Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books: Children's Middle-Grade Book Picks April 2018 - US Post Two

Vera Brosgol - Be Prepared - Published by First Second (April 24, 2018) - ISBN-13: 978-1626724457 - Paperback 

"Beautifully drawn, brutally funny, brilliantly honest. Vera is such a good cartoonist I almost can’t stand it.” ―Raina Telgemeier, author of Smile

All Vera wants to do is fit in―but that’s not easy for a Russian girl in the suburbs. Her friends live in fancy houses and their parents can afford to send them to the best summer camps. Vera’s single mother can’t afford that sort of luxury, but there's one summer camp in her price range―Russian summer camp.

Vera is sure she's found the one place she can fit in, but camp is far from what she imagined. And nothing could prepare her for all the "cool girl" drama, endless Russian history lessons, and outhouses straight out of nightmares!

Ellen Potter & Felicita Sala - Big Foot and Little Foot (Book #1 Published by Harry N. Abrams (April 10, 2018) - ISBN-13: 978-1419728594 - Hardback

Hugo is a young Sasquatch who longs for adventure. Boone is young boy who longs to see a Sasquatch. When their worlds collide, they become the unlikeliest pair of best friends.
 
At the Academy for Curious Squidges, Hugo learns all manner of Sneaking—after all, the most important part of being a Sasquatch is staying hidden from humans. But Hugo dreams of roaming free in the Big Wide World rather than staying cooped up in caves. When he has an unexpected run-in with a young human boy, Hugo seizes the opportunity for a grand adventure. Soon, the two team up to search high and low for mythical beasts, like Ogopogos and Snoot-Nosed Gints. Through discovering these new creatures, together, Big Foot and Little Foot explore the ins and outs of each other’s very different worlds but learn that, deep down, maybe they’re not so different after all.

Jordan Stratford (Author) Kelly Murphy (Illustrator) - The Case of the Perilous Palace (The Wollstonecraft Detective Agency, Book 4) - Published by Knopf Books for Young Readers (April 17, 2018) - 

• ISBN-13: 978-0553536447 - Hardback 

The history-mystery-science series concludes as the Wollstonecraft Detectives--Ada Byron Lovelace and Mary Shelley--take on a case by royal request.

Ada's imperious grandmother has absolutely shut the Wollstonecraft Detective Agency down--until they get a case from a princess, that is.

The princess Alexandrina Victoria, age 9 (who will grow up to be Queeen Victoria), is the most closely watched girl in England. She is never alone. Every morsel she eats is catalogued. Every visitor overseen. Every move noted down. She has but one thing of her own--a sketchbook she uses as a secret diary, where she records her private thoughts in code. But now, somehow, that sketchbook has disappeared.

And so the princess enlists Ada and Mary to figure out what has happened to the sketchbook without arousing the suspicions of her minders. A most clandestine case indeed! One that will involve breaking into Kensington Palace and uncovering a host of surprising royal secrets...

This funny, Christmas-time romp of a caper will delight history and mystery fans alike.

Lauren Abbey Greenberg - The Battle of Junk Mountain - Published by Running Press Kids (April 17, 2018) - ISBN-13: 978-0762462957 - Hardback 

Twelve-year-old Shayne Whittaker has always spent summers on the Maine coast, visiting her grandmother Bea and playing with her BFF Poppy. Both Shayne and Bea are collectors, in their own ways: Shayne revels in golden memories of searching for sea glass and weaving friendship bracelets with Poppy, while Bea scours flea markets for valuable finds, much of which she adds to a growing pile in her house that Shayne jokingly calls Junk Mountain.

This summer, though, everything has changed. Poppy would rather talk about boys than bracelets, and Bea's collecting mania has morphed into hoarding. Only Linc, the weird Civil War-obsessed kid next door, pays attention to her. Turns out Linc's collected a secret of his own, one that could enrage the meanest lobsterman on the planet, his grandpa. What begins as the worst summer of Shayne's life becomes the most meaningful, as she wages an all-out battle to save her friendships, rescue her grandmother, and protect the memories she loves the most.

Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books: Children's Middle-Grade Book Picks April 2018 - US Post

Kwame Alexander - Rebound - Published by  HMH Books for Young Readers (April 2, 2018) - ISBN-13: 978-0544868137

From the New York Times, bestselling author Kwame Alexander comes Rebound, a dynamic novel in verse and companion to his Newbery Award-winner, The Crossover, illustrated with striking graphic novel panels.

Before Josh and Jordan Bell were streaking up and down the court, their father was learning his own moves. In this prequel to Newbery Medal winner The Crossover, Chuck Bell takes center stage, as readers get a glimpse of his childhood and how he became the jazz music worshiping, basketball star his sons look up to.   

A novel in verse with all the impact and rhythm readers have come to expect from Kwame Alexander, Rebound will go back in time to visit the childhood of Chuck "Da Man" Bell during one pivotal summer when young Charlie is sent to stay with his grandparents where he discovers basketball and learns more about his family's past.  

