(Maintained and edited by Simon Marshall)

Welcome to the Panel (sounds mysterious and Hunger Gamesy, bear with); where young readers are presented with the opportunity to give their opinions on books they’ve read and loved, and share them with the world. Every few months a free book is selected for each member, and their thoughts on it are published here. If you’re below 19 and live nearby, or visit Scarthin Books in Cromford regularly, and are interested in joining, please visit in store and email youngfictionreviewpanel@gmail.com with your details and a review of a book you’ve read recently and you could be amongst the wonderful reviews we have on show. *witty goodbye pun involving books*

Click below to read the Panel’s reviews:

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OUR LATEST REVIEW PUBLISHED 13th November 2019

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The Wizards of Once: Knock Three Times | Cressida Cowell

Reviewed by Kaya Litherland, age 10

Cressida Cowell follows her hugely successful ‘How To Train Your Dragon’ series with amazing characters and even better illustrations.

Knock Three Times has three main characters, all children, called Xar, Wish and Bodkin.
This book is the Iron Age, and Wizards and Warriors just DO NOT MIX. No buts. They completely
hate each other and try and keep to their side of the forest.
However, here, there is some breaking of the rules.
Xar is a Wizard and Wish and Bodkin are Warriors. But Wish is
Magic. And Xar was not. Until, of course, he went and found some
witch blood, and cut his hand with it. Then he had the wrong type of
Magic, a type of Magic that was punishable by being expelled from
the tribe, if the chief is soft, and death if he isn’t.

Now all three of them are on the run. Running from Encanzo, Xar’s father.
Running from Sychorax, Wish’s mother and Bodkin’s employer.
Running from the Witches, who are bad Magic, and would kill Xar
and Bodkin, and steal Wish’s odd Magic-That-Works-on-Iron. Iron is the only thing Magic will not work on and the Witches want it.

I love this series and I would say that any child
who does not read this book, or indeed the whole series, is missing
out on a huge literary enjoyment.

This new series is a world of Magic and a must read for anyone 7-11 years old.