Black Hole Cinema Club - Christopher Edge

 

Lucas and his friends plan to spend their Saturday at an all-day movie marathon at Black Hole Cinema Club; they don't know what the films will be but they know they have enough snacks and that they're heading in to enjoy a 4Di experience ('Immersive.  Interactive. Improved').  But when they get in there they discover that the place is empty except for Caitlin and Maya who, along with Lucas and his friends, have been to every Black Hole marathon.  Then the place goes black and, just as the film begins, a jet-black tidal wave crashes over them, plunging them into a movie experience like no other.  One that feels far more like reality than a movie, and one that could lead to the end of the world ... unless they can save the day.

Christopher Edge is well-known for writing books that really keep you guessing and make you think.  They are hugely popular in school and make the best class reads (I still remember reading my proof copy of The Longest Night of Charlie Noon to my class and having trouble getting them to go home as they just wanted me to keep reading every day!) so the arrival of Black Hole Cinema Club put a big smile on my face and resulted in me abandoning everything else in favour of curling up with the book. 

As expected, Black Hole Cinema Club is a roller-coaster of an adventure that will have you gripping the edge of your seat and questioning what is real and what is part of the film, and there are clever nods to some film greats woven into the plot as the characters find themselves battling prehistoric monsters and venturing through lost cities.   

Christopher is a genius at combining science with science-fiction and adventure in a way that will definitely make you think.  Publishing on the 14th March, Black Hole Cinema Club is an adrenaline-fuelled race through film and time with a twist you really won't see coming so grab some popcorn and settle in for a blockbuster of an adventure you'll be thinking about long after you've read the last page. 

Libby and the Manhattan Mystery - Jo Clarke

Libby, Connie and the rest of the school have finally arrived in New York and things get exciting from the second they arrive with Connie's godmother, Eloise Fitzwilliam, who just happens to be a major Hollywood star, waiting at the arrivals hall for them as they land.  Libby and Connie are whisked away to enjoy a bit of luxury, joined by Eloise's friend Count Alvarez who also just happens to be at the airport.  Before dropping him at his office, they are treated to a tour of the city before heading to the hotel where Eloise lives.  When the girls finally settle into school life, they discover two new arrivals: new student Anastasia who shares Libby and Connie's bedroom, and Miss Khatun, a new teacher who seems determined to thwart their fun at any costs.  Part of their time is spent helping Eloise organise a charity auction but when Count Alvarez goes missing, the girls are determined to get to the bottom of the mystery.

I am a big fan of the Travelling School Mysteries and just love the idea of a school that moves from city to city where the lessons are far from conventional - it sounds like great fun!  Add the mysteries that seem to follow Libby and Connie, and you have a series that is very much shaping up to be utterly unmissable. (You can read my reviews of the first two books here: Libby and the Parisian Puzzle ; Libby and the Highland Heist)

Libby is a wonderful character and her curious nature continues to shine through, but you see a different side to Libby in this book as she finds herself feeling jealous when Anastasia arrives.  Worried that Connie is being very friendly, she is scared that her best friend will be taken away from her and, as such, treats Anastasia quite differently to Connie when they first began sharing a room.  The dynamic would certainly spark some interesting conversations with children whilst reading it.  

As ever with this wonderful series, the mystery is one that enthrals and grips in equal measure, with twists to keep you guessing and a setting that will make you want to hop on a plane (I found myself picturing the major sites as the girls visited and Becca Moore's illustrations are the perfect accompaniment).  I couldn't put the book down!

Publishing, on the 4th January, Libby and the Manhattan Mystery is the perfect antidote to the post-Christmas blues.  Now I just have to count down the days until I can read Libby and the Egyptian Escapade!  

Ember Spark and the Thunder of Dragons - Ai Elphinstone

Ember lives in the tiny village of Yawn on the east coast of Scotland, a place so small that it can't even be found on a map.  Ember yearns for adventure and absolutely believes that this will never be found in Yawn; that is until she has to rescue a hamster named Forty Winks from drowning, and is then given a cryptic message by her teacher.  Following the instructions, Ember, along with her classmate Arno, discover a cave full of magical creatures and one rather old man called Rusty Fizzbang, vet to magical beasts.  Unfortunately Rusty has put his back out so it's up to Ember and Arno to help the beasts, including Smidge, a baby dragon whose heart will break if they don't find his parents.  Cue the flying bathtub and an adventure that will set your pulse racing, but will Ember and Arno succeed or will Jasper Hornswaggle, who is determined to steal magical creatures for his own gains, thwart their efforts?

It really is no secret that I am a HUGE fan of Abi's writing, so the arrival of Ember Spark and the Thunder of Dragons was my cue to drop everything and dive head-first into a new world.  And I can tell you that it was just the escape I needed on Saturday afternoon! 

