Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books: Middle Grade Children's Book Picks - November 2015 - US Post Two

Juman Malouf - The Trilogy of Two - Published by G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers (November 10, 2015)
Identical twins Sonja and Charlotte are musical prodigies with extraordinary powers. Born on All-Hallows-Eve, the girls could play music before they could walk. They were found one night by Tatty, the Tattooed Lady of the circus, in a pail on her doorstep with only a note and a heart-shaped locket. They’ve been with Tatty ever since, roaming the Outskirts in the circus caravans, moving from place to place.

But lately, curious things have started to happen when they play their instruments. During one of their performances, the girls accidentally levitate their entire audience, drawing too much unwanted attention. Soon, ominous Enforcers come after them, and Charlotte and Sonja must embark on a perilous journey through enchanted lands in hopes of unlocking the secrets of their mysterious past.

Andrea Cremer - The Conjurer's Riddle (The Inventor's Secret)  - Published by Philomel Books (November 3, 2015)
The Revolution is beginning–and Charlotte may be on the wrong side.

In this sequel to The Inventor's Secret, Charlotte and her companions escape the British Empire, but they haven't left danger behind. In fact, if they go against the revolutionaries, they face even greater peril. 

Charlotte leads her group of exiles west, plunging into a wild world of shady merchants and surly rivermen on the way to New Orleans. But as Charlotte learns more about the revolution she has championed, she wonders if she's on the right side after all. Charlotte and her friends get to know the mystical New Orleans bayou and deep into the shadowy tunnels below the city–the den of criminals, assassins and pirates–Charlotte must decide if the revolution's goals justify their means, or if some things, like the lives of her friends, are too sacred to sacrifice.

This alternate-history adventure series asks the questions: What would have happened if America had lost the Revolutionary War? And what would people be willing to do to finally taste freedom?

Anne Nesbet - The Wrinkled Crown - Published by HarperCollins (November 10, 2015)

Fans of Anne Ursu will love Anne Nesbet's tale of music and friendship, set against an age-old war between magic and science.

In the enchanted village of Lourka, almost-twelve-year-old Linny breaks an ancient law. Girls are forbidden to so much as touch the town's namesake musical instrument before their twelfth birthday or risk being spirited away. But Linny can't resist the call to play a lourka, so she builds one herself.

When the punishment strikes her best friend instead, Linny must leave home to try to set things right. With her father's young apprentice, Elias, along for the journey, Linny travels from the magical wrinkled country to the scientific land of the Plain, where she finds herself at the center of a battle between the logical and the magical.

J. Lynn Bailey - Black Five (Black Blood Chronicles) - Published by Poorhouse Publishing (November 17, 2015)

 Seventeen-year-old Penelope Jackson has a seemingly ordinary life until she learns of the bizarre and magical world surrounding her, a world that is nearing extinction because of one man, Vacavious . . . the same man who wants to destroy her. Penn’s adventure begins after a stranger’s death puts her on a collision course with the very person she has been sheltered from her entire life. No one is who they seem to be, including those closest to her.  As powerful forces await the fall of her protective veil on her 18th birthday, Penn prepares to fight against unseen evils before it’s too late. The world of Nighmeriantotte and its people depend on her survival, for she is Sanguine.

Mr Ripley's Interview with Joe Craig Author of the Jimmy Coates Series

Today I'm very pleased to be interviewing Joe Craig, who is the author of the fantastic Jimmy Coates series. This is a fantastic fast paced read full of action and adventure that will keep you hooked from the first page to the very last. 

I'd like to thank Joe for agreeing to do this interview and for taking the time out to answer a few questions for Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books. This has been one of my favourite Q&As that I've received recently - very interesting, incredibly engaging and very amusing. Thank you very much, Joe. 

Who is Joe Craig?
Style icon, innovator (chiefly scarf-knots).
Dreamer of dreams, snacker of snacks.
Spinner of tales.
Cricketer.
The guy over there with the hot pocket square.
Few regrets, lots of fountain pens.
Often confused, rarely fooled.
Part sushi, part shortbread. Chocolate brownie investigator.
Philosopher, musician, games-player, chef and lover of benches.
Reader (impatient), photographer (selfies and dogs only), doodler (labyrinths).
Preacher of kindness and quality stationery.
Lover of films and good socks.
Writer.

