The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell by Chris Colfer

Written by a T.V personality from the well-known program, Glee, The Land of Stories is a twist on the fairy tales that we have all grown up reading. When Alex and Connor’s father passes away their life fills with sorrow, also as their mother has to increase her work hours to support her family. When their grandma visits for their birthday she gives them a spectacular present, a large book called ‘The Land Of Stories’ that contains the fairy tales that have been read out to the twins throughout their life. Discovering that the book acts as a portal, Alex and Connor find themselves in an alternate world where they encounter witches, wolves, princesses and evil queens. Wanting to come back home, the twins race against the clock to find the ingredients to the wishing spell, the spell that has the ability to return them to their home. As they uncover the secrets of this enchanting land they discover even more about themselves. The Land Of Stories is an enthralling book that keeps you wanting more. I recommend this book for children age 9+.

- Flora

Wonder by R.J Palacio

August Pullman is an ordinary kid. The only problem is he does not have an ordinary face. Since he was born he had severe facial abnormalities and had been treated differently to normal kids.  He has been subjected to numerous surgeries and has been home-schooled to avoid the cruelty of others. August has remained sheltered by his parents until they decide to make him do the hardest thing someone like him could do. Attend middle school. Even though his father says it will be “Like a lamb to the slaughter”, August finds friends in the unlikeliest of places. This book is amazingly written and is narrated by different characters with certain links to August. This book is solely about belonging and unfair judgment. I strongly recommend Wonder for children between the ages of 10-12.

- Flora

When a brother and sister find a missing pouch containing some princely treasure, their lives take an unexpected change of direction. The pouch belongs to the king and, as its finders, Pia and Enzo find themselves thrown into the life of the court. At first Pia and Enzo are in awe of this wonderful place, but they soon find that life there, with everyone's dreams and ambitions not always in tune with what others expect of them, is not so different to the lives the siblings are used to down in a small hut in the village. In this wonderful 'fairy tale' of a story, lives collide, mysteries unfold and people come to realise their dreams.

Ovid and Lorelli Thornthwaite have been trying to kill each other for so long that neither twin can remember which act of attempted murder came first.
But whoever struck first, trying to take each other's lives is simply what they do. Until one day a lawyer arrives at their house to take stock of its contents, and his accompanying son attracts their attention.
Soon a new battle evolves - one in which the twins have to work together to solve the mystery of their parents' deaths.
Can Lorelli and Ovid overcome their old animosities, and will they ever get to finish that game of chess?

Milo′s extraordinary voyage takes him into such places as the Land of Expectation, the Doldrums, the Mountains of Ignorance and the Castle in the Air. He meets the weirdest and most unexpected characters (such as Tock, the watchdog, the Gelatinous Giant, and the Threadbare Excuse, who mumbles the same thing over and over again), and, once home, can hardly wait to try out the Tollbooth again. But will it be still there when he gets back from school?

The world's most valuable diamond has been stolen and its police constable guard lies unconscious in the British Museum, two sedative darts protruding from his backside.
Not something Gerald Wilkins knows or cares anything about.

Not until he finds himself on a private luxury jet heading for London to attend the funeral of a great aunt he has never met.
Not until he inherits her estate, worth twenty billion pounds. Not until he opens a bundle of envelopes from his dead great aunt.
Was she murdered? Who stole the diamond? And what is the mysterious casket that everyone seems to be looking for?
With the help of the Valentine twins, the rat-fearing Sam and the gymnastic champ Ruby, Gerald's got a mystery to solve. A mystery that will take them into secret passageways, a musty jumbled bookshop, an ancient crypt, the tower of a ruined church and a colossal cavern where the secret of a priceless treasure lies protected by deadly booby traps.

Are you a gifted child looking for special opportunities? When a peculiar advertisement appears in the newspaper for children to take part in a secret mission, children everywhere sit a series of mysterious tests. In the end, just four children succeed: Reynie, Kate, Sticky and Constance. They have three things in common: they are all honest, all remarkably talented and all orphans. They must go undercover at the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened where the only rule is that there are no rules. There they must work as a team to save not only themselves, but also the world outside the walls.

When thirteen year old Gerald is whisked away to England for his rich great aunts funeral, mysteries start taking place as soon as the will is read out. It gives Gerald his great aunts house which is priced for $200 million dollars making Gerald an instant billionaire. He finds a note in his room from his dead aunt asking him to find out who murdered her and trust no one.
Gerald's life is in danger and all he has is a billionaire survival kit and some new friends that will help him solve the mystery.
'A great book that will keep you awake for hours.'
- Flora, age 9

When not quite 13 year old Hannah Rose finds a letter addressed to the Viscountess of Fairknowe, making her mother Roz confess that she is the great-grandaughter of a countess and an heir to a Scottish Castle. When Hannah arrives in Scotland she finds out about a curse of dark magic upon her family which linked to her fathers disappearance shortly after her birth. Hannah will do whatever it takes to lift the curse, even travel back in time to Mary Queen of Scots time. Hannah is determined to rescue the father she has never met and risk everything.
'A fantastic historical fiction.'
- Flora, age 9

'I could not put this book down!'
Emmy was a good girl so she would talk to the rat who was no good. One day Emmy set the rat free. After that she went to a shop called 'The Antique Rat' where there are rodents with magical uses. She sees a rat that looks like her rat and complains but the shopkeeper follows Emmy because he wanted it.
A few days later Emmy found that her nanny, Miss Barmy was purchasing from there...
- Flora, age 9