Looking forward to long hot summer days where you can relax with a book? Well, the weather is still a bit patchy at the moment, but you can always get in a bit of practice by trying these new fiction books.
A Most Magical Girl by Karen Foxlee
Annabel Grey is primed for a proper life as a young lady in Victorian England. But when her mother disappears, she’s put in the care of two eccentric aunts who thrust her into a decidedly un-ladylike life, full of potions and flying broomsticks. Swept up in an urgent quest, Annabel is pitted against another young witch, Kitty, to rescue the sacred Moreover Wand from the dangerous underworld that exists beneath London. The two girls outsmart trolls, find passage through a wall of faerie bones, and narrowly escape a dragon, but it doesn’t take long for Annabel to see that the most dangerous part is her decision to trust this wild, magical girl.
The Secret of Nightingale Wood by Lucy Strange
1919. Mama is ill. Father has taken a job abroad. Nanny Jane is too busy to pay any attention to Henrietta and the things she sees – or thinks she sees – in the shadows of their new home, Hope House. All alone, with only stories for company, Henry discovers that Hope House is full of strange secrets: a forgotten attic, ghostly figures, mysterious firelight that flickers in the trees beyond the garden. One night she ventures into the darkness of Nightingale Wood. What she finds there will change her whole world…
An Elephantasy by Maria Elena Walsh
What would you do if you woke up one morning and found a huge and lonely elephant at your door? An elephant with a letter hanging from its ear, saying: “My name is Dailan Kifki, and I beg you not to be alarmed at the fact that I’m an elephant…”? Well, you would probably adopt him too, wouldn’t you? But when Dailan Kifki falls ill and ends up at the top of a tree, only the fire brigade can get him down. Unfortunately, the fireman who arrives seems more interested in flying away with the elephant than bringing him back to earth.
Crimson Poison by Susan Moore
Nat Walker is the orphan heiress to her parents’ games empire. While the mystery behind their deaths remains unsolved, Nat must fend off the unwelcome and avaricious attentions of her aunt, who is keen to “adopt” her and her millions. When her guardian, Jamuka, is called back to Mongolia by a clan emergency, Nat discovers vital information about the poison that is killing his people. She decides to follow him, and in doing so, becomes drawn into the deadly game of revenge, corruption and world domination that is playing out against the snowy white Steppes.
Magic Feet by Sherryl Clark
“Soccer season is here! Ellyse can’t wait to pull on her boots and start dribbling. Unlike club cricket, where she’s the ONLY girl on the team, her best friends Charlie and Jazz also play soccer and it’s so much fun! But things don’t go according to plan right from the start. Ellyse finds herself the ONLY girl on her club team AGAIN and, to make matters worse, there’s a new player on the field – and he has attitude. *Sigh*. Ellyse decides to take charge. If she wants more girls on her team, why not start a soccer team at school? Problem solved… right? Wrong. Ellyse soon realises that there’s more involved in recreuiting new players than she ever imagined. Plus, there’s a bully to contend with… Has Ellyse bitten off more than she can chew this time around?”–Back cover.