How would you describe the Jimmy Coates series to potential new readers?
Jimmy is on the run from the secret service. In his escape he discovers abilities he’s never had before and instincts that keep him alive. These abilities and instincts keep developing, gradually taking him over. So while fighting the system that sent the secret service after him, he’s battling for control of his own body and mind.

“The Bourne Identity for kids,” is how it’s usually described in reviews.

I wrote it because I’ve always been so frustrated with books. I’m an impatient reader. I was put off by those thick fantasy books I saw people reading at school and the ‘classics’ my sisters read. They made no sense to me. But I loved stories – gripping stories. The kind I saw in movies. I wanted to create that for myself. Something sogripping that even the most impatient reader in the world – me – wouldn’t be able to put it down.

So Jimmy Coates combines all the thrill and mystery elements I loved about The Bourne Identity, Harry Potter, Mission Impossible, The Fugitive, Terminator and James Bond.

But there’s no magic. It’s all real.

What's the trick in writing great books for boys? How do you engage with them?
Tell a story. That’s it. But just the story. So that every word counts.

When Bernini unveiled his astounding marble sculpture of an elephant (Rome, 1667) they asked him what his trick was. He said you get a block of marble then, “take away everything that isn’t an elephant.”

(Sometimes you hear the same story about Michelangelo and a sculpture of an angel, but any story that could be about an angel is better if it’s about an elephant.)

When you ask me about engaging with ‘them’… there is no ‘them’. It’s me. I am still the impatient boy reader I was when I was 8, or 12, or 17. If there is a trick, it’s to trust that primal instinct that wants a story and won’t put up with waffle or cliché or a lack of rigour. I am ruthlessly honest with myself. I don’t trust anybody else to hold me to the same standards.

(Also, I can’t leave this question without saying that my books are as much for girls as they are for boys. I don’t write for a gender. My readership is roughly 50/50. Though I take the point that it’s often tough to find books that grip boy readers and my books fit the bill. I just don’t like gendered marketing.)


Do you have any strange writing habits (like standing on your head or writing in the shower)?
I often write the end of a sentence before I’ve written the beginning.

I often get away from the computer and write at my second desk, which is just for fountain pens and beautiful notebooks.

I write naked. I’m sure that’s less strange and more common than you’d think, you just don’t hear about it because other writers aren’t comfortable sharing it. Sometimes I have a dressing gown on. It’s not a deliberate thing, it’s just that I start getting dressed, turn on the shower, and I’m thinking about my story the whole time so I’m drawn to the computer to get some words down without realising the shower is still running. Suddenly it’s a few hours later and I notice it’s a bit chilly and the bathroom’s all wet.

If I want a change of scene I go out to write in a café, for which I need clothes.

I usually prefer writing at home because I’m very particular about having to have certain music playing.

I write some passages in a kind of semi-fake-Russian then translate them back into English when I’m editing. (Especially scenes where characters travel.)

While writing, I eat a lot of radishes and bee pollen. Not together. That would be ridiculous.

Finally, as a writing break, I massage used coffee grounds into my hands.

If you could cast your characters in the Hollywood adaptation of your book, who would play your characters?
I’ve actually had to think about this quite a lot, partly because there’s been movie and TV interest in my books over the years. As you’ll see, it’s possible I’ve thought about this a little too much.

I wrote the part of Ares Hollingdale with Ian Richardson in mind. When the original version of House of Cards was on TV in the early nineties I was too young to watch it, but I caught about two seconds of it while my parents were watching. The whole Jimmy Coates series is an extrapolation of what ten year-old me imagined that TV series must be, based on the two seconds I saw.

Sadly, Ian Richardson died a few years ago so he can’t be in an adaptation of the Jimmy Coates books now. Instead, I’d like, in various parts, Anton Lesser, Iain Glen, Greg Hicks, James McAvoy, Hugh Laurie, Natascha McElhone, Jason Statham and Viggo Mortensen.

The part of Miss Bennett was written for Saffron Burrows. Paduk was written for Vinnie Jones (sort of). Saffron Walden was written for Thandie Newton.

I’ve also written the Jimmy Coates theme tune. It’s awesome.


What's the funniest thing a child has said about your books?
After one of my talks at a school, I was sitting next to a huge box full of copies of Jimmy Coates: Sabotage. A Year 8 girl who’d been in my talk seemed fascinated. “Did you write these?” she asked. I was a bit puzzled, as she’d just been listening to me going on about my life and my books for an hour. “Did you really write all of them?”
I said that I did. She opened one of the books, looked at the printed words and said, “But how did you do that? And so many of them?” She thought I’d physically written out all of the copies of all of my books. She was struggling with the basic concept of a ‘book’.
It was a humbling reminder of what writers and publishers are up against when we’re trying to get people excited about reading. Some of them have reached Year 8 without even knowing what a printed book is.

