Ghosts

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A Necromancer called Gam Gam by Adam Holcombe

A Necromancer Called Gam Gam was the 2nd place finalist in BBNYA 2024!

About BBNYA

BBNYA is a yearly competition where book bloggers from all over the world read and score books written by indie authors, ending with 15 finalists (16 in 2024) and one overall winner.

If you want some more information about BBNYA, check out the BBNYA Website https://www.bbnya.com/ or take a peek over on Twitter @BBNYA_Official. BBNYA is brought to you in association with the book blogger support group @The_WriteReads

I was delighted to discover these awards a couple of years ago, through @The_WriteReads and have been lucky enough to take part in several blog tours since then.  It has given me the opportunity to read stories that I might have otherwise missed, particularly those that are readable by a large age range.

Whilst this story is listed as being adult, I think that it will be enjoyed by quite a number of Young Adults.  This is a novella of just over 100 pages and follows 12 year old Mina, as she desperately tries to escape from the solders who had just killed her father.  She finds refuge in the caravan of an old woman called Gam Gam, who manages to get rid of the soldiers, at least temporarily.  Mina discovers that she and her saviour have more in common than she could image.  Whilst Mina is a neuromancer and can read and remove people’s thoughts, Gam Gam is a necromancer and can raise the dead, even if only for a short while.  The events of the story take place over just a few days.

The two unlikely companions, plus a ghost and several of the ‘undead’ find that they have formidable enemies and they have to use all their magical abilities to overcome the sergeant, who leads the soldiers and who actually had killed Mina’s father.  There are some quite blood thirsty elements to this story and it is best not to read it just before bedtime; but horror novels are particularly in fashion at the moment, even among quite young people, so it should prove popular.

What really strikes me about this book is the relationship between the living and the dead, but also about how victims very often feel to blame for what others are doing to them and those around them.  When Gam Gam has sent the soldiers away and Mina is feeling responsible for her father’s death, Gam Gam says “ I have learned in my time that if two men are chasing a young girl, it is never the girl’s fault ”   throughout the book she is constantly reassuring Mina that she is actually the victim, something that really needs to be shown to the readers of this book.  We live in a world where people are bullied and threatened into losing their feelings of self-worth.  All in all this story has several threads that will act as starters for discussions about empathy, feelings, death and self-confidence.

Author Bio

Adam Holcombe daylights as a programmer and moonlights as an author. After spending years toying with the idea of writing, he decided to fully commit and work toward releasing his first novel. Then Gam Gam got in the way, and his first novel became his first novella. The novel will come later. When he’s not locked in a cold basement, typing away, he can be found hanging out with his wife, his dog, and his tortoise or playing D&D or board games with friends

 

 

Book Details 

Length: 110 Pages

Genre: Fantasy

Age Category: Adult

Date Published: May 30, 2023

Amazon Link: https://a.co/d/5PLyfAS (Canada) https://a.co/d/5OLFqPX (USA) https://amzn.eu/d/2ItLDuC (UK)

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/122994594-a-necromancer-called-gam-gam

The Story Graph Link: https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/29693154-e3c8-4297-aaa3-b65a63af6046

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Spooksmiths Investigate: The Cinderman by Alex Atkinson

This is the time of year when spooky and frightening stories come into their own.  The coming of Halloween seems to remind people of those scary stories and legends that abound in all mythologies.

Indigo Smith is the narrator of this story and lives with her parents and twin brother Rusty (Russell) in the funeral parlour that her parents run.  She is convinced that ghosts do not exist and is far more interested in the nature to be found locally.  When she accidentally discovers a hidden room in the house, she manages to knock over an old urn and releases the ashes of the Cinderman.  This is the most dangerous type of spirit and he is out to wreak revenge on the local population for what happened when he was alive.  Overnight the village becomes coated in ash and the twins discover that the Cinderman has taken control of the inhabitants and turned them into zombie like people..   At the same time that this happens the two children discover that they have the power to see and speak to ghosts, including their grandfather; he explains that they are a new generation of Spooksmiths, who can see ghosts and are able to protect the village from evil spirits.  The question is whether they can overcome the Cinderman, save all their family and friends and enable some of the local ghosts to find peace at last?

