Glitter Boy – Ian Eagleton

WHEN LIFE GETS DARK…LET YOURSELF SHINE BRIGHT An interview with Ian Eagleton  Artwork by Melissa Chaib Can you tell us what Glitter Boy is about? Glitter Boy follows an 11-year-old boy called James, who loves singing, dancing, poetry, and his nan. He is full of live, confident and energetic. He starts to experience homophobic bullying…

Vita and the Gladiator – Ally Sherrick

Vita longs to write plays and poetry – but as a high-born girl in Roman Londinium, her fate is sealed: marriage and children. Then her father is murdered, her mother and brother disappear, and Vita flees from a shadowy enemy. Disguised as a slave at the gladiator’s arena, she forges an unlikely bond with Brea,…

Read for Empathy Collection 2023 – The Last Firefox 🦊

The Empathy Lab are on a mission to ensure children are educated in empathy. On the 8th June 2023 is ‘Empathy Day’, which aims to inspire children to be more emotionally literate through stories and books. Part of this is their Empathy Collection which, as I’m sure you can agree, is full of incredible titles….

Non-fiction Friday – History

This week, I have some brilliant History books which cover a variety of different topics: These are hugely varied and show a range of both significant individuals in history and eras: let’s take a closer look at what each book covers! Earth Clock – Tom Jackson & Nic Jones Our planet has been spinning in…

Non-Fiction Friday – Science

There are such an amazing selection of non-fiction books available, so I wanted to start sharing some of these brilliant books with you all which may help you teach a range of subjects in – and out of! – your classroom. First up: Science! Big Questions About the Universe – Alex Frith & Alice James…

A Game of Life or Death – Triona Campbell

“When sixteen-year-old Asha Kennedy discovers her older sister Maya’s dead body in their home, her world falls apart. Desperate for answers, and to stay out of the hands of the social services she grew up in, Asha turns to her hacker friends for help. Her search leads her to Zu Tech, the hit games studio where…

Christmas Every Day – Beth Moran

“When Jenny inherits her estranged grandmother’s cottage in Sherwood Forest, she has nothing to lose – no money, no job, no friends, no family to speak of, and zero self-respect. Things can only get better….  Her grumpy but decidedly handsome new neighbour, Mack, has a habit of bestowing unsolicited good deeds on her. And when…

The Wildstorm Curse – Eve Wersocki Morris

“13-year-old Kallie Tamm can’t wait to spend a week of her summer holidays at the Wildstorm Theatre Camp: she’s determined not to let her dyslexia hold her back from achieving her dream of becoming a playwright. The finale of the whole week is a performance in the local village theatre. But as soon as she…

A Tricky Kind of Magic – Nigel Baines

“Cooper is brilliant at magic tricks. Card tricks, clever illusions – he can do them all. His dad, also known as the Great Eduardo, taught him the tricks of the magical trade before he passed away. But the one thing Cooper can’t do is see his dad again.  So when a talking rabbit appears from…

The Boy Who Didn’t Want to Die – Peter Lentos

“The Boy Who Didn’t Want to Die describes an extraordinary journey, made by Peter, a boy of five, through war-torn Europe in 1944 and 1945. Peter and his parents set out from a small Hungarian town, travelling through Austria and then Germany together. Along the way, unforgettable images of adventure flash one after another: sleeping in a…