A Medal for Leroy – Michael Morpurgo

A Medal for Leroy
Author: Michael Morpurgo
HarperCollins
ISBN: 9780007363582
Category: Children’s Fiction
RRP$24.99, 
Available now.

The long awaited new novel of identity, loss and the lingering effects of war, from master storyteller Michael Morpurgo, second biggest children’s author in the UK and bestselling author of WAR HORSE. Michael doesn’t remember his father, who died in a Spitfire over the English Channel. And his mother, heartbroken and passionate, doesn’t like to talk about him. But then Michael’s aunt gives him a medal and a photograph, which begin to reveal a hidden story. A story of love, loss and secrets. A story that will change everything – and reveal to Michael who he really is …

MUMSreview is privileged to be able to offer a copy of this book to one lucky member thanks to HarperCollins NZ.  If you are interested, please place your name on our forum page HERE  by the 26th November 2012

Your review will need to be posted here on the Blog

Hidden: House of Night Bk 10 by PC & Kristin Cast

Hidden: House of Night Bk 10  by PC & Kristin Cast
Hachette NZ,
ISBN9781907411120
Category: Fantasy/Romantic Fiction
RRP$29.99, 
Available now.

The series is already a multi million copy bestseller worldwide but the next chapter of the House of Night story is set to be the biggest yet. With action, intrigue, and spicy romance, Zoey is back fighting the forces of darkness – after all, that’s what being a bad-ass vampyre High Priestess is all about…

MUMSreview is privileged to be able to offer a copy of this book to one lucky member thanks to Hachette NZ
Once received, you will have around 2 weeks to do your review 
If you are interested, please place your name on our forum page HERE  by the 13th November
Then on the 14th November we will draw 1 lucky member to receive this great little book
Your review will need to be posted here on the Blog

Sweetly

As a child, Gretchen’s twin sister was taken by a witch-like monster in the woods. Ever since, Gretchen and her brother, Ansel, have felt the long branches of the witch’s forest threatening to make them disappear, too. When their stepmother casts Gretchen and Ansel out as teens, they stumble upon a sleepy Southern town and are invited to stay with Sophia Kelly at her sweet shop. Sophia moulds candied magic: coveted treats that inspire confidence, bravery, and passion. Life seems idyllic and Gretchen and Ansel finally start to forget their haunted past – until Gretchen meets handsome local outcast Samuel, who gives Gretchen a reason to fear Sophia: girls have been vanishing at Sophia’s annual chocolate festival, taken by the insatiable ‘witch’ of Gretchen’s nightmares. Can Gretchen save herself, the girls of Live Oak, and Sophia Of one thing, Gretchen is certain: a monster is coming, and it will never go away hungry.

• Author : Jackson Pearce
• ISBN : 9781444900613
• Publisher : Hachette Children’s Books
• Publication date : 10 July 2012

Review

• Oh Wow. This was an AWESOME book!! From the first chapter I was totally taken in by it!!
  It has just the rght amount of romance mixed with some horror and best of all – intrigue!!
  Great little twist to the original story and twists throughout the book which meant I couldnt put it down. Only took me about 2 days to read it once started as I didnt want to put it down!!
  If I had to give it stars, it would be a 4.5/5!!! Def recommend!!!

Sweetly – Jackson Pearce

Sweetly

As a child, Gretchen’s twin sister was taken by a witch-like monster in the woods. Ever since, Gretchen and her brother, Ansel, have felt the long branches of the witch’s forest threatening to make them disappear, too. When their stepmother casts Gretchen and Ansel out as teens, they stumble upon a sleepy Southern town and are invited to stay with Sophia Kelly at her sweet shop. Sophia moulds candied magic: coveted treats that inspire confidence, bravery, and passion. Life seems idyllic and Gretchen and Ansel finally start to forget their haunted past – until Gretchen meets handsome local outcast Samuel, who gives Gretchen a reason to fear Sophia: girls have been vanishing at Sophia’s annual chocolate festival, taken by the insatiable ‘witch’ of Gretchen’s nightmares. Can Gretchen save herself, the girls of Live Oak, and Sophia Of one thing, Gretchen is certain: a monster is coming, and it will never go away hungry!

• Author : Jackson Pearce
• ISBN : 9781444900613
• Publisher : Hachette Children’s Books
• Impring: Hodder Childrens
• Publication date : 10 Jul 2012
• RRP: $19.99

Review

• Oh Wow. This was an AWESOME book!! From the first chapter I was totally taken in by it!!
  It has just the rght amount of romance mixed with some horror and best of all – intrigue!!
  Great little twist to the original story and twists throughout the book which meant I couldnt put it down. Only took me about 2 days to read it once started as I didnt want to put it down!!
  If I had to give it stars, it would be a 4.5/5!!!Def recommend!!!

