v Miriam’s Voice, A Jewish Tale, retold by the JC’s Keren David (Hodder Education, £8) narrates Moses’s birth and the exodus through the eyes of Miriam, a girl who longs to be heard. Despite the biblical Egyptian setting, the characters are immediately accessible to the modern reader – Miriam, a good sister who loves to sing, talk and dance; her father, a tired builder; her heavily pregnant mother. The familiar story unfolds, movingly and with humour (enhanced by Roy Hermelin’s illustrations), and it is remarkable how in this short book David shows Miriam growing into an empowered young woman, free to raise her voice. Age seven up.
Seventeen-year-old Callum is about to board the Eurostar after a disappointing summer in France, where Almost Nothing Happened (by Meg Rosoff, Bloomsbury, £12.99). At the last minute, he skips the train and strands himself in heatwave-stricken Paris. Accidental accessory to a crime, he is swept off his feet and on to the motorbike of enigmatic Parisienne Lilou, as they pursue Arnaud, a thief and climate activist. Finally something is happening – a sleep-deprived wild goose chase, with enchanting glimpses of Paris. A heady YA summer read, a Greengage Summer for the climate-anxious age.
Pirate Academy, Missing at Sea (UCLan Publishing, £7.99) is the second, spider-and skull-festooned tale of maritime mayhem in Justin Somper’s nautical boarding school series. Student pirates Jasmine Peacock and Jacoby Blunt and friends embark on an Oceans Bound course and sail into a sea of sinister surprises. Not only must they confront planned obstacles to test their bravery, resilience, observation, navigation, teamwork and excellence, they must also face the villainy of the League of True Pirates, whose “alternative” obstacle course is far more deadly. A perfect balance of enjoyably scary, funny and touching. Age nine to 12.
“It was three minutes to eleven on a blustery summer morning, and Harry Houdini was about to jump.”From this theatrical opening line, we are plunged into The Houdini Inheritance by Emma Carroll (Faber, £7.99). Friends Glory and Denis are fascinated by the escapologist’s tricks. But their encounter leads them into a dangerous mission, involving a dodgy psychic, a transatlantic voyage, a disappearing dog and a trunkload of secrets. A magical read with a background of historical fact, for ages nine to 12.