Oh, this was supposed to be a ‘funniest thing’, wasn’t it? That wasn’t particularly funny, just the strangest and one of the most powerful.

I get funny questions all the time, and wonderful, hilarious story ideas when I’m running a workshop. One example:
Me: “OK, so Bob is in the park and aliens land right in front of him and the spaceship opens and… what’s the very worst thing that could happen next?”
Tiny girl with a huge smile: “A DUCK FALLS IN LOVE WITH HIM.”


What is your least favourite part of the publishing/writing process?
Waiting.
Gendered marketing.
There’s also a lot of incompetence around so when you find the good people you have to do everything you can to hold on to them. And it’s a treat when you find someone with imagination. There’s a lot of enthusiasm in the industry, sometimes even passion, just not many ideas about what to do with it. I wish we all backed things we believed in, despite perceived risks.


Is there one subject you would never write about as an author? What is it?
I’m not interested in writing anything that promotes sexism, horror, intolerance, religious bigotry or football.
Nothing I write will ever have the name of a bird in the title, unless it’s a bird of prey.
I’ll never write anything with a colour in the title unless it’s red, blue, green, white or black.
I won’t write anything named after a type of the weather, or anything that involves the weather in the plot.
I won’t write a story with a title that follows the pattern of The Something-y Something of Funny-name Codswallop. Lazy.
I hate all those stories where people at school (or college, university etc) get all worked up about something trivial that means nothing in the wider world. Usually they’re stories that involve the characters working out who they are or discovering the nature of beauty or something like that. Anything with an inspirational teacher reading poetry to the class. Anything where you could slap the characters and tell them to get over themselves.
I’ll never write fantasy. I might write stories that involve an element of magic or worlds that aren’t quite like our own, but the stories you’d stereotypically call fantasy aren’t for me.


What are you working on now? What is your next project?
I’ve been working on a book about a ninja. That took a while, but I’m pleased with the state it’s in now.
So I’ve moved on to starting a book that takes a new look at what it means to be a superhero. Not just the powers. But looking at why anybody would use those powers to help people. That seems stranger and more ‘super’ to me. I’m only using real technology in the book too. Stuff that already exists, some of which is used by various armies or secret services. Superhero powers are out there, just nobody who wants to use them to help people.


Is there anything that you would like to share with us?
Yes: the word for the period of the year between Christmas and New Year’s Day. It’s called the interscotia. It’s a very useful word. The Norwegians call it romjul. It’s my favourite time of year. There’s something special about interscotial fun. Now you know the word, use it as much as possible.


On twitter, instagram and facebook I’m @joecraiguk. On periscope I’m @joecraig and on snapchat I’m turkeyriding (long story). In real life I’m Joseph Alexander Canonball Craig. And that’s the first time I’ve revealed my middle names anywhere on the internet. 

http://turkeyonthehill.blogspot.co.uk/
www.joecraig.co.uk
www.jimmycoates.com

Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books: Middle Grade Children's Book Picks - November 2015 - US Post One

Tania Del Rio and Will Staehle - Warren the 13th and The All-Seeing Eye - Published by Quirk Books (November 24, 2015)

Meet Warren the 13th, a cursed 12-year-old Victorian bellhop who’s terribly unlucky . . . yet perpetually optimistic, hard-working, and curious. Orphan Warren’s pride and joy is his family’s hotel, but he’s been miserable ever since his evil Aunt Anaconda took over the management. Anaconda believes a mysterious treasure known as the All-Seeing Eye is hidden somewhere on the grounds, and she’ll do anything to find it. If Warren wants to preserve his family’s legacy, he’ll need to find the treasure first—if the hotel’s many strange and wacky guests don’t beat him to it! This middle-grade adventure features gorgeous two-color illustrations on every page and a lavish two-column Victorian design that will pull young readers into a spooky and delightful mystery.

Pintip Dunn - Forget Tomorrow - Published by Entangled: Teen (November 3, 2015)

Imagine a world where your destiny has already been decided...by your futureself.

It's Callie's seventeenth birthday and, like everyone else, she's eagerly awaiting her vision-a memory sent back in time to sculpt each citizen into the person they're meant to be. A world-class swimmer. A renowned scientist.

