Category: MG Books

‘The Scream of the Whistle’ by Emily Randall-Jones

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When 12-year-old Ruby’s parents split up, she moves into her Grandma’s house in a creepy abandoned railway village called Melbridge with her mum and brother. Ruby is sure if she can just get her parents back in the same room together she can get them to reconcile, so she hatches a plan to walk back home along the abandoned railway line and orchestrate a family reunion. When she encounters the mysterious Green Lady steam train, the conductor offers her a lift instead. But there’s something strange about the train and soon Ruby realises that she’s trapped on a one-way trip towards disaster.

‘The Scream of the Whistle’ is a thrilling and emotive MG horror story about a girl dealing with the supernatural fallout from a historical train crash while she processes her parents divorce. I love a Greek mythology retelling as much as the next person, but it’s great to have a story based on our weird and creepy English folklore instead – set amongst ley lines, stone circles and tors in atmospheric Wiltshire. I’m frequently asked for scary stories in the library and I think this one will go down particularly well – a time slip story with a sinister steam train, ghosts, and an accessible length at 230 pages. (And the cat of course – love Station Ned.) I really enjoyed this one!

Thanks to Chicken House and Emily Randall-Jones for the ARC.

‘Tidemagic: Ista Flit and the Impossible Key’ by Clare Harlow

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‘Ista Flit and the Impossible Key’ is the sequel to ‘The Many Faces of Ista Flit’. In the first book Ista used her tide-blessing, the ability to adopt other people’s appearances and gifts, to save Shelwich from the sinister grilks and return all the missing people. Unfortunately her father is still missing and her only clue to his whereabouts is a mysterious key.

This book begins when Ista uses the key to open a magical doorway to Glass Island, across the estuary from Shelwich. In addition to the human villagers, it is home to the marsh-spinners – dangerous shapeshifting creatures who can appear as humans or insects. Ista has always believed that the marsh spinners were just a bedtime story – luring humans with music to join their revel, but as soon as you taste the food or start to dance you would be trapped there forever. But Ista’s quest takes her, and her friends Nat and Ruby, on a perilous journey into the heart of the Marsh Queen’s enchanted court to finally rescue her father. 

‘Ista Flit and the Impossible Key’ is another captivating fantasy adventure, beautifully imagined and masterfully written, with lovely lyrical illustrations by Kristina Kister. 

This book feels a little like an MG version of Holly Black’s faerie universe, and it is perfect for fans of Frances Hardinge’s ‘Unraveller’.

Thanks to Clare Harlow and Puffin for the advanced copy.

‘I Dare You’ by Tamsin Winter

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Willow & Alma are thirteen-year-old best friends and joint owners of the ‘Wilma’ TikTok account where they video each other doing dares and challenges in the hopes of going viral and finding fame as influencers. When the basketball hoop challenge goes wrong they have to be rescued by the fire brigade, but the video is a huge hit and they get caught up in trying to do increasingly extreme challenges to chase the high of social media views. The chilli challenge and the duct tape challenge are marginally successful, but when Willow sees the fireball challenge she knows that it is their ticket to finally going viral. Alma is not convinced the fireball challenge is a good idea, she’d rather focus on her stage school audition, but she lets Willow talk her into it and the aftermath of that decision will change both of them forever.

This story is told from the perspective of both girls, and despite the fact that they both love acting, their lives are very different. Willow is the stronger character but her family is not as affluent as Alma’s, which means she has stronger motivation to seek internet fame as a means of escape from their small town. Alma is easily led by Willow, especially as she feels guilty for not telling Willow that she has applied to a stage school that Willow would never be able to afford.

‘I Dare You’ is the very definition of a cautionary tale. It is painful to watch Willow and Alma consistently make the wrong decisions over and over again, but also easy to understand how they are sucked into the relentless and addictive quest for social media affirmation. Once again Tamsin Winter proves her capacity to write for the teen category with authenticity, empathy and insight – a thought-provoking and frighteningly plausible read.

Thanks to Usborne & NetGalley for the digital ARC.

‘Mission: Manta Ray’ by Philip Kavvadias

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In Finn & Milo’s second adventure, they find themselves skydiving on to a ship in the middle of the Pacific Ocean (along with Arti the microraptor) for a special mission to investigate strange happenings in the Mariana Trench in their capacity as RAPTOR junior agents. But almost as soon as they arrive, the ship is torpedoed by a submarine in the shape of a giant manta ray and they find themselves adrift alone on a life raft. When they finally reach a volcanic island they are reunited with another junior agent, Tasi, and a familiar enemy. Can they escape the bad guys and find out what is going on at the bottom of the ocean?

Finn is such a charmingly reluctant hero and even though his priority is always getting something to eat, he is fiercely protective of Arti and occasionally comes up with a brilliant plan that actually works. His narration is laugh-out-loud hilarious and I giggled throughout the book. Once again, Milo (‘The Professor’) is a fountain of knowledge and vocabulary, and Tasi is a competent, efficient but socially inept addition to the team.

