Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books: Children and Teen Paperback Book Picks - November 2014

Ryan Graudin - The Walled City - Published by Indigo - Paperback – 6 Nov 2014

Disguised as a boy, Jin Ling searches for her missing sister, Mei Yee, who was sold into the brothels of the Walled City. It's a cut-throat world of gangs, drug-dealers and warlords and every day is a struggle to survive. Jin Ling relies on her speed and cunning but how long will her luck hold? When a mysterious boy, Dai, requests her help with a dangerous mission Jin Ling's inclined to say no - this is a world where no one can be trusted - but the mission offers her a vital chance to see inside the brothel where her sister may be being held.

Jin Ling and Dai join forces, but will either of them survive the mission? Is Mei Yee still alive? And how will any of them ever escape the stifling city walls?

With a fantasy setting inspired by Kowloon Walled City, Hong Kong, Ryan's novel has a rich authenticity and an intense atmosphere, and its pace will enthral the reader from the very first page.

Joanne Owen - Circus of the Unseen - Hot Key Books - Paperback – 6 Nov 2014

After an accident at her grandmother's house, Rosie is transported to a strange and sinister world populated by a cast of carnivalesque characters who reside in the Circus of the Unseen. They are reigned over by an old woman called Madam Matushka, who guards the threshold between life and death and has extraordinary powers over all around her. This is an in-between world, a bizarre and trapped existence, but Rosie is not like the others here. She seems to be hovering between the worlds of the living and the dead, and she is a challenge to Madam Matushka. Can Rosie escape Madame Matushka's malevolent rule and a world in limbo? And can she help resolve another mystery - one at the heart of her grandmother's life?

Richard Farrr - The Fire Seekers (The Babel Trilogy Book 1) - Skyscape Paperback - (1 Nov 2014) 

The time of our immortality is at hand. An undeciphered language in Crete. A rash of mysterious disappearances, from Bolivia to Japan. An ancient warning at the ruins of Babel. And a new spiritual leader, who claims that human history as we understand it is about to come to an end.

Seventeen-year-old Daniel Calder’s world falls apart when a freak accident brings personal tragedy—and he discovers there’s a link between the accident and a wildly successful new cult, the Seraphim. Catapulted into a violent struggle for humanity’s past and future, he’s not even sure who the enemy is, or if he’s battling a phantom that doesn’t exist. But as Daniel puts his life on the line, he is forced to conclude that our very survival as a species will depend on who, and what, we choose to believe.

Robert Paul Weston - The Walled City - Published by RAZORBILL- Paperback – 6 Nov 2014

Elliot Von Doppler and his friend Leslie think nothing ever happens in Bickleburgh; the only excitement is the rumour about what goes on deep inside the gleaming headquarters of DENKi-3000, the world's eighth-largest electronics factory. No one seems to know what goes on, until Elliot and Leslie are invited to take a glimpse inside and find a collection of strange and magical creatures. But when the evil Chuck threatens to shut down the plant, Elliot and Leslie and their new creature friends must create an invention so astonishing it will save the Creature Department.

On My Travels To Scotland And Back

I have been very busy in the last few weeks, so I have had very little time to do any reading or to update this blog. It is at busy times like this that it would be great to have a helper. Anyway I took a visit to the Edinburgh book festival this last week and had a great time. Whilst there I had a look in the local section of the well-stocked festival bookshop and found some of the below titles which might take your fancy.

Sharon Tregenza - Tarantula Tide - Published by Floris Books 16 October 2008

About the book:

When one expects Vikings and barbarians and simply finds civilization, you'd expect to be underwhelmed. "Tarantula Tide" follows Jack as he finds himself vacationing in Shetland, a land with a history far more interesting than its present. When he meets Izzie, his vacation suddenly turns strange, as Jack's own private secrets may soon come to light. "Tarantula Tide" is a unique children's mystery, sure to please young adult readers.


