Firesong

Julia Golding - The ​Chimera's Curse
Connie ​is the world’s last Universal – the only person who can communicate with all creatures; the only person who can keep peace between humans and the hidden mythical beings being destroyed by pollution. But the shapeshifter Kullervo craves her power. He wants to wipe out humanity. During a long, hot summer, as the sun beats down and the earth gets dryer, Kullervo prepares for war. The serpent-like chimera is just one part of his frightening army. As the inferno of Kullervo’s hatred crackles into life, Connie and her best friend Col must stop him. But how? And who will survive this fight to the death?

J. K. Rowling - Harry ​Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry ​Potter receives an ominous warning from a house-elf at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry: if he returns to the school at the end of the summer, terrible things will happen. But return Harry must. His second year begins with a new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Quidditch training and the intensification of old rivalries. Then the warning starts to ring true, as mysterious words are daubed on a wall, students are attacked and Ron's sister, Ginny, disappears. And so the search for Salazar Slytherin's heir begins, with the mystery pointing Harry to a clandestine chamber and a deadly creature at its heart...

Julia Golding - Mines ​of the Minotaur
Connie ​is a Universal – she can talk to animals and mythical creatures. But something dark is calling to her, giving her dangerous power, and her best friend Col doesn’t know what to do. When her strange behaviour means Connie is rejected by the Society for the Protection of Mythical Creatures - the very group of people who are supposed to protect her - she hides in an abandoned tin mine. There she is befriended by a blinded Minotaur, and feels safe amongst the other wounded creatures the Society and the world have forgotten. But even deep underground she can’t block out the dark voice in her head. Who is it, and where does it come from? And why does Connie feel so terrified by the power it gives her?

J. K. Rowling - Harry ​Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Harry ​Potter is an ordinary boy who lives in a cupboard under the stairs at his Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon’s house, which he thinks is normal for someone like him who’s parents have been killed in a ‘car crash’. He is bullied by them and his fat, spoilt cousin Dudley, and lives a very unremarkable life with only the odd hiccup (like his hair growing back overnight!) to cause him much to think about. That is until an owl turns up with a letter addressed to Harry and all hell breaks loose! He is literally rescued by a world where nothing is as it seems and magic lessons are the order of the day. Read and find out how Harry discovers his true heritage at Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft, the reason behind his parents mysterious death, who is out to kill him, and how he uncovers the most amazing secret of all time, the fabled Philosopher’s Stone! All this and muggles too. Now, what are they?? The Author: This is Jo’s first book and she has already written seven outlines for Harry’s further adventures at Hogwarts. She lives in Edinburgh.

Julia Golding - The ​Gorgon's Gaze
Mallins ​Wood is under threat, and with it the home of the last remaining gorgon - a mythical creature that can kill with a look. Only a handful of people know that she still exists. Col and his mother are among them, and both are determined to save her, and the forest. While Col tries to rally support amongst the locals, his mum is hatching a more deadly plan. Egged on by the evil shapeshifter Kullervo, she is ready to sacrifice Col’s best friend, Connie, to protect the gorgon. But first she needs Col to lure Connie to the gorgon’s lair...

Patrick Ness - Snowscape
Snowscape ​is set after the end of Monsters of Men , so that's when you should read it. That's all I'll say, I don't want to give anything away. ;-) - Patrick Ness

Terry Pratchett - The ​Wee Free Men
There's ​trouble on the Aching farm - a monster in the river, a headless horseman in the driveway and nightmares spreading down from the hills. And now Tiffany Aching's little brother has been stolen by the Queen of the Fairies (although Tiffany doesn't think this is entirely a bad thing). Tiffany's got to get him back. To help her, she has a weapon (a frying pan), her granny's magic book (well, Diseases of the Sheep, actually) and - 'Crivens! Whut aboot us, ye daftie!' - oh, yes. She's also got the Nac Mac Feegle, the Wee Free Men, the fightin', thievin', tiny blue-skinned pictsies who were thrown out of Fairyland for being Drunk and Disorderly . . . A wise, witty and wonderfully inventive adventure set in the Discworld.

Alan Bradley - The ​Dead in Their Vaulted Arches
Bishop's ​Lacey is never short of two things: Mysteries to solve and pre-adolescent detectives to solve them. In this New York Times bestselling series of cozy mysteries, young chemist and aspiring detective Flavia de Luce once again brings her knowledge of poisons and her indefatigable spirit to solve the most dastardly crimes the English countryside has to offer and, in the process, comes closer than ever to solving her life's greatest mystery-her mother's disappearance...

Michelle Paver - Ghost ​Hunter
Winter ​is coming. Souls' Night draws near. Eostra, the Eagle Owl Mage, holds the clans in the grip of terror. Torak must leave the Forest and seek her lair in the Mountain of Ghosts, while Renn faces an agonizing decision. Wolf, their faithful pack-brother, must overcome wrenching grief. And in the final battle against the forces of darkness, Torak will make the most shattering choice of all. Ghost Hunter, the final book in the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series, draws the reader for the last time into the shadowy world of the deep past and brings Torak to the end of his incredible journey.

Michelle Paver - Oath ​Breaker
When ​he was outcast, Torak was the hunted one. Nine moons later he becomes the hunter when he vows to avenge the killing of one of his closest friends. Racked by guilt and grief, he follows the killer into the Deep Forest, where the World Spirit stalks the hidden valleys as a tall man with the antlers of a stag. But there is a rottenness at the heart of the Forest, for its clans have succumbed to the lies of the Soul-Eaters. Here, Torak must face fire, war, and overwhelming evil. Oath Breaker is a story about keeping promises and the true cost of vengeance.

