Children's Fiction Recent Picks

May 2009

The underlined title links will take you directly to our catalogue.
Some featured items are linked via a book cover to enable you to read more reviews.

Flood and Fang by Marcus Sedgwick.
"As self-appointed guardian of Otherhand Castle, Edgar's alarmed when a nasty looking black tail slinks off under the rhubarb plants, kitchen maids go missing and the castle begins to flood. There's never a dull moment for the strange Otherhand family..." (Book Cover)

Skulduggery Pleasant: The Faceless Ones by Derek Landy.
"You've seen it all before: some bad guy wants to bring about the end of the world, and Skulduggery and Valkyrie fight valiantly to stop it happening. A few people get hurt, sure, but everything's all right in the end. Well, not this time." (Book Cover)

Skeleton Creek by Patrick Carman.
"Something mysterious is happening in Skeleton Creek. Something scary. Something sinister. Ryan came close to it... and nearly died. Now he's trapped in his house. He can't trust anyone - not even himself." (Book Cover)

Doomwyte by Brian Jacques (from the Redwall series).
"Set your paws on the track of a great adventure. Who stole the jewelled eyes of the Great Doomwyte Idol long ago? What horrors dwell in the caves beneath the wooded hill - the realm of the Korvus Skurr, the black-feathered raven?" (Book Cover)

The sandfather by Linda Newbery.
"Hal has never known his father. Deep in trouble at school and at home, he is exiled to a seaside town. Suddenly his father is everywhere - in conversations all around, in the sand figures Hal makes on the beach; even, it seems, in the flesh." (Book Cover)

Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis.
"Eleven-year-old Elijah lives in Buxton, Canada, a settlement of runaway slaves near the American border. Elijah's the first child to be born free, and he ought to be famous just for that - not to mention for being the best at chunking rocks and catching fish. Unfortunately, all that most people just see is a 'fra-gile' bou who's scared of snakes and tends to talk too much. But everything changes when a former slave steals money from Elijah's friend, who has been saving to buy his family back from slavery. Elijah has to track down the thief!!" (Book Cover)

Krakatoa Lighthouse by Allan Baillie.
"Kerta didn't want to go to Krakatoa. He knows that a dark spirit, Orang Aljeh, is there and he is terrified he might wake it. But Kerta is there on the volcano, and the Ghost of Krakatoa has woken up." (Book Cover) Based on the real-life events of the Krakatoa eruption in 1883.

Ice shock by M.G. Harris.
"Josh is certain that his father's death was no accident. To make things worse, he's starting to wonder if he can really trust his closest allies. But when he finds out a shocking secret about the legendary Ix Codex, he must journey to the secret Mexican city of Ek Naab, where the riddle of the mysterious Bracelet of Itzamna awaits him..." (Book Cover)

Circle of dreams; Starweaver by Linda McNabb.
"After a long period of disruption, Willow Castle has been rebuilt, and the country's next ruler seems to have been chosen. But now the days seem unnaturally long. When the sky fills with shooting stars, Princess Guyan provides the chilling answer - time is slowing down and will soon come to a complete standstill. They need the magic of starweaver." (Book Cover)

Samurai kids; Shaolin tiger by Sandy Fussell.
"Sensei and the Little Cockroaches must embark on a perilous journey across the Sea of Japan to help the Shaolin monks. But even greater danger awaits them in China - Qing-Shen. A amn with a dark heart who seeks revenge. A man who wants to see Sensei dead. He is the most skilled soldier in the Middle Kingdom." (Book Cover)

Ben Brown's adventure beyond the universe; the return of the Nephilim by Michael C. Thorp.
"When the first manned mission to Mars mysteriously disappears and its crew explorer vehicle crashes onto the brown's wheat farm in Louisburg, Kansas, what Ben discovers changes his final high school year and the future course of mankind." (Book Cover)

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