The It Girl by Katy Birchall

Katy Birchall is currently an Editorial Assistant at Country Life magazine. 'The It Girl' is her first book in a new series about schoolgirl Anna, her labrador Dog, and her dad. It is being marketed as 'clean teen', and for being ideal for fans of Geek Girl and Louise Rennison. Seeing as my daughter loves the former and I love the latter, I was keen to give it a go!

Anna's parents are divorced, but are still good friends. Her dad is a journalist and has fallen in love with a famous actress, Helena, who he had to interview. Helena also happens to have a daughter Marianne, who is a socialite and an It Girl, so Helena and Anna's dad are keen for the girls to get along. Will the girls manage to become friends? What will Anna's school friends think of her joining the celebrity world?

On the whole, I rather enjoyed it. It was really funny, and it just so  happens that, like Anna, my daughter also loves the Marvel characters (she knows them through all the films though, rather than the graphic novels) and Star Wars, and we also have a yellow labrador who is rather mad. I liked Anna's friends Jess, Danny and Connor, but of course none of us likes a show-off meany bad girl, of which there are many in one's life during school days, and of which there are a couple in this book. This was the part of the story which I thought let it down slightly. It was very predictable where the story was going and what was going to happen - so many school stories focus so much on the bully or the nasty girl. The book just seemed to lose its originality and its humour for quite a few pages.

However, I'd definitely read the next in the series (due out 2016), as I'd love to read more about the wonderful, funny Anna and what happens next in her rather mad world!

Big Game by Dan Smith

It's quite common for big movies with big-name actors to be based on a bestselling book, but in this instance it's the opposite. At the moment, there is a film out 'Big Game' starring Samuel L. Jackson, written by Jalmari Helander and Petri Jokiranta, and directed by Jalmari Helander. Barry Cunningham, from publishers Chicken House, approached children's author Dan Smith ('My Friend the Enemy', 'My Brother's Secret') and asked if he could bring the characters to life on the page. Well, what a brilliant job he's done. I couldn't put the book down - I read it in a day. It's full of adrenalin-fuelled action and adventure, you're hardly allowed to stop and draw breath. The characters are thrown from one near-death experience to another.

The story is set in Finland. It is the eve of Oskari's 13th birthday, and following tradition he has to spend one night and one day alone in the forests surrounding Mount Akka with just a bow and arrow and an emergency fire kit and a few small essentials. At the end of that time he must emerge from the forest with his prize. When his father was his age, he came out carrying a bear's head. However, the villagers don't seem to have much faith in Oskari's ability to hunt and kill anything. Oskari is soon to find out that the forest contains things more frightening than bears and elks, and he and all the villagers will discover he has more courage and heroism than anyone would have imagined.

A brilliant adventure for ages 11+.

Lockwood & Co - The Whispering Skull by Jonathan Stroud

I was very excited about reading this, as I had really enjoyed the first book in the series, The Screaming Staircase. I was not disappointed. It was great to be reunited with Tony, Lucy and George and follow them on to their next case. 

There have been strange ghostly sightings at a derelict sanatorium, and at a grave at Kensal Green cemetery. Lockwood & Co are hired to investigate, but to their dismay their greatest business rivals, the Fittes agency, are also hired to work with them. The case turns into a battle of wits as they race each other to solve the case, but more importantly, to try to stay alive. A relic from book one, the titular Whispering Skull, plays a big part in their case - both a help and a hindrance. And what of the strange, secret room in Tony's house which Lucy and George are forbidden to enter?

The story is captivating, the ghostly scenes are full of suspense, but my favourite bits are the really humorous parts when Tony, Lucy and George are talking amongst themselves. There are some great one-liners, and some brilliant put-downs, mostly about poor George. I really hope a new character who appears in this book, Flo, reappears in the next one. She's brillliant. There are two things that I can't get out of my head while I'm reading these books: 1) they are set in modern-day London - I keep visualising Victorian times; 2) Lucy is the narrator - I keep getting Tony's voice in my head!

I finished this far too quickly, which of course just means I'll have even longer to wait for the third in the series!

Violet Ink by Rebecca Westcott

Violet Ink
by Rebecca Westcott

This is Rebecca's second novel - the first was the very moving Dandelion Clocks which dealt with a girl's struggle to cope with her mother's illness.

This book is not so melancholic, and I loved it more for that reason. I rushed through it chapter after chapter, unable to put it down, and as soon as I finished it, I thrust it into the hands of my 11 yr-old daughter gushing 'Read this one next!' 

