Schools & Libraries Book Reviews

Name: Beverley Somerset
01 June 2021;

Genre: Historical Fiction

Teenagers Frank, Joseph and Stephen have been friends since their schooldays. Now they are Royal Navy recruits and, as the story starts, are on their first mission at sea during the Second World War. Their ship is part of an Arctic Convoy and they are on their way to Russia to deliver vital su...

More

Name: Andrew Mullen
31 May 2021;

Genre: Friends and family

Starboard tells the story of a young reality TV star, struggling with the fickle nature and pressures of fame, and of one of the most famous ships in British history, the SS Great Britain. Whilst on a school trip to the SS Great Britain, Kirsten feels a connection with the ship and so begins a...

More

Name: Beverley Somerset
29 May 2021;

Genre: Mystery & Detective

Twitch is a loner. Bullied at school, he prefers the company of birds to people, and his main hobby is birdwatching. It's the start of the summer holidays and when Twitch arrives at his hide in the Aves Wood Nature Reserve, he finds that there are police everywhere, all search...

More

Name: Susan Wilsher
27 May 2021;

Genre: Myths & Legends

Simi is sent to stay with her grandmother in a remote Nigerian village. The thought of staying with someone she doesn't know in the middle of nowhere with no TV, no internet and no phone access fills Simi with horror, particularly as Simi's mother and grandmother are estranged. When she arrive...

More

Name: Jacqueline Harris
27 May 2021;

Genre: Mystery & Detective

Twitch is in Year 7, and he definitely prefers the company of birds to his peers. He has three pet chickens, a swallow's nest in his bedroom and is an avid bird watcher. He intends spending his summer holiday training his pigeons and watching birds in Aves Wood. But then a convict escapes from...

More

Name: Sam Phillips
27 May 2021;

Genre: Friendship

Truly Tyler by Terri Libenson is the fifth book in this popular series, and the first one from a boy's view point. This is the first book I have read from the Emmie and Friends series, and I most definitely enjoyed it. Even though it is part of a series, it reads absolutely fi...

More

Name: Jacqueline Harris
27 May 2021;

Genre: Adventure

Myles and Beckett are the younger twin brothers of the more famous Artemis Fowl. In The Fowl Twins - Deny All Charges, the second of their adventures, having stolen a jet plane and then destroyed it (obviously not intentionally), the brothers are put under house a...

More

Name: Jennifer Caddick
20 May 2021;

Genre: Horror

Sensational, stunning, scary - well worth the wait and anticipation! Crater Lake: Evolution takes place five months after we last saw Lance and the gang surviving their Y6 residential trip with its alien spore invasion of the "bug eyes". All appears to be settling down, high s...

More

Name: Catherine Purcell
18 May 2021;

Genre: Historical Fiction

Can we take a moment here to look at that fabulous cover illustration for When the Sky Falls? The magnificence of the silverback gorilla, Adonis, sat on his haunches, standing sentry. In amidst fire and brimstone, flames and destruction; searchlights picking out Hitler's bombe...

More

Name: Natalie J. McChrystal Plimmer
16 May 2021;

Genre: Funny Stories

The Exploding Life of Scarlett Fife begins a new series by the author of the Who Let the Gods Out? series. This illustrated stream-of-consciousness chapter book for older primary children is about Scarlett, who, when she loses her temper, makes things like a cake explode. She...

More