The Summer My Wishes Came True - Radhika Sanghain

 

Ayesha is very excited to spending two weeks of her summer holiday at camp with her best friend, Nikki - the pair have been inseparable for years. However, from the start, things don't go as Ayesha expected: Nikki arrives full of chat about her trip to New York, with a host of clothes that aren't the ones she and Nikki had agreed to take; then Ayesha begins to feel left out when Nikki seems to be favouring their new dorm mates and their love of fashion and musical theatre.  When she hears Nikki saying unkind things about her, she heads to the lake, upset, and lets out her feelings to the nature around her.  The following morning, Ayesha realises that everything she wishes for is coming true and she discovers that she has been gifted unlimited wishes.  At first, it's better food for lunch that she wishes for, but as Nikki drifts further away from her, could wishing for them to be best friends again be the solution?

Radhika's books are always a great read and are popular in school (you can read my reviews here: The Girl Who Couldn't Lie; How To Get Magically Popular) so I was excited to read The Summer My Wishes Came True.

The book has all the ingredients for the perfect read: a summer camp setting with cabins, a lake, camp fires and preparations for an end of camp production.  With friendship issues, and a hint of magic thrown in for good measure.

Ayesha is so excited about heading to camp; it's something she's been looking forward to for a long time and she and Nikki have spent a long time planning every detail.  However, when Nikki comes back from a trip to New York with her dad and her stepmum, everything seems to have changed, and Ayesha doesn't like the new Nikki.  The wishes come at exactly the right time, but the wishes don't necessarily have the effect she wants.  

This is a wonderful book about friendship and discovering that what you want and what you actually need may be two very different things. 

Out now, The Summer My Wishes Came True is a perfect book for the school summer holidays. 

Helping Hero - Nicci Johnson

Pres is having a difficult time of things: leaving foster carers to go and live with her Aunty Janelle means moving to Birmingham, starting a new school and giving up riding, the thing she loves the most. But when she stumbles across Stableheart, a stables in the heart of the city, she meets Hero, a rescue horse, and this could be just what she and Hero need.

Pres really does feel very alone at the start of the book. She was put into foster care when she was very young and can barely remember her mum. Now she has been uprooted from her foster carers to live with an aunt she doesn't know, and it means that every part of her life has to change. School in the city is completely different and overwhelming which is why she runs off one afternoon and stumbles across the stables. Before long, the stables have contacted the school asking for volunteers to help out and Pres is one of the students chosen. It becomes evident that she has a way with horses and she and Hero bond immediately which helps her to begin to make sense of everything. But when her Mum wants to see her, that throws everything back in the air again.

Helping Hero is a lovely story, perfect for animal fans, about discovering yourself and finding the space to make sense of the world. It's a gentle story that deftly weaves themes such as depression, friendships and being in care into the plot in a way that readers will understand. I really enjoyed it. 

Wishbound - Clemency Brown

 

Leonie has magical abilities but she, along with children like her, are kept on the island of Onske in a school where they are taught how to manage their magic before they are sold to rich families who use them to grant wishes.  Leonnie, however, has other ideas and is determined to run away and find a life in the real world. After being sold, and whilst being transported to her new family by Jackson the body guard, she manages to escape and, with Jackson in tow, begins a new life where she even makes a friend, Cress.  But, despite their best efforts, they can't stay hidden forever, and when the past catches up with them, Leonnie realises that she may need to risk everything in order to be free.

Wishbound is a wonderful read that will appeal to so many people.  Magic combines with adventure and a dollop of daring in a plot that will pose many questions in readers' minds.  Leonnie is a truly determined character who has had no choice but to fend for herself.  Despite being alone, she refuses to accept her fate and fights with everything she has.  She manages to carve out a lovely life for herself, but when the past catches up, everything she has built comes crumbling down.

This really is an exciting read with wonderful friendships (some more expected than others); I also loved that Cress is deaf: it's not something you see a lot of in MG fiction (certainly not the books I have read) so this was refreshing to see.  The biggest thing for me though are the moral questions that this book will raise: essentially, Leonnie and her friends on Onske are sold as slaves, with no choice but to do the bidding of those who have bought them once the 'binding ceremony' has been carried out.  The potential to discuss freedom, slavery and the rights and wrongs of what happens, would be very interesting in school; the idea of being able to have every wish granted compared to people being free would certainly provoke many different opinions.

