Author: Mrs Odie

Calling all teenagers—quit the moaning and start loving life!

Don’t be a cliché. Don’t stay in your bedroom grunting and grumbling. How about getting motivated, energized and start making a difference?! The Art of Being A Brilliant Teenager teaches you how to become your very best self—and how to figure out who that is, exactly. The bestselling authors of The Art of Being Brilliant and Be Brilliant Everyday are experts in the art of happiness and positive psychology and, with this new book, you’ll find your way to becoming brilliant at school, work, and life in general. Stay cool under all the pressures you’re facing, and plot a map for the future that takes you wherever it is you want to go. Become proactive, determined, successful and most importantly: happy!

Fact: your life span is about four thousand weeks. It seems like a lot, but it’s not. Complaining about life, homework, parents, and relationships may be normal now, but don’t let it become your defining trait. When you’re forty years old and still moaning, a big chunk of your four thousand weeks have slipped by, and you’re no closer to happiness than you were as a teen. This book is a guide to starting the journey to your ideal life now, instead of wasting time being a drip.

• Discover the real you, and what you want out of life
• Stop moaning and get moving now, while there’s plenty of time
• Lose your bad habits before they become your personality
• Figure out how you want to contribute, and find a way to do it

The bottom line is this: it’s easy to be the average version of yourself, but is that really all you want? Don’t you want to achieve something? Get started now. The Art of Being A Brilliant Teenager helps you figure out where you want to go, and how to get there. So, whether you’re an ambitious teenager, a parent or teacher desperate to turn a down-beat teenager into a ray of positivity and delight, How to Be a Brilliant Teenager is here to help.

(If you like Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, try these!  Had so many good recommendations from pupils about this series.   Tanya)

‘Terrifyingly fun! Max Brallier’s The Last Kids on Earth delivers big thrills and even bigger laughs.’  Jeff Kinney, author of Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Forty-two days ago I was an ordinary kid, living an uneventful life. But now it’s TOTAL MONSTER ZOMBIE CHAOS and I’m battling beasts on a daily basis. Crazy, right? But I know exactly how to make it through the zombie apocalypse.’

Meet Jack Sullivan, self-described as a late-blooming, slow-developing 13-year-old who has so far survived the Zombie apocalypse by hiding out in his treehouse. Overnight Jack’s life has become like the plot of a video game and he has come up with his own ULTIMATE FEATS OF APOCALYPTIC SUCCESS:

·      Locate Quint Baker, best friend and inventor

·      Find and rescue June Del Toro, his secret love interest

·      Defeat Blarg, the biggest, baddest monster in town

·      Become a zombie-fighting, monster-bashing tornado of cool!

The Simpsons meets The Walking Dead in the first book of a hilarious new monster adventure series. Fans of Timmy Failure, Wimpy Kid, Tom Gates, and Barry Loser will love accompanying Jack on his mission to become the post-apocalyptic action hero. With hilarious, action-filled illustrations from Douglas Holgate bringing the story to life on every page, The Last Kids on Earth will captivate even the most reluctant readers. Perfect for zombie-hunters of 8 years and upwards.

Aman’s dad is gone, leaving her feeling lost and alone. She struggles to talk about it, but it’s a fact and he isn’t coming back. When a lovely man called Gurnam moves in to her street and saves Aman from some local bullies, he and Aman quickly become friends, perhaps even like family. But Gurnam has his own sadness. One that’s far bigger than Aman can understand, and it’s tearing his life apart. Particularly suitable for struggling, reluctant or dyslexic readers aged 13+

“A thrilling read… flavoured with fairy tales, drizzled with a syrup of fear and sprinkled with heart.” –M.G. Leonard

This is the story of a sleepy town called Suds. A place where stories fill the air of children who keep turning grey and disappearing without a trace…

Poppy and Erasmus are certain there’s something peculiar going on in Suds, and they’re determined to unravel its secrets. But when they discover the answers might lie in the dark and twisting woods, can they find the courage to creep inside and solve this riddling mystery?

A dazzling, high-octane read filled with death-defying acrobatics, circus crowds with an appetite for disaster, and two forbidden teenage lovers trying to escape the shackles of their very different lives. Set in a near-future England where the poorest people in the land must watch their children be taken by a travelling circus – to perform at the mercy of hungry lions, sabotaged high wires and a demonic ringmaster. The ruling class visit the circus as an escape from their structured, high-achieving lives – pure entertainment with a bloodthirsty edge. Ben, the teenage son of a draconian government minister, visits the circus for the first time and falls instantly in love with Hoshiko, a young performer. They come from harshly different worlds – but must join together to escape the circus and put an end to its brutal sport.

