Girl Missing

Girl Missing
by Sophie McKenzie

Girl Missing is about a girl named Lauren who finds herself on a missing children website. With her friend Jam she goes on a plane to Vermont only expecting to be there for a day. When Jam and Lauren get to the adoption agency where she was adopted Jam tries to find her profile but can’t because it has been taken. When Jam and Lauren are walking on the street she asks a police woman to drive them somewhere but finds out that was the person who kidnapped her from her real Mum. When they get to her real Mum she doesn’t believe it’s her but when her adoptive parents have to go to court for giving the person who kidnapped her money, Lauren has to stay with her real Mum and Dad. When Lauren and her real sister go to the Marina, her sister goes to get an ice cream and disappears. Lauren looks everywhere and finds that a boat has been broken into so she goes onto the boat and her sister is being held captive there.

The boat is sinking and the kidnapper blocks the door then gets off the boat. Jam comes and saves Lauren and her sister.

I enjoyed the book. It was really exciting and made you want to read more.

review by Kirsten

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The Quicksilver Faire

The Quicksilver Faire
by Gillian Summers

The Faire Folk Trilogy continues into The Scions of Shadow Trilogy with this new novel by Gillian Summers.

The Fairy High Court have called for Keelie's help. There is a rift in the earth and magic is spilling out and effecting humans. At least that is what Keelie is told, but when she arrives she realises that there is a lot more at stake than some magic leaking into the world.

Keelie is joined on her journey by her furry, magical companion Knot the cat, her boyfriend Lord Sean o' the Woods and her frenemy Elia, Lord Elinard's daughter. The motley group are planning to stay with the elves at Grey Mantal and travelling on to the Fairy High Court from there. Keelie isn't expecting a warm welcome, the elves dislike her because of her mixed blood, as do the fairies. Keelie is part human, part elf and part fae (fairy), so doesn't quite feel like she belongs anywhere and the attitude of other elves and fairies really doesn't help. Sean isn't expecting a good welcome either as his father is in disgrace. The only one excited about the visit is Elia who is the first pregnant elf in nearly one hundred years. She is expecting a hero's welcome.

In this latest installment Keelie has to contend with prejudice, nasty goblins, a tricky fairy queen and an ancient, but handsome forest god who has the hots for Keelie and some strange crystal-fed trees in Under-the-Hill forest.

This is a bumper ride and one I couldn't put down. I read this one well into the night and finished it the next day. My only disappointment was that I didn't have the next book to dip into.

If you haven't read about Keelie's adventures, here is a quick rundown.

The Faire Folk Trilogy

Book one: The Tree Shepherd's Daughter

Upon the death of her mother, a Los Angeles attorney, sixteen-year-old Keelie is sent to live with her father, a woodworker at Renaissance fairs, and discovers that the odd 'allergy' she has to wood is actually powerful earth magic that she must learn to control.







Book two: Into The Wildewood

Getting to finally know her elf dad has generally been a good thing, although camping out in her dad's homemade gingerbread RV while acting out the 16th century isn't so fab. Keelie prefers hot showers and wearing a watch thank-you-very-much. If only her dad would wake up to the 21st century and buy her an iPhone so she won't lose touch with the real world! But a mysterious unicorn sighting, fairies showing up in the oddest places, and that nasty, vain elf-girl Elia are all working against Keelie's chances to have a good time. And why hasn't Sean, the hot elf who kissed her, called? Right now, life as an elf isn't all that enchanting.



Book three: The Secret of the Dred Forest

Now that she has (sort of) defeated a diabolical elf, Keelie Heartwood reluctantly joins her father in the Dread Forest. Her "real" friends are gone, her dad is preoccupied with his new responsibilities as Lord of the Forest and now it seems that her budding romance with the hunky Sean is dashed. Except for her impossible guardian cat Knot, and Alora, a demanding and bratty little princess tree, Keelie has no one to hang with—unless you count that nasty elf-girl Elia, who suddenly wants to be Keelie's frenemy.

Meanwhile, an age-old rift in Keelie's family and among the elves reaches a dangerous climax as humans and dark magical forces alike encroach on the elves' enchanted realm. The fate of the Dread Forest—and of all who dwell within it—lies in Keelie's hands.

The Scions of Shadow Trilogy

Book four: Shadows of the Redwood

Summer is here, and all sixteen-year-old half-elf Keelie wants to do is visit her friend Laurie in L.A. Instead she, her cat Knot, and her cranky, medieval, elf-lady grandmother are on their way to help the Redwood Forest, whose tree shepherd is missing. With the help of the handsome Sean, and Scott, her father's former apprentice, along with a mysterious coyote, Keelie sets out to find the lost tree shepherd. But can she discover the deadly secret of the Bloodroot tree in time to vanquish the darkness and save the Redwood Forest.



