Title: The Night Bus Hero Author: Onjali Q. Raúf This book is about a boy called Hector who is a bully. He makes fun of all the kids in his class and with the help of his two best friends, Will and Katie, he also steals from them. Hector hates everyone who is stupider than him but the people that he hates the most are the teachers’ pets. They infuriate him so much that he specifically goes out of his way to make their life hell. Hector is always getting into trouble but he doesn’t mind as his best ideas come from when he is in detention. But recently he has been caught more often and his friends think that he is slacking. Hector needs to do something despicable and fast so he can gain their trust back. On their way home from school, Hector sees a homeless man and an idea hits him. He needs to steal the homeless man’s hat. But things don’t go as planned and he gets caught again. So the next day he tries something even more despicable, he steals the old man’s trolley. As he pushes it down the hill though, it rolls into…

Title: When the Sky Falls Author: Phil Earle This book is set during World War 2 and it is about a boy called Joseph. Joseph used to live with his grandma up in Northern England while his dad was away fighting in France. However, his grandmother couldn’t handle his angry behaviour so she sent him away to a woman in London called Mrs F. When he arrives in London, he doesn’t get off to a good start with Mrs F, like most people he meets. She also took an instant disliking to his behaviour and this causes him to feel isolated. Mrs F forces him to work with her at the local zoo that she owns but he hates it there. There are barely any animals as they were all sent away or killed because of the war. One day, when he is standing next to one of the cages, he starts hitting the bars with a sudden burst of anger and a gorilla appears and charges at him through the bars. The gorilla is called Adonis and Joseph instantly hates him as he gave him the fright of his life. Later that night Joseph finally experiences an air raid…

Title: Crater Lake Evolution Author: Jennifer Killick This is the second book in the Crater Lake series. Lance and his friends have just gone off to Secondary School and don’t really talk with each other anymore as they all have new friends. One day while Lance is playing videogames with his new friend Karim, there is a giant explosion at the Local University. Karim’s mum has been working on a project there called XGEN. This project is developing technology to make Straybridge (and then the rest of the world) a smart town. Later that night on the news, they announce that they had been keeping a dangerous creature at the University and that the creature had broken free during the explosion. This was then followed by Straybridge going into a full lockdown with an evening curfew. This causes Lance’s mum to go into a panic and she covers up all the cracks in the house and under the doorframes so that the creature could not attack them. Lance then wakes up early in the morning as he cannot sleep and finds his mum in the kitchen. She is pouring him some hot chocolate when she suddenly freezes. She is like…

Title: Arctic Star Author: Tom Palmer This book is about 3 lifelong friends called Stephen, Joseph and Frank, who are from Plymouth and who all love boats. When the Second World War starts in 1940 they all enrol in the navy (as their fathers had been doing for centuries) and are tasked with guarding an Arctic Convoy traveling with supplies to help Russia who is their ally. The ship’s crew live in constant fear of German U-boats, torpedoes, and the German battleship, the Scharnhorst. They know that every second could be their last. They must travel north of the German bases in Norway and avoid combat with the German air force and Navy, and survive the freezing arctic waters. They have all heard stories about Russia and Joseph is excited to visit and understand the differences between the two nations but luck doesn’t appear to be on their side leading to disaster after disaster. And Joseph’s love of Russia is ruined after he realises that it isn’t as amazing as he originally thought! What disasters happen? Do they make it back home? Read the book to find out! We really enjoyed reading this book (along with all the other fantastic…

We recently discovered The Little Local Book Hub in our area. It’s a place where the whole family can go and swap or borrow books. Our local Book Hub has a phone box (and book shelves) full of exciting books for all ages and the lady who runs it, is really helpful and has book recommendations for everyone. We discovered a new author while we were there called Joe Craig and and we are really enjoying his Jimmy Coates series at the moment. We will definitely be posting a 5* review soon!  Take a look at the Little Local Book Hub webpage to see if there is one near you.  The Book Brothers