Erin Entrada Kelly - You Go First - Published by Greenwillow Books (April 10, 2018) - ISBN-13: 978-0062414182

Newbery Medalist Erin Entrada Kelly’s You Go First is an engaging exploration of family, bullying, spelling, art, and the ever-complicated world of middle school friendships. Her perfectly pitched tween voice will resonate with fans of Kate DiCamillo’s Raymie Nightingale.

Twelve-year-old Charlotte Lockard and eleven-year-old Ben Boxer are separated by more than a thousand miles. On the surface, their lives seem vastly different—Charlotte lives near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, while Ben is in the small town of Lanester, Louisiana. Charlotte wants to be a geologist and keeps a rock collection in her room. Ben is obsessed with Harry Potter, presidential history, and recycling. But the two have more in common than they think. They’re both highly gifted. They’re both experiencing family turmoil. And they both sit alone at lunch.

Over the course of a week, Charlotte and Ben—online friends connected only by a Scrabble game—will intersect in unexpected ways, as they struggle to navigate the turmoil of middle school. This engaging story about growing up and finding your place in the world by the Newbery Medal-winning author of Hello, Universe and the winner of the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature will appeal to fans of Rebecca Stead and Rita Williams-Garcia.

Dave Eggers - The Lifters - Published by Knopf Books for Young Readers (April 24, 2018) - ISBN-13: 978-1524764166

Journey to an underground world where adventure awaits and heroes are made in this middle-grade novel from the bestselling, Pulitzer-nominated author of The Monk of Mokhaand Her Right Foot.

When Gran and his family move to Carousel, he has no idea that the town is built atop a secret. Little does he suspect, as he walks his sister to school or casually eats a banana, that mysterious forces lurk mere inches beneath his feet, tearing up the earth like mini-hurricanes and causing the town to slowly but surely sink.

When Gran's friend, the difficult-to-impress Catalina Catalan, presses a silver handle into a hillside and opens a doorway to an underground, he knows that she is extraordinary and brave and that he will have no choice but to follow wherever she leads. With luck on their side, and some discarded hockey sticks for good measure, Gran and Catalina might just find a way to lift their town--and the known world--out of danger.

In The Lifters, critically acclaimed author Dave Eggers establishes himself as a storyteller who can entertain and inspire readers of any age.

Joshua Khan - Burning Magic (A Shadow Magic Novel) - Published by Disney-Hyperion (April 10, 2018) - ISBN-10: 1368008429

In Book 3 of a three-book series, when Lily, aka the "witch queen" and bat-rider extraordinaire Thorn travel to Sultanate of Fire, things go terribly wrong. Instead of celebrating a reunion with their old friend K'leef, they are thrust into royal murder, an epic quest, and a deadly battle for the throne.

While investigating the murder, Lily learns shocking truths about her life that could destroy all she has achieved. Yet, among the ruins of her old life, she has the opportunity to become someone greater . . . and more terrifying.

Thorn and the magnificent bat, Hades, join the timid K'leef and the idiotic Gabriel Solar in a quest to find a phoenix. These fire birds are the key to saving the sultanate, but they nest within the Shardlands. The boys must defeat not only the monsters of that magical wilderness but also rivals eager to claim the throne for themselves. Rivals that include a renegade from House Shadow . . .

Chilling surprises, ghostly encounters, and belly laughs are just some of the treats in store for readers of this burning-hot desert adventure.

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.

Sarah Govett - The Territory: Truth (The Territory Trilogy) - Book Review (Firefly Press)

Limited Space requires Limited Numbers. Noa and Raf have found Jack, but at great personal cost. They must get back into the Territory and let people know what is happening. But how can they even scale the electric, gun-turreted fence, let alone fight the fake news of the Territory authorities?

The final installment of The Territory Trilogy is here; alive and kicking into the world of the fantasy readers. The Truth was published on the 1st April 2018 by Firefly Press and ends another series which started back in 2015. The first book started the experience in a dystopian whirlwind of imagination that captivated the readers instantly. It was a fantastically gripping start which we all wanted and got. 

The second book was The Territory: Escape in 2016. It was very enjoyable and built on the initial foundations of brilliance. This book delivered a real and intimate connection to the characters focusing on emotions and friendships. However, this meant the action side of the story became less of a focal point, in my opinion. The Truth started off in this same vein - very slow and shy. The characters, emotions and dialogue took centre stage for me and, at times, clogged up the potential. In Truth, what I really wanted was more action and more of the brilliantly imaginative and creative fantasy elements that we were treated to in book one. I wanted to explore and be transported to First City; the vivid, vibrant and active place that captivated me as a reader. 

Fortunately, this arrives in bucket loads with an explosive bang after the first one hundred pages or so. It leads to an amazing and well-thought out plot that will have you hooked and gasping for more. The more you read, the more you feel that Disneyland has never been invented. The author takes a brutal path and weaves strands of harsh reality ofor the reader to follow, which I absolutely loved and engaged with on so many levels. Death, destruction and fraying friendships come crashing down on the reader leaving mixed emotions that turbo-charge you into the reality facing the characters. This was all brilliantly written and very well-thought out. 

