The Seeing Stone

Kevin Crossley-Holland

Orion, 2001

Paperback. 338pp.

£5.99

Medieval life and Arthurian magic - a novel that transcends all boundaries. "I was sellbound." - PHILIP PULLMAN

Set in the Welsh Marches in the year 1199, The Seeing Stone is a uniquely contemporary take on the Arthurian legends. It is an enthralling story of secrets and mysteries in the life of young Arthur de Caldicot, who discovers his namesake, the boy King Arthur, in his seeing stone.

In a hundred short chapters that seem like snapshots of the past, The Seeing Stone brilliantly evokes the earthy, uncomfortable reality of daily life in the Middle Ages, and of a whole community- from Gatty the reeve's daughter to Tanwen the chamber-servant, from Oliver the priest to Lady Alice, keeper of a terrible secret- facing the conflicts and uncertainties of a new century.

Winner of The Guardian Children's Fiction Award, winner of the Smarties Prize Bronze medal, shortlisted for the Whitbread Children's Book of the Year. The Seeing Stone is the first volume in the Arthur Trilogy.

The Eagle of the Ninth

Rosemary Sutcliffe

Oxford University Press, 2000 (first published in 1954)

Paperback. 293pp

£4.99

The Ninth Legion marches into the mists of northern Britain. And they were never seen again. Four thousand men disappeared and the eagle standard was lost.

Marcus has to find out what happened to his father, who led the Ninth Legion. So he sets out into the unknown on a quest so hazardous that no one expects him to return.

There are two more books that follow on in the series, The Silver Branch and The Lantern Bearers. (TO RETURN TO THIS PAGE CLOSE THE NEW WINDOW OR PRESS THE BACK BUTTON ON YOUR BROWSER)

The Wool-Pack

Cynthia Harnett

Mammoth Books, 2001 (first published in 1951)

Paperback. 238pp.

£4.99

Nicholas knows that there is something suspicious about the smooth Italian lord and his toad-faced servant who come to stay. His father won't hear anything of it, and so Nicholas and his friends must try to discover the Lombards' secret alone.

Can they uncover the smuggling ring and outwit the plot to ruin Nicholas' father?

One of the classic medieval adventures, The Wool-Pack was voted one of the 100 best children's books of the twentieth century in the Keith Barker Millennium Awards; it was a winner of the Carnegie Medal.

Cynthia Harnett paid great attention to research and detail, and seemed keen to educate her young readers. This didactic approach was, however, offset by her lively dialogue and the fast moving action of the plot.

Troy

Adele Geras

Scholastic, 2001

Paperback. 362pp.

£5.99

The siege of Troy has lasted almost ten years, and the citizens are suffering. Prince Hector is risking his life daily, defending his beloved city from the terrifying Achilles and the rest of the Greek army. But life goes on within the walls.

This is the story of two devoted sisters, Xanthe and Marpessa, both servants in the royal palaces of Troy. Marpessa is a strange, silent girl who can see and speak to the gods. She relies on her stronger sister, sweet-natured Xanthe.

But when the Goddess Aphrodite grows bored with the war, she makes mischief between the two sisters by making them both fall in love with the same man, the young warrior Alastor. For the sisters, love seems everything - but they are living on borrowed time…

Wolves of Willoughby Chase

Joan Aiken

Red Fox Classics, 2000 (1962)

Paperback. 192pp. illus.

£4.99

After braving a treacherous journey through snow-covered wastes populated by packs of wild and hungry wolves, Sylvia joins her cousin Bonnie in the warmth and safety of Willoughby Chase. But with Bonnie's parents overseas and the evil Miss Slighcarp left in charge, the cousins soon find their human predators even harder to escape.

The Snow Spider

Jenny Nimmo

Mammoth, 2000 (first published in 1986)

Paperback. 142pp. illustrated by Joanna Carey

£4.99

'Time to find out if you are a magician!' said Gwyn's grandmother, as she gave him five strange birthday gifts. What could they mean, the piece of seaweed, the yellow scarf, the tin whistle, the twisted metal brooch and the small broken horse?

Gwyn gives the brooch to the wind and in return is sent Arianwen, the snow spider. The spider weaves a silken web in which sits a girl he knows but cannot place.

This is the beginning of extraordinary battles against evil in words sparkling with snow and silver.

The Snow Spider was winner of the Smarties Grand Prix award. Emlyn's Moon and The Chestnut Soldier take the story forward. (TO RETURN TO THIS PAGE CLOSE THE NEW WINDOW OR PRESS THE BACK BUTTON ON YOUR BROWSER)