We have something smart, and cute to share with you all today! Check out the book trailer for Finney and the Secret Tunnel by Jamie Lane Barber!
Finney and the Secret Tunner (A Finney and the Mathmysterians Adventure)
Expected Publication Date: November 14, 2023
Genre: MG Mystery/ STEM
Booby-trapped tunnels. Secret societies. Puzzles. A buried secret.
Finney’s sixth-grade math teacher might hand out too many worksheets and have a weird hang-toothed smile, but there’s something sincere about her that nudges Finney to follow her trail when she goes missing. Making her way through secret tunnels beneath the school, Finney’s now wrapped up in a secret society rivalry. In a race to solve puzzles and dodge dangerous boobytraps, can Finney uncover a world-changing secret left by one of the world’s greatest geniuses?
Jamie Lane Barber grew up in the southern California sun but enjoysher days now on the east coast in Virginia Beach. On top of writing and running a digital marketing agency, Jamie fills her time with shuttling her children between activities. Her kids and two crazy dogs help keep Jamie on her toes and always busy. Jamie enjoys karaoke nights with her husband, musical theatre, escape rooms, a tasty red wine, and, of course, reading.
Twelve-year-old Nancy Crumpet lives above a bakery and her life is a delightful mix of flour, salt, and love. Yet her mind is brimming with questions no one can answer: Why did her birth parents disappear? Why can she speak with the sky? And why must she keep her mysterious birthmark hidden?
Everything is about to change when the Scareground returns to Greenwich. Nancy is convinced it holds the answers to her parents’ disappearance. Nancy and her best friend Arthur Green meet the fair’s spooky owner, Skelter, and discover a world full of dark magic and mystery. Nancy must confront her greatest fears to get to the truth. But is she ready for all the secrets the Scareground will reveal?
Angela Kecojevic is a senior librarian, author and creative writing tutor. She has written for the Oxford Reading Tree programme and the multi-award-winning adventure park Hobbledown where her characters can be seen walking around, something she still finds incredibly charming! She is a member of the Climate Writers Fiction League, a group of international authors who use climate issues in their work. Angela lives in the city of Oxford with her family.
My thoughts: this was a really enjoyable read about family, finding your place and friendship. Nancy lives with her adoptive parents, the Crumpets, bakers in Greenwich. But she wants to find out who her birth parents were and why she can read the sky. Assisted by her best friend, future explorer Arthur, she sneaks out to explore the new fun fair in town, the Scareground, a place the Crumpets have warned her not to visit.
There she meets several new friends, and the mysterious Skelter Tombola. Sneaking around the fairground, Nancy learns a few terrifying secrets, and resolves to return for more answers. What is her connection to the Tombola family and why is Skelter trying to find the lost carousel?
A fun and slightly sinister story starts off a hopefully new series for young readers of 9-12 years old (and this thirtysomething!)
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
Two very different lives. One shared hope for a brighter future. No time to waste. The flood is coming…
Eleven-year-old Norah Day lives in temporary accommodation, relies on foodbanks for dinner, and doesn’t have a mum. But she’s happy enough, as she has a dad, a pet mouse, a pet spider, and a whole zoo of rescued local wildlife to care for.
Eleven-year-old Adam Sinclair lives with his parents in a nice house with a big garden, a private tutor, and everything he could ever want. But his life isn’t perfect – far from it. He’s recovering from leukaemia and is questioning his dream of becoming a champion swimmer.
When a nest of baby birds brings them together, Norah and Adam discover they’re not so different after all. Can Norah help Adam find his confidence again? Can Adam help Norah solve the mystery of her missing mother? And can their teamwork save their zoo of rescued animals from the rising flood?
Offering powerful lessons in empathy, Norah’s Ark is a hopeful and uplifting middle-grade tale for our times about friendship and finding a sense of home in the face of adversity.