Wither

Wither
Author: Lauren Destefano
ISBN13: 9781442409064
ISBN 10: 1442409061
Pub Date: 6 December 2011
Publisher: HarperCollins
Category: Young Adult
Reading Age – 13-20 years
RRP (paperback) – $24.99
Link to Harper Collins  HERE

What if you knew exactly when you would die? Thanks to modern science, every human being has become a ticking genetic time bomb – males only live to age twenty-five and females only live to age twenty. In this bleak landscape, young girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages to keep the population from dying out. When sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery is taken by the Gatherers to become a bride, she enters a world of wealth and privilege. Despite her husband Linden’s geniune love for her, and a tenuous trust amoung her sister wives, Rhine has one purpose: to escape – to find her twin brother and go home. But Rhine has more to contend with than losing her freedom. Linden’s eccentric father is bent on finding an antidote to the genetic virus that is getting closer to taking his son, even if it means collecting corpses in order to test his experiments. With the help of Gabriel, a servant she trusts, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limited time she has left

 

REVIEW

Despite the fact that it’s taken me so long to get this review up, I must say what a good book. I took it with me one bus trip and I read it the whole way. By about half way through the book I was looking for the next in the series I enjoyed it so much!
It was a little hard to follow at first as I found it quite jumpy, but then it was soon easy enough to grasp what everything was and what it meant. The story line was quite interesting, not your typical storyline that’s for sure and I think that’s what made it such an enjoyable read.
So many books have such cliché story lines, same story just a different era, different names and different title. However I haven’t read anything like this before, And I will certainly be looking for the series! They just don’t seem to be released yet .
10/10.

Witch in Winter

Witch in Winter

Author: Ruth Warburton
ISBN 13: 9781444904697
ISBN 10: 1444904698
Publisher: Hachette New Zealand
Imprint: Hodder Childrens
Release Date: 10 January 2012
Age Range: 12-15 years

Anna Winterson doesn’t know she’s a witch and would probably mock you for believing in magic, but after moving to the small town of Winter with her father, she learns more than she ever wanted to about power. When Anna meets Seth, she is smitten, but when she enchants him to love her, she unwittingly amplifies a deadly conflict between two witch clans and splits her own heart in two. She wants to love Seth, to let him love her – but if it is her magic that’s controlling his passion, then she is as monstrous as the witch clan who are trying to use her amazing powers for their own gain.

Product courtesy of Hachette Publishers

Review

When I read this I wasn’t quite sure to expect.. the scene set up and description of the area Anna lives in is very vivid and that in itself makes the book enjoyable. I would definitely recommend this for teenagers as it helps relate to the struggles you can go through at high school especially if you are starting at a new school in a different city. It’s a cute story, with a cute teenage romance. I personally thought it a little too childish for me but it would be perfect for a younger age group. It’s a quick and easy read.

Thirst Shadow of Death

Thirst Shadow of Death

Author: Christopher Pike
ISBN 13: 9781444902785
ISBN 10: 1444902784
Publisher: Hachette New Zealand
Imprint: Hodder Childrens Books
Release Date: 30 August 2011
Age Range: 12-15 years

5,000 year old vampire Alisa Perne has always outsmarted all her adversaries. But now that she’s trapped in a new body, she’s far from her best. With the immortal race, the Telar, threatening to release a virus to decimate humanity, time is fast running out. Alisa will have to turn to humans to help destroy the enemy

Product courtesy of Hachette Publishers

Review

I loved getting to read this book, Christopher Pike was my favorite author when I was a teen and I had read most of the other books in The Last Vampire series and loved them and this book was no different. If you are a Christopher Pike fan you will not be disappointed and if you aren’t but are looking for an author that writes easy to understand thriller/science fiction/mystery books then give one of his books a go but I warn you they are addictive.
The original books were a lot shorter so it was nice have a real novel so you could keep going back for more. At the end of each chapter you want to just keep going to see what is going to happen next. (I was grateful for pregnancy insomnia just so I had more time to read after Miss 1 went to bed)
The only downfall I had with this book is that it is part of a series and I had not read the previous book so it was a bit like starting halfway through a story. I highly recommend you read the other books first, I will list them in order below.
It’s aimed at young adults and when I was reading them as a teen I was about 13 but I think now that I am a parent I would recommend it more to 16 and over as there is a bit of violence and some sexual content (but no great detail).
The new covers do resemble Twilight and most people think Twilight when they see “vampire” but don’t be put off if that wasn’t for you. This book is not a sappy love story it’s filled with adventure, thrills, mystery and suspense.

The Original Books:
The Last Vampire #1
The Last Vampire #2: Black Blood
The Last Vampire #3: Red Dice
The Last Vampire #4: Phantom
The Last Vampire #5: Evil Thirst
The Last Vampire #6: Creatures of Forever
Thirst: The Eternal Dawn
Thirst: The Shadow of Death

Or the reprinted Thirst Series
Thirst No. 1 – Omnibus collects The Last Vampire 1, 2 and 3
Thirst No. 2 – Omnibus collects The Last Vampire 4, 5 and 6
Thirst No. 3 – The Last Vampire 7: The Eternal Dawn
Thirst No. 4 – The Last Vampire 8: The Shadow of Death

Hope that helps people because I got a bit lost looking for the other book I had missed.

