Caitlyn McCabe lives in fear of any of her classmates touching her and discovering her strange secret. That is until Professor Sackimun Brody orchestrates a school-related trip in order to meet her. Caitlyn subsequently learns there is more to her gift and more to her parents’ past than she ever realised. She steps into the Second Realm and discovers something sinister is leaking in from the Third Realm, that if unleashed, will compromise the order of all three.
In this thrilling graphic novel from DC Comics, readers are introduced to Gotham City’s newest hero, sixteen-year-old Willow Zimmerman. Willow is passionate about rejuvenating her local community of Down River, while also dedicated to looking after her ill mother at home. While trying to keep her family afloat, Willow finds herself falling deeper and deeper into an underground scene of shady characters and intense showdowns. Alongside her canine companion Lebowitz, Willow must embrace a new identity as Whistle to protect Down River from exploitation.
A young boy is off to Grandma’s birthday party. Soon, he asks the inevitable question, ‘Are we there, yet?’ Judging from his parents’ faces, this isn’t the first time he’s asked. Simple car journeys can take forever. Watching out the window and playing with toys can only occupy a child for so long, and the boy soon becomes bored. Then, his imagination takes over and he goes on a road trip of a different kind. He sees knights jousting, dinosaurs on the loose, pirates and Ancient Egyptians. It becomes a trip through the past and the future, with excitement and adventure round every bend.
A recent winner in the 2016 Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards, Pigín of Howth is a charming picturebook containing three stand-alone stories about a delightful, fun-loving pig, and his adventures around Howth, a busy fishing village in North Dublin. The character of Pigín was created by 82-year-old Kathleen Watkins after she realised how popular the little pig was with her five grandchildren, all of whom make a guest appearance in the book.
Steve Light has illustrated this book beautifully. The cover draws you in with its intimate detail and sharp contrast of colours. The first page introduces us to Lazlo who is on a quest to give a rose to his love. However, a mischievous cat intervenes and so the story begins to unfold. We are taken on an adventure as we weave through a theatre and its actors, set makers, musicians, props and the audience. It’s a fast chase through the whole building and the backstage world of Alice in Wonderland.
Things to Do is a visual and verbal feast, with the stirring poetry of Elaine Magliaro matched by the stunning pastel shades of Catia Chien. In her extended poem, Magliaro reflects on what it would feel like to be the parts of the everyday world all around us – the dawn, birds, a honeybee, an acorn etc. The language employed is rich and carries real depth, giving young readers a sense of the
wonder of the world all around them and the limitless nature of imagination.
A sulking boy and his busy mother arrive at their holiday home in the rain. Our narrator is sent outside to play and on his journey loses his games console. From this, Beatrice Alemagna weaves the story of a child’s reconnection with his natural environment.
Where the World Ends is loosely based on the true story of the nine boys and three men that were stranded on an island off the coast of Scotland in the 1700s. They travel from their home island, Hirta, to the Warrior Stac to hunt birds and gather resources. Soon, doubts and fears settle in when nobody sails to the stac to bring them home.
This is the third book in the series about Molly and Beth, the thirteen-year-old best friends and latterly step-sisters who travel back in time. Molly is worried that her dad – who is separated from her mum – is too lonely. He’s recently returned from Africa to be near his daughter and it’s tough for him living alone, especially compared to how happy Molly is in her new extended family of Beth and her dad (who’s in a relationship with Molly’s mum).
When Onion O’Brien and his friends try to protest against the destruction of the Valley – the local waste ground where they hang out – they find themselves on the wrong side of mayor Ronald Bump, who wants to build his new apartments on these grounds. However, when the children learn the legend of Ned Belly, whose ghost is said to guard buried treasure in the Valley, a plan is formed to try and save the Valley from destruction.