I gave a copy of the book to my nine-year-old niece at Easter and she opened it up straight away and finished it the same day. (She confessed that she turned the lights back on at bedtime to finish it, after she was supposed to be asleep.) And her favourite bit was ‘all the rhetorical questions’. (Finn’s malapropisms eg. ‘a red oracle question’.)

‘Mission: Manta Ray’ is another non-stop, madcap adventure featuring intrepid children, thrilling action, wildly imaginative technology, and witty banter. An absolutely delight, and perfect for children aged 7-12.

Thanks to Philip & Chicken House for the ARC.

‘Time Tub Travellers and the Silk Thief’ by Claire Linney

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When Zula’s teacher marks her history project down for historical inaccuracy, she is determined to prove that there were Black people in Tudor England. A visit to her aunt’s antique shop leads to much more convincing proof than she could possibly have imagined when she and her best friend, Milo, are accidentally transported back in time to 1589 in a bathtub time machine. (I love the idea of a bathtub time machine!) The first person they meet is a girl called Jane, daughter of the silk merchant, Reasonable Blackman, who was a real person who lived in Southwark in the late 16th century and is one of the earliest Black business owners on record. A thief has just stolen a bolt of silk from Jane that was intended to make costumes for the newly built Rose Theatre. Zula and Milo must help Jane to trace the thief, get the silk back and, in the process, find a way to get back home again.

‘Time Tub Travellers’ is an exciting and engaging adventure story, perfect for lower KS2, and it is the first book in a series intended to bring to light the relatively unknown and uncelebrated role of Black people in British history. The story is also well-researched and packed with fascinating facts about Tudor London, without being didactic. I first heard about this book through the author’s brilliant TikTok channel where she discusses diverse children’s books. It is a self-published book but it’s really well produced and finished, and I particularly love the cover illustrations of the two main characters by Onyinye Iwu. I’ll definitely be adding this one on to my Year 5 Curriculum Recommended Reading List for their Tudor topic and I can’t wait to find out where the Time Tub Travellers are going next! Highly recommended!

‘Tidemagic: The Many Faces of Ista Flit’ by Clare Harlow

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Ista Flit lives in the town of Shelwich next to a river, a place imbued with a magic that rises and falls with the tides and gives its inhabitants ‘tide blessings’ – magical gifts. Ista’s tide blessing is that she can shapeshift – assume the form of any other person and use their tide blessing while she does it. She uses her gift to steal things for the mysterious Alexo Rokis in order to win back her father’s clarinet – the only thing she has left of him since he disappeared. But Shelwich is under threat from the grilks – terrifying creatures that stalk the streets of Shelwich by night and snatch people away from their families.

When Ista meets Nat, in the course of one of her jobs, he challenges her to help him find the person behind the grilk attacks and they begin to investigate with the help of Ruby whose sister is the grilks’ most recent victim. But, as it turns out, the grilks are not the most dangerous things lurking in the dark alleys of Shelwich.

‘Tidemagic’ is positively oozing with atmosphere and really captures the spirit of a dank, riverside town with a dark undercurrent of magic. I particularly loved the elusive Nimble Lane that Ista can only find using her sharp nose. The setting gave me ‘Malamander’ meets ‘Six of Crows’ vibes.

This is quintessential MG fantasy. In terms of the recent discussion about the length of MG books, this is not a short book (around 300 pages), but it is definitely not an insurmountable length and the charmingly whimsical illustrations, by Karl James Mountford, enhance the reading experience. It is also beautifully written – cunning and lyrical.

‘Tidemagic’ is a captivating, evocative read, perfect for fans of Jamie Littler, Amy Sparkes and Tamzin Merchant.

Thanks to Puffin for the gorgeous ARC. (I loved the transparent overlay!)

‘Mission: Microraptor’ by Philip Kavvadias

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Finn is on a school trip in the French Alps with his friend Milo (the ‘Professor’) when he falls into a glacier and discovers a mysterious egg. Later that night the egg begins to hatch, Finn thinks this could be his big break into becoming a YouTuber, so he films it. But he could never have anticipated what actually emerges – an extinct, 65 million-year-old, flying dinosaur called a microraptor.

Arty (Artemis) the microraptor immediately imprints on Finn but they hardly have any time to bond before their hotel room is under siege by mercenaries trying to steal the microraptor, and Finn, Milo and Arty only narrowly escape by abseiling out of the window with the help of secret agent Lara, of the special branch of the Natural History Museum. The four of them go on the run together to keep Arty out of the hands of the evil scientists and get her safely back to England.

Finn is a character that a lot of children will be able to relate to. He is not keen on hiking or any other kind of physical activity – he only likes three things: video games, takeaway food and a large couch. But as soon as Arty hatches he is astonished to discover that he will do anything to protect her, including hiking through the Black Forest, building their own shelter and foraging for food. 

There are plenty of children’s books that claim to be funny but the humour is often limited to fart jokes – Philip’s writing is genuinely laugh-out-loud hilarious. This madcap adventure is crammed with non-stop action, survival skills, witty quips, and impossible creatures – perfect for fans of Rick Riordan, Maz Evans and Katie & Kevin Tsang’s ‘Dragon Realm’ books. This story would be particularly great for reluctant readers as it is relatively short and illustrated throughout by Euan Cook, in addition to being fun and fast-paced. And who doesn’t love a dinosaur? 

