Makepeace is 12 years old and has the ability to harbour ghosts within her body. The problem is, she doesn't know it. It's a secret her mother has been keeping from her throughout her life. When she's separated from her mother, she inadvertently inherits the spirit of a recently deceased bear. It is wild and angry, hungry and confused and it's in her brain and trying to control her body. After a series of devastating events, Makepeace is sent to live with her father's ancestors. They are a strange group of people who have secret powers. They see Makepeace as a troublesome girl with only one use, a use that won't be revealed to Makepeace until much later therefore I won't spoil it here. What Makepeace does know is that she needs to escape the clutches of these people. What follows is an epic adventure where Makepeace must befriend ghosts and those of the living whom she doesn't really trust. The country is engaged in a civil war, it's the 17th century and Makepeace must gather every ally she can if she is going to survive. I really loved this novel, there are multiple plot twists and side adventures to keep readers of fantasy fiction with some history thrown in engaged for hours. Makepeace and Bear are an unlikely yet amazing duo, and with each turn for the weird, I was on board. You'll really fall in love with Makepeace and be rooting for her every step of the way, she is defiant, brave, clever and cunning, yet she is honest and honourable throughout. The villains in this tale are many, and they are truly evil and disturbing. Makepeace's father's ancestors are about as dastardly and dark as they get, they have harnessed a power that has made them mad-drunk and desperate at the same time. They will stop at nothing to secure their name in the history books, this makes them very dangerous, as many characters in the novel find out the hard way. Another triumph from Frances Hardinge, I really recommend it!
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Brody Fair is suffocating. He's falling behind at school and has no real plan for the future. His brother is a genius who spends every spare millisecond cramming his head full of knowledge so he can get into a good university. His father has agoraphobia and hasn't left the house in years. His mother takes on as many shifts as she can and is completely overwhelmed and exhausted. To make matters worse, Brody is bullied on a daily basis by a couple of girls who verbally attack him on a daily basis. When Brody meets Nico, everything changes. Nico introduces Brody to Everland, a magical world that exists in a kind of parallel universe in their home city of Edinburgh. In Everland, Brody meets like-minded people and can be himself. With Nico he feels free to explore his feelings and do what he loves most, drumming, making music and sitting in quiet. There is a catch to Everland, though. Brody can only visit it once a week, and he only has a limited time to enjoy it. There is a temptation, though, to leave his seemingly crumbling real world behind and stay in Everland forever. Brody finds himself faced with a choice that will alter his future forever. Last Bus to Everland is a stellar novel that covers several topics facing teens today in a subtle but very effective way. The pressure to succeed at school, poverty, mental illness, coming out, bullying and finding out who you want to be are all part of Brody's journey. You will feel for Brody, you'll want to join him in Edinburgh and tell him everything's going to be ok. Nico is a character that is also confused and troubled in different ways, with Brody he finds some kind of solace and you will be rooting for them as you fly through the pages of this novel. The relationship between Brody and his family were some of my favourite parts of the novel. Brody doesn't feel like he really knows his siblings and it takes a few traumatic events for him to have important conversations with them, especially his brother. He loves his father but can't help feeling resentment about the fact that he doesn't work, forcing his mother to have no life outside of her job. It's a very well written dynamic, the idea that haunts a lot of people with mental illness, that they should just "get over it" and get on with their lives. It's never that simple. The depiction of Everland itself is beautiful and haunting at the same time. It's in this dreamlike fog of bliss that Brody gets some respite from the pressure cooker that his home life. I really recommend Last Bus to Everland, it's a superb novel that will tear your heart out, but in a good way. Don't miss it. Kiranmala has just turned 12 but instead of a standard birthday party in her home city of New Jersey, her parents disappear and a snot-gushing hell demon has appeared on her front lawn. Luckily, she's helped by two princely brothers who defeat the creature and tell Kiranmala to come with them on their magic flying horses if she wants to find her missing parents. Yes, not a typical birthday party. Kiranmala joins the brothers in what turns into an epic quest filled with terrifying demons, bizarre relatives and cosmic danger. Traveling into a new dimension, Kiranmala must discover her hidden killer instinct and mental fortitude if she's got even a chance to survive. The Serpent's Secret is part of a new series that combines a lot of sharp, funny dialogue and almost non stop action. It's been promoted as a must have for fans of Percy Jackson and I have to agree, it involves a lot of traditional Indian folklore and a protagonist that I can imagine gets more and more headstrong with each novel. I really recommend