Chasing the Dark
by Sam Hepburn
Joe Slattery's mum has been killed in a hit-and-run car accident, and as his father is no longer on the scene, Joe is sent to live with his mum's sister and her husband. However, Aunt Doreen shows only animosity towards Joe. While enjoying a walk out with his dog, Oz, to escape the awful Aunt, Joe finds himself in the grounds of a crumbling mansion. Before he knows it, he is grabbed by a dirty tramp, who threatens to kill Oz unless Joe brings him food, medicine, bandages and money. This is the start of a frightening adventure for Joe as he uncovers secrets and lies. The accident that killed his mum was no simple hit-and-run; who was the stranger in the car who was giving her a lift; what is the tramp with the foreign accent doing hiding in the mansion. Joe tries to discover some answers, but in the process finds himself in mortal danger.
A great thriller that definitely picks up speed as it progresses.
Fortunately, the Milk...
by Neil Gaiman
A crazy, kooky tale of a father's trip out the house to get some milk so the kids can have their breakfast cereal. He is away for absolutely ages, and on his return his children ask where he's been. So begins an incredible story of time-travel, meeting dinosaurs, aliens in spaceships, pirates, stone-god worshipping men, and the all-important pint of milk. If the story isn't enough to keep the readers entertained, Chris Riddell's illustrations will definitely have you poring over every page, looking at the minute detail of his pictures. The father of the story bears an incredibly uncanny resemblance to Neil Gaiman himself...
A brilliant pairing of author and illustrator to create an entertaining fantasy story for young readers.
The Mysterious Misadventures of Clemency Wrigglesworth
by Julia Lee
I really enjoyed this fun, quirky adventure story of a brave young orphan, Clemency Wrigglesworth, who travels alone from India to England, not knowing where she is going or who will look after her. She is taken under the wing of Mrs Potchard and her son Gully, and his aunt Mrs Marvel and her children Whitby and Leicester. An advertisement is put in The Times newspaper announcing the arrival of Miss Wrigglesworth and her location, but unfortunately the mysterious lady who comes to whisk Clemency away may not have her best intentions at heart. Gully and Whitby set out on a daring rescue mission, while Clemency uses her fearlessness and bravado to attempt to find out the truth about her real family.
If you like this, also try The Thornthwaite Inheritance or The Considine Curse by Gareth P Jones and Wilma Tenderfoot and The Case of the Frozen Hearts by Emma Kennedy
Perfect
by Rachel Joyce
I really enjoyed Rachel Joyce's first book, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, so I was looking forward to reading this one. Rachel has such lovely descriptive prose, and her turn of phrase is perfect. But do not come to this book expecting a tragi-comedy. Come expecting tragedy but no comedy. You feel constantly on your guard, expecting something awful to happen, knowing the moment is coming very soon, and when it does it is heartbreakingly sad. Catastrophic events build up to one big disaster that leaves the characters and the readers saddened and tearful. The twist at the end will have you sobbing even more.
The Case of the Pistol-Packing Widows
by Caroline Lawrence
The third in the brilliant P.K Pinkerton Mysteries, this story finds P.K. travelling from Virginia City to Carson City on an undercover job paid for by Opal Blossom, but concerning someone he is uncomfortable to follow - his friend Poker Face Jace. As is to be expected, his mission is not an easy one, and P.K. has to introduce more disguises to get where and what he wants. New friendships are made, foes are fought, secrets are uncovered, Mulligrubs are overcome, but above all a great adventure is had - by P.K. and the reader!
This is one of my favourite series, and I really look forward to the next installment!
Midnight Pirates
by Ally Kennen
Gosh, what a lot of action in this book - jam packed! At first, I thought there was TOO much, it jumped around a bit too much, but it soon settles down into a good adventure. On the plus side too, it's set in Cornwall, so I could put a few towns in the map and knew whereabouts the author was setting the story.
Miranda and her brothers Jackie and Cal (cool surfer dude, with great surf-talk which makes you giggle) live in a hotel which is owned and run by their parents. The hotel is right on a cliff overlooking the beach and the kids just love it. However, the parents run into financial difficulties and have to put the hotel up for sale. They take a break abroad and send the kids to a boarding school for a few weeks while they're away. The kids never make it to the school - they run back to the hotel, phone the agents to tell them the house is off the market, and start to take in holiday-makers to keep the money coming in. Unbeknownst to them, some of the tourists are not who they seem and trouble is lurking on their own doorstep.
A great adventure for 9+. If you like Cornwall based adventure stories, then try Itch by Simon Mayo, Dead Man's Cove by Lauren St John, The Whistling Caves by Helen Moss, North of Nowhere by Liz Kessler and Fritha's Summer by Susan Morris.
Eleanor & Park
by Rainbow Rowell
Eleanor and Park are two teenagers at the same school. Eleanor is the new girl, slightly kooky, weird dresser, bright red curly hair, a little overweight, and Park is half Korean, nearly always in black, loves reading comics and listening to British indie music. Park is the only person who befriends her, to start with because he feels sorry for her, but then he realises they both like comics. He introduces her to his music as he discovers she knows no modern music, owns no records or any means of listening to music.
Eleanor is not forthcoming with much information about herself or her life, and we the reader know more about her than Park. She is one of 5 children whose father has left, but her mum has a new partner. Unfortunately, he is an abusive alcoholic, doesn't let anyone out the house to enjoy themselves, all the kids have to sleep in one tiny room, and Eleanor has already been kicked out the house once before for trying to stick up for her mum when he had a violent episode.
Eleanor and Park slowly start to fall in love, battling school bullies and Eleanor's troubled situation. But the abusive stepdad has not yet found out about it. What will happen when he does...
I didn't really warm to Eleanor at all, I was amazed Park put up with her depressive and weird behaviour, and I had too many questions about her home situation. Why weren't the police called at any point during the violent moments? Why is she so overweight if there is very rarely any food in the house?
Despite all this, I enjoyed the romance - I even shed a tear or two at times, and I hoped that they would make it through all the bad stuff.
If you like John Green, you'll like this.
