Home of innovative and original Young Adult fiction
Title: Escape From B-Movie HellAuthor: MT McGuireEdition: PaperbackRating: 5/5 What do you do when your best friend tells you he’s an alien, proves it, and then disappears? Student Andi Turbot heads to her next lecture, then home to heat up some leftovers for dinner. She doesn’t expect to meet more aliens in her kitchen, or …
Title: If You Still Recognise MeAuthor: Cynthia SoEdition: Paperback (Paper Orange Book Box)Rating: 4/5 This is a lovely, quiet, undramatic LGBTQ+ romance full of friendship, family relationships, and the dangers of coming out to people who might not understand. Elsie is finishing her A-level exams, and looking forward to a summer of freedom and adventure …
Title: JunkAuthor: Melvin BurgessEdition: PaperbackRating: 4/5 First published in 1996, Junk caused outrage with its candid depiction of heroin use in a book written for teenagers. A recent BBC radio interview with the author prompted me to order the 25th anniversary edition of the book, and find out what the fuss was about. Set in …
Title: Double CrossAuthor: Bruce A HansonEdition: KindleRating: 5/5 This was a fun read. Three Canadian teenagers on a winter break discover a valuable historical artefact on a snowmobile outing. Excited by their find, the friends soon discover that they are not the only people interested in its history – or its value. Their investigations lead …
Title: The StrandedAuthor: Sarah DanielsEdition: KindleRating: 5/5 Refugees from a war-ravaged Europe have been stuck at sea for more than forty years, confined to the cruise ships that were supposed to bring them to safety. A fractured US refuses permission for them to come ashore, fearful of the weaponised virus that might lie dormant in …
Title: You Can Trust MeAuthor: Gina BlaxillEdition: Paperback (Paper Orange Book Box)Rating: 5/5 Foul is Fair meets A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder in this gripping read, as featured in the April Paper Orange YA Book Box. Alana is the new girl – at her school and in the small town she’s moved to with …
Title: Four (Divergent #4)Author: Veronica RothEdition: PaperbackRating: 5/5 It’s been ages since I read the Divergent Trilogy – devoured it, in fact – but I never got round to reading Four. Following a recommendation from my YA-reading niece (thank you!), I finally completed the series – and I’m very pleased I did! The final Divergent …
Title: The Wolf and the Water (Deluge #1)Author: Josie JaffreyEdition: KindleRating: 4/5 Inspired by the legend of Atlantis, The Wolf and the Water is the exciting first instalment in Josie Jaffrey’s first non-vampire fantasy series. Kepos is an isolated city, surrounded by impassable cliffs and the Eastern Sea, and protected by a high wall at …
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Title: Break Out (Supernatural Prison #3)Author: Aella BlackEdition: KindleRating: 4/5 In book three of the Supernatural Prison series, Phoebe and Xander focus on uncovering the secrets of the organisation that locked them up for having superpowers – and on the origins of those powers. Lansing Prison continues to be a cruel and dangerous place. Inmates …
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Title: Power Up (Supernatural Prison #2)Author: Aella BlackEdition: KindleRating: 5/5 In book two of the Supernatural Prison series, Phoebe, Xander, and their friends are picking up the pieces from the end of book one, and finding their feet in a new and dangerous environment. Phoebe and her friends thought Leavenworth Prison was bad, but now …
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