What a chillingly good story for even people like myself who are not great fans of the horror or ghost genre.  The author has managed to combine the lurking menace of the Cinderman with the delightfully funny character of Phrank, a wild pheasant that has taken up residence in the garden (and the kitchen, if he can sneak in).  However, this is also a story about family and how relationships can affect future generations.  There seems to be an assumption that twins are always very close, but perhaps that it not always the case or at least the individuals can have differing interests and temperaments.  This is a brilliant read for those who want to dip their toes into the horror genre, but it also show how aficionados of war-gaming learn strategies that might help them in other circumstances.  It is a very compelling story and I am delighted to see that there will be a second outing for Indigo and Rusty in the future.

 

The author

Alex Atkinson loves scary books filled with oddball characters. She blames her idyllic North Yorkshire childhood spent playing murder-in-the-dark and listening to her dad’s blood-curdling bedtime stories. After studying English and Politics at Newcastle University, she worked as a website content editor. She now lives in a village in Hertfordshire with her husband, kids, dogs and tortoise, but dreams of abandoned buildings, ghosts and zombies. SPOOKSMITHS INVESTIGATE: THE CINDERMAN is her debut novel.

Instagram: https://instagram.com/alexatkinsonstories
X: https://x.com/alatkinson

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The Lonely Lighthouse of Elston-Fright by Reece Carter and Eleonora Asparuhova

This is the second in the series of books featuring the very odd seaside village of Elston-Fright.  When I started to read, I thought that this was set in the UK, but then came across names such as Kookaburras, which of course made me realise that we are actually reading about Australia.

The central character of this story is the young Flip Little, who together with his grandmother are the last members of their family; a family that for generations have been Lightkeepers, protecting the village of Elston -Fright from magical monsters.  But the other locals no longer believe in magic and are not prepared when strange events start happening.  Luckily Flip is friends with two local ghosts, Corpse (the central character from book one) and Girl, as well as a giant spider called Simon and when Simon is kidnapped they decide they need to take action to solve the mysteries.  What they discover turns Flip’s world upside down.  Beneath the coastal rocks they discover creatures called Seafoam Sprites, and their leader, Glow, says that she is the Lightkeeper; which would mean that Flip’s ancestors had stolen the ability from the sprites.  However, there is still the need to protect the locals from the horrors called Poltergusts, but will the humans and the sprites be able to work together for  common good.

What a fascinating premise  we have here, particularly the two ghosts; Girl is a ghost that cannot be seen, but she can wear clothes to show where she is, whilst Corpse has created a body for herself out of wax and is able to inhabit this shell.  The story is told from the perspective of all three young people, so you have to check the chapter heading to make sure you know the current narrator.  All three of them have issues that they are trying to solve; with the ghosts it is about trying to remember their previous lives and why they are still connected to the area around Elston-Fright.  For Flip things become really difficult as the story progresses; his belief in his family and the role they have played in the past, is completely destroyed, as he finds that his ancestor is not the hero he had been led to believe in.  As readers we find ourselves having a great deal of sympathy for the three friends and you can truly understand the anger and frustration when Flip discovers the truth.  However, he understands that he can change things and works with the Seafoam Sprites to fight the Poltergusts.

This is one of those books that leave a deep impression on the reader, based on the characters of the central figures.  The ending gives the impression that there will be at least one more title in the series and I am longing to find out what happens to this unlikely group of friends as their hidden enemy gets closer and some of the secrets might be uncovered.  It is a great read for those who like a bit of horror in their stories, but not enough to scare them too much.

The Author

Reece Carter is a high-profile Australian nutritionist who has written two non-fiction books for adults, appeared on many of Australian’s major television networks, and written for magazines like GQ. He grew up in rural Western Australia and now lives in Sydney.

 

Instagram:  https://instagram.com/herbnerdreece

X: https://x.com/herbnerdreece

 

Book Information

Title: The Lonely Lighthouse of Elston-Fright (The Elston-Fright Tales #2)
Author: Reece Carter

Release Date: 10th October 2024

Genre: MG

Publisher: Usborne

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Nocturne with Gaslamps by Matthew Francis

Apart from books for children, my other favourite genres are fantasy and crime novels, but I don’t usually include those in my blog.  However I was asked to take part in this blog tour and felt that this would fit into the KS4 level of a school library.  This is very much in the vein of Victorian melodrama mixed with a bit of Gothic and will be appreciated by fans of the ‘Sherlock Holmes’ school of crime story.