‘Mission: Microraptor’ is also the first of a series and Finn and Milo will be back for their second adventure soon.

Thanks to Chicken House for the ARC.

‘Countdown to Yesterday’ by Shirley Marr

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When James’ mum announces she is finally going to participate in the annual Summerlake Primary School Cake Competition, he is thrilled. But also suspicious since she has never participated before. Then James finds out that his mum is moving out and his parents are getting a divorce. He doesn’t understand how this has happened and why they can’t just work things out. He remembers all the good times they had together as a family, and wishes he could go back in time to when everything used to be perfect. And then he meets Yan who claims to have a time machine. 

While James is obsessed with David Bowie, Yan is fascinated by obsolete technology. Her ‘time machine’ is a way of looking back at the history of web pages, but as the book is structured like a countdown, it seems that Yan and James will find a way to actually go back in time. Yan is a brilliantly self-sufficient character, although she clearly struggles to make friends as much as James – who spends his lunches in the front office with the receptionist.

This is a bittersweet coming-of-age story as James realises that his golden memories of his family are not the perfect moments he recalls, but this does help him come to terms with his parent’s divorce and this story would be of particular interest to any children whose parents are divorced – as was the case for a couple of the pupils in my Year 5 book club. 

As soon as the author mentioned the Australian Women’s Weekly Children’s Birthday Cake Book, I remembered my mum telling me about it when I was a child (its fame extended to South Africa, where I grew up) and she made the rabbit cake with the green coconut grass for one of my sister’s birthdays. I ordered a secondhand copy of the original 1980 publication and the pupils were fascinated to see the cakes mentioned in the book, although somewhat horrified at the stereotyped ‘cakes for boys’ and ‘cakes for girls’ sections.

Generally this book was hugely popular with the book club – the pupils really enjoyed the time travel element in particular, as well as the characters of James, Yan and Tiger the cat! 

Thanks to Usborne and the Reading Agency for the ARC and the book group copies.

‘The Doll Twin’ by Janine Beacham

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Eleven-year-old Una has lived in a children’s home for two years since her parents died and she had to leave her beloved lighthouse. When the Smiths arrive and decide to adopt her, she is thrilled, and excited to live next to the sea once again, but their grand old house, Copperlins, is a little strange. No one else in the village will go near it, it used to be the home of a dollmaker and so the house is full of antique dolls and parts and, in the middle of the night, Una hears creaking noises from the unused second story of the house.

But there are plenty of positive things to distract her, like her kind new parents, the old carousel in the cellar that Mr Smith is restoring, and her new friend, Mary. But then one night Una comes face-to-face with a life-size clockwork doll who looks exactly like her…

This book caught my eye immediately because of the striking cover design and the wonderfully sinister and evocative title, and the story lived up to my first impression. It was full of things that I love: lighthouses, steampunk, artificial intelligence and gothic horror. It is also a book about friendship, family, bravery and resilience. And of course, the only thing creepier than lifelike dolls, is human-sized lifelike dolls, and this book is full of those uncanny valley moments.

So many pupils in my primary and secondary library are asking for scary books these days, so it is fantastic to have another thrillingly spine-chilling read to recommend to them. ‘The Doll Twin’ is a dark and twisty MG horror, perfect for fans of Coraline and Phil Hickes. I absolutely adored it!

Thanks to Firefly for the ARC.

‘Secrets of the Snakestone’ by Piu DasGupta

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Inspired by the same legends that informed Wilkie Collins’s ‘The Moonstone’, ‘Secrets of the Snakestone’ is a thrilling, pitch-perfect middle grade adventure set in the streets and the sewers of Paris at the end of the nineteenth century.

Zélie has been sent away from her family in India to live in Paris and work as a maid. But when a boy appears out of the sewers with a mysterious locket belonging to her father, the two children are swept up in a breathtaking mystery involving a cursed stone, a dark secret society and a vibrant cast of circus performers. There is also, very importantly, a baby sloth.

Zélie is a brilliantly bold and audacious narrator, balanced by the more careful and considered character of Jules. I particularly loved the little pep talks that she gives herself throughout the book, whenever she’s feeling nervous or uncertain:

Zélie Dutta, she told herself, you can hold your breath underwater for three minutes, thirteen and three-quarter seconds. You can peel a banana with your toes. You can recite the preface of Les Miserables by heart and you can lick your elbow. You are more than a match for the rubbish Malaises.”

Though it has a historical setting, this story combines a classic feel with contemporary pacing. The action is fast and furious and I read it in one sitting, engaged all the way though.

I also have to mention the thoroughly eye-catching and enticing cover design – what an absolute triumph! Designed by Elisabetta Barbazza and illustrated by Helen Crawford-White.

This engaging, evocative adventure is perfect for fans of Sophie Anderson, Kiran Millwood Hargrave and Katherine Rundell’s ‘Rooftoppers’. I know it’s going to be popular in the library!

Thanks to Netgalley and Nosy Crow for the digital ARC.