The Best Children's Book Picks: FEB 2025 US POST Edition - Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books

Isaac Rundansky - Georgie Summers and the Scribes of Scatterplot - Published by Greenleaf Book Group (February 4, 2025) - ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 979-8886453164 - Hardback - Age: 9+

Exciting CRACK THE CODE adventure inside! Each and every reader who deciphers the hidden clue in each chapter will be entered to win incredible prizes and giveaways! 

In a world where fiction is a crime, young Georgie Summers must write a story to save everyone he loves …

When twelve-year-old Georgie Summers isn’t cooking dinner for his sick dad or trying to survive middle school bullies, you’ll find him in his backyard, slingshot in hand, nailing soda cans from 200 feet out … probably the only sixth grader who could pull off a shot like that.

Sure, life for Georgie was a little lonely, but at least it made sense.

That is, until a terrifying man—a man dressed in shiny black boots and bugs crawling out of a hole in his neck—climbs through a portal in midair and kidnaps Georgie’s father. Where did this man come from? Why was he looking for an ancient fountain pen? What secrets has Georgie’s father been keeping from him?

Completely alone and not to mention scared out of his wits, Georgie quickly teams up with two unlikely allies: Apurva Aluwhalia, an aspiring astronomer and just about the prettiest girl in school (in all of New York as far as Georgie is concerned), and Roscoe Harris, a self-proclaimed YouTube sensation with a whopping fourteen bored subscribers. But hey, big dreams, right?

Together, they stumble into Scatterplot, a hidden realm where mysterious Scribes record the memories of everyone on Earth. Without the Scribes, people would forget everything … they’d lose their minds. Literally.

As the adventure grows increasingly dangerous, Georgie uncovers the evil Flint Eldritch’s plan to destroy those very memories, erasing everyone Georgie has ever loved.

Armed with nothing but courage, friendship, and a magical but extremely dangerous pen, Georgie must race against time to save not just his dad … but the minds of everyone on Earth.

… including yours.

In this exhilarating middle-grade debut, perfect for fans of Percy Jackson and Harry Potter, author Isaac Rudansky spins a heart-pounding adventure of courage, hope, and the power of friendship to lift you from the depths of loneliness and despair.

You’ll be on the edge of your seat … just hope you’ll be able to remember it all when it’s over.

I.M. Dehd (Author), B. Sabo (Illustrator) - Terror from Beyond the Mirror - Published by Raintree (13 Feb. 2025) - ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1398259171 - Hardback - Age: 8+ 

Mac has always been a loner. After all, it’s hard to make friends when you’re constantly moving. Why would this year be any different? At her new school, though, there’s a rumour that a mirror in the old second-floor toilets will grant any wish you whisper to it. Believing it to be a cruel prank, Mac is skeptical. But she tries anyway. She wishes for a friend. Unfortunately, the legend is no joke and the thing that lies beyond the mirror wants nothing more than for others to join it in its nightmarish home, forever and ever . . . Will Mac be taken in by the terror or can she find something to bring her back to reality? Prepared to be scared in this chilling chapter book for young readers by the master of misery and fright, I.M. Dehd.

Rosanne Parry (Author), Mónica Armiño (Illustrator) - A Wolf Called Fire - Published by Greenwillow Books (February 4, 2025) - ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0063415133 - Hardback - Age: 7+ 

The stand-alone companion to Rosanne Parry’s New York Times bestseller A Wolf Called Wander tells the wilderness survival story of the wolf pup known as Warm and is illustrated in black and white throughout. This Voice of the Wilderness Novel features informational backmatter, including a map.

Warm is the smallest pup, the one his father calls the heart of the pack. But all Warm sees is his bigger brothers Sharp and Swift, and even his sisters Pounce and Wag, winning all the wrestling matches. Just as Warm is finding his place, enemy wolves destroy and scatter the pack. Warm helps lead the pups away from the fight, only to find himself alone with four pups to defend and feed. Can he be both the heart and the head of a new pack? Does he have to choose the aggressive leadership style of his father and brothers? Or is there another way?

