Dustbin cat. By Ingrid Lee

Reviewed by Sebastian Westwood, 9

Money is tight in Billy’s family and his parents aren’t exactly animal lovers. So when Billy finds a famished, injured stray cat, the only way to keep her safe is for him to hide her in the sandbox used to grit the streets in wintertime. Keeping his cat secret takes its toll on Billy and things look set to become worse…

I really enjoyed this book because of the realistic descriptions of Billy’s feelings and its strong message about the importance of caring for animals. It’s difficult not to feel sympathetic and even after finishing this book I was thinking about him and his cat, Conga. I think all children over the age of eight should read this book!

TimeRiders: Day of the Predator. By Alex Scarrow

Reviewed by Timothy Wood, 16

This is the utterly exciting and thrilling sequel to the original TimeRiders book. With scarcely time to recover from their first adventures, Liam, the travelling teenager, hears about a major problem occurring in the future and he gathers a new support unit to sort it out. Not all goes to plan though: instead of heading to the future, they are sent 65 million years into the past. Oops! This is probably something they’ll regret, as the fast-paced action sees them come face-to-face with a hitherto unknown predator from pre-history. Your imagination will run wild, as mine did, in what is one of the best books I’ve ever read – and I’ve read lots!