Wildwood

Author: Colin Meloy

When Prue's little brother, Mac, gets taken by crows into the Impassable Wilderness Prue and her classmate, Curtis, have to go into the wood to get Mac. They meet the Dowager Governess with her coyotes and the Bandit King with his bandits. Together they find Mac.


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The Graveyard Book

Author: Neil Gaiman

Nobody Owens, known as Bod lives in the graveyard.
The man Jack has killed all of Bods family but him. His friends Scarlett [a living human], Liza, and other graveyard folk help him hide.

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Mysterious Howling (Book 1) & The Hidden Gallery (Book 2)

The Mysterious Howling (Book 1)                      The Hidden Gallery (Book 2)

Author: Maryrose Wood

Book 1: The Mysterious Howling
Penelope Lumley, a graduate from the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females, has been hired as a governess for three children, Alexander, Beowulf and Cassiopeia. But Penelope has a surprise waiting for her at the grand Ashton Place. Alexander, Beowulf, and Cassiopeia have been brought up by wolves. The three Incorrigibles were found in the woods by Lord Frederick Ashton, master of Ashton Place, when he was hunting. Any normal governess would fail at taming three purely wild children. Luckily, Penelope is no normal governess. But at the christmas party planned near christmas, someone has secretly encouraged the children's wolfish habits. Who is behind it all?

Book 2: The Hidden Gallery
Penelope Lumley, a graduate from the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females, has decided to take the newly tamed Incorrigibles to London so as to leave the maids to clean Ashton Place without getting in the way. As Penelope and the children see all of London's great sights, unexpected mysteries seem to pop up out of nowhere.

I love how the mysteries flow from one problem to the next in this series. The way that both the past of the Incorrigibles and Penelope's past are somehow linked really urges me on through this series. I recommend it to any Lemony Snicket fan.

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Today(7th Feb) is Charles Dickens' birthday!

His Dark Materials Trilogy: Northern Lights, Subtle Knife, Amber Spyglass

Book 1: Northern Lights
Book 2: The Subtle Knife
Book 3: The Amber Spyglass

Author: Philip Pullman


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The Puzzle Ring

Author: Kate Forsyth

When Hannah receives a letter she realizes that her family is cursed. With her friends, Donnovan Max and Scarlett she travels back in time to brake the curse.


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Into the Woods & Out of the Woods

Author: Lyn Gardner

Book 1: Into The Woods
Storm Eden is a young girl who likes making fire works. One day, she was given a pipe by her dying mother but didn't realise how much power it had in it. She and her sisters, Aurora and Anything work together to keep the pipe out of the nasty hands of Dr. DeWilde.


Book 2: Out Of The Woods
Storm Eden is invited to a fun fair with rides and sweets. But then Storm realises how dangerous the fair actually is and she's actually about to be captured by Belladonna who also wants the pipe.

A Series of Unfortunate Events

Book 1: The Bad Beginning
Book 2: The Reptile Room
Book 3: The Wide Window
Book 4: The Miserable Mill
Book 5: The Austere Academy
Book 6: The Ersatz Elevator
Book 7: The Vile Village
Book 8: The Hostile Hospital
Book 9: The Carnivorous Carnivals
Book 10: The Slippery Slope
Book 11: The Grim Grotto
Book 12: The Penultimate Peril
Book 13: The End


Author: Lemony Snicket


Book 1
Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaires parents have died in a fire. The siblings have to go and live with the terrifying Count Olaf. Olaf plans to take over the Baudelaire fortune that the Baudelaire parents had left behind.

Book 2
The Baudelaires have gone to live with Uncle Monty, a reptile collector. Just when everything was going well, Olaf arrives, disguised. Just as the Baudelaires proved to Mr. Poe about Olaf, he escaped.

Book 3
The siblings have gone to stay with Aunt Josephine, a person afraid of almost everything. again, Olaf has tracked them down, disguised as Captain Sham and once again Olaf gets away.


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The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner's Dilemma

Author: Trenton Lee Stewart

When the entire city of Stonetown strangely blacks out, all four members of the Society are lead into a trap, set up by Mr. Curtain. Captured by the Ten Men, the children are kept prisoners in an unknown destination with no hope of escape. How will they be able to contact Mr. Benedict about his brother's new plan?

As the third and final novel in the series, The Prisoner's Dilemma was a great finale. I highly recommend this series to readers aged 8-12 that love puzzles.

The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey

Author: Trenton Lee Stewart

In the second book of the Mysterious Benedict Society series, the older children of the Society gather at Kate's farm, where together they plan to drive to Stonetown, where they will meet with Constance and Mr. Benedict, who has planned an adventure for the Society to celebrate their defeating of Mr. Curtain. But when the children arrive, Mr. Benedict is gone. Desperate to get him back, the children embark on a journey following the clues that Benedict left for them. But how will four children all by themselves manage to reach Mr. Benedict with Ten Men and other dangers following them everywhere they go?

Though the second book was a great read, like many series', I found that I much preferred the first book. However, The Perilous Journey was still a great book and the author did a great job of continuing the story without repeating himself.

