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[[Category:Confident Readers|*]]
[[Category:New Reviews|Confident Readers]]==Confident readers==__NOTOC__<!-- Remove -->{{newreviewFrontpage|author=Antony WoottenMax Boucherat|title=A Tiger Too ManyThe Last Life of Lori Mills|rating=34.5
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=JillWe meet Lori on the first evening she's brothergot the house to herself – no neighbour to pop in, Petebabysitter poorly, was a keeper at London Zoo and when her mother was at work she would go to the zoo with him. She became very attached to , just an elderly tiger by the name of Ronny but with the outbreak of war tough decisions had to be madeavidly rule-breaking eleven year old, on her lonesome. What would happen if poisonous snakes escaped during a bombing raidcould possibly go wrong? What about the elderly Snuggled in a blanket fort, she has one main intention, and dangerous animals? Jill that is heartto log on to Voxminer, the world-broken when Ronny building, critter-collecting game that is shot but therea hit in Lori's consolation in world. But first Lori has a tiny inkling that this stormy night doesn't find herself entirely on her own, and then she finds something even more spooky. For the form server she and her bestie and nobody else should be able to enter shows signs of a tiger cubtampering. When malevolent eyes spark up on her phone screen, and her safe place in the runt of game has been doctored – well, where is a litter rejected by his mother, who would need all Jill's care if he was girl to survive.turn?|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>0953712311</amazonuk>0008666482
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{{newreviewFrontpage|author=Sian PattendenKieran Larwood and Joe Todd-Stanton|title=The Peppers and the International Magic GuysDungeon Runners: Hero Trial|rating=3.54
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=Esme Meet Kit. Like most of the people in his world, it seems, he is an avid fan of Dungeon Running – the sport where a team of warrior, mage and healer enter specially prepared, century-old, magical mazes, and Monty are race to the Pepper twinsexit, perhaps bothering with the treasure or the big bad and whilst their hippie parents are away on holiday 'reconnecting with nature' the twins are left with Uncle Potty who is a member of points they grant you along the International Magic Guys clubway. Unfortunately for Kit, the only thing he's seen of the club latest race on the inn TV equivalent is threatened with closurethat one team has been retired, eaten, and a new trio of questors is needed. Possibly very unfortunately indeed for Kit, he has taken to the more nervous Uncle Potty becomes about goading from the clubtoken bully of his world and stumbled into declaring he's future the more disastrous his tricks are! ll enter as a team. Will What chance does this friendless, muscle-free-zone have in actually managing that, and how could he ever be able possibly hope to perform in the show that must save the clubsucceed?|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>0007430019</amazonuk>1839945184
}}
{{newreviewFrontpage|author=Geraldine McCaughreanJames Sherwood Metts|title=George and the Dragon and a World of Other StoriesPlanet Storyland|rating=4.5
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=Some people may wonder if we really need yet another collection of stories: after all, many of Things have been a bit sticky for the tales in this book are already well-knownEarthlings. But AI and automation have been proceeding apace, often replacing jobs they're paid to do and other tasks that would be took time to miss the pointaccomplish. What is distinctive about Just as they were beginning to get used to all this book is the fact that it is written by the multi-award-winning Geraldine McCaughrean, one of our most skilful, respected technological change and prolific authors. Each starting to think of the stories here is like a gem made of words: beautifully toldother, using description which ranges from the lyrical new ways to the comicspend time, along came an awful pandemic. Life was pretty much shut down and both parents and children will derive a huge amount of pleasure from them, along with it, all the many daily social interactions on which they depend so heavily. |amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1444002384</amazonuk>1736128426
}}
{{newreviewFrontpage|author=Jamie ThomsonTom Percival|title=Dark Lord: The Teenage YearsWrong Shoes|rating=45