Or in Callie's case, a criminal.

In her vision, she sees herself murdering her gifted younger sister. Before she can process what it means, Callie is arrested and placed in Limbo-a hellish prison for those destined to break the law. With the help of her childhood crush, Logan, a boy she hasn't spoken to in five years, she escapes.

But on the run from her future, as well as the government, Callie sets in motion a chain of events that she hopes will change her fate. If not, she must figure out how to protect her sister from the biggest threat of all-Callie, herself.

Jodi Lynn Anderson - My Diary from the Edge of the World - Published by Aladdin (November 3, 2015)

Told in diary form by an irresistible heroine, this playful and perceptive novel from the New York Times bestselling author of the May Bird trilogy sparkles with science, myth, magic, and the strange beauty of the everyday marvels we sometimes forget to notice.

Spirited, restless Gracie Lockwood has lived in Cliffden, Maine, her whole life. She’s a typical girl in an atypical world: one where sasquatches helped to win the Civil War, where dragons glide over Route 1 on their way south for the winter (sometimes burning down a T.J. Maxx or an Applebee’s along the way), where giants hide in caves near LA and mermaids hunt along the beaches, and where Dark Clouds come for people when they die.

To Gracie it’s all pretty ho-hum…until a Cloud comes looking for her little brother Sam, turning her small-town life upside down. Determined to protect Sam against all odds, her parents pack the family into a used Winnebago and set out on an epic search for a safe place that most people say doesn’t exist: The Extraordinary World. It’s rumored to lie at the ends of the earth, and no one has ever made it there and lived to tell the tale. To reach it, the Lockwoods will have to learn to believe in each other—and to trust that the world holds more possibilities than they’ve ever imagined.

 

Maile Meloy and Ian Schoenherr - The After-Room (The Apothecary Series) - Published by G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers (November 3, 2015)

It’s 1955, and Benjamin Burrows and Janie Scott are trying to live a safe, normal life in America. It’s not easy, when they have the power to prevent nuclear disaster, and sinister forces are circling. Soon the advice of a mysterious, unscrupulous magician propels Janie and Benjamin into danger, and toward the land of the dead.  
 
Meanwhile, their friend Jin Lo washes up on a remote island where an American spy is stationed, and finds herself on the trail of a deadly threat in China. But she’s on the other side of the world—how can Janie and Benjamin reach her?
 
The triumphant finale in the trilogy that began with Maile Meloy’s bestselling, critically acclaimed The Apothecary, and continued in its captivating sequel, The Apprentices, The After-Room is full of enchantment and heart, with Ian Schoenherr’s stunning illustrations throughout.

Danny Weston - Mr Sparks - Mr Ripley's Enchanted Book Review

After his father goes missing in the Great War, Owen is abandoned to live with his cruel aunt, and wishes he could escape his life of drudgery in her small seaside guesthouse. There he meets a mysterious guest, who appears to make his ventriloquist’s dummy speak, even in his sleep.
Soon Owen realises that the dummy, Mr Sparks, can really talk – and he’s looking for a newer, younger puppetmaster. But Mr Sparks has a dark past . . .

Oh Danny Boy, Oh Danny Boy where do your stories come from? Is it heaven or is it hell? This is another fantastically written story by that cheeky chap Danny Weston. It's another creepy tale that will set your teeth on edge just by looking at the book cover. The depiction on the cover is the star of the show, Mr Sparks. He, himself, is a look-a-like wooden version of Jimmy Crankie staring malevolently at you with his cold beady eyes. 

Mr Sparks has to be one of the best written characters that I have read for many years. He will keep you entertained all day long with his witty and often amusing dialogue. Engrossing and a delight to read about, he is fantastic.

The one thing that you might be thinking is - who is Mr Sparks? A whisper might be telling you that he is a ventriloquist's dummy, but the first thing that I'll tell you is that he's no dummy. He might be a wooden puppet, but I'm not sure who is pulling his strings. Some might say that he is possessed by the devil, but you'll have to make up your own mind.

This book is a whirlwind of fairytale madness set just after WWI (1919). It is based around the character 12-year-old Owen, who lives with his awful aunt at her hotel in Llandudno. He finds himself working there, more or less, as an unpaid slave. It all starts when one day, out of the blue, a strange man arrives with even stranger luggage!

