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THE DYNAMITE ROOM by Jason Hewitt Two characters are brought together in the circumstance of war in this compelling and descriptive novel. Lydia has run away from the seemingly safe haven of Wales back to her home in Suffolk because she desperately wants to be with her family. Heiden is a German soldier supposedly awaiting back-up and needing a base. What I loved about this book was the descriptive narrative. You really feel like you are there, shut up in the house with both of them. The temperament of the two characters is excellently conveyed in simple actions. The deserted house is beautifully described; brought to life by the girl’s memories of what was there before – her father’s vegetable patch now dry and unyielding, the wardrobe that held her mother’s clothes lying empty. MORE > JASON HEWITT: INTERVIEW Five questions with debut novelist Jason Hewitt on characterisation and narrative technique in The Dynamite Room.   How long did The Dynamite Room take to write and research? It took me about three and a half years to write. The first nine months of that was research, including trips to Suffolk, Berlin, and also up to the Norwegian town of Narvik, above the Arctic Circle. I was working in the marketing department of a large educational publisher and persuaded them to give me a sabbatical to write the first draft, which I did in three months. It then took another two years of re-crafting and fine-tuning. Writing is certainly not for the impatient. MORE >

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A LOVE LIKE BLOOD by Marcus Sedgwick IN Paris, 1944, Army doctor Charles Jackson sees a man appearing to drink the blood of a young woman. Terrified, he does nothing about it and yet it sets the course of his life to one of secrets, revenge and obsession. Despite the tension, death and other collected unpleasantnesses, A Love Like Blood is engaging and intelligently written. Initially, it seems as though this is going to be another vampire novel but there’s a different spin here and there's actually nothing supernatural going on, despite the fact that Sedgwick was writing excellent vampire books for teenagers well before the Twilight phenomenon. MORE >

AMY & MATTHEW by Cammie McGovern Amy and Matthew are two teenagers who not only have to deal with the usual trials and tribulations of adolescence, but also cerebral palsy (her) and obsessive compulsive disorder (him). Right from the get-go, the reader will fall in love with Amy and her cheerful determination to make friends by hiring schoolfriends to be her helpers. Several students sign up, sometimes just to improve their school credits, but Matthew and Amy soon realise they have a bond which develops into more than a friendship. This is McGovern’s first YA novel but Amy & Matthew will put her among the top ranks of first-class teen writers. MORE >