Neem Tree Press, 9781915584236

There is a fairly small cast of characters, but three of them are central to the plot, with another couple being very important to the story.  The main character is Hastings Wimbury, a ‘wannabe’ young actor who has managed to get a job as part of the lighting team at a London theatre.  We also have  Cassie, a young assistant to a spiritualist, who lives in the same boarding house as Hastings and finally there is Flora, who is the secret fiancee of Hastings. They are brought together by circumstances and a mysterious figure called ‘The Count’, who persuades Hastings to provide him with gas which is used in the theatre lights.  The plot thickens as Hastings is kidnapped and the two girls find themselves working together to try and find him.  But who is the sinister Count and does he have any connection to Cassie’s employer?

This is a complex story and conveys the atmosphere of the late Victorian world and central London in particular, very well.  the descriptions of the boarding house and the life within is enough to chill any prospective tenant.The date is set to 1883, with an epilogue set 20 years later, so we are in a period where new technologies are being invented and women are starting to want more freedom, as well as often needing to earn a living.  This is a story that can be read from KS3 and above, as there are no issues with the content or language.  It could prove useful for discussions about women’s rights, the Victorians and about theatre.  I wish that I had found the central characters more appealing, but perhaps that was the intention of the author.  However, there is plenty of action and even a murder to delight those fans who want as much crime as possible.

About the Author

Matthew Francis is Professor Emeritus in Creative Writing at Aberystwyth University. He read English at Magdalene College, Cambridge University. He writes novels, short stories, and poetry collections. He has won the TLS / Blackwell’s Prize for Poetry and the Southern Arts Literature Prize, and been shortlisted twice for the Forward Prize, twice for the Welsh Book of the Year Award and once for the Ted Hughes Award. In 2004, he was chosen as one of the Next Generation Poets. He is a Fellow of the Welsh Academy. Matthew lives with this wife in Aberystwyth, Wales where he enjoys playing chess, cooking and playing the ukulele.

 

 

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Ghosts of Mars by by Stuart White and Jennifer Jamieson

Growing up in the 1950s and 1960s I had a strong awareness of science fiction, but also the way the major powers were striving to get to the Moon and then beyond.  There were not many science fiction stories for children in the early days, but there was a huge amount for adults.  As a young library assistant, I devoured both crime and sci-fi stories and many of them were published in a yellow library edition by Gollancz, of which it has been said: “its main postwar strengths were detective fiction and sf: from the early 1960s to the late 1980s it was the premier UK publisher of sf books in hardcover, both native and US”

https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/gollancz

In the 1970s we started seeing more books written specifically for the young reader and a particularly popular series was the  “Tripod” series by John Christopher.  However the growth in Sci-Fi was really expanded by TV series such as Dr Who, Blake’s Seven and Star Trek, but this was then overwhelmed by the franchise that is “Star Wars”.  With a renewal in the desire to return to space, we have seen another surge in books with a space setting and they are now reaching out to their new younger audiences.

Eva, the thirteen year old heroine of this story, has a lot to put up with; her mother died when she was young, she is a type 1 diabetic and she has the dubious distinction of being the first human to be born on Mars.  As she faces discrimination by some of the other children, she relies on the support of her father and her AI companion to help her cope.  So, when her father and his team go missing she decides she has to go and find them.  Linked to this we have the ‘ghosts’ that Eva starts to see, one of who looks remarkably like her late mother, the question is, are they hallucinations or are the real? If they are real, then who are they and why are they trying to make contact with Eva?

This is an fast paced story with a strong female character who has to overcome so many difficulties.  The issues around her type 1 diabetes are profound because, after an accident, the colony does not have supplies of insulin and Eva has to depend on outdated technology to keep her alive.  We gradually see that as the story continues, that the organization running the colony are only in it for the profit they can make and the infrastructure is facing collapse.

The book reminds me of the series  “The Martian Chronicles” by Ray Bradbury, which I watched on TV many years ago.  There is the same question of identity and belonging, something that Eva really struggles with.  We all assume that there is no advanced life form on Mars, so it is ‘safe’ to build colonies for the human race, but has that always been the case?  Whilst this is a great adventure story for young people, it also asks a range of questions about the way some groups feel that they have the right to expand wherever they like; in the same way that countries and large corporations have done throughout history.

This exciting and thought provoking read will make a great addition to the Science Fiction Genre for middle grade children.  It will also provide inspiration for the many young people who enjoy STEM subjects.

 

About BBNYA 

BBNYA is a yearly competition where book bloggers from all over the world read and score books written by indie authors, ending with 15 finalists and one overall winner.

