Tomorrow, When the War Began by John Marsden

Sorry for the double post today!
Tomorrow, When the War Began has sat on my shelf for a good year now and I never quite got around to it. This week I saw Darren from Bart's Bookshelf and Vivienne from Serendipity both mention the book along with a post about it on bookcrossing so I thought I'd grab it and see what it was like.
The novel starts off very 'teeny' to the point where I almost gave up - a bunch of teenagers go off on a camping trip, all fairly young, mixed gender, driving illegally and off to somewhere dangerous, as you do! A few days in they spot a large number of planes flying over head, make a few jokes about war and then forget it.
When they return home to dicover what has happened my interest rose, the book started to feel dystopian and more exciting. They return to find the streets of their homes abandoned, animals (they are farmers) left to die and all the powercut. The only one source of light in the town is the park ground which is heavily guarded by armed soldiers. From then on its a battle to survive.
I really enjoyed the pace of this (after the first 20 pages), the construction of the town,the dystopian feel and also the knowledge that there is more to come and they are all in print so I don't have to wait. My criticism would be the love triangle - can someone write a YA book without a love triangle and the ending, which certainly relies on you reading the next book as there is so much left to happen.
I'll definitely get the next one, although randomly my library only has books 1,3 and 4! so I'll be waiting for my next amazon order.

Two Quick Reviews

After my reading drought I seem to be suddenly racing through books, having finished two since Sunday evening - and its not even the holidays!

Miles from Nowhere by Nami Mun is a book which has sat on the tbr pile for a good year and a half, I was sent it from a Korean bookcrosser along with Korean sweets and socks back at christmas 2009.
The novel is based on the life of a young Korean street girl who has abandoned her abusive father and destructive mother for a life of uncertainty, poverty and danger on the streets of New York.
With a fast paced style, a young voice and a cast of teenage street kids this reads like a YA novel. The friendships with Knowledge, a non-using drus dealer, Benny; the boyfriend who takes everything he can get and Tati the dramatic friend we meet a whole host of characters showing the various ways an abusive/unloved childhood can shape a persons view. A novel I'd recommend to those who like the YA style and are looking for a break from vampires for a while.


Pereira Maintains by Javier Cercas was another quick read but completely different to the one above. Set in 1930's Portugal, Pereira has escaped from political reporting to the cultural page of a small less read newspaper. Despite being a journalist we quickly see that his head is buried in the sand, and the political disruption and upset of Portugal passes him by, whilst his head is stuck in books and art.
Despite his attempts to keep out of the way of the censors, corrupt police and political underground he manages to step on peoples toes through his choice of literature, his friendship with a young radical journalist and his meetings with frinds.
This book was a really easy read which I enjoyed, however I think it would have had much more impact had I known any thing about Portugese history. It was nice to read a 1001 book which I enjoyed after my recent run of poor choices.

Trash by Andy Mulligan

I got sent this book as my first read for UK BookTours a site which allows those in the UK to read YA ARCs.

THE STORY: Set in a slum the children and adults on the site make a poor living sifting through moutains of rubbish in search of plastic to feed themselves, and the hope of finding some new clothes. Each has a dream of one day discovering treasure which will save them from this life of misery. One day Rapheal does. Yet the discovery doesn't lead him down the yellow brick road but rather leads to a chase to discovery against the will of the police.

MY THOUGHTS: I would aim this book at children aged 10-12 and think for them this would be great, its like a modern day Famous Five but without the glitz and sugar coating. The book opens us up to a world we rarely see. I enjoyed the read, their journey and the mystery of what was going on. You have to accept that these boys are some how educated and pretty quick witted despite their lack of education and knowledge of the world.

TSS: Green Angel by Alice Hoffman

I've been hibernating and generally wasting the day today - damn my lack of motivation! However I did manage to read this wonderful novella. Way back Darren from Bart's Bookshelf reviewed this book and straight away I reserved it in the library, and it finally came in!

The novella starts:

I once believed that life was a gift. I thought whatever I wanted I would someday possess. Is that greed, or only youth? Is it hope or stupidity?