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=What would you thinkWill's life is difficult, if you met in a thirteen-year-old boy who turned up out multitude of ways. He is bullied because he has 'the blue wrong shoes', he has the wrong shoes because his dad can't work and insisteddoesn't have enough money for even the most basic of things like food, loudly and colourfullyhis dad can't work because he lost his job at the college, that he was working a cash-in-hand job on a building site and had an evil demon and accident. Throw into that he intended to smite you dead or submit you to a thousand terrible torments? Or both? Yup – mix the kidfact that his mum and dad are separated, and Will's nuttier than a fruit cakelife seems bleak in every direction. Got And yet, he still has a screw loose. Several sandwiches short tiny amount of a picnichope. And he's clearly played way too many computer games in his short life. So He is good at art, despite his threats and protestations, clings to the moments of joy when he's got to go into foster care until his real family is found: after alldrawing, he can't be left sitting in that feel like a car park forever, can he? And once you realise there is no sign light at the end of a relative anywherelong, well, there's his education to considerdark tunnel.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1408315114</amazonuk>1398527122
}}
{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Chris d'Lacey1805141872|title=Fire WorldThe Teacher Who Knew Too Much|author=Rob Keeley
|rating=4.5
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=David Rain is an impressionable, imaginative boy who can ''imagineer'' (that is, visualise objects Seventeen banks and make them solid)a jeweller’s have been raided. He is a threat to The police are baffled, but only Ben knows the highly organised society of Co:pern:icatruth – his Maths teacher, particularly to the terrifying Aunts who control society on behalf of the HigherMiss Judson, is really a safecracker! With police and his parents are blamed for her gangster boyfriend Al on their own faulty emotionstrail, thoughts Miss Judson and abilities, and punishedBen go on the run. David is sent to the librarium, the repository But Al needs them for obsolete books, where he meets a mysterious girl called Rosaone last job... She will play a part, along with the beautiful but threatening firebirds and unexpected members of David's own family, in discovering the secrets of the ancient tapestry of the librarium and confronting threatening forces from Co:pern:ica and beyond.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1408309599</amazonuk>}}'
}}
{{newreviewFrontpage|author=Laura Owen and Korky PaulChristopher Edge|title=The Misadventures of Winnie the WitchBlack Hole Cinema Club
|rating=4
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=Meet OlgaLucas and his friends are all booked in for a movie marathon at their local cinema, a proudplace that has the nickname of 'The Black Hole'. All big movie fans, they're looking forward to lots of exciting films, loveable and loving guinea pig. We see her firstmany, many snacks! However, as does a girl called Karenthe movie starts, living in a pet shop with some friendsthey very quickly realise that something about this new film format is very different, and after a cycle of short stories she will end by living with friends of very different kindsthey are swept up into an adventure they couldn't even imagine. In between she has But as they lurch from one film genre to experience life with humans (or sawdust people) and survive scrapes in the wilder worldnext, but still has time can they figure out what on earth is going on? Will they ever get back to explain where guinea pigs' tails went the cinema, and how they got to their squeak.real lives?|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>0192731939</amazonuk>1839942738
}}
{{newreviewFrontpage|author=Jonathan MeresAdam Stower|title=May Contain Nuts (The World of Norm)Murray and Bun|rating=4.5|genre=Confident Readers|summary=NothingMurray is supposed to be a humble, but nothingtidy and friendly cat, one who is Norm's faultable to sleep and eat and eat and sleep and, well, whatever takes his fancy next of the two. If But he virtually sleepwalks into weeing in his parent's wardrobe ita bad magician's because cat, so his favourite bun has been turned into a hyperactive sticky rabbit called Bun, and the catflap they've downsized to a newboth use can chuck them out, smaller home. If his best friend crashes Norm's own bikenot into the regular back garden, it's his brother's faultbut into a world of frightening adventure and whiffs. If his parents have had it up to there with him This time round it's up to drops them into a Viking land, where a troll hunter is expected – well, one much bigger than Murray was, to really state their mind and not be obtuse. When everything happens - lieshonest, deceit, unhappiness and dog poo on the carpet - itbut he's the worldturned up and he's fault for being so unfair.ll have to do…|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1408313030</amazonuk>0008561249
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{{newreviewFrontpage|author=Jayne WoodhouseAlex Bell and Tim McDonagh|title=And Rocky TooThe Glorious Race of Magical Beasts
|rating=4
