Creamy-white horses gallop across the velvety cover of Flight by Vanessa Harbour (Firefly, £6.99), while a moon and stars glow in the sky. It will be love at first sight for riding fans. Jakob, too, loves riding but it is hiding that brings him into close contact with the Lipizzaner stallions, the dressage horses whose stable conceals him from the Nazis. Jakob is Jewish and his accidental sidekick, Kizzy, is Roma. It is 1945 and they and their equine friends must trek across Austria to avoid eleventh-hour capture (Hitler has his eyes on the valuable horses, as do hungry villagers). A classic journey-to-safety novel, with precipices; night-scuffles; amateur bone-setting — every imaginable adventure. Age 11 up (off-stage killing; on-stage blood and guts).
After leaving the EU, Britain is governed by “The Party”, which is deporting everyone who is not BB — British-born. The public is encouraged to report “illegals” and there are street patrols and raids. Night of the Party by Tracey Mathias (Scholastic, £7.99) is dark! The only hope is the imminent election. Teenage Zara is desperate for The Party to be defeated ‑– not only because she is illegal but because she knows who killed her boyfriend Ash’s sister but dare not go to the police. Close-to-home thriller, enriched with allusions to a wide range of literature. Age 12 to adult.
Sydell Rosenberg was one of the first members of the Haiku Society of America. H is for Haiku (Penny Candy Books, £12.99) is her haiku alphabet for children. Rosenberg writes in a freer form than the traditional syllable count, but the idea of “making a small moment big” remains (F, for instance, is: “First library card/And a promise to read all/Authors A to Z”). Illustrations (look out for the kippot-wearing recorder-players) by Sawsan Chalabi have a Dr Seuss-like exuberance. Age up to 11.
Sam and Ilsa’s Last Hurrah by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan (Electric Monkey, £7.99) welcomes us into a chaotic Liberace-themed dinner party thrown by angsty siblings as a pre-college farewell. Guests include KK, who thrives on insulting the others and orders in sushi; Johan, carrying something surprising in his violin case and Caspian, a sock puppet. A delicious drama-queen-fest. Age 15 up.