What a beautiful way to start the story. Green is a timid teenager living with her family at the edge of the wood. She is left one day when they go off to the city and never come back after a big fire - we are told very little of this fire, the few bits we do get sound a little like 9/11 but the setting and time is wrong.
Left along with her grief Green stops caring about her looks, shrouds herself with thorns and nails and black tattoos to cover herself.

I can't tell you much more without ruining the story except you should go read this book. The language and imagery is beautiful with a fairytale feel. The book is marketed as YA, but I would say its for anyone who appreciates beautiful language.
I wanted to buy a copy for my sisters birthday but can only find second hand copies available, although I may buy one anyway and explain why. There is a follow up to this novella which was released this year and its already been added to my wishlit.

More than just a wonderful story the presentation is gorgeous, as well as the gorgeous cover abover, the chapter openings are a gorgeous shade of moss green and illustrated. Page breaks have three teeny delicate leaves.

Even the publishing details are laid out like a stem.

Exodus by Julie Bertagna

Day one of the holidays and book one down! I'm trying to finish all my library books before the TBR Dare starts. England is bitterly cold and once more covered in beautiful white snow which fell very quickly - bot sure my brother would agree though is he is stuck in his car on the way home from shopping, typical England!
Back to the book...

Once upon a time there was a world...
... a world full of miracles. From the whirl of the tiniest particles to its spinning orbit in the unthinkable vastness of space, this world danced with miraculous life. Ur, the first people called their beautiful world, and the sound of that early name would carry down all the years, until aeons of time and tongues ripened Ur into Earth.
The people feasted upon their ripe world. Endlessly they harvested its lands and seas. They grew greedy, ravaging the planets bounty of miracles. Their waste and destruction spread like a plague until a day came when this plague struck at the very heart of the miraculous dance. And the people saw too late, their savage desolation of the world.

As you can see above this novel starts off full of beautiful language and images, well crafted, but also a warning to us all. Exodus is a novel about Mara a young girl who lives on the island of Wing. As the polar ice caps have slowly melted the world has been taken over by the sea. Unsure whether they are the last island on earth the inhabitants of Wing battle for survival against the elements.
Playing a computer game Mara meets an unexpected person amongst the ghosts on the internet and discovers that a New World exists, a city built above the sea, anchored to fend off the elements.
Mara convinces the inhabitants of her island to set off in search of this new land, in search of a new life.

This book started off really well for me, but then 10 pages in I nearly gave up when the computer game suddenly appeared. Luckily it lasted only a few pages and the novel was back on track, although it still took a good 50 pages for it to grab my interest again. I'm glad I continued as I loved some of the characters and the various communities that we meet in this novel.
I thought that the book may be preachy, but the message was far more about fighting for change in the new world, rather than the faults of the past. If you enjoyed The Pretties, The Knife of Never Letting Go (and who couldn't, that was an amazing trilogy) and The Giver this is a novel you should definitely check out.
I saw this novel in an In My Mailbox post over at Fluttering Butterfly, and I'm glad that I noted it down and checked it out of the library.

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Being cooped up all day and feeling a bit restless I knew that if I was going to read it needed to be something light, and immediate. No lingering descriptions, social comments etc, so a YA book it was.
Shiver was sent to me last year by a fellow bookcrosser, I'd been looking out for the book at the time, but then I read lots of mixed reviews and its position on the tbr pile lowered. I'm glad that I finally got around to it.
Shiver, in the same vain as Twilight, has an ordinary, if slightly (apparently) shy and isolated teenage girl as a lead character, and a mythical (in this case a werewolf) love interest. As in Twilight the boyfriend should be a killer, a threat to the humans, yet he hates harm to humans and killing anything bigger than a rabbit distresses him. The couple have had a fascination with each other for years as the girl watches the wolf who once saved her from an attack, then they finally meet and their lives become entangled.
Yes, the story has that same intense teenage love to it that Twilight has, it has its sequels and you can kind of guess the outcome of the end of the novel way ahead of time, but it hit the right spots. The alternating narration, the inclusion of beautiful poetry by Rilke and the gorgeous coverwork all work in its favour, as does a plotline than moves along at a nice pace.
I will seek out the next book in the series, although not for a while yet. Was good to read some YA fiction, its been a while.

