Publisher: Chicken House - Clucking New Summer Reads 2013

                                   

Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams - BK 6 - Terminal - 2nd May 2013 - 11+
In this sixth and concluding book of the Tunnels series, the Styx and their cohorts of deadly Armagi have swept across England, leaving death and devastation in their wake. It seems nothing can stop them now. Only a miracle can save the day and, in the inner world at the centre of the earth, Will and Elliott might just have stumbled upon one as they uncover ancient secrets that are fundamental to al human and Styx life.     
      

Rachel Ward - The Drowning - 2nd May 2013 - 14+
What happens if you've done something terrible? But you can't remember what. And you don't know how to put it right ... When Carl opens his eyes on the banks of a lake, his brother is being zipped into a body bag. What happened in the water? He can't remember And when he glimpses a beautiful girl he thinks he recognises, she runs away.Suddenly he knows he must find her - because together they must face the truth before it drowns them.
                                         

Sam Hepburn - Chasing The Dark - 6th June 2013 - 11+
Joe's mum is dead. Killed in a hit-and-run car crash, along with someone he's never heard of. Angry and alone, Joe takes his dog for a late night walk. He finds himself at the gates of an empty mansion: a house of glass belonging to an old movie star. And it's here that Joe unlocks the dangerous mystery of what happened that night ..
        

Dan Smith - My Friend The Enemy - 4th July 2013 - 9+
Summer, 1941. For Peter, the war is a long way away, being fought by a faceless enemy, marching across places he's never seen. Unil the night it comes to him. A German plane is shot down over the woods that his Dad looked after, before he went off to fight. Peter rushes to the crash site to find something exciting to keep. But what he finds instead is someone: a young and injured German airman. The enemy. Here. And in trouble. Suddenly, helping him seems like the right thing to do.

Book Review: Seven Wonders: The Clossus Rises - By Peter Lerangis

                                    

Peter is the author of over 160 books. Some of his recent books from The 39 Clues have been listed in the New York Times Bestselling Series.  However, this is the first book that has been published as part of a new series of seven books and will be published in the next two years or so. 

Jack McKinley's normal life has just ended. Rushed into hospital he is told that he only has six months to live. However, when he awakes he finds himself on a mysterious island. A secret organisation promises to save his life, but on one condition. Jack and his new found friends Cass, Ally and Marco need to retrieve seven magical objects that, only when combined together, keep them alive. They need to work together on a mission, they have no choice but to undertake the quest. Solving clues and working out the mysteries to the secret locations they find themselves weaving through lost civilisations and mythology.

One of the books hidden strengths is the cast of great characters. You will bond with each one as you follow them through their adventures - battling the consequences of their genetic disorder which enhances their unearthly powers. This aspect of the story reveals many emotions and teenage angst, giving it both a human and realistic quality that I liked. The book also delivers a timely and humorous nature to the story which is played out in a fun way and will have you chuckling along at various points. 

This is a great introduction to the series - an epic fantasy, which is fuelled by high-octane action and great imagination. It will fuel the minds of both the young and old. An immersive book that will be an instant hit with reluctant readers. It's a book in my opinion that is hard to put down unless you have to do so. Well depicted, it is set in a breathtaking fantastical setting, with sparks of both magic and danger around every corner. It finishes on a real nail biter with a hive of film-like quality sequences that will leave you wanting more. 

If this sounds like your kind of book or you need a little more persuading to read it, then check out the book series website. You will also be able to read and download a free prequel ebook (Seven Wonders journals) and lots of other cool things. Just follow this link HERE

  

US New Children's Books Published - June 2012

                             

Elizabeth Cody Kimmel - ParaNorman:A Novel - Published by Little,Brown For Young Readers - 5 June 2012 - Age 8+

In a quaint New England town with a history of witches and pilgrims, misunderstood eleven-year-old Norman Babcock can see and talk to ghosts. No one believes him, of course-everyone just thinks he's weird (including his parents). But when a folktale of a witch who cursed her accusers turns out to be true, it's up to Norman to save the town from pilgrim zombies! In addition to the zombies, he'll have to take on a very angry witch, an annoying sidekick, his boy-crazy teenage sister, and dozens of moronic grown-ups who get in his way. This young ghoul whisperer finds his paranormal talents pushed to their otherworldly limits in this hilarious and spooky adventure!

Featuring gorgeous black-and-white interior illustrations and a story beyond what you'll see in the film, this novel is sure to delight!

