Schools & Libraries Book Reviews

Name: Jenny Caddick
04 June 2026;

Genre: Bereavement

Tadpole Summer is a fantastic and compelling story that sensitively and powerfully explores the emotional issues, not only of loss and bereavement, but of the journey of a family moving through the stages of a life-limiting illness. The story centres around older sister...

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Name: Sue Wilsher
19 May 2026;

Genre: Fantasy

Working for the Reavers, a criminal gang operating in the shadows of Starsgard, Crow and his friends, Jonas and Sal, dream of escape. But when disaster and chance combine, Crow finds himself apprenticed to Viktor, the town's Dreamcatcher and given the opportunity of a new life. Introduced to t...

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Name: Beverley Somerset
19 May 2026;

Genre: Funny Stories

In Prince Kal vs the Salivator Alligator, Prince Kal has managed to return safely to his home land of Imaginaria. Unfortunately, his sister Princess Minkle has been left behind on Earth and, due to a mix up, a Salivator Alligator egg has been hatched there. The creature does n...

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Name: Ruth Cornish
15 May 2026;

Genre: Science Fiction

Part adventure, part historical fantasy, The Time Engine by Lindsay Galvin is a cracking read with a likeable central character in the form of 11-year-old Eric Finch. Eric's scientist parents live with their son in the grounds of Cambridge University at the outbreak of...

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Name: Louisa Farrow
15 May 2026;

Genre: Bereavement

In Tadpole Summer, Frances has been nicknamed Frog for as long as she can remember; probably because her little brother is Tad, short for Taddeus. She's big and strong, he's small and weak but Frog adores him. She is his self-appointed guardian as well as his playmate. This ye...

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Name: Jacqueline Harris
15 May 2026;

Genre: Fantasy

Alex is a dragon and now goes to a school for dragons. The evil Drak Midna is still at large and Alex and her friends need to try and stop him before he unleashes a war on humans. They travel to a magical place in Scotland, where dragons and humans work together, and there Alex finds a force p...

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Name: Louisa Farrow
11 May 2026;

Genre: Fantasy

Crow is an orphan and a thief. For him and his two best friends, Sal and Jonas, there’s no way out from the hunger and exploitation of being a junior Reaver - part of a criminal underworld organisation in the city of Starsgard. Even so, together the three of them dream of escape. When a...

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Name: Sam
08 May 2026;

Genre: Historical Fiction

Tom Palmer's latest book is the first in a new trilogy and after reading this one, I cannot wait for the next one, and the one after that! Set in Cornwall in 1940 and 1941, If The Invader Comes is inspired by real life events and places and gives its reader an insight into the e...

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Name: Donna Ritchie
06 May 2026;

Genre: Adventure

If you enjoy Alex Rider and adventure books, then you will surely enjoy Spyglass. With themes that have more emphasis on Q rather than James Bond, Solomons provides gadgets galore! SPYGLASS: Mastermind of Mayhem is an excellent first book in what looks like a series wh...

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Name: Jane Rew
06 May 2026;

Genre: Historical Fiction

Whether the central theme is football, crime, war, or all three, Tom Palmer's writing is always gripping. This latest story is no exception. No quiet family holiday awaits Bobble, Cadan and Cilla, even if the setting is a small town in Cornwall. During World War II, Fal...

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