My Thoughts: Flight by Sherman Alexie

Sorry for the doouble post today, I won't be around tomorrow and already know what I want to write about Saturday and Sunday.

Last year I listened to The Absolutely True Story of a Part-Time Indian and loved it, I've seen lots of people on the blogosphere reading Alexie recently which reminded me that I had meant to check out more of his stuff. So off I went to the library catelogue and managed to grab an audiobook and a collection of short stories (hopefully I'll get to read those next week).
Flight was a great audiobook, as it was only 4 hours long so could be listened to easily in the space of a week. The story of Flight is so different from anything I've read before. Zits is an orphaned part-Indian-part-Irish teenager. Since his father aandoned him at birth and his mother died of breast cancer he has been in and out of foster homes and sheltered accomodation. Having been abused, neglected and ignored he gives up on life never giving any home he is placed in a chance. An alchoholic and drug taker at just 15 years old he is in constant trouble with the police.
It is at the point of an arrest that his life changes. Meeting Justice, a fellow teen, in a police cell Zits finally feels that he has a friend and belongs somewhere. Justice, clever with words and packed full of knowledge, convinces him to hold up a bank. As Zits walks into the bank and holds up the gun he suddenly spins out of this world, he time travels through various points in the past changing his view of himself and others.
This was a great YA read, a search for identity and a home, but it is filled with bad (and I mean bad) language which makes me wonder what age it would be aimed at. In one sense I could see my 13 year olds at school reading it, but then I'm not sure how many parents would approve of the language. Saying that many of them listen to rap and watch 18 movies so maybe I'm just showing y teacherly side :)

My Thoughts: Ash by Malinda Lo

My final review of my 24 hour read-a-thon. Ash was the final read of the read-a-thon and it was perfect for this, as it was fast paced, a light read and had a nice clear big text.

Ash is a retelling of the Cinderella story, with a fairy twist. The novel starts with Ash at the burial of her mother: a lover of fairy tales, a follower of mythical beings and rituals. Living here she is surrounded by people with mythical beliefs, rituals and spells, yet she is quickly moved away from this world when her sceptical father marries a new woman.
As with the fairytale, as soon as her father dies Ash becomes the servant of the family. She escapes one night finding a magical path which leads her to her mothers grave, she begs a magical man to take her to her mother, he refuses and takes her back home. Night after night she escapes into the coutryside around her meeting other mythical creatures but always returning home to a life of drudgery.
The twist in the fairytale comes when Ash meets the Kings hunter, a fiesty woman who steals her days to teach her how to ride and hunt. The story then follows the normal lines of the fairytale but with a deviation from the traditional ending.

I love the English cover shown above, but think the US cover is absolutely gorgeous (below).

My Thoughts: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I've been reading about this book for ages in the blogging world, and finally got aroung to reading it during the 24 hour read-a-thon (I came across 4 other bloggers reading this for the read-a-thon as well).

The Hunger Games is set in a dystopian world consisting of 13 states, a long time in the past the states all went to war and misery and destruction fled through the area. The states all now exist seperately, each one varying in wealth, living conditions and the field of work. Once a year the states are joined when the Hunger Games start. The Hunger Games selects 2 teenagers from each state to battle it out - till only one is left alive - for glory. In the richer states the teenagers are trained and glamourised in their pursuit of being in the Games, whereas in the poorer areas being selected for the Games is seen as a path to death.

Our heroine is of course from the poorer regions, so we're fighting for the under-dog, something us English love. She, and her male partner should fight against each other, after all only one can survive, but as with any novel of this type their lives are entwined.

The ending shone out to me as soon as the selections for the Games had been completed, but like many books and films it is the getting to the end that is the exciting bit. I enjoyed this book a lot, the pace was good, the characters interesting and the Games kept throwing in the unexpected. It wasn't brilliantly written, but like Twilight great writing wasn't what was needed as the plot took over. I've reserved the next book in the triology from the library as I'm only allowed to buy one book between now and my Cambodian trip (Monster's of Men by Patrick Ness). I'm going to have to start taking the book buying ban seriously as I not only have the whole holiday to Cambodia and Vietnam to pay for but also spending money for school trips to New York and China early next year, plus whatever next years 5 week holiday is (poss Australia or Sri Lanka).

