The Book of Mysteries
J.R. Wallis
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Childrens Books
What is this about?
Welcome to the Badlands ... a hidden part of our world full of creatures which most people think exist only in fairy tales and nightmares.
Ruby is trying to change the future. Her fate is in the hands of the council as they prepare to decide once and for all if girls can be Badlanders too.
Jones is running from his past. He’s determined to help Ruby fulfil her destiny, but first he will need to shake off the vengeful ghost of Maitland, the Master he betrayed.
Then they are challenged to solve a notoriously unsolvable case from The Book of Mysteries, and Ruby and Jones think it might just be the lifeline they need. But there’s a reason no Badlander has ever returned from Great Walsingham, and the two friends will have to rely on more than magic if they want to survive...
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Again Again
E. Lockhart
Publisher: Hot Key Books
What is this about?
When Adelaide Buchman's younger brother succumbs to a drug overdose, she saves his life. In the aftermath, looking for distraction, she becomes a stylish, bright charmer who blows off school and falls madly in love - even though her heart is shattered.
Adelaide is catapulted into a summer of wild possibility, during which she will fall in and out of love a thousand times while finally confronting her brother, their history, and her own strength.
A raw and funny story that will surprise you over and over, Adelaide is an indelible heroine grappling with the terrible and wonderful problem of loving other people.
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The Switch Up: L. A. Exchange
Katy Cannon
Publisher: Stripes Publishing
What is this about?
Alice can't wait to visit Willa in LA - home of Hollywood, where dreams come true. Their plan is to explore the city and see the sights, but then Willa gets the opportunity to work on the film project of her dreams and she can't say no! The only problem is she is absolutely 100% supposed to be taking part in a beach clean-up. Which, now she thinks of it, sounds pretty perfect for Alice...
Can the girls really swap lives again? Cue plotting, outfit swapping and award-winning performances. But everyone knows that real life is nothing like the movies...
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Here Lie the Secrets
Emma Young
Publisher: Stripes Publishing
What is this about?
This is a tense psychological thriller. Spending the summer in New York, Mia is hoping to escape the visions of Holly that haunt her life at home. There she meets Rav, a parapsychology student, who convinces her to take part in a study into why some people see ghosts.
Soon Mia is caught up in the investigation of Halcyon House, which is reputed to be haunted by a poltergeist. As Mia confronts her fears, what she learns about the house and herself will change her life forever.
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Midnight's Twins
Holly Race
Publisher: Hot Key Books
What is this about?
Fern King is about to uncover a place that she could not have imagined in all her wildest dreams. Annwn is the dream mirror of our world, a place where Dreamers walk in their slumber, their dreams playing out all around them. An enchanted, mysterious place that feeds our own world - as without dreams, without a place where our imaginations and minds can be nourished, what kind of humans would we be?
But Annwn is a place as full of dangers as it is wonders: it is a place where dreams can kill you. Annwn and its Dreamers are protected by an ancient order known as the Knights - and when Fern's hated twin Ollie is chosen to join their ranks, Fern will have to do whatever she can to prove she is one of them too.
But the world Fern discovers in Annwn, in this dream mirror of her London, is a fragile one, threatened by vicious nightmares. Nightmares that are harder and harder for the Knights to defeat. Something dark is jeopardising the peace and stability of Annwn, something that must be rooted out at all costs. And gradually, Fern realises that the danger lurking inside our sleep is more insidious and terrifying than any nightmare. Because if you can influence someone's dreams, you can control their thoughts ...
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Nightshade
Anthony Horowitz
Publisher: Walker Books Ltd
What is this about?
Alex Rider is back in this new adventure from Anthony Horowitz. Having just returned to school and enjoying his normal life, after being informed he will no longer be used for secret missions, Alex finds himself agreeing to take on one more mission for Mrs Jones, Chief Executive of MI6 Special Operations.
All Alex has to go on is the name 'Nightshade' (an organisation which turns out to be as shady and deadly as its botanical namesake) and the knowledge that London is the under threat of attack.
To find out more, he must take on the identity of a previous adversary, Julius Grief, who was an identical clone of Alex and the only person he has shot. But Alex will have to go gadget 'cold turkey' for this mission and he will only have his previous training and wits to get him through the mission.
The occupants of a super high security prison in Gibraltar are unaware that their former inmate and prison escapee Julius is dead, and Alex must infiltrate the prison with his new identity and befriend the only member of Nightshade the Secret Service know about - Freddy Grey, then find out about Nightshade and get out before his real identity is discovered.
This should be a straight forward task and he should be back in London in time for half term. But events don't go to plan,
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Robin Hood: Hacking, Heists & Flaming Arrows
Robert Muchamore
Publisher: Hot Key Books
What is this about?
You can't go far without a quick brain and some rule-bending in a place like Locksley. After its vast car plants shut down, the prosperous town has become a wasteland of empty homes, toxic land and families on the brink. And it doesn't help that the authorities are in the clutches of profit-obsessed Sheriff of Nottingham, in cahoots with underworld boss Guy Gisborne.
When his dad is framed for a robbery, Robin and his brother Little John are hounded out of Locksley and must learn to survive in the Sherwood forest, stretching three hundred kilometres and sheltering the free spirits and outlaws. But Robin is determined to do more than survive.
