Published by Harper Collins Children’s Books.

Half-Minute Horrors
By a helluva lot of authors
Published by harper Collins

This is a great treasury of mini scary tales by over 70 authors… including Lemony Snicket, Neil Gaiman, Holly Black, Michael Connelly, James Patterson and many more!

Each of the 73 authors have put together a spooky story each, some are 3 pages, some are three lines but they are all a freaky as the next!

The creepy tales each take only thirty seconds to read- but the chills will take much longer to fade…

Dare to read each spine chilling tale?

Well grab a copy and prepare to get a scare with R.L Stines- ‘my worst nightmare’ or even ‘something you ought to know’ by Lemony Snicket, (author of the unfortunate events).

Each story takes you to a totally different place; from a waiting room, a bedroom and a butchers shop to a deep hole and even a garden pond!
This book is a must read for every thrill-seeker… it’s certainly got the scare factor!

For these may be very small stories but they’re guaranteed to give you a very big scare…
I definitely give this a five out of five because it really put me in the main characters place for each and every tale and made me feel as if I was really there… which actually could be quite scary at times!

Review by Georgia

Published by Oxford University Press

Callum and his new friend Iona have a secret, a secret that can’t be kept any longer…

Callum is a farmer’s son in the heart of Scotland.

He loves biking and fishing, but his life is turned upside down because of one girl one bird and a big secret!

The Birds nesting in Callum’s farm are rare and endangered Ospreys who are soon bound to make a long journey for their migration to Africa; after the long summer.
Soon, Callum is tracking the female bird- Iris on her journey!

On the computer he can see her flying to Africa, however, Danger arises during the birds migration.  Callum is desperate for help but cannot find any… until a helping hand turns up from all the way in Gambia.  Will Iris be saved?

Read this spectacular book to find out!

Sky Hawk is a really heart-warming book about friendship.

The author uses a fantastic style to get her story across to the readers, (aged from 9 and up) and I think it’s fantastic!

I hope Gill Lewis writes more brilliant stories!

Review by Georgia x

Published by Macmillan.

Okay, Riley will never turn thirteen, and she’ll never get any older and she’ll never be able to interact with her sister properly again but being dead can be more fun than Riley thought.
Riley Bloom was killed in a car crash at the meagre age of 12, the car crash also sadly killed her pet dog- Buttercup.  They live in the Here & Now which is basically home for the dead nowadays… but when Riley, Buttercup and her cute-but-annoying guide Bodhi go on a quiet holiday, the adventurous team end up embarking on a dangerous and perilous quest to stop the evil ghost-girl Rebecca.

Rebecca is a wounded ghost who is tormented by her past and sets her horrible hell-beast on whoever gets too close, but can Riley change her?

Rebecca can’t re-write her past but she can definitely alter her future in the afterlife!

Shimmer is the second book in Alyson Noels’ brand new ‘Riley Bloom’ series.

Book one is called Radiance, plus we are waiting for the third fab tale; named Dreamland (I cant wait to read this one, it sounds very exciting!).
Alyson Noel is the extremely succesful auothor behind the Teenage series ‘Immortals’.
Keep writing Alyson.  You’re an awesome writer and I can’t wait to find out if you’re writing a fourth Riley Bloom novel!!!

Georgia

Published by Macmillan Children’s Books

This is the third book in the fab Lottie Biggs series but the first two books don’t have to be read in order to read this.

15 year old Lottie Biggs lives with her Mum in Cardiff; her Dad had moved away years before and Lottie’s college sister is situated far away from Cardiff.  Lottie has a best mate called Goose (she hates her real name Gail) and she has Gareth, (who she’s convinced she will marry in the next few years of her life).

She’s happy all of the time and never has any problems… until her Mum starts seeing a man called Stevie.  Lotties world is torn apart at this because her Mum really loves him but Lottie just can’t stick his daughter; Lois.  Shes an emo who only dresses in black, wears too much mascara and loves giving Lottie a bad time –  or so she thinks!

Later on, Lottie finds out that Lois’ Mum actually died when she was little.  Lottie’s made a bit of a mess of things, and needs to sort them out- but can she?

This is a fantastic book for about 11 to 17 year olds and I really recommend it…
I hope there’s another one, Hayley Long!

Georgia

Published by Simon and Schuster.

Meg Cabot- bestselling author of the princess diaries series-took a break from New York princesses to work on the fab mystery book; When lightning strikes.

In this story, a teenage girl called Jessica and her mate Ruth get caught out in a storm on their way home from school.  Lightning starts to strike as the two lost girls rush for shelter under a METAL stand… (Bad choice!  Lightning can pass through metal!)

The next thing best friend Ruth know, Jess is writhing on the floor after being struck. But there were no marks!

Once they get home, Jess notices a star shaped mark on her body where the lightning passed into her; but there’s no other mark to show where the lightning passed out from her and in the morning she acquired a superpower: thanks to the lightning’s fatal strike, Jess can now tell where missing people are.