Lari Don - Wolf Notes and Other Musical Mishaps - Published by Floris Books 28 August 2009

Synopsis:

Helen has won a place at a prestigious summer music school in remote north-western Scotland. But as she practises for a concert on Midsummer's Eve, her friends, the fabled beasts, prepare for battle - in the very forest where the young musicians are staying. When Yann the centaur arrives and warns Helen of impending danger, she is forced to cast her musical ambitions aside. Helen finds herself catapulted into a perilous quest, allied with fantastical creatures against a powerful enemy, the Faery Queen. She finds the mythical island of Tir nan Og, breaks the law and administers first aid to old friends and new ...but will it be enough to help her friends and save herself? This is the magical sequel to the bestselling "First Aid for Fairies and Other Fabled Beasts".

Sam Wilding - The Second Gateway: Book Two of the Denthan Series - Published by Olida Publishing 19 April 2009 ( Still need to track this book down!)

Synopsis:

One year on, the zany villagers of Drumfintley are, yet again, all that stand between a peaceful world and certain disaster. When a whole new array of monsters and dark magic begin to emerge from the murky waters of Loch Echty all hell breaks loose. Beneath the Scottish loch, Mendel and James discover the submerged village of Fintley, a huge obelisk and a new crystal key. It is soon clear that they face a greater threat than ever before. In this, the second epic struggle to keep the Peck family together, some souls may be lost for good this time…

Will James, Craig and Bero still be able to save us all? Will Mendel, the wizard-goldfish, continue to outwit his oldest and greatest adversary? Will the second gateway take the villagers of Drumfintley on a one-way trip to catastrophe.



Douglas Bruton -The Chess Piece Magician - Published by Floris Books 10 Sep 2009

Synopsis:

When Corrie's family returns to Uig Bay on the Isle of Lewis for yet another miserable summer holiday, he has no idea of the incredible adventure that lies ahead. He finds a strange figurine on a windswept beach, which looks very like the ancient chess pieces found there centuries ago ...but this one has a magician's staff. Corrie makes friends with local girl, Kat, who tells him the island's legends - of a terrible sea serpent who summoned up never-ending winter, and of a powerful magician who finally banished him. When Corrie hears a voice in the night and the strange little figure starts to glow, he finds himself drawn into an incredible battle between good and evil. Douglas Bruton's brilliant first novel tells a fictional story behind the famed Lewis chessmen, which date from the 12th century and were found in Uig Bay in the 1830s. This gripping fantasy adventure will have both boys and girls on the edge of their seats.

New Children's Books For September 2009 (paperbacks)

So many great books to be released in September. All these books should keep you busy and excited in the anticipation of getting your hands on a copy. Always look forward to any of your comments and happy reading!


Mark Haddon - Boom! - Published by David Fickling Books 3 Sep 2009

Books Synopsis

From the moment that Jim and his best friend Charlie bug the staff room and overhear two of their teachers speaking to each other in a secret language, they know there's an adventure on its way. But what does 'spudvetch' mean, and why do Mr Kidd's eyes flicker with fluorescent blue light when Charlie says it to him? Perhaps Kidd and Pearce are bank robbers talking in code. Perhaps they're spies. Perhaps they're aliens. Whatever they are, Jimbo and Charlie are determined to find out. There really is an adventure on its way. A nuclear-powered, one hundred-ton adventure with reclining seats and a buffet car. And as it gathers speed and begins to spin out of control, it can only end in one way ...with a BOOM. Note: This book was first published in 1992 under the title "Gridzbi Spudvetch!" It has now been completely re-written (Mark has changed pretty much every sentence one way or another) and given a new title that is much easier to pronounce


Simon Holt - The Devouring: Soulstice - Published by Puffin 3 Sep 2009

Book Synopsis

Beware the darkness and the light. They will steal your soul in day or night. In summer’s warmth or winter’s cold Your life will end when the Vours take hold. In the fearscape no one can hear you cry, And in its depth your soul will die. Reggie Halloway thought she was finished with the Vours – the demons who had possessed her brother, Henry – forever. She'd once faced them in a deathly battle for Henry’s soul and now she wants to forget them. But Quinn, the Vour she left at the bottom of a lake, is back. And he is not alone.