Izzy is such a wonderful character, and she has this fantastic obsession with a mood ring she wears which her older sister Alex bought her. It changes colour according to how Izzy is feeling and what is going on around her. I must look into whether they actually exist because I'd LOVE one! I loved the way that the chapter headings linked to colours to fit in with the mood ring. The colour theme also continues with Alex loving to write letters in violet ink. Izzy has a perfect relationship with Alex. Izzy is the quiet one and Alex is the extrovert, they talk openly about everything and hardly ever argue. Things change though when Alex starts going out with Charley. Alex starts to turn into a different person, she snaps at Izzy and hardly ever wants to talk to her or her mum. Then she runs away to Switzerland with Charley, taking a secret with her. Izzy is desperate for the old Alex to return - in more ways than one - but will life ever return to normal if she does?

A moving story of sisterhood, with emotions changing from love to hate to jealousy and then full circle again. Izzy is having to grow up fast learning the ways of the world quicker than she would have liked.

Suitable for 11+.

Geek Girl- Picture Perfect by Holly Smale

Geek Girl - Picture Perfect
by Holly Smale
(Review by Megan, 11)


The third book in the Geek Girl series, still holds me page by page.
Harriet Manners has had the best summer ever and is planning her next few weeks of pure delight on A3 pieces of paper.... but not for long.
On the day of her exam results, Harriet returns home to find her parents hurriedly packing: they were packing for New York. Astonished but excited, she takes the move as a new experience, and looks forward to seeing the wonderful sights of America! Unfortunately, Harriet's parents made a white lie, they weren't moving to New York, but two hours away from it in a shabby American estate in Greenway. Furious, Harriet runs away to the glamorous city for a modeling job, but will things turn out alright for her in the end?

A gripping read as always from Holly Smale, still one of my favourite books! Definately recommended for 11/12- 15 yrs. GEEK OUT! :D

Boy in the Tower by Polly Ho-Yen

Boy in the Tower
by Polly Ho-Yen

Ade (pronounced Addee) lives in a high rise block of flats with his mum in South London. He goes to the local school where he is friends with Gaia who lives in the high rise opposite. One day his mum comes home crying with a bruised and battered face and refuses to tell Ade what has happened. After that, she becomes withdrawn and asks Ade to do the shopping and the cooking, while she sleeps all day and night. Ade takes comfort in looking out of the window at life passing him by outside and down below. Then strange things start to happen in the area. A pub nearby collapses to the ground, then building workers and policemen fall down dead, and slowly all the high rise flats and houses in the town fall down, killing all those trapped inside. Many people flee the area, but still Ade's mum refuses to leave the flat. What is causing the buildings to fall, and how will Ade and his mum manage to survive? The tables are turned as a young teenage son is having to care for his mother while all around them the world is changing and disaster is creeping upon them.

This is a wonderful story of courage, determination, strength and bravery. The storytelling is simplistic but addictive, making you want to read straight from one chapter to the next.

If you like this, I also recommend P.O.D. by Stephen Wallenfels.

The Apple Tart of Hope by Sarah Moore Fitzgerald

The Apple Tart of Hope
by Sarah Moore Fitzgerald

This was such a lovely book. The style of writing reminded me so much of John Boyne and Frank Cottrell-Boyce. It's gentle, heartfelt, emotional, a little book kooky - I just adored it. It had the feel of a 9-12yr audience, but the subject matter might deny that age group because it deals with attempted suicide which I think is a bit too adult emotionally for young children to grasp and cope with.

The story is set in Ireland. Oscar and Meg are best friends - they live next door to each other, go to the same school, they talk all day and nearly all night out of their bedroom windows. Meg's father takes a job in New Zealand for 6 months, and Meg reluctantly goes with them. While they're away, Paloma and her mother move in to Meg's old house, and Oscar befriends Paloma. But this is where Oscar's life suddenly gets turned around, from good to bad. He is hurt, ridiculed, and bullied, and due to an awful misunderstanding over a letter, Meg no longer keeps in contact with him. He feels all alone, and sees only one way out. But what Oscar doesn't realise is that there are people around who care about him, and save him from a life-threatening action.

A beautiful book about being different, about good and bad friendships, and how salvation can come from an unlikely place.

Fire Storm by Lauren St John

Fire Storm
by Lauren St John

I can't believe this is the last in the trilogy of the One Dollar Horse series. I've loved every one of them (as I have all of Lauren's books - do read her White Giraffe series set on an animal reserve in South Africa and her Laura Marlin Mysteries - all excellent). I tried to read this one slowly to make it last and savour it but of course it's impossible. You have to read one chapter straight after another.

Casey is now looking to win the Grand Slam of horse 3-day eventing by training for the Burghley Horse Trials. But a few changes in her life start to pose a threat to this possibility. It all literally becomes a matter of life and death. The young and handsome Kyle walks into her life playing with her emotions, and the reappearance of Anna Sparkes causes Casey to fear for the safety of herself and her adorable horse Storm. But is it Anna that Casey has to watch out for?

I look forward to finding out what exciting series Lauren St John has in store for us next.