Victoria Williamson is an award-winning author who grew up in Scotland surrounded by hills, books, and an historical farm estate which inspired many of her early adventure stories and spooky tales. After studying Physics at the University of Glasgow, she set out on her own real-life adventures, which included teaching maths and science in Cameroon, training teachers in Malawi, teaching English in China and working with children with additional support needs in the UK. Victoria currently works part time writing KS2 books for the education company Twinkl and spends the rest of her time writing novels, and visiting schools, libraries and literary festivals to give author talks and run creative writing workshops.
Victoria’s previous novels include The Fox Girl and the White Gazelle, The Boy with the Butterfly Mind, Hag Storm, and War of the Wind. She has won the Bolton Children’s Fiction Award 2020/2021, The YA-aldi Glasgow Secondary School Libraries Book Award 2023, and has been shortlisted for the Week Junior Book Awards 2023, The Leeds Book Awards 2023, the Red Book Award 2023, the James Reckitt Hull Book Awards 2021, The Trinity School Book Awards 2021, and longlisted for the ABA South Coast Book Awards 2023, the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 2020, and the Branford Boase Award 2019.
Her latest novel, The Pawnshop of Stolen Dreams, is a middle grade fantasy inspired by classic folklore. Twenty percent of the author royalties for this book are donated to CharChar Literacy, an organisation working to improve children’s literacy levels in Malawi.You can find out more about Victoria’s books, school visits and free resources for schools on her website: www.strangelymagical.com
My thoughts: this was a sweet and somewhat heartbreaking book about friendship, what constitutes a home and family. Norah and her dad are struggling to survive, he’s out of work, they’re bounced between hostels and B&Bs and can’t afford much in the way of food.
Norah is a wonderful creation, fierce and funny, determined and brave. She’s got so much heart too, loving all the stray and wild animals she meets. Cycling round and round the park while her dad is at the job centre or library, trying to find work. Theirs is a hardscrabble existence at the fringes of society, and sadly an increasingly common one.
Adam comes from a lot more privilege, a safe and loving home, two parents, and his mum doesn’t have to work. He has however, recently been declared in remission from leukaemia, and is struggling to move on. His mum is terrified he’ll get sick again and her anxiety is having an impact on her marriage and Adam. His dad wants to get back to school, swimming and seeing friends but it’s an uphill struggle.
When Adam and Norah meet and bond over their love for animals, both finally have a friend, but it isn’t easy. Gradually however, they build their friendship and their parents come round. But who is the lady who keeps talking to Norah’s dad? Is she from the dreaded social services or is she connected to the mystery of Norah’s mum?
While there are some very sad moments and Norah especially tugs at the heart strings, this is a redemptive and joyful book at heart. Friendship, family, safety and finding a home all provide the warmth and Norah’s sunny nature wins through. Perfect for younger readers who enjoy uplifting stories and are interested in the world and the environment.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
Happy publication day to Andrew Varga and congrats on the release of The Celtic Deception!
The Celtic Deception(A Jump in Time Novel Book 2/2)
Publication Date: August 15, 2023
Genre: MG Fantasy
Reading Level: Age 12+
Dan Renfrew hates that he’s a time jumper—seventeen-year-olds should not be stuck with the responsibility of saving history. But with no one else stepping up to stop Victor Stahl’s plot to take over the world, Dan and his time-jumping partner Sam have no choice but to jump back into history again. They land on the Celtic island of Anglesey in 60 CE, hoping to find answers on how to stop Victor. Their task isn’t easy. Everyone seems to be hiding something, from the druids who rule Anglesey to the Celts who take the time jumpers in. As two Roman legions—intent on wiping out everyone on the island—draw closer, time is running out for Dan and Sam.
When Dan Renfrew is accidentally transported to England in the year 1066, he also learns a startling fact. He’s a time jumper, descended from a long line of secret heroes who protect the present by traveling to the past to fix breaks and glitches in the time stream. To get home alive, Dan must try to restore history, but he soon discovers even bigger challenges than suspicious Anglo-Saxons, marauding Vikings, and invading Normans. A band of malicious time jumpers is threatening the very future of the universe.
