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Emmy Levels Up by Helen Harvey

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Emmy is brilliant at the computer game, Illusory Isles. Her avatar is a powerful fire elemental with magma claws and flaming breath. When Emmy’s gaming video gets a front-page feature, thousands of devoted fans flock to watch her battle the ultimate online baddie, the Mulch Queen herself.
Life at school is the exact opposite. Emmy is friendless and bullied by Vanessa AKA the Queen of Mean. To Vanessa and her gang, Emmy is a weirdo with bad handwriting, horrible fashion sense and no dad. But if Emmy can take on the Mulch Queen online, perhaps she can also find a way to take on Vanessa too? Emmy decides to level up and solve this challenge alone. But then she discovers that Mulch Queens and Mean Queens are much easier to face when you have a little help from new friends . . .

Debut children’s novel from an advocate of the benefits of video gaming.
Follow Helen Harvey on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hellionharvey/

Circus Maximus: Race to the Death by Annelise Gray

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Debut historical adventure novel, described as “Ben Hur meets National Velvet”.

Circus Maximus, the greatest sporting stage of the ancient Roman world, where the best horses and charioteers compete in a race to the death, and one girl dreams of glory. Twelve-year-old Dido dreams of becoming the first female charioteer at the great Circus Maximus. She’s lost her heart to Porcellus, a wild, tempestuous horse she longs to train and race. But such ambitions are forbidden to girls and she must be content with helping her father Antonius – the trainer of Rome’s most popular racing team, The Greens – and teaching the rules of racing to Justus, the handsome young nephew of the Greens’ wealthy owner. When her father is brutally murdered, she is forced to seek refuge with an unlikely ally. But what of her dream of Circus triumphs and being reunited with the beloved horse she left behind in Rome? And the threat to her life isn’t over as she faces a powerful and terrifying new enemy… the emperor Caligula.

Find out on her website why this debut author describes herself as “a time-travelling sniffer dog”.

Sticky Pines: The Thing At Black Hole Lake by Dashe Roberts

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 10 Mar 2021

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The sequel to The Bigwoof Conspiracy takes us back to Sticky Pines, a small US town where weird things happen. Milo, loyal to his double-crossing, business-mogul father, has taken a trip to Black Hole Lake, leaving Lucy to continue her search into alien life and the Truth that she knows is out there. Milo’s discovery of a sinister, dark creature in the Lake will put them both in terrible danger and also – if they survive their adventure – make them friends again. Perfect for younger siblings of Stranger Things’ fans, The Thing at Black Hole Lake is laugh-out-loud, hair-raising sci-fi that will raise more questions about extraterrestrial life on earth than it answers…

Take a look inside…

Winterborne Home For Mayhem And Mystery by Ally Carter

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“Fans of cliffhanger escapes, captures, recaptures, and surprise revelations are well served.” KIRKUS

April is one of five foster kids living at Winterborne Home, a sprawling mansion full of secrets. The biggest secret is that Gabriel Winterborne, their reclusive millionaire guardian, is actually The Sentinel, a masked vigilante tasked with protecting the city.
When Gabriel goes missing (again!) it’s up to the kids to find him before his enemies do. And when April’s past catches up with her, she will have to decide how hard she’s willing to fight to hold on to her new-found family when everyone seems determined to tear them apart …

Join April and her ragtag group of friends as they unravel family secrets, creepy legends and mysterious identities in the second book in the captivating new middle-grade series from the bestselling author of Gallagher Girls.

Murder On The Safari Star by M. G. Leonard and Sam Sedgman ill. Elisa Paganelli

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Join Hal and Uncle Nat as they plunge straight into an exciting mystery – this time while on Safari!

All-aboard for the third amazing journey in the bestselling Adventures on Trains series, Murder on the Safari Star, from M. G. Leonard and Sam Sedgman, illustrated throughout by Elisa Paganelli.

Harrison Beck and his Uncle Nat are on the journey of a lifetime aboard the Safari Star – a luxurious steam train that will take them from Pretoria to the stunning Victoria Falls. Close encounters with the amazing animals and landscape of Southern Africa are adventure enough, but things get mysterious when a passenger is found dead inside a locked compartment. Is it just a terrible accident or is something more suspicious afoot? It’s up to train detective Hal and his new friend Winston to find out.

