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You are here: Home / Archives for fantasy

Dragon Storm: Mira and Flameteller by Alastair Chisholm ill. Eric Deschamps

July 31, 2022 By achuka Leave a Comment

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The fourth book in a thrilling, magical, and action-packed new fantasy series, illustrated throughout and perfect for 7 – 9 year olds!

In the land of Draconis, there are no dragons. Once, there were. Once, humans and dragons were friends, and created the great city of Rivven together. But then came the Dragon Storm, and the dragons retreated from the world of humans. To the men and women of Draconis, they became legends and myth. Young dragonseer Mira and her dragon Flameteller love finding out how things work andfixing them, and so they’re excited to learn about the ancient magic that powers the home of the Dragonseer Guild – and helps keep its existence a secret. But when the King of Draconis announces a plan to hunt down and destroy all dragons, andthe magic that powers the Dragonseer Guild begins to fail, threatening to expose it to the world, Mira and Flameteller must find a way to fix it – before the Guild, and the dragons, are found by King Godfic’s soldiers.

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Filed Under: Fiction Tagged With: adenture, fantasy, FR, series

Zo and the Forest of Secrets by Alake Pilgrim

June 13, 2022 By achuka Leave a Comment

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When Zo decides to run away from home, she isn’t scared; after all, she knows the island like the back of her hand. But, as she journeys through the once-familiar forest, terrifying creatures and warped visions begin to emerge. With a beast on her heels and a lost boy thrown into her path, could a mysterious abandoned facility hold answers? Zo must unravel the secrets of the forest before she is lost in them forever…

Blake Pilgrim’s stories have twice won the regional prize for the Americas in the Commonwealth Short Story Competition. They have been published by The Center for Fiction in New York, the Small Axe Journal, and in the groundbreaking international anthology New Daughters of Africa, edited by Margaret Busby (Myriad Editions and HarperCollins).

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Filed Under: Fiction Tagged With: adventure, Caribbean, fantasy, MG, middle-grade, Trinidad

Magicborn by Peter Bunzl

June 2, 2022 By achuka Leave a Comment

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The first in an enthralling new historical-fantasy adventure series from the bestselling author of The Cogheart Adventures.

The year is 1726 and the Royal Sorcerer of England is on the hunt for those who are Magicborn. When Tempest is captured, she is taken to Kensington Palace alongside a boy like her, Thomas. Trapped, Tempest and Thomas find their magic flickering to life and with it long-buried memories. For they are the lost prince and princess of Fairyland, bound by a deadly curse. But now the fairies are coming to get them, and with the truth revealed…can they both survive?

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Filed Under: Fiction Tagged With: fantasy, MG, middle-grade

Twin Crowns by Katherine Webber & Catherine Doyle

June 2, 2022 By achuka Leave a Comment

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Twin sisters separated at birth and raised into entirely different worlds are about to get to know each other’s lives a whole lot better…

Bestselling authors, Catherine Doyle and Katherine Webber, joined forces on an utterly compelling YA romantic fantasy bursting with high-stakes adventure and crossover appeal about twin princesses separated at birth.

Two sisters. One throne. Who will ultimately rise to power and wear the crown? Wren Greenrock has always known that one day she would steal her sister’s place in the palace. Trained from birth to avenge her parents’ murder and usurp the princess, she will do anything to rise to power and protect the community of witches she loves. Princess Rose Valhart knows that with power comes responsibility including marriage into a brutal kingdom. Life outside the palace walls is a place to be feared and she is soon to discover that it’s wilder than she ever imagined.

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Filed Under: YA Tagged With: fantasy, romance, royalty

Onyeka and the Academy of the Sun by Tola Okogwu

June 1, 2022 By achuka Leave a Comment

Waterstones Children’s Book of the Month, June 2022

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A debut action-packed  middle-grade superhero novel about a British-Nigerian girl who learns that her Afro hair has psychokinetic powers.

I close my eyes, trying to push the power bubbling in me back down… Hairbands snap as my hair shoots out like superfine arrows, tearing through everything in its path.

Onyeka has a lot of hair – the kind that makes strangers stop in the street. She’s always felt insecure about her vibrant curls, until she makes an important discovery: she can control her hair with her mind!

Her mother quickly whisks her off to the Academy of the Sun, a school in Nigeria where Solari – children with superpowers – are trained. But Onyeka and her new friends at the Academy soon have to put their powers to the test as they find themselves embroiled in a momentous battle between truth and lies…

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Filed Under: Fiction Tagged With: afro, debut, fantasy, hair, MG, middle-grade

Race to Fire Mountain – Future Hero 1 by Remi Blackwood

May 28, 2022 By achuka Leave a Comment

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“Fast-paced and accessible.” Guardian

The first book in a major new series.