Wishbound is out now and is a wonderful story of freedom, friendship and being yourself.

Soul Feeder - Jennifer Killick

Caiden and his best friend Sam enjoy helping Caiden's dad out with his house-clearing business, but when they arrive at Miss Kinski's house, they get far more than they bargained for.  The house feels different to any other they've been in before, and with rumours about how Miss Kinski's body was found, the boys begin to think there is something not right about the house and its contents.  Then, once they are back at the warehouse, they realise they may have brought something evil back with them and if they aren't careful, they could be the next victims. 

Jennifer is the queen of MG horror and Barrington Stoke are world class in producing accessible books for children with dyslexia so a collaboration was always something I would find exciting. 

At 97 pages, Soul Feeder is short but perfectly formed.  From the beginning, the plot drip-feeds hints that something is not right and the mysterious atmosphere begins to build, but not too much which leaves the reader keen to know exactly what is causing the problems.  The description of the contents of the house also helped to build the atmosphere, with severed heads and sacrificial knives not the usual things you would expect to discover when clearing a house.  Things ramp up quickly and when Caiden and Sam return to the warehouse, you know the book is building to a crescendo and oh boy, it's a heart-stopping finale that readers will love. 

Soul Feeder is a fast-paced, scary read that will tempt even the most reluctant of readers.

Finn's Epic Fails: Downhill From Here - Phil Earle

 

After coming into some money, Finn's gran is taking the family on holiday to Tenerife, and Finn is allowed to take a friend; through a very technical decision process (picking a name out of a hat) Google is that lucky friend and, along with the rest of the family, they head off for what should be a wonderful holiday.  However, things go wrong from the very start, with a luggage mix-up, a terrible hotel with rats, an embarrassing brother and a partying Gran, Finn realises that this may not quite be the holiday he was hoping it would be, and then his mother turns up and things just get worse!  Can Finn really turn the week around so he has at least some wins?

Finn's first outing had me howling with laughter when I read it (you can read my review here) so I was thrilled to find an early copy of the second book waiting for me at home last week.

As expected, Downhill From Here is just as funny, possibly even more so!  The book centres around Finn's holiday to Tenerife and I loved that there are so many things in the book that will be relatable to readers: holiday swimming pools, the breakfast buffet, parents wearing embarrassing clothing, Grans suddenly out partying all night (ok, I can't quite relate to that one but I can certainly imagine!).  Readers will be transported to the sunshine and the waterpark with Finn and will find themselves laughing and cringing at what happens to him.

Phil's chatty style of writing in the book means that, once again, Finn's endearing personality shines through the pages, and with Google at his side, he can just about manage Jonah's antics ... well almost!  With illustrations from Al Murphy and Finn's Fail-o-meter signalling the start of every chapter, this is another guaranteed hit.

I read the first 4 1/2 pages to the whole school in assembly on Friday and had the entire place in fits of giggles ... staff too!  They are now desperate to get their hands on the book so I suspect there will be a queue at my office door for it on Monday morning.

Publishing 2nd July, Finn's Epic Fails: Downhill From Here is the perfect accompaniment to anybody's summer holiday ... just check the elastic on your swim shorts before you hit the pool!!

Python: The New Recruit - S J Wills

Zach Thorne is your typical fifteen year old, except for the fact that his dad is a notorious crime boss, running the family corps.  When Zach calls the police just before his aunt is about to carry out a hit on somebody, he suddenly finds himself as the one they want to kill.  To protect him, he is given a new identity and is put into protective custody.  Not long after that, he is offered a chance to change everything: to become part of a deeply secret government agency known as Python, an elite group of teenagers.  His first day on the job isn't really the glamorous affair he imagined as he spends the day with his new 'crew' wandering round a shopping centre trying to gather intel on The Manicurist, a rival crime boss of his father's.  The day starts slow but then things take a rather dramatic turn and Zac and his fellow agents find themselves in a fight for their lives.