If you want some more information about BBNYA, check out the BBNYA Website https://www.bbnya.com/ or take a peek over on Twitter @BBNYA_Official. BBNYA is brought to you in association with the @Foliosociety (if you love beautiful books, you NEED to check out their website!) and the book blogger support group @The_WriteReads.

 

Author Bio

Stuart is an award-winning author and secondary school teacher. He has a Masters Degree in Creative Writing and founded, and now runs, WriteMentor. In 2020 and 2022 he was placed on the SCWBI Undiscovered Voices longlist and named as an Honorary Mention for his novels ‘Ghosts of Mars’ and ‘Astra FireStar and the Ripples of Time’. In 2023, he won the WriteBlend award for his middle grade debut, Ghosts of Mars.

Stuart was included in The Bookseller’s 2021 list of Rising Stars in the publishing industry.

 

With a Type 1 Diabetic main character, Ghosts of Mars explores how life beyond Earth, and the fame and scrutiny that come with it, affects the young people involved, who didn’t sign up for life on Mars. Ten percent of author profits go to Diabetes UK.

 

Book Details

Length: 280 pages

Genre: Fantasy, Science Fiction

Age Category: Middle Grade

Date Published: 12 September 2022

https://amzn.eu/d/id7TkjA (UK)

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/63274577-ghosts-of-mars

The StoryGraph Link: https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/2b3c86c8-ef1b-4708-ad90-d982d93d3ed1 

 

 

 

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The Spirit Snatcher by Cat Gray

I absolutely loved Cat Gray’s first novel “Spellstoppers”, with its mix of magic and normal life; so I was delighted when I got the opportunity to read and review this new book.  Of course, I was hoping that it could meet the high standard of the first; well, I need not have worried as it surpassed my high expectations.

Usborne, 978-1801310048

This story is set in central London, where Pip and his parents have moved to, from Norwich, because of his scientist mother’s new job.  Things do not start out well as they find the flat and shop they have rented is down a side alley that looks as if it is out of a Dickens novel.  The alley is dark, seedy and the flat itself is very run down and things do not get any better when a young girl tells Pip that they should leave  because “IF YOU STAY HERE, SOMETHING EXTREMELY BAD IS GOING TO HAPPEN”  Well, she turns out to be perfectly correct.  The very next morning Pip discovers his parents have totally change personality; no longer are they Tofu eating, TV hating and anti-mobile type people, now they are sitting in front of the TV and ignoring everything around them, so what has happened and what can Pip do?  When he meets the young girl again he discovers that she is called Fliss and she lives next door in the “Ragged Hare” pub.  He also finds out that this is a very unusual alley in that it is the home of some very unusual inhabitants.  There are vampires, werewolves, banshees and ghosts amongst others and the alley is closer to Diagon Alley than it is to anything else.  What he also discovers is that there is a mysterious character called the spirit snatcher, which feeds on people’s spirits, leaving them as shadows of their former selves and his parents are the latest victims.  Not only that, he is likely to be the next target when he reaches his 13th birthday in a few days (at Halloween actually).  The race is on to find the spirit snatcher and to find a way to reverse the effects on Pip’s parents.

What a wonderfully dark and magical story this is, with an excellent cast of characters representing many of the folk tales from our islands.  However, we find that beneath their unusual appearances and habits, there are people who just want to live their lives and not have to be looking out for danger all of the time.   Above all, there is the element of trust; when his parents are not there, who can Pip actually trust to help him get things back to his ‘normal’ and will Fliss learn to trust Pip enough to tell him her own dark secret?  I really loved the way that the author has built up the atmosphere in the alley, but also the  roller coaster of expectation as we think that the villain has been unmasked, only to have the arguments dashed.  Thankfully there is a denouement, but how can the villain be stopped and what, if anything will reverse all of their evil doings?

This will make a tremendous addition to a Halloween collection, either in school, or at home.  I can’t wait for more fabulous tales from this really excellent author.

The Author

Cat Gray is an author and journalist, based in London and Ireland. She started her journalism career at the age of 19, interviewing musicians and celebrities in between attending classes, then went on to be an editor at a series of glossy magazines, including Harper’s Bazaar and Town & Country.
Since she was very young, she’s always believed that there’s an adventure just around the corner, and this is reflected in her magical fantasy stories. Spellstoppers was her first book.