I love Ember!  There's a definite thirst for adventure lurking within her (after all, why else would she keep her wellies under her pillow?) and she's desperate for her life to begin, but behind all the openness to let adventure in, there is also a real guardedness to her, one which is closed off to friendships.  Scarred by her parents' break-up, her walls are up, she's pushed all her friends away and she point blank refuses to accept Arno as a friend.  I think the adventure she finds was one she needed more than she ever knew.

By contrast, Arno seems to want to live a quiet life without adventure; in fact he seems positively scared of adventure.  He simply wants to blend in and not be noticed to avoid the bullies.  Together they make a great pairing and needed each other - something their teacher, Mrs Rickety-Knees clearly knew long before either of them (by the way, as I grow older, I shall definitely be modelling myself on her - she is just the best!)

One of the things I love most about reading Abi's books, is discovering the names she has given her characters and places, and this book is no exception, from Forty Winks to Yawn and Rusty Fizzbang, everybody's name suits them perfectly (in fact, my Year 6 classes (as well as me!) tried to channel their inner Elphinstone last term when naming places on the islands they had created!).  The other thing I love about Abi's writing is how timeless and comforting it feels; as you lose yourself in the pages, it's like being wrapped in a warm hug you don't want to be released from.

Due for release on the 9th May, Ember Spark and the Thunder of Dragons is the perfect mix of magic, imagination and adventure that reminds us all, no matter how old we are, that pausing to find out what is right under our noses might just lead us to the biggest adventure yet.

The Boy Who Fell From The Sky - Benjamin Dean

Zed lives with his father who is the First Hunter in the Authority, the organisation who track down the Demons (known to be dangerous) that fall from the sky.  Being a Hunter is a prestigious job and one that carries status by those the Hunters protect.  Zed has always felt the weight of expectation on him to follow in his father's footsteps and become a Hunter, but when he and his father are summoned to meet the Superior, things don't go well and it is clear that his father is disappointed in him.  Sent to his room when they get home, Zed can overhear his dad's team in discussions, and then hears a shooting star, which signals that a Demon is falling to Earth.  With his father and his team quick to act, Zed is left alone.  However, what Zed doesn't expect is to encounter one of the aliens; nor does he expect anything that happens afterwards. 

It's no secret that I love Benjamin Dean's books, both Middle Grade and YA, so when The Boy Who Fell From The Sky popped up on NetGalley, the temptation to dive straight in was too great!

Zed is a character I loved from the very beginning: making jokes when he's nervous; listening in to adult conversations when he's not supposed to; sneaking around when he thinks nobody notices ... readers will definitely warm to him.  But one thing is clear: Zed is lonely.  He and his father have spent so long travelling around for his father's job, that he's never had the chance to make any real friends.  Coupled with the fact that everything Zed has ever been taught about Demons dictates that they are vicious and should be feared, it's not surprising the way he reacts when he first meets Spark.  What unfolds is a truly heart-warming story about finding friendship; knowing when to do the right thing and following your heart.

One of the things that I felt really shone from the book were the messages woven into the plot about being yourself.  Lines such as 'Rejecting who you are and forcing yourself to become some you're not, is painful' were powerful and ones that children need to hear (Can I just say that I think Spark's grandma is a very wise alien and one whose messages need spreading further).

Publishing on the 18th January, The Boy Who Fell From The Sky is a sci-fi that is guaranteed to warm your heart, make you smile and banish the January blues.  

The Clockwork Conspiracy - Sam Sedgman

Isaac lives with his father Diggory (Chief Horologist in charge of Big Ben) in London and the book opens on the night the clocks go back, with the pair in the belfry of Big Ben where they are preparing to stop the clock so it can be reset to the correct time.  Whilst there, they are discussing the controversial New Time Law that is due to be debated in Parliament, a law that will see time changed in a similar way to decimalisation (ten hours in the day, one hundred minutes in an hour, one hundred seconds in a minute).  However, when Isaac's dad goes to investigate a problem with one of the quarter bells and doesn't return, Isaac becomes worried and informs a security guard who calls the Speaker of the House, Sol Bassala, known as Uncle Sol to Isaac.  The police are called to investigate and Isaac goes to stay with Uncle Sol in his residence within the Palace of Westminster where he meets Sol's daughter, Hattie.  Soon, Isaac confides to Hattie that he found a broken watch in the belfry which belongs to his father.  When the pair realise that the watch holds a cryptic message, one that could help them find Diggory, they determine to find him.  The clues take them on a race through London, one that becomes increasingly more dangerous the more they discover; in fact it's not just Diggory who is in danger, but time itself, but can Isaac and Hattie save the day before it's too late?

