Cornelia Funke

She is a fantastic author and I loved her books when I was younger and I still do today. The Thief Lord and Inkheart were and still are two of my favourites.

The Thief Lord is a book about a group of young children in Venice who are just trying to survive. There are two brothers who ran away from their aunt to Venice and join this group who live in an abandoned movie theatre. Their leader is Scipio, or "The Thief Lord". He supplies the group with treasures to help them survive. This book is abot friendship and trust and is absolutely amazing!

Inkheart is a trilogy about a man and his daughter and he has an ability that when he reads from a book, he can bring things out of the book such as the gold or flowers but also people. But when something comes out, something else must go in. When his daughter was very young, he was reading and the villain, Capricorn, emerged but his wife had gone in and he vowed never to read aloud again. Except now, Capricorn has come in search of him.
There was a movie adaptation of this book made in 2009 with Brendan Fraser and Helen Mirren.

Both of these books are amazing and she has so many more that I am eager to read. Give them a go!

Rivers of London Series

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This is an awesome series that I have been reading that centres on Peter Grant, an officer in the Metropolitan police of London, who after a strange encounter with a ghost, joins a part of the force that deals with the supernatural and becomes the first apprentice wizard of the force in 70 years. Diana Gabaldon claimed this is "what would happen if Harry Potter grew up and joined the Fuzz."
Through the books, he is learning to become a wizard as well as solve crimes and learn about what there is in the supernatural world. It is great British humour.
The books do touch on themes of sex and alcohol and such but don't shy away from letting people read them. They could start some good conversations but the themes aren't so prevalent that they will. If students are already reading series' such as Mortal Instruments or Steven King books, I think these are okay.

11 Birthdays - Wendy Mass

This was a very cute book about friendship and insecurity and adventure. It is Amanda's eleventh birthday and this is the first time she is going to celebrate it without Leo because they have been in a fight for one year. She goes through the motions and doesn't have the greatest time at her party. Once it is over, she is glad and can't wait for the weekend. Then her alarm goes off and it is her birthday again...

This book is definitely targeted towards girls but there might be some boys who could enjoy it. I think it could resonate well with some people because of the struggles Amanda goes through. Her problems are ones that many people could relate to and I think most people go through these feelings at some point in their lives.