BOOKS


after plunging on a roller- coaster adventure through space and time.


Previews Children’s Previews


neighbourhood “wishtree”, helps bring two friends together in this charming story, a New York Times bestseller when published by Macmillan US.


Jason Cockroft Running with Horses Andersen Press, 7th, £12.99, hb, 9781839132087 Rabbit and his new friend Joe stumble across a man who is being held hostage by a criminal gang. Cockroft’s We Were Wolves, which was longlisted for the CILIP Carnegie Medal, is out in paperback this month.


Stewart Foster Can You Feel the Noise? S&S Children’s, 7th, £7.99, pb, 9781471191275 Foster draws on his own history in this touching tale about a girl who wakes up completely deaf one morning, but finds strength through her friendships and her love of music.


Jessica Scott-Whyte The Asparagus Bunch Welbeck Flame, 21st, £7.99, pb, 9781801300469 Thirteen-year-old Leon navigates a new school and friendship in this funny début that explores themes of neurodiversity and dyslexia.


Katie Zhao Last Gamer Standing Scholastic, 7th, £6.99, pb, 9780702318252 Twelve-year-old Reyna hides her identity to take part in a $10,000 gaming championship. When a troll threatens to reveal she is a girl, Reyna has to confront the toxic gaming community head-on.


Kwame Mbalia Last Gate of the Emperor 2: The Royal Trials Scholastic, 7th, £6.99, pb, 9780702317408 A sci-fi adventure loosely based on the real-life story of Prince Joel Makonnen, a member of the Ethiopian royal family. Second in the series.


Daisy May Johnson How to be True Pushkin Children’s Books, 7th, £7.99, pb, 9781782693277 When Edie’s activist parents leave Paris, her grandmother sends her to the School of Good Sisters. But Edie and her friends are soon caught up in a mystery involving a precious painting and secrets from her grand- mother’s past. A sequel to, and just as charming as, How to be Brave.


Alex Cotter The Mermaid Call Nosy Crow, 7th, £7.99, pb, 9781839941900 A tense mystery about Vivian, who joins Alice on her quest to find the mermaid of the lake and instead finds herself in watery danger.


Katherine Applegate Wishtree Welbeck Flame, 21st, £7.99, pb, 9781801300704 Red, an old


30 22nd April 2022


Jeff Kinney Rowley Jefferson’s Awesome Friendly Spooky Stories Puffin, 21st, £6.99, pb, 978 0241530412 Meet zombies, witches, ghosts and more in Rowley Jefferson’s third adventure, now out in paperback.


Cat Gray Spellstoppers Usborne, 7th, £7.99, pb, 9781801310031 Max believes he is cursed because whenever he touches anything electri- cal, it explodes. But when he is sent to live with his grandfather he finds out he is a Spellstopper, meaning he can fix misbe- having magical items. Début author Gray has created a delightful yet perilous magical world in which readers will want to lose themselves.


Clare Povey The Unexpected Tale of the Bad Brothers Usborne, 7th, £7.99, pb, 9781474986502 Bastien Bonlivre is once


again in trouble because his enemy Olivier Odieux has escaped jail, and Bastien and his friends embark on a treasure hunt. A sequel to The Unexpected Tale of Bastien Bonlivre, which was a Waterstones Children’s Book of the Month.


G M Linton My Name is


Sunshine Simpson Usborne, 7th, £6.99, pb, 9781801313346 First in a sweet series about family, friend- ship and the Windrush community. Acquired in a seven-way auction.


investigate the illegal killing of golden eagles. A hilarious whodunit adventure from the author of How to Rob a Bank.


Adam Baron Some Sunny Day HarperCollins Children’s Books, 7th, £7.99, pb, 9780008422370 When Mrs Stebbings is taken into hospital during the coronavirus pandemic, Cymbeline Igloo begins looking into the school cook’s childhood during the Second World War. Baron is the author of five novels and runs the MA in Creative Writing at Kingston University.


P J Canning 21% Monster Usborne, 7th, £7.99, pb, 9781474984416 When Darren Devil is arrested for destroying school buildings, he is rescued by Marek, who reveals that Darren is in fact 21% monster. Together they try to take down the secret organisation that created them.


Jean Ure Dandelion HarperCollins Children’s Books, 7th, £6.99, pb, 9780008498108 In this new novel from legendary author Ure, 12-year-old Lily is walking to school when a girl dressed in a green sparkly dress and purple tights suddenly appears. She looks out of place, given that it is 1953. Could she be from the future?


