Jane Mitchell

This is the second collection of poetry by Gambian British poet Sophia Thakur. Through her strong narrative voice and arresting language, this collection explores Sophia’s expressed need to understand how the women in her life became so ‘compassionate, fierce, gentle and powerful.’ Loosely grouped into themes, the collection covers a broad range of subjects, woven through with common threads of love, God, and the formidable influence of her family and friends. Her poems resonate with a powerful rhythm.

Erskin has always felt different from the other villagers in her coastal village of Lofotby. She and her family are regarded with suspicion, living as they do so close to the sinister magical Mountainfell that looms over their home. When strange tremors wake the terrifying cloud dragon, who then snatches Erskin’s sister, Birgit, Erskin’s world shatters. She has no choice but to trek to the cloud dragon’s home in the peaks of Mountainfell to rescue Birgit. But Mountainfell’s magic is wild and dangerous. How can little Erskin possibly survive?

The little town of Cowslip Grove seems to be safe and orderly, full of neat gardens and tidy streets. That is, until two mismatched friends, Levi and Kat, discover a dark and terrifying secret beneath the surface: children are going missing, and nobody even realises it. Everyone—their family, their teachers, their friends—has forgotten they even existed!

From its opening acknowledgements and introduction, this book draws you in and demands that you take notice of every word. Part memoir, part poetry, part polemic of the life she was forced to live, Rosaleen McDonagh’s extraordinary debut is a rich and complex portrayal of one woman’s life in modern Ireland.

Based in Indonesia, this book from new voice Mitch Johnson explores the gritty world of child labour, poverty and corruption through the eyes of 12-year-old Budi. Mad about football, Budi dreams of being an international football star. These dreams and his devotion to Real Madrid and its star player Kieran Wakefield sustain him in his tough world. The factory where Budi and other children labour for long hours in untenable conditions is harsh and unsympathetic, while his impoverished home life and lack of treatment for his haemophilia provide little relief.

Thirteen-year old Jamal is the endearing protagonist in this charming and ultimately uncomfortable story set in Nigeria, from exciting HopeRoad Publishing. Author Bridget Blankley tells his story almost solely from Jamal’s point of view, and he has a unique take on the world—informed in part by his particular way of understanding the spiritual beliefs and superstitions of his people, and his enforced isolation from his community as a result of his epilepsy.

This science-fiction dystopian romance is built around on a strong premise somewhat derivative of Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go. It holds tension well over the course of the story, revealing its shocking conclusion effectively. This is achieved through short chapters narrated alternately by the two main characters, Alba and Arthur, so the reader learns the truth at the same time as them.

This début novel is an uplifting tale narrated by ten-year-old Frank who lives with his parents and five-year-old brother Max. Frank’s lyrical words dance off the page from the opening and draw the reader into his heart-warming and heart-breaking story.

Set far in the future of a mostly-destroyed England, this action-packed adventure is the first of a fantasy series for young adults. The story gallops from one knife-edge moment of terror to the next, with little downtime for the reader to draw breath, as dangers and deadly threats assault the two unfortunate main characters, Scarlett McCain and Albert Browne, at every turn.

Caroline O’Donoghue’s début young adult novel is a contemporary urban fantasy set in the fictitious Irish town of Kilbeg. Its cast of characters represents the diversity in gender identity, ethnicity and sexuality expected in an inclusive current novel, and more.