it for ages 10 and up! Marinka is 12 and lives in a house with chicken legs. This is how I promote this book to students. It always makes their heads perk up that half inch that every Librarian looks for when they try to get them interested in a book. The house picks itself up at random a few times a year and travels around the world, settling down to let Marinka and her grandmother do their important work. That work is guiding dead spirits from the land of the living to the land of the stars, or the afterlife. Marinka doesn't want to have this gig, she wants to be "normal" with regular friends who aren't ghosts. Then Marinka starts to break the rules, she starts to defy her grandmother and bad things start to happen. The worst being that her grandmother vanishes out of thin air and the house starts to slowly crumble. Desperate, Marinka puts a plan into action that will either save her and the house or plunge everyone she knows into certain peril. There's not much to say about The House With Chicken Legs that hasn't already been said before. It's beautifully written, Marinka is smart, stubborn and determined to live her own life despite the plan that's laid out for her. She makes mistakes and has a good heart, she's a great protagonist. I tell the students she's someone you'd want to be good friends with because you'd know you could trust her. It's a stunning debut that deserves all of the praise that it's getting, makes sure you get it into the hands of anyone in your life ages 10 and up as soon as possible. Paris is on the cusp of a Revolution, but all Camille cares about is putting food on the table so her and her sister Sophie don't starve to death. Her parents deceased, Camille must try to survive famine, disease and her brother's drunken squandering of the little money they own. However, Camille has a secret. She can turn worthless metal into coins, for a short period at least. This magic skill buys her and Sophie some time while she figures out a plan. After delving into much darker magic, magic that her mother warned her about, Camille is able to disguise herself as nobility and enter the famed halls of Versailles, where she partakes in expensive and dangerous card games where the rewards are great. It doesn't take long for Camille to discover that she might not be the only one at Versailles with a dark secret. Throw in the fact that she's fallen hopelessly in love with a daring young balloonist, Camille doesn't know if she can keep up her double life much longer. As the stakes become higher and the suspicions out of control, Camille finds herself in great danger, it doesn't help that Paris has turned completely upside down with violent anger at those who enter Versailles. Enchantée is a great novel containing magic realism and historical facts about Paris, Versailles and the French Revolution. Camille's brother is a great villain, as are the other characters at Versailles although I don't want to spoil this as it's not clear who the real villain is right away. I felt like the novel moved a long at an excellent pace and was really interesting from start to finish. I was genuinely concerned for Camille and Sophie and the sections of the novel where they were starving were really effective. I don't think anyone who loves YA will want to miss Enchantée at all when it's released in 2019! One thing Tomas enjoys doing is gardening with his grandfather. When he discovers a weird looking tree, he almost gets rid of it but decides at the last moment to keep it. He takes the even weirder looking fruit from the tree and brings it into his house. Something about it tells Tomas that it's special but he can't figure out what. He gets a huge shock when the fruit bursts open and a dragon flies out. Tomas names it Flicker and tries his best to hide it from his family and friends. The problem is, Flicker does things like set fire to almost everything and poops everywhere. To make matters even stranger, Tomas finds that more and more dragonfruit are growing from the tree. He is officially growing dragons, but can he keep his secret for long? The Boy Who Grew Dragons is a very touching tale about friendship, standing up for yourself and much more. It's full of great laughs (exploding poo, toothbrushes that have been burnt by dragon fire) and sinister villains. Tomas' neighbour is a mean, grumpy man that doesn't like Tomas or his grandfather. You can see where this is going, and it's pretty great. The illustrations in this novel are amazing. It's the first in a series which I highly recommend for anyone 9 and up! Tilly is eleven years old and is in love with books. It's no surprise considering her grandparents own and run the magical Pages & Co. bookshop in London. Pages & Co. is a magical place because of the love and literary energy that surrounds it but it's also magical in strange and to Tilly, bewildering ways. She sometimes sees her grandparents speaking to customers who are standing there one minute and are gone the next. When she turns a corner and comes face to face with a girl who looks exactly like Alice from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, she's not sure if the bookshop is responsible or her own mind. Then she meets Anne of Avonlea and eventually uncovers the secret: Book characters are travelling from the world of novels to Pages & Co. through a magical process called Book Wandering. Tilly soon discovers that she also has the ability to Book Wander, but that there are strict rules to follow. With the help of her friend Oskar she sets out on a quest to discover what happened to her long lost mother. Her