This is yet another book nominated for Wirral Paperback of the Year, which I took out from our school library. This wasn't normally one of the type of books I'd read, but once I got into it, it turned out to be one of the most original and moving stories I've read! I t may look like a girly book, and in all truth, it's about a girl and her sister, but I found it very engaging, and was truly emotional. It's about a teenage girl, Rowan, who due to her mum being very distressed (after her bother Jack died) ends up looking after her little sister Stroma, like her mum should have been.Rowan's dad has split up with her mum. Incredibly moving, this book will have you laughing and crying. It's brilliant. Life is not so good, until a boy shows up in a queue and hands her a photo, of her dead brother Jack. She comes to like this boy, and trusts him very much. But just as things start to look up, Rowan's mum was found by her dad, cut, in the bath. She is taken to hospital, where her mum promises she will try to get better. Then, Rowan discovers that her friend Bee has had a child, whose dad is none other than Jack.For a tale about grief, depression and divorce it is most enjoyable: a life-affirming, witty, romantic read, about freedom, responsibility and love.Well worth reading, this is the second book in a series, beginning with Finding Violet Park.

Set in eighteenth century India, this is definitely the worst book I've reviewed so far, but is not the worst I've read. It follows the story of Anila Tandy, who has the amazing ability to draw animals, but especially birds. She lives with Miss Hickey, her guardian, but is persuaded by her to go on a trip down the Gandes, to draw the magnificent birds along the banks. But she has been left to fend for herself in a city of rouges, and dangerous men. The trip up the Gandes may be just the thing to help her find her father, who has been missing for years. This may be, to some people, an extremely interesting and varied story, portraying India well, with it's sights smells, and sounds. Menace and mystery await this young girl in the man's word of the 1700s. This is Mary Finn's first novel, and one I borrowed from our school library for the Wirral Paperback of the Year. I can say for certain that this will not be on my shortlist, though other readers may enjoy the complicated plot of this book. In the end she does find her father, and so there may or may not be a sequel. If there is, I personally will not be buying it, but some good writing is present, Mary just has yet to perfect it!

This is Eion (pronounced Owen) Colfers first historical fiction novel, after the best-selling Artemis Fowl series. This book follows the story of one Connor Broekhart, who was born flying, and so was born to fly. He and the Frenchman Victor are together, scientific masterminds, planning to overcome flight. The king of Saltee is all in appreciation of this, and provides them the materials they need. Set in an age of discovery and invention, where flying is first tested, this makes for a great read. As a child he and the princess Isabella were best friends, until they both grew up and went their separate ways. All was fine as Conor prepares to test a new model he and Victor had built, when a cruel but sophisticated man called Bonvilain takes Victors pistol and shoots both the king and the Frenchman dead, Conor of framed and took prisoner mining the diamond that Little Saltee is famous for. He is locked up with a blind but wise man, who gives Conor hope. The stupid Guard is bribed by Conor, and after collecting materials necessary, he builds a flying machine. He escapes during the coronation of the queen, but will he survive to save Isabella, regain his fathers trust, and avenge the king? This is quite a long story, but a strong reader would manage it, and enjoy it! Published this year, it is a different genre from Eions usual work, but he's done a very good job of it. I recommend this greatly, and hope you buy it!

This is a masterfully well crafted vampire story set in the remote and forbidding landscapes of the seventeenth century. This book breathes new life into the living dead genre of horror. The well paced story moves the reader dramatically towards resolution. This is a very well written book with a wide appeal. Anyone who is able to read maturely should read this. This book is based on the very first stories of vampire folklore, where the living dead where more like zombies with a blood lust. This is bone-chilling and with transfix readers. It is a relatively small book, with only around two hundred pages. In the story a strong woodcutter named Peter lives with his drunken father Thomas on the edge of a very superstitious town, where the people keep themselves to themselves. The story really begins when a body is found in the wood, with his heart pulled out, though they bury him as a suicide. Peter feels something is wrong, though dismisses it. Until the Gypsies come in their beautiful painted wagons, that brighten up the white of winter. A young girl, Sofia, realises something is not right as well, and together, by strange circumstances, investigate. A magnificently well written book by an author with six other books under his belt, this must be read if possible. A haunting novel in which Thomas holds the key. An intriguing Gothic tale, this must be read! A modern masterpiece!

I took this book out from our school library, as it is one of the nominated for Wirral Paperback of the year. It's a great, haunting novel set in the not-so-far future, where resources have been used up and adults, or "Legals" have decided children are using up our oxygen and don't deserve to be alive or walking. So they send these children to Grange Hall, where the head matron Mrs Pincent makes the children Useful, and finally makes them Valuable Assets, working for the Legals. These children are known by everyone only as Surpluses. Anna is such a Surplus, and a good one too. She is on the verge of becoming a Valuable Asset, and the people at the hall have made her hate her parents, because if they hadn't had created her, then there would be more resources for the Legals. Her life is going fine, though she has a secret- a diary given to her by a woman she worked with during work experience. Surpluses aren't allowed written words, so she must keep this hidden. She is a model Surplus, and Mrs Pincent loves her, but when Peter, a teenage boy, is caught and brought in, her life changes. They plan an escape, and Peter says he would take her to her parents, who loves her. This is a beautifully written book, by a promising first time author. This is a book for all children who are mature readers, and adults alike. A perfectly intriguing book, with an important message. Well done Gemma Malley! Wonderful!