Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books: Lyn Gardner - Rose Campion and the Stolen Secret - Book Review (Nosy Crow)

Murder, mystery and musical thrills in the shadowy streets of Victorian London in this new series from Lyn Gardner. This is historical fiction with a popular twist: murders and mysteries set in the glitzy world of the Victorian music hall which will appeal to fans of Jacqueline Wilson's Hetty Feather but with added detective drama!Rose was left by her mother at the door of Campion's Palace of Variety and Wonders as a baby. It is her home, and she loves it, but she never stops wondering who she really is. When murder threatens to destroy the music hall, Rose will need all her performance skills to crack the crime and delve into a murky past of blackmail, subterfuge and abduction...

You only need to skip and dance through the first page before you find yourself straight into a dark narrative not for the feint of heart. You'll be ceremoniously whipped into a murderous storm as you visit Easingford Hall. The plot is a dark maelstrom of treachery, seen through even darker eyes than the devil himself, the new Lord of Easingford, Henry Edgar Easingford. He will stop at nothing to claim the title and wealth that he so desires. The Stolen Secret is a cracking start to a new series from the author of the Olivia books and theatre critic from the Guardian. 

This is a brilliant story that you will really struggle to put down. It is complex and cunning like the characters themselves. You will easily take to Rose Campion, as she is very determined, lively and head strong, but she has a heart of solid gold. You first meet Rose escaping from the top floor window of Miss Pecksniff's Academy for Young Ladies. Shinning down the drainpipe, Rose will hurtle you into a non-stop adventure of danger, discovery, a world full of crime, colourful characters and MURDER.

This book reminded me of the fantastic times that I spent reading Julia Golding's Cat Royal series. In my opinion it is equally enchanting and holds many similarities. It's a historical snapshot of Victorian London with a fantastic theatrical flourish that oozes period charm. When a brilliant young actor goes missing, Rose and her friends from the music hall get on the case and try to solve the mystery afoot. The music hall is a fantastic place to visit, it's almost a character in itself. It superglues the narrative to engaging heights resulting in a brilliant and captivating read.

The story is a fantastic and dramatic mystery that will sweep the curtains down on your fantasy feet as you flit along the dark and deadly squalor of Victorian streets. You need to make sure that you do not find yourself being pick-pocketed in the process. It's full of shady villains found lurking down the poverty stricken alleyways. However, some humour can be seen through the horror - it will leave you thinking about the possible outcomes and lighten the intentions for any younger readers. Will Rose Campion and her acting friends get to the final act? Will they fail to work out the solution to the biggest mystery in London? Roll up and find out...

This is another great read from Nosy Crow, a publisher on the rise picking a range of fantastic books and bringing them to the world for readers to enjoy. It is a great start to the series; I will certainly be looking out for the next instalment. Out now.... so what are you waiting for?

Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books: Amber Lee Dodd - We Are Giants - Author Q&A Interview

Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books is really pleased to be sharing with you the following Q&A with Amber Lee Dodd. Her latest book, We Are Giants, was published on the 7th April 2016 by Quercus Children's Books. The book deals with topics that will be familiar to a lot of 9-12 year olds. It is a refreshing and a heartwarming story, and very sensitively written.  I hope that this interview piques your interest and encourages you to purchase a copy and read it. Thank you Amber. 

Tell us a little bit about We Are Giants? 
It’s about love, family and being proud of who you are. 
It’s the story of Sydney, her sister Jade and her mother Amy who has dwarfism. When the family are forced to leave home and move to a new city, Sydney worries she will forget her Dad (who died a few years before) without the memories of home around her. To add to that, her new home is barely a home, it’s more of a shoe box and her new school is clearly run by mad teachers. With everything changing around her Sydney is determined to keep some things the same. Namely she wants to stay little, just like her Mum. 

Who would love reading We Are Giants, and why? 
Anyone who’s ever wanted to be different.

We all need a hero! Tell us about your protagonist(s)? Was there a real-life inspiration behind him or her? 
Sydney is shy and thoughtful and has a huge imagination. But she also has a fierce side she call ‘The Wild Thing’. Jade is brave and bold and is never more than five minutes away from throwing a wobbly. And Amy is creative and stubborn and force to be reckoned with. 

I think all the characters where inspired by the children and teens I worked with, or people I knew. 
In the book Sydney and Jade have to deal with bullies. 

