'The best books, reviewed with insight and charm, but without compromise.'
- author Jackie French

Saturday, 19 March 2011

KBR Recommends: Fiction for Older Boys, March 2011

The transition between primary and high school sees boys hankering for a whole other book experience. These new release books are sure to keep your lads engaged in the best of literary ways.

Extinction, The Day the World Ended by Lizzie Wilcock
(Scholastic, $15.99, ISBN: 9781741696462, March 2011)

The world is going to end on the 21st of September. We know because we've seen it. We were there.

Thirteen-year-old twins Mac and Annie awake one morning to discover that everyone in their town - and, it seems, the entire world - has been wiped out.

Searching for answers, the twins discover they are not alone: three other sets of twins, scattered across the planet, have survived. Given a chance to stop the mass extinction by their newfound ability to travel backwards through time, and their mysterious powers over natural elements, Mac and Annie seek out these twins.

Together they must solve the mystery of why the human race was wiped out, and stop it happening again. Extinction combines fast-paced action and intrigue with Lizzie Wilcock's gift for creating totally believable and compelling teenage characters.

Grim and Grimmer: The Desperate Dwarf by Ian Irvine
(Omnibus, $16.99, ISBN: 9781862918603, March 2011)

Mellie has stolen the unluckiest charm in Wychwold and can't get rid of it. Pook, who has an insane plan to rescue the Collected children, is demanding Ike's help.
The demons Nuckl, Spleen and Tonsil are after Ike's innards. And the Fey Queen, Emajicka, is coming to tear his worst nightmare out of him.

Only Ike can save Grimmery now.

But first he has to win a contest with a lying, cheating scoundrel-the desperate dwarf, Con Glomryt.



Tortall and Other Lands, A collection of tales by Tamora Pierce
(Scholastic, $22.99, ISBN: 9781862919167, March 2011)

Collected here for the first time are all of the tales from the land of Tortall, featuring both previously unknown characters and old friends.

Filling some gaps of time and interest, these stories will lead Tamora's fans, and new readers, into one of the most intricately constructed worlds of modern fantasy.