REVIEW: Mountwood School For Ghosts - Tony Ibbotson

GENRE: MG/Supernatural
PAGES: 272
PUBLISHER: Macmillan
FORMAT: Hardback
BUY IT: Waterstones
RATING: 4 Stars

SUMMARY

Fredegonda, Goneril, and Drusilla are Great Hagges, much more important and much rarer than regular old hags. They think that ghosts these days are decidedly lacking and that people haven't been scared of ghosts for years. So one day they decide that something needs to change - it's time for these ghosts to learn a thing or two about being scary. And what better way to teach them than to set up their very own school for ghosts?

REVIEW

A wonderful book that combines mystery, mayhem and ghosts! A trio of terrifying hagges decide to set up a school for ghosts to train them in all things ghastly, and they become embroiled in the life of Daniel and Charlotte as they try and save their homes. It's funny, clever and brilliantly written, the descriptions are so vivid I could see exactly what was being described. Perfect for 7-12 year olds.

- Gem.

REVIEW: A Little Something Difference - Sandy Hall

GENRE: Contemporary/Romance
PAGES: 272
PUBLISHER: Macmillan
FORMAT: Paperback
BUY IT: Waterstones
RATING: 4 Stars

SUMMARY

Lea and Gabe are in the same creative writing class. They get the same pop-culture references, order the same Chinese food and hang out in the same places. Unfortunately, Lea is reserved, Gabe has issues, and despite their initial mutual crush it looks like they are never going to work things out. But somehow, even when nothing is going on, something is happening between them, and everyone can see it. Their creative-writing teacher pushes them together. The baristas at the local Starbucks watch their relationship like a TV show. Their bus driver tells his wife about them. The waitress at the diner automatically seats them together. Now they just need to realize that they're meant for each other, and start falling in love...

REVIEW

The most enjoyable romance book I have read for a long time! This book was so refreshing, it took the basic principle of two young people falling in love and deals with it in an interesting and touching way. Told from the point of view of 14 people (it's easy to follow despite so many view points), each person has their own take on Lea and Gabe, and each of them has their own personality that makes it really fun to see what they think is happening. My favourite is Inga, I wish I had had a teacher like her! This is such a great book, the perfect book to curl up on the sofa with and the next thing you know you'll have read the entire thing and be grinning from ear to ear! I knew I was going to like it after 7 pages when there was a Buffy reference... Read this now :)

- Gem.

REVIEW: Code Red Lipstick - Sarah Sky

GENRE: Contemporary/Humour

PAGES: 336
PUBLISHER: Scholastic
FORMAT: Paperback
BUY IT: Waterstones
RATING: 5 Stars

SUMMARY

Jessica Cole is just your average teenager, except when she's strutting down the glamorous catwalks of Paris. When her father, a former spy, vanishes mysteriously, Jessica takes matters into her own hands. She's not just good at striking a pose, she's going to take on MI6 and beat them at their own game. Following her father's trail, Jessica's investigation lands her hot on the heels of a deranged former supermodel, Allegra Knight, who plans to unleash mayhem on an unsuspecting teenage population with the launch of her new miracle face cream, Teenosity.

REVIEW

A fun and fresh take on contemporary fiction - it blends everything I love about books; engaging characters, an exciting plot and the ability for me to picture what is happening. 

Jessica Cole is great - a modern day Nancy Drew (kind of like a grown up Ruby Redfort by Lauren Child) combined with an even more sarky version of Harriet Manners in Holly Smale's Geek Girl. Even though I'm comparing the characters, they are different enough for it to be a totally different reading experience - Jessica is involved in both the modelling world and that of spying, full of high tech gadgets and dark and deadly secrets. I found myself completely captivated by Jessica's world, I read the book so quickly because I wanted to know how she was going to save the situation... 

I can't wait to read the next instalment :)

- Gem

GUEST REVIEW: Anna and the French Kiss - Stephanie Perkins

PAGES: 380
PUBLISHER: Usbourne
FORMAT: Paperback
BUY IT: Waterstones
RATING: 5 Stars

SUMMARY

Anna is less than thrilled to be shipped off to boarding school in Paris, leaving a fledgling romance behind - until she meets Etienne St Clair. Smart, charming, beautiful, Etienne has it all... including a girlfriend. But in the City of Light, wishes have a way of coming true. Will a year of romantic near-misses end with a longed-for French kiss?

REVIEW

‘Anna and the French Kiss’ is the debut novel from Stephanie Perkins, first published in 2010. I’ve known about ‘Anna’ for the better part of three years, and only just got my hands on it. It moved instantly to the top of my To Be Read pile, and before I’d even finished it, it shot straight into the list of my all-time favourite books.

