Get fully booked for Easter with these fantastic kids reads

Life is pretty dull for Hannah until Armitage Shank and his Impossible Circus roll into town. However this circus is not what it seems and a dastardly plan is afoot. Circus Of Thieves And

The Raffle Of Doom (Simon & Schuster, £6.99) is William Sutcliffe’s first novel for children. Funny, bizarre and brilliantly illustrated by David Tazzyman, this is perfect for anyone who

loves Mr Gum.

Knightmare: Life Stinks! by Peter Bently (Little Tiger, £5.99) follows the mayhem and mishaps of trainee knight Cedric Thatchbottom, squire to Sir Percy the Proud. The problem is that life

as a squire is not quite what Cedric was expecting. A winning mix of funny illustrations and plenty of poo jokes.

Archie’s War: My Scrapbook Of The First World War by Marcia Williams (Walker, £7.99) tells the story of the First World War from the viewpoint of Archie Albright, 10. Packed with comic

strips, clippings and letters from his father and uncle who are fighting in France, this is a funny, touching and unique insight into life for a child during the war.

Cat lovers will enjoy Squishy McFluff The Invisible Cat! by Pip Jones and illustrated by Ella Okstad (Faber, £5.99). Squishy is Ava’s imaginary cat so should be the perfect pet (no food, no

vet’s bills) but Squishy is naughty. Who else could be drawing on the curtains or putting water in Mum’s wellies?

Cedric Thatchbottom is fast finding that life as a squire is highly unglamourous [NC]

When her mother starts giving her vital life lessons, Olivia knows that something is going on. But surely her mother’s illness is just flu? Dandelion Clocks by Rebecca Westcott (Puffin,

£6.99) is beautifully written and grips you from the start. Be warned: have a tissue handy!

You will need a few more for Clare Furniss’s Year Of The Rat (Simon & Schuster, £12.99) as Pearl struggles with the heartbreaking loss of her mother and the arrival of her baby sister; a

constant reminder of why her mother is no longer around. A painful and touching debut dealing with love, loss and the need to keep living.

A Boy Called Hope by Lara Williamson (Usborne, £6.99) tells the story of Dan Hope. Dan would like a lot of things to happen (his sister to go to the North Pole, for example) but mostly he

would just like his father back. Ever since he ran off with the lady from the chip shop, life has been a bit weird. Maybe Dan’s school project is just the thing to impress Dad and bring him

home. Or maybe the person he needs is a little closer to home already.

Jasper Fforde is seriously funny. The Eye of Zoltar (Hodder & Stoughton, £12.99) is the final instalment in his Last Dragonslayer series and it is packed with magic and invention: a spiky

heroine called Jennifer Strange, an unruly young princess and most importantly a flying car and plenty of dragon action. Watch out, Terry Pratchett!

In Stories Of WW1 (Orchard, £7.99), Tony Bradman has brought together some of today’s bestselling authors. Malorie Blackman, Geraldine McCaughrean and many others share their stories of

soldiers, life in the trenches and the people left at home in a collection which shows the horror but also the camaraderie of war.

Marooned In Manhattan by Sheila Agnew (O’Brien, £6.99) sounds like a dream come true for a 12 year old but not Evie Brooks. After the death of her mother, Evie is sent to live with her Uncle

Scott, a vet in New York. It is not what she wants and it is certainly not what Scott’s girlfriend wants. Evie agrees to give it a go, just for the summer, but soon finds that she has to

make the biggest decision of her life.

A Boy Called Hope follows a child's search for his father [NC]

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Predicted to be one of this year’s bestsellers, Half Bad by Sally Green (Penguin, £7.99) is a supernatural thriller set in a parallel world of witches. Caught in the middle of good and evil

is Nathan Byrn, descended from both sides and hunted by both. Amazingly, this is both Green’s first novel and the first of a trilogy. You are immediately pulled into her magical world of

healers, killers and a boy in a cage. Fans of Twilight and The Hunger Games will love this.

Love is in the air in Jennifer E Smith’s The Geography Of You And Me (Headline, £9.99). Owen lives in the basement, Lucy lives on the 24th floor but, thanks to a power cut, they find

themselves stuck in a lift between the 10th and 11th floors. Can a chance encounter lead to romance?

There is more romance in the new Heartside Bay series from Cathy Cole. The New Girl (Scholastic, £6.99) is the first instalment in a 12-part series following the lives and loves of students

at Heartside High.

Laini Taylor’s bestselling Daughter Of Smoke And Bone trilogy comes to an end this month with the publication of Dreams Of Gods And Monsters (Hodder & Stoughton, £14.99). Karou and Akiva

must join forces against the seraph army trespassing into the human world but there may yet be bigger threats to face.

When Maya Van Wagenen found a copy of a Fifties teenage guide to popularity, it marked the start of a year-long experiment. A self-confessed social outcast, 15-year-old Maya decided to live

her life according to these rules, even if they did involve wearing a string of pearls and a girdle! The result was Popular (Penguin, £7.99), a quirky, funny guide to teenage life.

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