Liesl and Po by Lauren Oliver is one of the fantastic books I’m reading at the moment. It’s a really magical book and one of those stories that you can get lost in. If you like books like The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane and The Magician’s Elephant by Kate DiCamillo, I highly recommend it. Reserve it at your library now.
fantasy
Far Rockaway by Charlie Fletcher
If you were to meet the characters from your favourite books who would they be? Would you want to meet Harry Potter, Matilda, or Percy Jackson? You certainly wouldn’t want to bump into Count Olaf, Captain Hook, or Voldemort. In Far Rockaway by Charlie Fletcher, Cat finds herself face to face with some of the heroes and villains of classic adventure stories.
Cat and her grandfather, Victor made a pact that one day, just for fun of it, they’d take the subway and stay on it until the very end of the line, at a place called Far Rockaway. They never get to make this trip together because, while crossing the street in Manhattan, Cat and Victor are knocked down by a speeding fire truck. Cat wakes up in a world made from all the books her grandfather used to read to her, and filled with the most memorable characters from classic adventure stories, including The Last of the Mohicans and Treasure Island. Cat needs their help to find the mythic castle of Far Rockaway, and get herself and her grandfather home alive.
Far Rockaway is part fantasy, part adventure and full of pirates, indians, and zombies. I really like the way that Charlie Fletcher has weaved Cat’s story in with three completely different stories. If you know the characters from the classic adventure stories you’ll see what a fantastic job Charlie has done of transferring them to another story. There were a couple of characters I didn’t know but this has made me want to go and read those stories and discover who they were. Cat is a great character, who’s brave, loyal and kicks butt when she needs to. I like what she says about girls in stories,
“Why do the guys get to do all the rescuing? I mean I loved all the stories you gave me and read me, but one thing: where were the real girls? Half the books, they weren’t there at all, and the other half they’re wimped-out girly-girls getting all weepy and falling in love with the mysterious complicated dude or waiting for the right guy to save them.”
If you want a swash-buckling adventure story about the magic of stories then join Cat on the journey of a lifetime in Far Rockaway.
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Frank Cottrell Boyce on Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again
I’m really excited about this book and can’t wait to see how Frank Cottrell Boyce will breath new life into Chitty.
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Rick Riordan talks about The Son of Neptune
The Son of Neptune is the latest book in the Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan. If you loved the Percy Jackson series you’ll love this new series with new demigods and mythical creatures. Percy Jackson even makes an appearance in The Son of Neptune.
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Learn how to speak Dragonese with Cressida Cowell
Have you ever wanted to learn Dragonese, from Cressida Cowell’s books? In this video you can learn how to say to following things in Dragonese: ‘Please would you be so kind as to spit out my friend?’ and ‘I don’t like that. It’s revolting, it’s gross, it’s really, really revolting.’ Have a go and impress your friends.
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Earwig and the Witch by Diana Wynne Jones
Diana Wynne Jones is the queen of fantasy. She was writing the fabulous Chrestomanci series, about orphans, witches and magic long before J. K. Rowling and Harry Potter came along. She has written lots of books, including the Chrestomanci series and Howl’s Moving Castle. Earwig and the Witch is the magical book that she wrote before she died earlier this year.
Earwig is a an orphan girl who lives at St Morwald’s Home for Children with her friend Custard. Earwig is quite happy living here and she says that “anyone who chose me would have to be very unusual.” She is a pretty unusual child but she seems to be able to make anyone do anything that she wants, like cooking her favourite food or playing hide and seek in the dark. One day a very strange couple come to the orphanage looking to adopt a child. The woman has two different coloured eyes and a raggety look to her face, and the man is very tall and looks like he has horns on his head. They adopt Earwig, but she discovers that the woman is a witch and only wants her as a slave to help her with her spells. Earwig is trapped in the house and wants nothing more than to go back to the orphanage with her friends. Will she be able to outwit the witch and escape? And who or what is the mysterious man with the horns?
Earwig and the Witch is a funny story about a feisty girl trying to fit into her new family. All the characters are quite strange and I especially liked Thomas the cat. The cover is very cool and really draws you in, with the spiderwebs and spiders crawling all over it. Marion Lindsay’s illustrations are spectacularly spooky and I love the little pictures of crows or spiders on each page. The only thing I didn’t like about this book was that it ended so suddenly. I would have liked to know more about her life in the house. Earwig and the Witch is perfect for those girls who don’t like fairies, but who still like a bit of magic.
