Pink, pop andLark
WITH ITS hot-pink cover and boy-band theme, Harmony Jones’s Girl vs Boy Band, the Right T r a c k ( B l o o msbury, £6.99) is sure to be a hit with the nine-to-12 age group. Lark’s record-producer mother invites three British teenage boys to her LA mansion, to prepare them for their pop debut. What she does not realise is that 12-year-old Lark herself is a talented singer-songwriter, held back only by s t a g e f r i g ht . T he Anglo-American mix is not quite right — British characters use some American expressions. Nevertheless, the story offers a glamorous glimpse backstage and remains as irresistible as Harry Styles.
The Cricket and the Ant is a Shabbat fable by Naomi Ben-Gur (Kar-Ben, £6). Cricket spends his week busking, while AntgetsonwithherShabbatbaking.Yet she is kind enough to lend her neighboursomeingredients when he runs out of shopping time. Sadly, she takes her eye off her own baking and it is ruined. Will she have to face a cakeless Shabbat? Cricket is far from ready to be talent-spotted by Lark’s mother but under-fives will still like to chant along. The moral of the story is clear and the insects’ expressions, as iIllustrated by Shahar Kober, are a joy.
Sixteen-year-old Liz is killed in a road accident and finds herself Elsewhere (Bloomsbury, £7.99). Re-issued for its 10th anniversary, Gabrielle Zevin’s novel imagines an afterlife where the dead grow younger until they are reborn on earth. Here, Liz can talk to dogs (she has a canine confidante, Sadie) and be looked after by the grandmother who died before Liz’s birth. Zevin gently and humorously examines the meaning of life and the mindset of dogs, in a way that would be particularly consoling for a bereaved teenager or parent. Age 12 to adult.
“Trust no one. Tell no one. Find the red gull.” Bad Blood by Jane Brittan (Blowfish, £6.99), starts with a sinister scavenger hunt, when Ben receives this cryptic note, as well as a threatening visitor. Ben’s dad is dead but was it really suicide or could his dad’s secret scientific projects have made him a target? Ben is a convincing teenage boy, ungainly at chatting up new-girl Sophy. And because he is so down to earth, we feel for him when he is pitched into a violent adventure. Age 14 plus.