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=We [[The Stephensons' Rocket Eli is a busy lad – by day an apprentice in the wondrous library we start by Jayne Woodhouse|first met Rocky]] when Anna's fathervisiting with him, and in the feckless Pete, brought him home as evening a helper at the latest in dessert cafe his many money-making schemes which inevitably cost the family deargran owns and runs. This one was to have a longer-lasting effect than most though Eli lives with his lovely gran, too – through his affection for Rocky, there is a generation missing in the retired racing greyhoundfamily. A few short years ago, Pete realised that he had to support his family and AnnaEli's brother Darren made parents were both lost to the titular race, a friend globe-trotting adventure where all entrants have to navigate the world in the company of another boya magical beast. Even WilfThis has made the race anathema to the pair – but when a bad incident at the eatery leads to a confession from gran, Eli knows his only hope is to dare to enter what he most hates, with the sole aim the pensioner who lived next door found hidden talents and it looked as though prize of magic at the end – the family was set fair, right?only thing to possibly save his gran.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>0954925696</amazonuk>0571382231
}}
{{newreviewFrontpage|author=Simon PackhamHelen Cooper|title=The Bex FactorTaming of the Cat
|rating=3.5
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=Reality TVOnce again, especially mice are pitched against cat. In this case, principally, we have Brie the mouse, up against Gorgonzola the kind of talent competition where cat – and in case you're seeing a connection, they live in a cheese shop and therefore all the backstory of names used here seem to be the contestants is as much a part names of the programme as their performance on stagecheeses. Anyway, Brie is a part of most young peopleshunned, scorned and, if you must, mous-tracised, for the way his habits don's t match the other mice he liveswith. A whole culture has grown They nibble up which dangles big breaks, lucrative contracts paper wrapping from the cheese for bedding – he displays it as art and happinessmakes stories based on the visuals on it. And that story-ever-after to those talented few who can sing or dancetelling will come in handy one night, or, better still, do both at oncewhen he feels all alone and cast out. Fourteen-year-old Bex dreams of singing her way It's almost as if there were another character from fable who had had to tell stories to stardom via keep themselves alive. This makes Brie the latest TV showtop dog in the mouse community, called 'The Tingle Factor'. All she needs though, as all the others had the chance to do is persuade geeky Year Ten Matthew to accompany her on half-inch some cheese while the guitarcat was distracted. But will the story have the successful sequel it needs when that cheese runs out?|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1848121636</amazonuk>0571376010
}}
{{newreviewFrontpage|author=J R R TolkienLauren St John|title=Mr BlissFinding Wonder|rating=54
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=If you wanted to produce a classic of childrenRoo's literaturelife has become almost impossibly difficult. Her mum died when she was young, it would probably look and now she finds herself awoken in the middle of the night by the police banging on her door to tell her that her dad has dropped dead on his way to the corner shop to buy a lot like thislottery ticket. It would be written by a famous When asked what other family she has, she can only name as a private exercise for their childrenher aunt, Joni, with the authorwho she knows her dad didn's own illustrationst think very highly of. It would feature a title characterBut she has no one else, and so off she goes to live with a typical Edwardian headstrong attitude, yet with an ability to create slapstickher unreliable aunt. It may well have fairytale characters Things continue to get worse for Roo, as youwhen she and Joni leave London in Joni've never seen them before. And s old campervan, it would be presented breaks down in a deluxe, pristine heritage edition such as this.the middle of nowhere and then bursts into flames! Poor Roo!|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>000743619X</amazonuk>0571376169
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{{newreviewFrontpage|author=David BorgenichtAdam Baron and Benji Davies|title=WCS Ultimate Adventure: Mars! (Worst-Case Scenario Ultimate Adventure)Oscar's Lion|rating=3.5
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=How many endings do you prefer your books We start incredibly bluntly, with Oscar hoping to have? This claims 24his mother – or father, but mother is the reason I askmore likely – read him his very favourite book a couple of times before he has to be ready for school. I canBut when he enters his parents't be sure that the original Fighting Fantasy books of old didn't have bedroom, all he sees is a lot moremahoosive male lion on their bed, as well as the combat processlooking sheepish, but in this style of choose-your-own-adventure franchise, two dozen isnand admitting that he won't too bad at allbe hungry for another two days. It's But there are benefits to having a lion around – it can be shown as an unspoken threat to the bully that ruined a younger-styled decision-making read, birthday party for Oscar the under-thirteensother month. And it can shapeshift, so he can take it to school and follows Borgenicht's seeming lifelong plan to it can get all sorts him out of survival info, either vital or trivial, into as many books as possiblea problem.