                                        

Garth Nix - TroubleTwisters:The Monster - Published by Scholastic Press - 1 June 2012 - Age 8+

Jaide and Jack Shield have a secret. When they're unexpectedly sent to live with their mysterious Grandma X, they're thrust into a world where cats talk and strange weather comes out of nowhere. There they learn that they're troubletwisters, with powers they must use to stop the Evil from taking over our world.

Before, they'd defeated the Evil through luck and intuition. Now though, Jaide and Jack will have to learn how to use their powers, and how to keep on their toes when evil forces return.

Constance Leeds - The Unfortunate Son - Published by Viking Juvenile - 14  June 2012 - Age 11+   

                           

Kidnapping, family secrets, and adventure on the high seas--perfect for middle grade fans of historical fiction!

What does it mean to be lucky? Luc doesn't really know. He was born with just one ear, his father constantly berates him, and his younger brother is already bigger and stronger than he is. But when he is chosen to become an apprentice to a local fisherman, his life takes a turn for the better. Luc is a natural at sea, and before long he and a teenaged girl who lives with the fisherman form a strong bond. That bond is tested when Luc is taken captive by a band of merciless pirates, and sold into slavery.Moving from 1485 to 1500, from France to Africa, from humble beginnings to a noble future, this historical fiction adventure will leave readers pondering the true meaning of good fortune.

                                 

Stacy DeKeyser - The Brixen Witch - Published by Margaret K. McElderry Books - 26 June 2012 - Age 8+      

                            

An enchanted coin. A witch’s curse. And rats, rats everywhere! What’s a boy to do?

When Rudi Bauer accidentally takes a witch’s coin, he unleashes her curse. Accident or not, he knows he’s got to fix things, so he tries to return the coin, only to lose it on the witch’s magic mountain just as the snows come. Plagued all winter by terrible dreams, Rudi tries to find the coin again in the spring, but it has vanished—and a plague of rats has descended on his village.

     Then a stranger arrives and promises to rid the village of rats—for the price of the missing coin. Desperate to get rid of the rats, the villagers agree—but when they cannot pay, the stranger exacts a price too terrible for anyone to bear. Now Rudi is going to need all his courage—and some help from his savvy grandmother and a bold young girl—to set things right in this fast and funny adventure.

Preview - Laura Powell - Burn Mark - Bloomsbury

By Laura Powell

Publisher:Bloomsbury

Publication Date: 7th June 2012

Price: £6.99

Preview:

The walls of the Burning Court were high and white-tiled, its ceiling one giant chimney. If the young witch at the stake had been able to look up the funnel, she might have glimpsed a distant pane of sky.

Instead, she stared ahead. There was a glass panel in front of her, and the shadowy shapes of the inquisitors behind. One of them would have his hand on the switch, ready to light the fuse.

She couldn’t speak or move. Her body had been frozen rigid by the drug they’d given her so that she would be numb and immobile throughout her execution. Her reflec- tion in the glass was calm. Everything was quiet and orderly, exactly as it should be.

In which case . . . should she be aware of the coarse material of her prison shift, or sense the chill coming off the shining tiles? Propped up in the centre of the pyre, she was newly conscious of the weight of its wood.

The witch’s heart began to stammer. This wasn’t right. Something must have gone wrong. The drug wasn’t working properly. She had to let them know before it started. She had to tell them, she had to explain –

But her tongue didn’t move. Her eyes were locked open, her mouth was locked shut. The fear was suffocating, but she couldn’t gasp for breath. Her face in the glass gazed peacefully back, while every nerve, every muscle, every pulse of her heart and brain screamed STOP.

The wood sparked.

No, wait, please wait –

A thin yellow flame wriggled into life, then danced upwards. Smoke rose with it. Heat blossomed, intensified.

Behind the blurred glass, the unseen audience was waiting.

Somebodyhelpmeohgodpleasestopstopstop

Tendrils and coils of fire. Her eyes stung from its smoke. Her pale hair was already rippling into flames. At any second they would be eating into her flesh. She was screaming and screaming now, soundlessly –

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Burn Mark is the first of a captivating new series of thrillers with a fantasy twist. In a world where witches are the persecuted underclass and inquisitors the ruling power, a shared destiny forges an unlikely alliance between the children of two ancient enemies.

Glory is from a family of East End witches that was once feared and respected. She is desperate to become a witch herself and restore their reputation. Lucas is the privileged son of the Chief Prosecutor for the Inquisition, the witches' mortal enemy. Becoming a witch is the worst thing that could happen to him, but it does, and on the same day it happens to Glory. The unlikely allies must overcome their differences as they are thrown into the centre of a conspiracy that could destroy their lives.