Dark Angel

Dark Angel

Author: Eden Maguire
ISBN 13: 9781444901863
ISBN 10: 1444901869
Publisher: Hachette New Zealand
Imprint: Hodder Childrens
Release Date: 9 August 2011
Age Range: 12-15 years

A special bumper edition of the exciting adventure stories that are as gripping as a computer game! Great for boys, with a huge collectability factor bolstered by the collectors’ cards in the back of the book, and links to an excellent interactive website.

Product courtesy of Hachette Publishers

Review

I had the wonderful opportunity to review this book for MUMSreview.

Normally this type of writing is something that I would pick for myself so I was slightly dissapointed that the story started very slowly.  If this hadn’t been for review I probably wouldn’t of continued to read. I like a book to “grab” me in the initial chapters.

The story became “odd” to follow and seemed to chop between characters although Tania was the main character that we were experiencing.

I was pleased I did continue to read as the second half of this book was engaging and I did enjoy the final reading.

Overall I think this book may be aimed at a less mature read than myself, but it is a light read if you are looking for some holiday reading.

The collectable cards are a clever way of not only encouraging parents to continue to buy books in the series, but it also gives your child the opportunity to use these cards in a creative way ie creating stories of their own using the characters on the card or using the cards in a card game.

The only negative I could see is that the book might have been to easy to read. Not sure if that is because Hunter reads at a higher level for his age group, or if the book is just very simple. Although the book says for ages 7+, a 6 year old with good reading skills could easily read it, with a little help from a parent, but I think a 9-10 year old wouldn’t find it challenging at all.

My rating: 4/5

Sweet Valley Confidential: Ten Years Later

Sweet Valley Confidential: Ten Years Later Author – Francine Pascal
ISBN 13: 9780732292898
ISBN 10: 0732292891
Pub Date: 8 April 2011
Publisher: HarperCollins
Category: Young Adults
Reading Age – Young Adults
RRP (paperback) – $38.99
Link to Harper Collins HERE 

Millions of Sweet Valley High addicts around the world are eagerly awaiting an unexpected gift – their favourite twins are back, and they’re all grown up…

Ten years after graduating from Sweet Valley High, beloved twins Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield have had a falling out of epic proportions. Elizabeth can’t forget her twin’s duplicity. Always the ‘good’ twin, the one getting her headstrong sister out of trouble, Elizabeth is now about to turn the tables . . .
As the creator of the Sweet Valley series which has sold more than 150 million copies worldwide, Francine Pascal is one of the world’s most popular fiction writers for teenagers. Translated into 30 languages, Sweet Valley topped international bestseller lists, spawned spin-offs series like Sweet Valley University, a popular television series which ran for 10 years in syndication, and millions of dollars in merchandise

Review

The memories that came to me while reading this book, in all reality i was taken back to my younger teenage years.

On the very first page you learn that Elizabeth now lives in New York, not in Sweet Valley and her twin Jessica is still in Sweet Valley, within the first chapter you are whisked back in time to their teenage years. the book carries on like this in many chapters going back in time with memories and how the situation of the story of the book came along, the background plays out for you to understand more.
The book is very easy to read, and if anything even though the twins are older they are still the same, the arguments that were in every book are in this one too, with a slightly more adult spin at times.
I loved the end of the book, well the epilogue at the end of the book, it goes through so many of the popular characters you remember from the SVH books and a brief run through of what they have been doing since highschool, where they are now.
I enjoyed the book in many ways, loved the memories it brought back to me, however it reminded me that these teens lived in and still live in upperclass fantasy land, and while its always nice to dream, its always nice to have a reality check now and again too, but in saying that; trials of the heart effect all, no matter how rich and wonderful they are.

7/10

Sacrifice

 

Sacrifice
By Joanna Orwin
ScienceFiction/Young Adult Fiction
ISBN13: 9781869509125
Price (NZ RRP): $ 26.99

Exhilarated by the moment, Taka couldn’t help himself. He danced on, weaving all the moves into a seamless performance that mimicked the free-wheeling flight of the flocks of kua. He swooped and soared, arms spread like wings. His mind free of all thought, he danced in homage to Tanga.

Several generations after volcanic eruptions and tsunamis caused the onset of the Dark, the descendants of the few survivors are struggling to maintain their tenuous communities in swamplands at the far northern end of New Zealand. Now food and resources are dwindling, and the real hope for the future rests with the youths selected every five years as Travellers, their goal being to venture into the devastated mainland in search of other people and any remaining food sources. This time however, as the Choosing approaches, the heavens themselves change, revealing dramatic portents that no one can ignore.

Taka, a gifted dancer, yearns to be a hero, to be one of the Travellers. But what daunting, new challenges will be required of him and his companions if they are to have any chance of becoming saviours of their people? What sacrifices might they need to make and does Taka himself have a special role to play?

Review to come