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>081187124X</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=Sarah Gibb|title=Best-loved Classics: Rapunzel|rating=5|genre=For Sharing|summary=Educators are, apparently, concerned at the moment at the number of children starting school who don't know any of the old traditional fairy tales, so And it's nice wonderful to see a new version of Rapunzel that is based on have around the original story by The Brothers Grimm. This is a lovely book to share and stays closer to house – not limiting his biscuit intake, being much more lax about the original story than Disney's 'Tangled' film.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0007364806</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=Joanna Nadin|title=Penny Dreadful is a Complete Catastrophe|rating=4|genre=For Sharing|summary=Penny is not really Penny Dreadful. She is Penny Jones. But when her encounters with a rat called Rooneyrules, a cat called Barry and her cousin Georgia Mayso on. OK, and her testing of it can't work a patent burglar trap and digging for buried treasure all end in catastrophes, is dimmer switch but it surprising that she is known as can give Oscar a Disaster Magnet? wonderful time.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1409536076</amazonuk>0008596751
}}
{{newreviewFrontpage|author=Angie SageJudith Eagle|title=Septimus Heap: DarkeThe Stolen Songbird
|rating=4
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=The seventh son of Caro's mother, a seventh son world-famous whistler, has magical powersfailed to return home from her recent work trip abroad and is now missing. Her other mother, Ronnie, as we all knowis having to go up North to take care of her sister who is unwell. And Septimus So who is that son, although it took quite a time for him going to find it out. Now he's apprenticed look after Caro? Sent to Extraordinary Wizard Marcia Overstrandstay with Gam, someone Caro has heard her mother despises, she of the short temper feels frustrated and fabulous shoes, confused and heworried. All her summer holiday plans of building herself some equipment to practise her gymnastics are brought to a halt whilst she is stuck inside this staid old Victorian lady's about to embark on house, along with an orphan boy, Albie, who is living there too. But she soon finds herself caught up in a mystery, as she discovers a horrendously dangerous part painting of his traininga bird hidden away inside her mum's old suitcase, and all across London a fearsome gang called Darke Weekthe Snakes are thieving artworks and terrorising people. For this exercise he Is the painting somehow linked to the gang? And what has chosen happened to rescue Alther, a ghost who was accidentally Banished (a lot of words start with capital letters Caro's mother? Is she somehow involved in these books) by Marcia, but once again the baddies have other ideas.mystery too?|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1408806282</amazonuk>0571363148
}}
{{newreviewFrontpage|author=Jean Clemens LoftusTania Unsworth|title=Ruby Rocksparkle: Her Wildly Incredible Adventure Nowhere Island|rating=4.5
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=Ruby Rocksparkle and her thirteen - yes! thirteen! - siblings are all named after gemstonesMeet Gil. Ruby's father Just twelve, he is a peasant farmer in so determined to escape the happy little kingdom of Felicitania. Felicitania is ruled by care system – the kingly King Flavian system that constantly puts him in futureless places that are not homes – and his beautiful second wife, Queen Morganafind a home for himself. His son, Prince Alano He is en route to yet another fosterer, is busily preparing for the day when he must rulejumps into an anonymous car, and the time for lets it ride him to find his future. That future seems to be in jeopardy when someone steals his one bag of belongings – but that someone lives with his brother in a camp on an island between the two directions of a motorway, a wife is fast approachingplace inaccessible and definitely ignored enough to provide for their safety and seclusion. Ruby Them, and a mute girl also finding a vivid, read-headed beautyhome there, dreams of marrying Prince Alanoalbeit so much more successfully. If only he could ever marry Over a commoner - but even Ruby knows that could never be. few weeks we see if their oddball destinies can combine, or if this is one place where life as we would want it just would not work…|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1452059780</amazonuk>1804540080
}}
{{newreviewFrontpage|author=Marcus SedgwickHelen Peters|title=The Raven Mysteries: Diamonds Friends and DoomTraitors|rating=4.53