Think Witch Child meets The Sopranos meets Spooks and you have a flavour of what this incredible book is all about. Laura Powell has used her extensive research into the history of witchcraft to create a convincing alternate world where mortals and witches coexist. This is a truly impressive novel from a talented writer new to the Bloomsbury list.

Leigh Bardugo - Shadow and Bone - Trailer and Preview

                                                   

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (June 5, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805094598

                                        

Book One of the Grisha Trilogy

(Henry Holt/Macmillan)Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near-impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one unlikely refugee.Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life– a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha… and the secrets of her heart.

New Children's Books Published in the US - June 2011 - Post One

                            

Elise Broach - Missing on Superstition Mountain - Published by Henry Holt -  21 June 2011 

A legendary gold mine, mysterious deaths, and a foreboding mountain set the stage for a new mystery from bestselling author Elise Broach. The Barker brothers--ages 11, 10, and 6--have moved from Chicago to a small town in Arizona that seems like the most boring place on earth. Boring, that is, until they discover that the mountain they are forbidden to explore--appropriately called Superstition Mountain--is keeping some pretty big secrets. Searching for their missing cat, the boys stumble across three human skulls, and with their new neighbor Delilah, they set out to solve the mystery of who died, and how.


Age 9-12

Jacqueline West - The Shadows: The Books of Elsewhere - Published by Dial - 30 June 2011

Hair-raising adventures can be found close to home this summer. Soon after 11-year-old Olive Dunwoody moves into a rundown Victorian mansion with her nerdy mathematician parents, she realizes something isn’t quite right. It's full of oddities like strange paintings hanging on the walls and a trio of talking cats lurking in the shadows. While Olive's parents busy themselves solving math problems, she decides to work out the mysteries of the dusty old pictures by plunging headlong into the world on the other side of the frames. But, will she be able to escape the hidden dangers of Elsewhere? Age 9-12

                      

Dan Elish - The School for the Insanely Gifted - Published by HarperCollins - 21 June 2011

Daphna Whispers is insanely gifted.
At age two and a half, she composed her first sonata.
At age eight, she completed an opera.
And now, at eleven and three-quarters, she is orchestrating a piano rhapsody.
With a rÉsumÉ like that, it's no wonder she is a student at the prestigious Blatt School for the Insanely Gifted. But as sixth grade draws to a close, Daphna's mind is far from the upcoming "Insanity Cup" competition. She's preoccupied by her mother's disappearance two months ago.
When a mysterious man breaks into Daphna's small New York apartment, Daphna discovers that her mother's disappearance wasn't a random accident. Her mother knew something—and now somebody is after Daphna. What starts out as a simple fact-finding trip to the basement with her friends spirals into an international expedition. And while Daphna hopes to uncover the secret of her mother's disappearance on her global trek, the last thing she expects to uncover is an outrageous secret about the Blatt School. Age 9-12


                         

Michael Carroll - The Ascension: A Super Human Clash - Published by Philomel - 30 June 2011

They'd done it. Not only had Roz, Abby, Lance, and Thunder survived their first battle with a super villain, they'd defeated him. Krodin was dead, and they had saved the world. Now everything could go back to normal-good old, boring normal. School. Parents. Friends.

But three weeks later, the world suddenly changes. The United States is under martial law, the people are little more than drones, and where Central Park should be there now stands a massive glass-and-steel building, home to the all-powerful Chancellor.

In Michael Carroll's follow-up to the acclaimed Super Human, the world has been remade in the Chancellor's image, and it's about to get much much worse. Only this young band of heroes has a chance of stopping him, but can they return the world to what it was, or will they be stranded in this alternate world forever? Age 12+

Caroline Lawrence - The Western Mysteries Blog Tour

New Books Published - June 2011 (Part Two)

                          
Andrew Lane - Young Sherlock Holmes:Black Ice - Published by Macmillan - 3 June 2011

The year is 1868 and fourteen-year-old Sherlock Holmes faces his most baffling mystery yet. Mycroft, his older brother, has been found with a knife in his hand, locked in a room with a corpse. Only Sherlock believes that his brother is innocent. But can he prove it?

In a chase that will take him to Moscow and back, Sherlock must discover who has framed Mycroft and why . . . before Mycroft swings at the gallows.

Young Sherlock Holmes is a series of novels in which the iconic detective is reimagined as a brilliant, troubled and engaging teenager – creating unputdownable detective adventures that remain true to the spirit of the original books.