How much research did you do into this subject? 
I used to tell people I hardly did any research, but that’s not true! I researched everything; it just never felt like work because all the things I found out where so interesting. Most of the research went into Amy’s dwarfism and Sydney’s fairytales. Things like place, school and the bullies are all drawn from my own childhood. 

What tips can you share in writing a believable world/background? 
I think in creating a world you have to give a voice to it as much as you would a character. Even in the craziest fantasy you have to ground your story in a place that feels real. 

For me writing about Portsmouth, where We are Giants is set, was easy as I grew up here. It’s largely a working class city with a strong, proud identity and was the perfect setting for a family struggling in post recession Britain. 
Do you have any strange writing habits? 
I write in bed because I don’t have a desk I can use. I’m also a very messy writer. I once walked out the house with several sticky notes stuck to the back of my leg! 

What do you think makes a good story? 
Oh gosh, this is such a hard one. I think great stories have their own voice. They couldn’t have been written by anyone else but that person. 

What genre of books do you like to read? do you limit yourself to only the genre that you write yourself? 
I read everything! From plays to memoir, to short stories and literary fiction. My favourite books are Olive Kittredge by Elizabeth Strout, Matilda by Roald Dahl, The play The Memory of Water by Shelia Stevenson and the short story collection How to Breathe Underwater by Julie Orringer. I come back to these books again and again. 
At the moment I have a tbr pile that includes the biographies of some lady adventures, a couple of crime novels (I love an Agatha Christie) and some smashing Middle grade books. 
If you were to look for me in a bookshop you would find me by the picture books. It is pretty much impossible to be unhappy flicking through a good picture book. 


As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up? 
The first thing I desperately want to do was be a surgeon. I like to think it was because I wanted to help people, but I think it might have been more to do with the fact that I loved blood and guts. But sadly I wasn’t very good at science or maths. However, I was very good at telling stories. So that’s what I decided to do instead. 


Is there anything else that you would like to tell us, like new writing projects? 
I’m working on some more short stories. You should hopefully get to listen to my story The Love Songs of Foxes on BBC radio 4 again soon. And I’m also working on a new children’s book, staring lady adventurers, Scottish islands and a dyslexic hero with a very unusual gift. But Shhh, don’t tell anyone.

Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books: Teens/Children's Book Picks US - April 2016 - Post Two

Jacob Grey - Ferals #2: The Swarm Descends - Published by HarperCollins (April 26, 2016)

Ferals #2: The Swarm Descends is the second book in a dark middle grade fantasy series that’s part Batman, part The Graveyard Book, and all page-turning adventure.

The sinister Spinning Man has been defeated—but a powerful new villain has risen from the shadows. The Mother of Flies has eyes everywhere, and she is searching for Caw. As the last survivor of a long line of crow ferals, Caw holds a crucial piece of Blackstone’s legacy—one the Mother of Flies will stop at nothing to find.

With his friend Lydia and his loyal crows by his side, Caw believes he can protect his city. But it will take more than crows to defeat this darkness....

Tracey Hecht (Author) Kate Liebman (Illustrator) - The Nocturnals: The Mysterious Abductions - Published by Fabled Films Press (April 19, 2016)

A flabbergastifying adventure under the stars!

"The characters are delightful and the nighttime landscape is captivating. It was just as I expected—because the best stories always take place in the dark!—R.L. Stine, author of Goosebumps

The Nocturnals features three unlikely friends: Dawn, a serious fox, Tobin, a sweet pangolin and Bismark, the loud mouthed, pint sized sugar glider. The stories all play out in their nighttime world with teamwork, friendship and humor in every adventure.

In The Mysterious Abductions, the animals form a brigade of the night after a random encounter with a blood-thirsty snake, and just in time because something is threatening their night realm. Animals are disappearing without a trace. Together with the help of a wombat, a band of coyotes and many others, Dawn, Tobin and Bismark journey to the depths of the earth in a wacky, high stakes game that will determine all of their survival.

Brian Farrey - The Secret of Dreadwillow Carse - Published by Algonquin Young Readers (April 19, 2016)

A princess and a peasant girl embark on a dangerous quest to outwit a warning foretelling the fall of the Monarchy.

In the center of the verdant Monarchy lies Dreadwillow Carse, a desolate bog the people of the land do their best to ignore. Little is known about it except an ominous warning: If any monarch enters Dreadwillow Carse, then the Monarchy will fall. Twelve-year-old Princess Jeniah yearns to know what the marsh could conceal that might topple her family’s thousand-year reign.

