Sometimes when I hand over a book for 'the boss' to review, I'm never sure whether she's going to take to it or not.

But with "Love on the Main Stage" by S.A Domingo, she was in just the right mood for a summery and romantic novel with a beating pulse of musicality at its heart.

Nova is a girl who loves music and writing her own songs, and right now she's having the most amazing summer of her life. Going from music festival to music festival along with her parents who run a food truck, Nova falls completely in love with the music - but also Sam, a cute American boy who wants to be a musician just like her.

It feels like a fleeting romance, but guess who shows up at the next festival. Sam! But he's a secretive chap, so why can't Nova get him to open up about himself more? And how does Sam have backstage access to the VIP areas at the festival?

C absolutely ate this up, I think as much as writers everywhere are gearing up to write their own 'definitive' lockdown novels, more than anything else what young readers want is a slice of positive and joyful storytelling with a bit of romance thrown in for good measure. Essentially something that's going to make you long for the days when we'll all be able to go to festivals again and soak up that amazing atmosphere, and maybe meet that special someone there too?

This week's Chapter Book of the Week is another book that you won't see until the Autumn, but we wanted to make sure we squeezed it in before the blog takes the long sleep.

"The Tigers in the Tower" by Julia Golding is based around a piece of history that many children may not know about when they go on school trips to the Tower of London, listening to the stories of deposed monarchs and traitorous criminals that were once imprisoned there. From the 1200s right up to 1835, the zoo hosted a "Menagerie" - a collection of weird wild and exotic animals, kept behind the thick stone walls of this Norman castle.

In Julia's fantastic and scintillating tale we meet Sahira who, along with her family, embarks on a perilous journey to London to present two regal Tigers to be kept and displayed in the menagerie. Sahira's father is a captain in the East India Company, and her mother is a wise and elegant Indian woman. Sahira bridges two worlds that - at the time this book is set - were drawn together by the colonisation of India by the British, aspects of which Julia burnishes her already fascinating story with.

Sahira's parents don't make it, perishing on the journey - and the poor girl soon finds herself left alone in London, to survive on her wits, but with one last dying wish of her father's uppermost in her mind - to make sure that the beloved tigers are well looked after and protected at all costs.

Sahira enlists the help of new friends who understand the importance of her quest, and so this plucky young girl must find her own path in a land that is not her own.

There's a lot of amazing subtle allegory to pick out in this story, as exciting, fresh and original as they come in middle grade fiction. Julia's deft descriptive and immersive writing fleshes out Sahira's character beautifully, and there are times where the points made about migration to a foreign land, and the protection of endangered species in our wonderful world are nicely woven into the core story of Sahira's bravery and determination.

In a publishing industry still over-obsessed with middle grade detective novels, it's genuinely nice to read a MG book that eschews the tired old cliches of a smart kid unravelling the criminal machinations of a bunch of hapless adults. Instead this is a tale of a girl who has her heart set on something far more important - protecting animals who deserve a far better life than being clanged up in cages.

Sum this book up in a sentence: A heady, atmospheric and intoxicatingly involving story with a brave and plucky young girl at its heart.

"The Tigers in the Tower" by Julia Golding is out on 18th September 2020, published by Lion Hudson (kindly supplied for review). 

Ah, that rare beast, a "Chapter Book of the Week" sneaking into our schedule, just like the hero of this brilliant middle grade detective romp, set in the best possible setting you can stick a middle grade storyline into - a boarding school.

"A Girl Called Justice: The Smugglers' Secret" by Elly Griffiths inflicted on us the divine pain of coming in with the second book of an established series, but thankfully one that still stands on its own two feet as once again we catch up with Justice Jones, that awesome investigative and curious girl who is once again thrown into a whole new adventure.

It's spring term at Highbury House and it's not long before some devilish goings-on, and a grisly murder pique JJ's interest.

Unfortunately Justice has a chore to deal with, looking after a curmudgeonly eldster over in the Smugglers Lodge on the other side of the school grounds. At first they don't get on but soon Mr Arthur's stories of being a pilot in World War 1 become entirely fascinating - and Justice also finds out that the lodge itself may be haunted.
When Mr Arthur dies suddenly in suspicious circumstances, Justice Jones is determined to find out what's going on, why the old man wasn't given a proper military send-off and what's really going on at Smugglers Lodge.

