The Snow Sister By Emma Carroll

An exciting and at times sad story , set in Victorian England at Christmas.

Pearl was a young girl whose sister Agnes had died . Each winter since then she had made a snow sister and dressed it with an item of Agnes's clothing . This had helped to ease her pain at the loss of her sister which was even worse at Christmas time.

When Pearl Grangers family receive a letter saying that her father's rich brother had died , they think he has left them a fortune. So her father goes down to Bath for the will reading and her mother prepares a Christmas feast.

She sends Pearl down to the shops to get some ingredients for a Christmas pudding but soon after her adventure begins.........to get back home in time for Christmas day !

It was quite a short read but so well described that I could feel the cold winter and the warmth of the fire as I read the words.
The monochromatic illustrations added more depth to the story.

I really liked this book and think it would be a great for girls/boys age 9+
I rate it 7/10

this is my review for lovereading4kids.co.uk

An Eagle In The Snow By Michael Morpurgo

An EAGLE in the SNOW is a beautifully written story , with a story within it. It is about how one man could have changed the course of history, not by what he had done ,but by what he could have done


Upon being evacuated from their bombed out home , Barney and his mother take the train to Cornwall to Barney's aunts-away from the bombings .

On the train to London a German bomber plane tries to bomb their train!

As they wait in a tunnel, a stranger begins to tell a story about his friend called Billy Byron ,and like a ball of wool the story slowly unravels.
The story of Billy Byron , the man who could have saved the world from world war two?!?!

I enjoyed reading this story , full of twists and turns of a mans life . It is conveyed in a way that although terrible things happened during the war , it wasn't distressing to read . I wouldn't usually chose to read a wartime story but I am glad I read this one . The ending left me asking myself questions.

I found the Afterword about Henry Tandy interesting because it was his life that was woven into the story , it enabled me to appreciate how Michael Morpurgo had written it.

A great book for fans of Michael Morpurgo as it does not disappoint!

I rate it 9/10 for boys/girls 10+

This review was for www.lovereading4kids.co.uk

Red Moon Rising-By Paula Harrison.

A magical fast paced adventure about  faeries and friendship.

Laney Rivers feels normal until on her twelfth birthday as she was walking home from school she notices a blood red moon and things begin to change.

Later that evening she had an accident and burnt her finger on her birthday candle as she was putting it on her cake.

She notices her iris in her eyes have turned a golden colour around the edges and she goes into her bedroom to take a closer look. Once she is in her bedroom she turns into a faerie with wings and a pale blue dress ,hovering above the floor!

With help from the faerie elders and her friend Claudia she begins to learn how to control being a faerie.
It turns out that on her home island of Skellmo a lot of her friends are also faeries.

But there is a problem ,the Shadow tribe is back and before Laney knows it she might just be the one to keep the faerie world together.

I didn't really get "grabbed " by this book but I'd give it 3/5 stars and think readers aged 9+ would enjoy it.

This is my review for http://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/book/11069/Red-Moon-Rising-by-Paula-Harrison.html

Fire Girl-By Matt Ralphs.

A magical and exciting adventure story,great for both girls and boys.

Hazel is a twelve year old girl who lives in a protective magical glade with her mother Hecate ,safe from the witch hunters.....or so she thinks!

Mary ,a blind friend of Hecate ,is visited during the night. She is given back her sight for information of the whereabouts of Hecate.

As Hecate was bathing in the magical glade she was captured by a demon. Hazel witnessed this and as her fear and emotions ran high she discovered her own magical witch powers. She creates a fire storm and tries to hit the demon with it but although it burns him he still escapes taking her mother with him.

Hazels life is now very different as she has to find a way to rescue her mother from the demon before it's too late.
She leaves the protective glade and meets a boy called David and his master Titus, who are both demon hunters. She then enlists their help in finding her mother.

It was an exciting story ,I liked the way that at the beginning of each chapter there were a few lines of information.
 Also I liked the relationship Hazel had with her little dormouse Bramley and how they interacted with each other throughout the story.

A good read for anyone who likes stories about witches and magic ,although there are a few sad moments too.
I would rate this book 7/10 and think it is suitable for ages 9+ but it does has some scary bits in it.


This is my review for http://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/book/11555/Fire-Girl-by-Matt-Ralphs.html

My review for Notebooks of a Middle -School Princess by Meg Cabot

Olivia Grace is just a normal/average everyday girl .....or is she ?

Olivia is looked after by her aunty following the death of her mother.She thinks she is ordinary ,until Annabelle Jenkins pushes her over and calls her a 'princess'.
Olivia knows something isn't right when Annabelle wants a fight after school!
Just as the fight begins Princess Mia Thermopolis comes in a limo and takes Olivia,and it turns out that she IS a princess.Her sister ,dad and grandma are waiting for her in a 5 star hotel.