After a chance meeting, Princess Jeniah strikes a secret deal with Aon, a girl from a nearby village: Aon will explore the Carse on the princess’s behalf, and Jeniah will locate Aon’s missing father. But when Aon doesn’t return from the Carse, a guilt-stricken Jeniah must try and rescue her friend—even if it means risking the entire Monarchy.

In this thrilling modern fairytale, Brian Farrey has created an exciting new world where friendship is more powerful than fate and the most important thing is to question everything.

Sarah Rees Brennan - Tell the Wind and Fire - Published by Clarion Books (April 5, 2016)

In a city divided between opulent luxury in the Light and fierce privations in the Dark, a determined young woman survives by guarding her secrets. 

Lucie Manette was born in the Dark half of the city, but careful manipulations won her a home in the Light, celebrity status, and a rich, loving boyfriend. Now she just wants to keep her head down, but her boyfriend has a dark secret of his own—one involving an apparent stranger who is destitute and despised. Lucie alone knows the young men’s deadly connection, and even as the knowledge leads her to make a grave mistake, she can trust no one with the truth.

Blood and secrets alike spill out when revolution erupts. With both halves of the city burning, and mercy nowhere to be found, can Lucie save either boy—or herself?

Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books: Thomas Olde Heuvelt Interview - The HEX Blog Tour - Day One - Hodder & Stoughton

It has been said that HEX is a book that answers the question "Where does evil come from?" If you love a good horror novel and a clever narrative then this is surely the book for you. Please find below the questions that Thomas has answered about the release of his novel as part of his first UK blog stop. Hex is published by Hodder & Stoughton on the 28th April 2016.

How would you describe your book HEX, to potential future readers?
HEX is a creepy book about a modern day town, haunted day and night by a 17th century witch whose eyes are sewn shut. The town is quarantined by its elders to prevent her curse from exploding. Frustrated with being kept in lock down, the town's teenagers decide to break their strict regulations and go viral with the haunting, but in doing so, send the town spiraling into... well, into very dark times, to frame it nicely. Also, I'd say that with HEX, I set off to write the scariest book I could imagine. I took elements from classical horror and tried to turn them around in a modern, twisted way. The witch's haunting is very rock 'n roll. She's always there. She walks the streets day and night. She enters your home. She stands next to your bed for nights in a row. The town is bugged with cameras and there's this control centre that tries to hide her from sight all the time. But besides the supernatural power, it's a book mostly about human evil.

Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp? 
First and foremost, I'd like to make them shudder. Or shiver. Or make them sleep with the lights on because they were too scared Katherine would pop up next to there beds. When the book came out in Holland and Belgium, I literally got hundreds of messages from readers who had to leave the lights on, or still had nightmares. Imagine the silly grin on my face as I was reading them. I am so looking forward to seeing if it has the same effect abroad... So yeah, my first goal with this book is to entertain you. Of course there's probably a lot in the book that will make you think, or reconsider your view on what's good and evil and where you stand yourself on that spectrum, and it's okay if you pick up on that. But after the nightmares. 

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk? 
I guess that my short fiction always turns out weird and humorous, and my novels are always very dark. I don't know why that is. I've tried to write short horror fiction, but it usually turns into a novel. Whereas I love the magical-realism that I use in my short fiction. Stories like The Boy Who Cast No Shadow and The Ink Readers of Doi Saket are very close to my heart. You can find them all online for free. And somehow, it got me a Hugo Award, for a story called The Day the World Turned Upside Down. That was kind of ironic, as I hardly ever read science fiction.

Which actor/actress would you like to see playing the lead character from your book? 
Warner Bros. is currently developing a TV series based on the book, and I really don't care all that much who they will cast (of course, that will probably change once they made it public; I'd be like 'hey, he or she doesn't look like that character!') I never have famous actors in mind as I write about my characters, and I'd surely never say they look like a particular actor, as some writers do. Don't you just hate 
that? From then on, you'll always see that actor instead of what you imagined yourself, including all your opinions about that actor. It's even worse when the writer start screwing around with it: "She looked like a fat version of Victoria Beckam." Or: "She was an African-American Julia Roberts." I mean... really? Get back to writing school! 