Small, fast and deadly with a bow, he hatches a plan to join forces with Marion Maid, harness his inimitable tech skills and strike a blow against Gisborne and the Sheriff.
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Hideous Beauty
William Hussey
Publisher: Usborne Publishing Ltd
What is this about?
Dylan is forced to come out after his secret relationship with Ellis is exposed on social media, but to his surprise, everyone is really supportive - or appears to be.
But Dylan's and El's happiness is short-lived, and following a tragic accident, Dylan begins to realize how little he knows about the boy he loves or those closest to him.
A dark young adult thriller, for readers aged 15+.
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What Momma Left Me
Renee Watson
Publisher: Bloomsbury YA
What is this about?
Serenity knows she is good at keeping secrets, and she's got a whole lifetime's worth of them. Her mother is dead, her father is gone, and she and her brother have to start over again by moving in with their grandparents.
At first, things seem like they could be good: a new friend, a new church, a new school. But when her brother seems to be going down the wrong path, the old fears set in. Will he end up like their dad? Will she end up like their mum?
In this exquisite coming of age story, Serenity discovers it is the power of love that keeps you sure of who you are, and who you will become.
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The Crossover: Graphic Novel
Kwame Alexander
Publisher: Andersen Press Ltd
What is this about?
'With a bolt of lightning on my kicks . . . The court is SIZZLING. My sweat is DRIZZLING. Stop all that quivering. 'Cuz tonight I'm delivering,' raps twelve-year-old Josh Bell. Thanks to their dad, he and his twin brother, Jordan, are kings on the court. But Josh has more than basketball in his blood – he's got mad beats, too, which help him find his rhythm when it's all on the line.
See the Bell family in a whole new light through Dawud Anyabwile's dynamic illustrations as the brothers' winning season unfolds, and the world as they know it begins to change.
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The Enigma Game
Elizabeth Wein
Publisher: Bloomsbury Childrens Books
What is this about?
Louisa Adair, newly orphaned and shunned for her mixed-race heritage, has come here to the edge of the world to look after an old lady with a dark past. Jamie Beaufort-Stuart is a flight lieutenant whose squadron is posted to the airfield over winter. Ellen McEwan is a young woman held hostage by the German pilot who lands at Windyedge one wild stormy night carrying a terrible secret.
Three young people desperate to make a difference in a war that has decimated their families, friends and country. When the means to change the course of history falls into their hands, how will they use it? And when the enemy comes looking for them, who will have the courage to strike back?
A thrilling story of wartime secrets, international intrigue and wild courage from the award-winning author of Code Name Verity, with three young heroes you'll never forget.
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Viper's Daughter
Michelle Paver
Publisher: Head of Zeus
What is this about?
For two summers Torak and Renn have been living in the Forest with their faithful pack-brother, Wolf. But their happiness is shattered when Renn realizes Torak is in danger and she's the threat.
When she mysteriously disappears, Torak and Wolf brave the Far North to find her. At the mercy of the Sea Mother and haunted by ravenous ice bears, their quest leads them to the Edge of the World. There they must face an enemy more evil than any they've encountered.
Viper's Daughter plunges you back into the Stone-Age world of Torak, Renn and Wolf: a world of demons, Hidden People and exhilarating adventure which has entranced millions of readers.
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Storm
Nicola Skinner
Publisher: HarperCollins
What is this about?
Frances's parents were not prepared for her birth: they had a blanket and an easel and some paint, but not anything useful, like a car or a phone. So it's no wonder Frankie has always had a temper. She was born on a BEACH, in a STORM.
What Frances was not prepared for was dying in a freak natural disaster that wiped out her whole town.
Waking up 100 years later, Frances finds a whole load of new things to be angry about. And that's before the visitors start turning up, treating her home like it's a tourist attraction. Which it is.
Only there are worse people out there than tourists...and they're coming for Frankie.
Frankie is about to discover that there are things more important than herself - and that anger has its uses. Because when you have a storm inside you - sometimes the only thing to do is let it out...
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That Time I Got Kidnapped
Tom Mitchell
Publisher: HarperCollins
What is this about?
Fourteen-year-old Jacob is thrilled when he wins the chance to feature in the next Marvel movie, shooting in Hollywood. But after missing his connecting flight in Chicago, he tries to complete the journey by Greyhound bus - and there he meets Jennifer.
Jennifer is an American teenager on the run with a mysterious package she's guarding with her life – and an enigmatic figure known only as 'the Cowboy' is hot on her heels...
Jacob soon finds himself on the road-trip of a lifetime as Jennifer's unwitting partner in crime. Will he make it to LA in time - and in one piece?
A funny, filmic, page-turning adventure.
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Fig Swims the World
Lou Abercrombie
Publisher: Stripes Publishing
What is this about?
Fig Fitzsherbert is good at a lot of things: making lists, playing the piano, advanced mathematics. But it's never quite enough for her high-flying mother, who every New Year's Day sets Fig an impossible resolution.
So one year, Fig decides to set her own challenge instead: she's going to swim her way round the world. There's just one tiny problem ... Fig can't swim.
Taking it one length at a time, Fig embarks on the adventure of a lifetime. But with her mother closing in, will she be able to keep her head above water and complete her challenge?
A quirky coming-of-age story, perfect for fans of Katy Birchall, GEEK GIRL and SUPER AWKWARD.
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