                           
Carlos Ruiz Zafon - The Midnight Palace - Published by Orion - 2 June 2011
The book begins with a chase through the streets of Calcutta in May 1916. Lieutenant Peake pauses for breath outside the ruins of the Jheeter's Gate station knowing that he only has a few hours to live. Inside his overcoat he is sheltering two newborn babies - twins, a boy and a girl. Pursued by his would-be assassins, Peake runs at full tilt to the house of Aryami Bose, to whom he entrusts the children. In 1932 we meet the boy, Ben, and his group of friends the night before they are due to leave St Patricks orphanage. They have formed a secret club, The Chowbar Society, that meets each week at midnight in the old ruin they have christened The Midnight Palace. Their final meeting is due that evening but then Aryami Bose turns up at the orphanage with Sheere, Ben's sister, and tells them the story of the parents they never knew. Their father was an engineer and writer who died in tragic circumstances at the inauguration of Jheeter's Gate station. But as the novel unfolds, there is more to this story than meets the eye and they are lured by a shadowy figure from the past into a final showdown in the ruins.

                            
A.G Taylor - Enemy Invasion - Published by Usborne Publishing - 2 June 2011
Superpowers and conspiracy collide in this unmissable action-packed sci-fi thriller, sequel to 'Meteorite Strike' and 'Alien Storm'. Sarah and Robert Williams are no ordinary brother and sister. With superhuman powers originating from the mysterious Fall Virus that left thousands of others in a coma, the two are now working with government agency HIDRA and other superhuman kids to find a cure. The powerful alien that first sent the virus to Earth, known only as 'The Entity', is ready to attack again, determined to bring humanity under its control for good. It is being aided by Sarah's arch-enemy, Major Bright, and malicious software expert, Marlon Good, who have their own plans for world domination - but the key to their plans is 14-year-old Hack and his technology-manipulating powers. Before Sarah and her friends can get Hack to safety, Major Bright abducts him and uses his power to create an army of alien spider-robots that will be able to spread the virus across the world. Wave after wave spiders are launched in a lethal attack on London. Can the superhuman team stop the disaster or have they finally met their match? This is the final chapter in the mind-blowing trilogy of mesmerizing heroes, superpowers and non-stop action by critically acclaimed author A.G. Taylor.

                              

Ben Molyneux - Arthur Archer and the Time Traveller's Chronicles - Published by Janus Publishing - 14 June 2011

Trees do not have pulses, he said to himself sternly ... he pulled a handful of the mistletoe out of the way and there, to his utter amazement, he saw a door. Arthur is a seemingly ordinary teenager with a seemingly ordinary life until he stumbles across a strange and mysterious tree in the grounds of his new home at Rose Cottage. Unable to contain his curiosity, he investigates and ultimately changes his life and perhaps the past forever. For Arthur has discovered a time portal and finds himself transported back to the year 1643 during the English Civil War. His only hope is his sister, Emily, who discovers the secret of the time portal and who must find and warn her brother that unless the two of them return home within twenty-four hours then they will both be trapped in the past. But can the two of them find their way home during one of England's most bloody and grotesque periods? Or will Emily and Arthur have to spend the rest of their lives in a world where witch-hunts, battles, beheadings and the Black Death are commonplace?

New Books Published - June 2011 (Part one)

                                      

Diana Wynne Jones - Earwig and the Witch - Published by HarperCollins - 9 June 2011

Everyone knows that orphanages are horrible places. But Earwig has a surprising amount of power over everyone else at St Morwald’s Home for Children, and loves it there. So the last thing she wants is to be sent to live with the very strange Bella Yaga…
Earwig was left at St Morwald's as a baby. Unlike the other children, she loves it there, mostly because she has the run of the place and seems to be able to persuade people to do as she wants. Then one day Earwig is chosen to live with a very strange couple: Bella Yaga, her new 'mother', is actually a horrible witch. Earwig will need all her ingenuity (and some help from a talking cat) to survive…

                                 

Kit Berry - Moondance of Stonewylde - Published by Gollancz - 2 June 2011

he cracks are beginning to show in the idyllic Stonewylde community. As Yul and Sylvie's forbidden friendship grows into something deeper, Magus' true nature starts to emerge through his charming facade. Ever since Yul defied him at the Summer Solstice, his power has been waning, and his mood darkening. Yul is the problem - and Magus is going to deal with him. Nobody challenges his authority and survives. Sylvie is in danger too. Magus has discovered her secret and now, for all its beauty, her magical gift and Magus' desire to possess it is putting her life at risk. As each full moon rises Sylvie is made to suffer more, and the agony she endures as her magic is stolen leaves her increasingly exhausted, sapping her will to fight back. Unless Magus can be stopped, every full moon could be Sylvie's last. As glorious summer turns to golden autumn, the magic of Stonewylde is becoming a curse to the very people it should nurture . . . Are Yul and Sylvie the only ones who see the truth behind Magus' mask of kindness? Why is everyone so deceived by his charm - and why is Mother Heggy, the mysterious wise-woman the only one who will help them? The darkness of winter is coming, and as it does Sylvie and Yul's lives hang by a whisker. Either they will save each other, or history will repeat itself at the sinister standing stone above the cliffs.

