New Children's : Dirk Jones is NOT the Chosen One - Gatlin Perrin - Firefly Press Ltd

Firefly Press Ltd - 9th October - Paperback | £9.99 | YA Dirk isn’t the chosen one. Not even close. So how did they end up in the middle of a potential apocalypse?  All Dirk wanted was to escape another argument with their parents and go for a nice quiet coffee. Instead, they’ve been kidnapped by agents, attacked by mal-realmers and forced to wear a boiler suit that they’re pretty sure someone died in.  When Dirk is taken to Base, a secret underground …well … base, they learn way more than they need to. More about other realms, more about the battle between good and evil, and more about the absolutely terrifying Violent Jack, an evil mal-realmer determined to bring about the end of the world.  Both sides need the chosen one. But there’s not a lot Dirk can do about it, is there? It’s not like it’s them.   Unfortunately for Dirk, not everyone knows that.   COMING 09 OCTOBER

Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books - Favourite Children's/kids Book Picks - OCTOBER 2025

 

• Author: Dominique Valente
• Title: Witchlight (Witchspark)
• Publisher ‏: Usborne Publishing Ltd
• Publication Date: 9 Oct. 2025
• ISBN-13 ‏: ‎978-1805316800 - Paperback
• Reading Age ‏: ‎ 9 - 12 years

Return to the magical world of witches, royalty and curses in this spellbinding sequel to Witchspark. 

Miss Hegotty's Secret Society of Witches has a lot of work to do. The Department of Isle-Spark Regulation is up to no good.

For Princess Victoria at the palace, this means possibly losing her powers forever. And for Eglantine Bury, her magical home can't stop sneezing, causing total chaos with each "ACHOO!".

As if that wasn't enough to worry about, Eglantine's house isn't the only magical being falling mysteriously ill. With dragons and gargoyles getting sicker and sicker, the witches will have to use time travel, disguise spells and genie wishes to uncover the truth...before it's too late.

https://uk.bookshop.org/a/10860/9781805316800

• Author: Phil Hickes 
• Illustrator: Oriol Vidal
• Title: The Last Day of October
• Publisher ‏: ‎Barrington Stoke
• Publication Date ‏ : ‎ 9 Oct. 2025
• ISBN-13 ‏: ‎978-0008748517
• Reading Age ‏: ‎9 years and up

• A spine-tingling middle-grade horror perfect for Halloween! (Dyslexia-friendly)

Bored with trick-or-treating, three friends venture into the woods on Halloween night to hunt for the haunted McBride House in this spine-tingling horror story from Phil Hickes.

If you go down to the woods today, you’re in for a nasty surprise …

Seeking creepy thrills instead of candy, Cody and his friends set out on Halloween to search for the ruins of the haunted McBride House in the woods near his home in Oregon.

The house has taken on a sinister legendary status after it burned down a hundred years ago with tragic consequences, and it’s said that the ghosts of the family who lived there return each year on the last day of October.

But when they find the house, the truth of what is happening on this eerie autumn night is more terrifying than the three teenagers could ever have imagined …

https://uk.bookshop.org/a/10860/9780008748517

• Author: Frank J. Camacho 
• Title: The Monsters They Made Us (The Heirs of Driftmoor) BK 1 
• Publisher: FJC Books
• Publication Date ‏: ‎1 Oct. 2025
• ISBN-13 ‏: ‎979-8998781810
• Reading Age ‏: ‎15 - 18 years

For fans of supernatural dramas and dark academia comes a new tale of salt-soaked secrets, blood-bound legacies, and a coastal town where every wave carries the weight of centuries-old curses.

Some monsters are born. Others are made. But the worst are inherited.

Long before Driftmoor was a town, it was a threshold where the veil between the natural and supernatural ran thin. Where wicked bargains were struck in the dark. Bargains that cursed four bloodlines forever.

Dorothy arrives at Driftmoor Academy hoping to leave her past behind and become someone new. But after a car crash leaves her teetering between life and death, dark abilities awaken inside her. Whispers through the halls. Nightmares claw at her sleep. And death follows wherever she goes.

As Dorothy is pulled into the gilded world of Driftmoor’s elite, pieces of a forgotten legacy begin to surface—along with a power she doesn’t understand and a past someone tried to erase. And she’s not the only one marked by what came before.

There’s the boy touched by the sea, who’s drawn to a song no one else can hear. The socialite carved from gold and expectation, clinging to perfection before it shatters. And the son born in shadows, raised by a family that never intended to keep him.

Linked by the bargains of their ancestors, the heirs of Driftmoor must each decide: will they surrender to their curses, harness the power they’ve inherited, or let it destroy them?

• 
  
• Author: Katherine Child
• Title: The Notted Island 
• Publisher: ‎Flying Eye Books
• Publication Date ‏ : ‎ 9 Oct. 2025
• ISBN-13 ‏: ‎978-1913123147 - Hardback
• Reading Age ‏: ‎ 9 - 11 years

Before 1861, the world was black and white. As Colour reached the end of his job, world-weary he stopped to rest on Last Island: the last uncoloured place. The people of the island are believed to be the reason for this and seek to better themselves, in the hope that Colour will recognise their efforts and bring colour to the island. To make matters worse, the islands Nott - a deity responsible for drawing the curtain of night - begins to make more and more mistakes. As the islanders grow restless, they send a letter threatening Nott. However, when the letter finds itself in the hands of Tisky, a young islander with pockets full of cake, she tasks herself with bringing unity back to Last Island.

https://uk.bookshop.org/a/10860/9781913123147

Alex Horne - The Last Pebble Book Review - Mr Ripley’s Enchanted Books

A stone spinning and a natural wonder. A debut children's novel from comedian and Taskmaster creator Alex Horne, The Last Pebble (Walker Books, July 3, 2025) tells a heartwarming and beautiful, and poignant story about family, friendship, and the joy of discovery and a bucket and spade full of invention. 

Trader and his grandpa share a beloved tradition of collecting pebbles on the beach at Bognor Regis.  One day, Trader finds a particularly special pebble, uncovering a secret that was meant to stay hidden. With the help of his new friend Charlotte, Trader must unravel the mystery surrounding the treasure and return it to its rightful place.

Horne's writing is as warm and witty as his on-screen persona. The first-person narration captures the wonder and innocence of childhood, while the atmospheric descriptions of the British seaside evoke a sense of Ice cream, deck chairs and summer time nostalgia. Educational as much as emotional and deeply absorbing and felt 100% realistic and relatable. 

The Last Pebble is a celebration of childhood summers, special interests, and the enduring bonds of family and friendship. A story that had me hooked from the very first page. Sad and uplifting like the waves crashing against the shore. You will bond with the plot and the characters in equal measure a delightful and memorable read for children and adults alike. Top children's middle-grade book pick for 2025.