However, can having mind powers be a bad thing???

Meg Cabot couldn’t leave the book as just a one-off, so she created a sequel called Code Name Cassandra in which Jess pretends to have lost her powers just so she can get away from all of the cameras and paparazzi.  She volunteers at a camp for talented kids, but the kids are beginning to realise who she really is.  That’s when she receives a package containing info on a missing child that needs to be found.  But, whilst Jess creeps out of the camp and tracks down the girl, one of the boys she was supposed to be taking care of vanishes from the camp!

Can Jess use her powers to save him as well as the other missing child?
Read these two books to find out!  Both stories are in one brilliant book called Vanished, so go to your local store to buy this fab book now!

Georgia

Published by Tannbourne.

Emma’s Stormy Summer is a really heart-warming book about a girl and her friends facing hard times throughout the summer holidays.
Emma has a great bond with her three best mates, (Becca, Ruth and Charlie)but suddenly, Becca starts being horrible and bullying people at school!
Only to make things worse, Emma’s Dad loses his job and spends his time sitting doing nothing.  He was given pills that seemed to help but however he skipped taking them and he’s only ignoring Emma and Mum more and more…
Is there anyway Emma can possibly help?
That’s when she realizes her holidays are like a summer storm – Things seem bad at first but then everything will clear!
This is a fun book by author Miranda Newboult, perfect for readers aged 8 and up. It’s her first book and Emma’s Stormy Summer is also a special book because it is the first book to be published by the new publishing group; Tannbourne LTD.

After seeing how great this story was, I’m sure Tannbourne will soon become a really big publishing group!
Thanks to Jazzmine (@jreadsalot), I’ve been kindly introduced to these new publishers… and personally, I think they’re fab!

Georgia

Out now from Headline.

Ember Fury is one of the most action packed books I’ve ever read!

Teenager Ember,(otherwise known as Em) has been in rehab, prison and therapy classes because of her pyromaniac based problem.

But you can’t blame her – all she wants is a normal life!

Her dad’s a rockstar in a popular band called Slap!

Her mum was a famous talented artist before she died, and Ember’s new stepmum is the well known movie maker Charity Lane.

For the summer holidays, Em leaves London and her friends behind to visit L.A, where her dad and stepmum live.

The only problem is that she hates the paparazzi, being an icon and practically everything else about Los Angeles.  What can be done?

The only friend she has is an imaginary one – why is everything going downhill for her?

This is a great book for 11 to young adults and watch out for another book by the amazing Cathy Brett: Scarlett Dedd!

Georgia

Due from Indigo (Orion) 1st September 2011

An email from her murdered sister sets Alice Forster on a chilling path – to solve the mystery of Meggie’s death, and the even greater mystery of her life AFTER death. When a girl receives an email from her murdered sister, a whole new adventure takes place…

Alice Forster’s sister, Meggie, was a teen superstar on a talent programme (Sing for your Supper) up until she was found dead in her college apartment, her hair spread out.

Nobody could answer why she’d been murdered; her boyfriend, friends and neighbours were taken in for questioning but still gave no evidence.

Before Meggie’s funeral, her younger sister Alice received an email from her!

It gave her an invitation to visit the virtual paradise of SOUL BEACH.

After the funeral, Alice logs onto the website and sees a beautiful tropical beach.

After a while, long dead teens appear, including her sister!

Alice finds she can communicate with her sister through a site for teens in limbo, but who really did kill Meggie Forster, and could Alice be next?

This is a really great book: it’s essential for every teenager to read!

Georgia

Due from Indigo (Orion) 6th October 2011.

What would you sacrifice for someone you’ve loved forever?

Have you ever had the feeling that you’ve lived another life?

In a novel comprising seven short stories each of them influenced by a moon – flower moon, harvest moon, hunter’s moon, blood moon – and travelling from 2073 back in time to the dark of the moon and the days of Viking saga, this is the story of Eric and Merle who have loved and lost one another and who have been searching for each other ever since.  In the different stories the two appear as lovers, mother and son, brother and sister, artist and child as they come close to finding each other before facing the ultimate sacrifice.  Beautifully imagined, intricately and cleverly structured this is a heart-wrenching and breathtaking love story, but it also has the hallmark Sedgwick gothic touch with plenty of blood-spilling, a vampire and a sacrifice.

Here’s what Georgia thought of the book:

At first, I thought there was a mistake in this book – I was in the middle of reading about a reporter who goes to an island called Blessed, then suddenly it switched to a middle ages story!

Eric and Merle, in the first story, recognise each other from six past lives, and the book begins…

It keeps the same characters, Eric and Merle and in each of the seven stories, the two characters are close together; either as husband and wife, father and daughter or they have just met.

As you get further into the book itself, each makes more sense than the last story.

This book has such a unique and special twist, because I have never ever read a book like Midwinterblood! personally. I think that there should be lots more books with the same style as this one… keep on writing, Marcus Sedgwick!

Georgia