Tag: #MG

Kittiwake Stormhaven and the Pirate’s Portolano by Victoria Williamson

On By @f33lthesunIn Y4+1 Comment

Blurb

A daring mission, a sister turned pirate and a sea full of secrets…

In a world of water where land is a legend, 11-year-old Kittiwake Stormhaven dreams of adventure aboard the Amazon Princess. When a vital mission takes the ship into dangerous waters, Kittiwake discovers shocking news – her long-lost sister, Petrel, is now a feared pirate queen.

Kittiwake must outsmart pirates, outmanoeuvre storms and face ghostly captains to save her ship, her mischievous monkey Caboodle and her friends. But in a high-stakes showdown, family loyalty collides with survival, and Kittiwake learns the ocean hides more secrets than she ever imagined.

Kittiwake Stormhaven is a fast-paced, sea-swept adventure filled with daring rescues, thrilling discoveries and the magic of friendship.

Review

I always look forward to reading a story by Victoria Williamson and this one is no exception. It is a fast paced action adventure on the high seas, with pirates, stowaways, a naughty pet monkey and a quest to find fuel before the ships all sink.

Kittiwake and her stowaway friend, Scally, have to look out for each other as they break the rules several times to try to discover what happened to her sister. Is she really a dreadful pirate now? Or did she disappear never to be seen again? Which story, if any, is real?

As the truth emerges, Kit, also aided and abetted by her pet monkey Caboodle, is caught between loyalty to her mother, the ship’s captain, and finding out about her sister. On the adventurous journey she meets pirates, a scary monster that attacks the ship, hears rumours about her father (who also disappeared) and makes a deal with a pirate that she is not sure will come off.

The cast of characters is wide ranging. My favourite is the Doctor. You are never quite sure if he is serious or sarcastic about all the exotic sounding diseases he thinks everyone who comes to see him is suffering from.

In between each chapter of the story is an excerpt from The Pirate’s Portolano, a book detailing information useful to pirates, from maps and drawings, to key information about the strengths and weaknesses of ships, smuggling routes and sea creatures to avoid.

This is a brilliant adventure story for Year 4 up, with themes of friendship, families, secrets and survival. I will also admit it took me too long for the names Kittiwake (Kit to her friends and family) and Caboodle to click. They really are the whole thing.

The cover and inside illustrations by James Brown are superb.

Thank you to the author, the publisher Tiny Tree and @The_WriteReads for a copy of the book (and the fabulous gifts it came with) to read and review for this blog tour.

About the book

Genre: Adventure

Age Category: Middle Grade

Publisher: Tiny Tree Books

Number of Pages: 176 Pages

Publication Date: October 23, 2025

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/238744341-kittiwake-stormhaven-and-the-pirate-s-portolano 

Storygraph: https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/ca5e59cb-f36d-43bd-8f07-953adcf0b2fd 

Amazon: https://a.co/d/5yuErMp (Canada) https://a.co/d/bhdaIxp (USA) https://amzn.eu/d/hl3XQ8H (UK)

Star Quest Academy: Above and Beyond by Adrian Lynch

On By @f33lthesunIn Upper KS2+Leave a comment

Blurb

For centuries, trillions of life forms throughout space have allowed humanity to believe we’re alone in the Universe. Any alien who dared to befriend us has met an unfortunate end: eaten, squashed, sent to a zoo, or even planted in a garden pot. But our advances in space exploration now threaten every civilisation across the Cosmos.

Amelia, a savvy, street-smart orphan, is one of four exceptional children selected from around the globe to represent humanity in the Human Inclusion Programme at the intergalactic Star Quest Academy. Here, they’ll unravel the Universe’s wonders, explore strange new worlds, and encounter magical creatures. Earth’s safety from invasion hinges on their success as cadets, but if any of them fail, Earth will be invaded by ruthless warlords.

When a series of sinister incidents jeopardise their mission, it becomes clear that someone – or something – wants them to fail. To save their world, the cadets must overcome their differences and combine their unique skills.

Review

I am always happy to see more sci-fi for 9+ being written and published and Star Quest Academy doesn’t disappoint.

It is a fast paced adventure that starts off on Earth and ends up in space, with Earth being threatened with alien invasion because to all other species, humans are seen destructive. This is a #NotAllHumans moment.

Although the tempo and adventure are fast moving, we still get to know Amelia and her fellow human candidates well and their strengths, when pooled together, enable the team to meet their foes head on.

The themes of solitude, lost family, friendship, human behaviours and interconnectedness are handled well. There are also some gross moments (looking at you, vomit bubbles) that manage to temporarily take your mind off the tension that builds throughout the story.

The ending hints that this is the first of a series and I hope the next one is just as exciting.

About the Book

Genre: Science Fiction

Age Category: Middle-Grade 

Number of Pages: 280 Pages

Publication Date: February 13, 2025

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/223726420-star-quest-academy 

Storygraph: https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/79fe4e6c-7911-4343-b8ed-c0290ed1cf8d 

Amazon: https://a.co/d/6jjdGea (Canada) https://a.co/d/fZhLPiZ (USA) https://amzn.eu/d/fQelUs8 (UK) 

Or purchase from your local independent bookshop.

Elsetime by Eve McDonnell

On By @f33lthesunIn Children KS2Leave a comment

Elsetime is a time travelling story that will suck you in. It is set in both 1864 and 1928, with a backdrop of the danger and loss of life possibilities of the Great Flood of London on 6th January 1928.

Needle is a creative mudlark who finds treasure and makes items from them for his mother to sell. He can “see” the history of the items, and their owners, when he holds them. His father has also mysteriously disappeared.

Glory is a 12 year old orphan, with only one hand, who pretends to be older to get work making fine items for the mean Mrs Quick, in Frippery & Fandangle Emporium, to help her sister pay the rent and buy food. Unfortunately they lack finesse and fall apart.

Neither know of the other’s existence (although they both know a helpful crow called Magpie/Dust) until Needle finds treasure that, being from the future, makes his hand burn. This leads him to discover a hag stone through which he finds he travels through time to a London that is both familiar but different.

Needle and Glory end up working together, thanks to the crow engineering their meeting, to try to save the people who they think will perish in the flood. This is difficult as no one seems ready or willing to listen to their wondrous tale.

We are taken on a journey with Needle and Glory through time as well as the development of their friendship, which is not without its misunderstandings, to a high octane conclusion on the night of the flood. A twist in the tail left me with lots to ponder once the reading was done.

I love endpapers in picture books and hardbacks. They are rarely found in paperbacks so it was a lovely surprise to find the crow illustrations by Holly Ovendon inside the cover. Holly’s cover and illustrations throughout the book are a joy.