It's nearly the end of the year already! Keep a lookout for the Best of 2009 vote-off at a library branch near you, and you can tell us which was the most fantastic book you read this year!

Sunrise, by Erin Hunter.
"When Firestar's grandchildren, Hollyleaf, Lionblaze, and Jayfeather, finally discover who their true parents are, there are dire consequences for ThunderClan and the Warrior Code." (catalogue entry)

Listen to a kids' choice review!

The Pirates' Treasure, by Emily Bearn.
"In the broom cupboard of a Rose Cottage, stands a house fit for a mouse - well, two mice actually. A house made of pebblestone, with gables on the windows and turrets peeking out of the roof. A house with a ballroom, a billiard room, a banqueting room, a butler's room and a drawing room. The house belongs to Mr and Mrs Nutmouse, or Tumtum and Nutmeg as they affectionately call each other. When General Marchmouse unexpectedly joins the Nutmouses on a camping trip things soon begin to go horribly wrong. Before they know it, the mice are whisked downstream on Arthur's toy boat Bluebottle. The General soon spies an island in the distance that he is determined to explore - and fiddlesticks to anyone who disagrees! But once ashore the mice soon find that they are not the only ones to have discovered the island..." (amazon.co.uk)

Listen to a kids' choice review!

Death Diamond, by Dan Jerris.
"Al and his best friend Owen are peering into an old sea trunk in Al's attic when, all of a sudden, they find themselves sitting on a small rocky outcrop in the middle of the ocean. Before they know it, a strange, three-legged cat joins them, seemingly scared out of its wits. And to top it all off, a pirate ship sails in to rescue them! The boys hop aboard The Booty, where they meet Captain Gunner, Mahoot, his cabin boy, and Slicer, the cook. Mahoot tells them that they are sailing the Dragon Blood Islands in search of treasure. Bewildered, Al and Owen realise they must have travelled back in time. Al then comes across a map showing where the infamous Death Diamond is hidden, and Captain Gunner and his crew decide to go in search of it. However, they don't realise they are being followed by the nasty one-eyed Snotty Nell, captain of The Tormenter." (amazon.co.uk)

Listen to a kids' choice review!

The School Story, by Andrew Clements.
"After twelve-year-old Natalie writes a wonderful novel, her friend Zoe helps her devise a scheme to get it accepted at the publishing house where Natalie's mother works as an editor. Natalie uses a pseudonym to write her first book, and her friend, Zoe, pretends to be an agent. With a little help from an English teacher, the book exceeds everyone's expectations and becomes a bestseller!" (catalogue entry)

Listen to a kids' choice review!

Mouse Noses on Toast, by Darren King.
"'I will have the colourful parrot soup,' the lady said, 'with extra beaky bits.' 'And I,' said her husband, 'will have mouse noses on toast.' The waiter flipped open his notebook and wrote this down. 'Would that be with whiskers, Sir, or without?' Hiding on the restaurant table, Paul Mouse's world has just turned upside down. Surely the man is making a joke? Isn't mouse noses on toast just a big myth? Gathering his friends - Sandra the Christmas tree decoration, Rowley Barker Hobbs, the sheepdog, and the Tinby, a kind of monster - Paul becomes determined to find the truth. So begins an adventure involving mouse activists, the prime minister, cheese addicts and a wildly insane Tinby. But what awaits them all at the mouse noses abbatoir...?" (amazon.co.uk)

Listen to a kids' choice review!

See the Kids' Choices for 2009.