In a world where most of London is submerged underwater and war between rival houses, the Rogues and the Crowns, reign supreme, this blend of Hunger Games and Romeo and Juliette is filled with gritty action and rustic imagery which will have readers immersed in Billy Ray’s world.
Otto lives in a village beyond which lies only darkness. Rarely does anyone brave the treacherous trail that leads there. However, one day Otto is awakened by the rumble of vast beasts drawing wagons belonging to the Circus of Dreams. Boasting performances to delight and thrill, the circus’s crowning glory promises to unveil a Monster of Dreams. Intrigued, everyone rushes to see it.
From the luminescent cover lighting up a border of plants to the deer stalker wearing dog detective, this junior comic is colourful, charming and amusing. Detective Stanley and the Green Thumbed Thief is the sequel to Detective Stanley and the Mystery at the Museum; this time the self-effacing introverted Stanley (named after Stanley Bay in Auckland) uses his knowledge and skills to ponder on the mystery of a disappearing orchid.
The second novel in the Clem Fatale series opens with Clem and her friend Gilbert walking along on a summer’s day. Laden down with ice cream cones, talking about their favourite singing act who they are going to see in the London Palladium, when they are suddenly kidnapped off the street the action of this 1950s London adventure begins!
The sudden death of twelve-year-old Lila’s estranged grandfather Clem means the family must relocate to Ohio to sort out his affairs. Spending the summer away from her school friends feels like the end of the world for Lila, until she realises it is exactly what she needed. Tired of being told she has a flair for the dramatics, Lila tries to reinvent herself as being cool, calm and collected like a block of ice as she says herself. However, the appearance of ghosts and spirits makes her plan to be less dramatic quite difficult with amusing results.
With its cameras, curfews, DNA testing and elite police force, the town of Moonhaven is supposed to be werewolf-proof – so where did that howl come from on the last full moon?
When Corith Fraine finds herself propelled into a new role as Floodmouth for the prestigious House Shearwater, she struggles to keep her head above water. As she begins to unravel the mysteries of the island and the family that inhabit it, she must learn to control the tides and her strength to uncover the secrets behind her best friend Zennia’s death.
A chill blast opens this book, as we enter a world that has only known winter for twelve years, and where no child has been born in this time. There is a sense of desperation around a ceremony of fire lighting created to restore the usual cycles of nature. The villagers are looking for hope wherever they can find it, but quiet and cautious Quill is probably the last person they would expect to discover it in.
Award-winning Brian Conaghan is well known for his gritty, heartfelt teen fiction, and Stealing Happy is a very welcome addition to his work.
Margo did not expect to fall into a new dimension when she got on the train to her new boarding school. When she finds herself following a travelling salesman called Moon as they disembark into a strange world, Margo soon realises that time is a commodity which she took for granted.