Book five:: The Quicksilver Faire

Review above.

Artemis Fowl and the Atlantis Complex

Artemis Fowl and the Atlantis Complex
by Eoin Colfer


This is the latest in a long line of tales about the devious, teenage, criminal mastermind Artemis Fowl.

Artemis has gathered his group of fairy co-horts in a remote location in Iceland to unveil his latest plan. His greatest plan ever! A plan to save the world. That doesn't sound like Artemis at all. Artemis doesn't help other people unless there is something in it for him, usually money. Something isn't quite right, he is thinking about other people and counting in fives.

Before the others can put their finger on what is wrong with their young friend, they are under attack from what should be a friendly vessel.

Killer space probes, unfriendly robots, zombie wrestling fans and the unlucky number four, well unlucky for Artemis anyway. Will any of them make it out alive this time? It's looking really unlikely.

This is the seventh and penultimate book in the Artemis Fowl series. The books are all centred around the teenage mastermind Artemis Fowl, whose only goal in life is to make money through illegal schemes by taking advantage of the fairy underworld he has discovered.

The books are written with a great deal of humour and often leave you sitting on the edge of your seat wondering what will happen next.

I have to say I was a little disappointed with this book. I usually whizz through the stories, laughing up'roariously, especially at the antics of the kleptomaniac, gasey and rather pongey dwarf - Mulch Diggins, but I just didn't find the book as thrilling or as funny as usual. A great disappointment.

If you want to continue the story of Artemis, I would recommend you read this, but just don't expect as many laughs as usual.

Doubting Thomas

Doubting Thomas
by Morris Gleitzman


Thomas is mortified, it just isn't funny at all! It shouldn't happen to a decent human being!

Morris has itchy nipples!

Very, very itchy nipples!

It is a secret that Thomas is keen to keep to himself, but soon Thomas realises that his nipples have a special talent, they can tell when people are lying. Thomas secret leads him to adventure with his friends in Paris.

This is such a funny book! I urge you to pick it up sometime soon.

Knife

Knife
by R.J. Anderson

Knife is a fairy or faery as they prefer to be known, but not a cute, sweet faery. Knife is a hunter. She lives in an old oak tree with more of her kind. They are not a friendly bunch, but they only have each other, as they battle to survive against humans and the wild animals that roam around their sacred oak. But, Knife is curious about the outside world and soon she goes against the wishes of the faery Queen and ventures further and further away from the oak, drawn by the lure of the humans who live in the house at the bottom of the garden. Knife soon realises that the humans are not the evil beings that the Queen has made them out to be and is intrigued. Knife ventures into their home, where she is captured by the human boy Paul. As their friendship develops, Knife tries to discover why the faeries are losing their magic and why the faeries hate the humans with such a vigour.

This is a fabulously gripping read that would be enjoyed by both boys and girls. It has an alternative title in the US/Canada - Faery Rebel: Spell Hunter and will be followed up by a second book - Rebel in 2010.

Malice

Malice
by Chris Wooding

I am probably not the first person lured into picking this book up because of the fabulous 3-D cover, but hey, if it means that people read this dark tale, then it can only be a good thing. The format is quite unusual too, as it is part novel and part graphic novel.

Be ready for chills up your spine as you read this book!

Malice is the name of an underground comic. Most think it is an urban myth. Some children have heard of it, but few have actually seen it.

Malice is the world portrayed in this comic book. A world full of menace and horror where children fight for their lives.

Kady and Seth's friend, Luke disappears after he reads the comic book and all that is left in the book are blank pages. Something odd is going on and Kady and Seth are determined to find out the truth. They begin to suspect that children are being lured into Malice....

This novel is great from beginning to end. The characters are all well grounded in reality, which only serves to make the fantasy world more chilling and it ends on a real cliff-hanger which leaves you desperate for more. Roll on the next book which is to be called Havoc and should be out sometime next year.

Hatchet

Hatchet
by Gary Paulsen

Thirteen year old Brian Robeson is flying in a bush plane over the Canadian wilderness on his way to spend the summer with his dad. He is alone in the plane with the pilot, when the pilot has a heart attack. Brian has no choice, he has to take over control of the plane and try to land it. He crash-lands the plane into a lake. He is alive, but he is alone. He has nothing but the clothes he is wearing and a small hatchet, which was a parting gift from his mother. Brian needs shelter and he needs food. Can a city boy survive in the wilderness? Will he be rescued?

Each time I read this novel, I find it as thrilling as the first time I was lucky enough to pick it up. Hatchet is an exciting, roller coaster ride of a book. Once you pick it up, it is impossible to put down. Woe betide anyone who tries to gain your attention whilst you are reading this novel!