Do you work to an outline or plot or do you prefer just see where an idea takes you? 
I used to be like Stephen King and let the story take me wherever it would go. But after about three novels I found that it was not me. I like to take more control. I discovered that you can put a lot more meaning to a story or a book if you sit down to think about it. Or in my case, not sit down, as that's the worst stimulation for my creativity (especially when there's a cumputer and Wifi at hand). So I go out and take a hike in the woods, or go for a swim, or joke about my story ideas with a few creative friends - joking usually gives the best ideas. 

What made you decide to sit down and actually start something? 
When I'm extremely thrilled about the idea. In other words, when we've joked enough about it that I went through the stages of not taking it serious anymore, and then taking it even more serious because it got so good. You kind of feel at that stage that you're ready to start the actual writing. 

Can you pass on any tips regarding the writing process to other budding writers? 
Go online. You'll find zillions of tips by zillions of writers and they'll all tell you something else. So what do you do? Just go out and write the best book you can that you would want to read. 

Do you think that the cover plays an important part in the buying process? 
Obviously. There are many books displayed at the bookstore that make you go, yuck, and then you don't pick it up and it's such a shame, because maybe there was some real beauty inside. But good publishers know how to make good covers. I am totally, head-over-heels in love with the HEX cover Hodder & Stoughton put on the book, made by Leo Nickolls. I think it's spectacular. Also, I love green.

 As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up? 
At age three, I wanted to become Mommy. At ages four to six, I wanted to become a pirate. At seven, an interior designer. At eight, an airline pilot. I had a scrapbook full of newspaper clippings about plane crashes. At nine, Jeremy Jackson. At ten, an airline pilot again. At sixteen, a rock guitarist. At seventeen, pirate again. At eighteen, I more or less accidentally became a writer when my debut novel came out.

Is there anything else that you would like to tell us?
Definitely, now you provide me with the opportunity. Did you ever try a Banana Fower Salad? If not, go and try it. It's the best possible food on this planet. It's magical. It's from Thailand. Here's a video of me making one: www.youtube.com/watch?v=U05PifAlyHI. It's in Dutch, though, so probably not a good idea to follow the recipe if you want to get it right. At least it will give you a chance to hear me speak in my silly language.

Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books: Children's Book Picks US - April 2016

N. D. Wilson - Outlaws of Time: The Legend of Sam Miracle - Published by Katherine Tegen Books (April 19, 2016)

This new fantasy-adventure series from N. D. Wilson, bestselling author of 100 Cupboards, pits a misfit twelve-year-old against a maniacal villain with a deadly vendetta. This one-of-a kind story is must read for fans of Brandon Mull and Soman Chainani, and the start of a thrilling tale from a masterful storyteller.      

Sam Miracle’s life is made up of dreams, dreams where he’s a courageous, legendary hero instead of a foster kid with two bad arms that can barely move. Sometimes these dreams feel so real, they seem like forgotten memories. And sometimes they make him believe that his arms might come alive again.

But Sam is about to discover that the world he knows and the world he imagines are separated by only one thing: time. And that separation is only an illusion. The laws of time can be bent and shifted by people with special magic that allows them to travel through the past, present, and future. But not all of these “time walkers” can be trusted. One is out to protect Sam so that he can accept his greatest destiny, and another is out to kill him so that a prophecy will never be fulfilled. However, it’s an adventurous girl named Glory and two peculiar snakes who show Sam the way through the dark paths of yesterday to help him make sure there will be a tomorrow for every last person on earth.

Peter Brown - The Wild Robot - Published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (April 5, 2016)

When robot Roz opens her eyes for the first time, she discovers that she is alone on a remote, wild island. She has no idea how she got there or what her purpose is--but she knows she needs to survive. After battling a fierce storm and escaping a vicious bear attack, she realizes that her only hope for survival is to adapt to her surroundings and learn from the island's unwelcoming animal inhabitants.

As Roz slowly befriends the animals, the island starts to feel like home--until, one day, the robot's mysterious past comes back to haunt her.

From bestselling and award-winning author and illustrator Peter Brown comes a heartwarming and action-packed novel about what happens when nature and technology collide.

