SUGARCOATED
Catherine Forde
Egmont Press, £6.99
Claudia is a 17-year-old who witnesses a fatal hammer attack outside her father's opticians. There's nothing wrong with her eyesight, but she can't see what's going on when a "sweet-talking
guy" takes a special interest in her. Eventually, after some excruciating dates when warning bells no young reader could miss are going off all round the comic Claudia, she wakes up to the danger she's in. Funny and frightening in equal measure, Forde's page-turner introduces us to a bumbling sleuth you can't help enjoying spending time with.
Also try: Malorie Blackman, Noughts And Crosses
HOW TO HEAL A BROKEN WING
Bob Graham
Walker Books, £10.99
Simple language and captivating pictures make this ideal for children who are just beginning to read. In the centre of the city, Will and his mum spot a pigeon with a broken wing that has flown into a skyscraper. They take it home and slowly nurse it back to health before releasing it. A simple tale that focuses on the small events and vivid details that make up every child's life, it also conveys our connection to the grander scheme of things. Calming and contemplative, it's an ideal bedtime read with an uplifting ending.
Also try: Jane Yolen/Mark Teague, How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night?
THE DRAGONFLY POOL
Eva Ibbotson
Macmillan, £10.99
Multi award-winning author Eva Ibbotson's latest children's novel is inspired by her flight from the Nazis in 1930s Vienna and her salvation at a progressive boarding school in England. Tally's mother has died and she is sent away from the London Blitz to school in the country, while in the fictional European country of Bergania, a young prince, also motherless, struggles to accept his role as future king. Their two worlds come together when the school and its collection of eccentrics go on a trip to Bergania and Tally and Prince Karil meet.
Also try: Eva Ibbotson, Journey To The River Sea
The full article contains 340 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
