Book picks similar to
Wednesday Weeks and the Crown of Destiny by Cristy Burne
family
fantasy
humour
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A Drop of Hope
Keith Calabrese - 2019
A wish. And a little drop of hope. Times are tough. Jobs are scarce and miracles are in short supply. But something strange is happening in If Only, Ohio. An old well has suddenly, impossibly, begun to grant wishes. And three sixth graders are the only ones who know why. Ernest Wilmette believes a good deed makes magic happen. Ryan Hardy thinks they should just mind their own business. Lizzy MacComber believes in facts, not fairy tales. Of course, you don't have to believe in wishes to make one. As more wishes are made, the well's true secret gets harder and harder to keep. Ernest, Ryan, and Lizzy know they can't fix the world. But in their own little corner of it, they can give everyone a little hope... one wish at a time.
Beetle Boy
M.G. Leonard - 2016
Vanished without a trace! From a locked room! So Darkus moves in with his eccentric Uncle Max and next door to Humphrey and Pickering, two lunatic cousins with an enormous beetle infestation. Darkus soon discovers that the beetles are anything but ordinary. They're an amazing, intelligent super species and they're in danger of being exterminated. It's up to Darkus and his friends to save the beetles. But they're up against an even more terrifying villain--the mad scientist of fashion, haute couture villainess Lucretia Cutter. Lucretia has an alarming interest in insects and dastardly plans for the bugs. She won't let anyone or anything stop her, including Darkus's dad, who she has locked up in her dungeons! The beetles and kids join forces to rescue Mr. Cuttle and thwart Lucretia.
Dark Lord of Derkholm
Diana Wynne Jones - 1998
What they expect are all the trappings of a grand fantasy adventure, including the Evil Enchantress, Wizard Guides, the Dark Lord, Winged Minions, and all. And every year different people are chosen to play these parts. But now they've had enough: Mr Chesney may be backed by a very powerful demon, but the Oracles have spoken. Now it's up to the Wizard Derk and his son Blade, this year's Dark Lord and Wizard Guide, not to mention Blade's griffin brothers and sisters, to save the world from Mr Chesney's depredations.
Floodland
Marcus Sedgwick - 2000
What if the sea began to rise . . . and rise . . . until the land began to disappear? A brilliant futuristic fantasy by an acclaimed new writer.Global warming has caused the sea to rise until cities are turning into islands and civilization is crumbling. Ten-year-old Zoe Black was left behind on Norwich by accident when her parents escaped in the last supply ship to visit the island. Zoe discovers a small rowboat and keeps it a secret until she can set out alone on the great sea to find her parents. She lands on tiny Eels Island, where she must survive in a nightmarish world run by wild children and their boy-leader, Dooby. Zoe and a boy called Munchkin escape and cross the sea to the mainland, to find not only Zoe's parents but a new family and a new world.
Ack-Ack Macaque
Gareth L. Powell - 2012
The trouble is, Ack-Ack Macaque is a cynical, one-eyed, cigar-chomping monkey, and he's starting to doubt everything, including his own existence. A century later, in a world where France and Great Britain merged in the late 1950s and nuclear-powered Zeppelins encircle the globe, ex-journalist Victoria Valois finds herself drawn into a deadly game of cat and mouse with the man who butchered her husband and stole her electronic soul. Meanwhile, in Paris, after taking part in an illegal break-in at a research laboratory, the heir to the British throne goes on the run. And all the while, the doomsday clock ticks towards Armageddon.
His Name Was Walter
Emily Rodda - 2018
Tonight, four kids and their teacher will find it. Tonight, at last, the haunting story of Walter and the mysterious, tragic girl called Sparrow will be read - right to the very end ... A mystery, a prophecy, a long-buried secret. And five people who will remember this night as long as they live.
Travels with Geoffrey : If It CAN Go Wrong, It Will (Never a Dull Moment Book 1)
Sharon Hayhurst - 2021
When Sharon and her husband, Geoffrey, travel abroad, they stumble through Canada, Europe, Southeast Asia and Oman, flinging sausages and car parts, evading jails, abduction, wild coyotes and the Mafia, but will they continue to survive the perils, despite their satnav’s suicidal tendencies? Join them for a rollickingly good time while they lurch between glorious scenery, irritable outbursts and dubious driving.Travels with Geoffrey is an engaging travel narrative full of madcap adventures and is perfect for fans of Beth Haslam, Marjory McGinn and Tony James Slater.
