Junior Book Reviews

Dylan is a teenager who has a special gift – she is psychic.  She keeps this a secret from her friends, but helps the police find children who have disappeared.  Unfortunately they are always dead when she finds them.  Now new girl Cate begins to uncover Dylan’s secret.  But will she be able to help Dylan confront her fears and find the latest missing child before it is too late?

A real page turner with a surprise ending.  Recommended for those aged 13+ who enjoy crime or thrillers.

Josh and Max are brothers and have always been close, especially as Josh was born so his stem cells could save Max's life. One of their shared interests is Genesis Alpha, a fantasy online game which they play with lots of other people. Then one day Max is accused of the brutal murder of a teenage girl. The girl's sister turns up and hides in Josh's garage, claiming that Max is guilty and she can prove it through Genesis Alpha. Reluctant to believe her, Josh investigates using the game and uncovers some startling revelations which lead him to question his own existence and future as well as Max's.

This is a compelling thriller dealing with issues at the forefront of science today and exploring the origins of good and evil and science and morality.

Bethan's older brother Harry takes her to see the famous ghost at the old reservoir. Bethan expects to see nothing, but is amazed and frightened when she clearly sees the ghost of a woman in Victorian dress, looking straight at her and pointing downwards into the water. Who is the ghost? And why is she haunting the reservoir? These are questions the children want to answer and they see the draining of the reservoir for maintenance work as an ideal opportunity to investigate.
This ghost story gives some real shivers and kept me reading until the mystery was solved. A great read for boys and girls of 8 and over.

This is the fourth book in Blackman's excellent "Noughts and Crosses" series and although you can enjoy it on its own,  the other three in the series are well worth reading to fill in the background.
It is set in a time and place where dark skinned Crosses are the ruling race and white skinned Noughts are treated as second class citizens.  The Liberation Militia,  a terrorist organisation, are fighting for white rights and in the previous book Callie was recruited as a member and persuaded to make a bomb which ends up killing her uncle and grandmother. She is trying to cope with the guilt of this and get on with life,  including her relationship with Tobey.  Tobey gets sucked into a Nought and Cross gang feud.  As a consequence  Callie is accidentally shot and slips into a coma. Her mum tells Tobey he is never to see her again if she survives, and distraught,  he sets out to pit the rival gangs against each other in the hope that they will wipe themselves out.  He becomes involved in a dangerous game of cat and mouse,  knowing that it will either win Callie back or cost him his life.
This is a roller coaster thriller which grips you from the start.  As with the other books in the series the writing is superb,  suspense unbearable and relationships,  particularly that between Callie and Tobey, beautifully drawn.  Read it!!!

This is a wonderful re telling of the Arthurian legend for ages 10+. Reeve reduces Arthur to a cruel petty warlord whose reputation is upheld by Myrddin (Merlin) who is merely a bard and not the sorcerer he is usually portrayed to be. 

The story is told by a young girl Gwyna who is rescued by Myrddin and dressed as a boy so she can travel with Arthur’s war band. When she can no longer pass as a boy, she becomes a maid for Arthur’s wife and a spy for Myrddin and it is then that we see the full extent of Arthur’s cruelty and Myrddin’s ruthlessness. Gwyna is forced to become a boy again and flee to give the book a bloody but happy ending.

This is a brilliant portrayal of the brutality and superstition of England in the Dark Ages. It is also an exciting adventure story and is close enough to the legend of Arthur to enable you to work out who is who but keeps you guessing right to the end with lots of clever twists and turns.

This story is set on the border between Northern and Southern Ireland at the height of the "Troubles"
Fergus and his uncle find a body buried in the peat.  It is not, as they suspect, the body of an IRA victim,  but the body of an Iron Age child. They name her Mel but the body is not what it seems and the story of her life leading up to her death is revealed as she speaks to  Fergus in his dreams.  
Parallel to her story is Fergus' story.  He has to cope with his brother going on Hunger Strike in prison and the family tensions that causes.  Despite wanting to escape Ireland and its Troubles,  he ends up being blackmailed into smuggling packages of an unknown substance across the border,  yet he befriends a British soldier who is stationed there. And as the investigations continue into Mel's past,  he falls in love with the archaeolgist's daughter.
This is both a love story and a mystery, as the story unravels Mel's past and also the many mysteries in Fergus' life where nothing or noone is as they first appear. Well written and pacy,  there are numerous twists and turns to keep you guessing right to the end,  yet it is also an honest and warm account of a teenager growing up in and wanting to escape from the Ireland of the 1980s.