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). 

Our Chapter Book of the Week comes from a fabulously creative author who can swap hats, creating stunning book worlds - and dishing up amazing non-fiction titles with aplomb.

But in "The Dragon in the Library" by Louie Stowell, with illustrations and cover by Davide Ortu, Louie writes a deliciously original story that dips into two things we love a great deal - mythical creatures and books.

Meet Kit. Kit is not your average library-dweller, in fact truth be told, Kit would rather be anywhere else but stuck indoors in a dusty old place full of books.

She doesn't love reading, but when two of her best friends drag her along to the library, something rather strange happens - and Kit makes a discovery that could completely change her attitude to books and the library itself.

Kit meets a dragon, and not just any old dragon but a book-loving mythical creature. But what will happen when the truth gets out, and when the entire library is put in danger of being closed for good?

We're playing a bit coy here, because this is the sort of book we don't want to ruin even the tiniest story morsel of for you. Suffice to say that in under a week's time you'll be able to pick it up and two things will happen.

1) You will fall completely in love with Kit and her scaly new friend

2) It could, just could turn your head if you're a bit of a reluctant reader too.

We loved the pace of it, we love the lusciously atmospheric descriptions that make you feel almost like sneezing as you find yourself amongst the dusty tomes of the library, but most of all we just adore the idea that writers like Louie are out there, and getting stuff like this published - chock full of originality and positivity in a world that desperately needs a good dose of both. We also love Davide's illustrations for this, which set the scenes perfectly. Fab stuff, more please!!

Sum this book up in a sentence: A brilliantly fleshed-out and realistic female central character (that we dearly hope to see popping up as a cosplay character on World Book Day), a good dose of magic, and a cause that we can all pin our banners to and bend the knee to, celebrating the importance of libraries, reading and books (and dragons of course, yes!!)

"The Dragon in the Library" by Louie Stowell and Davide Ortu is out on 6th June 2019, published by Nosy Crow (kindly supplied for review).