Anna Oliphant gets sent by her newly-minted dad to a boarding school in Paris for her senior year. SOAP (School of America in Paris) has English speaking students, but almost everyone speaks French as fluently as the locals - Anna’s language barrier is only the first obstacle. 

She’s adopted by football-playing Meredith and her group of friends, including the “boy masterpiece” that is Étienne St. Clair. 

St. Clair has it all: he’s charming, he’s got great hair, he speaks fluent French, he’s beautiful, he’s smart, he’s funny, he’s quirky - but he’s also got a college girlfriend. Anna is determined to ignore or downplay the connection they have. Until tragedy strikes in St. Clair’s family, and it’s Anna that manages to be there for him - and then they can’t ignore what’s between them, and Anna and St. Clair start to become Banana and Étienne.

GOOD PARTS

The characters are the best part of this book. Every character is interesting, and reading their interactions is like eavesdropping on conversations with your own friends.

It’s probably no surprise that the main two characters are my favourite, but they’ve earned the spots. Anna is an every-girl: she learns to be brave, she’s funny, she tries to do the right thing, she wears Batman pyjamas, she drools in cake shops. Étienne is the perfect romantic hero: adorable in every way with flaws shooting right through him that never make him less lovable. Paris, the setting of the book, seems like a character itself: Stephanie’s descriptions and her way of poetically weaving the city into her sentences bring it to life.

LESS GOOD PARTS

Finding negatives about ‘Anna’ was a struggle: it took a re-read to find any, because after the first read my head was full of fluff and the rose-coloured glasses were firmly on. To nit-pick, the ending feels slightly rushed, after the detailed and faithful narrative - but given how much more time I could happily have spent with the characters, there’s no wonder I wanted a longer ending.

OVERALL

‘Anna’ is a great read. I raced through each page, stopping only to regret how close to the end I was. I actually laughed out loud, visibly cringed, clapped my hands in glee - at one point I had to put the book down while my cheeks cooled off from flaming in reaction to Anna’s own embarrassment. Anna and Étienne might be my OTP, and I can’t wait get another glimpse of them in the companion novels, ‘Lola and the Boy Next Door’ and ‘Isla and the Happily Ever After’.

- Kay.

REVIEW: Waiting For Gonzo - Dave Cousins

PAGES: 256
PUBLISHER: Oxford University Press
FORMAT: Paperback
BUY IT: Waterstones
RATING: 3 Stars

SUMMARY

Meet Oz ...he's got a talent for trouble but his heart's always in the right place (well, nearly always). Uprooted from his friends and former life, Oz finds himself stranded in the sleepy village of Slowleigh. When a joke backfires on the first day at his new school, Oz attracts the attention of Isobel Skinner, the school psycho - but that's just the beginning. After causing an accident that puts his mum in hospital, Oz isn't exactly popular at home either. His older sister's no help, but then she's got a problem of her own ...one that's growing bigger by the day. Oz knows he's got to put things right, but life isn't that simple, especially when the only people still talking to you are a hobbit-obsessed kid and a voice in your own head! Packed with action, heart and humour, Waiting for Gonzo takes you for a white-knuckle ride on the Wheel of Destiny as it careers out of control down the Hillside of Inevitability. The question is, do you go down laughing? Or grit your teeth and jump off?

REVIEW

Having not read a tremendous amount of Teenage Fiction (except what I read when I was actually still a teenager) I wasn’t sure what to think of this at first. However, I must admit that this judgement was based primarily on the cover of the book. I know you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but I couldn’t help but be put off by the bright shiny cover, but I really shouldn’t have made this judgement, as the book is a perfect example of how Teen Fiction can be so excellent!

Oz finds himself in a new village, removed from a life he once knew and removed from his best friends. After starting at his new school, he soon attracts the attention of the ‘school psycho’ Isobel Skinner, who he quickly grows an affection for. He soon ends up on the bad-side of most people and he knows that he needs to put things right, one way or another. His sister gets pregnant, his mom is involved in an accident (that he helped cause), his only friend is as geeky as they come and to top it all off he’s talking to a voice inside his own head.

Books like this prove that fiction aimed at young adults doesn’t always have to follow the typical ideas of vampires, witches and wizards, etc. (that’s not to knock HP, Twilight, Half Bad etc). They can, however, deal with ‘proper’ issues that most teenagers have to come up against in daily life such as family, love and new emotions. ‘Waiting For Gonzo’ tells us that it’s okay to be different; it’s okay to not always get along with your family; it’s okay to get into trouble (sometimes, and for a good reason) and more importantly that it’s okay to stand up for what you think is best.