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=Edgar England, WW2. Two young girls are new at the country pile called Stanbrook. One is on holiday. WellNancy, according destined to him, be in service all her life it's a conference where ravens meet to discuss all manner of important thingsseems, and where they occasionally have a bit too much to eat and drink. Whateverlike the female generations before her. The point other isSidney, he's not a girl from a hoity-toity Sussex boarding school that has been removed there when the last gold piece is taken away from the treasury bomber flight-paths. The girls are chalk and spentcheese, and Castle Otherhand is put up for sale. The adults donif we hadn't seem to guessed that then their behaviour with each other over their first encounters would only prove it so. But something is amiss, and first separately and then in combination they realise the Lord Evesham must be doing anything constructive about the situationa rum 'un. Midnight deliveries are received under cover of secrecy, so talk is made of meetings with Edgar away enjoying his birdly junketingsGermans, our favourite Goth Solstice and her ever-hungry brother Cudweed decide to sort things out by themselvesnot only that, a local Spitfire factory has been attacked. And if you've ever read a Raven Mysteries book before, you will know right away that that means by But surely the time Edgar flutters homegirls are wrong, chaos, mayhem and disaster will the upper class could never be the order of the day. so underhand?|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1842556983</amazonuk>1788004647
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{{newreviewFrontpage|author=Holly WebbJamie Littler|title=LilyArkspire
|rating=4
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=Magic has been banned by the Queen since a magician called Marius Grange killed Two sisters, Juniper and Elodie, born fifteen minutes apart, are growing to be chalk and cheese. Juniper is an eager hunter and trader in illicit magic, including relics from prior major wars left out in the King thirty years beforeBadlands. All Elodie is intent on getting closer to power in one of the old magical families have been exiledreligious districts of Arkspire, Lily's father has been sent perhaps even to become the child in line to prison on inherit the mainland for protesting against power of the decreeWatcher, and their servants have the closest to be paid extra wages to stay on a ruler the island where Lilydistrict has, her sister Georgie and their mother now liveone of the five major victors in said earlier war. Being trained in the magic that only five people can use would definitely change the status of the whole family. But in finding something oddly magical, Juniper might just be able to gain some power of her own – for good, or for very, very bad…|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1408313499</amazonuk>0241586143
}}
{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Sam Gayton024162343X|title=The Snow MerchantStolen History|author=Sathnam Sanghera
|rating=5
|genre=Confident ReadersChildren's Non-Fiction|summary=Imagine if you had never seen snowI was the bad company other people got into at school. I was disruptive in religious education classes because I disputed the existence of a 'god'. What would you feel as it whirled and floated across Where was the airproof? In history lessons, and landed on your outstretched hand for it was probably worse still. Not too long after the very first time? Look out end of WWII, I didn't so much want to learn about the window British army's successes (and see how it has transformed occasional failures, but we didn't dwell on those) in what came to be called 'the cold, muddy streets, how it has made colonies' as want to dispute what right the ordinary beautiful and army had to be there in the mundane astonishingfirst place. This is Looking back, I still believe I was right - but I regret that I lacked the delight which is presented maturity to twelve-year-old Lettie at approach 'the beginning of this charming, whimsical taleproblem' politely. But just as snow can disrupt or even kill, danger and death seek Lettie I wish I'd had Sathnam Sanghera's ''Stolen History''.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1849393710</amazonuk>
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{{newreviewFrontpage|author=Mackenzie CrookThiago de Moraes|title=The Windvale SpritesOld Gods New Tricks
|rating=4.5
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=The 'hurricane' of 1987Meet Trixie. Forever getting into scrapes, that Michael Fish famously dismissed while it was en routelarks and adventures involving flooding the school aircon with fart powder, brought she could almost be thought a lot young goddess of destruction, that we knownuisance. But what hasnjust when she't been known before now is s being told that it also brought a dead body to Asa Brown's attention by her one-last-chance- giving headteacher, the dead body of a fairyworld changes. Looking into things at Suddenly, practically everything electronic stops working – a power-out, even of electric cars, hits not just the town the local library school's in but the lad finds more entire planet (apart from mobile phones, and more clues all that a local eccentricpowers the Internet, just for our convenience's sake). Trixie, two hundred years previouslyluckily, had been realises what has happened – the ancient Gods have taken the only other person to know power of the sprites' existencepower from us. But what And so she begins her epic quest, to gather all the people that can steal it back – namely the characters from myth that have past form in stealing from the Gods, ie the clue trail leads tosemi-deities, giants, Asa would never possibly suspect..half-gods and so on known as the tricksters.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>0571240712</amazonuk>178845295X
