I haven’t read as many books as I should have this year but those I have read have been top notch. These are some of my favourite children’s ones:
The Death Defying Pepper Roux by Geraldine McCaughrean (Oxford) A fast and funny romp of an adventure. Brilliant.
Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy (Harper Collins) Loved this totally implausible skinny detective.
The War and Freddy by Dennis Hamley (Catnip) Sweet story set in WW2
Found (The Missing) Bk 1 Margaret Peterson Haddox (Hodder) Recommended by Roz in Wakefield Waterstone’s. Matrix meets X Men thriller
Wilderness by Roddy Doyle (Scholastic) Tender, understated and packs an emotional punch
How to Train your Parents by Pete Johnson (Corgi) Spot on humour
Cosmic by Frank Cottrell Boyce. Better than Framed, almost as good as Millions totally enjoyable
Finding Violet Park by Jenny Valentine (Harper) Great premise, good writing, slightly disappointing ending
Coraline by Neil Gaiman (Bloomsbury) Enough to put you off buttons for life
Dreamland and Riding Icarus by Lily Hyde (Walker) Sad but hopeful tales of displaced people discovering who they are and where they belong
Her Mother’s Face by Roddy Doyle (Scholastic) A picture book for older children about loss. Really moving and beautifully illustrated by Freya Blackwood
I am currently reading (with one eye closed as it is so unbearable in parts) Rowan the Strange by Julie Hearn (Oxford)