The Mysterious Benedict Society

Author: Trenton Lee Stewart

When a mysterious advertisement appears in the newspaper, dozens of children take part in a mind-bending test to see what "special opportunities" await them if they pass. Among the children, Reynard Muldoon completes the first test and moves on to the next stages, where he meets Sticky, Kate and Constance. The children are instructed to take part in a secret mission at the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened (LIVE). The children soon discover that LIVE holds many dangers, and it's their job to see who's behind it all...

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart was a great book. The author creates marvellous characters and keeps the story going with all sorts of twists and turns that never fail to surprise me. Recommended for anyone who likes mysteries, puzzles and riddles.

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

Author: Kate DiCamillo

Edward Tulane is a toy rabbit made out of china. His owner, Abilene who went overseas with Edward and gets lost. After that Edward meets a fisherman and a lot more people but can he go back and find Abilene?


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Wonderstruck

Author: Brian Selznick

One story is told in pictures and the other is told in writing. It is set in Gunflint Lake, Minessota and New York City.


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The Invention of Hugo Cabret

Author: Brian Selznick





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Hugo - movie trailer

Fog Mound series (3 books)

Author: Susan Schade

Travels of Thelonious, Book 1: This book is half comic half novel. Thelonious the talking chipmunk gets swept away by a river. He gets washed to the city of ruins where he meets a talking porcupine named Fitzgerald and a talking bear named Olive. Olive makes flying machines and she says she'll take Thelonious to his home on the way to the Fog Mound. After one night at his home, Thelonious decides to go to the Fog mound with Olive and Fitz. While in the flying machine Thelonious meets Brown lizard. Inside the Fog mound they find the last living human on earth named Bill.

Faradawn, Book 2: On the roof Bill says his first word 'Faradawn.' Then Bill disappears. So Brown and Thelonious follow Bill into his lab. Inside, Bill shows them a boat he made, "for Thelonious" he said. He got Olive to make a big version so they can go to Faradawn. At Faradawn island Olive helps the birds get free from the mountain which had a rock on top. Thelonious, Brown, Fitz and Morrie, there new crow friend help the birds get rid of the mutant crabs. The birds were so happy they held a wingfest. During the wingfest a whopper comes out of the water and attacks the birds. Some  crocodiles come and kill the whopper and lead Olive to Ruby, her lost sister.

Simon's Dream, Book3: With Bill directing them, the group gets led to a house. Bill runs away to a time machine and goes in with Brown, Cluid (a chipmunk from the Fog mound who came with them) and Thelonious following him. They end up speaking reptile and getting captured by Upsilon, the wolf man. He tells them that they haven't gone back in time. When his friends come a rat led them back to the boat were a note was stuck to a stick. They read the note and Bill falls into the water. Once he was out Bill talked fine. They went to the mess hall, which is what the note said to do. They see Upsilon who takes them on a flying sofa to the city of ruins, which is where the note said the bears were. At the city the bears and other animals VS the evil ratminks. During the war, the evil dragon lady sneeks away. Thelonious and Cluid follow and end up having to show the way to the Fog mound. But Thelonious freezes the dragon lady and Cluid escapes.

Travel of Thelonious (Book 1)

Faradawn (Book 2)

Simon's Dream (Book 3)

   

Sylvie and the Songman

Author: Tim Binding

When Sylvie's dog, Mr. Jackson loses his bark and all the birds stop singing Sylvie realises what is happening. She and George travel on a boat with the songman, trying to get Sylvies father back. But the songman can still get more songs from animals.

The Tiger Rising

Author: Kate DiCamillo


When Rob Horton finds theres a tiger in Sherly woods he tells Sistine
Bailey. He finds out the tiger is Beauchamps. Rob got the job of feeding the tiger and Willie May tells him about her bird and how she let it go and it died. Rob decides to let the tiger go.



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When You Reach Me

Author: Rebecca Stead

Miranda and Sal are best friends, until one day, Sal gets punched. After that, Sal shuts Miranda out of his life. Then Miranda meets the kid who punched Sal, who turns out to be an extremely intelligent boy. Along with that, Miranda is receiving mysterious letters from a mysterious person. And how did the laughing man go so crazy, and why does he sleep under the mailbox? Where could all this be leading up to?

I really love the way the author mentions a mysterious 'you' throughout the book. Only at the end does the author write who the mysterious 'you' actually is, and when I found out who it was, I was surprised. Some parts in this book are very confusing, particularly the parts about landing in a cabbage patch from 'A Wrinkle In Time'.

SPOILER ALERT!!! SPOILER ALERT!!! SPOILER ALERT!!!
Don't read on if you haven't finished this book.

I love how it isn't at all clear that the laughing man is actually Marcus, the kid who punched Sal, and that 'you' is the laughing man too. I liked the end the most, where the laughing man saves Sal and everything is immediately clear. I really loved this book.

The Apothecary

Author: Maile Meloy

The Strictest School in the World: Being the Tale of a Clever Girl, a Rubber Boy and a Collection of Flying Machines, Mostly Broken (The Mad Misadventures of Emmaline and Rubberbones)

Author: Howard Whitehouse



When Emmaline gets stuck in the strictest school Robert Burns and Aunt Lucy try getting her out with flying machines. Emmaline meets Hannah and a strong girl named Josie.