“While the King and his warriors feasted and drank, the monster Grendel shook off a hundred years of sleep. Why should people be happy? he wondered. Why should they make music and sing and hold great feasts while I sit alone in a stinking bog? Grendel was full of jealousy and hatred. I’ll destroy their…
“Someone or something was in the room with her. She couldn’t see it, but she could definitely feel it. An energy, a force… Slowly, she peered over the edge of her bed, and with every molecule of courage she could muster, let the torch light up the shadowy space beneath. ‘Show yourself! Come out or…
“Funeral boss was shaking as he edged towards the coffin, like it was going to come to life and eat him. He leant over and put his ear to it. Silence. And then a distant, but definite wailing noise… ‘Don’t even say it, Alex. Just, don’t.’ ‘Zombie,’ I said.’” Hot on the heels of Alex…
“Every generation has its flashbulb moments… Flash-click. But can you remember where you were a week last Monday? A month ago? A year? Can you recall details about an ordinary day? I can. For me, every waking moment is a flashbulb moment.” Jess may only be seventeen-years-old but her head is already full of memories…
“‘Squirrels have been mugging people.’ Miss Fortress put down her cup and opened a desk drawer. ‘Attacking people on the streets and stealing their phones.’ …’That sounds crazy,’ said Jess. ‘That sounds awesome,’ I said. ‘Ninja squirrels.’” Selected for the Summer Reading Challenge 2018, Jennifer Killick’s Alex Sparrow and the Furry Fury is the humour-driven…
“Mara frowned, ‘Are you scared of everything, Jamie? Don’t you dream of adventures too?’ I didn’t answer. I kept my eyes firmly on the land ahead.” Following on from Julia Green’s The Wilderness War is the sweeping adventure To the Edge of the World. The story follows Jamie’s life on a remote island in the…
Ele Nash, My Book Corner’s YA Specialist, selects her Best Book(s) of 2017. 2017 has been an interesting year for book reading, with a definite shift toward humour and fantasy led by the publishing world. My favourites have varied between old releases (A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle), established authors (The Wolf Wilder by…
‘I escaped it all by losing myself in the nearest faraway place. It was easy. All I had to do was think of something happy.’ When I started reading The Nearest Faraway Place I thought I knew what I was getting: a story about grief and moving through it. This is indeed the thrust of…
Winner of the SCBWI Crystal Kite Award 2016 (US Mid-South) “‘Poorly made shoes will torture your feet, inhibit your progress. Then you will stop.’ He squeezed my arm. His soft red face peered out from beneath his hat. ‘And then you will die,’ he whispered.” Following on from Ruta Sepetys’ previous historical fiction set in…
Anne Cassidy, Looking for JJ and Finding Jennifer Jones, is back with a new Young Adult novel – Moth Girls. Three friends dare each other to enter a ‘haunted’ house. While Mandy heads home, Petra and Tina break in – and are never seen again. Set five years later, the story is predominantly told from Mandy’s…
‘Happiness can be caught if you don’t make waves.’ This is one of the many ‘encouragements’ of PharmaCare, the company behind a pioneering drug, Leata, a pill to ensure people will never be unhappy again. Schools and parks are sponsored by Leata. Everywhere, people on Leata look better, feel better. With fewer cases of depression,…
Professor Stephen Hawking is quoted as suggesting that we should develop cyber-technology which ‘makes possible a direct connection between brain and computer.’ Sarah Govett’s debut novel, The Territory, has taken this vision of our future to create an utterly compelling and dark dystopia. In 2059, Earth’s seas have risen and land high enough to be…
What would you do if you were forced out from the place you thought safest into the places you fear the most?
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