Dave Cousins has a fluid writing style that makes reading his work effortless but not boring. This is the ideal book for fans of reading stories about realistic lives that they can appreciate and relate to. I’ll be sure to check out Cousins’ other books as soon as I’ve read the rest of my pile!

- Adam. 

REVIEW: Flirty Dancing - Jenny McLachlan

PAGES: 256
PUBLISHER: Bloomsbury
FORMAT: Paperback
BUY IT: Waterstones
RATING: 4 Stars

This book publishes July 2014.

SUMMARY

Bea Hogg is shy but fiery inside. When national dance competition Starwars comes to her school looking for talent, she wants to sign up. It's just a shame her best friend agreed to enter with school super-cow Pearl Harris. Bea will fight back! But when school hottie, Ollie Matthews, who also happens to be Pearl's boyfriend, decides to enter the competition with Bea, she will have more than a fight on her hands. This warm, nuanced, hilarious story about friendship, fortitude ...and dancing is impossible not to fall in love with. Jenny's voice is fresh and convincing, and she handles both darker and lighter elements of the story with equal panache.

REVIEW

I found this book really enjoyable and incredibly funny! Bea is a wonderful character; It's really easy to relate to her fun loving home character and quiet at school character. Having been paired with the schools best looking guy and her ex-best friends love interest for a televised national dance competition is enough the terrify anyone, but when Bea is forced to put up with snide remarks and bullying from Mean Girl Pearl (Ha!)

It's interesting to see that as the story progresses she really develops as a person and she realises that "Though she be but little, she is fierce!" just like her nan always says! This is the kind of book you sit down and read all in one go (as I have done today!) and it will make you laugh out loud and smile throughout.

Perfect for fans of Holly Smale, Jacqueline Wilson and Louise Rennison.

- Gem.

REVIEW: Tape - Steven Camden

GENRE: Contemporary
PAGES: 368

PUBLISHER: HarperCollins Children's Books
FORMAT: Hardback
BUY IT: Waterstones
RATING: 5 Stars

This review refers to an uncorrected advance edition.

SUMMARY

TAPE is the outstanding teen debut of 2014. Told with crackling prose, shimmering with humour and deeply moving, it will haunt anyone who reads it...Record a voice and it lasts forever...In 1993, Ryan records a diary on an old tape. He talks about his mother's death, about his dreams, about his love for a new girl at school who doesn't even know he exists. In 2013, Ameliah moves in with her grandmother after her parents die. There, she finds a tape in the spare room. A tape with a boy's voice on it - a voice she can't quite hear, but which seems to be speaking to her. Ryan and Ameliah are connected by more than just a tape. This is their story.

REVIEW

I really enjoyed this book; the plot was intriguing and wonderfully written, and the way the two narratives weaved the past and present together was fantastic. Both Ryan and Ameliah's narrations were distinct and vivid - Steven Camden's work as a spoken word artist was evident is how strongly his characters shone through from the page. Ryan's story evoked a real sense of 90's nostalgia which made me smile throughout, and Ameliah's sections made me laugh constantly. I guessed what would happen quite early on but that didn't make me love it any less. I'm really excited to see what he comes up with next!

- Gem.

REVIEW: The Worst Girlfriend in the World - Sarra Manning

GENRE: Contemporary/Romance
PAGES: 352

PUBLISHER: Atom
FORMAT: Paperback
BUY IT: Waterstones
RATING: 3.5 Stars

PUBLICATION DATE: 01/05/14

This review refers to an uncorrected advance edition.

SUMMARY

Alice Jenkins is the worst girlfriend in the world according to the many, many boys who've shimmied up lampposts and shoplifted from New Look to impress her, only to be dumped when she gets bored of them. Alice has a very low boredom threshold. But she never gets bored with Franny, her best friend since they met at nursery school. Friends are for ever. Ain't nothing going to come between them. Girls rule, boys drool is their motto. Well, it's Alice's motto, Franny doesn't have much time for boys; they're all totes immature and only interested in one thing. But then there's Louis Allen, lead singer of Thee Desperadoes, the best band in Merrycliffe-on-sea (though that could be because they're the only band in Merrycliffe-on-sea). He's a tousle-haired, skinny-jeaned, sultry-eyed manchild, the closest thing that Franny's ever seen to the hipsters that she's read about on the internet and she's been crushing on him HARD for the last three years. She's never worked up the courage to actually speak to him but she's sure on some deeper level that goes beyond mere words, Louis absolutely knows that she's his soulmate. He just doesn't know that he knows it yet. It's why he cops off with so many other girls. So, when Alice, bored with callow youths, sets her sights on Louis it threatens to tear the girls' friendship apart, even though they're better than fighting over a boy. They strike a devil's deal - may the best girl win. Best friends become bitter rivals and everything comes to an explosive conclusion on their first trip to London. Can true friendship conquer all?

