Music and Malice in Hurricane Town
Alex Bell
Publisher: Stripes Publishing
What is this about?
Jude Lomax scrapes a living playing the trumpet on the neon streets of Baton Noir. Then she is invited to play at the funeral of the infamous cajou queen, Ivory Monette. Passing through the cemetery gates, Jude finds herself possessed by the murdered queen's spirit. And Ivory won't rest until she's found the person responsible for her death.
If Jude wants to be rid of the vengeful spirit, she must take a journey deep into the dangerous underbelly of the city, from the swampy depths of the Black Bayou to the velvet opulence of the vampires' secret jazz clubs. But as Jude untangles Ivory's web of secrets, she is confronted with a few dark truths from her own past...
The first in an eagerly awaited series from the author of FROZEN CHARLOTTE,
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We Are Blood And Thunder
Kesia Lupo
Publisher: Bloomsbury YA
What is this about?
We Are Blood and Thunder is an epic fantasy read for those aged 14+, perfect for fans of Children of Blood and Bone and author Leigh Bardugo.
In a city where magic is feared and the dead are worshipped, life is overshadowed by a powerful and devastating storm cloud. One young woman is running for her life. Another is trying to return home. Both are looking for a place where they belong.
But what Lena and Constance don't realise is that the storm cloud binds them. Without it, neither can get what she desires.
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Internment
Samira Ahmed
Publisher: ATOM
What is this about?
Rebellions are built on hope. Set in a horrifying 'fifteen minutes in the future' United States, 17-year-old Layla Amin is forced into an internment camp for Muslim-Americans along with her parents.
With the help of newly-made friends also trapped within the camp, her boyfriend on the outside, and an unexpected alliance, Layla begins a journey to fight for freedom, leading a revolution against the internment camp's Director and his guards.
Heart-racing and emotional, Internment questions the imaginary boundaries that separate us and challenges readers to fight the complicit silence that exists in our society today.
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All The Lonely People
David Owen
Publisher: ATOM
What is this about?
Everyone tells Kat that her online personality - confident, funny, opinionated - isn't her true self. Kat knows otherwise. The internet is her only way to cope with a bad day, chat with friends who get all her references, make someone laugh. But when she becomes the target of an alt-right trolling campaign, she feels she has no option but to Escape, Delete, Disappear.
With her social media shut down, her website erased, her entire online identity void, Kat feels she has cut away her very core: without her virtual self, who is she?
She brought it on herself. Or so Wesley keeps telling himself as he dismantles Kat's world. It's different, seeing one of his victims in real life and not inside a computer screen - but he's in too far to back out now.
As soon as Kat disappears from the online world, her physical body begins to fade and while everybody else forgets that she exists, Wesley realises he is the only one left who remembers her. Overcome by remorse for what he has done, Wesley resolves to stop her disappearing completely. It might just be the only way to save himself.
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The Stolen Ones
Vanessa Curtis
Publisher: Usborne Publishing Ltd
What is this about?
My name is Inge. I am sixteen.
I live with Mama and Papa in Munich. Food is still rationed, though the war ended over ten years ago.
My boyfriend is Jewish. I have to hide this from my parents.
Sometimes I think they are hiding something from me, too. Letters arrive every year on my birthday, but they are not addressed to me.
They are for a girl named Kasia.
This is her story.
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The Extinction Trials: Rebel
S.M. Wilson
Publisher: Usborne Publishing Ltd
What is this about?
The third book in the Extinction Trials series. Storm and Lincoln's city is burning. The people are starving.
The only place left to run is Piloria, the continent of monsters. It's up to Storm and Lincoln to keep their people alive as they colonize this lethal paradise. But will the biggest threat to their survival be the monsters in the jungle...or the ones inside the encampment with them?
The Hunger Games meets Jurassic Park in this wildly popular series filled with action, survival and betrayal.
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The Quiet at the End of the World
Lauren James
Publisher: Walker Books Ltd
What is this about?
How far would you go to save those you love? Lowrie and Shen are the youngest people on the planet after a virus caused global infertility.
Closeted in a pocket of London and doted upon by a small, ageing community, the pair spend their days mudlarking and looking for treasure – until a secret is uncovered that threatens not only their family but humanity’s entire existence.
Now Lowrie and Shen face an impossible choice: in the quiet at the end of the world, they must decide what to sacrifice to save the whole human race...
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How to Rob a Bank
Tom Mitchell
Publisher: HarperCollins
What is this about?
Poor Dylan burns down the house of the girl he is trying to impress. The Nepalese scented candle turns out to not be the best gift after all.
Inspired by his film-loving Dad's showing of Dog Day Afternoon, Dylan believes he can solve his (and his Emma Stone look-alike would be girlfriends) problems by robbing a bank.
Thus ensues a very unfortunate incident with a cat, a failed post office robbery, a massively unwanted Saturday job and you have a very enjoyable quirky read. This is very relatable crime-comedy fun.
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Scavengers
Darren Simpson
Publisher: Usborne Publishing Ltd
What is this about?
Scavengers tells the story of a boy called Landfill who lives with Old Babagoo in Hinterland, surrounded by a big wall that separates it from Outside.
Landfill's life is regulated by many rules, which are imposed upon him by Babagoo. Landfill's days are filled with tasks and interactions with the many animals in Hinterland, all of whom have literary names. These animals are his playmates since he leads such a solitary existence. At times there are gritty descriptions of the gulls that form the basis for meals in Hinterland and the whole novel has echoes of Lord of the Flies.
