Book picks similar to
The Word-Keeper by Veronica Del Valle


netgalley
middle-grade
publisher-review
03-stars

Knowing You


Samantha Tonge - 2019
    Kind-hearted Violet has never fitted in, but despite being bullied at school is now content. She is dating ambitious Lenny, has her dream job in publishing and runs a book club at the local retirement home.However, when her relationship with Lenny begins to falter, Violet, hurt and alone, seeks the advice of her new flatmate, Bella. She changes her image and with her head held high aims to show that she doesn’t need Lenny in her life to be happy and successful.Her long-term friends Kath and Farah worry about Bella’s influence and slowly Violet starts to distance herself from them. When she was a child, her closest confidant and companion was a boy called Flint. Her mother didn’t approve of their closeness and he suffered a terrible end. She won’t let the same thing happen to Bella, no matter what anyone says...Knowing You is about friendship and knowing who to trust with your deepest secrets; it’s about taking control of your life and not being afraid to stand out. Perfect for fans of Ruth Hogan, Gail Honeyman and Amanda Prowse

Fairylicious


Tiffany Nicole Smith - 2013
    She always means well, but somehow trouble follows her wherever she goes. Bex thinks she's doing something nice when she blows out her birthday candles and wishes for fairies for her and each of her friends. The good news: Bex's wish comes true. The bad news: Maize, Blush, Olive, and Iris are not the fairies the girls were expecting.These fairies are allergic to pixie dust and afraid of heights. On top of that, every wish they grant ends up being a disaster. Bex thought fairies were supposed to make life easier. Between these fractured fairies, an aunt and a teacher who seem to hate her, and the perils of being the biggest kid in the sixth grade--will Bex survive?

Brahma Rakshas: The Monster Within


Sandiip N. Paatil - 2021
    At 11, he looks big and strong for his age. His kind mother, Geeta is a rural Indian archetype: the overworked, stressed-out, barely-keeping-it- together single mother. His father is in prison for multiple robbery cases. The villagers are cold and overbearing, and his schooldays are made hellish by bullies. If this wasn’t enough, he has nightmares and uncanny callings from the age-old monstrous Peepal tree that lays on his way to school. The legend is a monster called Brahma Rakshas, living under this tree, for years unknown to people, lures kids with the black devil fruits and then makes them wrestle until one dies.And, one stormy night, the legend comes true when Brahma Rakshas meets Sarja. Set in a fictional village of Deogiri; a small haven of human civilization, away from the din of city life, this story is an adventure ride filled with riddles and monster wrestling.

Cargo


J.C. Macek III - 2017
    He is a man who is used to getting his own way.But when Peterson wakes to find himself locked in a metal shipping container, with only a cell phone and twenty-four hours of air left, he begins to unravel.Desperate to escape, Peterson soon learns that there is more to the container than he first realised. And when the kidnappers call and demand ten million dollars, while threatening to murder and rape his beautiful wife if he doesn’t comply, Peterson must fight to meet their impossible terms or face being left to die alone in the darkness.Why has Peterson been targeted?Who are those responsible for his kidnap?And can Peterson make out of the container alive?Cargo is an edge of your seat thriller about the choices we make. This novel is based on James Dylan's upcoming feature film [Cargo], it will appeal to fans of authors like Michael Connelly, Robert Dugoni & Michael C. Grumley

Thick as Thieves: Tales of Friendship


Ruskin Bond - 2013
    Some stories will make you smile, somewill bring tears to your eyes, some may make your heart skip a beat—butall of them will renew your faith in the power of friendship.

Demigods and Monsters: Your Favorite Authors on Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series


Rick RiordanElizabeth Wein - 2008
    In Demigods and Monsters, YA authors take on the series' Greek gods, demigods, monsters, and prophecy, to add insight and even more fun to Riordan’s page-turner series.The book also includes an introduction by Percy Jackson series author Rick Riordan that gives further insight into the series and its creation, and a glossary of ancient Greek myth, with plenty of information on the places, monsters, gods, and heroes that appear in the series.

Haroun and the Sea of Stories (Stage Adaptation)


Tim Supple - 1998
    With the help of David Tushingham, he has adapted Salman Rushdie's classic children's novel, Haroun and the Sea of Stories for the stage. Set in an exotic eastern landscape peopled by magicians and fantastic talking animals, Rushdie's novel inhabits the same imaginative space as Gulliver's Travels, Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz. Haroun sets out on an adventure to restore the poisoned source of the sea of stories. On the way he encounters many foes, intent on draining the sea of all its storytelling powers.

The Company of Eight


Harriet Whitehorn - 2018
    But when her chance is snatched away from her, Cass refuses to give up. She sets out to follow the Circus Ship and the journey leads her into dangers that challenge even her adventurous spirit. Will she succeed in following her dream, or is her destiny something altogether different? A beautifully written adventure story for fans of The Girl of Ink and Stars from Harriet Whitehorn, award-winning author of the Violet series.

