Ali SparkesReseñas

First book in a series, feels slightly formulaic, but is still very enjoyable. Dax is a boy who lives with his cruel stepmother and spoiled step sister, who finds out one day he has the power to turn into a fox. This gets him taken away to a school for Children of Limitless Ability, which is a glorious complex hidden behind an old tin mine and built into a cliff in Cornwall, cascading down to a salt water lido. He makes friends, finds out that not everyone has his best interests at heart, and Saves The Day.

Oddly, the protagonists are years older than in the Boy with Two Heads, but read as years younger. It's a similar story in a lot of ways (discovering new powers, realising you can't trust all those in authority over you), but this is much gentler and sweeter with more traditionally moral messages.

This book is aimed at young teens, though I feel all books are ageless. I don't want to give too much of the plot away so in summary: Teenager Lucy has been travelling through space for ten years to reach Earth her home world having been wiped out by an enemy species.She needs to learn to blend in with earth people if she is to make it her home. It's not all plain sailing though as something has been on the long journey with her. The main themes of the book are friendship and acceptance.
Ali Sparks always writes an engaging story, her books are easy to read, I whizzed through this one in a couple of days. It is however very predictable, I suppose that's because of the age group it's aimed at. I purchased my copy from a charity shop, I'll set it free by returning it to a charity shop.

I was prompted to read this young person's novel after sitting in on a key stage 3 English class studying the book at a school in Southend, during a visit last week as part of my job. It's a time travel novel, a genre I always love, involving a boy and girl, Freddy and Polly, from 1956 who are kept in cryogenic suspension and accidentally revived in the modern day (2009 when this was written) by two other children to whom they are related, Ben and Rachel. It involves international espionage and missing scientists, but is first and foremost a study of how Freddy and Polly cope with life in the twenty-first century and their hilarious misunderstandings. As such, it is not only a great adventure story, with a very dramatic and tense final few chapters in particular, but also teaches young readers that things haven't always been as they are now, some things may be better, some may be worse. Very good.

As usual a really exciting story fom Ali Sparkes. This time the heroine is the last of her planet and her spaceship lands on the Isle of Wight where she is discovered by local children. However the lifeform that had destroyed her home had stowed away on her space craft and slowly awakens from a hibernation. The children have just a short time to try and save this world from utter destruction.

I can see the appeal this book will have with young children. Two boys are transformed into spiders as they explore their neighbors shed. The vocabulary is good, with an index in the back to explain certain terms. From an adult standpoint, this is not a long, hard read. From a younger standpoint, this is a great chance for a good summer or any time read.

Josh and Danny, and their dog Piddle, generally get along pretty well. Except that Josh loves anything creepy-crawly and his twin, Danny, most definitely does NOT. Then one day Piddle gets lost in the mysterious shed belonging to their creepy, crotchety next-door neighbor Miss Potts and something strange and exciting and horrible happens.

They turn into spiders! Unfortunately, the first person who sees them is their big sister Jenny - and she is not a fan of spiders! After a series of hair-raising adventures and with the help of some friendly rats they manage to get back to Petty Potts. She's not all bad, but she's definitely a mad scientist! She turns the boys back and they escape, but are their adventures over?

Additional back matter includes a final note from Petty Potts with more hints on her secret S.W.I.T.C.H formula and the mysteries she hints at, a glossary, bibliography, list of the current titles in this series, and biographies of the author and illustrator.

Verdict: I think kids will really like the combination of facts and fiction in this story. It's just gross enough with lots of crazy adventures and only a little over 100 pages long. It could have been funnier and the writing falls a bit flat in places, but quite good overall. Add this if you need more beginning chapter books in your library. I will probably wait until next November when I add new series to the collection, since this is available only in paperback or expensive library bound editions. There are currently six books available in the series.

ISBN: 9780761391999; Published May 2013 by Darby Creek/Lerner; Egalley provided by publisher through Netgalley; Added to library's series wishlist

Loved it!

Great fast paced story! Couldn't put it down until I finished. Part Sci-Fi, Part Spy novel, and Part Mystery! Fantastic combination!

It's just a regular trip for Kevin, and he comes back with just the regular sorts of things. Some local fudge, a scented candle for his mum ...and his own personal god. It's Abandinus, a little-known Celtic deity, who has suddenly found a new purpose in his eternal life-sorting out Kevin's. With a god on your side, everything's going to get a lot easier, isn't it? After all, a god can get stuff done. The trouble is, it's not always the kind of stuff Kevin has in mind ...

Reviewed by Joan Stradling for TeensReadToo.com

Ben and Rachel Carter's summer with their scientist uncle goes from dull to amazing when they discover an underground vault. Hidden in a secret room within the vault are two children, Freddy and Polly Emerson, who have been Frozen in Time.

The four children try to find out what happened to Dr. Emerson (Freddy and Polly's father), but Freddy and Polly may not live to find answers. There are people who want the past to stay buried, and the further the children delve into the past, the more their futures are in danger.

This is a fun book full of adventure and excitement. I enjoyed the blend of past and present throughout the novel. Sparkes does a great job of creating engaging characters and a believable storyline. The plot had plenty of twists and turns to keep me flipping the pages.

Blue Peter book of the Year for 9- 12 yo. Great story about Poppy and Freddy frozen in time in 1950's and being woken up in 2009.

Fast moving and engrossing adventure story for children; an entertaining read but with a rushed ending. Ben and Rachel are thoroughly bored during the summer, until they discover a hidden vault where they discover two children in cryogenic suspension. The book has some interesting scenes when two children from the 1950s encounter life in the first decade of the 21st century.

Good science fiction, funny in parts, great for comparing 1950s w/ 2010s

When it suddenly stops raining at their Uncle Jerome's place, where Ben and Rachel have been spending the summer of 2009, they take advantage of the break in the weather to get outside and explore. They soon discover that the rain has washed away some soil and exposed what looks sort of like a car steering wheel. Persistent digging and the washing away of mud reveals that the buried object IS a wheel of sorts, and that it is attached to a much larger structure, and more importantly - it turns. The two children eventually discover how to get into the underground structure, and there they discover some things that will suddenly make their summer much less boring. They accidentally revive two children, Freddy and Polly, from 1936, and then have to help them solve the mystery of why their father forgot about them and left them in suspended animation all those years.

Too young for me (12)