Recommended for 7+ 7 out of 10
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Northwood by Brian Falkner
The best books grip you from the first few sentences and you want to keep reading until you get to the end. Northwood by Brian Falkner is one of those books. Here are the opening sentences:
“This is the strange story of Miss Cecilia Undergarment and the black lions of Northwood. It is probably not true, but who really knows for sure.”
Straight away, you want to know all about Cecilia Undergarment (like why does she have such a funny name?), why the story is so strange, and what are black lions? So now you’re sucked into the story and want to find out what happens to Cecilia.
Cecilia Undergarment lives with her extraordinary family in her extraordinary house, which is shaped like a huge bunch of balloons (to find out why you’ll have to read the book). Wouldn’t it be great to live in a house made of balloons! One day while looking out her window she sees a sad and neglected dog trying to escape from the house next door. She rescues the dog, but the dog’s mean owner destroys her home and sends her balloon room floating away, until it lands in the dark forest of Northwood. The forest is home to the ferocious black lions and anyone who has entered Northwood has never returned. Cecilia and the dog, Rocky find refuge in Northwood at Castle Storm, which is ruled by the horrible King Harry. Cecilia is determined to find a way out of Northwood, but King Harry will do anything to stop the people leaving.
Brian Falkner has created an amazing world. When I started reading I was transported into the world of Northwood and felt like I was right there with Cecilia on her adventure. I could picture the dark tarblood trees of the forest and the dusty rooms of Castle Storm, smell the damp forest, and hear the low rumble of the black lions. Cecilia is a really cool character and someone who you would want to be friends with. I also really loved Donovan Bixley’s illustrations, especially the way he portrays King Harry, and the cool cover that really stands out.
Recommended for 9+ 10 out of 10
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Sophie and the Shadow Woods by Linda Chapman and Lee Weatherly
Meet Sophie, the one girl who will save the world. Sophie is different from the other girls in her class at school who like to play games about fairies or giggle about girls. Her favourite things are action films, taekwondo, sports, adventures, bikes, and skateboards, and when she grows up she wants to be a stuntwoman.
Sophie has just turned 10 and her taekwondo skills are going to come in very handy, because she has become the new Guardian of a magic gateway in the mysterious Shadow Woods. Her mission is to stop the mischievous creatures that live there, including trolls, goblins, and gnomes entering our world. The only problem is that Sophie has lost the key to the Shadow Realm and if the goblins get their hands on one of the shadow gems, Sophie’s world will be in danger. Will Sophie be able to find the gem first and defeat the goblins? Find out in the first book of the series, The Goblin King.
Sophie and the Shadow Woods is a cool new series by Linda Chapman and Lee Weatherly. Sophie is an adventurous girl who kicks butt and she isn’t afraid to stand up to a goblin. If you’re a girl who would rather read a Beast Quest book than a Rainbow Magic Fairies book, then this series is perfect for you. We have the first two books, The Goblin King and The Swamp Boggles, in the library now and there are more to come soon. Recommended for 7+ 8 out of 10
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Christopher Paolini’s Inheritance Cycle comes to an end
Angel Creek by Sally Rippin
Jelly has just moved into a new house, in a new neighborhood that’s far away from all her friends. If that wasn’t bad enough, she’s having to spend Christmas eve looking after her cousins. There are only two things she likes about her new home: the old apricot tree and the creek at the back of the house. Jelly dares her cousins to go down to the creek and it’s in the creek’s dark waters that they discover a baby angel with a broken wing. They decide to keep it in a shed at the school and nurse it back to health.
But soon things start to go horribly wrong; her grandmother gets sick, a tree falls on her uncle’s car and there’s some very strange weather. Jelly realizes that you’ve got to be careful what you wish for, especially when there’s an angel around.
Angel Creek is a mysterious, spooky story that makes you want to keep reading to find out how it ends. Like Jelly and her cousins, Pik and Gino, you wonder why there is an angel in the creek and why all these strange things seem to be happening. Even though bad things keep happening to those around them, the children are really brave and do all they can to protect the angel. I loved Angel Creek and I’m sure you will too.
Recommended for 9+ 10 out of 10
My Best Friends Are Books 