REVIEW

I've read a few Sara Manning books before and this one is my favourite so far. I enjoyed seeing Franny B's character develop as the story progressed and each new person she met helped her see a different bit of herself that she hadn't realised was there before. There were a lot of laugh-out-loud moments, and plenty of cringeworthy ones too. I admired her for sticking to her guns and following her dreams with her desire to be a fashion designer, at that age it's all too easy to back down to your parents when they think they know best but I loved how she stuck with it. 

A great read and it will be a surefire hit when it comes out later this year.

- Gem.

REVIEW: Geek Girl - Holly Smale

GENRE: Contemporary/Humour/YA
PAGES: 356

PUBLISHER: Harpercollins Children's

FORMAT: PB

BUY IT: Waterstones

RATING: 4 Stars

SUMMARY

"My name is Harriet Manners, and I am a geek." Harriet Manners knows that a cat has 32 muscles in each ear, a "jiffy" lasts 1/100th of a second, and the average person laughs 15 times per day. She knows that bats always turn left when exiting a cave and that peanuts are one of the ingredients of dynamite. But she doesn't know why nobody at school seems to like her. So when Harriet is spotted by a top model agent, she grabs the chance to reinvent herself. Even if it means stealing her best friend's dream, incurring the wrath of her arch enemy Alexa, and repeatedly humiliating herself in front of impossibly handsome model Nick. Even if it means lying to the people she loves. Veering from one couture disaster to the next with the help of her overly enthusiastic father and her uber-geeky stalker, Toby, Harriet begins to realise that the world of fashion doesn't seem to like her any more than the real world did. As her old life starts to fall apart, will Harriet be able to transform herself before she ruins everything?

REVIEW

I received Geek Girl after being invited as a bookseller to HarperCollin's 'Big Book Parade' - which was an absolute dream come true. Not only did we get to see all the awesome new books due out at the end of this year, but we also got to fill bags with whatever books took our fancy. For free. Reviewing doesn't seem like enough for the goodies publishers give us but hopefully being able to recommend a book like this goes some way to show how appreciative I am.

Geek Girl follows Harriet Manners on her way to stardom. After accidentally getting 'spotted' by a modelling agency at the Clothes Show she is whisked away, destined to become the World's Next Top Model. Unfortunately, Harriet was only at the show to help her best friend get spotted and now Harriet has to make the choice: follow a new path and opportunities that have opened up for her life, or stay true to her friend and turn it down? How do you follow you dreams when it means changing the lives of those around you?

Yes, the premise of this book is pretty farfetched, it might not exactly be every girl's dream, but the idea of being swept away to a bigger and better life but also getting to stay as who you are is pretty close. Geek Girl is nowhere near the type of book I would normally pick up. The cover and title make it sound like a chick-lit book about a girl who thinks she's such a geek because she does her homework but then the hottest guy in school falls for her. Blah blah blah. Yes, this is how I judge books when I look at them. Luckily I also listen to my colleagues recommendations - and this is importance of talking about books.

Harriet Manner's is actually the exact type of character that I love. She is almost a proper geek. It's quite slapstick in its comedy; she's uber clumsy and awkward but really sweet, kind and funny. And her supporting cast - her dad, best friend, and even her stalker - are all hilarious. They are pretty much caricatures of the types of weird people we all know. Her family are not exactly normal but they are pretty adorable. Its sugary-sweet in places but you don't really care, because it's so awesome. They also give the story their more serious and totally heartwarming parts. Oh, and don't worry girls, there's a guy - it wouldn't be a YA book with out one would it? - who is a fellow model. He's not an airhead though. In fact the whole part of the modelling world that he and Harriet are in is so quirky its almost a comment on the ridiculousness of the modelling industry as a whole...

Harriet has a very dry sarcastic sense of humour and even though everything bad that can happen does happen to Harriet I couldn't help but find it hilarious. It made me snort on the train and even though that is fairly embarrassing, and even though I live in Birmingham, at least you've never found me hiding under a table a the Clothes Show. And I've been to the NEC - it could have happened. I also loved that it was a British geek book - so many run on American geek vs. prep stereotypes.

Geek Girl is a Bridget Jones for a new age and a testament to anyone who ever feels socially uncomfortable. She's awkward, oblivious and just plain fab.

- Bex.