What Miss T Read

  Avery Grambs has a plan for a better future: survive high school, win a scholarship, and get out. But her fortunes change in an instant when billionaire Tobias Hawthorne dies and leaves Avery virtually his entire fortune. The catch? Avery has no idea why--or even who Tobias Hawthorne is. To receive her inheritance, Avery must move into sprawling, secret passage-filled Hawthorne House, where every room bears the old man's touch - and his love of puzzles, riddles, and codes. When I read the synopsis for this book I was so excited to be part of The Write Reads blog tour for it. It's a Cinderella story, poor unfortunate girl gets rich, but with twists and puzzles galore and I absolutely devoured it.  Avery Grambs is the average teenager trying to survive, but when she's told that she has inherited a huge fortune from billionaire Tobias Hawthorne, her life is thrown into disarray: she's never heard of Tobias Hawthorne for a start; he has four very entitled grandsons who ar

  You fancy a book about crime-solving vampires I hear you cry? Well Josie Jaffrey has come up trumps with book her brand new Seekers series. I will admit that when I first read the blurb I wasn't sure how such different topics that were completely unrelated could ever combine successfully; however, I was pleasantly surprised by how quickly I was sucked in and enjoyed the blend of genres.  The story follows Jack, our central crime-fighter. Having been a vampire for 20 years she is part of the Seekers, an Oxford based group of vampires (or Silver as they are called in the book) who are employed to stop humans finding out about their kind. They roam the streets amongst humans, acting in the same way as police officers, trying to protect their existence.  When a man is thrown from the top of a building, completely drained of blood and in full public sight it's undoubtedly the work of a Silver and it's up to Jack and her Seeker friends to try and solve the mystery before the hu

After the excitement of his adventures on the Highland Falcon Thief, Harrison Beck can't wait for the opportunity to go on another amazing train journey. So when his Uncle Nat invites him aboard the California Comet, the iconic three day train journey from Chicago to San Francisco, he leaps at the chance to travel. But when the daughter of billionaire entrepreneur August Reza goes missing en route, Hal finds himself with another mystery to solve. Can he uncover the kidnapper before the journey's end? Kidnap on the California Comet is the second instalment of the Adventures on Trains series written by the wonderful M.G. Leonard and Sam Sedgman. The first book, The Highland Falcon Thief  was a delightful mystery involving a jewel thief (read my review here ) and introduced us to Hal, our main train sleuth and his transport-loving-journalist-uncle Nat. I absolutely loved The Highland Falcon Thief and as with all series was apprehensive that this wouldn't be as great but the du

There are no monsters anymore, or so the children in the city of Lucille have been taught. Jam and her best friend, Redemption, have grown up with this lesson all their lives. But when Jam meets Pet she begins to question what she's been told. Pet has come to hunt the evil lurking in Redemption's house... But how do you save the world from monsters when no-one will admit they exist?  I'd heard great things about Pet before finally picking it up in my local bookshop last week. I love the anticipation that strikes when reading a book that has been so widely discussed and reviewed, the worry of whether it will live up to expectation, the excitement of reading something that everyone is talking about. Pet was very different from my expectation, deeper, more involved than I thought it initially sounded, but a story with many messages woven inside it and a very worthy YA read. Jam lives in the city of Lucille, a place where the monsters have been banished and the angels mainta

Ebenezer Tweezer is a youthful 511-year-old. He keeps a beast in the attic of his mansion, who he feeds all manner of things (including performing monkeys, his pet cat and the occasional cactus) and in return the beast vomits out presents for Ebenezer, as well as potions which keep him young and beautiful. But the beast grows ever greedier, and soon only a nice, juicy child will do. So when Ebenezer encounters orphan Bethany, it seems like (everlasting) life will go on as normal. But Bethany is not your average orphan . . . When the synopsis of this book flew into my inbox I already knew it was going to be a good one. With a main character called Ebeneezer Tweezer this book was never going to disappoint and I'm excited to be part of The Write Reads blog tour for it.  The Beast and the Bethany  is the perfect grizzly tale. A cross between The Nightmare Before Christmas and the  Mr Gum books   with brilliant humour and silliness galore, as well as the sense of impending doom which th

  Jack can't wait for the school trip to the D-Day landing beaches. It's his chance to learn more about the war heroes he has always admired - brave men like his dad, who is a Reserve soldier. But when his dad is called up to action and things at home spiral out of control, everything Jack believes about the war is thrown into question. Finding comfort only in the presence of his loyal dog, Finn, Jack is drawn to the heart-wrenching true story of one particular D-Day paratrooper. On 6 June 1944, Emile Corteil parachuted into France with his dog, Glen - and Jack is determined to discover their fate... D-Day Dog is a book which had been on my radar for quite a while after reading Tom Palmer's first war novel, Armistice Runner last year. However, it wasn't until a colleague recommended it to me that I finally decided to pick it up off the bookshelf and get stuck in.  Jack is in Year 6 and loves the war, he is fascinated by the facts, considers the soldiers who fight heroes

  'You've probably heard of me, right? Little Badman. No? Oh. Well . . . doesn't Matter.  You will do one day. I'm gonna be big.   I'm Humza Khan, the greatest eleven-year-old rapper Eggington ever had. I've also faced deadly alien slugs, killer aunties and double maths.  But now, I (and my best friend Umer I guess) face something even scarier - my dad! He's pretty fed up with us being naughty, so he's sending us away . . . to school. But this is not ordinary school. This is a special summer school in Pakistan, and man something weird is going on - someone has been messing with time! I may have to save the world again . . . Little Badman and the Time-Travelling Teacher of Doom is the second instalment of the Little Badman  series, all revolving around eleven-year-old Humza Khan, a wannabe rapper from Eggington who loves to play practical jokes on everyone. After saving the world once already, Humza is determined that he will now be a successful spy worki