Babagoo and Landfill communicate using made up and unusual language, giving the story a Dahlesque feel. The most important rule is to NEVER go beyond the wall and when Landfill does, it opens up a whole wealth of questions and situations that he had never dreamt of.
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The Burning
Laura Bates
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Childrens Books
What is this about?
Every so often a book comes along which you just know is going to be a huge hit. The Burning is one such. Contemporary social commentary, sophisticated foiled cover, powerful feminist fiction - and witches. Oh, and it's written by the founder of the Everyday Sexism project, Laura Bates. How can it possibly fail?
The Burning is billed as a 'fictionalisation' of the testimonies collected from UK teenagers who have experienced sexist behaviour, which it makes it feel all the more real and creates characters we really care about. It tells the story of 15 year old Anna, uprooted from Birmingham to start a new life in a small Scottish village with her mum, determined to cut all ties to the past and to 'the incident'. But there's no escape from social media and Anna's past quickly comes back to haunt her, the cruel bullying beginning again.
A school history project provides a welcome distraction, as Anna befriends an elderly neighbour to discover the true and previously untold story of Maggie, accused of witchcraft way back in medieval times.
Bates subtly draws parallels between the witch hunts of days gone by with the unjust slut shaming of young girls today - 'the granddaughters of the witches you could not burn' - lending a new dimension to the feminist fiction currently blazing a trail through YA. Both Anna and Maggie are helpless victims, each blamed for the actions of another, and their stories weave together seamlessly.
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A Crystal of Time (The School for Good and Evil, Book 5)
Soman Chainani
Publisher: HarperCollins
What is this about?
This is the fifth book in The School for Good and Evil series. Rhian is now King of Camelot and he is forcing Sophie to be his Queen, but she can't understand why he his so determined that they marry. He has imprisoned Tedros, Guinevere, and their friends in the dungeons, with Tedros's execution planned on the date of his wedding to Sophie.
Japeth terrorises people across the Kingdom in order for their leaders to take his brother as the true king and destroy their rings, which keep the Storian writing in the School of the Ever and Nevers. They need the Storian to be destroyed so that their own pen, Lionsmane, can write the tales of Camelot's people.
This will have devastating consequences, especially after the wedding. Agatha is in despair, she is the only one to have escaped Rhian and she doesn't know who she can turn to or trust. What does she do first, go seek advice from The Lady in the Lake or somehow get back to the school for help?
Agatha still has with her the Crystal that belongs to Dean Dovey but she has yet to learn how to use it. When she gains that knowledge, the crystal reveals the answers they are looking for, but they are not reliable as it is damaged. What is the Truth and what are Lies?
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A Curse So Dark and Lonely
Brigid Kemmerer
Publisher: Bloomsbury YA
What is this about?
Prince Rhen, the heir to Emberfall, is cursed. Forced to repeat the autumn of his 18th year over and over, he can only be freed by love. But at the end of each autumn he is transformed into a beast hell-bent on destruction, and after so many failed attempts, his kingdom and its people are barely holding on.
Harper's life has never been easy, but she's learned to be tough enough to survive. She won't let anything hold her back, not her cerebral palsy or her mother's deteriorating health. But when she is sucked into Rhen's world, nothing is as it seems. Powerful forces are standing against Emberfall ... and it will take more than a broken curse to save it from utter ruin.
This is a modern spellbinding retelling of Beauty and the Beast - and it's completely gripping.
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The Twisted Tree
Rachel Burge
Publisher: Hot Key Books
What is this about?
After a terrible accident, Martha has developed a kind of second-sight and can sense secret stories and emotions by touching the clothes of other people.
When she arrives at her grandmother Mormor's house deep in the Nordic woods, she discovers a mysterious visitor, Stig, has been sleeping rough there after the death of Mormor. Soon, the old spinning wheel begins to turn of its own accord while outside, eerie noises begin to be heard. And then there is 'the twisted tree' itself, stinking of rot and a terrifying presence in itself...
Good horror is hard to come by: sometimes its seems that it was easier for an author to go for quick scares or gory detail at the expense of a more involved storyline. But here, in The Twisted Tree, is a well-developed plot involving Martha, her grandmother Mormor and the women of her family, plus an evocative and doom-laden atmosphere laced with mysterious Nordic woods, the portents of cawing ravens, and some pretty nasty 'things' too!
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Watch Us Rise
Renee Watson
Publisher: Bloomsbury YA
What is this about?
Jasmine and Chelsea, along with their wider circle of friends, are students at a seemingly progressive New York high school. In common with all other students, they each attend an extra-curricular social justice club and equality is held up to be a guiding principle of the school.
Yet despite these lofty aims, Jasmine and Chelsea become all too aware that racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination are very much alive and well in their school community.
In response, they decide to set up their own women's rights group and blog and they harness their own creative talents and interests to spread their message of activism and equality throughout the school community and beyond, with phenomenal (and sometimes unforseen) results.
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Against All Gods
Maz Evans
Publisher: Chicken House Ltd
What is this about?
In the final book of the Who Let the Gods Out series, Elliot is still reeling from losing everything he has ever known, and feels betrayed by his Dad and the Gods.
We find him with Thanatos, preparing to retrieve the final Earth Stone in a bid to get his Mum back. The Zodiac Council, along with Virgo, are locked up, and the Gods are back in Olympus desperately trying to come up with a plan to save mankind from the gathering daemon hordes.
Can our mortal hero make peace with the Gods in time to save everyone, not just those he holds dear?
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