New Recommends - Let's have Yours

[madamehooch]

At the outset, I would just emphasise that I am not an author or a publisher so this is more a sharing thread rather than an advertising one.

I do have access to a lot of proofs of new children's books which I like to read to help me with my job (bookseller). So... I thought it might be a good idea to let you know of any coming up which I have enjoyed, just in case any of them are likely to appeal to your children.

Some of them have recently been published and some of them are due for publication this year.

So as not to make this post too long, I will post a separate entry for each book.

Please let me know what you (or more importantly) your children think of the books and if you have any new books you think are great then I'd love to hear about them.

The first book is 'Agent 21' by Chris Ryan which has recently been published. If you have a Robert Muchamore fan then they might want to give this a go. It is a teen read, so does contain some violence (in the same vein as Muchamore) but it is fast, pacey, exciting and easy to get into. Here's the blurb:-

"Tragically orphaned in an unexplained mass murder, Zak Darke becomes Agent 21. What happened to the twenty young agents before him he doesn't know. What he does know is that his life is about to change forever. He's going undercover ....."

Next one is 'Ghostscape' written by Joe Layburn. Actually, this one is a couple of years old but I came across it recently when I was writing about fictional books to link in with primary history. The inspiration for this book was the little known true story of South Halsville School, Canning Town where, during the Blitz, 500 people fled their homes and sought shelter at the local school which was then also bombed. In just 100 pages, it combines World War II with a ghost story with multicultural themes and friendship issues also dealt with.

Here's the blurb:-

"When Aisha meets a pale, skinny boy called Richard in the girls' toilets, she is as surprised to meet a 1940's boy as he is to see a Somali girl. Aisha finds herself transported back to the time of the Blitz, when her school was a sanctuary for East Enders fleeing the bombing. But Richard becomes more than just a friendly ghost; he helps Aisha confront her difficulties at home, where she is torn between two cultures. When Aisha discovers the horrifying events of her school's past, she must warn Richard about what is going to happen - but will anyone believe her?"