Book picks similar to
Hostage by Malorie Blackman
fiction
middle-grade
mystery
lexile-05
The Golden Orchard
Flora Ahn - 2020
While cooking with Halmunee, something remarkable happens - the food creates such a strong memory that Maya and Halmunee are transported back in time through the memory itself. Halmunee explains that the women in her family have the gift of time travel through food and Maya can do it too, if she practices. While eating her way through the past, Maya meets Jeff: another young time traveler who brings her to the Golden Orchard, a garden of memories filled with the trees of so many people's lives. Maya learns that time moves in ways she couldn't imagine and sometimes family keep their memories secret to protect the ones they love.
The Old Willis Place
Mary Downing Hahn - 2004
They aren’t allowed to leave the property or show themselves to anyone. But when a new caretaker comes to live there with his young daughter, Lissa, Diana is tempted to break the mysterious rules they live by and reveal herself so she can finally have a friend. Somehow, Diana must get Lissa’s help if she and Georgie ever hope to release themselves from the secret that has bound them to the old Willis place for so long. Mary Downing Hahn has written a chilling ghost story in the tradition of her most successful spine-tingling novels. The intriguing characters, frightening secrets, and plot twists will delight her many fans.
Coraline
P. Craig Russell - 2002
At first, things seem marvelous. The food is better than at home, and the toy box is filled with fluttering wind-up angels and dinosaur skulls that crawl and rattle their teeth.But there's another mother there and another father, and they want her to stay and be their little girl. They want to change her and never let her go. Coraline will have to fight with all her wit and all the tools she can find if she is to save herself and return to her ordinary life.This beloved tale has now become a visual feast. Acclaimed artist P. Craig Russell brings Neil Gaiman's enchanting nationally bestselling children's book Coraline to new life in this gorgeously illustrated graphic novel adaptation
Car-Jacked
Ali Sparkes - 2015
He has an IQ of 170. He speaks fluent Mandarin and Latin. And he can calculate the square root of 1,673,549 in his head. But when Jack's parents' car is hi-jacked, with him inside it, for once he's as clueless as the rest of us. The car-jacker doesn't know Jack's in the car - yet. But it's only a matter of time before he's discovered. And then anything could happen. Only one thing's for sure: Jack's in for the thrill-ride of his life ...A high-octane adventure from the winner of the Blue Peter Book of the Year Award.
Cream Buns and Crime
Robin Stevens - 2017
Daisy and Hazel invite you to discover their untold stories . . .Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong are famous for the murder cases they have solved - but there are many other mysteries in the pages of Hazel's casebook.From the macabre Case of the Deepdean Vampire, to the baffling Case of the Blue Violet, and their very first case of all: the Case of Lavinia's Missing Tie.Just like Daisy and Hazel's cases, there's more to this book than meets the eye, including: Brilliant mini-mysteries, including two brand-new and never seen before storiesDaisy and Hazel's own tips, tricks and facts.This is the perfect book for Agatha Christies In Waiting and fans of the award-winning, bestselling Murder Most Unladylike series.
Cream Buns and Crime
Note: Cream Buns and Crime is a short story collection containing; #0.5, The Case of Lavinia's Missing Tie, #3.5 The Case of the Blue Violet and #4.5 The Case of the Deepdean Vampire.
To Cut a Long Story Short
Jeffrey Archer - 2000
From the master storyteller comes a masterful collection of fourteen riveting tales of elaborate confidence tricks, political chicanery, immoral behavior, and dangerously illicit affairs, rendered with the breathtaking narrative twists that have become the Jeffrey Archer hallmark.Here are all new stories that will engross and astonish, peopled with a rich assortment of truly memorable characters: the intoxicating woman who appears to her lover only once every six years; the British diplomat who employs his rather creative -- if not entirely ethical -- financial talents for a greater good; the millionaire who declares himself bankrupt to test the love and loyalties of those closest to him.This is Jeffrey Archer at the top of his form, as he offers us unique fables of our time and civilization, each one shining a harsh yet hypnotic light on that fascinating, complex being called "human."
Goth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse
Chris Riddell - 2013
She lives in Ghastly-Gorm Hall with her father, Lord Goth, lots of servants and at least half a dozen ghosts, but she hasn't got any friends to explore her enormous, creepy house with.Then, one night, everything changes when Ada meets a ghostly mouse called Ishmael. Together they set out to solve the mystery of the strange happenings at Ghastly-Gorm Hall, and get a lot more than they bargained for...
The Fall
Tristan Bancks - 2017
Pushed, Sam thinks.Sam goes to wake his father Harry, a crime reporter, but Harry is gone. And when Sam goes downstairs, the body is gone, too. But someone has seen Sam, and knows what he’s witnessed.The next twenty-four hours could be his last.
Dodger
Terry Pratchett - 2012
Rain-lashed city streets. A flash of lightning. A scruffy lad sees a girl leap desperately from a horse-drawn carriage in a vain attempt to escape her captors. Can the lad stand by and let her be caught again? Of course not, because he's...Dodger.Seventeen-year-old Dodger may be a street urchin, but he gleans a living from London's sewers, and he knows a jewel when he sees one. He's not about to let anything happen to the unknown girl--not even if her fate impacts some of the most powerful people in England.From Dodger's encounter with the mad barber Sweeney Todd to his meetings with the great writer Charles Dickens and the calculating politician Benjamin Disraeli, history and fantasy intertwine in a breathtaking account of adventure and mystery.Beloved and bestselling author Sir Terry Pratchett combines high comedy with deep wisdom in this tale of an unexpected coming-of-age and one remarkable boy's rise in a complex and fascinating world.
The Name of This Book Is Secret
Pseudonymous Bosch - 2007
As much as he'd love to sing the praises of his book (he is very vain), he wouldn't want you to hear about his brave 11-year old heroes, Cass and Max-Ernest. Or about how a mysterious box of vials, the Symphony of Smells, sends them on the trail of a magician who has vanished under strange (and stinky) circumstances. And he certainly wouldn't want you to know about the hair-raising adventures that follow and the nefarious villains they face. You see, not only is the name of this book secret, the story inside is, too. For it concerns a secret. A Big Secret.
Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer
John Grisham - 2010
. . and he’s only thirteen years oldMeet Theodore BooneIn the small city of Strattenburg, there are many lawyers, and though he’s only thirteen years old, Theo Boone thinks he’s one of them. Theo knows every judge, policeman, court clerk—and a lot about the law. He dreams of being a great trial lawyer, of a life in the courtroom.But Theo finds himself in court much sooner than expected. Because he knows so much—maybe too much—he is suddenly dragged into the middle of a sensational murder trial. A cold-blooded killer is about to go free, and only Theo knows the truth.The stakes are high, but Theo won’t stop until justice is served.Brimming with the intrigue and suspense that made John Grisham a #1 international bestseller and the undisputed master of the legal thriller, Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer will keep readers guessing and pages turning.
I Want to Go Home!
Gordon Korman - 1981
Rudy Miller is so unhappy spending the summer at Camp Algonkian Island that he devises dozens of tricks to get himself sent home.
Raven's Gate
Anthony Horowitz - 2005
When Matt Freeman gets into trouble with the police, he's sent to be fostered in Yorkshire. It's not long before he senses there's something wrong with his guardian; with the whole village. Then Matt learns about the Old Ones and begins to understand just how he is different. But no one will believe him; no one can help. There is no proof. There is no logic. There is just the Gate.