There are new books in this week. (The old books may be in the library’s booksale which is on right now.)

Theodork, by Jessica Green (177 pages) – On his first day in year seven Theo is rather cruelly labelled a dork, and all his efforts to reverse this only make things worse. A comedy.

First sentence: ‘I’m lying here in hospital, one arm in plaster, two legs hanging from a frame, and bruises fading in places I’d rather not think about.‘

Keepinitreal, by Don Henderson (229 pages) – A bike gang war is started when Kid Kabula knocks Fatts Charvetto into a pond display at the local mall. Whichsoundsabitroughbutshouldbeokayintheend.

First sentence: ‘Because this is pretty much a story about how I stopped being an egg-heaed idiot, I might as well start at the moment Kid Kabula exploded through the upstairs doors of the Victory Garden Mall.‘

Fever Crumb, by Philip Reeve (321 pages) – A new book in the Infernal Engines world; huge, armoured fortresses that move across the wastelands. The book has a neat cover!

First sentence: ‘That morning they were making paper boys.‘

Gauntanamo Boy, by Anna Perera (339 pages) –  Khalid, a British teenager, goes to Pakistan to see his family. There he is kidnapped and forced into a prison in Cuba called Guantanamo Bay, which you may have heard about in recent years.

First sentence: ‘ Sometimes, Khalid things as he drags himself home after another boring day at school, I’d rather be anywhere but here.’

Nathaniel Wolfe and the Bodysnatchers, by Brian Keane (197 pages) – Ghost hunter, Nathaniel Wolfe, must travel to the Other Side to vanquish whatever it is that the bodysnatchers plundering the graveyard have stirred up.

First sentence: ‘Lady Huntercombe was a thin woman with a pointed nose and rather distrustful expression.‘

The Game of Triumphs, by Laura Powell (308 pages) – Fifteen-year-old Cat enters a dangerous world called The Arcanum, where a deadly card game is played out in this mix of reality of fantasy.

First sentence: ‘It was his breathing that she noticed first: the hoarse, ragged wheezes of someone who has been running hard.‘

The Madman of Venice, by Sophie Masson (293 pages) - A vengeful Venetian Countess, a girl accused of witchcraft, a horde of pirates, murder and secrecy, and a madman that haunts the city - Venice, 1602, has it all, and English merchant Matthew Ashby, his daughter and his young assistant must investigate.

First sentence: ‘The city is a riot of laughter and parties and noise.‘

Love, Lies and Lizzie, by Rosie Rushton (216 pages) – This is the fourth of Rosie Rushton’s Austen adaptions. This time she’s updated Pride and Prejudice for the 21st Century. Lizzie Bennet and her sisters are ’swept up in a glamorous life of partying and country pursuits’.

First sentences: ‘“So you dumped him? Just like that? In the middle of the school trip? Are you crazy?”‘

The Forest of Hands and Teeth, by Carrie Ryan (310 pages) – From the catalogue – Through twists and turns of fate, orphaned Mary seeks knowledge of life, love, and especially what lies beyond her walled village and the surrounding forest, where dwell the Unconsecrated, aggressive flesh-eating people who were once dead. Creepy!

First sentence: ‘My mother used to tell me about the ocean.‘

Solar Nation, by Erica Blaney (344 pages) – Solly and Lalune must lead the people of Clandoi out of the darkness and into the sun. Sci fi! A sequel to Cyber Nation.

First sentence: ‘”Ruined!” bellowed the cook, hurling a pan of scalded soup out of the door.‘

Being Nikki, by Meg Cabot (336 pages) – This is the second in Cabot’s Airhead series of books, about Emerson Watts,  a ‘braniac in the body of a teenage supermodel’ – a mixture of sci fi, romance, mystery, and chick(en) lit.

First sentence: ‘I’m cold.‘