This story is a thriller of a plot. Essentially, it is based around the classic story of 'Pinocchio', but with a very modern day twist to it. Just like Danny's first book, The Piper, which is another fantastic and recommended read. 

I have to say that this book has my name on it, literally! It has all of the ingredients that I enjoy in a brilliant book: a great plot (not too wordy), quirky and original characters (especially Mr Sparks, who is cruel, ruthless and manipulative) and a dark supernatural theme. It's also playful, poetic and tugs on the emotional heart strings in many ways.  The ending is very effective and deliciously ties up all the loose knots in a heedy head of excitement and a flourish of action. What more could you want? 

This is another five star rating for the elusive and mysterious author known as Danny Weston. This book is published by Andersen Press and is out now to purchase and read....

New Book Cover Reveal - Joseph Delaney - Spook's: The Dark Army (The Starblade Chronicles 2)

Here is the fantastic new book cover image for The Dark Army which is the second book in The Starblade Chronicles. The release date is now scheduled for January 7th 2016 and will be published by Bodley Head. 

Synopsis from book one: Girls are dying in mysterious circumstances . . .
They are found dead in their beds, covered in blood, with a look of pure horror on their faces. Worse still, their ghosts are left to walk the earth, just waiting for someone to hear the terror that has befallen them.

Thomas Ward is the local spook – it’s his job to protect the county from things that go bump in the night. But this is no ordinary haunting, and he finds himself on the path of a dangerous beast that is looking to kill again.

He soon realizes this beast is just the beginning. An army of monsters is massing in the north, and it poses a threat to all mankind.

The first terrifying tale in the Starblade Chronicles, from the bestselling author of The Spook’s Apprentice.

Check out more at: http://www.spooksworld.co.uk/

Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books: New Middle Grade Children's Book Picks - October 2015 - US Post Two

Obert Skye - The Lord of the Hat (The Creature from My Closet) - Published by Henry Holt and Co. (October 6, 2015)

Rob Burnside thinks he's getting the hang of things. It almost seems as if he has learned all he needed to from his unusual closet. Beardy, the doorknob, has it locked up and there are no signs of the closet door opening again.

But something slips from the closet unnoticed and that something is part Gollum, part Cat in the Hat. He's an intense creature with mad rhyming skills. When Rob's family wins a trip to Colorado, something extra makes it into his luggage. Get ready for school fights, train rides, long mysterious hikes, and a creature unlike any of the others. What Rob will discover is epic.

Kenneth Oppel & Jon Klassen - The Nest - Published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers (October 6, 2015)

Steve just wants to save his baby brother—but what will he lose in the bargain? This is a haunting gothic tale for fans of Coraline, from acclaimed author Kenneth Oppel (Silverwing, The Boundless) with illustrations from Caldecott Medalist Jon Klassen.

For some kids summer is a sun-soaked season of fun. But for Steve, it’s just another season of worries. Worries about his sick newborn baby brother who is fighting to survive, worries about his parents who are struggling to cope, even worries about the wasp’s nest looming ominously from the eaves. So when a mysterious wasp queen invades his dreams, offering to “fix” the baby, Steve thinks his prayers have been answered.

Jennifer Jenkins - Nameless - Published by Month9Books, LLC (October 6, 2015)

Four clans have been at war for centuries: the Kodiak, the Raven, the Wolf, and the Ram. Through brutal war tactics, the Ram have dominated the region, inflicting death and destruction on their neighbors. Seventeen-year-old Zo is a Wolf and a healer who volunteers to infiltrate the Ram as a spy on behalf of the allied clans. She offers herself as a Ram slave, joining the people who are called the Nameless. Hers is a suicide mission—Zo’s despair after losing her parents in a Ram raid has left her seeking both revenge and an end to her own misery. But after her younger sister follows her into Rams Gate, Zo must find a way to survive her dangerous mission and keep her sister safe. What she doesn’t expect to find is the friendship of a young Ram whose life she saves, the confusing feelings she develops for a Ram soldier, and an underground Nameless insurrection. Zo learns that revenge, loyalty, and love are more complicated than she ever imagined.

Lindsay Smith - Dream Strider - Published by Roaring Brook Press (October 6, 2015)

A high-concept, fantastical espionage novel set in a world where dreams are the ultimate form of political intelligence.

