Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books: Children's Book Picks for April 2018 - UK Post Two

John Matthews - The Sword of Ice and Fire (Red Dragon Rising) - Published by The Greystones Press (5 April 2018) ISBN-13: 978-1911122173 - Paperback

This is an exciting re-imagining of the early years of the boy who would become King Arthur. John Matthews has imagined a quartet of books under the title Red Dragon Rising, of which this is the first volume. We meet Arthur, Merlin, the Questing Beast, the Green Knight and the mysterious Nine women who rule the castle of Avalon, with its ever-shifting rooms and prophetic bronze mirror. There are horrific enemies such as Amangons and the hideous Fir Bolg. And stalwart companions in the shape of the four Eldest: the shape-shifting Salmon, Stag, Eagle and, Blackbird. And there is Mabon, the shining golden boy-god, whom Arthur and his companions must rescue from an underground dungeon which quenches his powers. He must also achieve the four Hallows of Albion, of which gaining the Sword of Ice and Fire is the first quest. 

Website:http://www.greystonespress.com

 

Em Lynas (Author), Jamie Littler (Illustrator)  - Get Me Out of Witch School! - Published by Nosy Crow Ltd (5 April 2018) ISBN-13: 978-1788000383 - Paperback 

Daisy Wart is now Twinkle Toadspit, the witchiest witch of all, AND she is still an amazing actress! How can she do all her school stuff AND tour her play? By doing all the magic spells really, really fast and without practising first, that's how! Even if it means CHAOS and DISASTER, the show MUST go on! The second in the spellbinding, spine-tingling school series in which Twinkle Toadspit tests out her new powers with MAGICAL results! Look out for Twinkle's first adventure, "You Can't Make Me Go To Witch School!"

Victoria Williamson - The Fox Girl and the White Gazelle - Published by Kelpies (19 April 2018) ISBN-13: 978-1782504900 - Paperback

Reema runs to remember the life she left behind in Syria. Caylin runs to find what she's lost. Under the grey Glasgow skies, twelve-year-old refugee Reema is struggling to find her place in a new country, with a new language and, without her brother. But she isn't the only one feeling lost. Her Glasgwegian neighbour Caylin is lonely and lashing out. When they discover an injured fox and her cubs hiding on their estate, the girls form a wary friendship. And they are more alike than they could have imagined: they both love to run. As Reema and Caylin learn to believe again, in themselves and in others, they find friendship, freedom and the discovery that home isn't a place, it's the people you love. Heartfelt and full of hope, The Fox Girl and the White Gazelle is an uplifting story about the power of friendship and belonging. Inspired by her work with young asylum seekers, debut novelist Victoria Williamson's stunning story of displacement and discovery will speak to anyone who has ever asked 'where do I belong?'

Rowena House - The Goose Road - Published by Walker Books (5 April 2018) ISBN-13: 978-1406371673 - Paperback

France 1916. Angélique Lacroix is haymaking when the postman delivers the news: her father is dead, killed on a distant battlefield. She makes herself a promise: the farm will remain exactly the same until her beloved older brother comes home from the Front. "I think of it like a magical spell. If I can stop time, if nothing ever changes, then maybe he won't change either." But a storm ruins the harvest, her mother falls ill and then the requisition appears... In a last-ditch attempt to save the farm from bankruptcy, Angélique embarks on a journey across France with her brother's flock of magnificent Toulouse geese.

Christopher Edge - The Infinite Lives of Maisie Day - Published by Nosy Crow Ltd (5 April 2018) ISBN-13: 978-1788000291 - Paperback -  

(Book Review Here)

How do you know you really exist? It's Maisie's birthday and she can't wait to open her presents. She's hoping for the things she needs to build her own nuclear reactor. But she wakes to an empty house and outside the front door is nothing but a terrifying, all-consuming blackness. Trapped in an ever-shifting reality, Maisie knows that she will have to use the laws of the universe and the love of her family to survive. And even that might not be enough... A mind-bending mystery for anyone who's ever asked questions.