C immediately took to this one and walloped the whole book down in one glorious sitting. "Better than Murder Most Unladylike, way better!" she proclaimed - so there you have it. If you like your Mallory Towers with a dose of murderous mystery, and a tinge of darkness this is absolutely wonderful stuff.

Sum this book up a sentence: The awesome follow-up to "A Girl Called Justice" - JJ is our kind of kick-ass detective gal.

"A Girl Called Justice: The Smugglers' Secret" by Elly Griffiths is out now, published by Quercus (kindly supplied for review). 

This week's Chapter Book of the Week has been hotly anticipated by all of us at ReadItDaddy Towers.

We read Liz Flanagan's fantastic "Dragon Daughter" way back in 2018 and instantly fell in love with Liz's amazing worldbuilding, awesome characters and of course her brilliant dragons.

Now it's time to catch up with that world again in "Shadow Dragons" and though our copy looked like it'd been mauled by dragons, we could still dig in and read it. In fact little miss devoured this book in the space of a few night's reading (I didn't get a look in until some time afterward as she likes to read books she loves through a couple of times - but it was worth the wait when I did finally get hold of it!)

This time the story begins with a young boy named Jowan who dreams of one thing, and one thing only - having a dragon all of his own. 

Oh wow, this week's Chapter Book of the Week is the sort of book that saw both of us fighting over the copy we recieved for review - so it was fortunate that Nosy Crow sent us two proofs - and we both dived in separately for our review.

For C, "TrooFriend" by Kirsty Applebaum was exactly the sort of book she loves best, a story that is set in a strange future that shows a book world that's still recognisable, relatable and identifiable as being an extension of the world we live in today - but with subtle twists, turns and nuances to mark it out as futuristic.

"Troofriend" is actually a new range of android friends designed to be your new robotic bestie. Tailored to each individual 'owner', we're soon introduced to one particular TrooFriend 560 - named "Ivy" thanks to her demarcation (IV in roman numerals) - and her new 'owner' Sarah, a little girl who has longed for a sister - and now has one at long last.

The TrooFriend 560 is designed to be the perfect companion. They never lie, never cheat, never steal, and can never hurt humans. Almost perfect, as it soon emerges that IV doesn't quite live up to that expectation, and comes with her own tics and quirks, something that the Troofriend Company claims could never happen.

But is IV alive? And what happens when people begin to treat "Troofriends" like any other piece of disposable technology, when it's clear that they're far more than that. Sarah makes a huge decision - to run away with IV, far away from anyone who would dare to try and take IV away from her.

We both loved this book - and though I could recognise a lot of influences from other stories where synth-human / android / AI elements are prevalent, it's a very human story at its heart and I admired the fact that Kirsty gave this story such a huge amount of appeal to boys and girls the same age as my daughter.

C said "As I read, I could understand what made Sarah want to run away with IV. As an only child I would love my own "Troofriend" as I understand how lonely Sarah must have been, and how she loved IV even despite her being 'imperfect' to everyone else."

C read through this twice, and in fact as I type this review she's diving back in for a third read. Like me she tends to blast through books on her first reading, but then will go back in for more readthroughs if a book really gets its hooks into her. "Troofriend" clearly worked its magic on her and very much deserves Book of the Week status.

Sum this book up in a sentence: A fantastic slice of dark-mirror-esque near-future sci fi in a world where synthetic companions are the new mobile phone, with a strong ethical thread burning through a totally gripping and sometimes quite dark storyline.

"TrooFriend" by Kirsty Applebaum is out now, published by Nosy Crow (kindly supplied for review).

Oh we do love it when books arrive with a "WHOOP!" of glee and celebration here at ReadItDaddy Towers. We've been waiting, anticipating and hopping from foot to foot waiting for our Chapter Book of the Week to arrive, and "The Cut-Throat Cafe" by Nicki Thornton is every bit as good as we'd hoped.

So in the third of the Seth Seppi mysteries, what's the young would-be magician up to this time? Let's hand over to "The Boss" of the blog who has written this review herself.