Mark Walden - Dreadnought (H.I.V.E) - Published by Bloomsbury Publishing 7 Sep 2009

Book Synopsis

A renegade faction of the world's most powerful villains is intent on destroying G.L.O.V.E. (Global League Of Villainous Enterprises) and showing the world the true face of evil. The Disciples begin by hijacking Diabolus Darkdoom's Airborne command post, then they kidnap his son and his son's best friend. Unfortunately for them, Nigel Darkdoom (and Franz) also happen to be Otto's friends. Heading out to America, Otto, Wing et al embark on a perilous and highly unauthorised rescue operation. Cut off from the support of H.I.V.E. and on the run from American security forces the hunt for their friends leads to one of the US military's most secret facilities. It becomes clear that the Disciples are not all they appear and in a desperate race against time Otto must work out who his real friends are to prevent the Disciples from completing their true objective. Only Otto can save the world from domination by a sinister new world order but it might be that the price he has to pay is just too high. When it comes to the crunch will he be prepared to sacrifice himself?

Suzanne Collins - Catching Fire (Hunger games Trilogy) - Published by Scholastic 7 Sep 2009

Book Synopsis

After winning the brutal Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen returns to her district, hoping for a peaceful future. But Katniss starts to hear rumours of a deadly rebellion against the Capitol. A rebellion that she and Peeta have helped to create. As Katniss and Peeta are forced to visit the districts on the Capitol's cruel Victory Tour, the stakes are higher than ever. Unless Katniss and Peeta can convince the world that they are still lost in their love for each other, the consequences will be horrifying... The terrifying sequel to The Hunger Games.

Josh Lacey - Two Tigers on a String (Misfitz Mysteries) - Published by Marion Lloyd Books 7 Sep 2009

Book Synopsis

The second thrilling adventure in the Misfitz series, about four children who share four parents and find themselves caught up in some very unusual mysteries. One afternoon, Frank comes home fromschool to an empty flat. His mother has disappeared. She isn't back that night. Or the next. Where has she gone? How will Frank find her? It's a job for the Misfitz. Together, they sneak out of their home, catch a train across the country and search for clues.They soon find themselves on the trail of a mysterious cult, led by a frightening figure known only as the Tiger.

Mike Wilks - MirrorShade (Mirrorscape) - Published by Egmont Books Ltd 7 Sep 2009

Book Synopsis

Something has gone terribly wrong. Mel and his friends have been locked in Deep Trouble prison in the Mirrorscape, while their evil Mirrorshades - who look exactly like them - are free to cause havoc in Vlam. Luckily, their old friends Goldie and Pilfer - the invisible burglar - are on hand to help them break out and try to prove their innocence. But arson, forgery and theft are the least of what their doubles have been up to. They're involved in a plot that could destroy our heroes. The race to find the mysterious Mirrortree is on! Can the real Mel, Ludo and Wren defeat their enemies in time? The third funny, fast-paced adventure in the fantastical world of the Mirrorscape.

B.R Collins - A Trick of the Dark - Published by Bloomsbury Publishing PLC 7 Sep 2009

Book Synopsis

Zach and his sister Annis have been uprooted by their parents from their comfortable home to a remote and half-built barn in France. Zach is being removed from his 'bad-influence' friends, their parents are trying to salvage their marriage and still remain on speaking terms whilst the bitterness of their father's affair bubbles underneath the surface. And Annis - Annis just keeps going, keeping her head down, trying to keep it together. So far so normal. And then Zach, uncommunicative and contrary as ever these days, defies everything their parents have said and makes his way to the unsafe ruined building at the edge of their new garden, and leans up against the wall. The wall bulges, totters - and suddenly collapses on top of him. Annis, horrified, sees him crumpled on the ground. Desperate, she races towards him, not daring to think anything at all. She sees him, on the ground, broken, silent, not there any more. And then, unbelievably, he moves. Zach moves. Zach, in an extraordinary and instinctive decision, has broken his bond with his own soul, the essence of himself. By doing so he has cheated death. By doing so he has also cheated life. He is unable to touch any human person again. And the essence of himself, his 'other', his soul, is chasing, chasing him, determined to rejoin what should rightfully be together. Zach is on the run, from himself, whom he can never escape, from death, but also from the life that he can never enjoy again. Perhaps only a sister can help him now. An extraordinary, electric and tautly thrilling new novel from the highly acclaimed debut author of The Traitor Game.