Isaac and his dad are close; that is evident from the very beginning of the book, so when Diggory goes missing, Isaac is understandably devastated but he certainly isn't about to just sit around and wait for the police to investigate.  We see Isaac's logical mind spin into action and his years as a young inventor pay off.  He and Hattie make a great pairing; where he is logical, she is not afraid to take risks.  She is the one who loves to sneak out and uses these skills to help the pair ensure that their investigation continues.  It isn't long before the pair become good friends, determined to look out for each other as well as ensure that the right thing is done.   

One of the main themes in the book is time and, as the book progresses, there are some incredibly thought-provoking questions raised.  We all know time as 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour and 24 hours in a day; it's a universally known measure.  But what if that changed?  How would it alter things?  I began wondering this as I read, but as the book soon shows, everything is linked to time and if you change that, everything falls apart.  Reading the book made me realise just exactly how dependent on and ruled by time we are.  It was a fascinating concept for a book and I can imagine it will provoke hugely interesting discussions in school. 

At its heart, The Clockwork Conspiracy is a whirlwind of an adventure that will sweep you up in its arms and will carry you away.  It's a gripping page-turner of a book that will ensure you forget about what time it is as you race across London in the pursuit of saving time.  I began reading this on Friday evening and devoured it in under a day (would that be just over 2 days under the New Time Law?!).  I read part of it on Saturday morning whilst playing Mum-taxi and the hour has never gone quicker - I got quite the fright when my son opened the car door!  I loved the Adventures on Trains series that Sam wrote with MG Leonard so I had high hopes for this - I can tell you now that the book far exceeded those hopes and now I'm just crossing everything that there will be more to come from Isaac and Hattie in the future.  Publishing on the 1st February, The Clockwork Conspiracy is a book that needs to be pre-ordered.   

The Big Book of Boats

It's my turn on the Non-Fiction November blog tour and I'm delighted to be sharing the Big Book of Boats with everyone.

Literally a big book, this is a fascinating voyage of discovery into boats of all shapes and sizes.  Covering boats through history as well as boats for underwater travel as well as boats we cruise on, this book has everything.

As well as the wonderfully detailed illustrations, I particularly like the factual details and annotations which help to impart further information.  

And if that isn't enough, then the publisher has extra resources available on their website here , including more about boats resources, colouring sheets and even an educational resource pack.

This book has been sitting in the non-fiction corner of my classroom since it arrived and it has been hugely popular.  I've loved seeing groups of children pouring over its pages, discussing the details and their own observations.

Whether this is a book for home or for school, the Big Book of Boats will make a great addition to anybody's book collection.

Shadowhall Academy: The Whispering Walls - Phil Hickes

It's the start of term at Shadowhall Academy and Lilian's first term at the boarding school where her mum was also a student.  She makes friends quickly with her new room mates, Marian, Serena and Angela (who is also new), and, despite rumours of the place being haunted she thinks these are just stories to scare new students.  However, when she awakes one night to find Angela terrified by knocking coming from within the dorm walls, things begin to take a sinister turn.  

I am a huge fan of Phil Hickes' Aveline Jones books and love the creepiness he brings to his books (you can read my reviews here: The Haunting Of Aveline Jones , The Bewitching Of Aveline Jones , The Vanishing Of Avenline Jones) so the thought of a new book sent shivers of excitement down my spine.  The book jumped straight to the top of my reading pile and I curled up with it on Thursday evening, teddy bear handy, and dove in.

The setting is perfect and sets the story up wonderfully: an imposing boarding school in a grade II listed building; dodgy heating and power which means that it's cold and students sometimes require a torch; basements and long corridors with shadowy stairways ... I think you get the picture.  

Lilian is clearly dubious about starting at the school and feels the pressure of her mother's history with the place as well as worrying she won't fit in; however, she and Mariam hit it off quickly.  She is a strong character who is determined to get to the bottom of the mystery; she is a loyal friend and one who can empathise with others.

There are also a host of staff members who help to add to the plot, Mr Bullen in particular.  He is the sort of character I would love to get to know and I love the sound of his office.  But there is something about him that made me curious...

The plot gets to the action quickly and is a wonderfully atmospheric ghost story.  It's a book I couldn't put down but genuinely left me needing a cosy blanket to hide under and I was prepared with my teddy to cuddle too!  Spine-tingling, utterly moreish and deliciously creepy, Shadowhall Academy: The Whispering Walls is everything I hoped it would be and more.  Publishing on the 1st February, it is begging to be pre-ordered and is a perfect read on a dark, winter's night. I can't wait to see what happens next term.