Christina Hardyment takes a look at recent Middle Grade titles, including:
- The Secret History of Tom Trueheart, by Ian Beck
- The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, by Kate DiCamillo
- Endymion Spring, by Matthew Skelton
- Tanglewreck, by Jeanette Winterson--This one got mixed reviews here in the U.K., though Hardyment liked it. Has anyone read it yet?
- The Humming Machine, by Berlie Doherty
- Encylopaedia Prehistorica: Sharks and Other Sea-Monsters, by Robert Sabuda and Matthew Reinhart
Hardyment also reviews Children's Audiobooks, including:
- Half Moon Investigations, by Eoin Colfer ("Eoin Colfer's genius is to write prose that sounds like your best friend talking urgently about happenings more exciting than you've ever dreamed. It works exceptionally well on audio, especially when read by the appropriately Irish Tom Farrelly.")
- Doctor Who: The Resurrection Casket, by ("Read by David Tennant, they romp along splendidly, generously laced with special effects.") Doctor Who is such a big deal in the U.K.!
- Inkspell, by Cornelia Funke ("As you listen to Brendan Fraser's compelling narration, you enter its world yourself, and the book's mythic quality is revealed to the full.")
- Secret Seven, by Enid Blyton ("if you yearn to instil a stocky moral sense into children as well of offering lots of ideas for good clean fun [and healthy naughtiness], try them on these fast-moving tales.")
- Fairy Dust, by Gwyneth Rees ("a cleverly spun yarn about a well-thought-out fairy world of wee men and dainty feys born whenever a human child leaves the world untimely.")
