274. Pea's Book of Best Friends by Susie Day

Pea's Book of Best Friends by Susie Day
Published September 2012 Random House

From the publisher:
Meet eleven-year-old Pea and her definitely not ordinary life . . . When Pea’s dizzy but dazzling single mum becomes Marina Cove, author of the bestselling Mermaid Girls books, everything changes. It’s time to leave their tiny flat in Tenby for a proper house in London, and a whole new life . . . Pea likes the red front door, and the attic bedroom all to herself. She even likes her hideous new school uniform, in a masochistic Malory Towers sort of way. But there’s an empty chair beside her in every lesson, and no one seems to want to fill it. In the absence of volunteers, Pea is going to have to acquire herself a best friend . . .

Sisters Pea (11), Tinkerbell (7) and Clover (14) are excited at the prospect of moving to London, to a big house.  The fantasy is one thing, but the reality is something different.  Yes the new house is big, but they don’t have enough furniture and because they have this big new house, they have to be careful about money again.  In the …house they call it being Well-Behaved and that means no chocolate biscuits, too tight shoes and borrowed coats.

273. Maddy West and the Tongue Taker by Brian Falkner and illustrated by Donovan Bixley

Maddy West and the Tongue Taker by Brian Falkner illustrated by Donovan Bixley

Published October 2012 Walker

From the publisher:

Maddy West can speak every language in the world. When she is asked to translate some ancient scrolls, Maddy is excited. But the scrolls hide many secrets. Secrets that send Maddy on a wild adventure with a stowaway ninja, a mysterious monkey, a Bulgarian wrestler and a fiendish witch. And soon Maddy finds herself in deadly peril. Does Maddy have what it takes to save herself and her new friends?

Imagine being able to speak every language in the world?  Even languages that people haven’t spoken in thousands of years.  Imagine if you didn’t even have to learn these languages…you just knew them!

272. Zoo Story: Stop! There's a Snake in Your Suitcase by Adam Frost and illustrated by Mark Chambers

Zoo Story: Stop! There's a Snake in Your Suitcase by Adam Frost and illustrated by Mark Chambers
Published September 2012 Bloomsbury

From the publisher:
The Nightingale family live on a barge on the canal near London Zoo, and Mum is a vet. When Tom and Sophie find a bag of snakes dumped at the gates of the zoo, a great and exciting adventure begins. Soon they are finding out about the trade in illegal animals and learning how to care for these wonderful creatures. The snakes are carefully housed in the zoo and, just as they are about to be introduced to the many visitors to the reptile house, a desperate race begins to collect some precious antivenin.The first book in a new series of pacy adventure stories with two courageous children and lots and lots of fascinating animal facts.

Animal books are most definitely the big thing right now.  i have read more animal stories this year than I have in years.  This book has been published in conjunction with the ZSL London Zoo (Zoological Society of London), and that is the setting for this reptilian tale.

271. This Moose Belongs to Me by Oliver Jeffers

This Moose Belongs to Me by Oliver Jefffers
Published September 2012 Harper Collins

From the publisher:

"Wilfred owned a moose. He hadn′t always owned a moose. The moose came to him a while ago and he knew, just KNEW that it was meant to be his. He called it Marcel."

Most of the time Marcel is very obedient, abiding by Wilbur′s book of extensive rules on how to be a good pet. But sometimes he doesn′t quite seem to be listening, plus he has a tendency to wander off wherever he pleases when they go out walking. But Wilfred is still very proud to have a pet like Marcel.

Until one day, deep in the woods, someone else seems to recognise Marcel! Is Marcel really Wilfred′s pet after all?

I am a bit of an Oliver Jeffers groupie, well a lot of one actually, and while I was planning on only featuring one book by any given author this year, I couldn't let this one go by, and it's hardly my fault if an author manages to publish more than one book a year.  So here it is.

270. Ransomwood by Sherryl Jordan

Ransomwood by Sherryl Jordan
Published August 2012 Scholastic

From the publisher:
With her uncle threatening to marry her off to his odious widowed brother, Gwenifer is almost relieved to be sent away to escort the magistrate's old, blind mother to Ransomwood, where the tears of the statue of the Holy Mother are said to have healing qualities. She and Harry, the village halfwit, who is escaping a sentence of hanging for being in charge of an ox that trampled a child almost to death, embark on a perilous journey ... each of them looking for a different kind of healing.

There have been many times this year when I have raved about an author, saying they are my favourite.  In my top ten novels of ALL TIME, two of them are written by New Zealand authors.  One, Changeover by Margaret Mahy, and the Juniper Game by today’s author, Sherryl Jordan.  I have been waiting a long while for a new book from this author, and I have actually been saving it for a day when I know I can really enjoy it.  Does that make me weird?!?

269. Miss Understood by James Roy

Miss Understood by James Roy
Published September 2012 Random House (Woolshed Press)

From the publisher:
Lizzie doesn't mean to do the wrong thing . . . she's just misunderstood. When ten-year-old Lizzie accidentally sets fire to a cardboard effigy of her school principal, she's asked to leave Our Lady of the Sacred Wimple College. It wasn't her fault, honest! But no one will listen to the truth, so from now on Lizzie will be home-schooled by her mother in her family's dining room. No friends, no playground, and nothing but homework. Lizzie has to prove that she's matured enough to be allowed back into Sacred Wimple. She tries. She volunteers at a charity shop. She writes an essay about an inspirational person. She attempts to cheer up her dad, who's being sued after writing a mean restaurant review. And when she finds a man living in the empty display home next door, she vows to help him . . .

At the beginning of the book Lizzie is in trouble.  She is in the principle’s office, because of the bad thing that she did.  The bad thing involved stamping out a burning effigy of the principle.  Yes that sounds bad…but Lizzie is simply misunderstood, because it wasn’t as bad as it seemed.  Unfortunately for Lizzie, there have been a number of misunderstandings, like the time she ‘rescued’ the Preps from drowning at a swimming carnival or the time she was locked in the control room at the local power station.  This time, the good people at Our Lady of the Sacred Wimple College have no choice but to expel Lizzie.  Leaving your school and your friends is bad enough, but Lizzie isn’t going to another school, her mother is going to home school her!

268. Boys Only: How to Survive (almost) Anything by Martin Oliver

Boys Only: How to Survive (almost) Anything by Martin Oliver

Published September 2012 Buster Books

From the publisher:

Inspired by the best-selling The Boys' Book, Boys Only is an illustrated graphic-novel-style handbook for boys with a sense of adventure. From how to avoid escape from quicksand to how to survive being blasted into space, and from what to do when you are lost in the desert to how to beat your friends in a trial of strength, there's hours of fun for boys to enjoy.

If my memory serves me well (and most of the time it does) there has already been a book with this title.  The difference with this edition is that this one is in a graphic novel format, a perfect presentation for this fun and action filled title.