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The House Trap by Emma Read and Coralie Muce

I suspect that we all have experience of houses that are run-down, creepy and have stories told about them.  I still remember as a child a house, on my walk home from town, that we had been told was inhabited by a witch!  Needless to say we always walked on the opposite side of the road, even though we never saw this person.

In this wonderful story we have the same concept.  The children are the central characters and they comprise of two families, Claude and his young sister Amity and his best friend Deliah, but we also have new friend Sam, who manages to create friction in the group.  At a family gathering before Claude and his family move away, the children are sent out to play and Amity runs off into the local Badwell wood; this is a place of rumour and tragedy, with tales of disappearing children, which explains why it is out of bounds.  When the others follow, they find the dilapidated remains of a house, which had been empty since the 1930s.  The front door is wide open, so they go in, hoping to find Amity and then the door closes behind them.  This is when everything starts to go wrong as they can’t get the door open and the house almost seems to be playing tricks on them.  Now, the three children have to try and find Amity and then get themselves out of the house.  What follows is almost like an Escape Room challenge as the children find clues, many of which revolve around the original disappearance of the last owner’s daughter in 1930.  Will the young people escape and what mysterious forces are working against them?  Importantly do you believe in ghosts and spirits?

Well, whilst this is a story for middle grade readers it is still aiming at sending a shiver down the spine, and it achieves this brilliantly.  We start off with the frictions between the young people and this is so central that it almost lulls us into a sense of false security.  However, the author very slowly builds up the tension and gradually introduces more and more elements that make you desperate to get out of the building.  This really is a wonderfully sinister tale of the supernatural and it is going to be a brilliant introduction to this genre for the primary reader.  Linked to this we have the more recognizable issues between siblings and friends as they inevitably grow and change over time.   The old saying “two’s company, three’s a crowd” definitely seems to be the case at the beginning of the story, but as things develop, the young people learn that they have to work together if they actually want to achieve their aims.  I love the way that the children learn from their adventures and that they are not two dimensional characters, making us feel more invested in their stories.  Thank you Emma for a truly spine-chilling story.

About Emma

Once upon a time (in school), Emma was told she had to choose between being a scientist and a creative but deep down she knew she could be both.

Her favourite things in the world are: badges, Death On the Nile (1978), hats, foxes, deserts, desserts and Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. She’s not sure which holiday is best – Halloween or Christmas (she loves all things spooky, but also presents and singing Christmas carols.) Her one regret in life is never having trained to be an astronaut.

​https://www.emmareadauthor.com/ 

 

 

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The Ghost of Scarletbeard (Flyntlock Bones) by Derek Keilty and Mark Elvins

I have previously reviewed the last Flyntlock Bones adventure and you can read it in this blog.  This is a brilliantly funny story that is going to enchant young readers and which is perfect to promote for “Read like a Pirate” day, later in the year.  Children are introduced to pirates at a very young age, but there has often been a gap for those who are just starting to read so called ‘chapter books’, so it is wonderful to find this gap being filled  by such a lovable hero, together with his rather idiosyncratic friends.

Scallywag Press, 9781912650774

Flyntlock Bones, aka Flynn, is the cabin boy aboard the ex-pirate ship The Black Hound.  Captain Long John Watkins and his motley crew have changed over a new leaf and now work as ‘recoverers of treasure’.  However they are currently having a bit of a slump in business and are quickly running out of funds.  Luckily  they receive a last minute call from a previous client, the Countess of Bohemia.  It seems that her jewels have been stolen yet again and she want the Captain and his crew to retrieve them for the second time.  The only problem is that she swears that it is the same thief as before, who has stolen the treasure;  unfortunately Captain Scarletbeard and his ship were sunk in the last theft!  This leave only one possibility, that the pirate is back from the grave and out for revenge.  Flynn and the rest of the crew face a hazardous journey down to Davy Jones’ Locker to see whether they are right.  What they discover sends a shiver down their backs, as the nefarious pirate is back in business and he seems to have a new partner, in the person of a witch called Molly Macbeth.  It seems the two of them are planning a heist to steal the crown jewels from the Floating Palace of Zora; the question is whether the crew of the Black Hound can stop them and send Scarletbeard back to his watery resting place?

Whilst this is a fantastic rip-roaring tale of adventure it also has a range of more subtle themes going on.  The relationships between the main characters is all about caring for others, but mostly about accepting people for themselves.  We are given a range of characters, most of who have a change of heart about the lifestyle that they have chosen in the past.  Above all, we have a tale full of laughter and fun, where only the really nasty villains get their comeuppance and everyone else finds their perfect place in life.  Once again  this author has given us a book that will thrill the audience and persuade many of them that they want to be pirates (at least for a day).  The illustrations are once again a perfect match for the story and are going to attract the young reader who is just becoming a more confident reader.

