Good Reads: Trafalgar Junior School Readers and Writers Club

Chosen by Year 6 (10/11 year old) members of the Trafalgar Junior School Readers and Writers Club, Twickenham, London.

Thanks to Richard Smith, Deputy Head Teacher.

The Thirteen Treasures
Michelle Harrison, Simon & Schuster, 978 1 84738 449 2, £6.99 pbk

Fairies. Not the make-believe, friendly type in picture books – the other type. Ones that pinch and trick and lie. Fairies that steal human children, never to be seen again. And only those who are second-sighted can see them.

Tanya has seen fairies all her life and if she writes about them, they punish her. When her mother sends her to Elvesden Manor to visit her grandmother, things get worse. Tanya finds out that, 50 years ago, a girl vanished into Hangman’s Forest. Fabian, the caretaker’s son, was the last to see her alive. But, as Tanya and Fabian look into the disappearance, things are darker and more sinister than they anticipated.

I like this book because it is full of mystery. I think this book is for 8 years old and older.

Nadja Zaremba-Byrne, age 11

My Name is Mina
David Almond, Hodder, 978 0 340 99725 3, £12.99 hbk

My Name is Mina is the prequel to the wonderful Skellig. We find out about how Mina finds her friend Michael. This book by David Almond tells the story of Mina who is being taught by her mum at home, because she didn’t fit in at school. She spends her day sitting in a tree, drawing baby blackbirds and observing the people below. Mina loves wildlife, and two sentences repeated in the book are: ‘The mind is a place of wonder’ and ‘How can a bird that is born for joy, sit in a cage and sing?’

The story develops when Michael and his family move into the house across the street. But all is not well: the mum is pregnant and the house looks like it is about to fall down…

I love this book – if you do read it, read Skellig too!

Lucy Davolls, age 11

The Red Pyramid
Rick Riordan, Puffin, 978-0141325507, £7.99 pbk

Carter and Sadie Kane have always had weird lives. Their mother died mysteriously when they were toddlers, and now Carter travels round the world while Sadie lives with her grandparents in London.

But that’s nothing compared to the revelation that their father is a sorcerer and a member of an ancient Egyptian cult known as the House of Life. And when one of his experiments goes horribly wrong, he disappears and is taken prisoner by an ancient chaos deity. Carter and Sadie must race across the globe, battling magicians and gods to save their father before the end of the dreaded ‘Demon Days’.

An exciting and funny book for 9-12 year-olds. I would highly recommend this book for independent and capable readers who enjoyed the Percy Jackson series and want to read more.

Arun Kalia, age 10

Skulduggery Pleasant: Mortal Coil
Derek Landy, HarperCollins, 978 0 00 732601 3, £6.99 pbk

This is the fifth book in the series. It is about when the Remnants escape from the Midnight Hotel. They cause havoc throughout the streets of Dublin. Skulduggery Pleasant and his sneaky sidekick, Rick Valkyrie Cain, are there to help out. To add to the mess, Tesseroct the evil murderer is loose on the streets.

Valkyrie and Skulduggery both study elemental magic, which involves throwing fireballs and shifting air to make opponents fall over. Valkyrie also studies necromancy, which is about using shadows to defeat opponents.

The two of them have to find two parts of a golden key. This is not easy as they encounter a few remnants along the way!

I like this book because it is gripping, exciting and punchy. You have to be brave to read it as there are scary and gory parts. This book is good for children from nine years old – read the series in order as there is a theme that runs through them.

Thomas Holloway, age 10