Michelle Paver - Outcast
A ​thrilling story of friendship, survival, and the need to belong. For two moons Torak has hidden a terrible secret—and now it is revealed. He bears the mark of the Soul-Eater, and must pay the price. Cast out from the clans, he is alone and on the run: cut off from his best friend, Renn, and his beloved pack-brother, Wolf. He flees to the haunted reed-beds of Lake Axehead, where he is hunted by the Otter Clan, taunted by the Hidden People, and, as soul-sickness claims him, he falls prey to an even greater menace. Tormented by secrets and broken trust, he uncovers a deception that will turn his world upside down.

Michelle Paver - Soul ​Eater
It's ​winter, and Wolf, Torak's beloved pack-brother, has been captured by an unknown foe. In a desperate bid to rescue him, Torak and Renn must brave the frozen wilderness of the Far North. As they battle for survival amid howling blizzards and the ever-present menace of the great white bear, their friendship is tested to the breaking point, and Torak is forced to get closer to his enemies than ever before. . . . Soul Eater is a haunting story of loyalty and loss, a chilling portrayal of the nature of evil, and the next step in the perilous journey that began with Wolf Brother and Spirit Walker.

Michelle Paver - Wolf ​Brother
The ​epic journey of boy and wolf begins Six thousand years ago. Evil stalks the land. According to legend, only twelve-year-old Torak and his wolf-cub companion can defeat it. Their journey together takes them through deep forests, across giant glaciers, and into dangers they never imagined. Torak and Wolf are terrified of their mission. But if they do not battle to save their world, who will?

Louise Rennison - Angus, ​Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging / It's OK, I'm wearing really big knickers!
Georgia ​hits the big screen! Fab new bumper bind-up of the first two hilarious books in the bestselling Confessions of Georgia Nicolson series: 'Angus, Thongs and Full-frontal Snogging' and 'It's OK, I'm Wearing Really Big Knickers', with a gorgeous new film tie-in cover. There are six things very wrong with my life: 1. I have one of those under-the-skin spots that will never come to a head but lurk in a red way for the next two years. 2. It is on my nose. 3. I have a three-year-old sister who may have peed somewhere in my room. 4. In fourteen days the summer hols will be over and then it will be back to Stalag 14 and Oberfuhrer Frau Simpson and her bunch of sadistic 'teachers'. 5. I am very ugly and need to go into an ugly home. 6. I went to a party dressed as a stuffed olive. Read all about Georgia's hilarious antics as she desperately tries to muddle her way through teenage life. The new film, Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging, based on the first two books in Louise's Rennison's laugh-out-loud funny series of books is set to be a huge summer hit. Produced by Paramount and directed by Gurinder Chadha of Bend it Like Beckham fame, it's sure to be a favourite chick flick. Read it before you see it!

Georgia Byng - Molly ​Moon's Hypnotic Holiday
Molly ​Moon meets . . . Molly Moon? In this third book in the wildly popular "New York Times" bestselling series, mesmerizing orphan Molly Moon and her fabulous pug, Petula,

Patrick Ness - The ​New World
The ​New World is the story of how Viola come to be where we found her in The Knife of Never Letting Go. It is the best read immediately after that book because there are hints of things to come.

Jacqueline Wilson - Vicky ​Angel
'You ​look as if you've seen a ghost!' Jade is so used to being with and agreeing with Vicky, her best friend, that when a tragic accident occurs, she can hardly believe that Vicky's no longer there. But Vicky's a sparky girl who's not going to let a small thing like being dead stop her from living life to the full. Whether Jade is in lessons, out running or tentatively trying to make new friends, Vicky is making her presence felt...

Diana Wynne Jones - Enchanted ​Glass
A ​brilliant, intricate and magical novel from the Godmother of British fantasy. When Andrew Hope's magician grandfather dies, he leaves his house and field-of-care to his grandson who spent much of his childhood at the house. Andrew has forgotten much of this, but he remembers the very strong-minded staff and the fact that his grandfather used to put the inedibly large vegetables on the roof of the shed, where they'd have vanished in the morning. He also remembers the very colourful stained glass window in the kitchen door, which he knows it is important to protect. Into this mix comes young Aidan Cain, who turns up from the orphanage asking for safety. Exactly who he is and why he's there is unclear, but a strong connection between the two becomes apparent. There is a mystery to be solved, and nothing is as it appears to be. But nobody can solve the mystery, until they find out exactly what it is!

Sue Townsend - Rebuilding ​Coventry
From ​its title on, Sue Townsend's short, utterly entertaining novel is full of jokes both sly and slapstick. The Coventry of the title is one Coventry Dakin, the novel's narrator, and a devoted, intelligent, but intensely bored wife and mother maintaining her dull husband and two nearly-grown children in suburban Midlands. Coventry also just killed her neighbor, a jerk named Gerald Fox who's been spreading nasty (and false) rumors about her. Now she's on the lam, and Townsend, author of the well-loved Adrian Mole series of books, takes us down and out on a comic excursion into London, where Coventry, now a penniless fugitive, seeks protection with both the lowest and highest levels of British society.

Georgia Byng - Molly ​Moon's Hypnotic Time Travel Adventure
Molly ​Moon returns . . . and bumps into earlierversions of herself -- four of them, to be exact -- all kidnaped and transported back in time to nineteenth-century India by Molly's most fearsome nemesis yet, an insane maharaja. Molly foiled his plans once already, by stopping Primo Cell from becoming president of the United States. This time around, the maharaja is determined to alter the course of history. The only thing standing in his way is Molly and her brave pug, Petula. . . .