Ok, so most of you will know that I'm a huge fan of the Bite Risk series (one of my class is currently reading my copy of the fist book), and it was by chance that I stumbled upon Python on NetGalley. To say that I squealed and raced through the book I was reading at the time so I could begin it would be an understatement! (by the way, you'll find reviews of Bite Risk, Bite Risk: Caught Dead, Bite Risk: Cold Blood on my blog, just click the links).

Oh my goodness, what a rush of excitement this book is! From the start, the action and adventure takes you on a rollercoaster of a ride which makes it a book you simply won't be able to put down (be warned: this book will keep you reading late into the night!).

Zac really goes through the ringer as the plot unfolds. Without his father, he feels alone and is desperate to go home but he knows it's too dangerous.  The relationship with his dad changes in so many ways over the course of the book (I won't say too much so as not to spoil anything) and his life really does turn upside down.  He may only spend a day with the Python team but it's a day he'll never forget; after a rocky start, they have no choice but to bond as their skills are seriously put to the test.  Zach discovers more about himself in that one day than any other, and it's a day that changes things forever for him. 

Python: The New Recruit is a book where the twists in the plot keep on coming!  Just as you think you've got everything straight in your head an other curve ball hits you!  It really is a book where you never quite know who you can trust.

Told from the points of view of multiple characters, the book is a real adrenaline rush of a read that will have you utterly gripped, completely breathless and will  leave you with a serious book hangover.  Publishing 2nd July, I'm already desperate for book 2 and my class are counting down the days until this book is released! (one child even asked if they could borrow my iPad so they could read my electronic copy!!).

Questers Academy: The Box Of Locks - Sam Hay Blog Tour

 

Questers Academy: The Box Of Locks is a thrilling new book by Sam Hay that is already going down a storm in school as proven by these quotes from my students:

"I love this book because it's full of mystery and excitement, meeting friends along the way.  It's like the book gives you every key except the key which stops you from reading at 12.00am!"

"Questers Academy is a brilliantly imaginative adventure that masterfully blends mystery with high stakes wonder.  It's a captivating journey that invites readers to unlock the power of curiosity and courage."

"It's a masterfully crafter parade of a story that leaves you eager to unlock the next chapter."

You can read my full review here (although I feel my students have said it much more eloquently than me!).

Today, I'm delighted that Sam has written an article for my blog about whether you could be a super-recogniser like Tom.  I'm definitely not but could you be?

Could YOU be a Super-Recogniser?

Tom Friday, the main character in Questers Academy, has an incredible superpower. He can remember faces, even if he’s only seen them for a few seconds.

This isn’t something I’ve made up. There really are people with this skill. Maybe you could be one of them! 

I’ve always thought I was quite good at remembering faces. (Not names, unfortunately, which would be more useful as a writer visiting schools!) But faces? Yep. I like to think I’m good at them.

I notice it most when I’m watching TV. I can usually pick out actors I’ve seen before.

I’m even better at face-matching - recognising similar face shapes and characteristics in different people. My kids laugh when I suddenly spot one of their mates in a movie. Well, not actually one of their friends, but someone who looks very similar. And when I point it out, they usually see it, too. 

But my interest in faces doesn’t mean I’m a super-recogniser.

Real super-recognisers can recognise faces they’ve briefly seen, even when that person has changed. Perhaps they’ve got a new hairstyle. Or a new beard and moustache. Or they’re wearing a hat and sunglasses. Or even a mask.

Super-recognisers can spot faces in a crowd of thousands. Imagine going to Wembley and being able to pick out someone you’ve only briefly seen once before.

Not many people can do this. Less than 2% of the population are thought to possess this skill. And they’re in high demand. Many work with the police to identify criminals.

Being a super-recogniser may partly be an inherited skill. If one of your parents has an eye for faces, you might have it too.

So, am I a super-recogniser?

Well, I took the free tests on the University of Greenwich’s super-recogniser website.

https://www.superrecognisers.com

And the answer?

Probably not. I was above average. But not quite super-recogniser level.  Disappointing. So for now, I’m going to stick to spotting my friends and family in movies. But who knows. Maybe YOU are an actual super-recogniser! If so, there’s a secret summer at the Natural History Museum who’d love to hear from you. #QuestersAcademy

 Questers Academy: The Box Of Locks is out now.