Artemis Fowl and the Atlantis Complex
Author: Eoin Colfer

Young Artemis has frequently used high-tech fairy magic to mastermind the most devious criminal activity of the new century. Now, at a conference in Iceland, Artemis has gathered the fairies to present his latest idea to save the world from global warming. But Artemis is behaving strangely – he seems different. Something terrible has happened to him . . .

Artemis Fowl has become nice.

The fairies diagnose Atlantis Complex – that's obsessive compulsive disorder to you and me – dabbling in magic has damaged his mind. Fairy ally Captain Holly Short doesn't know what to do. Because the subterranean volcanoes are under attack from vicious robots and Artemis cannot fight them. Can Holly get the real Artemis back before the robot probes destroy every human and life form.

Ash and Benjamin are teenage mercenaries. They find stolen artifacts and return them to the owners - for a fee.

But when they are hired to rescue an imprisoned girl, they realise they're in over their heads. Because there are others looking for the girl too. Corrupt governments. Ruthless corporations. Rogue assassins.

As these forces converge on the place where the girl is trapped - the headquarters of the world's biggest intelligence agency - Ash realises she's made a terrible mistake; one that may cost her and Benjamin their lives...

You can get an autographed copy here

by Sonja Hartnett

Her muzzle wrinkled, and Andrej saw a glimpse of teeth and pale tongue. 'They smell the same, ' the lioness murmured. 'My cubs smelt as she does. Like pollen.' She breathed deeply again, and Andrej saw the missing cubs returning to her on the wings of the baby's perfume. 'All young ones must come from the same place,' she said: then sat down on her haunches, seemingly satisfied.
Under cover of darkness, two brothers cross a war-ravaged countryside carrying a secret bundle. One night they stumble across a deserted town reduced to smouldering ruins. But at the end of a blackened street they find a small green miracle: a zoo filled with animals in need of hope.
A moving and ageless fable about war, and freedom.

Read an extract here
Get more details or buy the book here

Twelve-year-old Australian actress Jordana Beatty has snagged the title role in family movie Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer based on the popular children's book series. Read more ...

Wondering how to help your child get ready for school? Good habits are best formed when kids are young. In the primary years, kids sit on the floor to hear stories read by the teacher from a story book. In the middle and upper primary years, kids are expected to read independently and quietly to themselves as well. Preparing the foundations for good reading habits can begin as soon as your baby can sit up, from six months onwards.

Even before then, propping your baby on your lap with a book often, helps baby to associate holding books with being in a fun, safe environment. After your child is asleep in her cot, leave one or two picture books within reach so that she sees them when she wakes up. This can delay her crying out for you.

She learns very early that books are a fun, interesting companion, especially if one of them squeaks or is tactile made from various materials, or has shiny pictures and shapes that glitter from different angles. The best environment for reading is away from distractions like TV or computer screens. This can be on a designated 'reading couch' or bean bag, on a mat or on a bed.

If parents (or carer) are consistently relaxed and unhurried when reading together, kids are likely to follow suit, and remain calm and engaged with their book. Carers reading to kids often - even if only for short periods - prepares kids from a young age to enjoy listening to stories. It helps get them ready to engage with story-time at school.

Encouraging young kids to 'read' aloud as well - i.e. tell a story with book in hand while turning the pages - lays fabulous foundations to enjoy quiet reading in the future when they reach middle and upper primary school.

Author, Karen S. Thomas say she "is currently writing a fictional story in my blog, http://tommyswritingblog.wordpress.com. I am writing as I go without really knowing what the characters will do next. Check it out! Read it out aloud to your kids or to kids you know. Tell me what you think and where you want the story to go."

The 39 Clues, Book 10: Into the Gauntlet
by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Throughout the hunt for the 39 Clues, Amy and Dan Cahill have uncovered history's greatest mysteries and their family's deadliest secrets. But are they ready to face the truth about the Cahills and the key to their unmatched power? After a whirlwind race that's taken them across five continents, Amy and Dan face the most the difficult challenge yet- a task no Cahill dared to imagine. When faced with a choice that could change the future of the world, can two kids succeed where 500 years worth of famous ancestors failed?

Amazon is selling the book for $8.75 for the hardback

The Kane Chronicles: The Red Pyramid

Rick Riordan

Carter and Sadie have nothing in common but their parents: their father Dr. Julius Kane, a brilliant Egyptologist, and their mother, a famed archaeologist who died under mysterious circumstances when they were young. The siblings barely know each other, but one night, their father brings them together at the British Museum, promising a 'research experiment' that will set things right for their family. His plans go horribly wrong. An explosion unleashes an ancient evil - the Egyptian god Set who banishes Dr. Kane to oblivion and forces the children to flee for their lives. Now orphaned, Carter and Sadie must embark on a dangerous quest - from Cairo to Paris to the American Southwest, to save their father and stop Set from destroying everything they care about...

http://bit.ly/cdYyhF

Sandy Fussell has been kind enough to provide one copy each of her books Jaguar Warrior and Samurai Kids: White Crane to give away.

For your chance to win one of these books leave a comment on any the following posts on children’s and teen fiction by 9pm Sunday.

Paper Daughter
by Jeanette Ingold

Maggie Chen was born with ink in her blood. Her journalist father has fired her imagination with the thrill of the newsroom. But now Maggie’s father has been killed, and she is determined to keep their dreams alive by interning at the local newspaper. While assisting on her first story, suspicion of illegal activity falls on Maggie’s father, and she knows she must clear his name. Drawn to Seattle’s Chinatown, what she finds is far from what she expected: secrets, lies, and a connection to the Chinese Exclusion Era. Using all of her newspaper instincts and resources, Maggie is forced to confront her ethnicity—and a family she never knew.

Shaun Tan’s illustrated books – The Rabbits, The Red Tree, The Lost Thing, The Arrival and, most recently, Tales from Outer Suburbia – are loved and recognised by readers all over the world. Shaun has also worked as a concept artist for films such as Horton Hears a Who and Pixar’s WALL-E, and has just finished directing a short film version of The Lost Thing with Andrew Ruhemann. Spike sat down with him over the digital divide to find out about the problem of gravity, Lorenzo Mattotti and the beauty of emotional understatement in illustration

Read more ...