 

Author

Derek Keilty is an Irish author and lives in Belfast.  He has written more than 10 books for children.  His Will Gallows series was previously short listed for the Irish Children’s Book Prize and has been optioned for a film.

Illustrator

Mark Elvins lives in Yorkshire and is a print-maker.

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The Hungry Ghost by H.S.Norup

When Freja moves to Singapore, to live with her father and his new family for a year, she could not imagine the mysterious and frightening occurrences that will change her life.  The move was caused by the breakdown in her mother’s mental health, but Freja feels guilty for not being able to stay with her.  The world that she discovers in Singapore is very different from her home in Denmark and she finds it difficult to adapt to life with her step-mother Clementine and her two year-old twin half-brothers.  Freja arrives in her new home during the month of the “Hungry ghosts”, a festival celebrated in Buddhist Chinese and Vietnamese cultures;  where local residents leave food and other offerings at the graves of their ancestors to appease them and prevent evil spirits gaining access to our world.  On the evening of her arrival Freja sees a young girl, dressed in white, in the garden but no one seems to know where she comes from.  As the story progresses we learn that the girl is called Ling and that she is a ghost who cannot settle until she remembers what happened to her family.  How Freja and her new school friends help solve the mystery makes for a fascinating story and we discover that it was not just Ling who had hidden away some painful memories.

This is a beautifully told story with characters that are full of energy, but who are often suffering a lot of hidden pain.  The world of Singapore is brought to life and we are aware of just how much of a multi-cultural place it is.  All of the friends that Freja makes come from different parts of the world and their parents are often from separate countries; just like Freja, whose mother is Danish but her father is English and her step-mother is Anglo-Chinese.  The festival of the “Hungry Ghosts” puts me in mind of the Mexican Day of the Dead, but there is a slightly darker aspect to the commemoration as there is a strong need to prevent the ‘hungry ghosts’ (who may have committed a wrong doing in their life) from coming back to this world and wreaking havoc on their descendants.  The multiple layers of the story that are gradually revealed remind us of the inequalities of our colonial past and the heartache that this could cause for many of the people involved.  This is at times heart wrenching as Freja peels back hidden secrets and finally understands her links to Ling and Singapore.

 

Author bio:

H. S. Norup is the author of The Hungry Ghost and The Missing Barbegazi—a Sunday Times Book of the Year in 2018. Originally from Denmark, she has lived in six different countries and now resides in Switzerland with her husband and two teenage sons. She has a Master’s degree in Economics and Business Administration and sixteen years’ experience in corporate marketing strategy and communications. When she’s not writing or reading, she spends her time outdoors either skiing, hiking, walking, golfing or taking photos.

Thank you to the author for the author information and the photograph that she has made available on her website https://www.hsnorup.com/

 

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Some Spring Gems

It has been a while since I wrote about some of the latest middle grade fiction that have appeared recently.  There has been a continued interest in all things crime related as well as mythical beasts, alternate worlds and of course witches.  In fact we have all been spoilt for choice, with not just some brilliant new books, but also continuing adventures from some of our favourite authors of the moment

 

Nosy Crow, 9781788000260

“Dragon in the Library” by Louie Stowell, illustrated by David Ortu.  Well anything about a library is going to get me interested and this is no exception.  When Kit and her friend visit the local library to get hold of a book by his favourite author something strange happens.  Kit starts reading an information book and suddenly finds herself transported into the pages of the book; the librarian Faith Braithwaite see all of this and brings Kit back, they then try and find out why this happened.  It turns out that Faith is a wizard and the library and some of the books in it act as portals to travel to other magical libraries, but best of all Kit and her friends find out that there is a dragon called Draca sleeping under the building.  When an unscrupulous developer Hadrian Salt tries to buy the library they will all have to find some way to thwart his plans and save the library and the dragon.  This is a really great story and I hope that there will be more, so that we can follow Kit and her friends as they get more involved with wizards.

