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recommendations for 9-12 year olds title by michael morpurgo details overboard in a fierce storm michael finds himself on the shore of a remote island and soon discovers he s not alone kensuke a former japanese soldier survived the war and the bombing of hiroshima but his family perished as an extraordinary bond forms between the two kensuke faces a heartbreaking choice can he give up the secluded life he s built for himself to help reunite michael with his parents knowing the pain of losing his own family kensuke knows which way he has to decide kensuke s kingdom michael s parents buy a yacht and take him off to sail round the world washed the dragonfly pool by eva ibbotson tally hamilton is furious to hear she is being sent from london to a horrid stuffy boarding school in the countryside and all because of the stupid war but delderton hall is a far more interesting place than tally ever imagined and an exciting school trip to the beautiful and luscious kingdom of bergania whisks tally into an unexpected adventure will she be able to save her new friend prince tamil before it s too late skulduggery pleasant series by derek landy meet the great skulduggery pleasant wise-cracking detective powerful magician master of dirty tricks and burglary in the name of the greater good of course oh yeah and dead then there s his sidekick stephanie she s well she s a twelve-year-old girl with a pair like this on the case evil had better watch out stephanie s uncle gordon is a writer of horror fiction but when he dies and leaves her his estate stephanie learns that while he may have written horror it certainly wasn t fiction pursued by evil forces intent on recovering a mysterious key stephanie finds help from an unusual source the wisecracking skeleton of a dead wizard when all hell breaks loose it s lucky for skulduggery that he s already dead 11 townyard lane malahide 8455073 www.villagebooks.ie info@villagebooks.ie

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ruby holler by sharon creech tiller and sairy live a quiet life in ruby holler their children have long since left home and they are happy with their routines until one day they each decide they want to undertake a big adventure and they need companions to accompany them and now it gets exciting because they adopt two children from the local orphanage and form an unlikely foursome for the children cannot believe they are really wanted and tiller and sairy have to deal with some pretty unconventional behaviour on the part of the children a wonderful whimsical and magical story that combines quirky action and adventure with the important themes of family loyalty and learning to belong when hitler stole pink rabbit by judith kerr partly autobiographical this is first of the internationally acclaimed trilogy by judith kerr telling the unforgettable story of a jewish family fleeing from germany at the start of the second world war suppose your country began to change suppose that without your noticing it became dangerous for some people to live in germany any longer suppose you found to your complete surprise that your own father was one of those people that is what happened to anna in 1933 she was nine years old when it began too busy with her schoolwork and toboganning to take much notice of political posters but out of them glared the face of adolf hitler the man who would soon change the whole of europe starting with her own small life anna suddenly found things moving too fast for her to understand one day her father was unaccountably missing then she herself and her brother max were being rushed by their mother in alarming secrecy away from everything they knew home and schoolmates and well-loved toys -right out of germany dragon rider by cornelia funke a dragon a boy a journey firedrake a brave young dragon his loyal brownie friend sorrel and a lonely boy called ben are united as if by destiny together they embark on a magical journey to find the legendary place where silver dragons can live in peace for ever with only a curious map and the whispered memories of an old dragon to guide them they fly across moonlit lands and seas to reach the highest mountains in the world along the way they discover extraordinary new friends in unlikely places and a courage they never knew they had just as well for the greatest enemy of all is never far behind them a heartless monster from the past who s been waiting a very long time to destroy the last dragons on earth 11 townyard lane malahide 8455073 www.villagebooks.ie info@villagebooks.ie

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chinese cinerella by adeline yen mah jung-ling s family considers her bad luck because her mother died giving birth to her they discriminate against her and make her feel unwanted yet she yearns and continuously strives for her parents love her stepmother is vindictive and cruel and her father dismissive jung-ling grows up to be an academic child with a natural ability for writing only her aunt and grandfather offer her any love and kindness the story is of survival in the light of the mental and physical cruelty of her stepmother and the disloyalty of her siblings jung-ling blossoms in spite of everything holes by louis sachar stanley yelnats family has a history of bad luck going back generations so he is not too surprised when a miscarriage of justice sends him to camp green lake juvenile detention centre nor is he very surprised when he is told that his daily labour at the camp is to dig a hole five foot wide by five foot deep and report anything that he finds in that hole the warden claims that it is character building but this is a lie and stanley must dig up the truth in this wonderfully inventive compelling novel that is both serious and funny louis sachar has created a masterpiece that will leave all readers amazed and delighted by the author s narrative flair and brilliantly handled plot granny by anthony horowitz this is a wickedly funny tale about the granny from hell by the creator of alex rider twelve-year-old joe warden isn t happy he has rich uncaring parents and is virtually a prisoner in the huge family mansion thattlebee hall worst of all though is his granny not only is she physically repulsive she s horribly mean she has the look in her eye of a predatory crocodile and joe starts to suspect that she has unpleasant designs on him but what are they and how can he foil them percy jackson series by rick riordan look i didn t want to be a half-blood i never asked to be the son of a greek god i was just a normal kid going to school playing basketball skateboarding the usual until i accidentally vaporized my maths teacher that s when things started really going wrong now i spend my time fighting with swords battling monsters with my friends and generally trying to stay alive this is the one where zeus god of the sky thinks i ve stolen his lightning bolt and making zeus angry is a very bad idea can percy find the lightning bolt before a fully-fledged war of the gods erupts 11 townyard lane malahide 8455073 www.villagebooks.ie info@villagebooks.ie

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these recommendations were complied with feedback from our junior book clubs with members ranging in age from 9-13 if you like our recommendations and want to order a book please call us on 8455073 or email us at info@villagebooks.ie keep up to date with the village books book club and junior book clubs on our blog ­ accessed through villagebooks.ie for the latest book news reviews events locally and nationally and for our latest offers and gift ranges sign up for the village books ezine 11 townyard lane malahide 8455073 www.villagebooks.ie info@villagebooks.ie

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