In this book we find Seth at the magic town of Gramichee.

Our Chapter Book of the Week this week is a superb time-hopping story that combines several things we love into a real life-affirming tale of an amazing cross-generational friendship.

"Girl 38: Finding a Friend" by Ewa Josefkowicz begins with a 12 year old girl who is very much like the "Boss" of this blog. Kat is similarly obsessed with superheroes and graphic novels, and loves working on her own comic, the amazing "Girl 38".

But Kat's school and home life keeps getting in the way of her creative endeavours. At school, her 'bestie' is no longer her best friend.

At home Kat never finds a sympathetic ear, as her mum and dad are always working - and are hardly ever there. So Kat turns to a kindly neighbour Ania.

After helping Ania recover from an accident, the two become close friends, and even though Kat is slightly afraid of her outspoken elderly pal, she finds herself drawn to Ania's stories of what life was like during the war, and in particular the story behind a haunting and unfinished portrait of a girl that Ania once worked on.

Kat learns that the girl was called Mila, and both Ania and Mila were interred in a walled village during the outbreak of WWII as soldiers began to take over their country. Kat finds herself inspired by the hardships suffered by the girls, and soon begins to work out how her own story - and the story of Girl 38, her mighty superhero, may play out in the end.

This is breathtaking writing that had us both completely immersed in Kat's world, and an amazing heartfelt story that reminds us that our 'elders' are always worth listening to, and their stories, their ups and downs, and their heartbreaks and triumphs serve as a lesson to us all that we are very lucky in our own lives, even when we think we're not.

Beautiful stuff.

Sum this book up in a sentence: A breath of fresh air amongst middle grade books, with a superbly woven tale of a cross-generational bond between a young creative girl and her elderly but equally creative neighbour.

"Girl 38: Finding a Friend" by Ewa Josefkowicz is out now, published by Zephyr Publishing (Kindly supplied for review) 

We're beginning to wonder whether anyone else will get a look-in in our Chapter Book of the Week slot, as once again Nosy Crow prove that they have a steely glint in their eye for publishing some of the most scintillating middle grade / YA fiction on the planet.

"DustRoad" by Tom Huddleston is one of those books that we cleared the decks for, in fact the same thing happened with "FloodWorld" (Book one in Tom's fantastic post-apocalyptic climate crisis series) - and once again we were wrapped up in the dying world of Kara and Joe.

This time the action eventually sees the duo back on dry land, but still very much in the thick of things as opposing forces - The Five and The Mariners - begin to duke it out over their own visions for the planet's future.

As the action switches to a sun-baked version of the US, like all good dystopic fiction you instantly feel like you're in a world that feels like it's depicting our own future, maybe less than a decade away (unless of course there's a near-miraculous turnaround in the way people think).

Kara and Joe's quest continues as they once again evade Cortez's nefarious Mariners, finding dubious comradeship with a band of outlaws who are determined to make the ruins of planet earth their own.

Kara and Joe, and the villainous Captain Cortez are the sort of characters that stick in the mind long after you've polished off the last chapter - and without any hint of spoilers, leave you almost gnawing the book in half to find out what's going to happen next (cliffhanger much?)

Do they have a future? Are the battle lines as clear cut as good vs evil? What Tom depics so well here is that these are characters that feel believable. In fact they feel like ordinary everyday folk facing up to the reality of a world being dragged through irrevocable change, and dang, if there's ever a reason we're addicted to dystopian stories, it's to wonder (and worry) about how we ourselves would cope in Kara and Joe's well-worn shoes.

But ah, the other character in the book - the amazing sun-blasted ruined world, described in meticulous, mesmerising and horrifying detail - is the real star. There's a hideous beauty to the way Tom describes some of the more memorable locations in the story (again if you read the influences article, you'll recognise some of these). Again this is like a siren song to both of us, fans of "Urbex" (a movement to photograph and capture the atmosphere of long-abandoned or ruined places, that feels like something Tom has nodded to in several parts of the book where previous bustling examples of civilisation are reduced to skeletal rotting ruins).

We both loved this. C because, to her, this sort of thing is all new - moving swiftly on from the usual middle grade fare into books that are far more dark and gritty than other things she's previously read. Books that feed into her own interest in climate change and the youth resistance movement that has risen up to challenge our horribly unsustainable consumer-led lifestyles.