Jennifer Brody - The 13th Continuum: The Continuum Trilogy, Book 1 - Published by Turner (April 19, 2016)

One thousand years after a cataclysmic event leaves humanity on the brink of extinction, the descendants of the chosen survivors take refuge in thirteen contingency shelters buried deep underground, at the bottom of the ocean, and in the far reaches of outer space. In the underwater 13th Continuum, sixteen-year-old Myra Jackson has heard rumors and whisperings all her life of a magical place called "The Surface” where people could breathe fresh air, feel the warmth of something called sunlight on their skin, and see things known as stars and trees and mountains. Myra has never dared to ask whether the stories are true, since the act of speaking such words aloud is an offense punishable by death. But after she discovers that the air supply aboard her underwater colony is running out, she realizes that her only hope for survival is to find this mysterious place. To get there, she must first recover the only guide to the Surface―the Beacon, an ancient device that also connects her to Captain Aero Wright, a dashing young soldier from one of the only remaining space colonies. With the fate of all humankind depending on them, Myra and Aero must escape the tyrannical forces that rule their colonies, journey through the black depths of the ocean and across the cold void of space, to find each other on the Surface that their ancestors once called home.

Frank Beddor & Adrienne Kress - Hatter Madigan: Ghost in the Hatbox - Published by Automatic Publishing (April 19, 2016)

An exciting new adventure featuring a teenaged Hatter Madigan, one of the most popular character from the New York Times best-selling The Looking Glass Wars trilogy by Frank Beddor!
Combat training! Secret society initiations! Self-serving rivals! Welcome to Wonderland’s prestigious Millinery Academy: where those born to protect the queendom train to become spies, assassins, and bodyguards. With all that to contend with, not to mention following in his popular older brother’s footsteps, just getting through Imagination Class seems impossible already.

And that’s before he starts seeing ghosts lurking in the corridors…

When students begin behaving strangely throughout the academy, Hatter and his fellow cadets must unlock the mysteries behind the ghosts, and the headmaster’s suspicious behavior, before the entire student body finds itself possessed!

Join Hatter and his fellow cadets on their first adventures in Wonderland. Let’s just hope it isn’t their last!

Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books: Favourite Book Picks: Children's/Teens - April 2016 - UK Post Three

Frank Cottrell Boyce - Sputnik's Guide to Life on Earth - Published by Macmillan Children's Books (7 April 2016)

Sputnik's Guide to Life on Earth by award-winning author Frank Cottrell Boyce, with illustrations by Steven Lenton, will send your imagination into orbit!

The Blythes are a big, warm, rambunctious family who live on a small farm and sometimes foster children. Now Prez has come to live with them. But, though he seems cheerful and helpful, he never says a word.

Then one day Prez answers the door to someone claiming to be his relative. This small, loud stranger carries a backpack, walks with a swagger and goes by the name of Sputnik.

As Prez dithers on the doorstep, Sputnik strolls right past him and introduces himself to everyone in the household. Prez is amazed at the response. The family pat Sputnik on the head, call him a good boy and drop food into his mouth. It seems they all think Sputnik is a dog. It's only Prez who thinks otherwise.

But Prez soon finds himself having to defend the family from the chaos and danger unleashed by Sputnik, as household items come to life - like a TV remote that fast-forwards people: 'Anyone can do it, it's just that people don't read the instructions properly'; and a toy lightsaber that entertains guests at a children's party, until one of them is nearly decapitated by it - and Prez is going to have to use his voice to explain himself.

It turns out that Sputnik is writing a guidebook to Earth called Ten Things Worth Doing on Earth, and he takes Prez on a journey to discover just those ten things. Each adventure seems to take Prez nearer to the heart of the family he is being fostered by. But they also take him closer to the day that he is due to leave them forever . . . 

Peter Jay Black - Counterstrike (Urban Outlaws BK4) - Published by Bloomsbury Children's (7 April 2016)

The Urban Outlaws face their biggest challenge yet. They have to break into the Facility and find the ultimate weapon - Medusa - before Hector does. But there are five levels of security to crack and a mystery room that has Jack sweating whenever he thinks about it.

But the clock is ticking. Hector is determined to have the weapon and release doomsday, and it is down to the Urban Outlaws to stop him. Can Jack come up with a plan in time?

The tension is high and the shocks are breathtaking in the fourth book of this high-octane adventure series for fans of Robert Muchamore, Anthony Horowitz and Alex Scarrow. urbanoutlawsbunker.com

Chris D'Lacey - The Erth Dragons: 1: The Wearle - Published by Orchard Books (7 April 2016)

The Wearle came to Erth to find out what happened to their previous group, who never returned. Gabrial, a young blue dragon, is desperate to prove his worth. But the dragons aren't alone in the mountains.

Down beyond the scorch line, Ren, a young hom boy, is fascinated by the 'skalers'. But when he creeps into their territory, he sneaks out again with a wriggling baby wearling...

