed with him, that she wants Claude to perform in the fabulous Variety Show in the theatre that afternoon! Of course Claude doesn't want to be rude, so he agrees,and goes off to perform! Nothing bad could happen there, could it?..
I really enjoyed the way that Alex T.Smith talks about Claude, and all the other characters talk to him as if he's a human, which is very humorous! My favourite part of the book is when Sir Bobblysock (Claude's best friend) puts on his specs!!
Fizzlebert Stump
by A. F. Harrold
Fizzlebert lives in the circus. His mum is a clown and his dad is the strongman. He is tutored by various members of the circus (unsuccessfully). His best friends are Fish the sea lion and Charles the circus lion. One day a member of the audience leaves a library book behind and Fizzlebert sets out to return it. So begins an unfortunate series of events resulting in Fizz's kidnap by two elderly people and taken back to their filthy home. Will he ever escape? Will his parents notice he is missing?
A funny story for 8yr olds who like Mr Gum and David Walliams.