Livia is a dreamstrider. She can inhabit a subject's body while they are sleeping and, for a short time, move around in their skin. She uses her talent to work as a spy for the Barstadt Empire. But her partner, Brandt, has lately become distant, and when Marez comes to join their team from a neighboring kingdom, he offers Livia the option of a life she had never dared to imagine. Livia knows of no other dreamstriders who have survived the pull of Nightmare. So only she understands the stakes when a plot against the Empire emerges that threatens to consume both the dreaming world and the waking one with misery and rage.

New Doctor Who Titles Publishing October 2015‏ (Time Lord Fairy Tales - Justin Richards)

Celebrate the start of the ninth series of Doctor Who with these fantastic books from Penguin Random House Children’s!

Doctor Who:

Time Lord Fairy Tales - Justin Richards

1st October 2015, £12.99, 7-11 years

Publishing in hardback

 A beautifully illustrated anthology of Doctor Who themed fairy tales

Be enchanted by fifteen captivating brand new stories based within the Doctor Who world, which draw on mysterious myths and legends about heroes and monsters of all kinds, from every corner of the universe. From Frozen Beauty to Snow White and the Seven Keys of Doomsday, these are tales that might have been told to young Time Lords at bedtime, and are filled with nightmarish terrors and heroic triumphs that will be sure to capture the imagination.

Featuring an original, specially commissioned illustrated cover and fifteen illustrations, one for each fairy tale, in a beautiful paper cut-out style, these twisted tales are an enchanting gift for Doctor Who fans of all ages.

Doctor Who:

The Dangerous Book of Monsters

1st October 2015, £9.99, 7-11 years

Publishing in hardback

 Do you know how to disarm a Dalek? Dispose of a Dream Crab? Foretell a visit from the Foretold? If the answer is ‘No’, then this is the guide for you.

This time-worn monster handbook is where the Doctor keeps his most valuable and dangerous information – his essential notes on every fearsome enemy, with original sketches of each creature and cunning foe.

The Doctor has written down all you need to know to defeat every monster in the cosmos. Or, in some cases, to make a very speedy escape instead...

Other Doctor Who titles publishing in 2015 include:

Doctor Who: Time Traveller’s Journal, 7th May, £8.99

Doctor Who: Heroes and Monsters Collection, 6th August, £6.99

Doctor Who: Time Lord Quiz Quest, 3rd September, £5.99

Doctor Who: Model-Building Book, 3rd September, £8.99

Doctor Who: The Ultimate Time and Space Collection, 3rd September, £32.99

Doctor Who Official Annual 2016, 1st October, £7.99

Doctor Who: The Colouring Book, 1st November, £9.99

Curtis Jobling - A New Hero (World of Warriors book 1) - Book Review (Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books)

Richard 'Trick' Hope is used to getting into trouble, but not like this. . .

On the run from bullies, Trick finds himself transported to the mystical Wildlands, a place where the greatest warriors throughout history have been summoned to fight in a battle for survival - from Romans and Vikings to Knights and Samurai!

A cryptic old man tells Trick that he's there for a reason - to deliver the Wildlands from the evil Boneshaker, who rules with an army of terrifying minions. Trick has been chosen to form a band of the seven greatest warriors to defeat this terrible enemy.

As Trick begins his epic quest the stakes couldn't be higher: defeat Boneshaker or never see home again.

World of Warriors started out as a mobile adventure and combat strategy game, with the possibility of looking towards a series to complement the brilliant story behind the addictive game. Curtis Jobling is an excellent choice, in my opinion, to bring the eclectic warriors to life; he has done a fantastic job-ling. 

The book is an epic tale of adventure, action and fantasy with some amazing inventiveness all swirled round. The wild imagination will get every young boy hooked from the age of nine. From the first page, this book is action packed and will hook you with many of the crazy characters. All of whom have been summoned from across time to a mysterious land called the Wildlands - a kingdom of chaos and fighting guilds who are all battling for control and power. 

Some of the greatest warriors do battle in an explosive epic plot. All plucked from history, time and different cultures they will leave your imagination on overdrive. The pages will fly by quicker than Mungo drinking a jar of beer. It's a great choice of book to pick for a reluctant reader as it is pure escapism in 3D. 

All the warriors have history, which is told in intermittent parts and really blends in to help cleverly build up the main story. The myths, legends and culture are all deeply rooted in our history as each character's story is based around these and facts.  

This story is a quest with a big heart. It is based on hope and the fighting of tyrannical bad guys known as the evil Skull Army. It's full of great battle scenes, big oversized monsters and a bloody fighting arena with more gore and guts than your average read.