For me, it feels like Tom Huddleston deserves to join the ranks of hallowed authors I loved as a kid and still love re-reading as an adult. Authors like John Christopher and John Wyndham, Harlan Ellison and Robert Silverberg and even modern dystopia masters like Ben H. Winters and Margaret Atwood.

I'm gushing, of course I am. This is a bloomin' fantastic book, tinged with a dark hearted view of a possible (some might say 'inevitable') future, but with moments that offer a tiny silver-hued glimmer of hope that humanity will somehow prevail.

Tom very kindly wrote about some of the influences for his books (click here for a rivetting read!) and after devouring this book in a couple of marathon sessions (it's that good), all those influences are clearly identifiable in this fast-paced story that keeps you reading way into the wee small hours.

Sum this book up in a sentence: Another truly amazing, rivetting and addictive slice of dystopian fiction from an author who is fast becoming the 'go-to' for darkly tinged and utterly essential middle grade sci fi.

"DustRoad" by Tom Huddleston is out now, published by Nosy Crow (Kindly supplied for review). 

This week's Chapter Book of the Week is another one of those fantastic middle grade books that keeps things nicely dark and spooky without being menacing, and has kept little miss completely wrapped up in a world of dusty relics, mysterious old houses and family secrets.

"The House on Hoarder Hill" by Kelly Ngai and Mikki Lish begins with two children being sent off for the Christmas holidays to stay at their grandfather's rather creaky dusty old house.

The place is great for an adventure or two, but the two kids soon get very bored - that is until they start seeing secret messages appearing on the picture frames dotted throughout their grandfather's place.

Soon, Hedy and Spencer are caught up in a mystery that has been left unsolved for years. What exactly did happen to their grandmother, and how did she disappear?

Their grandfather is tight-lipped about his wife's disappearance, but the two curious kids use their own skills and moxy, along with the help of a very strange set of talking objects in the house - and a whole host of spirits who also share the place with their grandfather.

But dark forces are massing. Not everyone in the house is as friendly as they seem!

Packed with amazing and original little story touches, and brilliant characters throughout, this is perfect for kids who love solving mysteries and puzzles and love anything ghostly too!

"The House on Hoarder Hill" by Kelly Ngai and Mikki Lish is out now, published by Chicken House Books (kindly supplied for review).

My goodness, this book hit like a bomb dropped from a Stuka Dive Bomber. This week's Chapter Book of the week is the utterly gripping and fantastic "A Cake for the Gestapo" by Jacqueline Hill, with cover and illustrations from Isla Bousfield-Donohoe.

Set against the backdrop of the German invasion of the Channel Islands during the early part of World War 2, this is the mesmerising tale of how one plucky group of youngsters ran their own covert operations against the might of the German army. The unlikely friendship of four very different kids, Joe, Spinner, Clem and Ginger, sees a grand plan emerge as fear grips the islanders of Jersey, completely cut off from the mainland and relying on their own wits and tenacity to survive.

The kids decide to pool their cunning and their meagre resources to stage a subversive secret war against German forces, disrupting and tricking the soldiers until salvation can arrive.

Key to their plan is the elimination of a nefarious Gestapo officer, Viktor, a devilish man who will stop at nothing to crush the spirits of the islanders until they are entirely submissive.

When this book turned up I managed to nab it before C got to it, and with the full intention of only browsing through a chapter or two before handing it over, I realised it was 2 AM and I could not stop reading. Now we've both read it, we both absolutely love this book - instantly feeling fresh and so tautly written that it's impossible to resist.

As a huge, huge fan of "The Machine Gunners" (which the book has been likened to), I got right into the mindset of these kids who at first play fairly innocent pranks and tricks on the Nazi menace, before realising that they can do far more - and perhaps may even be pivotal to helping the islanders organised and provide their own resistance movement. I particularly loved Percy and Ginger's characters, both evolving throughout the story and finding their own inner strength and tenacity is boosted by their own belief in doing the right thing.

