The Good Thieves, Katherine Rundell
A heist story set in 1920s New York. Vita Marlowe, the plucky heroine, whom polio has left with a weakened leg, is determined to break into the home her grandfather has lost to criminals and steal back his treasure. She will need to enlist the help of circus boys Arkady and Sam, with their acrobatic skill and gift for charming animals, and Silk, the pickpocket. She must also rely on her own skills as a marksman. This is a beautifully written book from start to finish.
Read by members of my Year 5 Book Club.
The Midnight Guardians, Ross Montgomery
Set against the backdrop of World War Two, this book features a young boy, Col, who is summoned by his three imaginary friends - a giant, larger than life tiger, a waist-coated, food obsessed badger and a tiny feisty knight - to race across the countryside to rescue his sister from the bombs that are destined to fall on London. Their race to reach London will be threatened by the Midwinter King, a spectacularly, horrible presence who hopes to shroud the world in darkness. The spirit world's version of the Nazi threat.
Read by members of my Year 6 Book Club.
Orphans of the Tide. Struan Murray
Original, inventive, beautiful book. Fantastic, plucky heroine, who just happens to be an inventor and an orphan. A boy stuck in the belly of a whale that has beached itself on the roof of a Chapel. An Enemy that threatens to bring dark chaos to their world and the Inquisition that hunts it. All steeped in suspicion, myth and peril.
Read by members of my Year 7 Book Club.