Dragon and boy's fates combine in this stunning new fantasy series.

Oskar Jensen - The Wild Hunt (The Stones of Winter) - Published by Hot Key Books (7 April 2016)

A thrilling tale of Norse Gods and a terrifying hunt ...Astrid - a Viking Princess - and Leif (a poet) are on the run, having been banished from Denmark. They are trying to escape to Sweden. But Grimnir, a cold blooded assassin, has been sent to kill them. And that is the least of their worries, for Leif has managed to offend Odin, the king of the Norse Gods, which means the dreaded Wild Hunt - Odin's hunt - is after them, and ready to take their lives in revenge ...An epic tale of battle, bloodshed and the terror of being hunted.

Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books: Favourite Book Picks: Children's/Teens - April 2016 - UK Post Two

Charlie Fletcher (Author) Nick Tankard (Illustrator) The City of Beasts (Dragon Shield 3) - Published by Hodder Children's Books (7 April 2016) New allies and new hope leave siblings Will and Jo ready to face the dark force that lurks in the British Museum. It has frozen London, leaving the life force of the city's inhabitants to drain away. But with nearly all the animal statues of London and a nest of dragons against them, will they be able to save their mum - and the world - before time runs out?

With beautiful illustrations by Nick Tankard.

Amber Lee Dodd - We Are Giants - Published by Quercus Children's Books (7 April 2016) A brilliantly funny and wonderfully warm-hearted story about love, family, and what it means to be different. 

Sydney thinks her mum Amy is the best mum in the world - even if she is a bit different. When everyone else kept growing, Amy got to four feet tall and then stopped right there. The perfect height, in Sydney's opinion: big enough to reach the ice cream at the supermarket, small enough to be special. Sydney's dad died when she was only five, but her memories of him, her mum's love and the company of her brave big sister Jade means she never feels alone . . .

Julian Sedgwick - Shadow of the Yangtze (Ghosts of Shanghai) - Published by Hodder Children's Books (7 April 2016) Ruby - a Western girl who feels more Chinese than English - and her friend Charlie must follow the Yangtze hundreds of miles upriver, travelling by Chinese junk and rogue steamer, through bandit and ghost haunted countryside - doggedly tracking Moonface as he spirits Charlie's sister Fei off to his home village. Everything is in flux around them: civil war pulsing, with Nationalists, Communists and warlord bandits struggling for control. The river rises and falls, villages spring up and are gone again. 

Ruby and Charlie brave a shipwreck and a gunbattle and then take a perilous cliff path to Moonface's lair.

Julia Golding - Mel Foster and the Time Machine - Published by Egmont (7 April 2016) Mel Foster and the rag-tag heroes of the Monster Resistance are back in this exciting fantasy adventure from award-winning author Julia Golding. 

How do you catch an international treasure thief who can TRAVEL IN TIME?

That’s the fiendish challenge that faces Mel Foster, Eve Frankenstein and their friends when priceless items begin vanishing all over the world. The Mona Lisa . . . Queen Victoria’s Crown Jewels . . . nothing is safe!

But the next item on the thief’s list is no diamond. It’s Mel himself. Before Mel knows it he’s been kidnapped and stranded in the past. He’s back in time, and back in trouble!

On Mel’s second monstrously big adventure he encounters famous and unusual heroes, and more than a couple of villains: Quasimodo the Younger, Mowgli and his wolf pack, and a cheery young pickpocket by the name of the Artful Dodger.

The time-twisting follow up to Mel Foster and the Demon Butler, winner of a Primary Teacher Bronze Award 2015.

This warm and witty gothic tale from the author of the Costa award-winning Cat Royal series will be perfect for 9+ fans of Chris Riddell's Goth Girl and Terry Pratchett's Dodger, and lovers of historical adventure.

Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books: M. A. Griffin - Lifers - Book Review

Fear haunts the streets of Manchester: a schoolgirl has disappeared. Preston is drawn to investigate, exploring the city in the hunt for his missing friend. Deep in the bowels of a secret scientific institute, he discovers a sinister machine. Captured and condemned to a cavernous space filled with problematic teens, Preston is determined to escape - but this is no ordinary jail. Friendships are forged and lives lost in a reckless battle for freedom, revenge - and revolution.