Kelpies, 9781782505556

“Guardians of the Wild Unicorns” by Lindsay Littleson is a fantastic story from Scotland and is published by the wonderful Kelpies.  Lewis and Rhona are on a school trip staying in the highlands, far away from their homes in Glasgow, when Lewis sees what appear to be unicorns he thinks he is imagining things, but what if they are real?  The two friends find themselves trying to save these wild unicorns from people who see them as a way to make money, but they find that the task is not as easy as they hope.  The unicorns in this book are not at all like the glittery and colourful ones you find in younger age books; these are wild ones in the same sense that those in Harry Potter are and it brings an added fascination and sense of reality to the theme of the story.  Behind all of this we have the stories of two young people who are each coping with major issues at home and are not telling anyone, but by the end of the story they have realized that sharing problems can have a positive effect.

Piccadilly, 9781848127616

“Potkin and Stubbs” by Sophie Green, illustrated by K.J.Mountford, is a crime thriller but with a decided difference.  Lil has always wanted to be a reporter and because she lives in a city where schools have been closed and her mother is out at work, she has opportunities to follow her ambitions.  One evening she sees a young boy at the bus station cafe and offers to buy him a drink because he looks cold and hungry, however the truth is much stranger than that; Nedly is a ghost and Lil decides to try and discover where he had lived and how he died.  The story gets darker and more dangerous as they get closer to the truth and they find that there are citywide crimes that need to be resolved.  This is a fantastic story for those who love crime stories, with that little added twist of the supernatural.

Stripes, 9781788950220

“The Star-spun Web” by Sinead O’Hart and illustrated by Sara Mulvanney, is a magical tale of parallel worlds that should not connect, but where someone has created a machine to travel between them.  Tessa suddenly arrived on the doorsteps of an orphanage as a baby, but  there were some strange circumstances, such as the snow on her blanket, even though it was not winter.  The story picks up when she is twelve and is claimed by a man purporting to be a relative.  What happens next is strange, as she sees a boy through a mirror in the summerhouse and eventually  she is able to transfer to this alternative world.  It is still a version of the city of Dublin, but  one where there is a war and it seems that someone wants to bring bombers through the gateway in order to conquer her own peaceful version of the city and country.  Sinead O’Hart has a wonderful imagination and has created a group of characters full of caring and friendship on the one hand and some dastardly villains on the other hand.  It is a story that leaves you with a great big smile at the end.

Scholastic, 9781407191553

“Wildspark” by Vashti Hardy (illustrations by George Ermos and Jamie Gregory) is one of those books that you know will leave an impression and you will probably want to read again.  It is set in a world where the spirits of those who have died are able to be transferred into the bodies of animals.  It is also a world where robots are used to do a lot of the work and being mechanically talented is a real skill.  Prue lives on her parent’s farm and is a great engineer, but she has one ambition and that is to try and find the ghost of her brother and have him brought back to this second life.  When she is chosen (or rather her dead brother is) to become an apprentice in the main city of Medlock, she thinks that her opportunity has come.  This is a beautifully written story about what it is to be human, the love of family and the way we use technology and I really recommend it to anyone who loves fantasy, steampunk or books of extraordinary imagination.

Quercus, 9781786540782

“A girl called Justice” by Elly Griffiths is definitely one for those who love books by Robin Stevens, Laura Wood, Katherine Woodfine and Fleur Hitchcock among others.  After the death of her mother, Justice  (because her father is a criminal barrister) is sent to boarding school and soon finds an opportunity to use her super sleuthing skills.  One of the school maids has gone missing and Justice suspects foul play.  As she gradually settles into the strange world of a girls’ boarding school and makes friends, she also investigates the mysterious goings on and whether they have any links to a death from the past.  This was a great read for those who love this mix of school and crime and I can’t wait for further adventures from this absolutely ‘spiffing’ heroine.

Nosy Crow, 9781788004503

“No Ballet Shoes in Syria” by Catherine Bruton.  This is an amazing, heart breaking and yet very hopeful story of Aya, a young refugee from Syria and her mother and young brother.  The main part of the story deals with their struggle to be allowed to remain in the UK and the hope that one day they will find Aya’s father, who was feared drowned as the crossed from Turkey to Greece.  The other part of the story is about her love of ballet and the people she meets in a ballet class at the centre where they go to meet the case worker helping them.  We are given parallels between Aya and the ballet teacher Miss Helena, who had come to England on one of the last Kinder transport trains  and there is a lesson to be learnt about honouring those we have lost by achieving the potential that they believed we have.  There is so much hope in this book but it is laced with much sorrow and I really suggest you have a box of tissues at the ready; also don’t read it on the bus or train!

