Cameron Battle and the Hidden Kingdoms
Jamar J. Perry
Bloomsbury Children’s Books

Drawing on West African and Igbo culture and mythology the author has created a powerful, multi-layered fantasy quest.

Twelve year old Cameron is of Igbo descent and having lost his parents two years earlier, is living with his grandmother in Atlanta. From time to time he has strange experiences but puts them down to his prolific imagination. Cameron is forbidden to enter the attic wherein is kept The Book of Chidani, a family heirloom which he’s been told not to touch.

At the start of the summer holidays, he and his two best friends Aliyah and Zion are having a sleepover. Drawn by the book, Cameron’s last connection to his parents, they sneak into the attic to read it and in so doing, open the portal to the kingdom of Chidani.

There he learns that he’s now the Chidani people’s Descendant and is tasked with saving the country from a power grab by the Queen’s sister Amina. That means he, with the help of his friends has to retrieve three stolen magical artefacts while at the same time face monsters, gods, and their personal fears. They have just three moons in which to do it: will they find all three in that time?

A gripping adventure of loss and love, courage and perseverance.

Escape Room
Christopher Edge
Nosy Crow

Christopher Edge’s story sucks you in right away. Full of twists and turns, it’s a fast-paced adventure, a mystery and a game all in one and will have special appeal to fans of computer games.

The narrator is twelve year old Ami, who is given a ticket to an escape room as a birthday gift from her dad. On arrival she’s expecting to participate in a game but having checked in, met her fellow players – Adjoa, Ibrahim, Oscar and Min – Ami learns from the Host that they have been chosen to save the world and they must work together to find the Answer.

However, when he locks them inside the first room, they quickly realise this is no ordinary game. It’s essential that this disparate group learn to work together, drawing on individual’s strengths in order to solve all the problems they confront in the various chambers they enter. There’s a chess computer to beat, a vast dusty library, a Mayan tomb, a shopping mall that’s deserted save for extinct animals, as well as the commando module of a spaceship bound for Mars. Is there no end to the dangers?

Time is running out: Ami just needs to find the Answer …

There’s a brilliant final twist to this hugely thought-provoking, topical tale and it’s one that lingers long after you’ve put the book down. Just superb.