Teenagers Book Reviews
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The Incredible Talking Machine
Name: Linda Canning
01 July 2021;Genre: Magical Realism
The Incredible Talking Machine has all the elements of a truly fantastic children's book: it has great characters (protagonists to root for and villains to detest), it's entirely unpredictable, it's the perfect level of creepy and it has the undercurrent of an unsolved mystery. I thoroughly en...
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Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Boy
Name: Julie Broadbent
01 July 2021;Genre: Representation & Inclusion
Emmanual Acho is a Nigerian-American former NFL player whose series Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man was made in response to the death of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement. During 2020 this movement created the largest mass protests in history. Subsequently his YouTu...
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The Summer We Turned Green
Name: Clair Bossons
01 July 2021;Genre: Environment & Nature
13-year-old Luke has been brought up to be kind and generous. He wasn't to know that lending his sister Rose a sleeping bag would enable her to move out and into the squat over the road or that his Dad would follow her… This is a really heart-warming story. It is very contemporary with the rec...
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Ways to Be Me
Name: Louisa Farrow
01 July 2021;Genre: Representation & Inclusion
Tally is ten years old and in Year 6. She's good at plenty of things but she really doesn't know who she is. Her teacher describes her as a model pupil, she has friends and is hoping for a big part in the school play. At the same time, she's finding it a growing struggle to fit in and at home...
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The House on the Edge
Name: Jane Rew
30 June 2021;Genre: Friends and family
This isn't just an adventure story involving three children - Faith, her younger brother Noah, and Sam - on the run, on the lookout for treasure, hope, a secure home. Nor is it a simple story of ghosts - as if ghosts were real anyway! Nor yet is it just about shattered families and friendships...
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Waiting For Murder
Name: Nicola Jenkin
30 June 2021;Genre: Suspense & Thrillers
I thoroughly enjoyed Fleur Hitchcock’s Murder in Midwinter so was very excited to read her latest offering, Waiting for Murder. It was just as good - fast paced, with plenty of thrills and twists. Dan is spending the summer in the sleepy village of Sandford with his arc...
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How to be Me
Name: Nicola Jenkin
30 June 2021;Genre: Friends and family
How to be Me is a beautiful book. Cath Howe has perfectly captured just how important the creative arts are can be. Whether that be in finding self-confidence, making friends, or dealing with trauma. Lucas is feeling very alone. After the death of his mother, his father...
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Children of the Quicksands
Name: Rhiannon Cook
30 June 2021;Genre: Myths & Legends
Simi has always lived in Lagos, a bustling city full of noise and people, so it comes as a huge shock when she is sent to stay with a Grandmother she has never met, in the remote village of Ajao, a quiet place unconnected to modern Nigeria. An air of secrecy shrouds Simi's family life and her...
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The Theft of Sunlight
Name: Linda Brown
30 June 2021;Genre: Fantasy
The Theft of Sunlight is a thrilling, gripping and entertaining story that was borne out of a re telling of The Goose Girl, Thorn, of which I also highly recommend. Rae lives a happy life in the village of Sheltershorn with her family and friends until a child is snatched from...
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The Yearbook
Name: Maddie Age 14
22 June 2021;Genre: Bullying
Paige tries to live her life under the radar; unnoticed by anyone at school, at home and at the one club she attends. Her best - and only - friend is her Alexa, and she only comes out of her shell one afternoon a week at her Aunt Polly's house. At home, Paige is shoved aside and labelled a nui...
