It has been one of the most anticipated titles of this autumn, and as Christmas approaches, it is likely that thanks to the gorgeous design of the hardback copy (with a stunning illustration underneath the dust jacket – who doesn’t like that kind of surprise?!?), Nevermoor: the Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend (Orion Children’s …
May saw the publication of two brand new series by bestselling author Holly Webb. Though she is best known for her animal stories, these two series focus on different genres, although interestingly both feature a dog as one of the main characters! Maisie Hitchins: The Case of the Stolen Sixpence with artwork by Marion Lindsay (Stripes …
Philip Pullman(Scholastic Children’s Books) Christmas is the perfect time to give classic books as gifts, whether they are old or modern. With its Arctic setting, Northern Lights is most perfectly fitted for this purpose, and His Dark Materials, the classic award-winning trilogy it is part of, is now available as a single volume in this stunning …
Philip Reeve (Scholastic) In the midst of Clovenstone, an abandoned fortress, live seven clans of blood-thirsty and dim-witted goblins, lead by King Knobbler, a ferocious leader with a secret fondness for frilly knickers. But Skarper is different; he is clever, and cunning and after teaching himself to read using the Goblins’ bumwipe heaps (which turn …
Cassandra Clare(Walker Books) Please be aware that there are some spoilers in this review!City of Fallen Angels picks up six weeks after the end of City of Glass and the Mortal War that saw the demise of Valentine. Everybody is back in New York, apart from Alec and Magnus who are on the romantic tour …
Alex Scarrow(Puffin) Liam O’Connor (1912), Maddy Carter (2010), Sal Vikram (2026). Three teenagers, living decades away from each other are suddenly thrown together in a small room near Brooklyn Bridge, in September 2001. They have one things in common: all three should have died, all three were given the choice to turn away from their …
Poly Bernatene (Meadowside Children’s Books) To make Night, what does one need? Surely the darkness, the stars, the moon? When Night does not appear after the Sun has gone for a well-deserved rest, the man in charge (who could easily be Mister Sandman!) discovers a group of children having fun in the epicentre of the …
Margo Lanagan(David Fickling Books) Teenage mother Liga escapes to her own alternative world after enduring unspeakable cruelties at the hands of her father first then a gang of town boys.The world she escapes to is a mirror image of the one she comes from apart from all the cruel and evil people from her village …
Neil Gaiman illustrated by Chris Riddell (Bloomsbury Children’s Book) I’d never read anything by Neil Gaiman before; “Not my thing”, I’d decided. Then I watched the film adaptation of Startdust and thought maybe I’d give it a try after all. But I never did. And then all the publicity for The Graveyard Book started appearing …