My Thoughts: Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

Over the summer Hush, Hush seemed to feature on a stack of book blogs but then everything seemed to go quiet. When this arrived through the post I wasn't sure if I was in the mood for YA fiction and it has taken me weeks to pick this up. But the gorgeous cover kept staring at me and I had to give it a go.
Nora Gray is a typical American high school student (for a book that is), she has just one parent who is rarely home and seems to have the run of a car, enough money to go for dinner and shopping all the time and a best friend to who she shares everything with (including clothes, despite one apparently being very curvy and the other very thin - yes this novel has a lot of holes in it!).
When she is suddenly assigned to her new lab partner Patch, the new boy in school who seems to know rather too much about her life, she is nervous and yet attracted to his mysterious side. Suddenly things in her life quickly change, she runs someone down, crashes from the top of a rollercoaster and has her house trashed, yet when she comes around each time every evidence of what has happened is completely wiped away. When another new guy, Elliot, arrives in school he soon develops a possessive crush on her and her best friend starts dating his sulky mate; Nora suddenly has two guys who may be the person causing her frights, or who may be the one to save her.
The story develops in a Twilight style, many unbelievable things happen, but school and family life carry on as normal. Like Twilight the pace is good and the slow revelation of what Patch really is mirrors Bella's reaction to Edward. But the attraction, the fear and the recognition of a teenage girls desire for the dangerous just doesn't quite feel right here.
The book was a good read if you're looking for a few hours of escapism, but don't look to hard into it as it needs a really good edit, and is lusting to recreate Meyer's following but clearly falling several feet short.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

Today was the first time I picked up a book since Sunday! I don't think that has ever happened before. Our school was told early Monday morning Ofsted (evil school inspectors) were coming to visit for 2 days. I planned, marked, prepared and pretty much lost my brain in the last few days, and I ended up only being watched once! Thankfully that is now over, and also my class got there exam results today and everyone did well, so now I get to rest for a few days.

As soon as I was home I curled up with The Forest of Hands and Teeth, which I had started on Sunday. And I've polished it off this evening. When this first came out I quickly dismissed it when I saw the word zombie attached to it, luckily I came to my senses and waited in the library reservation list (40 odd people before me) for it.

The book is set is a small enclosed village, run by the Sisterhood. Beyond the fence lie the Unconsecrated, zombies waiting to attack. The village practice drills, teach cildren how to kill, and teach you to think of number one. As with all utopian worlds life is supposedly perfect, yet below the surface danger and secrets lie.

Mary has been brought up with her mother's stories, stories of the ocean, of tall buildings, of a world that exists beyond the forest. She longs to escape. Orphaned and abandoned by her mother she is taken into the Sisterhood, a place which soon confirms that there are secrets and knowledge which are hidden by the villagers, and that it is those who are supposed to protect who are actually deciving the village. When she is forced into marriage her world seems to be falling apart but she has seen nothing yet. She is soon fighting for her existance.

The novel, although far from original in its storyline - deceptive authority, a world beyond the castle walls, kept me engaged and entertained. If you want something simple a bit of a break from literature this one could be a good book to get lost in.

The picture above is of the American cover as I have a huge issue with the English cover which replicates the style of the Twilight books.

The Ask and the Answer

After finishing The Knife of Never Letting Go I tried borrowing the next book from 2 different libraries with no success (reservation lists as long as my arm), so I gave in and brought both books from Amazon, so now they can live side-by-side waiting for their final sibling.
*This contain SPOILERS if you haven't read the first book*
The Ask and the Answer continues the story of Todd and Viola in the newly formed town New Prentiss Town. Yet all is not as it seems, a dictorial city is soon created. The men and women are soon seperated, armies formed and Todd and Viola's fight for survival and the good of man kind continues. I really can't say much more without giving away too much.

I loved the way that the chapters alternate between the two central characters in this book, allowing us to see each ones misgivings and assumpions. With this one I didn't feel the desperate need to continue reading to finish it all in one go, I think mainly as the pace was slower. Slower, but not neccessarily a bad thing. In the first book they were on the run, discvering things that they had never even considered before. I felt the slower pace in this one reflected their thinking, their knowledge that they had to suspect everyone, and their growing up.