Macmillan, 9781509874217

“Kat Wolfe takes the Case” by Lauren St John, illustrate by Daniel Deamo is the second story about young Kat and her friend Harper as they are caught up in more adventures on the Jurassic coast where they live.  When a dinosaur is found by Harper’s father and his team (they are paleontologists), it leads to theft and possible smuggling by a gang trying to find “Dragons’ teeth” which are supposed to cure those suffering from incurable diseases.  Once again Kat needs the help of her grandfather (the Minister of Defence) and begins to know him better as a person.  This is a great story that mixes geology, animals, mystery and also friendship and family.  It is an ideal story for some adventure and crime fighting.

“Malamander” by Thomas Taylor is a tale of mystery and monsters set in a world similar to ours, but with some major differences.  Young Herbert Lemon works at the Grand Nautilus Hotel as a ‘Lost and Founder’, but he did not expect that he would be asked to find two people who had disappeared 12 years before.  Their daughter, Violet Parma thinks that it is linked to a monster called the Malamander that is said to inhabit the wreck of an old vessel in the bay.  This is a fabulously creepy yet funny book with amazing characters (and that is just their names) and a bookshop that every town should want.  I look forward to further adventures from this intrepid pair of children.

Simon & Schuster, 9781471178733

“Sea-ing is Believing” by Steven Butler and Steve Lenton, is the next episode in the goings on at yet another weird and wonderful seaside hotel; only this time the hotel is for non-human guests and I don’t mean it is a pet hotel.  This hotel caters for yetis, mermaids, and other such unusual clients.  In this adventure Frankie’s great grandfather reappears as a ghost during the celebration of his 175th birthday.  However something is not quite right and it is up to Frankie and a cast of incredible friends to save the hotel and all of those in it.  As always these two Steves have produced a hilarious and very quirky story that will have everyone in stitches and longing for more of the same

OUP, 9780192771605

“The last spell-breather” by Julie Pike takes us to a place where magic still happens and spells are created and then breathed over the recipient.  Rayne is the daughter of a spell breather, who protects their village from an undefined plague that has ravaged the country.  When her mother disappears it is up to Rayne to keep everyone safe, but unfortunately she is not very good at spells and the results leave her running for her life.  Her aim is to go to the city where her mother trained as a spell breather in the hope that she will find her mother and reverse the problems that she has created.  Along the way she meets several new friends, but not all of them are what they seem and there is also a dark and sinister villain who brought the original disaster to the country.  This is a beautifully conceived story with a frustrating young heroine who battles to do the best for everyone, but because she doesn’t always know the full facts, she gets things wrong.  It really is a lesson in communication, listening, trusting people and the importance of family and friends.

Barrington Stoke, 9781781128558

“The Disconnect” by Keren David is a new story from Barrington Stoke and is aimed squarely at the young teen reader, especially those who are attached to their smart phones.  Esther’s year group at school have been asked to do without their phones for six weeks and the winners will each get £1000 and the opportunity to be on a panel looking at the use of social media.  Many of the young people decide not to take part, many fall at some point during the trial but Esther and her friends are determined to win.  This is a fascinating look at how people depend on social media and what it means to be cut off from it.  It is also about fake news and making sure that we understand the consequences of believing anything we read without checking.  This is altogether a very timely book from one of our top authors for young adults.

Andersen Press, 9781781783448043

“The Bolds go Wild” by Julian Clary and David Roberts.  Once again we join our wonderful family of urban hyenas in Surbiton; however this time they get a surprise visit from Fred’s mother Imamu and she is very definitely a WILD hyena.  Whilst the children, Bobby and Betty are delighted by the visit they nearly give away the family secret when they are seen by their headmistress, with their tails showing below their clothes.  However all is not lost, as Mrs Dobson, the head, has her own secret; she has a son who wants to become a chimpanzee.  So the next thing is for the Bolds to help him achieve his ambition and then get him and Imamu back to Africa.  You can always guarantee that there will be zany goings on with this family, but beneath it all there is a real sense of caring about letting people and creatures find their own place in the world.

I do hope that you will find something here that you will enjoy.  We really are so lucky that there are some splendid books being published for this middle grade range and many of them deal with some quite serious subjects but in a very understated way, so that the reader is carried by the story line, rather than feeling they are being lectured.  This is just the start of a much bigger selection that I hope to bring to you in the next month or so.  Happy reading!