journey will take her through her favourite children's literature and features a host of amazing characters and villains. Pages & Co. can be read anywhere but it deserves to be read on a cold, rainy day in a bookshop cafe because it will warm your soul. Tilly is a smart, stubborn and sometimes fiery character with a good heart, she's a great new character that you'll want to follow through the pages of any book. There are many new novels being published for children and teens in the UK in the Fall of 2018 but make sure you don't miss Pages & Co. because it will be on at the top of the list of any student ages 9 and up. Ralph, Jojo, Noel, Persephone, and Cammi are in the 6th grade (Year 7) and play a table top role playing game called Reign of Dragons. They create magical stories and submerse themselves in a fantasy realm full of orcs, kobolds and other deadly creatures. One day, while playing with a special golden D20 die, the kids summon the characters they have created for the game into modern day Brooklyn. One minute they are flat pieces of paper and the next they are living and breathing, standing in the kids' kitchen. What follows is a hilarious and heartfelt tale of a group of very confused fish out of water. Completely overwhelmed by their new surroundings, the Reign of Dragons characters rely on the children to guide them through the ways of the world. With a Reign of Dragons convention happening soon, and the creator of Reign of Dragons in attendance, it seems their only option is to bring them to the convention and try to figure out how to get them back home. There are some truly funny moments in this novel, like when the Rogue plays a cup and ball game with hapless New York tourists and is forever flabbergasted as to why he can't simply pickpocket anyone he sees. And when the party tries to figure out the magic of an iPhone weather app. Anyone who has ever played Dungeons and Dragons will really love this story, but you don't have to be a D&D fan to enjoy it. There are some really great messages in the novel and it's great to see the children gain their confidence and figure out the challenges with their Reign of Dragon counterparts. Denis Markell's first novel, Click Here to Start is without question one of the most popular books at the Glenthorne Library. Game Masters is no different in that I know it's going to be a hit with boys and girls alike. If you are a school Librarian you need to pick up these two novels as they will fly off the shelves. I recommend it for ages 9 and up! Demelza lives on the tiny island of Penfurzy with her father. Nothing much seems to happen on the island but that doesn't stop Demelza from creating fantastic adventure stories in her mind along with her pet goose Captain Honkers and her trusty Game Gauntlet (Anyone remember NES' Power Glove?). Then one stormy evening a girl crashes through her door. Her name is Nessa and she tells Demelza that she just needs a place to crash for a few days and doesn't want any questions asked. As they hang out together, Demelza tells Nessa about the legend of Penfurzy, knights who came across priceless treasure and curse that wiped them out hundreds of years ago. Through a series of chance circumstances, Demelza and Nessa start to unravel secrets buried deep in the island's history. These revelations make them wonder if the legend of the Penfurzy knights is really true. Knights and Bikes is a hilarious and fast paced fantasy adventure filled to the brim with nostalgia for 1980s video games and culture. I usually don't like it when I hear reviewers say a book is "This crossed with this" however I couldn't help think about films like The Goonies, tv shows like Scooby Doo, games like Dungeons and Dragons and of course books found in the Forgotten Realms or Dragonlance series and the amazing graphic novel Templar. It's a great, original story with friendship and adventure at its core and I was very happy to see that there's room for sequels. Do not miss this awesome story, any book that contains a bicycle that's been named "Neon Justice" is aces in my book anyway. Loved it! Recommend it for ages 9 and up. Frey, Juniper, Runa and Ovie are a band of female Mercies. They kill, but only mercy kills, only when people have reached their limits with their suffering do they call upon them. It's a hard life, dealing out death in such a way, but it's the only life they know. One evening they come across the tale of a murderous creature in the north called The Blue Vee Beast. The Beast has been razing villages and killing everything in sight. Many have tried to defeat it, all have failed. Frey and her friends decide to give up on mercy killing and seek fame and glory by killing the Beast once and for all. It's not a straightforward task, however. On the way they meet the murderous Cut-Queen, the mysterious Sea Witches and many more characters. Finding the Beast is in itself a dangerous task. Trying to kill it will prove to be the most dangerous thing the Mercies have ever done. This is YA fantasy at its best - a gender-flipped retelling of the epic story of Beowulf, The Boneless Mercies is a truly great adventure story chalk full of frightening creatures, heroic adventures and a sisterhood of loyalty and honour that will make your heart sing. Growing up on fantasy as a child this is a dark, disturbing, sad yet uplifting story that begs for a sequel. I feel like Tucholke has hit a real chord with her band of fierce female warriors and I hope to see a lot more of them in the future. I recommend it for ages 12 and up! |
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