Title: Cardboard Cowboys Author: Brian Conaghan This book is about a boy called Lenny who has just moved to secondary school. Lenny is being bullied because he is fat so he spends most of his time bunking off school on his bench by the river. His family also seems distant and act like they don’t appreciate him. His parents spend all their time thinking about his brother who is no longer at home. One day, when Lenny is bunking off school, he is eating his daily snack by the river when he decides to throw his rubbish in the water. Out of nowhere, a man in a red bobble hat appears and shouts at him. Lenny is scared and runs back to school but he can’t stop thinking about the man in the red bobble hat all day. The next day, he is brave enough and decides to return to the river and look for the man. While he is there, he finds the man’s house; it is made of cardboard. Lenny is scared that he will be kidnapped by this strange homeless man but instead they become friends. This is the start of an unlikely friendship between him and…

Title: Vi Spy: Licence to Chill Author: Maz Evans Vi’s mum (Easter Day) is an ex-spy who has spent the past eleven years in retirement in order to protect her daughter from evil. However, as everyone knows Spies are awful at keeping secrets and Vi finds out that her Mum is a spy and wants to follow in her footsteps. One day, when her mum is getting married to George Sprout (who also happens to be Vi’s teacher and doesn’t know Easter is a spy) everything starts to go downhill. Vi’s real Dad, who she thought was dead, turns up and cancels the wedding. But why would he do that? Soon after, Vi finds out that her dad wants to see her more often even though Easter doesn’t think it is a good idea. He used to be known as Sir Charge and used to work with Umbra – the greatest super villain of all time – who had died whilst fighting Easter 10 years earlier. Vi suddenly decides she wants to see her dad more often as he may be her chance to become a Spy and get into Rimmington Hall (spy school), as he wants her to become…

Title: One in a Hundred Thousand Author: Linni Ingemundsen Sander is one in a hundred thousand. He has Silver-Russell Syndrome, which means that he doesn’t grow as much as everyone else. Sander feels out of place in his year group at school. He is also failing his tests on purpose to try to move down a year, to be with his only friends, his brother, Adrian, and Adrian’s friend, Filip. However, his Mum finds out about his grades and gets him a tutor. The problem is that his new tutor Sofia is the most popular girl in the school! Meanwhile, a new boy joins their school and becomes friends with his brother. His name is Niklas. Adrian and Filip are obsessed with him and do anything he does but Sander doesn’t like him because Niklas is arrogant, brags and lies a lot. Sander loves old-fashioned photography and he discovered this passion after his dad died when he found his Dad’s Olympus camera. One day when Sander is helping his Mum volunteer at his local church, he discovers that a photography course is taking place there using old cameras and film.  Sander uses his film camera all the time as he…

Title: The Soul Hunters Author: Chris Bradford This book is about a girl called Genna who loves history. She has been invited to view a private collection of historical items collected by her best friend’s parents. As she is exploring, she stumbles across an empty room full of South American treasures and she begins to hear a strange noise. Her eyes flick over the room until they rest upon a knife made of pure jade. It is unbeknown to her as to why she cannot take her eyes off it. She moves towards the knife and opens the case. As she opens the case, she begins to hear the noises again but this time, they are much louder. She can smell smoke and just before she touches the knife, a voice snaps her back to reality. The voice belongs to a boy who claims that his name is Damien and as he touches her skin, his eyes turn to black pools of ink. His grip tightens around her hand and she begins to feel uncomfortable. Thankfully, her friend saves her from the awkward situation. Due to this encounter, she decides to leave early and because the train station is closed,…

Title: The Kid Who Came From Space Author: Ross Welford This book is about a boy called Ethan and his twin sister Tammy. One Christmas Eve, Tammy mysteriously disappears and leaves no evidence of where she has gone. Only her bike remains in the dirt next to the lake. Soon everyone in the small village where she is from is spending their Christmas searching for her. To make her brother feel better, a boy from his school, called Iggy, decides to go fishing with him. But, halfway through, while they are fishing, something very weird happens. It starts with a very low humming noise, and then they start to see a slight dip in the water’s surface. They decide to investigate. They throw rocks at the invisible object, and they bounce off its surface. So, they get into their canoe to get a closer look. When they get close to the object, the canoe capsizes, and they are thrown into the water. While they are swimming to shore, Iggy gets his leg tied up in a fishing line and cuts it. Once they have detangled him and are out of the water, a mysterious alien appears out of nowhere. She…