Author: Miss McGill

Itch by Simon Mayo

Itchingham Lofte – known as Itch – is fourteen, and loves science, especially chemistry. He’s also an element-hunter: he’s collecting all the elements in the periodic table. Which has some interesting and rather destructive results in his bedroom…Then, Itch makes a discovery.
A new element, never seen before. At first no one believes him – but soon, someone hears about the strange new rock and wants it for himself. And Itch and his family are in serious danger…

I don’t read much and don’t often finish books, but I couldn’t put this one down, it was AMAZING!!!  Anon (S2) ***** + 5!

 

Katy by Jacqueline Wilson

9780141353982Katy Carr is a lively, daredevil oldest sister in a big family.
She loves messing around outdoors, climbing on the garage roof, or up a tree, cycling, skateboarding, swinging…But her life changes in dramatic and unexpected ways after a serious accident.
Inspired by the classic novel, What Katy Did, Jacqueline Wilson creates an irresistible modern version for the twenty-first-century.

It looks good but I personally don’t like it. HG (S1) *

The Girl With all the Gifts by M.R. Carey

Every morning, Melanie waits in her cell to be collected for class. When they come for her, Sergeant Parks keeps his gun pointing9780356500157-1 at her while two of his people strap her into the wheelchair.
She thinks they don’t like her. She jokes that she won’t bite. But they don’t laugh. Melanie is a very special girl.

Post-apocalyptic zombie-ridden Britain plays host to the ultimate road trip. Will humanity survive in the face of so many ‘hungries’? Beautifully written, thought-provoking and surprising. Read it. Mrs N. (English) ****

Shadowsmith by Ross Mackenzie

9781782503040_731249d4-ef4d-4b6f-98c6-f56741ca0e1fAre you brave? When mysterious Amelia Pigeon turns up at Kirby’s bedroom window in the dead of night, this is the question she asks him — immediately before they tumble into a world of ancient malevolent spirits who have torn their way into Kirby’s sleepy seaside village.

This book is a FANTASTIC read all about mystery, magic, murder. Highly recommend. AM (S1) *****

Black Cairn Point by Claire McFall

Heather agrees to a group camping holiday with Dougie and his friends because she’s desperate to get closer to him.9781471404870
But when the two of them disturb a pagan burial site above the beach, she becomes certain that they have woken a malevolent spirit.
Something is alive out there in the pitch-black dark, and it is planning to wreak deadly revenge.
One year later Heather knows that she was very lucky to escape Black Cairn Point but she is still waiting for Dougie to wake from his coma.
If he doesn’t, how will she prove her sanity, and her innocence?

Amazing story. Well Written! EM (S3) *****

The Blitz Next Door by Cathy Forde

9781782502036Pete has never even heard of Clydebank in Scotland, but when his dad finds a new job at last, Pete finds himself leaving his home in London overnight.
There are advantages to his new life, including a massive new bedroom and his first ever garden, complete with a real-life bomb shelter.
He’d even be ok with the sound of the girl next door crying all the time — except that there is no house next door…Pete makes two new friends: Dunny, who knows all about the Second World War, and Beth, the girl next door who somehow seems to come from it.
He slowly realises that Beth has returned from the 1940s for a reason.
But does Pete have the courage to step into the past to solve a mystery that’s over seventy years old?

It was a really good book because of all the characters. I loved the character Beth Winters. RW (S1) *****

The Piper by Danny Weston

piperHe who pays the piper calls the tune. When Peter and his little sister, Daisy, are evacuated from London to the countryside, they find themselves on an isolated farm in the middle of a treacherous marshland.
As Daisy gets drawn deeper into the secrets of their new home, Peter starts to realise that something very sinister is going on.
What is that music they can hear at night? And who are the children dancing to it?

Fabulous! It was the best book ever. AG (S1) *****

See How They Run by Ally Carter

See how they runGrace thought finding her mother’s killer would bring her peace.
But the truth has only made her a target. On Embassy Row, trust is a luxury. Death is a very real threat. And a girl like Grace should be very careful about which secrets she brings to light…

I thought this book was really good because it’s page turning. It makes you want to read more which I think books are meant to do. CS (S2) *****

Forget me not by Jo Cotterill

Since her mother, a famous florist, died three years ago, Kate’s whole life has changed completely. She’s pushed her friends away,forget me not shrunk into herself and is only finding some solace spending time in the garden amongst the flowers her mum loved so much. Desperate to try and become more like the ‘normal’ girl she once was, Kate gets a summer job at a garden centre. Doing something she’s good at means that flashes of the old sparky girl begin to emerge again – helped a lot by her very attractive and mysterious co-worker, Simon…

In the beginning it was sad because it is the anniversary of her mum’s death and it was a really good book because it was breathtaking. RW & ES (S1) *****

Awful Auntie by David Walliams

awful auntieAunt Alberta is on a mission to cheat the young Lady Stella Saxby out of her inheritance, Saxby Hall. But, with the help of Soot, the Cockney ghost of a chimney sweep alongside her, Stella is determined to fight back. And sometimes, a special friend, however different, is all you need to win through.

It was a very moving story. I personally enjoyed the characters Soot and Lady Stella Saxby.  ES & RW (S1) *****