Ever since his mother told him he was descended from Vikings, Andrew Varga has had a fascination for history. He’s read hundreds of history books, watched countless historical movies, and earned a BA from the University of Toronto with a specialist in history and a major in English.
Andrew has traveled extensively across Europe, where he toured some of the most famous castles, museums, and historical sites that Europe has to offer. During his travels he accumulated a collection of swords, shields, and other medieval weapons that now adorn his personal library. He is skilled in fencing and Kendo—the Japanese art of sword fighting. He has also used both longbows and crossbows, built a miniature working trebuchet, knit his own shirt of chain mail, and earned a black belt in karate.
Andrew currently lives in the greater Toronto area with his wife Pam, their three children, and their mini-zoo of two dogs, two cats, a turtle, and some fish. It was his children’s love of reading, particularly historical and fantasy stories, that inspired Andrew to write this series. In his spare time, when he isn’t writing or editing, Andrew reads history books, jams on guitar, or plays beach volleyball.
Something different today, a cover reveal and sneak peek of a book due to be published next year.
World-famous Egyptologist Dr. Winston Thornsley died suddenly two months ago in disgrace. His widow, Ida Thornsley, remains convinced her husband was falsely accused of stealing an ancient burial urn he discovered in Egypt last summer, but local and federal law enforcement officers are stumped.
Mrs. Thornsley, desperate for answers, calls in her thirteen-year-old neighbors, the Botanic Hill Detectives—twins Lanny and Lexi Wyatt, Moki Kalani, and Rani Kumar. Their exciting mission? To find the urn and its real thief, bring the criminal to justice, and exonerate Dr. Thornsley so his spotless reputation can be restored.
A roomful of venomous snakes, the poisoned Egyptian pond, and Dragon Pit Man are just a few of the tests awaiting the four tech-savvy teenagers. As the detectives begin to unravel the sinister plot, the mystery takes a dangerous turn. Answers are at their fingertips—if they can only convince their parents to let them solve the case.
Sherrill Joseph’s debut novel, Nutmeg Street: Egyptian Secrets, had been inside her head for decades. The mystery genre took hold of her as a fifth grader when she discovered Nancy Drew and Phyllis A. Whitney mysteries. Years later, it still hasn’t let go.
After graduating Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in English literature and a master’s in education, Sherrill spent the next thirty-five years as a K-12 literacy teacher. When she retired from teaching in 2013, the Botanic Hill Detectives and their mysteries finally sprang to life.
Forever inspired by her beautiful students in the San Diego public schools, the author has peopled and themed the Botanic Hill Detectives mysteries with children of various abilities, cultures, and interests. She strongly believes that embracing diversity is the key to a better world.
Sherrill is a native San Diegan where she lives in a ninety-year-old house in a historic neighborhood with her bichon frisé-poodle mix, Jimmy Lambchop. In addition to her dog, the city of San Diego, reading and writing, the author loves her daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter. She must also include dark chocolate, popcorn, old movies, staircases, the color purple, and daisies. She is a member of SCBWI and the Authors’ Guild and promises many more adventures with the squad to come.
“Here we go again. An aftershock! I’ve been afraid this would happen,” said Dr. Kurtz. She rapidly surveyed the room full of terrariums. “And one of my assistants just called to say he’s found a somewhat hidden but large crack from this morning’s tremor on one of our venomous snake enclosure’s glass panes. It’s a major emergency. Come out with me quickly boys—now! I have to attend to this immediately,” she shouted behind her, as she grabbed her tool bag, yanked open the heavy door, and fled outside and down the breezeway to the enclosure.
Unfortunately, Moki and Lanny weren’t as fast as Dr. Kurtz. The door banged shut in their surprised faces and locked. They were trapped in a windowless room.
As if that weren’t bad enough, the power failed simultaneously, and the room went pitch black. Both boys froze, helplessly surrounded by three walls of venomous snakes they could still hear but no longer see.
ramblingmads 