When Jarell discovers that the fantasy world he is obsessed with doodling is actually real, he is launched into an incredible adventure. Ulfrika, the land of his ancestors, is in trouble and he is the hero they need. With the help of brave and wise-cracking Kimisi, Jarell must stop the evil Ikala. The future of Ulfrika depends on it…

A winning blend of future tech gadgets and a fantasy world inspired by the mythology of Africa and its diaspora. Jarell, an ordinary boy who loves to draw, is the chosen one to save the world of Ulfrika. Told in accessible short chapters, filled with action and humour.

Filed Under: Fiction Tagged With: fantasy, MG, middle-grade, series

Firesong – Brightstorm 3 by Vashti Hardy ill. George Ermos

May 16, 2022 By achuka Leave a Comment

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The exciting conclusion to the Brightstorm twins’ adventure-packed story!

Arthur, Maudie, and the rest of the Aurora crew are going on a mission to the Volcanic North, where years before their parents discovered the moth that is their family symbol. But their scheming, ambitious aunt, Eudora Vane, is still dedicated to destroying the Brightstorm family name, and the further north the Aurora travels, the more long-buried secrets are revealed…

Filed Under: Fiction Tagged With: adventure, fantasy, trilogy

The Unmorrow Curse by Jasmine Richards

May 11, 2022 By achuka Leave a Comment

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 [Cover art by Portuguese artist and animator Pypah Santos]

It’s not every day that you find a famous weather woman bound by magic to a tree deep in the woods. Or discover that the weatherwoman is in fact Sunna, the Norse Goddess of the Sun, and one of the seven day guardians who keep time in order. But that’s just what happens to new friends Buzz and Mari—and it’s only the start of their adventure. Now, as humanity are forced into a lockdown called the Unmorrow Curse and are forced to repeat the same Saturday over and over again, Buzz and Mari must journey to collect the Runes of Valhalla and awaken the other day guardians, before vengeful god Loki can get to them first.

Two friends awaken a world of myth and magic in this epic middle grade fantasy perfect for fans of Rick Riordan.

Jasmine Richards is the founder of Storymix, a children’s fiction development studio that creates inclusive stories and nurtures voices from under-represented backgrounds in children’s books.Follow her on Instagram:

 

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Filed Under: BookOfTheDay, Fiction Tagged With: adventure, fantasy, middle-grade, series

Rebel Skies by Ann Sei Lin

May 4, 2022 By achuka Leave a Comment

ACHUKA Book of the Day 5 May 2022

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“A vividly imagined fantasy with an enticing Studio Ghibli feel.” Guardian

Ann Sei Lin’s debut children’s book—the first part of a trilogy—is a  pacy Ghibli-style Asian fantasy  based on the Meiji era, full of origami magic, powerful shikigami, and sky cities.

Kurara has never known any other life than being a servant on board the Midori, but when her party trick of making paper come to life turns out to be a power treasured across the empire, she joins a skyship and its motley crew to become a Crafter. Taught by the gruff but wise Himura, Kurara learns to hunt shikigami – wild paper spirits who are sought after by the Princess. But are these creatures just powerful slaves, or are they beings with their own souls? And can a teenage girl be the one to help them find their voice – and change the course of an empire?

The author told The Bookseller, at the time the publication deal for trilogy was announced: ““What fascinates me most about paper is the idea of possibility. Paper can fold into any shape. It can be a canvas for any painting, or the pages of any story. Like many young people, Kurara is a character who must carve her own place in a world full of terror and possibility. I couldn’t ask for a better home for this novel than with Walker Books and I’m beyond thrilled to be working with Gráinne [Clear] to bring Rebel Skies to the world.”

Interesting fact about Ann Sei Lin: “My dad is blind but he loves books and listens to them via screen reader. Growing up, the sound of electronic voices was a constant background presence. Instead of doing my homework, I would often listen to whatever story my dad’s computer was reading to him at the time. Some people say that they can’t get used to how unnatural screen readers sound, but listening to one is now an important step in my editing.”

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Filed Under: BookOfTheDay, Fiction, YA Tagged With: adventure, debut, fantasy

Yesterday Crumb and the Storm in a Teacup: Book 1 by Andy Sagar

April 20, 2022 By achuka Leave a Comment

Sunday Times Children’s Book of the Week 3 Apr 2022

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The first in a new fantasy series for readers aged 8-12, about a girl with fox ears who has never fitted in.

Yesterday Crumb is no ordinary girl. She was born with fox ears that have cursed her to a lonely life working in the circus and her origins are a complete mystery. But she is about to escape into the adventure of a lifetime when she learns that she’s a strangeling who’s lost her magic. Taken in by Miss Dumpling the flamboyant Tea Witch, Yesterday is introduced to a magical, walking teashop filled with fantastical customers, a flying teapot turtle called Pascal and powerful spells in every teacup! Yesterday starts to rediscover her magic and to feel a sense of belonging. But a mysterious figure of darkness is working hard to ensure her new life comes crashing down – and it all starts with a deadly shard of ice in Yesterday’s heart…

Filed Under: Fiction Tagged With: fantasy, MG, middle-grade

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