Carina Finn - The Last Great Heir - Published by Sourcebooks Young Readers (4 Feb. 2025) - ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1728298337 - Hardback - Age: 8+

The female heirs of two opposing families must duel for guardianship of the land in this stunning fantasy adventure debut!

Merriment Feast's life is one constant party, complete with dazzling gowns and delicious pastries. Well, except for her aunt's physically grueling training. Merri believes it's her responsibility to protect her family's traditions and the power they've held for generations.

Rue Famine knows that only Feasts benefit from Feast rule. As the heir of House Famine, she spends her days studying potion-making in an enormous, dusty library and learning how to use her magic to help others.

Custom dictates that the heirs of Feast and Famine must duel on their thirteenth birthday. Only one family can rule the land of Fauret, and Merri and Rue have been raised as rivals.

But as the contest draws near and dangers escalate, their true enemy may be a shared one…

Adam Christopher - Empire State - Mr Ripley's Older Read Book Choice For January 2012

                                                                 

“’Rad’ is my kind of name, is what,” said Rad. He didn’t bother looking up at his assailants. The masks and hats were a great disguise. Kooky. Instead he stared ahead and dabbed at his bottom lip with a bloody handkerchief.

The first goon’s shoes moved into Rad’s field of vision, black wingtips shining wetly in the cast-off from the streetlamp just around the lip of the alley. The rain had collected in the punch pattern on the shoes and each step threw a fine spray, some of which collected in the man’s pinstripe turn-ups. Rad figured it was all part of the disguise, the unfashionable shoes, the unfashionable suits, the unfashionable gas masks. The name of some annual affair near the end of the year that was all about ghosts and candy and weird costumes itched at the back of Rad’s mind, but he couldn’t remember what it was and the thought slipped away as he tried to grasp it.

The goon bent down and the gas mask came into view. Two circular goggles in a rubber face, single soup-can canister bobbing over where the mouth would be. The goon’s voice was clear as a whistle despite the business that sat between his lips and Rad’s ears, but echoed in the soup-can like it was coming out of a radio set.

“What do you know about nineteen fifty?”

Rad pulled the handkerchief away and looked at it, then moved his jaw like he was chewing toffee. His teeth were all there, so he was happy. A fat lip he could live with. What he really wanted was a drink, something strong that you couldn’t buy, not legally anyway. He tongued the gash inside his mouth and the pepper-copper taste of blood filled his mouth again. That wasn’t what he had in mind.

“That’s the second time you’ve asked me that, pal,” said Rad. “And for the second time I’m gonna say I don’t know about nineteen fifty. If you’re looking for street directions then there are nicer ways of going about it.”

The gas mask disappeared upwards and Rad shook his head. He felt his own fedora shift against the brick wall behind him. At least he’d kept that on during the fight.

Not that it was much of a fight. One minute he was walking down Fifth, next an arm pulled him out of the light and into the alley, and after just one question a one-two landed with some success on his face, and he was sitting on the floor with a bruised tailbone and a wet backside and a cheekbone that alternated between needle-pain and numbness.

They weren’t after money. Once on the ground, the first goon – a tall, wide, no-neck, who seemed to be doing everything for the entertainment of his friend who just stood and watched behind his black goggles – grabbed his wallet, and together the four glass eyes stared at his ID for a while before the card and wallet were returned to Rad’s inside coat pocket. This was no mugging. It was planned, calculated. They were professionals. The fist responsible for Rad’s aching face was on the end of a trained arm. The crazy get-up wasn’t something you could pick up downtown. They’d collared Rad for nineteen hundred and fifty somethings. Nineteen fifty what? His office was five-A, thirty-four, Fourth Street. His home was five-B. Rad ran through addresses, locations, places that people in unfashionable suits and strange masks might have an interest in. No dice.

Published by Angry Robot - 5 Jan 2012