Douglas Bruton - The Chess Piece Magician - Published by Floris Books 10 Sep 2009

Book Synopsis

When Corrie's family returns to Uig Bay on the Isle of Lewis for yet another miserable summer holiday, he has no idea of the incredible adventure that lies ahead. He finds a strange figurine on a windswept beach, which looks very like the ancient chess pieces found there centuries ago ...but this one has a magician's staff. Corrie makes friends with local girl, Kat, who tells him the island's legends - of a terrible sea serpent who summoned up never-ending winter, and of a powerful magician who finally banished him. When Corrie hears a voice in the night and the strange little figure starts to glow, he finds himself drawn into an incredible battle between good and evil. Douglas Bruton's brilliant first novel tells a fictional story behind the famed Lewis chessmen, which date from the 12th century and were found in Uig Bay in the 1830s. This gripping fantasy adventure will have both boys and girls on the edge of their seats.

Books out in August 2009 Paperback

I have found quite a good mix of books to be released in the summer month of August; some great gems for every one to read.


Di Toft - Wolven - Published by Chicken House 3 Aug 2009 (Great holographic cover need to see it!)

WOLVEN is a fantasy firmly rooted in the mysterious present. A boy and his eccentric grandparents live near a strange wood - apparently cursed. He longs for a dog - but the dirty ungainly farm creature finally found by his grandfather hardly fits his image of the perfect pet. And it howls in the night. But it's only when his dog starts to grow human ears that he realises that something is seriously wrong. The truth is stranger than his wildest dreams -the boy who appears, alarmingly unpredictably, is a kind of special werewolf in reverse. A noble, almost heraldic breed of WOLVEN - the kings own werewolves from ancient times, who have been in hiding until rediscovered by evil government scientists who are trying to breed werewolves as weapons.

Steve Feasey - Changeling:Dark Moon - Published by Macmillan Children's Books 7 Aug 2009 ( I have had the pleasure to read an early manuscript copy of this book, which reads really well.)

Fourteen-year-old werewolf Trey is getting more powerful by the day. But can he control his powers - or will they bite back? Trey is sent on a dangerous mission to Iceland, where he must infiltrate the evil empire of the vampire Caliban. Trey's abilities are tested to the max, challenged by a rage he cannot regulate and a dark angel with looks that kill. Lucien Charon, Trey's mentor, lies in a coma in London, Trey is his only hope for survival. But the Netherworld is intent on destruction and Trey's about to face his nemesis...

David Whitley - The Midnight Charter - Published by Puffin 6 Aug 2009 (See Book Review)

In the city of Agora, anything can be bought and sold. Even children are possessions until their twelfth birthday. Mark has been sold by his father, and Lily, an orphan from birth, has bartered for her life. Thrown together by chance, in the ancient tower of Count Stelli, they face an existence of poverty and servitude, unless they can find a way to break free. But, unbeknown to Mark and Lily, they are being watched by the ruler of the city. Can they survive the traps and treachery that await them and discover the dark secret that binds them together? Their lives depend on this question: what is the Midnight Charter?


Philip Caveney - Alec Delvin: Empire of the Skull - Published by Red Fox 6 Aug 2009 (Cover looks good, not had a copy yet.)

Mexico, 1924. At his father's hacienda, restlessly waiting for adventurer Ethan to arrive, sixteen-year-old Alec and his faithful valet Coates head out into the wilderness in search of an ancient archaeological site...only to discover that Mexico is every bit as perilous as The Valley of the Kings. Pursued by ruthless bandits, involved in a plane crash in the middle of remote rain-forest and finally an unwelcome guest in a lost Aztec city where the inhabitants still practice rituals of human sacrifice, once again Alec must use all of his skills and stamina to survive.