Rightly, the story doesn't shy away from describing in great detail the sort of conditions ordinary everyday folk would have had to put up with during the occupation of the Channel Islands - the only part of Britain successfully invaded by the Germans during WWII. Here then is one heck of a beltingly brilliant novel weaving in real-life anecdotal stories of what locals in Jersey, Guernsey and Sark did to disrupt the Nazi menace.

Sum this book up in a sentence: A mesmerising account of the channel island occupation told from the perspective of a plucky gang of kids who waged their own secret war against the Germans, utterly and completely unmissable.

"A Cake for the Gestapo" by Jacqueline King and Isla Bousfield-Donohoe is out on 2nd March 2019, published by Zuntold (kindly supplied for review). 

Oh yes, we are very much "down" for this takeover of middle grade by awesome fantasy and science fiction. In fact genre stuff feels like it's finally finding a home amongst readers who are fast becoming disillusioned by reading stories about yet another posho who, along with their cute toy poodle, fancies themselves as a detective.

So thank you once again to Nosy Crow for signing up genius author Louie Stowell and teaming her with Davide Ortu for the follow-up to one of our fave middle grade romps of last year, "The Dragon in the Library".

In "The Monster in the Lake" we're once again in the delightful company of Kit - a would-be wizard who seems to have a slightly disastrous touch when it comes to performing simple magic. Spells go horribly wrong, things are never quite what they seem - and to add to Kit's life hassles there's a boomin' great big lake monster to content with this time around.

Kit, Josh, Alita and Faith (the mysterious yet magical librarian) are back for this new adventure, helping Kit to figure out what's behind several bizarre outbreaks of magic in her local snoozy town - and perhaps once again save the world in the process. But what is that strange "thing" lurking in the lake? And who exactly is behind this weird shift in the magical world?

Louie expertly delves into her deep knowledge and love of sci fi and fantasy, with a ton of nods and references in this story that just had us hooting and cheering like cheesy nerdy fanboys / girls (which, we are, of course!) Kit's the sort of character we always love to see in books anyway, but here she begins to establish herself as that rare gem - a character that kids will begin to love enough to dress as on world book day. I'm kidding, but Kit is inspirational, full of curiosity, a tinge of self doubt but a ton of ability too - and dang, we want that in our books in spades.

Congrats Louie and Davide, this is another corker!

Sum this book up in a sentence: A darkly tinged, often extremely funny but reverent homage to all things gloriously B-Movie-esque with the sort of main character we just can't get enough of, and a supporting cast that make scooby and his gang look like cardboard cutouts. Awesomeness!

"The Monster in the Lake" by Louie Stowell and Davide Ortu is out now, published by Nosy Crow (Kindly supplied for review). 

We've long been interested in fab books that successfully bridge the gap between picture books and lengthier chapter-based stories, and our Chapter Book of the Week this week is a cracking example of something that could almost end up being a genre all of its own.

"Max and the Midknights" by Lincoln Peirce is almost like a mini graphic novel spliced with an early middle grade reader, but essentially the sort of romping adventure that's perfect for newly confident solo readers who want to move on from illustration-heavy / text light picture books.

This is the opposite, but features glorious monochrome illustrations woven into every page, like some of the middle grade awesomeness we've seen in books like Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Dog Man (ironic then that the two cover quotes are from the authors of those books!)

So what on earth is it all about? A grand quest of course, undertaken by diminutive Max - who wants to become a knight more than anything else in the world.

But he's a tiddly little chap, and the adventure he's about to embark on might be too much for this little fellah - who soon realises he might need a friend or two along on a quest to defeat an evil king - King Gastley in fact.



The brave adventurers set off to free Max's awesome uncle Budrick, forming themselves into "The MidKnights", ready to rescue uncle, and restore Byjovia to its former glory, while putting King Gastley firmly in his place.

As you can see, the way the book is laid out is almost like a set of interlocking comic strips, instantly digestible by kids who are daunted by huge walls of text in their books - but with a ton of style and humour about them that makes them stand out. What a great idea!

Sum this book up in a sentence: A truly awesome romp for a new Knight-in-training and his gang of brave pals, tricked out in a format that makes it immediately accessible to a wide range of reading abilities.

"Max and the MidKnights" by Lincoln Peirce is out now, published by Macmillan Children's Books (kindly supplied for review).