Empathy and love for the characters really grows throughout the book. The full and all-action ending was captivating and very memorable; it was exactly what I was hoping for. It left you guessing, satisfied, but also a feeling of awe from the outcome of the story. However, there was also a pinch of sadness as you finally left such a brilliant world. I think there is more to be explored and developed; it could certainly become a futuristic masterpiece. This is a great ending to a brilliant series full of highs and lows. I am hoping to read more stories like this by Sarah Govett and Firefly Press. 

David O'Connell (Author),‎ Claire Powell (Illustrator) - The Dundoodle Mysteries: The Chocolate Factory Ghost - Mr Enchanted Books Book Review

Archie McBudge knows his lucky underpants must really work because when he and his mum are summoned to Honeystone Hall in the remote Scottish village of Dundoodle, they find Archie has inherited not only the enormous hall but the whole of the world-famous McBudge Confectionery Company from Great-Uncle Archibald. That's a new home, a fortune and a lifetime's supply of treats rolled into one! 

But all is not well in Dundoodle, and when Archie reads the mysterious letter his great-uncle left him he finds himself on a quest to save his family's company from ruin. With the help of his new friends Fliss and Billy, Archie has to try to figure out the puzzles of Honeystone before his sweet future melts away like an ice lolly in the sun!

Fans of How to Train Your Dragon and Tilly and the Time Machine will be hungry for this delicious mystery full of weird clues, strange creatures, malevolent relatives and lots and lots of SWEETS!

For your reading pleasure is the review for "The Chocolate Factory Ghost" by David O'Connell. This is the first book in The Dundoodle Mysteries which will hit the bookshops on the 5th of April 2018, just in time for Easter. It is published by Bloomsbury Children's Books in the UK. The book has been fabulously illustrated by the multi-talented Claire Powell, who was also the winner of the best short animation "The Scapegoat" at the British Animation Film Festival in 2015.  


Are you ready for a sugar-coated mystery?

Well put on your lucky underpants, like the main character in the book Archie McBudge, and get ready to turn the pages. You will hurtle into a pick and mix adventure that will leave your hands sticky with creative and clever imagination. You will follow the sweet crumb trail of strange clues and uncover the magical mystery with a great set of characters. Some of which you will love and some you will love to hate. Just like all good stories, there are plenty of villains about so watch your step!  

This is a great interactive family book to share with children; it will really engage them. It's a brilliant story for a younger audience and a new series that you will want to come back to again and again. It's very playful and fun to read with lots of moreish references to sweets that will make you want to dip your fingers into the sweety jar and pull out a treat. 

It's a full-on fantasy escapade that will have you fizzing with delight. The more you read, the more you will be hit by the feel-good factor. You will have strange puzzles to solve, mayhem to pursue and action in abundance. It has everything to keep you hooked on your spooky toes. 

WARNING: This is an honest review and the bribery of free chocolate fudge that came with this book has absolutely no bearing on the review above. All my opinions are prior to eating my weight in chocolate fudge. Thank you very much, Bloomsbury Children's Books.  

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Christopher Edge - The Infinite Lives of Maisie Day - Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books Book Review (Nosy Crow)

Cover illustration by Matt Saunders.

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.

It's always a real pleasure to receive a book for review, especially a book written by Christopher Edge. The Infinite Lives of Maisie Day will spring into the universe on the 5th April 2018. It is published by Nosy Crow, the Children's Publisher of the year 2017, and will hurtle through the black holes of space just in time to land in a bookshop near you. 

This might be the strangest book Christopher Edge has written. The narrative is emotionally challenging and thought provoking. As you follow the two female characters, Maisie and her sister you will soon find yourself sucked into a vortex of everyday family life. It might even be a mirror image of your own reality, fallings out, fighting, family disputes, friends making fun at you etc -  that's not too unusual, RIGHT? Well, that REALITY changes through a dramatic plot twist.  A collision course of atoms explodes into life, a tiny flutter of fantasy particles dance on the heads of the reader. It really challenges the direction you thought the story was taking and makes you want to read more, and quickly. 

The plot turns the adventure into an ever-shifting reality that will engulf you into a world of blackness. You'll hurtle into a chilling and mind-bending fantasy universe which is devoid of colour and leads you into the bizarre. This part of the story is very surreal - it certainly captured my attention. I was led into a mystery that I was desperate to uncover.  

It's very cleverly written, although all of the books that Christopher has written have been brilliant. This is a truly thought-provoking and touching story that will gently pull on the heart-strings. It will gently take you on a journey which exercises your emotional self to the full. 

Like all books by Christopher, it is full of scientific facts and wonder. It bestows a mini educational adventure that surely any teacher would recommend. It is a brilliant and well thought out story that will ask many questions of the reader whilst exploring what it's like to be human. Could we actually be characters subconsciously playing out our lives in a book or computer game? Will we ever know? The world we live in is a miracle and, just like the power of reading, this is a book that you will love and want to read.