It's an easy book to follow with a cracking story at heart. Every reader will be magically transported to the Wildlands and back.... It has a great end and is a fantastic start to a new series. 

I hope there are plenty more books to come. 

Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books: New Middle Grade Children's Book Picks - October 2015 - US Post One

Angie Sage - TodHunter Moon: SandRider (World of Septimus Heap) Published by Katherine Tegen Books (October 13, 2015)

Tod's story races on in this second book in the TodHunter Moon trilogy, a spinoff of the popular Septimus Heap series. Fans of Septimus as well as fantasy readers new to the world of Magyk will enjoy this next installment in the series ALA Booklist calls "warm and inventive." Full-page illustrations by renowned fantasy artist Mark Zug begin each section and add to the magic!

Great for readers of Harry Potter or Brandon Mull's Fablehaven series, TodHunter Moon offers something for every reader, regardless of gender or age. SandRider is also a dynamic pick for parents reading aloud to younger children before bedtime.

Taking place seven years after the events of the original Septimus Heap series, TodHunter Moon tells the story of Alice TodHunter Moon, a young PathFinder who comes to the Castle with a Magyk all her own. In this second book, Tod sets out for the Desert of the Singing Sands to retrieve the Egg of the Orm—a journey that will test not only her Magykal and PathFinding skills but her friendships, too.

Roland Smith - The Edge - Published by HMH Books for Young Readers (October 6, 2015)

The International Peace Ascent is the brainchild of billionaire Sebastian Plank: Recruit a global team of young climbers and film an inspiring, world-uniting documentary. The adventure begins when fifteen-year-old Peak Marcello and his mountaineer mother are helicoptered to a remote base camp in the Hindu Kush Mountains on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. When the camp is attacked and his mother taken, Peak has no choice but to track down the perpetrators to try to save her. Fans of the bestselling 

Peak will be thrilled with this gripping, high-stakes sequel.

R. C. Lewis - Spinning Starlight - Published by Disney-Hyperion (October 6, 2015)

Sixteen-year-old heiress and paparazzi darling Liddi Jantzen hates the spotlight. But as the only daughter in the most powerful tech family in the galaxy, it's hard to escape it. So when a group of men shows up at her house uninvited, she assumes it's just the usual media-grubs. That is, until shots are fired.

Liddi escapes, only to be pulled into an interplanetary conspiracy more complex than she ever could have imagined. Her older brothers have been caught as well, trapped in the conduits between the planets. And when their captor implants a device in Liddi's vocal cords to monitor her speech, their lives are in her hands: One word, and her brothers are dead.

Desperate to save her family from a desolate future, Liddi travels to another world, where she meets the one person who might have the skills to help her bring her eight brothers home-a handsome dignitary named Tiav. But without her voice, Liddi must use every bit of her strength and wit to convince Tiav that her mission is true. With the tenuous balance of the planets deeply intertwined with her brothers' survival, just how much is Liddi willing to sacrifice to bring them back?

Haunting and mesmerizing, this retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's The Wild Swans fuses all the heart of the classic tale with a stunning, imaginative world in which a star-crossed family fights for its very survival.

S. A. Bodeen - The Detour - Published by Feiwel & Friends (October 6, 2015)

Livvy Flynn is a big deal - she's a New York Times-bestselling author whose YA fiction has sold all over the world. She's rich, she's famous, she's gorgeous, and she's full of herself. When she's invited to an A-list writer's conference, she decides to accept so she can have some time to herself. She's on a tight deadline for her next book, and she has no intention of socializing with the other industry people at the conference. And then she hits the detour.

Before she knows it, her brand new car is wrecked, she's hurt, and she's tied to a bed in a nondescript shack in the middle of nowhere. A woman and her apparently manic daughter have kidnapped her. And they have no intention of letting her go.

Press Release: The Times/Chicken House Children's Fiction Competition 2016 - We're Looking for a Judge! (14 - 18 years old)

The Times/Chicken House Children’s Fiction Competition 2016 seeks a young judge to help discover a new children’s bestseller

 Open to 14-18 year olds, closing date 30^th October

 The Times/Chicken House Children’s Fiction Competition, the biggest children’s writing competition in the UK, is looking for a confident and passionate young judge with a demonstrable love of books to join the prestigious judging panel and help choose the winner. Entrants must submit a 1-3 minute video about the book they would most like to persuade others to read. Aspiring judges aged 14-18 have until 30^th October to make their short video, upload it to YouTube, and email a link to

ChickenHouseYoungJudge@riotcommunications.com

The winner will join the judging panel for the Times/Chicken House Children’s Fiction competition which includes: the Times arts editor and children’s books reviewer Alex O’Connell; Waterstones’ children’s book buyer Melissa Cox; Justine Roberts, CEO and co-founder of Mumsnet; and Barry Cunningham, the founder of Chicken House and the publisher who discovered J.K. Rowling.

