The Thirteen Treasures - Michelle Harrison

The Thirteen Treasures - Michelle Harrison

Pages: 326

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Release Date: 5th January 2009

While visiting her grandmother’s house, Tanya discovers an unsolved mystery. Fifty years ago, a girl vanished in the woods nearby - a girl Tanya’s grandmother will not speak of. Fabian, the caretaker’s son, is tormented by the girl’s disappearance. His grandfather was the last person to see her alive, and has lived under suspicion ever since. Together, Tanya and Fabian decide to find the truth. But Tanya has her own secret: the ability to see faeries. Can it help them to unravel the mystery? Soon they are facing terrible danger - could the manor’s sinister history be about to repeat itself?

I really enjoyed this novel. It was all about mischevious fairies and lots of fairy lore that I love. There was also a dark mystery entwined into the story that kept me hooked. It was a very well written story and the characters seem very real, strangely enough, so do the fairies! I liked it so much that I took it to college with me today so that I could finish it! The really pretty cover, doesn't help either, it just makes me want to stare at it all day!

I strongly recommend this novel as Michelle Harrison has written a brilliant debut which is probably why it won the Waterstone's Children's Award earlier this year. The sequel to The Thirteen Treasures will be out next year.

Oh, and if you want to know more about me, check out my interview with Steph Su on her blog.

Sophie

Life, Interrupted - Damian Kelleher

Life, Interrupted - Damian Kelleher

Pages: 252
Publisher: Piccadilly Press Ltd.
Release Date: 30th January 2009

Other Titles by This Author: Selfish Sophie, So You Want to Make a Film?

‘What’s up with your mum?’

We sit on the railings and, as the grey clouds scud over our heads, I tell Jack and Freya about Mum being ill. I don’t tell them that I’m worried stupid, but they’re my mates, I think that they can work that out for themselves. I also tell them about Jesse and his accident, the prat.

‘Blimey, sixty-six per cent of one family in the hospital at the same time!’ says Jack. ‘You’d better watch yourself, Luke. It could be an ancient Egyptian curse… Why don’t you sleep at mine tonight?’

‘Yeah, go on,’ I say. ‘Don’t fancy another night home alone.’ to tell the truth, I’ve eaten the last pizza anyway.

Luke’s world is turned upside down when his mum collapses at the hospital where she works as a nurse. Fourteen-year-old Luke and his football-obsessed younger brother Jesse each cope in their different ways, and, as time passes, they must confront some painful truths.

Honest, funny and deeply moving, this is a story about facing the worst and surviving.

At times I found this book very hard to read. I've lost count how many times that it made me cry; it was heartbreaking. This was reinforced by the very real characters that made the story feel alive. It also dealt with lots of issues that aren't talked about by kids very often, but not in a preachy or patronising way. For this reason, I think it will resonate with lots of people.

I even didn't mind all of the attention that it gave to football and that's high praise indeed for a sports-hater like me! This was a very sad, but very good book, that I recommend, even though you should probably stock up on tissues first!

Sophie

Waiting on Wednesday I

This was started by Jill over at Breaking the Spine. It tells everyone about the books that you are most looking forward to.

The Ant Colony - Jenny Valentine

An irresistible new novel from Guardian-award-winning novelist, Jenny Valentine. Number 33 Georgiana Street houses many people and yet seems home to none. To runaway Sam it is a place to disappear. To Bohemia, it's just another blip between crises, as her mum ricochets off the latest boyfriend. Old Isobel acts like she owns the place, even though it actually belongs to Steve in the basement, who is always looking to squeeze in yet another tenant. Life there is a kind of ordered chaos. Like ants, they scurry about their business, crossing paths, following their own tracks, no questions asked. But it doesn't take much to upset the balance. Dig deep enough and you'll find that everyone has something to hide!

(summary from waterstones.com)

Release Date: 5th March 2009

I loved Jenny's previous two novels, Finding Violet Park (Me, the Missing and the Dead in the US) and Broken Soup so I'm really looking forward to reading this.

Sophie

Love, Lies and Lizzie - Rosie Rushton

Love, Lies and Lizzie - Rosie Rushton

Pages: 216
Publisher: Piccadilly Press Ltd.
Release Date: 27th February 2009

Other Titles in the Series: The Secrets of Love, Summer of Secrets, Secret Schemes and Daring Dreams

What would happen if the traumas of teenage life and love from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice were transferred to the twenty-first century?

When Mrs Bennett inherits enough money to move into the kind of village she has always dreamed of, her daughters find themselves swept up in a glamorous life of partying and country pursuits.

But Lizzie and her sisters soon discover that, beneath the very smart surface, lurks a web of intrigue and rivalries…

‘For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbours, and laugh at them in our turn?’ Jane Austen, PRIDE AND PREJUDICE

The fourth of Rosie Rushton’s very successful Jane Austen updates.

Like the rest of Rosie Rushton's books, this was a quick, fun read that wraps you up in the world she's created. It was fun seeing the parallels between this and Pride and Prejudice and spotting what she had changed or altered. But saying that, she was incredibly loyal to the book and only changed what needed to be changed in order for it fit in the 21st century.

The Pride and Prejudice quotes at the beginning of each chapter were a great way to start them because it enabled me to see exactly where in the story I was and kept the connection to Pride and Prejudice in the forefront.

I'm amazed that Jane Austen's characters and storylines are still largely relevant over two-hundred years later and Rosie Rushton did an excellent job of bringing Austen's classic story to a new generation.

Sophie

Split by a Kiss - Luisa Plaja

Split by a Kiss - Luisa Plaja

Pages: 309
Publisher: Corgi
Release Date: 6th April 2008

Other Titles by This Author: Extreme Kissing (not yet released)

I’m two different people. Literally, I’m split.

Jo has never been one of the popular kids…until she moves to the USA. Suddenly the coolest girls at her new high school adopt her, and the hottest boy, Jake Matthews, notices her. But when Jake picks her as his partner in the kissing game Seven Minutes in Heaven, it’s not half as heavenly as she imagined!

Jo has a choice: should she carry on with Jake or guaranteed popularity - or should she tell him where to get off and risk losing her new friends…?

At this moment - Jo splits. She’s Josie the Cool - girlfriend of Jake, member of the in-crowd. But she’s also Jo the Nerd - rejected by the It girls, single…ordinary will her two halves ever come together again?

This was a quick fun read that I really enjoyed. Luisa Plaja's writing has an ease and a flow about it that carries you through the story effortlessly.

The reference to Tanya Lee Stone's book A Bad Boy Can Be Good For a Girl made me giggle because I love seeing references that I actually get and can say "I've read that!" to. I really didn't expect Jo the Nerd and Josie the Cool to have their own chapters and their stories to run parallel to each other so that was a surprise. I thought that it was really clever.

I'm definitely going to pick up Luisa's second novel Extreme Kissing when it's released in April.

Sophie