Sometimes a new book hits our review pile from a talented debut author, and you imagine what it must have been like to be the commissioning editor seeing that book in its raw form for the first time, and feeling that same frisson of excitement that you, the reader, now feel.

So it was with our Chapter Book of the Week this week, the utterly brilliant "The BigWoof Conspiracy" by Dashe Roberts, (hopefully) book 1 in an exciting new series that delves into the paranormal, setting out an enticing storyworld that just ticks all the right boxes for us.

We're huge fans of cult TV, strange phenomenon, mysterious creatures and conspiracy theories so you can imagine how fabulous this book was for us.

The story begins in a distinctly weird place, the town of Sticky Pines which is probably twinned with Eerie, Indiana - or any number of fictional towns where weird goings on are the norm.

Lucy Sladan is completely obsessed with UFOs and weird creatures and spends her time poring over dusty old tomes of abduction accounts, and weird old books about bizarre phenomenon (sounds a LOT like me aged 10 and also a lot like C who is really into all this stuff too).

In the midst of a thunderstorm and on the trail of a spate of strange disappearances in her home town of Sticky Pines, Lucy encounters a huge hairy creature stalking through the woods.

Terrified, she later also meets a new ally - Milo Fisher, also obsessed with all things paranormal but the holder of a deep dark secret - perhaps Milo knows more about the disappearances - and the creature - than he's letting on.

As the mystery begins to unfold, you can absolutely tell Dashe had a ball writing this, dipping into all the tropes and stories that offer the rich fertile ground on which this book is built. It's filled with action, suspense and a few moments where you pause for breath - only to realise you've been holding your breath for the last five minutes and are beginning to turn blue!

It's glorious, utterly glorious and comes with our highest recommendation. Just stop what you're doing, whether you're hunting sasquatches or trying to take photos of ghosts, and get down to your local bookshop for a copy of this. It's just so darned good!

Sum this book up in a sentence: The X-Files meets Eerie Indiana Meets John A.Keel in the body of a mighty young girl who delves into the deeply mysterious occurences in her very odd home town, making this a middle grade series destined for greatness!

"The BigWoof Conspiracy" by Dashe Roberts is out now, published by Nosy Crow (kindly supplied for review). 

You're going to have a bit of a wait on your hands before you get hold of our fantastic Chapter Book of the Week but we were so excited about it, we couldn't hold it in any longer.

We first read "Pests" by Emer Stamp as an ARC over Christmas and for quite some time now we'd been wondering what Emer would come up next. Her fabulous "Secret Diary of Pig" books have long been faves of ours, and C in particular really began to find her reading confidence with those books, and Emer's hilarious but brilliantly touching writing style.

So now Emer turns her attention to those little creatures that perhaps hide behind the wainscotting, or scurry around in the dark while the rest of us sleep. Pests? Perhaps not...

Stix is the hero of this tale, a tiny yet brave mouse who manages to keep out of trouble - most of the time. Stix is actually very kind and caring, but to join the ranks of "The Pests" Stix might have to change his ways.

Stix's wise grandma teaches him that staying away from humans, and out of trouble, will enable him to have a long and happy life - just like hers. But the Peewit Educatorium for Seriously Terrible Scoundrels (Yep, PESTS) demands more than just stealth from its members - and so Stix is about to do something very silly indeed - ignore his Grandma's sage advice and get into all sorts of mischief.

But is it worth changing your behaviour just to fit in with a whole new crew of friends?

Straight away Stix finds his voice as a character, and you're instantly drawn to him in the same way we were both drawn to Pig. Sometimes he's not the brightest mouse in the skirting board but there's something quite sweet, innocent and endearing about any tiny character outscaled by the trials and challenges of the world - and sometimes even the human world at that, scaled up and gigantic and equally full of wonders and dangers. There are laugh out loud moments, and those divine moments of bittersweetness that crop up in the very best middle grade books. It feels unusual to have them in a book that is meant to be light and funny in tone, but they work beautifully, and reinforce our love of Stix and this bookworld.

This is utterly fantastic stuff and Emer is an immensely talented lass!

