Mr. Ripley's Enchanted Books - Children Book Picks Feb 2020 - UK POST TWO

Sara Pennypacker - Here in the Real World - Published by HarperCollins Children's Books (6 Feb. 2020) - ISBN-13: 978-0008371692 - Paperback

From the author of the highly acclaimed, bestselling novel Paxcomes a gorgeous and moving novel that is an ode to introverts, dreamers, and misfits everywhere, ideal for readers aged 9–12.

Ware can’t wait to spend summer ‘off in his own world’ and generally being left alone. But then his parents sign him up for dreaded Rec camp, where he must endure Meaningful Social Interaction and whatever activities so-called ‘normal’ kids do.

On his first day, Ware meets Jolene, a tough, secretive girl planting a garden in the rubble of an abandoned church next to the camp. Soon Ware starts skipping Rec, creating a castle-like space of his own in the church lot.

Jolene scoffs, calling him a dreamer – he doesn’t live in the ‘real world’ like she does. As different as Ware and Jolene are, though, they have one thing in common: for them, the lot is a refuge. And when their sanctuary is threatened, Ware vows to save the lot.

But what does a hero look like in real life? And what can two misfit kids do?

Holly Rivers - Demelza and the Spectre Detectors - Published by Chicken House  (6 Feb. 2020) - ISBN-13: 978-1912626038 - Paperback

Read Full Extract HERE 

Demelza loves science - she loves it so much that she's been known to stay up late to work on her peculiar inventions! But Demelza discovers she has inherited a distinctly un-scientific set of skills: Spectre Detecting. Like her grandmother, she can summon the ghosts of the dead. But when Grandma is kidnapped by a mysterious villain, she knows Spectre Detecting has something to do with it. Only Demelza and her pasty best friend, Percy, can solve the deadly mystery ...

Dashe Roberts - Sticky Pines: The Bigwoof Conspiracy - Published by Nosy Crow Ltd (6 Feb. 2020) - ISBN-13: 978-1788006866 - Paperback

When twelve-year-old, UFO-obsessed, Lucy Sladan sneaks out in the middle of a thunderstorm to investigate the unexplained disappearances in her hometown of Sticky Pines, she finds more than she bargained for: a huge hairy creature, a thirteen-year-old stranger named Milo Fisher and a deep-rooted secret. Together, Lucy and Milo become entwined in a mystery that threatens to engulf the whole town of Sticky Pines and its weird and wonderful residents. Sticky Pines: The Bigwoof Conspiracy is the debut novel for children by the talented Dashe Roberts.

Simon Leic - Deadfall: Book 3 (The Haven) - Published by Hodder Children's Books (6 Feb. 2020) - ISBN-13: 978-1444947649 - Paperback

You don't know it exists, but when you have nowhere else to turn, the Haven will find you ... An adrenaline-fuelled adventure, third in the Haven series, by top thriller writer Simon Lelic. 

Our city. Our secret. Our rules.

The Haven is a secret organisation - run by kids, for kids. But the police are on to them, and Ollie's friend Lily is locked up in an off-grid, high-security prison. 

Ollie and the Haven's investigations team are forced to choose: do they hide away and protect what they have? Or do they stay true to the Haven's mission, helping kids in trouble wherever - and whoever - they may be? 

It's a decision that will threaten the Haven's very existence ...