2020-03-14 The Week Junior

Further details abou*Ifyou arethe competition winnerthow we manag,wewethe data yoill only use the details you provide touprovide canbefound at http://www.dennis.ccontact you and arrange delivery of youro.uk/privacy-policy competition prize.

Book club

14 March 2020•The Week Junior

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Brothersandsistersmustworktogether

inthes eexcitingfamilyadventures.

5

booksabout

brav esiblings

Lost

by Ele Fountain

(Pushkin Children’s Books)

When their fatherfails tocome home

one day,Lolaand herbrother Amit

areleft alone. They have no money and no idea

how to look after themselves, and they aresoon

living on the streets of an Indian city.Thisisa

powerful and thought-provoking story about two

siblings fighting to survive.

Wherethe River Runs Gold

by SitaBrahmachari

(HachetteChildren’s Group)

OnafutureEarth that has been

destroyed by climate change, Shifa

and her brother Themba aresent to

work onafarm to help pollinatecrops. It’sahard,

cruel place, and soon they decide to escape–but

how? Thisinspiringstory will makeyou think

about protecting the environment, and how we

cantry to makethe worldabetter place.

High Rise Mystery

by Sharna Jackson

(Knights Of Media)

When their art teacher is murdered,

sleuthing sisters Nik and Norvaset

about finding the killer and bringing

them to justice. Set inahigh-rise block of flats in

London, thisexciting whodunnit is perfect forfans

of detective stories.Look out forasequelcalled

MicDrop,which is coming out next month.

Darkwhispers

by VashtiHardy

(Scholastic)

In this sequeltoVishti Hardy’s

Brightstorm:ASky-Ship Adventure,

pluckytwins Arthurand Maudie

return for another thrilling adventure. This time

they have torace to theEasternIsles in search of

missingexplorer ErmitageWrigglesworth–and

outwit theirscheming AuntEudora.

The House on Hoarder Hill

by Mikki Lish andKelly Ngai

(Chicken House)

In thisspookytale, Hedy and Spencer

arespending Christmas at the strange

old house belonging to their magician

grandfather.Whenpeculiar messages start to

appear on dusty pictureframes, theyrealise that

the house they arestaying in holdsamystery

–and that theymust find out the truth about their

grandmother’sdisappearance.

BOOK OF THE WEEK

JackCourtney,aged 14, is heading off

on abig adventure: his parents are

travelling to the Democratic Republic

of theCongo incentral Africafor an

environmentalconference, and they’re

taking Jack and his friends, Amelia

and Xander,with them. Things go

wrong when his parents arekidnapped

by soldiers, and now it’sdown to the

three teenagers to brave the jungle,

investigate the nearby minesand

findout what has happened. With

bandits, gorillas and poachers to deal

with–not to mention annoyingcousin

Caleb–saving Jack’sparents isgoing

to befarfromasimple operation.

Bestselling thriller writer Wilbur Smith

worked with ChrisWakling on this

action-packed story,and theCourtney

family have appeared in morethan

20 of Smith’sadult books. Aimed at

youngerreaders, this new book is a

thrillingrollercoaster ride.

The OgreDownstairs

by DianaWynne Jones

“I likeThe OgreDownstairsbecause

it is aboutachemistry set that

has lots of strange chemicals in,

whichcause trouble, and you

can’t put it down.Younever know

what is going to happen next. I’d

recommend this book to people

who likeHarryPotter.”

READERSRECOMMEND

Name:PopJam user

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ndput

day

es.

ASKTHE AUTHOR

How did youcome up with

the ideaforthis book?

Iheard about the threat

mining poses to mountain

gorillas in the Democratic

Republic ofCongo,and

thought upayoung character

who might be able to do

something about it.

Have you ever been

to theCongo?

Sadly,no. Right now there’s

anastyconflict in theeast,

whereCloudburstis set, and

the UK’sForeign Office has put

it off-limits. I’ve been to many

othercountries in Africa,

however,and oneday I’m

determined to go.

How old wereyou when

you wrote your first story?

Ican’tremember,but Ido

know I’ve always enjoyed

writing. WhenIwas 10

Iwrote adiary forawhole

year.Itmostly just said what

Ihad for breakfast and what

timeIwent to bed!

Skiing or snowboarding?

Skiing, just.

Tell us one thing you

learned while writing

this book.

Ilearned that kids work for

next to nothinginminesin

the Dem

of Congo

precious

makeou

phones

with

their

bare

hands.

ChrisWakling

TheCloudburstwriter talksabouttravelling

toAfricaandwritingadiary.

g

Cloudburst

by Wilbur Smith with ChrisWakling

(Piccadilly Press)

IN! Cloudburst

We’’reeggiivviinnggaawayfifivveeccooppiiieeesssooofff

nothinginminesin

mocratic Republic

o,digging up the

smetals used to

urmobile