A fantastic read, and now I can't wait for the next one. I have The Hunger Games and Shiver newly arrived from Amazon and I'm hoping that, like this one, they live up to the hype.

Read for Barts Bookshelf's YA Dystopian Challenge

Sunday Salon: A book and a challenge.

England is back to windiness and rain - typical as I need to get out and buy some food! The Ask and The Answer arrived yesterday and so far I have left the package undone, it is going to be my reward this evening for spending this afternoon marking.


This morning I quickly finished the last few pages of Pretties by Scott Westerfeld, the sequel to Uglies which I reviewed here. This book starts with Tally a Pretty living the Pretty life. Hangovers, parties and a wide choice of clothes. Her friends are part of a group called the Crims who get up to adventures and misdeeds. Tally is eventually made aware of her pledge to test out a drug counteracting the brain lesions which are secretly inserted into people at 16 to make them compliant. She then spends the rest of the novel trying to get herself and her friends out of Pretty Town and on the run to the Old Smoke.
I enjoyed the first book in the series, but didn't like this one anywhere near as much. When Tally was a Pretty the book became very teenish (I so made up that word). And I kept thinking this will disappear, but it kind of stuck with the novel. I didn't feel that this one explored ideas of our lives and our preconceptions anywhere near as much as the first. I will however go onto read the third book Specials just so I have completed the trilogy.

Read for Barts YA Dystopian Reading Challenge.


The Twenty Ten Challenge hosted by the great Bart. This is me signing up for my fourth challenge for 2010 (I'm limiting myself to no more than 6 challenges at a time), luckily this one shouldn't be too hard to complete. To make it a bit more of a challenge I'm going to say that each book has to be by a foreign writer - hopefully helping me work on my Olympic Challenge.
Bart wants us to read 2 books for each of the following categories:

Young Adult
Any book classified as young adult or featuring a teenage protagonist counts for this category.
T.B.R. **
Intended to help reduce the old T.B.R. pile. Books for this category must be already residents of your bookshelves as of 1/11/09.
Shiny & New
Bought a book NEW during 2010 from a bookstore, online, or a supermarket? Then it counts for this category. Second-hand books do not count for this one, but, for those on book-buying bans, books bought for you as gifts or won in a giveaway also count!
Bad Blogger’s ***
Books in this category, should be ones you’ve picked up purely on the recommendation of another blogger count for this category (any reviews you post should also link to the post that convinced you give the book ago).
*** Bad Bloggers: Is hosted by Chris of Stuff as Dreams are Made on.
Charity
Support your local charity shops with this category, by picking up books from one of their shops. Again, for those on book-buying bans, books bought for you as gifts also count, as long as they were bought from a charity shop.
New in 2010
This category is for those books newly published in 2010 (whether it be the first time it is has been released, or you had to wait for it to be published in your country, it counts for this one!)
Older Than You
Read two books that were published before you were born, whether that be the day before or 100 years prior!
Win! Win!
Have a couple of books you need to read for another challenge? Then this is the category to use, as long that is, you don’t break the rules of the other challenge by doing so!
Who Are You Again?
This one isn’t just for authors you’ve never read before, this is for those authors you have never even heard of before!
Up to You!
The requirements for this category are up to you! Want to challenge yourself to read some graphic novels? A genre outside your comfort zone? Something completely wild and wacky? Then this is the category to you. The only requirement is that you state it in your sign-up post.

Young Adult
T.B.R. ** Slumdog Millionaire & The White Tiger
Shiny & New
Bad Blogger’s *** After the Dance, Edwidge Danticat
Charity
New in 2010
Older Than You
Win! Win!
Who Are You Again? Funny Boy, Shyam Selvadurai
Up to You! (Anthropological Non-Fiction) Sorrow Mountain by Ani Prachen

My Thoughts: Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

After whinging about having readers block I then went and read all afternoon and a lot of the evening, it was still a bit of a struggle, I kept getting figgity but I managed to read for a decent length of time. Luckily I had the rilliant Scott Westerfeld to get me through.

