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As August arrives in a flurry of rain, we're enjoyed some serious bookish sunshine in the Chicken House offices, with three totally gripping reads ...

Let's start with a bang. Set in 1605, BLACK POWDER is a rip-roaring, beautifully written life-and-death quest, packed with history and adventure - and gunpowder... You'll love how debut author Ally Sherrick brings Jacobean England to life, and how Tom (alongside his plucky pet mouse, Jago) fights to save his father, who faces the gruesome execution of a traitor.

England, 1605. 12-year-old Tom must save his father from hanging. He falls in with a mysterious stranger – the Falcon – who promises to help in exchange for his service. But on the long journey to London, Tom discovers the Falcon's true mission – and a plot to blow up Parliament with barrels of black powder. Tom faces a terrible decision: secure his father's release, or stop the assassination of the king ...

Also publishing in August is the scrumptious winner of the 2015 Times/Chicken House Children's Fiction Competition, THE SECRET COOKING CLUB by Laurel Remington. Perfect for Great British Bake-Off season, Laurel deftly explores themes of friendship and family in her warm and witty tale. And you can almost smell the flapjacks baking…

Twelve-year-old Scarlett is the star – and victim – of her mum's popular blog. The butt of school jokes, she's eager to stay out of the spotlight. But one evening, she finds a gorgeous kitchen in the house next door, left empty by an elderly neighbour in hospital. As Scarlett bakes, she starts to transform her life, discovering new friends and forming the Secret Cooking Club. But can she fix her family, seal her friendships and find the mysterious secret ingredient?

Lastly, we have the gorgeous ROSE IN THE BLITZ. This timely novel commemorates the 75^th anniversary of the end of the Blitz, and transports us to an incredibly vivid wartime London. Rebecca Stevens is the acclaimed author of Branford Boase longlisted VALENTINE JOE, a true master of the timeslip, and had the whole office sobbing at the end of this bittersweet emotional journey…

It’s the night before Rose’s mum re-marries. Rose can’t sleep for worrying and nor can her muddled Great-Aunt Cosy, her namesake. Rose sees the old lady leaving the house and runs after her to the London underground. Their empty train stops in 1940, in a war-torn London broken by the Blitz. Here, Rose witnesses great romance and impending sacrifice. Tragedy will surely follow – unless she can change what happens next …