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Topic: Books of the Month - Favourite Books of 2018

Walls

Chapter book

An unforgettable hero. A fresh and unique voice. Meet Ned Harrison Arkle-Smith – he’s grumpy, bossy, and exasperating, but you can’t help liking him. Oh, and he’s just discovered he can walk through walls . . . Ned’s world is collapsing. His parents have split up, his best friend is behaving strangely, he has an awful new neighbour, and Snapper is making his life a misery. In fact NOBODY is behaving the way Ned wants. And then there’s the wall. Right down the middle of Ivy Lodge and cutting up Ned’s life. A big brick reminder of all that’s going wrong in his life. Until, that is, the night when Ned discovers he has an astonishing new skill… A fun and intriguing concept that readers will delight in. Perfect for fans of Ross Welford and Lara Williamson.

You’re Safe With Me

Picturebook

When the moon rises high and the stars twinkle, it is bedtime for the baby animals of the Indian forest. But tonight, when the skies turn dark and the night grows stormy, the little ones can’t sleep. SWISH-SWISH! CRACK-TRACK! FLASH-SNAP! goes the storm. Only Mama Elephant with her words of wisdom can reassure them. “You’re safe with me.” A modern fable that reads like a folktale, this beautifully illustrated tale of motherly love is a perfect bedtime story.

The Lost Magician

Chapter book

If you can imagine it, it exists… somewhere.’ A spellbinding adventure from the bestselling, award-winning author of The Last Wild trilogy.

1945. They have survived the Blitz, but when Simon, Patricia, Evelyn and Larry step through a mysterious library door, it is the beginning of their most dangerous adventure yet. They discover the magical world of Folio, where an enchanted kingdom of fairy knights, bears and tree gods is under threat from a sinister robot army.

The many stories of the Library are locked in eternal war, and the children’s only hope is to find their creator – a magician who has been lost for centuries.

What they find will change not just their own lives, but the fate of the world, for ever…

An ode to the world of Narnia, The Lost Magician is a classic in the making from one of the UK’s most talented children’s authors.

A Darkness of Dragons

Chapter book

In a world of dragons, song-spells, pipers and battles…

Patch Brightwater is in disgrace. Thrown in jail for playing a forbidden spell, he is no one’s idea of a hero. But then he discovers a deadly truth – the evil Piper of Hamelyn is on the loose. With the help of Wren, a girl cursed to live as a rat, and Barver, a fire-breathing dracogriff, Patch must stop the Piper sparking the biggest battle of them all.

Three accidental heroes versus one legendary villain…an epic adventure is born.

A perfectly pitched fantasy adventure for readers aged 9+ and for fans of The Hobbit and How to Train Your Dragon. It was a Waterstones Children’s Book of the Month in 2018.

Snowglobe

Chapter book

The beautifully spellbinding and critically-acclaimed story of a thousand magical worlds from the author of A Girl Called Owl and A Far Away Magi c.

When daydreamer Clementine discovers a mysterious house standing in the middle of town that was never there before, she is pulled towards it by the powerful sense of a mother she never knew. The place is full of snowglobes, swirling with stars and snow and each containing a trapped magician, watched over by Gan, the bitter keeper of the house. One of these is Dylan, a boy who teases her in the real world but who is now desperate for her help.

So Clem ventures into the snowglobes, rescuing Dylan and discovering her own powerful connection to the magic of these thousand worlds. Vowing to release the magicians from the control of their enchantments, Clem unknowingly unleashes a struggle for power that will not only put her family, but the future of magic itself in danger.

The Way Past Winter

Chapter book

From the bestselling author of THE GIRL OF INK & STARS comes an unforgettable read for young and old alike: an exciting adventure to the frozen north, perfect for fans of Philip Pullman.

Mila and her sisters live with their brother Oskar in a small forest cabin in the snow. One night, a fur-clad stranger arrives seeking shelter for himself and his men.

But by the next morning, they’ve gone – taking Oskar with them.

Fearful for his safety, Mila and her sisters set out to bring Oskar back – even it means going north, crossing frozen wild-lands to find a way past an eternal winter.

The third children’s novel by Times number one bestselling author Kiran Millwood Hargrave, winner of the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize and the British Book Awards Children’s Book of the Year

From the author of The Girl of Ink & Stars, The Island at the End of Everything, Julia and the Shark and The Mercies – chosen for the Richard & Judy Book Club

The Way Past Winter combines high adventure with beautiful writing and a wintry folk-tale feel – a gorgeous literary novel for all year round.

The Girl, The Cat and the Navigator

Chapter book

An enchanting, charming story of bravery on the ice-tipped ocean, with stunning art by Anuska Allepuz on every page. Curious, pin-bright Oona Britt dreams of setting sail with her ship’s captain father for a life of excitement on the wild waves. She has read stories of a magical creature – the Nardoo – who swims through the stars at night, and stows away on whaling boat the Plucky Leopard for an adventure full of myths and marvel among the ice-caps.

The Storm Keeper’s Island

Chapter book

When Fionn Boyle sets foot on Arranmore Island, it begins to stir beneath his feet …

Once in a generation, Arranmore Island chooses a new Storm Keeper to wield its power and keep its magic safe from enemies. The time has come for Fionn’s grandfather, a secretive and eccentric old man, to step down. Soon, a new Keeper will rise.

But, deep underground, someone has been waiting for Fionn. As the battle to become the island’s next champion rages, a more sinister magic is waking up, intent on rekindling an ancient war.

The Skylarks’ War

Chapter book

Winner of the Costa Children’s Book Award 2018.

The Skylarks’ War is a beautiful story following the loves and losses of a family growing up against the harsh backdrop of World War One, from the award-winning Hilary McKay.

Clarry and her older brother Peter live for their summers in Cornwall, staying with their grandparents and running free with their charismatic cousin, Rupert. But normal life resumes each September – boarding school for Peter and Rupert, and a boring life for Clarry at home with her absent father, as the shadow of a terrible war looms ever closer.

When Rupert goes off to fight at the front, Clarry feels their skylark summers are finally slipping away from them. Can their family survive this fearful war?

The Restless Girls

Chapter book

A dazzling, feminist fairytale from the bestselling author of The Miniaturist and The Muse. This inspirational story about family, sisterhood, imagination and bravery is a modern classic to be handed down from mother to daughter for generations.

For her twelve daughters, Queen Laurelia’s death in a motor car accident is a disaster beyond losing a mother. Their father, King Alberto, cannot bear the idea of the princesses ever being in danger and decides his daughters must be kept safe at all costs. Those costs include their lessons, their possessions and, most importantly, their freedom.

But the eldest, Princess Frida, will not bend to his will without a fight and she still has one possession her father can’t take: the power of her imagination. And so, with little but wits and ingenuity to rely on, Frida and her sisters begin their fight to be allowed to live.

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Stone Girl Bone Girl

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