Near about everyone in blogland seems to have read these - although they seem pretty unheard of on English book blogging sites.
Ugles is the first book in a quartet based in a country where between the ages of 12 to 16 you become an Ugly. You leave segregated away from your parents along with all the other uglies. Everyone is normal looking, they have unsymmetrical faces, spots, greasy hair, they may be slightly to fat or a bit to thin. They all look different and therefore are deemed Ugly.
They dream of being 16 of becoming a Pretty from the day of their 16th birthday when they will be whisked off for plastic surgery to make them look perfect. In New Pretty land not only does everyone have large sensual lips and big doe eyes, but they are allowed to party all night and day until they become middle pretties and have jobs and kids and stuff.
Tally can't wait for her chance to be 16, until she meets and befriends Shay, a girl who reveals to her that not everyone wants to be a Pretty and in fact some go off and live in a hidden city over where the Rusties (us) used to live, before we screwed up the world. I was shocked at her decision at the ending, looking forward to seeing where things go next.

A great teen read, good for adults to read as well. I'm looking forward to Pretties, the next book in the series which I have siting on my desk, its fast looking like it is going to be read for the read-a-thon this weekend.

Challenges:
Barts YA Dystopian Chalenge
The Scott Westerfeld Mini Challenge.

My Thoughts: Secret Hour (Midnighters Series) by Scott Westerfeld

October 9th and I finished my first RIP III book, I'm so behind everyone else on this challenge. In my defense up until this week the weather here was summery and didn't feel autumnal, now in true English style it has rained and been grey and horrid every day, we haven't had a good crip autumn day yet.

The Secret Hour is my first Scott Westerfeld book, and I can't wait to read some more. I already have Uglies and Pretties from the library and Touching Darkness is reserved for me.
The Secret Hour is the first book in the Midnighters Series. The book is set in a tiny town in Oklahoma. Jessica Day is the new girl from the big city, the girl everyone wants to make friends wih because she is 'fresh meat' in a school whee everyone has known each other forever.

Jessica wakes up one night at midnight, her room is filled with an intense blue light, the moon filling the sky. What had awoken her was the sudden silence after a night of rainfall. She steps outside into a froxzen world, the raindrops just hang suspended in the air, as she walks through them those she touch fall to the ground. It sounds beautiful.

Her second night out in the midnight hour isn't quite as serene. Woken by a cat at the window he leads her outside and down the street where he quickly transforms into a panther out to attack her. On the run, Jess clambers up a metal wired fence, as the panther hits the wire it burns.

After this experience Jessica quickly finds out a few members of her school are also Midnighters, Rex, the Seer; Melanie, who can read thoughts; Dess the mathmatical genius (the number 13 and its multiples are lucky) and Jonathan who has the ability to fly during the midnight hour.

Now they just have to figure out what Jess' special charm is and why all the creepy beasts which live in the midnight hour are out to get her.

Others thoughts:
Parajunkee
Bart
If I missed your review of this book leave a URL in the comments section and I'll add it into the body of the text.

I love the idea of walking through a frozen rain, or finding a frozen thunder bolt or falling star. What would you do if you woke up in the frozen midnight hour?

My Thoughts: New Moon by Stephanie Meyer

I know... I'm way behind everyone else...

I read Twilight last year and loved it, going out and buying the next books all at once, but they kept getting put to the bottom of the pile as other books were bookrings, due back to the library or had to be read for challenges. I was in a bit of a reading slump this week so I grabbed New Moon as I knew the pace would pull me out.
In the second book, Bella is still madly in love with the Vegtarian Vampire Edward, but he forces him to leave her knowing his very existence was putting her in danger. Thinking he no longer loved her, she barely lives unable to pull herslf out of a deep depression.
Until, that is she starts hanging around with Jacob. With him she can laugh and almost be herself again. She also realises that putting herself in danger makes her feel alive again - alive because it brings back Edwards voice.
As with any good vampire story, a chase begins and there is blood and gore, but it's pretty tame in this one.

As with the first book I was immediately immersed in Bella's world. The dreamy language and the horrific pain of first love and loss clawed me in.
I will get to the next book in the next few weeks as I'd love to finish the series before I go back to school.