Sara Pennypacker, Jon Klassen (illus) Pax, Journey Home HarperCollins Children’s Books, 7th, £7.99, pb, 9780008371722 Now out in paperback, Pennypacker’s story of Peter and his fox is gorgeously illustrated by Klassen.


Tom Mitchell When Things Went Wild HarperCollins Children’s Books, 7th, £6.99, pb, 9780008403539 When Kit moves to the Highlands, he starts to


Elizabeth Laird The Misunderstandings of Charity Brown Macmillan Children’s Books, 7th, £12.99, hb, 9781529075632 Charity Brown’s family inherits a large house just after the Second World War and the eponymous character learns about love and life in a coming- of-age story based on the author’s own childhood. Macmillan is planning a nationwide PR campaign, with teacher-focused digital resources.


Enid Blyton The Island of Adventure Macmillan Children’s Books, 7th, £6.99, pb, 9781529008821 MCB is reissuing Blyton’s classic Adventure series, about Philip, Dinah, Lucy- Ann, Jack and Kiki the parrot, with retro cover designs that will appeal to adults nostalgic for their childhood reading. Seven other titles are out this month, including The Castle of Adventure and The Valley of Adventure.


Ewa Jozefkowicz The Dragon in the Bookshop Zephyr, 7th, £7.99, pb, 9781801109208 Konrad and his friend Maya get lost in a book of folk tales and help a misunderstood dragon in this novel about grief and finding your voice.


Greg James, Chris Smith, Amy Nguyen (illus) The Great Dream Robbery Puffin, 7th, £7.99, pb, 9780241470473 James and Smith’s first book for Puffin is a standalone about Maya, a girl who must rescue


her father because he has been trapped in dreams. Previously published in hardback.


Lauren Wolk My Own Lightening Penguin, 7th, £7.99, pb, 9780241424216 Several months have passed since the events that changed the commu- nity of Wolf Hollow, and when Annabelle is struck by lightning, she is left with the ability to connect with animals. A novel about forgiveness and friendship.


Helenka Stachera


Fin and the Memory Cruse Puffin, 21st, £7.99, pb, 978 0241491331 Foundling Fin not only discovers she is the lost child of a rich Polish family, she is also the key to stopping an ancient. evil. Stachera drew on her Polish heritage to create this historical, fantastical standalone.


the Doodle series, which has sold 9,000 copies, according to Barrington Stoke.


Serena Patel, Louise Forshaw (illus) Picture Perfect Barrington Stoke, 7th, £6.99, pb, 9781800900905 Sonal and his family undergo a digital detox on a camping trip. Will they have fun, or will it end in disaster? An engaging comedy about screen time.


Anna James, Jez Tuya (illus) Hetty and the Battle of the Books Barrington Stoke, 7th, £6.99, pb, 9781800900998 Four friends battle to keep the library open when the headteacher says it must be shut down. A timely and positive story, with charming illustrations from Tuya.


Anna Hoghton Orla and the Wild Hunt Chicken House, 7th, £7.99, pb, 9781912626113 Hoghton draws on Irish folklore and mythology in her latest novel, which is about a shape-shifting darkness known as the Wild Hunt, and two children who must rescue their missing grandmother.


Angharad Walker Once Upon a Fever Chicken House, 7th, £7.99, pb, 9781912626984 Walker’s Gothic and fantastical second novel opens in a hospital, where sisters Payton and Ani are locked away from the outside world. Why is it dangerous to feel emotions? And who is the mystery boy who turns everything he touches to gold?


Jonathan Meres, Katy Halford (illus) Noodle the Doodle Wins the Day Barrington Stoke, 7th, £6.99, pb, 9781800901094 Sports Day has arrived at Wigley Primary in the latest title in the Noodle


Katya Balen, Richard Johnson (illus) Birdsong Barrington Stoke, 7th, £6.99, pb, 9781800900981 Balen, who is shortlisted for this year’s Carnegie Medal with October, October, brings her emotive, lyrical writing to Barrington Stoke with this story about a girl who loses her drive to play music after an accident. Barrington Stoke’s lead title for July.


J T Williams The Lizzie and Belle Mysteries Farshore, 9th June, £7.99, pb, 9780008485252 This thrilling mystery is set in the 18th century and was inspired by real Black British historical figures. Twelve-year-olds Lizzie Sancho and Dido Belle live in different worlds but when some- thing suspicious occurs at the theatre, they team up to try and work out what happened. Acquired as part of a two-book deal.


Tom Vaughan, Nathan Reed (illus) A Gangster Stole My Trunks


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