A group of students who are not normally friends, quite the opposite, are chosen to go on a team building school trip. There are tensions within the group which includes a bully, a crawler, a boffin, a loud mouthed girl and a new girl who is shy and overweight.  The teacher in charge has had cause to dislike the bully, and his personal feelings are in danger of coming to the surface. The trip includes a day exploring caves where legend has it a monster lurks, but that is just kid’s stuff – isn’t it?  Disaster strikes the trip and the only way the students will survive is by working together, but can they do it?

Lesley

Knife is a fairy who is a hunter in her community and she has never had contact with a human being. She does have to hunt in the human world and she collides literally with Paul, a human boy in a wheelchair and breaks her wing. Knife is mystified by the strange behaviour of this human who she sees as lazy because he never leaves his “throne” and has everything done for him by other humans. The story tells of the close relationship that develops and is both funny and sad in places.

Beth

The Poison Garden by Sarah Singleton

It is the 1850s and Thomas has just inherited a strange box from his grandmother. The box leads him into a mysterious garden where his dead grandmother warns him she was poisoned. It seems she was one of seven members of the Guild of Magical Herbalists and one by one they are being murdered. Can Thomas solve the mystery before he is threatened himself? An evocative Victorian fantasy mystery.

Roz

Harry has accidentally burned down his kitchen. While repairs are underway, he persuades his Mum to let him go on holiday with his less than reliable uncle to a remote island. They stay with Uncle Tristram’s unconventional friend, Morning Glory and events conspire to make the trip a memorable one culminating in the ‘eating things on sticks’ challenge. This is a warm, funny story, with short chapters interspersed with lots of good line drawings. Harry is a very likable character and you worry for him as he unintentionally creates havoc. 

Sally

Returning to Scotland for the first time since her father vanished when she was only a day old; Hannah discovers that her family was cursed centuries before.  In order to break the curse she must travel back to the time of Mary, Queen of Scots and find all four pieces of the puzzle ring.  Magic, mystery, secrets and history; this story has them all.

Hannah

Gemma is sixteen and this debut novel opens with her kidnapping from Bangkok airport and her imprisonment in an isolated house in the Australian outback – alone with her kidnapper. This psychological thriller gradually builds the tension of her struggle for survival, her relationship with her captor and the massive sense of isolation she feels until an emotional climax. Strong characterisation, an intriguing plot and wonderful descriptions of the desolation of the Australian outback.

Roz

Maggie gets caught up in accusations of witchcraft in a turbulent 17th century Scottish Highland adventure. She faces many hardships and betrayals as she attempts to escape her accusers facing the possibility of imprisonment and even execution. Along the way she meets people prepared to defy the King and risk everything they hold dear in order to worship in their own way.

Sue

Nick and his brother Alan spend their lives on the run with their reclusive mother. They befriend Mae and Jamie (very reluctantly on Nick’s part) and after a terrible event are united by the need to save their loved ones from the curse of being marked by a demon. Time is running out and they need to face the Magicians to gain their cure. But dark secrets and surprises await. A gripping page turner.

Sue, LRE

Yann is bravely helping people escape the terror of the guillotine, whilst all the time being stalked by evil. He soon uncovers a secret which shakes him to the core. This is a novel about magic, secrets, romance and revenge. A wonderfully written story which gives the reader a real sense of Paris during the revolution.

Roz, LRE

Everyone in Rowan’s family is aware that his behaviour is strange. On the day the Second World War breaks out, thirteen year old Rowan is overwhelmed by panic and fear. His parents decide he needs help and they arrange for him to be treated at a hospital in Kent where he is provisionally diagnosed as schizophrenic. Unknown to the family, Rowan is enrolled in a controversial and potentially harmful trial of electro-convulsive therapy. The descriptions of the treatment are chilling. But this is also a story about the people Rowan meets on the ward. It is a difficult book which focuses on the way people with mental health problems were labelled and locked away. The main character, Rowan is particularly well drawn, as the story progresses he learns more about himself and the value of friendships.

Sally, LRE

New York, 1776 – Isabel and her younger sister Ruth have been sold as slaves to a malicious New York couple.

While the civil war rages Isabel struggles to protect her sister and to survive the cruelty inflicted on her by her owners. This leads her to taking a dangerous path in spying for her owners’ enemies. A compelling novel which portrays the indignity and cruelty of slavery.

Roz, LRE

Skulduggery and Valkyrie are yet again fighting the forces of evil and trying to stop the Faceless Ones from bringing about the end of the world.

The action never stops and there is hardly time for them to take a rest before they have to face a new challenge – but will they’ll triumph as they usually do? Well, perhaps not this time?  A fast-paced and very amusing adventure.

Roz, LRE 

Set during the Second World War this book tells the story of Peter. Although living in Poland his parents are of German blood and after they are killed he is adopted by a German family in Berlin. He soon finds himself a member of the Hitler Youth & looked upon as a perfect specimen of Nazi ideals.

However Peter is forming his own ideas and soon starts taking risks which could endanger his very existence. An intriguing & exciting story of what life was like in Germany during the war – a fascinating tale.

Roz

What is the secret behind the spooky abandoned hospital in the woods?

Who is breaking into houses and why are there so many wild and howling dogs around?

Lexi forced to stay with her mother who she does not get on with, is determined to get to the bottom of the mystery. What she discovers in this gripping mystery story changes her life and those around her forever.

 Sue

This exciting & fast-paced story tells of the rise of the traction cities as featured in the Mortal Engines quartet. Fever Crumb is the only girl and the youngest member of The Order of Engineers in London.

She becomes involved in the search for a secret which may save the city from the Movement who are fast approaching in huge armoured fortresses. A fantastic tale worthy of the Mortal Engines series.

Roz