                                  

Saci Lloyd - Momentum - Published by Hodder Children's - 2 June 

London, the near future. Energy wars are flaring across the globe - oil prices have gone crazy, regular power cuts are a daily occurrence. The cruel Kossak soldiers prowl the streets, keeping the Outsiders - the poor, the disenfranchised - in check. Hunter is a Citizen: one of the privileged of society, but with his passion for free running and his rebel friend Leo he cannot help but be fascinated by the Outsiders. So when he meets Outsider Uma, he is quickly drawn into their world - and into an electrifying and dangerous race to protect everything they hold dear.

                            

Caroline Lawrence - The Case of the Deadly Desperados:Western Mysteries - Published by Orion Children's - 2 June 2011

When desperados kill a preacher and his wife in a small frontier town, their foster child P.K. is forced to go on the run. P.K. must get a valuable letter to the Recorder’s Office before anyone else can get their hands on it. It’s not easy: Virginia City in 1862 is a glorified mining camp on a barren mountain above a great vein of silver. Seething with miners below ground and hustlers above, it’s a dangerous place, full of gamblers, hurdy girls, saloon-keepers and gunmen, all of them on the make. When twelve year-old P.K. Pinkerton arrives there, homeless, penniless and hunted, things don’t look good. But armed with a Smith & Wesson seven-shooter and a knack for disguises, P.K. takes on the tricksters and desperados who are out to get him and he finds possible allies: Sam Clemens, the new reporter for the paper, a gambler called ‘Poker Face Jace’ who knows how to tell if someone is bluffing, a derringer-packing Soiled Dove, and a Chinese photographer’s apprentice called Ping. 

New Children's Book - Picks For The Month Of June 2010

Joanne Owen - The Alchemist and the Angel - Published by Orion Children's - 3 June  2010 - P/B
Everything changes for orphaned Jan when his beloved uncle, Gustav - anatomist, natural scientist and aspiring alchemist - enlists his help in a quest to create a life-generating serum. To test the serum, they must follow a set of ancient instructions and play a dangerous game of bringing the inanimate to life... When Gustav dies suddenly, it's up to Jan to continue his work - little does he know that his beautiful, calculating aunt dreams of using the serum for her own purposes - eternal life. Under the facade of her grief, she convinces Jan they must move from Vienna to Prague, and when she mysteriously disappears, Jan searches for her. In the plague-ridden ghettos and the court of the mad Emperor Rudolf, he must pit his wits against an extraordinary cast of characters and events. His only ally is Zuzana, a girl with secrets of her own. Set against the vivid backdrop of 16th century Prague and the equally breathtaking Vienna, a magical, historical adventure from a talented author.

Jane Prowse - Hattori Hachi: Stalking the Enemy - Published by Piccadilly - 1 June 2010 - P/B

A summer camp in the heart of Kielder forest that's not what it seems, a village flooded to make a reservoir, and a toiling bell that sounds underwater on dark nights to warn of a mighty war, predicted in the legend of the three Diamond Daggers - how will Hattie, Mad Dog and Neena make sense of it all?

In her second thrilling adventure, Hattie Jackson discovers more about the history that has led the underground Kataki to the point of war against her legitimate Ninjutsu family... a family so full of dark secrets, not even her parents could have predicted what's in store...

Colin Bateman - Ice Quake (SOS Adventure) - Published by Hodder Children's - 3 June 2010 - P/B
Baring Island, the Canadian Arctic.
Michael and Katya are alone, in the middle of a blizzard.
There are wolves snapping at their heels, and somewhere ahead of them, a gigantic polar bear with the taste for human blood.
They’ve come with the SOS team in search of a missing satellite, but nowthey’re just struggling to stay alive.

Simon B Nicholson - The Oldmoor Orphans and the Rodents' Revenge - Published by TicTock books - 30 June 2010 H/B
Oldmoor Hotel is a rickety hotel in the middle of a bleak, foggy moor. Two children, Ernest and Daisy, manage it because their grandmother has mysteriously disappeared. But why are the guests so odd? And what draws them to this strange and isolated hotel?
Rodents' Revenge is the first in the Oldmoor Orphans six-book series and features squirrels, a mad parrot, secret passageways and a whole load of nutty goings-on.