The winner of the young judge competition will have six weeks to read approximately five shortlisted titles before joining the other judges at an exclusive members club in London for a day of judging in spring 2016. The prize also includes: (i) travel and accommodation for the winner and their parent/guardian to the London judging day, (ii) four VIP passes to the Times and Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival 2016 and (iii) a library of fifty Chicken House books. Four runners-up will also receive a library of fifty Chicken House books each.

Barry Cunningham says: ‘We’re looking for original, engaging and exciting video entries; the more imaginative, the better. Demonstrate your love of children’s books, your passion for reading and your powers of persuasion and you could have a hand in finding a future bestseller!’

The Times/Chicken House Children’s Fiction Competition has been running annually since 2008. The winner receives a £10,000 advance for their novel, agency representation and publication by Chicken House. Chicken House was founded and is run by Barry Cunningham, the publisher who signed J.K. Rowling. Among its bestselling authors, Chicken House publishes Cornelia Funke (the Inkheart series) and James Dashner (The Maze Runner series). Since the first competition, several runners up have also been published alongside the main winner. The 2015 winner was The Secret Cooking Club, by Laurel Remington, which will be published in 2016.

Full details of the young judge competition can be found at

www.chickenhousebooks.com

Nicholas Gannon - The Doldrums - Book Review - Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books

Archer B. Helmsley longs for adventure. But how can he have an adventure when he can’t even leave his house?

Archer B. Helmsley has grown up in a house full of oddities and treasures collected by his grandparents, the famous explorers. Archer longs for grand adventures but ever since his grandparents went missing on an iceberg, his mother barely lets him leave the house. So, along with his best friends, Adélaïde L. Belmont and Oliver Grub, Archer forms a plan to get out of the house and set off on a grand adventure with crocodiles and parachutes and danger. It's a good plan. Well, it's not bad, anyway. But nothing goes quite as they expected…

I had a really good feeling about this book when it arrived. You only need to look at the physical appearance of it and you know that the publishing company have pulled out all the stops. It is really special to handle and lovely to look through. The cover is fantastic and inside the colour illustrations are exquisite; a delight to behold. The images are bold and use a good palette of autumnal colours with some delightful blues for added measure. The images are somewhat quirky and very engaging; I loved them all.

Interestingly, there are also some small black-and-white illustrations peppered through the chapters, which work really well. They give the reader a great sense of the amazing adventure that will soon unfold. What is particularly impressive, is that the author has produced these illustrations himself!

This book felt special right from the very first page.  It is a lovely poetic look at children being children, living in an adult world and yearning for adventure.  It leaves a warm feeling inside as the reader bonds with the plot and the unlikely trio of characters. Their friendships will make you smile from a tiger's head to a crocodile's toe. The characters will pirouette into your lives with such uniqueness and hold a special place in your own heart. 

The book is born out of wild imagination and leads the reader on a journey of fantasy escapism that everyone will love, from nine to hundred and nine. It's very witty and I love the subtleness of the
humour; slightly offbeat which works at all age levels, in my opinion. 

You'll find yourself being firmly whisked into a world that is rich in detail capturing the essence of New York City - magical and enchanting - where people's lives are played out in technicolour. Even though it might not be set there, it makes me want to go back. It's very cleverly written, especially from a debut author. It is well thought out and worded beautifully; thoroughly entertaining.

This book will become a timeless classic which is full of pure eventfulness just like Brian Selznick and Blue Baliett; wonderful books that will keep you reading all night long.  It's pure silliness and will soon have you talking to a range of stuffed animals. With a giddy sense of excitement and a touch of mystery, this is my favourite book of the year, so far. It's a visual feast for the eyes and the brain; an exciting new talent to watch. 

I would love to see it as a film one day soon, I hope! 


Published by HarperCollins Children's Books (UK) (8 Oct. 2015) and Greenwillow Books (USA) (September 29, 2015)

Authors web site: http://www.nicholasgannon.com/main.html