The story is written like a diary and has black and white drawings in it which I like.I also liked Snowball her pet poodle because it reminded me of my poodle Jack.

Although there are American phrases/words throughout this did not affect my understanding of the plot.I enjoyed reading this book and would definitely read it again. I think this book would appeal to girls of the age 9+

This is my review for http://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/

The Magnificent Lizzie Brown and the Mysterious Phantom. By Vicki Lockwood.

This historical mystery/adventure story set in Victorian London , has lots of 'cliff hangers' ,making it compulsive reading , I couldn't put it down!

When Lizzie Brown escapes from her heavy drinking father , and the Rats Castle Victorian slum ,she is cold , poor and hungry until........Fitzy's travelling circus rolls into town.

Whilst working for the circus ,helping Madame Aurora ( the palm reader),she realises that she can actually read palms! She can see people's past , present and future when reading their lifeline.

Meanwhile  she overhears the news of an illusive phantom  in London ,who is robbing wealthy people's houses.
As she does a reading she sees the phantom strike again.
With the help of her newfound friends from the circus they go after the phantom.

I loved reading this book ! I literally couldn't put it down and read it in one day. I didn't expect the ending to be anything like it was either. A fabulous read.
It reminded me of the Gully Potchard story too , so if you liked that you'll definitely enjoy this one.

I rate it 5/5 and think boys and girls would like it.

This is my review for  http://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk

Looking-Glass Girl by Cathy Cassidy

When Alice has a freak 'accident' at Savvy's Alice in Wonderland themed sleepover , she suddenly finds herself in Wonderland . How will she get back?

Lainey and Yaz used to be Alice's best friends in primary school . When they all moved to secondary school they became best friends with Savannah the 'queen of the school' instead and began being mean to Alice.

When she received an invite for an Alice in Wonderland themed sleepover from Savvy ,she was suspicious as to why she was invited but decided to go anyway.

During a game of hide and seek Lainey leaves Alice in the cellar,when the power goes off and the light goes out.

When Alice finally gets out of the cellar she finds the other girls all ready for bed in their pyjamas and chatting. She overhears Lainey talking nastily about her to the other girls, so she goes into the bedroom and tells them she is leaving and wants her coat.
Savvy tries to persuade her to stay until the morning because it is late. Lainey wants Alice to go ,and during a tussle at the top of the stairs Alice falls.

It is a story about friendship, love, jealousy and rivalry between friends and a modern twist on Lewis Carroll's original story.

Many of the chapters left me in suspense and it was difficult to stop reading, I was thoroughly engrossed in it.

I liked the way it was written, starting with the 'accident' ,taking you through the events of the night and ending with the truth.

I have read a few of Cathy Cassidy's other books and this is the best one so far for me, I really enjoyed it.

I think girls age 9+ will like this book.
This is my review for lovereading4kids.co.uk/

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The Song Bird Cafe Girls-Mollie Cinnamon is not a cupcake:By Sarah Webb.

An exciting story about Mollie who is  on the island of Little Bird .She would rather be anywhere else because there is nothing to do and she doesn't have any friends.......yet!
Mollie is on the Island being looked after by her great-granny as her mum is a TV presenter and is off travelling for her work for a while. She doesn't really know her gran and has only ever spoken to her on the phone a few times.

She is really bored at her great-grannies and it's only her first day!
Luckily that afternoon her nan takes her to the Song Bird café , which is only a short walk from the house. Here she meets Alanna the café owner, Sunny a home schooled girl and they become good friends.

She is sent to school and gets picked on by Lauren and Chloe , her mum made a mistake on the weather, which they found on youtube and repeatedly played to her on their mobile phones. She doesn't like school as she is not liked because she is from the city and even Bonny ,who likes everyone ,is turned against her by Lauren telling lies about her.

Mollie's mum Flora keeps letting her down, cancelling their trip to Paris together and not visiting . But then the café is threatened to be demolished and turned into a hotel and things become more interesting . she and her new friend Landy (Laurens twin brother)make plans to save the café with help from Sunny.

Although Mollie is unhappy at first ,things improve as her nan phones her old school and Mollie is able to be home schooled .Mollie and her new friends decide to help save the café together and this also helps her to cope with her disappointments from Flora her mum.

I loved reading this book it was very descriptive and it felt like you where there . I liked the information in the back of the book too.

I think it would appear to the readers of age 9+
This is my review for http://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/

The dream snatcher By Abi Elphinstone

This is a book about Molly(Moll) Pecksniff a Romany gypsy and her wildcat Gryff. Full of magic, mystery and adventures!

When Moll is woken up in the middle of the night she finds herself in  the forest near her camp, lured there by a chant of some kind... 

I liked reading this book even though I didn't get gripped by the plot.

I would think this book is suitable for 9+ and for both girls and boys

this is my review for lovereading4kids.co.uk