Matilda


Roald Dahl - 1988
    At age five-and-a-half she's knocking off double-digit multiplication problems and blitz-reading Dickens. Even more remarkably, her classmates love her even though she's a super-nerd and the teacher's pet. But everything is not perfect in Matilda's world. For starters she has two of the most idiotic, self-centered parents who ever lived. Then there's the large, busty nightmare of a school principal, Miss ("The") Trunchbull, a former hammer-throwing champion who flings children at will and is approximately as sympathetic as a bulldozer. Fortunately for Matilda, she has the inner resources to deal with such annoyances: astonishing intelligence, saintly patience, and an innate predilection for revenge.She warms up with some practical jokes aimed at her hapless parents, but the true test comes when she rallies in defense of her teacher, the sweet Miss Honey, against the diabolical Trunchbull. There is never any doubt that Matilda will carry the day. Even so, this wonderful story is far from predictable. Roald Dahl, while keeping the plot moving imaginatively, also has an unerring ear for emotional truth. The reader cares about Matilda because in addition to all her other gifts, she has real feelings.

Shadow Weaver


MarcyKate Connolly - 2018
    Desperate not to lose her shadows, she turns to Dar who proposes a deal: Dar will change the noble's mind, if Emmeline will help her become flesh as she once was. Emmeline agrees but the next morning the man in charge is in a coma and all that the witness saw was a long shadow with no one nearby to cast it. Scared to face punishment, Emmeline and Dar run away.With the noble's guards on her trail, Emmeline's only hope of clearing her name is to escape capture and perform the ritual that will set Dar free. But Emmeline's not sure she can trust Dar anymore, and it's hard to keep secrets from someone who can never leave your side.

Danube Street


Linda Tweedie - 2018
    Danube Street was always the first port of call when Merchant or Naval ships docked in Leith, and was the attraction, never to be missed by visiting clergymen of every denomination. Stella Gold began life far from the bright lights of the city. Born Agnes McLeod, she was reared in the wilds of Ayrshire. The only daughter of a tenant farmer, she endured a harsh, rugged upbringing. Now, although the darling of Edinburgh’s glitterati, she finds herself the victim of a vendetta by the city’s most dangerous and violent criminal brothers,and a corrupt Chief of Police.Survival was a constant challenge which Stella thought she had under control. How wrong could she be?

RuinWorld: Eye for An Eye


Derek Laufman - 2019
    Along with plenty of not-always faithful companions, our heroes must battle dangerous tribes of Toadies, survive giant stone Golems, and stop a catastrophic world-ending disaster, all while evading a cunning gang of thieves trying in a race to the biggest treasure of all time. Cartoonist Derek Laufman (Marvel Superhero Adventures) leads an unforgettable journey as Rex and Pogo misadventure their way across the Ruinlands, facing dangerous foes and fair-weather friends alike!

The Flame in the Mist


Kit Grindstaff - 2013
    Features  Jemma, a fiery-headed heroine held captive in Agromond Castle, yet destined to save mist-shrouded Anglavia.Fiery-headed Jemma Agromond is not who she thinks she is, and when the secrets and lies behind her life at mist-shrouded Agromond Castle begin to unravel, she finds herself in a chilling race for her life. Ghosts and misfits, a stone and crystals, a mysterious book, an ancient prophecy—all these reveal the truth about Jemma's past and a destiny far greater and more dangerous than she could have imagined in her wildest fantasies. With her telepathic golden rats, Noodle and Pie, and her trusted friend, Digby, Jemma navigates increasingly dark forces, as helpers both seen and unseen, gather. But in the end, it is her own powers that she must bring to light, for only she has the key to defeating the evil ones and fulfilling the prophecy that will bring back the sun and restore peace in Anglavia.

Talisman Of El


Alecia Stone - 2012
    7 billion.Others ... unknown.When 14-year-old Charlie Blake wakes up sweating and gasping for air in the middle of the night, he knows it is happening again. This time he witnesses a brutal murder. He's afraid to tell anyone. No one would believe him ... because it was a dream. Just like the one he had four years ago - the day before his dad died.Charlie doesn't know why this is happening. He would give anything to have an ordinary life. The problem: he doesn't belong in the world he knows as home.He belongs with the others.

Lumière


Jacqueline Garlick - 2013
    One resourceful boy. One miracle machine that could destroy everything. After an unexplained flash shatters her world, seventeen-year-old Eyelet Elsworth sets out to find the Illuminator, her father’s prized invention. With it, she hopes to cure herself of her debilitating seizures before Professor Smrt—her father’s arch nemesis—discovers her secret and locks her away in an asylum. Pursued by Smrt, Eyelet locates the Illuminator only to see it whisked away. She follows the thief into the world of the unknown, compelled not only by her quest but by the allure of the stranger—Urlick Babbit—who harbors secrets of his own. Together, they endure deadly Vapours and criminal-infested woods in pursuit of the same prize, only to discover the miracle machine they hoped would solve their problems may in fact be their biggest problem of all.