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

Sunday 24 November 2013

KBR Recommends: New Middle Fiction, October + November 2013

Ranger's Apprentice: The Royal Ranger by John Flanagan, Random House, $17.95, 9781864718195

John Flanagan makes a spectacular return to the world of Ranger's Apprentice - but what has happened since you last saw Will and his friends might shock you!

Will took an oath when he joined the Ranger Corps. Does it mean nothing to him now?

After a senseless tragedy destroys his life, Will is obsessed with punishing those responsible – even if it means leaving the Ranger Corps. His worried friends must find a way to stop him taking such a dark path.

It is Halt who suggests the solution: Will must take an apprentice. The candidate Halt has in mind surprises everyone – and it's a request Will cannot refuse.

Training a rebellious, unwilling apprentice is hard enough. But when a routine mission uncovers a shocking web of crime, Will must decide where his priorities lie – finishing his quest for revenge, or saving innocent lives?

The final book of the Ranger's Apprentice series raises the stakes higher than ever. Is Will on his last mission for the Ranger Corps?

Mission Survival: Claws of he Crocodile by Bear Grylls, Random House, $14.95, 9780857532220

When Beck Granger follows a mysterious clue to the town of Broome in Northern Australia, it is just the beginning of an adventure that will force him into some of his toughest survival challenges yet!

The search for clues takes Beck into the heart of the Outback, where he must battle raging storms, ravenous crocodiles, cunning villains and a secret that may link back to the death of his parents many years ago . . .

A gripping Australian adventure packed with real survival details and dangers at every turn!

Born Wild (Spirit Animals #1) by Brandon Mull, Scholastic, $12.99, 9781742839974, age 10+

Are you wild born?

In the world of Erdas, four children are about to discover if they have a spirit animal, a rare bond between human and beast that gives great powers to both. Separated by vast distances, Conor, Abeke, Meilin, and Rollan each see a flash of light... and then the animals emerge.

Wolf, leopard, panda, falcon. Each of the children has summoned a beast from legend. Now their fate is set. The four new heroes and their animals must band together on a dangerous quest. A dark force from the past is rising, and only they have the power to stop it.

The fate of Erdas has fallen on the shoulders of these brave strangers... and on you.

Nerds: Attack of the Bullies by Michael Buckley, Amulet, $11.95, 9781419710469, age 10+

The grand finale to the New York Times bestselling series, Attack of the BULLIES stars Ruby Peet, aka Agent Pufferfish, the team captain with super nanobyte-enhanced allergies.

Pufferfish leads the team in their latest case: the kidnapping of the president's daughter. But the NERDS discover she hasn't been kidnapped - she's been recruited. Their former librarian, Ms. Holiday, has started a rival organisation called BULLIES, who each have their own nanobyte-enhanced upgrades. The BULLIES - plan: go back in time to make sure NERDS never existed!

When Ruby's teammates begin to vanish one by one, she enlists Agent Brand and Heathcliff Hodges to go back to the 1970s and help the original nerdy secret agents make sure that the future is not erased from existence!

Attack of the BULLIES promises action, humour and a dramatic conclusion to the series.