Love is in the air in Jersey City as Valentine’s Day arrives! Kamala Khan may not be allowed to go to the school dance, but Ms. Marvel is! Well sort of – by crashing it in an attempt to capture Asgard’s most annoying trickster! Yup, it’s a special Valentine’s Day story featuring Marvel’s favorite charlatan, Loki! And when a mysterious stranger arrives in Jersey City, Ms. Marvel must deal with…a crush! Because this new kid is really, really cute. What are these feelings, Kamala Khan? Prepare for drama! Intrigue! Romance! Suspense! Punching things! All this and more! The fan-favorite, critically acclaimed, amazing new series continues as Kamala Khan proves why she’s the best (and most adorable) new super hero there is! Plus, see what happens when SHIELD agent Jemma Simmons goes undercover at Kamala’s school!

A powerful, wrenching, and compulsively readable story that lays bare the history, and the present, of racism in America’ John Green, bestselling author of Turtles All the Way Down
‘Absolutely incredible, honest, gut-wrenching! A must-read!’ Angie Thomas, bestselling author of The Hate U Give

Raw, captivating, and undeniably real, Nic Stone boldly tackles American race relations in this stunning debut.

Justyce McAllister is top of his class and set for the Ivy League – but none of that matters to the police officer who just put him in handcuffs. And despite leaving his rough neighbourhood behind, he can’t escape the scorn of his former peers or the ridicule of his new classmates.

Justyce looks to the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for answers. But do they hold up anymore? He starts a journal to Dr. King to find out.

Then comes the day Justyce goes driving with his best friend, Manny, windows rolled down, music turned up – way up, sparking the fury of a white off-duty police officer beside them. Words fly. Shots are fired. Justyce and Manny are caught in the crosshairs. In the media fallout, it’s Justyce who is under attack.

Beware the evil in the woods. . .

In a village at the edge of the wilderness of northern Russia, where the winds blow cold and the snow falls many months of the year, an elderly servant tells stories of sorcery, folklore and the Winter King to the children of the family, tales of old magic frowned upon by the church.

But for the young, wild Vasya these are far more than just stories. She alone can see the house spirits that guard her home, and sense the growing forces of dark magic in the woods. . .

Atmospheric and enchanting, with an engrossing adventure at its core, The Bear and the Nightingale is perfect for readers of Naomi Novik’s Uprooted, Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus, and Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials.

*****
Now with over 100 5* reviews, readers are spellbound by this magical story:

‘This book stayed with me, I didn’t want it to end’

‘A beautifully written story’

‘An entrancing story, which swept me up from the very first chapter’

‘Full of magic’

*Make sure you’ve read all the books in the Winternight Trilogy*
1. The Bear and the Nightingale
2. The Girl in the Tower
3. The Winter of the Witch

Told with heart and humour, The Boy at the Back of the Class is a child’s perspective on the refugee crisis, highlighting the importance of friendship and kindness in a world that doesn’t always make sense.

There used to be an empty chair at the back of my class, but now a new boy called Ahmet is sitting in it.

He’s nine years old (just like me), but he’s very strange. He never talks and never smiles and doesn’t like sweets – not even lemon sherbets, which are my favourite!

But then I learned the truth: Ahmet really isn’t very strange at all. He’s a refugee who’s run away from a War. A real one. With bombs and fires and bullies that hurt people. And the more I find out about him, the more I want to help.

That’s where my best friends Josie, Michael and Tom come in. Because you see, together we’ve come up with a plan. . .

With beautiful illustrations by Pippa Curnick

Calling all budding Stephen King fans… this is the book for you! 

The first book in a horrifying new fantasy sequence from Joseph Delaney, the internationally multi-million-selling author of The Spook’s Apprentice.

They heard shouting, and cries of fear. Crafty looked down the slope and realised what had happened to cause so much panic. Without warning, the dark wall of the Shole had advanced.

Crafty can’t remember a time before the Shole – the terrifying mist that has engulfed most of Britain, leaving those trapped in it to either die or be transformed into terrifying monsters: the aberrations.

He’s been stuck in his family’s cellar for nearly a year, his only companions his restless, whispering dead brothers, and an unusually friendly aberration he names the Bog Queen.

But then Crafty’s life abruptly changes.

He is ordered to report to the Castle, where he will train as a gate grub – operators of magical portals that allow the mysterious guild of Gatemancers to explore within the Shole. It is a dangerous job, with a very short life expectancy…

To survive, Crafty will have to use every inch of his cunning – whatever the cost.