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{{newreviewFrontpage|author=Lois LowryHannah Gold and Levi Pinfold|title=Number the StarsFinding Bear|rating=34.5
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=Copenhagen, 1943, and everyone from schoolgirls like Annemarie up are suffering from shortages[[The Last Bear by Hannah Gold|Last time]], fear and loathing - all caused by Nazi occupiers. But it's always April had been an open countryon Bear Island, has Denmarka lot further north than many people would venture, and no less than the King takes finding a ridiculously unexpected but delightful friendship with a daily horse ride, protected in plain view by every single loyal subjectpolar bear – that she called Bear. But whenBack home, things on the Jewish New Yeardomestic and family front are a bit advanced, but not perfect for her, and so can easily be ignored when word gets out that Jews will have to be hidden more discretely, comes through from the islands Bear was last left on. For a bear doing very Bear-y things kick into actionhas been shot and wounded. Annemarie Desperate to make sure he's OK, she and her family take her best friendfather return to the Arctic and hope that in a world of very white and very dangerous things, Ellen, to she can find one specific white and dangerous thing – and that the country for safety. But it seems death will even follow them there..friendship can continue.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>0007395205</amazonuk>0008582017
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{{newreviewFrontpage|author=Francesca Simon and Tony RossFox|title=Horrid Henry and the Zombie Vampire Deadlock
|rating=4.5
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=He's Late one night Graham Blake is late back from his shift on the leader of the Purple Hand gangforce, and then suddenly rings Archie, the eternal tormentor of his sickeningly goody two shoes brotherdemanding he fetch something from a secret place, and join him on the master of run. They get-rick-quick schemes. He's met the queentogether, tricked but barely begin to smell the tooth fairy and fought off whiff of Southern trains when the bogey babysitter. He's eternally misunderstood and always in trouble. He's Horrid Henry and he father is as charismatic and as hilarious as ever. |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1842551353</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=Sophie McKenzie|title=Sisterarrested, Missing|rating=4|genre=Confident Readers|summary=Lauren has spent a tumultuous couple of years, finding her birth mother and working out ways leaving Archie on the late express to stay in the lives of both of her families. To make things unbearably harderBrighton, her toting a tin his father Sam has died suddenly, nine months before the beginning of this storywas determined to keep away from his colleagues, and the constant hostility bearer of her older sister shows no sign a whole heap of abating. Shelby, understandably, resents the constant attention paid to this sister who turned up out of the blue one day, and feels she is being ignored in consequencequestions.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>0857072889</amazonuk>1839944420
}}
{{newreviewFrontpage|author=T H WhiteCath Howe|title=Mistress Masham's ReposeMy Life on Fire
|rating=5
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=Ten year old Maria Ren's family home is an orphandestroyed in a fire. With a venal Vicar as She, her Guardian parents, and a horrible governessher little brother lose everything. She doesn't have any of her clothes, Maria lives in a corner or any of her practically ruined stately home, with only the cook, Mrs Noakesspecial little knick-knacks from her cupboard, and an absent minded Professor as now she is living at her friends. One summergrandmother's day she takes a leaking punt out on the ornamental lake in the grounds of the housewhere they can't touch anything, and on an artificial islandor do anything, in a Folly (or even eat the Mistress Masham's Repose of the title), foods they normally eat. When she goes back to school she discovers that the class are doing a community special art project, creating boxes of Lilliputianstheir lives, the People. At first she treats them like playthings, desperate to own display things that are important to them and show who they are as she owns a person. But Ren has nothing elseto put in a box, but the Professor helps her and so she finds herself starting to see them as steal things. Small things, things that people worthy of respectmight not really miss, not when they have so much already. But what will happen to her if someone finds out what she is doing?|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1849414823</amazonuk>1839942835
