To the moon and back
The sky’s the limit, as this week’s selections offer suspense, humour and intrigue.
MADELEINE Roux introduced us to her creepy world in the three bestselling books, Asylum, Sanctum and Catacomb. The photo- novels ( featuring historical found photos in the same style as Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children) are about Dan, Abby and Jordan who are drawn into the mystery of Brookline museum and its macabre secrets. In this collection of novellas, other characters that the trio met during their adventures are the focus: The Scarlets is about how Cal becomes entangled in New Hampshire College’s twisted secret society; The Bone Artists tells how Oliver ends up trafficking human bones; and The Warden is about a young nurse working at the Brookline asylum who becomes suspicious about its strange procedures. IN this eighth book in the Big Nate series, it’s time for the annual Mud Bowl, and Nate is wondering if it’s going to be a blast or a bust. The thing is, he’s distracted this time – our Nate has a crush! On the beauteous Ruby. Unfortunately, Nate’s not in a position to impress his crush, not after his latest scrap with Randy Betancourt actually made it into the neighbourhood’s weekly paper. That’s even worse than the detention he was slapped with! THIS might be a fictional adventure but you can bet the scientific details are accurate what with one of the world’s most renowned physicists, Stephen Hawking, involved in writing it. Hawking teamed up with his daughter Lucy to produce this adventure series starring a bright young lad called George in 2007. In this fifth book, George and best pal Annie are over the moon – they’re been chosen for a programme preparing young people for a trip to Mars in the future. But all is not what it seems at space camp. Strange things are happening in the skies and mysterious space missions are taking off. What on earth is going on? THIS third instalment of the Darkmouth series centres on the adventures of the most unfortunate Legend Hunter, Finn. Having been through so many close shaves and mishaps, you’d think he would now be allowed to do what he wants with the rest of his life, right? Wrong. Whether he likes it or not, he’s going to be made a proper Legend Hunter. But then suddenly, people start disappearing, Legends are appearing where they shouldn’t – and once again, Finn has the weight of the world on his shoul- ders. The weight of two worlds, to be exact. SET amidst the supernatural landscape of an America that’s unravelling, this new series by Derek Landy features 16- year- old Amber who knows all about fighting the demons and other creatures that are popping up everywhere. In the second book, Amber and her travel companion Milo have just emerged from a bloody encounter in New York City and are running north, chased by the five Hounds of Hell, dogged demonic bikers who are trying to drag the pair to hell. But Amber and Milo have heard about Desolation Hill, a small town that might offer some hope. Little do they know that it’s a town with deadly secrets, where evil is imbued in the very buildings. FAIN’s world is a bleak place: her parents are too busy to pay her any attention, her siblings have their own friends, and her friends – well, she doesn’t really have any, just peers who either pick on her or ignore her. Can you blame her for creating her own world and retreating into it? You see, Fain writes fantastical adventures that come to life at night, when she lives them alongside a host of imaginary creatures. She learns lessons there, too, until she begins to see that maybe, just perhaps, she could make a friend in real life. But real life hurts. Will Fain decide to stay in her imaginary world or take a step into the real world with its possibilities of pain and joy?