This is the second book written by Martin Griffin, a former Times/Chicken House children's fiction competition winner in 2012 with Sleepwell and Fly. His first book "The Poison Boy" was written under a pseudonym of Fletcher Moss, named after Fletcher Moss Botanical Garden, but this is known locally as Fletcher Moss. I think that this is a really cool thing to do. 

Lifers will be his first book written for a teenage audience. It takes you down the familiar streets of Manchester. As you wander along the famous city centre landmarks, you will be easily led to believe that things are going on as normal. However you'll be sadly mistaken, as behind the back streets there is definitely a different story being written portraying the darker and sinister side of Manchester. You will be gripped and engrossed the more that you read and explore it. 

The city skyline is dominated by creaking steel rigging. Something strange is brewing in the city at night. A different world of secrets and a mysterious building turns the lives of the main characters upside down, literally. A group of kids fight back against a twisted government plot, which involves the plan to contain problematic teens within an undercover and underground secret prison. The plot really makes the story very unpredictable; teenagers will really love and relate to the characters and the ongoing actions that unfurl along this epic read. 

It's a seriously well plotted thriller. It contains just the right amount of dialogue and detail to keep the reader on their toes. It gives a great insight into a fantastically atmospheric world which is both surreal and deeply absorbing. With a fantastic blend of technology and Sci-fi elements, it is well balanced against a believable reality and backdrop. A world full of adult corruption, a fight for justice (instilling a massive dollop of tension) which is all fuelled by non-stop action. This is a high octane, adrenalin- fuelled ride that you will not be able to put down. 

My favourite part of the story was inside the sinister machine. This produced a captivating and contemporary vision with children all battling for survival and desperately seeking to find a way out. It's a very gritty, super dark and easy to follow prison break out, which reads really well on paper. This is another cracking read from Chicken House which is due to be published early April 2016. 

Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books: Favourite Book Picks: Children's/Teens - April 2016 - UK Post One

Georgia Pritchett - Wilf the Mighty Worrier is King of the Jungle - Published by Quercus Children's Books (7 April 2016)

  

1) Fish sucking his toes when he goes for a paddle 

2) Garden gnomes coming to life 

3) Losing his 'How to Stop Worrying' leaflet

Things Wilf is worried about now:

1) Alan coming on holiday with him

2) Alan raising an army of terrifying animals in his quest for world domination

3) Being the only person who can stop Alan. As usual.

Shane Hegarty - Chaos Descends (Darkmouth, Book 3) - Published by HarperCollins Children's Books (7 April 2016)

The third book in the monstrously funny and action-packed Darkmouth series. It’s going to be legendary.

The adventures of the most unfortunate Legend Hunter ever to don fighting armour and pick up a desiccator continue…

Finn's been through so much, he'll now be allowed do what he wants with the rest of his life, right? Wrong.

Whether he likes it or not, he's going to be made a proper Legend Hunter. But then suddenly people start disappearing, Legends are appearing where they shouldn't, Broonie's complaining, and an attack so big is coming that Finn has the weight of the world on his shoulders.

Dave Rudden - Knights of the Borrowed Dark (Knights of the Borrowed Dark Book 1) - Published - Puffin (7 April 2016) - See book review here.

The first book in a new series about an orphan boy who discovers he is part of a secret army that protects the world from a race of shadowy monsters.

Grey placed his finger in the middle of the shadow.

'What's this?' he asked.

Denizen frowned. 'It's a shadow.'

'No, it isn't,' Grey said. 'It's a door.'

Denizen Hardwick doesn't believe in magic - until he's ambushed by a monster created from shadows and sees it destroyed by a word made of sunlight.

That kind of thing can really change your perspective.

Now Denizen is about to discover that there's a world beyond the one he knows. A world of living darkness where an unseen enemy awaits.

Fortunately for humanity, between us and the shadows stand the Knights of the Borrowed Dark.

Unfortunately for Denizen, he's one of them . . .

Andrew Lane - Night Break (Young Sherlock Holmes) Published by  Macmillan Children's Books (7 April 2016)

Sherlock's mother has died, his father has disappeared in India and his sister is acting strangely. The Holmes family seems to be falling apart, and not even brother Mycroft can keep it together. But while Sherlock is worrying about all of this, a man living nearby vanishes in his own house while Sherlock and Mycroft are visiting. Where did he go, and what is the connection with a massive canal being built in Egypt? The answer will rock the world, and tear the Holmes family apart!

Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books: Guest Post - Eugene Lambert - The Sign of One (Electric Monkey)

When somebody asks what my novel, The Sign Of One, is about - I start out by telling them it’s a ‘twins are evil story, with a twist!’ If they don’t back away, or start babbling about the weather in an attempt to steer the conversation to safer subjects, I gleefully elaborate. It’s the first in a science-fiction trilogy for Young Adult readers, I say, set on a world called Wrath where identical twins are considered evil. Only one twin is human, the other a monster with ‘twisted blood.’ But how to tell them apart? 

Sooner or later, I always get asked the question: ‘How did you come up with that then?’ Well, one answer is because I am an identical twin so it really was the clichéd case of ‘write what you know.’ Another answer is ‘because I had to!’ But the real answer is because of a silly t-shirt!

I’ve always been a twin, apart from fifteen minutes of temporary uniqueness before the midwife was heard to say: ‘Hang on, Mrs. Lambert, there’s another one coming out!’ Martin joined me out in the world, and ‘I’ became ‘we.’ That’s how I grew up, as one of ‘the twins.’ And I wouldn’t change it for the world. You got noticed. You were fussed over. You’re different (by not being different), but in a good way. We were so alike that in older pictures of us, your guess as to who’s who is as good as mine. But as we grew up, we both started to notice that people are not just fascinated by identical twins but also challenged by them. There seemed at time almost a desperation to be able to tell us apart, and an urge to deny our similarities. Which one of you is the clever one? (Martin, sadly, but only by a hair!) No, you’re a bit taller/thinner/, aren’t you? Personally, I think that identical twins freak people out because they confront them with questions of difference and identity, and nature vs. nurture. 

Anyway, in 2011 I had completed a very different middle-grade manuscript (World War One, airships) and had half-heartedly tried to secure representation and get it published. Alas, no joy. All was not lost, however, as this played its part in getting me onto the excellent MA in Writing for Young People at Bath Spa University. The major output from said programme is a completed manuscript, in my case to be written over two part-time years. So that’s the ‘I had to’ part of the answer, and illustrates the miraculous and mysterious role that deadlines play in inspiration! 

This leaves the t-shirt. A few months before I started the MA, it was getting towards ‘our’ birthday and I was on the lookout for a present for Martin. In Oxford’s covered market (I think) I saw a shop selling t-shirts emblazoned with witty messages. One had the line: ‘I can’t remember if I’m the good twin or the evil one.’ I bought us each one, mine in blue, Martin’s in black. And to cut a long story short that set me thinking. 

What is this about one twin being good, the other evil? Could there be a world where that was actually the case? So when I had to come up with an idea for my MA manuscript, the ‘evil twin’ premise popped into my head … 

Of course, like any book, The Sign of One is riddled with many other inspirations. For a start, I wanted to write science fiction. When I was a Young Adult reader (not that YA had been invented yet) I was a massive fan of science fiction, in particular the older ‘pulp’ stories with bug-eyed women and scantily-clad monsters1 and rocket ships, etc. The delicious sense of wonder, the thrilling adventures, the glimpses of weird alien worlds, these books lifted me out of my mundane growing-up-in-the-Midlands life. 

And then there were the original Star Wars films, the seismic SF event of my youth. Need I say more? No, but I will. Although I had enjoyed Star Trek, I absolutely loved Star Wars (and the slightly later Alien). Why so? Because these movies pioneered the gritty end of the ‘sliding scale of shiny versus gritty’, the so-called ‘Used Future’ trope. The spaceships were rusty and battered, and so were the hard-bitten characters that flew them. In other words, even though it was SF everything felt more real. And, for me, this is so-o-o-o important. To give you one final example: Aliens. Apart from the clever plotting that allows this sequel movie to pick up from where the excellent Alien left off, the thing I still rave about to this day is how the Marines go into the colony all macho only to get their butts well and truly kicked. And then they’re scared. Not square-jawed and stoic, but really scared. Shitting-themselves scared, like you or I would be!

There are also more recent sources of inspiration lurking within the pages of The Sign of One. During my MA, I read plenty of mind-blowing contemporary YA and that inspired me. Think Patrick Ness’s Chaos Walking trilogy, Moira Young’s Blood Red Road, Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games trilogy, and so forth. I could go on and on, but I won’t. 

Thing is, I have another book to write… 

Eugene Lambert

THE SIGN OF ONE, which will be published on the 7th April 2016, published by Egmont's Electric Monkey Imprint..... Grab a copy and read it......