}}
{{newreviewFrontpage|author=Rachel Renee RussellRob Keeley|title=Dork Diaries: How to Dork Your DiaryThe Boy Who Disappeared and Other Stories|rating=3.54
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=#The clue Hooray! Bookbag favourite Rob Keeley is in the title. This is volume 3 and back with a half in return to the ongoing series of adventures for Nikki Maxwell. Here she gets her knickers into a right twist because her diary, which of course contains three books of adventures lusting after the school hunk, hating the school bitch and copious amounts of embarrassment, seems short story format! The Boy Who Disappeared treats us to have got lost at school. Her search for it takes her into places you wouldn't expecteleven new tales, closer each as fun to her BFFs, and into a major discussion about the merits and style of creating your own diaryread as his previous offerings.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>0857073524</amazonuk>B0BVW69N1G
}}
{{newreviewFrontpage|author=Paul Stewart and Chris RiddellLaura Noakes|title=Muddle Earth Too|rating=5|genre=Confident Readers|summary=It takes courage, and Cosima Unfortunate Steals a lot of skill, to write a book which parodies not one but dozens of popular stories, and it is fortunate that Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell are just the guys for the job. They take on wizards, handsome vampires, fairies, princesses, dragons and flying carpets, and jumble the whole lot up together. The result is one hilarious, silly and thoroughly satisfying story.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0230747671</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=Michael Morpurgo|title=War: Stories of ConflictStar
|rating=4
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=Throughout historyMeet Number One. Or rather, war has blighted society and had long lasting impacts on not only those directly involved but the innocent bystanders tooCosima Unfortunate. This collection of stories Or rather, edited just Cos to her friends. The practice in the home she lives in is for the girls to just be named by the magnificent Michael Morpurgo himselfnumber they correspond to in the ledger, and they're all Unfortunates – young people with disabilities, looks uncommon mentalities or suchlike that Victorian society frowns greatly upon. But Cosima bears the tag as a surname because nothing else seems to explore be known about where she came from, as the impacts of war on individual soldiersfirst ever inmate, families and especially childrenunique in having no known family in the outside world. Every story approaches conflicts During a daring escapade to steal some posh cakes from the kitchen one afternoon, she discovers a different angle and this ensures that even though there are plan involving said outside world – a good number of short stories in devilish Lord Fitzroy seems to want to adopt all the bookgirls for his Institute. But why, you will never feel as if and what does that body entail? And could it is becoming repetitive or dull. The stories do a good job of conveying just how multi-faceted and complex possibly bring Cos closer to the concept of war is.past she has so little link with?|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1447205014</amazonuk>0008579059
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{{newreviewFrontpage|author=Karen McCombieAlice M Ross|title=You, Me and Thing: The Curse of the Jelly BabiesNowhere Thief
|rating=4.5
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=At last there is new stock in the bottom of Ruby's garden there lives impoverished yet over-full antiques shop Elsbeth and her mother run in a Thingseaside town. He's a strange creatureElsbeth knows this because she has stolen it. She also knows she should be free from worries about being found out, a little like a squirrel (only don't suggest that to him because you'll make him ''very'' angry! But he she has wingsthe ability to leave this world, and use an unworldly portal of kaleidoscope colours to enter other worlds, where the sea levels are rising dramatically and the buildings are generally empty of humans and huge bush baby eyesripe for plunder. Ruby and Jackson discover him together and decide With eviction imminent, can Elsbeth nab anything to keep his existence secret which actually generate custom at the shop? Well yes, is all well and good until the magic startsanswer, and then there's but the curse and fact a bit of a problem with jelly babies!mysterious man knows exactly which items come from these different Somewheres only raises more questions…|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>0571272398</amazonuk>1839943769
}}
{{newreviewFrontpage|author=Mary HooperNatasha Farrant|title=VelvetThe Rescue of Ravenwood|rating=4.5
