Fight for the Future by Jeanette Greaves

2021 

upper secondary  Key Stage 4, ages 14 -17, Greaves Jeanette, werewolves

Twins Anthony and Tomas are on the run. The White Pack does not like their pack; they see them as mongrels.

Yes, they are werewolves and need to fit into a human way of life. They seek half-blood wives and find them. They both have sons but the danger from the White Pack grows so they have to leave.  Staying may put their families in danger.  Many from their own pack have already been killed.

There are a few nods toward the Master Race: members of the White Pack in human form have blond hair. They have a very controlled breeding programme, whereas Anthony and Tomas’ pack mate more through love matches.

Jeanette Greaves has quite a literary style here so may appeal more to the most able readers. In any case, this book is probably for the older reader in the YA group.

The paperback is 268 pages long.    

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Note, this is an affiliate link and a small portion of what you pay, at no extra cost to you,  may go to Bridge House Publishing.   

Dark Sky by Cyan Brodie

2015 

A girl is found dead.

She is Caddy, Matt’s brother. When the police car arrives at his home he thinks it is to do with some drugs he may have sold. A polish girl is taken to hospital after a bad reaction to the drugs.

Matt has other problems: his friends owe money to Slippy their supplier. He has to hide from him as well.

His relationship with his father and step-mother becomes even more strained than it was before. He is thrown out of university.

The police seem to solve the crime and close the case.

Matt now has a tentative relationship with Amy, Caddy’s best friend, and the person who discovered her body at the back of the school bus.

Between them they work out that the police have it wrong and in their attempt to uncover the real culprits, their lives are put in danger. Their rescue comes from an unlikely source: Jimmy, who lives a strange life and who is related to the real murderer.

Matt has to go to court because of drug offences. We leave the story in that open-ended state that thrives in YA: we’re not sure what his sentence will be, how his life will carry on or how his relationship with Amy will work out. We are left feeling optimistic, however.

The book in paperback is 322 pages. Pace is aided by very short chapters. We are mainly in Matt’s point of view but occasionally we slip into others’. Note, this text contains a lot of strong language. 

 

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Timothy Crumble Explores Bodnant Garden by Anne Forrest (illustrated by Laura Stenhouse)

 

2021 

fluent reader, upper primary, Key Stage 2, ages 7-9, fairy story, activity book, Bodnant Garden, Forrest Anne, Stenhouse Laura, environment,   

Timothy Crumble’s family have an annual ticket to Bodnant Garden so he regularly visits, sometimes accompanied by his cousins.

The stories introduce the child to the garden itself and feature the redwood trees, the laburnum arch, the huge oak tree and some of the people who work there.  There are some subtle references to climate change and other environmental concerns. There is also some fantasy as the children spot fairies and trolls in the grounds. The text encourages the reader to exercise their imagination in the garden.

Each chapter ends with an activity page for readers to supply their own picture and write about their experiences at the garden.

Anne Forrest has worked with the National Trust on putting this book together. The stories have been read out to visiting children at Bodnant Garden.  

There are bios of Anne Forrest and Laura Stenhouse at the back of the book.

The test is 101 pages long and uses blocked text but with a large plain font.    

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Note, this is an affiliate link and a small portion of what you pay, at no extra cost to you,  may go to Bridge House Publishing.  

 

 

The Book of Chaos by Jessica Renwick

2023 

Jessica Nuthatch lives with her aunt and cousin after her parents and her uncle were killed.  Jessica and her Aunt Moira both have magic but have to keep it hidden.

A strange book appears on Jessica’s bookshelf. It swallows her cousin and Jessica manages to jump into it and follow him. She finds herself in the world of Starfell, a magical place where she can freely use her powers.

She is received kindly by everyone there and eventually finds out what has happened to her cousin Tommy.  He and many other people have been trapped by the powerful witch Endora in picture frames. Endora is actually Jessica’s great-grandmother.

Jessica manages to free a knight from his picture frame and he in turn helps her to trap Endroa herself in a frame. Tommy is released and Jessica and Tommy are reunited with Aunt Moira who has been summoned by the Fey Witch, Fedilmed Coot.

Many readers may be glad to know that Fedilmed, although male, is a witch and he lives happily with this husband Algar.

The paperback is 258 pages long and the language is about reading age 9.     

At the end of the book there is a glossary of names and terms, information about the author, an invitation to find out more about how Starfell works and an excerpt from the second book in the series.       

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Note, this is an affiliate link and a small portion of what you pay, at no extra cost to you,  may go to Bridge House Publishing.