David Almond - Jackdaw Summer

This is the summer when Max Woods is on the very edge of growing up and he goes a little wild trying to hold onto his carefree childhood. But there are other things that impinge on his summer - the other members of his family, his friends and ex-friends and the baby the Jackdaw seems to lead him to.

The baby is abandonned in the ruins of an old building on the moor - and finding her is the start of a series of encounters for Max that lead to him discovering lots of people and how they live, other outsiders in society and how they all interact. A really beautifully, sparsely told tale that will grip you from the start- David Almond at his best!

Creature of the Night by Kate Thompson

I always like Kate Thompson's writing, and this is no exception. The writing of the disaffected teenager Bobby is hard and edgy. His reaction to the move into the country and away from his criminal activity in Dublin is treated well. It is when his little brother Dennis starts talking about the visits from the rather sinister 'little woman' in the middle of the night, and the strange disappearance of the previous tenant in their house that the plot takes off - as Bobby tries to sort out his life, his mother needs to manage her money, and Dennis needs to stop imagining his midnight visitor.....or does he?

I was slightly disappointed in the epilogue - it rather spoilt the tensions and the revelations at the end of the story.

The Trouble with Wenlocks by Joel Stewart

Stanley Wells is an ordinary boy that has some extraordinary things happen to him. He is on a train when everyone else is made sleepy by the mysterious wenlocks, and then, when they awake, they appear to have some spark missing from their eyes so Stanley is drawn into investigating what has happened. This leads him on a strange adventure with his rather odd acquaintances - Dr Moon and Morecambe the talking dog - where they discover that Albert's daughter Umiko may be the cause of the problem as she is trying to help mankind by taking away their sorrow.

This is a very gentle tale illustrating the point that we are the sum of all our experience both happy and sad, and that without the sadness we are changed, somehow less.

Broken Soup by Jenny Valentine

Heart wrenching story of a family falling apart after the eldest son's death in an accident. But a chance meeting for Rowan sets her on an inexorable path towards discovering more than she ever imagined...

A great read, be prepared to cry!