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=The opening chapter This story is another excellent adventure from the author of this book is a roller-coaster ''Voyage of a readthe Sparrowhawk''. Velvet has fainted while doing back-breaking Ravenwood is an old house, gruelling work in the North of England, where Bea and Raffy have been living for most of their lives. They are part of a laundrycomplex, extended family arrangement, as Bea is there with her Uncle Leo, and risks being sent to Raffy is there with his mum, and they are living together as a family. They have grown up swimming in the cove, roaming through the workhouse. Quick thinking saves her jobtrees, completely at one with all of the nature around the house and loving every inch of the reader relaxesplace. But now the house is under threat, only as Leo is under pressure from his other two brothers to sell the property to learn a shocking developer as it's becoming more and shameful secret more expensive to maintain. The children find themselves worrying not only about the heroine we have already begun where they're going to like. Her fortunes soon changelive, in true Dickensian stylebut if they'll even be together, but her troubles are not over: this same secret and if Ravenwood itself will come back to haunt her (please excuse the pun) and put her in the power of one of the other charactersbe torn down.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>0747599211</amazonuk>0571348785
}}
{{newreviewFrontpage|author=Tom AnglebergerRobin Birch and Jobe Anderson|title=Darth Paper Strikes BackSecret Beast Club: An Origami Yoda BookThe Unicorns of Silver Street
|rating=4
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=In this follow up to Jayden''The Strange Case s nose is forever in a book, which means he knows a lot about mythological creatures – the phoenixes and unicorns of Origami Yoda'' there the world, for example. Aisha is a addicted to her new paper finger puppet in schooltablet, where she can see videos of anything that might be out there. Harvey has made himself a Darth Vader (Darth Paper) and The problem, as their mothers see it , isthat they are never 'out there' themselves, exploring the outside world of courseHackney, turning him to the dark side! London. I hadnBut when a narrowboat turns up carrying a science-minded, educational purpose, and with a past involving Jayden't read s cousin, they find a magical world they never knew existed. For many of those mythological creatures are real, including the original story to begin with, so I must admit that there were times when I wondered quite what was going one Aisha thinks she's seen on! a bit of local footage. It seems that one The crew of the boys at schoolboat, Dwightincluding a living gargoyle, made an Origami Yoda finger puppet are tasked with saving the rare critters – and this puppet gave his classmates amazing advice, advice that helped them the kids unknowingly have the magical sight needed to join in their school relationships and resolved various problems. Origami Yoda wasDare they side with Leila, undoubtedlythe woman on board, using and her relative who lives as a figure in a painting, and become saviours of the force!unseen?|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1419701274</amazonuk>0241573483
}}
{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Lesley HowarthB09XWSXSKY|title=MapheadMaestro Orpheus and the World Clock|author=Robert Penee and Joanne Grodzinski
|rating=4
|genre=TeensConfident Readers|summary=MapHead and his father Ran are of the Subtle WorldFrederick (or Fred, but never Freddy, please) couldn't sleep. Ran can travel through time A tune, make things disappear and erase human memories. MapHead can flash rather like the map ticking of any place across a clock was playing over and over in his face and bald scalpmind. MapHead is a halfling and now It happened every time he is almost 12, Ran has brought him came to meet visit his human mothergrandfather. As they need He hadn't really wanted to pass for humanscome; after all, theyhe've taken new names - Boothe s ten now and Powers, from a random movie - practised their English, and enrolled MapHead at the same school as his half-brotherall those old clocks don't appeal to him anymore. |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846471206</amazonuk>}}
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{{newreviewFrontpage|author=Susan Cooper, Joseph Delaney, Berlie Doherty, Jamila Gavin, Matt Haig, Robin Jarvis, Derek Landy, Sam Llewellyn, Mal Peet, Philip Reeve and Eleanor UpdaleNigel Baines|title=HauntedA Tricky Kind of Magic
|rating=4.5
|genre=TeensEmerging Readers|summary=I've always enjoyed a good ghost story – whether at a sleepover when I Cooper loves to perform magic tricks. His father was a teenagermagician, or even now reading horror stories in bed in the middle of and named Cooper after the nightgreat Tommy Cooper. As soon as I saw this book I knew I wanted But sadly Cooper's father died suddenly, and now Cooper doesn't quite know who to read itbe, and it did not disappoint; a group of excellent authors from all genres have come together and the result is a collection of brilliant stories not or how to be missed by any ghost hunters out there. And when his dad's prop rabbit starts talking to him, he ''really'' doesn't know what's going on anymore!|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1849393214</amazonuk>1444960261
}}
