A tasty detective story with a deliciously sweet ending Candy, by Lavie Tidhar, is a tasty detective story with a deliciously sweet ending. A modern twist on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, 12 year old private detective Nelle Faulkner has a visit from one of the kids running the candy racket in a city where…
What does a chimpanzee, a spooky mansion and ‘Darkest Devil’ mushrooms have in common? E.A.T.S 11 year-old Lucas and Tucker are the best of friends. They live in Brocken House, a home for orphans. Lucas loves to cook and constantly creates mouth watering dishes for everyone at the home. Tucker likes to help him in…
Bullet Catcher, by Joaquin Lowe, is one of the coolest books I’ve read for ages – it’s a YA genre-mash of wild west, steampunk and sci-fi and brings a really original twist to the old gunslinger legends. About a young down-on-her-luck girl called Imma, this desert-based tale is about how Imma decides to leave her hometown…
Last year, My Book Corner invited me to publish a guest post about my up and down journey to publication. A few people have very kindly contacted me to ask what has happened since then so, with thanks to them for their interest and to My Book Corner for their tolerance, and as Gangster School…
“‘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…
In the second book of James Nicol’s witchy series he’s achieved that rare thing: he’s created a sequel that’s even better than The Apprentice Witch! The prose is jovial and flows like a fast-paced river, so much so I didn’t even realise that – on starting to read it – I’d got to page 180…
Published in 1905, this is a classic tale (not tail, although many of those feature in this story) of an accidental cross-breed of wolf and dog – White Fang. Although it was written over 115 years ago, this book retains is excitement levels, relevance and its punchy tenacity. There’s not many upper middle-grade books I’ve…
“Be careful when you throw something bad inside your black hole. You may find you’ve gotten rid of the good as well.” This is without doubt one of the most wonderful middle grade books I’ve read for a long time. Stella Rodriguez, a space mad eleven-year-old, is followed home one day by a black hole.…
Not for the fainthearted The Ice Sea Pirates by Frida Nilsson is a chilly tale with a warm heart published by Gecko Press. It is set amongst the snowy skerries in the Ice Sea where legend has it that the evil pirate, Whitehead, scours the islands and steals children to work in his diamond mine.…
Sky Song from Abi Elphinstone is a beautifully rendered, magical adventure featuring the quietly confident Eska, and her initially reluctant side kick Flint. And let’s not forget the eagle – oh the eagle!! Step into the snowy kingdom of Erkenwald. It used to be full of tribes who talked, helped and supported one another. Now.…
The lovely Frida Nilsson, Swedish author of The Ice Sea Pirates, a classic children’s adventure of icy seas and cold-blooded pirates, wolves, mermaids is stepping into My Book Corner. Here she tackles our questions, including our infamous Just for Fun section. Tell us about you in 25 words or less. I am a person that is completely…
The Island At The End of Everything is the latest novel from Kiran Millwood Hargrave. Ami lives with her mother on an island no one ever wants to visit. They say once you go there, you never leave. When the government decides to turn the island into a colony to stop the spread of leprosy,…
The Light Jar is Lisa Thompson’s second novel, the first being the incredibly popular The Goldfish Boy. Meet Nate. In the middle of the night, he and his mum, leave home. Suddenly. Bags packed… without telling Gary, mum’s boyfriend. Gary must never know where they are going. Nate and his mum arrive at a tumble…
Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls, a classic American children’s book, came as a recommendation from a good friend in California. It’s a book written during the 1950s and is about a much simpler time and way of living a rural life. And this “roam amongst the forests” life is led by the…
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