C.P. Goy The Seven Stones:Terry,the Torus and the Tumblestones - Published by Matador 3 Aug 2009 (From a small publisher)

Terry should never have been in the middle of Crow Wood that night - then the Torus couldn't have sucked him into the strange new world. But he was, and it did. So now he has a problem. To have any chance of getting home again, he needs to find the seven stones - but the Baron's secret police are closing in fast. Unless his new friends Gwen, Meeshka and Polka can help him solve the riddles and find the mysterious Watcher, Terry will never see his home again...


Harry Edge - Soft Targets - Published by Hodder Children's Books 6 Aug 2009 (Great read for boys)

New Yorker, Luke Kite has been estranged from his multi-millionaire father, Jack, for years. The result of a one night stand, he has never been acknowledged as heir to his father's globally successful business, Kite Industries - unlike his English half-sister Megan, the apple of her daddy's eye. But when his father is mysteriously killed on Luke's 17th birthday, Luke and Megan are brought together as they uncover the dark secrets, and corruption at the heart of their father's multi-billion business empire. Jack's death was not an accident, nor was the hit and run incident that Megan herself, narrowly escaped the day he died...The threats don't end there, as Megan again becomes a target for killer when she's staying at Jack's London flat. Again she escapes death, and another girl is killed in her place, but now Megan is on the run. Using her best-friend's identity, she travels to New York, to Poland, and Tokyo in order to escape whoever wants her dead. Luke, too, is wary of all those around him, even his mother and his reliable Uncle Mike, his dad's brother. Who can he trust and how can he protect his half-sister? In a tense game of cat and mouse, Luke needs all his resources to narrow down his enemies and those of Megan...what he discovers destroys what little faith he has in his so-called family, and in his own identity as no one is quite who they seem. As the action draws to a shocking and nail-biting conclusion, Luke and Megan discover they have only each other to rely on in the end...


Eoin Colfer - The Arctic Incident:Graphic Novel - Published by Puffin 6 Aug 2009 (Great new way to read a great book)

Someone has been supplying Class-A illegal human power sources to the goblins. Captain Holly Short of the LEPrecon Unit is sure that her arch-enemy, thirteen-year-old Artemis Fowl, is responsible. But is he? Artemis has his own problems to deal with: his father is being held to ransom and only a miracle will save him. Maybe this time a brilliant plan just won't be enough. Maybe this time Artemis needs help . . .


Julia Golding - Wolf Cry Published by OUP Oxford 6 Aug 2009 (Have this one to read soon)


reydis has been left for dead following a raid by pirates on her father's Viking stronghold. Her brother has been kidnapped-and Freydis's father is hell-bent on revenge. But this is a volatile man who loathes his daughter and is driven by love of his son. Reluctantly he takes Freydis with him on his journey, giving her a slave-Enno-to tend her. As Freydis's father becomes more bitter and cruel, and the hunt for his son becomes increasingly desperate, Freydis and Enno draw closer together. But when battle looms on the horizon, the bonds of friendship, obedience and loyalty are tested to the limit.


Garen Ewing - The Adventures of Julius Chancer:The Rainbow Orchid V.1 Published by Egmont Books Ltd 4 Aug 2009 (Looks really good)

The Rainbow Orchid" is an ambitious blend of classic storytelling and cinematic artwork in which adventure, historical drama and legend are seamlessly intertwined. In Volume One, follow the story's hero, Julius Chancer, as he embarks on a hazardous quest for the rainbow orchid - a mythical flower last mentioned by the ancient Greek philosopher, Theophrastus, and steeped in legend. His epic journey takes him from 1920s Britain to the Indian subcontinent and its mysterious lost valleys.

Hope you found something to look forward to reading. We're always looking out for new books, so if you have a book you would like to see on this blog, drop us an email. The hardback post is soon to follow.