Rachel Campbell-Johnston - The Child’s Elephant
Fiction 9+
385 pages
When Bat, a young African herd-boy, stumbles upon an orphaned baby elephant, he takes her home and pledges to look after her. As Meya grows and learns, she becomes part of Bat's family, and is soon the joy of the entire village. But she can't stay with Bat for ever - she belongs to the wild, and with Bat's help she joins an elephant herd, roaming free on the plains. Bat returns to the gentle, peaceful rhythms of village life.
But everything he knows is shattered when he and his best friend Muka are kidnapped and forced into the child army.
Emma Carroll - Letters from the Lighthouse
Fiction 9+
274 pages
February, 1941. After months of bombing raids in London, 12 year old Olive Bradshaw and her little brother Cliff are evacuated to the Devon coast. The only person with two spare beds is Mr Ephraim, the local lighthouse keeper. But he's not used to company and he certainly doesn't want any evacuees.
Desperate to be helpful, Olive becomes his post-girl, carrying secret messages (as she likes to think of the letters) to the villagers. But Olive has a secret of her own. Her older sister Sukie went missing in an air raid, and she's desperate to discover what happened to her.
Julian Clary - The Bolds
Fiction 7+
272 pages
Mr and Mrs Bold are just like you and me: they live in a nice house (in Teddington), they have jobs (like writing Christmas cracker jokes) and they love to have a bit of a giggle. One slight difference: they're hyenas. Yes, that's right - they're covered in fur, have tails tucked into their trousers, and they really, really like to laugh.
So far, they've managed to keep things under wraps, even when their children were born. But the nosey man next door smells a rat (or a hyena), and a trip to the local wildlife park, and the brilliantly wacky heist that results, could be the end of Teddington's best-kept secret.
Eoin Colfer - Artemis Fowl
Fiction 9+
277 pages
12-year-old villain Artemis Fowl is the most ingenious criminal mastermind in history. His bold and daring plan is to hold a leprechaun to ransom. But he's taking on more than he bargained for when he kidnaps Captain Holly Short of the LEPrecon (Lower Elements Police Reconnaissance Unit).