The Secret of the King by Martin King

 

This is the first in a new series of adventure books by UK based author Martin King perfect for any budding Indiana Jones aged 9 or over. Twelve year old Jack Hunter has just moved to a new house and a new town and he’s not happy about it. He doesn’t relish the idea of hanging around his elderly grandfather much either, however when his grandad tells him about some buried treasure Jack realises that maybe the summer won’t be so boring after all. He soon makes new friends and together they discover ancient secrets and treasure in a rollicking good read full of thrills, spills, villains and adventure. This is a well paced and well plotted adventure story for young readers. It’s perfect for fans of Percy Jackson, Arthur Quinn or the Time Hunters series. The book is available from amazon and waterstones online and you can find out more about the author at http://martinkingauthor.com/

The Wolf Princess by Cathryn Constable

Unfortunately, the cover lets this book down an awful lot, so that age-old rule of judgement applies here! I have known parents to buy this book for their seven and eight year olds, who are subsequently bored silly by the vivid descriptions of Russian fashion architecture and culture and the well-researched allusions to the history of the Czars. This book has much much more to offer to a pre-teen audience.

Young Sophie dreams of someday visiting Russia, but as an orphan with a guardian who barely manages to pay her school fees, her chances of going on the school trip to St. Petersburg are slim indeed – so she takes drastic measures. She and her two best friends soon find themselves kidnapped (not necessarily against their wills) and spirited away to the majestic but dilapidated palace of the long-dead Volkonsky family. What begins as a fairy tale slowly descends into a sinister plot of deceit and danger. The story contains plenty of twists, and more than one grizzly death scene, so keep an open mind and don’t pass off this excellent book!

P.S. And wolves … I didn’t mention there’d be wolves. 😉