On No, George! - Chris Haughton

'Harris is off to do some shopping. ''Will you be good, George?'' he asks. George hopes he can. He really wants to...but chocolate cake is just so very delicious and he does love to chase cats...What will George do now?'

Chris Haughton is an incredibly talented artist, this is his second children's book, full of fun and wonderful colour...I love the way that even without the text you can read exactly what George is thinking from the illustrations. Fab!

The Scar - Charlotte Moundlic (Illustrated by Olivier Tallec)

'When the boy in the story wakes up to find that his mother has died, he is overwhelmed with sadness, anger and fear that he will forget her. He shuts all the windows to keep in his mother's familiar smell and scratches open the cut on his knee to help him to recall her comforting voice. He doesn't know how to speak to his dad anymore, and when Grandma visits and throws open the windows, it's more than the boy can take - until she shows him another way to hold onto the feeling of his mum's love.'

This book deals very honestly with the sadness both adults and children feel when a parent dies and the text is very emotive. The illustrations cleverly use colour throughout to express anger, frustration and sadness but also love. It is a book that will make you laugh and cry in equal measure, but well worth a look.

172 Hours On The Moon - Johan Harstad

'Its been more than forty years since NASA sent the first men to the moon, and they decide to launch a historic international lottery in which three lucky teenagers can win a week-long trip to the moon...little do the teenagers know that there was a reason NASA never sent anyone back till now - a sinister reason. But the countdown has already begun...'

Very atmospheric and definitely built up tension throughout. I thought the story had a few holes and was not as believable as it could have been...but it kept me reading till the end. A good tale.

The Gathering Dark: The Grisha Book One
'The shadow fold, a swathe of impenetrable darkness, crawling with monsters.

Alina, a pale orphan, discovers a unique power that thrusts her into the lavish world of the kingdom's magic elite - the Grisha.

The Darkling, a creature of seductive charm and terrifying power, leader of the Grisha. If Alina is to fulfil her destiny, she must discover how to unlock her gift.

But what of Mal, Alina's childhood best friend? As Alina contemplates her dazzling new future, why can't she ever quite forget him?'

I wouldn't usually have picked this up but I was sent a review copy and read it incredibly fast. The story and characters carried me along and it was great to see (eventually) such a strong female character within the plot - the love story was a little predictable but it helped the story along. An entertaining read for Twilight fans...

The Flask - Nicky Singer

'Twelve year old Jess is grieving for her beloved Aunt Edie, and anxiously awaiting the birth of her twin brothers, when she finds a mysterious glass flask hidden in a desk. The flask is beautiful to Jess, and soon she starts to believe that it contains a magical life-force. When her half-brothers are born critically ill, Jess becomes convinced that their survival depends on what's happening to the flask...'

I am not sure about the ending in this book...but there is wonderful and very poetic writing throughout and I wanted to capture elements of it as pictures. This is another quite thought provoking read and full of feeling, quite emotive.

Eight Keys - Suzanne LaFleur

'Before I used it, the key had infinite possibilities.
Eleven-year-old Elise feels stuck. Her school locker-buddy squashes her lunch and laughs at her, every day. She doesn't want to go to school - and her best friend Franklin just makes things worse.

Now I was ready for something to be different. Anything, really.

One day Elise discovers an incredible secret. A secret that might just help her unlock her past, and take a chance on the future.

I decided that tomorrow I would see what that key opened up. It had my name on it, after all . . .'

This is such a lovely book about loving life, your friends and doing the right thing. I really enjoyed reading it and felt that it was a very thought provoking read. A great book.

Railsea - China Mielville

'On board the moletrain Medes, Sham Yes ap Soorap watches in awe as he witnesses his first moldywarpe hunt. The giant mole bursting from the earth, the harpoonists targeting their prey, the battle resulting in one's death and the other's glory are extraordinary. But no matter how spectacular it is, travelling the endless rails of the railsea, Sham can't quite shake the sense that there is more to life.'
It tool me a while to get into the language within this book as it is written in quite an interesting style. I like it a lot and the author has created a very interesting world and characters - it feels incredibly believable. I am halfway through the book so far and the narrative is beginning to speed up a little which is good, I want to know what happens to the characters that I have met so far...a good sign.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/may/23/railsea-china-mieville-review