Ones to Watch

Abducted by spirits from his village, lost boy Akira must make the long journey in north Japan to find his family and save his young sister, before time runs out. Voyaging deeper and deeper into a Japan ‘between the worlds’, Akira and his companions encounter a host of yokai monsters, haunted houses, famous ghosts, (and an immortal cat)  discovering a sometimes comical and sometimes terrifying world of interlinked and ghostly short stories along the way.

Told in an attention-grabbing mix of prose and manga this genre-breakier is the book we're most looking forward to reading this month.

Ali and Sami are living their dream, playing football for the school team and hanging out in their friend Mark's new luxury pool. But money goes missing and racism rears its ugly head when their friend Aadam is accused of the theft.

Can the boys prove Aadam's innocence, keep their friendship - and help fight Aadam's threatened deportation? Can Ali navigate his emotions and stay focused now his dad is back on the scene and his half-brother has joined his school?

A powerful story about friendship, being an ally and finding your place in the world.

When a new family moves into a house in Pendle, they discover a witch's bottle filled with curses. Soon the spirits of those accused of witchcraft in the infamous Pendle Witch Trials of 1612 are released, wreaking havoc in the area. Eve, Clovis and Tom are enlisted to investigate in their latest and most challenging mission yet.

Together with their mentor, Professor Rufus, they must go up against the ghosts of the Pendle witches. But the ghosts are hellbent on possessing the descendants of those who were responsible for their deadly trials. Can the ghost-hunting trio put a stop to the possessions before it's too late?

The latest in the Ghost Hunter Chronicles from the TV Queen of Paranormal.  Chilling, thrilling and the kind of genuinely creepy that has you looking over your shoulder... 
The perfect book for spooky season!

Holland, 1942. The world is at war and as the Nazis' power grows, Jewish families are in terrible danger.  Mila and her older sister Hannie are sent to live with a family in another city with new identities and the strict instruction not to tell anyone that they are Jewish.

Hannie, determined to fight back, is swept into the Dutch resistance as an undercover agent: Code Name Kingfisher. And though Mila does her best to make friends and keep out of trouble, there is danger at every turn and the sisters are soon left questioning who they can trust.

Immersive wartime adventure spotlighting the bravery of those who risked everything to save others, even as their own lives were threatened.  Powerful and personal, this is a book to make you think.

Christopher is visiting his reclusive grandfather when he witnesses an avalanche of mythic creatures come tearing down the hill. This is how he learns that his grandfather is the guardian of one of the ways between the non-magical world and a place called the Archipelago: a cluster of magical islands, where all the creatures we tell of in myth live and breed and thrive alongside humans. They have been protected for thousands of years from being discovered; now, terrifyingly, the protection has worn thin, and creatures are breaking through.

Then a girl, Mal, appears in Christopher’s world. She is in possession of a flying coat, is being pursued by a killer, and is herself in pursuit of a baby griffin. Mal, Christopher and the griffin embark on an urgent quest across the wild splendour of the Archipelago, where sphinxes hold secrets and centaurs do murder, to find the truth – with unimaginable consequences for both their worlds. Together the two must face the problem of power, and of knowledge, and of what love demands of us.

Magical worlds,  vivid imagination,  spectacular storytelling - and a griffin.  Fortunately, the first in an epic, fantasy adventure series. 

When an American-style residential camp is set up in the grounds of an English stately home, the teenage camp counsellors are looking forward to a fun summer of activities.

But right from the outset, things don't feel quite right at Camp Miller. Rumours circulate of a tragedy that took place in the grounds and there are unexplained sightings of a ghostly presence.

Then the incidents begin - a near-drowning out on the lake, a fatal fall from a cliff-face... are these tragic accidents or is there something more sinister going on at Camp Killer?

With chilling rumours, unexplained ghostly sightings and more deaths than is reasonable in so few pages, the menace seems VERY  real. Super readable, super fast-paced and genuinely breathtaking!

Mischief is afoot, and Queen Victoria is not amused. Her stalker must be stopped. Forget the cavalry - this is a job for Her Majesty's League of Remarkable Young Ladies! The League's newest recruit is Winifred Weatherby, a feisty girl-genius and gadget-maker. Winnie's creations are remarkable, but is she clever enough to protect the Queen - and achieve her own dream of winning the top prize in Paris for young inventors . . . ? 

Packed full of fiendish plots, dastardly spies and incredible inventions,  this epic Victorian adventure is a winning combination of fiction and fact.  Complete genius!

Veronica wakes up trapped with four strangers in a sprawling manor house in a snow storm with a dead body, a mystery right out of an Agatha Christie novel. It feels so real - but it isn't.

This is VR and this is THE Game; a rumoured Easter Egg hidden in other VR games that draws you into a competition for a prize beyond your wildest dreams. And there's no escaping the VR world until the Game is won. But while Veronica and her fellow players are trying to figure out the puzzle, something is not right in the VR world. Blackouts, glitches, NPCs acting strangely, and a mysterious figure haunting their footsteps.

Then when a player dies, and also dies in real life, all hell breaks loose. Without warning, the game Veronica thought she was playing gets overshadowed by a much darker, and much more real, mystery: who is killing us? It may not be a game Veronica wanted to play, but it's one that she has to win - or die trying.

A twisty, turny murder mystery which will suck you in, shred your nerves and keep you guessing until the very final page.

It's February 1974 and working class families have been hit hard by the three-day week. The reduced power usage means less hours for people to work, and less money to get by on. Thirteen-year-old Jason feels the struggle keenly.

Ever since his parents died, it's just been him and his older brother Richie. Richie is doing his best, but since he can't make ends meet he's been doing favours for the wrong people. Every day they fear they won't have enough and will have to be separated.

One thing that helps distract Jason is the urban legend about a beast in the valleys. A wild cat that roams the forest, far up the river from their bridge. When Jason's friends learn of a reward for proof of The Beast's existence, they convince Jason this is the answer to his and Richie's money problems. Richie can get himself out of trouble before it's too late and the brothers can stay together.

And so a quest begins. Starting at the bridge of their village and following the river north, the four friends soon find themselves on a journey that will change each of them ... forever.

An exciting, character-driven adventure with a big heart.