Take a look at the books we got #13

Our thirteenth week of joining in with blogger memes like In My Mailbox (IMM) at The Story Siren  and the new British-based Letterbox Love to share the books that we recently bought, borrowed or received through the post. And what a lot we got got this week (but no still no Smarties)!  But there's a lot that'll take you to the seventies!

 

 

Bought & Gifted to Little M:
We've  gone all retro here - 1970s but with updated covers. From the horsey series read long ago and by an author whose tales we both love - Follyfoot by Monica Dickens. And Iggie's House by Judy Blume - another one from the past with a story about new black neighbours in a white 1960s street. 


Not quite the '70s anymore, we've made it to the 21st century with Raspberries on the Yangtze by Karen Wallace - a coming-of-age novel set not in China but in Canada; Morpurgo calls it Swallons and Amazons for the 21st century!


And another Sophie McKenzie - The Medusa Project: The Set-Up: a story about four teenagers who were implanted with the Medusa gene at birth.


Finds!
Talking of updated covers, we found a proof (seriously!) of Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl with the 2011 cover. Have heard so many good, good things about this but neither of us have read anything by Colfer yet.


For Review:


Three titles for tweens:
A Stallion Called Midnight by Victoria Eveleigh - a story about a wild stallion called Midnight who won't be trained.  What caught our eye most on this one (apart from the horse of course) was that it is inspired by a real horse called Midnight who lived on the island of Lundy.  And watch out, we have an interview with the author and a book giveaway from Orion coming up soon. Being published by Orion next week on 21 June.


Tiger Wars by Steve Backshall - What happens when the predator becomes the prey? This is an action adventure story about two teenagers who become eco-warriors. Steve Backshall is a wildlife and children's presenter. This was recently published by Orion in May.


Black Tide by Caroline Clough. This is a sequel to Red Fever which we have not read but the publisher thinks that Black Tide is also suitable to read on its own. This is another action-adventure story set in Scotland about a boy who needs to do quite a bit of rescuing. Published in June by Kelpies.


And for the olderYA set:
Pushing the Limits by Kate McGarry, another gritty US contemporary being published in the UK by Mira Ink in August. It's about a good girl and a bad boy who have issues and social workers - and they set out to confront their pasts. She was attacked and left scarred. He's a foster child. I suspect this one will be really gritty.


And then from Random House Childrens Publishers:

Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick: The Killing Fields. For those of you who've watched the film, you've got goosebumps right now, haven't you!? My gut feeling is this is going to be a tearjerker the whole way through. It's a fictional account based on the true story of Arn-Chorn-Pond, a boy who survived the atrocities of the Khymer Rouge's Killing Fields in Cambodia in the 1970s. I'm dropping everything else to read this next.  It publishes in August.


Time Between Us by Tamara Ireland Stone.  Described as The Time Traveler's Wife for teens.  A big, bold claim but I don't need to know anything more to give this one a go.  It publishes in October.


Now is Good by Jenny Downham. No, it's not a new Jenny Downham.  It's Before I Die being published under the same title as the film which is coming out (starring Dakota Fanning). Tessa is 16 and this is her 'before-I-die' list.  Number one on the list, is the s-e-x word. It publishes in August.


Thanks for these, Random House, but please can I have a box of tissues now? No, instead they've sent me a whole box of fun.  Look:


Muddle and Win: The Battle for Sally Jones by John Dickinson - Time for a light read and a laugh now. This is a funny story about having lifetime deedcounters. You get points added and deducted based on the deeds you do and your final score decides whether you go to heaven or hell.  But there's a real weird battle going on in Sally Jones' head. It publishes in August.


And from Vintage, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. Needs no introduction but this is one of the titles from Vintages new Children's Classics series which launches in August.