Schools & Libraries Book Reviews

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  • The Final Year

    The Final Year

    Name: Rachel Bolton
    13 October 2023;

    Genre: Poetry

    Nate is 10. He lives with his loud, bingo playing, chaotic mum and his two younger brothers who he spends a lot of time caring for. At school he is a bit of an outsider, especially once he moves into Y6 and his best friend forms other friendships. Sometimes, when things get too much, "The beas...

  • The Taming of the Cat

    The Taming of the Cat

    Name: Jennifer Caddick
    13 October 2023;

    Genre: Adventure

    The Taming of the Cat is a charming (and cheese-filled) classic tale-within-a-tale story that enchants the reader completely. A nightly story is told by little mouse Brie, inside the cheese shop in which he lives, to fierce feline and enemy, Gorgonzola the cat. The minute mous...

  • Julius Zebra: Grapple with the Greeks!

    Julius Zebra: Grapple with the Greeks!

    Name: Cecil Mgo
    13 October 2023;

    Genre: Funny Stories

    Julius Zebra: Grapple with the Greeks! is a really, very entertaining read. Loads of 'laugh out loud' moments! We particularly loved the humour in the Charon / Hades chapters. Crazily illustrated perfectly throughout. This is a fab way to engage with history. It accompanied my...

  • Solve Your Own Mystery: The Transylvanian Express

    Solve Your Own Mystery: The Transylvanian Express

    Name: Jennifer Caddick
    13 October 2023;

    Genre: Mystery & Detective

    The Solve Your Own Mystery series is such a great, fun, interactive detective genre set of books for younger, independent readers. The latest in the series, The Transylvanian Express, is a lively, quick-moving and extremely fun adventure. You, the reader, alon...

  • The Witchstone Ghosts

    The Witchstone Ghosts

    Name: Beverley Somerset
    12 October 2023;

    Genre: Friends and family

    Twelve-year-old Autumn Albert just wishes she could be like everyone else. But Autumn can see, and talk to, ghosts. Living in London, she sees lots of them, and sometimes it all gets a bit too much to cope with. When Autumn’s father dies in very strange circumstances, her whole life changes. D...

  • The October Witches

    The October Witches

    Name: Clare Wilkins
    12 October 2023;

    Genre: Fantasy

    In The October Witches, the Merlyns and the Morgans have been locked in an unhappy alliance for as long as any of them can remember. Forced to come together each October to unlock their month of magic, simmering tensions underplay the ancient ritual. Gifted with power from the...

  • The Black Air

    The Black Air

    Name: Clare Wilkins
    12 October 2023;

    Genre: Supernatural

    Caitlin Aspey has always been in thrall to the legend of the Long Byrne witches; Jane Hollingworth and Rose Ackroyd, the last and most infamous of eighteen teenagers hung on the moor, sentenced to death on spurious charges of witchcraft. Haunted by the suicide of her mother, she lives an isola...

  • The Night Train

    The Night Train

    Name: Jen Bevan
    12 October 2023;

    Genre: Magical Realism

    The Night Train is a wonderful introduction to chapter books as the chapters are short and include lovely colour illustrations. Children aged five plus would enjoy listening to this book; those aged seven plus would love to read it independently. The story tells the tal...

  • Happy Head

    HappyHead

    Name: Ark Age 13
    12 October 2023;

    Genre: Suspense & Thrillers

    HappyHead is genuinely one of the best books I've read. It made me cry, it made me laugh, it made me feel so many emotions at once. It was extremely engaging, I just could not put it down! Be warned that this book does contain mature language and themes, as well as violence an...

  • Scareground

    Scareground

    Name: Louisa Farrow
    11 October 2023;

    Genre: Suspense & Thrillers

    Nancy isn’t especially privileged but she has a happy and comfortable life in with expert bakers Ma and Pa Crumpet. Even so, there are things about her that are different. She is never happier than when leaping over rooftops and she seems to be able to communicate with the sky (which is a bett...