New Children's/Teen Books Published In March 2014 - UK Post One

                           

Philip Webb - Where the Rock Splits the Sky - Published by Chicken House - 25 March 2014
The moon has been split, and the Visitors have Earth in their alien grip. But the captive planet? That's not her problem. Megan just wants to track down her missing dad...

The world stopped turning long before Megan was born. Ever since the Visitors split the moon and stilled the Earth, permanent sunset is all anyone has known. But now, riding her trusty steed Cisco, joined by her posse, Kelly and Luis, Megan is on the run from her Texas hometown, journeying across the vast, dystopic American West to hunt down her father. To find him, she must face the Zone, a notorious landscape where the laws of nature do not apply. The desert can play deadly tricks on the mind, and the quest will push Megan past her limits. But to solve the mystery of not just her missing father but of the paralyzed planet itself, she must survive it--and an alien showdown.
                                   

Peter Jay Black - Urban Outlaws - Published by Bloomsbury - 13 March 2014 - 
Book Review http://www.mrripleysenchantedbooks.com/2014/02/book-review-peter-jay-black-urban.html
In a bunker hidden deep beneath London live five extraordinary kids: meet world-famous hacker Jack, gadget geek Charlie, free runner Slink, comms chief Obi and decoy diva Wren. They're not just friends; they're URBAN OUTLAWS. They outsmart London's crime gangs and hand out their dirty money through Random Acts of Kindness (R.A.K.s).

Their latest mission - hacking the bank account of criminal mastermind Del Sarto - has landed them in serious trouble. Del Sarto is going head-to-head with MI5 for control of Proteus, an advanced quantum computer able to crack any code and steal top-secret documents in nanoseconds. It's down to the URBAN OUTLAWS to use their guile, guts and skill to destroy Proteus, avert world domination . . . and stay alive
                                   

   
David Baldacci - The Finisher - Published by Macmillan Children's - 4 March 2014
In The Finisher, a 14-year-old girl named Vega Jane lives in a village called Wormwood where the citizens have been told that the forest surrounding them is full of monsters. When Vega's mentor disappears, leaving behind a secret message, she begins to realize that Wormwood is a village built on dangerous lies.
                                       

Matt Haig - Echo Boy - Published by Bodley Head - 25 March 2014 
Audrey's father taught her that to stay human in the modern world, she had to build a moat around herself; a moat of books and music, philosophy and dreams. A moat that makes Audrey different from the echoes: sophisticated, emotionless machines, built to resemble humans and to work for human masters. Daniel is an echo - but he's not like the others. He feels a connection with Audrey; a feeling Daniel knows he was never designed to have, and cannot explain. And when Audrey is placed in terrible danger, he's determined to save her. The Echo Boy is a powerful story about love, loss and what makes us truly human.

Preview: New Chicken House Children's Books Published Early 2014

                            

M.J. Howes - Feed - Published 2nd January 2014 - Age 10+

Taken, frozen and eaten – this is the fate facing the human race from enemy invaders – unless fourteen-year-olds Lola and Patrick can stop them.

Fourteen-year-old friends Lola and Patrick are in desperate trouble – along with everybody else. Monstrous enemy invaders have increased their human raids. Those taken face a terrible fate: like animals they will be transported, processed and eaten in a food chain like no other – unless Lola and Patrick can find a way to save them.

Trenton Lee Stewart - The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict - Published 2nd January 2014  - Age 9+
The prequel to the bestselling Mysterious Benedict Society series. When nine-year-old Nicholas Benedict is sent to a new orphanage, he encounters vicious bullies, selfish adults, strange circumstances – and a mind-bending mystery. Luckily, he has one very important thing in his favour: he’s a genius.                              

David Massey - Taken - Published 6th March 2014 - Age 14+
When hope is all you have, survival is all you can fight for … A crew of five young adventurers are toughing it out together, sailing around the world on a gruelling charity challenge. They are used to being pushed to the limit, but nothing could have prepared them for being kidnapped. When they are taken hostage by a notorious warlord and his band of child soldiers, the trip of a lifetime turns into a one-way journey into the heart of the African jungle.              

Philip Webb - Where The Rock Splits The Sky - Published 6th March 2014 - Age 12+
Where Megan lives it’s forever dusk: an endless indigo sky above a wounded land that’s slowly dying... Ever since the ‘visitors’ came, the world has stopped turning. No one sleeps, everyone’s afraid. But Megan wants to know what’s coming. She’ll stop at nothing to save those she loves. She’ll ride across a forsaken wilderness to where the rock splits the sky to set the world spinning again – and discover what she’s truly made of.

Wendy Constance - Brave - Published 3rd April 2013 - Age 10+
Thirteen winters old, Wild Horse and Blue Bird must prove their skill and bravery...Together with a sabre-tooth cub, they set out on the most dangerous adventure of their lives. They must fight spear, tooth and claw to survive.

This exhilarating, epic adventure was the winner of the 2013 Times/Chicken House Children’s Fiction Competition. It will appeal to fans of Michelle Paver’s Chronicles of Ancient Darkness.