Challenges
2009 YA Book Challenge
Chunkster Challenge

Other YA reads worth checking out:
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
Beauty by Robin McKinley
What I Was by Meg Rosoff

My Thoughts: Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

I finished listening to this audiobook late last night, the book is read by Mandy Siegfried who has the most fantstic voice I could listen to her reading the back of a cereal packet.
Speak is a YA novel, the main character is struggling in her new school as her old friends have all abandoned her. It is rumoured that she called the cops to a teenage party, noone knows the real reason she picked up the phone and dial 911.
At the new school she is largely abandoned, her grades fall and she starts playing traunt. She also falls out with her parents as they cannot understand the change that has come over their daughter.
Read it! Or better yet listen to it.

Challenges:
YA 2009

The Sunday Salon: Bog Child by Siobhan Dowd

One more week of school left before the holidays start - lets hope that this week my patience goes back up to its normal high level, the kids were made last week, swine flu arrived in school and the teachers were all on a short fuse.
This week I have to be observed teaching my weakest class, last week they became unbearable - they scwabble, answer back and cry at the slightest thing. I've also taught them all of the curriculum so have no idea what I will be teaching them in 13hours! Wednesday I'm off to a theme park with 300+ kids lets hope the weather improves!

I had a lazy afternoon finishing Siobhan Dowd's Bog Child, a book I was asked to read as the resisdent YA/Childrens book reader in the department - we're looking for new books to teach, I made my recommendations and then was given this to consider.
The Republic of Ireland is at a pinnacle moment in its history, bombs are going of and the political prisioners are on a hunger strike.
18 year old Fergus' brother is in prison on political charges, his mum is praying for his release and his safety, his Dad is busy drinking the town on the edge of the border is in turmoil as more and more of its young men are caught up in the troubles. Fergus has a lot going on, he is in the middle of his A Level exams and then while digging illegally on the other side of the border he discovers the Bog Child, Mel. Her body has been preserved by the marshy ground. Cora and her mother tun up to determine Mel's origins and the cause of her death and love errupts for Fergus.
I loved this novel, there does seem to be way too much going on in this boys life though, I'm not sure how he managess to stay sane. Alongside the story of Fergus Mel's voice creeps through into his sub-conscious and we discover more and more about her life.
This book just like Dowd's A Swift Pure Cry is well worth a read for both adults and teenagers.

Challenges:
YA 2009
Orbis Terrarum
999 (New Fiction)

My Thoughts: The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera

After saying yesterday that my reading had slowed down I polished of The Whale Rider in an hour last night. This kids book focuses on Maori New Zealanders, living between the traditions of their cultures and the fast paced world around them.
Kahu came into the world a girl, a fact that greatly disappointed her grandfather, he desired a male grandchild to keep the Maori language and beliefs alive with the new generations. Kahu, desperate for her grandfather's attention sneaks into the lessons he gives deliving cultural knowledge and langauge to the local boys. Despite being always under his feet her grandfather doesn't see the power Kahu inside her until fate intervenes and she is forced to act.
A great read for kids, made me want to learn more about the Maori culture
Challenges:
A-Z (Author)
999 (YA)
Young Adults 2009
Orbis Terrarum

The Sunday Salon: The Absolutely True Diaries of a Part-Time Indian by Alexie Sherman

If you haven't read it grab a copy! Or even better download the audio version!

This YA novel deals with some pretty tough issues: death, racism, alcoholism and even masturbation. You shouldn't let you put you off.
The narrator grows up with a dysfunctional family on an Indian Reservation, despite having brain damage as a child he is determined not to follow the same path as his parents so he travels 25 miles a day (often having to hitch-hike) to attend a better funded state school. His life is cmplicated by his race, what others see as the 'abandonment' of the 'rez and all the normal teenage boy/girl stuff.

The audio book is read by the author and is fantastically done, I was hooked immediately and loved every minute of it. Apparently the novel is has loads of cool pictures so I'll have to grab a copy to look at at some point.
I'll be searching out more of his books in the future.

Challenges:
YA 2009
999
My Year of reading dangerously (banned in Oregan)