The 13-Storey Treehouse
Andy Griffiths - 2011
Because: ANYTHING can happen in a 13-storey treehouse.This is a major new series from Andy and Terry- and it's the logical evolution of all their previous books. There are echoes of the Just stories in the Andy and Terry friendship, the breakaway stories in the Bad Book (the Adventures of Super Finger), there's the easy readability of the Cat on the Mat and the Big Fat Cow, and like all these books, the illustrations are as much a part of the story as the story itself.
Aruni and Uttanka: Tales of Devotion and Reward
Kamala Chandrakant - 1979
Young or old, their devotion and obedience were almost superhuman. Luckily, as described in the Mahabharata, the gods looked kindly on them. After all, these young men had earned the right to happiness.
Blood of Patriots
Richard Tongue - 2017
They failed. And millions died as a result. After decades of oppression, the rebels are getting ready to move again, to succeed where their predecessors could not. Their last hopes lie with the Federation's greatest space commander, now a drunken derelict, and a ship that was lost in deep space at the end of the war. The Starcruiser Polaris. Once the flagship of the Federation Fleet. And if the rebellion can find her before the dreaded Political Directorate, the key to a new rebellion, one that might accomplish the near-impossible. But they are not the only ones to seek her, and the future of all humanity depends on the winner of a desperate race, to find the lost starship, and bring her back into the fight...
Two Chalet School Girls in India
Priyadarshini Narendra - 2006
The Robin is also in need of a break, after losing her father earlier in the year. The visit will change their lives forever, and the friendships they make will have long-lasting repercussions. This is the book that Chalet School fans across the world have been waiting for. Elinor M. Brent-Dyer’s story of what happened when Joey Bettany and the Robin visited India was never published, and no trace of it remains. Readers seemed destined never to know the answers to questions ranging from how did Joey meet Erica Standish’s mother, to why Joey tore out the pictures from Mollie’s copy of Queechy? Now Priyadarshini Narendra has written her own version of the story, remaining as true to the Chalet School series as possible. Priyadarshini lives near Delhi, and has been a Chalet School collector since the age of six.With a foreword by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer’s biographer, Helen McClelland, explaining the history of the original book.
Lenny's Book of Everything
Karen Foxlee - 2018
I knew when he talked too much about Timothy his imaginary pet eagle. He was scared.'Whatever you do,' I said to Davey on the walk to school, 'Do not tell people about your eagle. Do not tell Miss Schweitzer about your eagle.'He looked crestfallen. His shoulders slumped. He looked to make sure Timothy hadn't fallen off.Lenny, small and sharp, has a younger brother Davey who won't stop growing - and at seven is as tall as a man. Raised by their single mother, who works two jobs and is made almost entirely out of worries, they have food and a roof over their heads, but not much else. The bright spot every week is the arrival of the latest issue of Burrell's Build-It-at-Home Encyclopedia. Through the encyclopedia, Lenny and Davey experience the wonders of the world - beetles, birds, quasars, quartz - and dream about a life of freedom and adventure, visiting places like Saskatchewan and Yellowknife, and the gleaming lakes of the Northwest Territories. But as her brother's health deteriorates, Lenny comes to accept the inevitable truth; Davey will never make it to Great Bear Lake. An outstanding novel about heartbreak and healing by an award-winning author.
Chasing Kate
Kelly Byrne - 2012
She’s single, alone in a new city, and facing rock bottom again. And she’s not exactly child-friendly, so when she finds a tiny stowaway, five-year-old Sadie Beck, in the back of her Jeep on Halloween night, she’s in no mood to play.Then her world gets weird.Against her will, Kate begins to feel a surprising connection with the odd little girl. And when she realizes Sadie may be in real trouble, she vows to protect her at any cost.On their frantic journey across several state lines Kate rips through a complex landscape of moral choices her prior transgressions have left her woefully unprepared to handle. She begins, very seriously, to wonder who’s saving whom.When they exhaust all other options, Kate’s forced to go to the one place she swore she never would again, and to make the most difficult decision of her life.At once hilarious and heartbreaking, Chasing Kate is a raucous voyage of self-transformation, fueled by an unconventional love story, wending down the twisty road to redemption.
A Story Like the Wind
Gill Lewis - 2017
They have nothing - except their memories, their stories, and their music. An unforgettable tale of displacement, hope, and the search for freedom.
On Orchard Road
Elsbeth Edgar - 2011
She has a brand-new sister, and her family has moved to a small town, leaving behind everything she knows. She is sure that she will be miserable – but a mysterious old lady, a curious boy and an amazing garden prove her wrong. A story about friendship, hope, and the healing power of nature and art.