The Ocean Squid Explorers’ Club by Alex Bell ill. Tomislav Tomic

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Great world-building in this fourth explorers adventure where we meet Ursula, a part mermaid girl who is determined to follow in Stella’s footsteps and help her to defeat the Collector!

Ursula knew the submarine wasn’t designed to go this deep, but what choice did they have? No one wanted to get swallowed up by a colossal sneezing jellyfish! In a distant watery corner of the Explorers Kingdom, a submarine engineer, Ursula, is determined to become an explorer. Unfortunately, she hides an extraordinary secret, which makes her the sworn enemy of the Ocean Squid Explorers’ Club were they ever to find out . . . But when The Collector threatens the Club, Ursula throws caution to the wind and leads an expedition through treacherous waters, filled with gremlins, aboard the Blowfish submarine – and joined by her friends Max, Genie and Jai – and even her idol Stella! Thrilling, heart-pounding adventure with exquisite detail throughout.

Previous titles in the series:
Explorers On Witch Mountain
Explorers On Black Ice Ridge
The Polar Bear Explorers’ Club

The Queen’s Fool by Ally Sherrick

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A Tudor-set adventure from Historical Association Young Quills Award-winning author Ally Sherrick.

Cat Sparrow is on the road. She’s following her sister, Meg, who was torn from their convent home and sent to London. But Cat isn’t like other people – she thinks differently – and for a girl like her the world holds many perils. Luckily she befriends a young actor, Jacques, and together they follow Meg’s trail to a wondrous place called the Field of Cloth of Gold. But here, they discover that the kingdoms of England and France are both in terrible danger …

Space Oddity by Christopher Edge ill. Ben Mantle

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5 STAR BfK review

Science and laughs combine in this out-of-this-world adventure, featuring illustrations by Ben Mantle!

You might think that this story is going to be an intergalactic adventure filled with UFOs, black holes, killer robots and some very foul-smelling aliens. And you’d be right. But it’s mostly about a boy called Jake, his embarrassing dad, and the mind-boggling question… are we really alone in the universe?

The Hatmakers by Tamzin Merchant ill. Paola Escobar

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“This is an exhilarating read, full of fast-paced action and adventure, sparkling magic, witty word-play and humour. The world building is inventive, and the storytelling accomplished. The idea of making hats as though they were cakes, with cleverly named magical ingredients, is enticing and the descriptions are full of literary and historical allusions which add to the sense of immersion in a well thought out fantasy world. The child characters, especially Cordelia, are appealing and resourceful and teach the adults about the importance of cooperation, courage, and kindness. The beautiful cover and illustrations by Paola Escobar enhance the magical atmosphere of this very welcome addition to the fantasy genre.” BfK 5 STAR review

The first adventure in a spellbinding new magical world.

Cordelia comes from a long line of magical milliners, who weave alchemy and enchantment into every hat. In Cordelia’s world, Making – crafting items such as hats, cloaks, watches, boots and gloves from magical ingredients – is a rare and ancient skill, and only a few special Maker families remain. When Cordelia’s father Prospero and his ship, the Jolly Bonnet, are lost at sea during a mission to collect hat ingredients, Cordelia is determined to find him. But Uncle Tiberius and Aunt Ariadne have no time to help the littlest Hatmaker, for an ancient rivalry between the Maker families is threatening to surface. Worse, someone seems to be using Maker magic to start a war. It’s up to Cordelia to find out who, and why…

Follow the author on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tamzinmerchant/
Follow the illustrator on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paoesco8ar/

Kat Wolfe on Thin Ice by Lauren St. John

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 11 Feb 2021

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“A fun, socially conscious mystery that continues to take the series in new directions.” KIRKUS

A wintry third adventure in this well-received series.
See also Kat Wolfe Investigates and Kat Wolfe Takes The Case.

Kat and Harper can’t wait to join their parents on a winter vacation in a mountain cabin in the US. But a series of misadventures result in them being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Alone.

When Kat discovers that an argument she witnessed in New York City holds the key to a major crime, she’s certain that it’s only a matter of time until the culprits come looking for her.

With a snow storm moving in and no way out, all that stands between the girls and disaster are a team of eight huskies and one impossible raccoon.