Sum this book up in a sentence: Emer shifts gears effortlessly to deliver a potential new book series that's every bit as engaging, characterful and downright fun to read as "Pig"

"Pests" by Emer Stamp is out on 2nd April 2020, published by Hodder Children's Books (kindly supplied for review). 

Vashti once again makes our Chapter Book of the Week slot her very own with another delicious slice of sky-ship-soaring adventure, sizzling with steampunky goodness.

"Darkwhispers" follows in from "Brightstorm" and plays in the same gorgeously inventive book universe, this time pitching the Twins and Eudora Vane into a desperate search for missing adventurer Ermitage Wrigglesworth (god, how we love Vashti's names for characters!)

Harriet Culpepper and the crew of the skyship Aurora head for the Eastern Isles, on the dwindling trail of Ermitage's last know whereabouts. Arthur and Maudie aren't entirely sure that Eudora's motives are good, in fact as their desperate quest unfolds, the lines between allies and enemies become more and more blurred.

When disaster strikes and the twins are separated, will they ever find their way back to each other, and eventually track down the missing explorer?

From the moment you dig into the first chapter, you're there - you're in Vashti's absolutely incredibly detailed and beautifully imagined bookworld as Arthur and Maudie dig into their own inner strengths, building on their adventuresome escapades in Brightstorm. The thrumming jungle setting almost makes you hear distant drums, the sinister swish of vines, the buzz of insects and the suffocating heat as the story begins to clamp its addictive talons around your senses - and if you're anything like us, you'll be diving in for a second read as soon as you turn over the last page.

Many comparisons have been made between Vashti's work and the work of Phillip Pullman, but for our money she writes with far more enticing immediacy and a ton more humour (Pullman is dreadfully serious and morose most of the time, sorry Phil) as each amazing moment of action segues perfectly with the next, and we get to know a lot more about the adventurous twins and the mysterious Eudora Vane - a sizzlingly good baddie if ever we've read one.

As my daughter said after her first run through this one,  "you can tell the author's having a lot of fun writing these stories".

I really couldn't have put it better myself.

Utterly brilliant stuff. If you're looking for your next addiction after polishing off stuff like His Dark Materials, or fancy digging into a brilliant avianautic adventure series, pick this up, it's truly stunning stuff!

"Darkwhispers: A Brightstorm Adventure" by Vashti Hardy is out now, published by Scholastic (kindly supplied for review). 

It's fair to say that we have a very tough choice on our hands when it comes to middle grade fiction, separating out the also-rans from the truly stunning books that we know are going to be a huge hit with C.

When it comes to detective fiction our work is doubly difficult - it feels like there are SO MANY wannabe detectives running around in middle grade, all solving crimes, righting wrongs, and generally doing so in a fairly similar (some might even say tedious) way.

SO it's good to report that "The Cure for a Crime" by Roopa Farooki punts all those notions of 'sameyness' into the reeds, setting up a fantastic first book in what we truly hope becomes a hugely successful series, featuring twins Ali and Tulip.

Their mum is a successful surgeon, and both the twins have picked up loads of her knowledge of first aid, medicine and anatomy, becoming familiar with the hospital environment and the daily struggles and triumphs around making people better and saving lives.

But something's amiss. Their normally sharp-eyed sharp-witted mum seems to be suffering from a mysterious illness that is making her sleepy and forgetful. Mum's new boyfriend is instantly placed under suspicion, and it's up to the twins and their awesome Gran to get to the bottom of this tricky case, using all the medical knowledge and skills at their disposal (plus a good dose of wisdom from Gran too!)

Roopa's storytelling is slick, fast paced and completely engrossing (C read this through twice and was totally hooked on it, which in itself is unusual given the number of books she has on her review stack at any given time). Praise in itself for a superb novel that bucks the trend for 'boring' middle grade detective fiction, giving it a vital life-saving shot in the arm (and dang, you could almost put that on the back of the book, right?)

Sum this book up in a sentence: A truly brilliant slice of awesomeness, a detective tale that feels instantly engaging and original, with a brilliant pair of characters and a compelling first case which we hope becomes a huge series for Roopa.

"The Cure for a Crime" by Roopa Farooki is out now, published by OUP / Oxford Children's Books (kindly supplied for review).