All the Wrong Questions
Who Could That Be At This Hour? #1 by Lemony Snickett
Who Could That Be At This Hour by Lemony Snickett is the hilarious first instalment of his All The Wrong Questions series. I have always loved a good mystery, and this one will keep you on your toes, as well as improve your vocabulary.
Not only is it full of action, it has lots of unusual, irritating, and interesting people and a unique setting, it has many references to other books (the titles are not mentioned, so it is fun to figure out which ones they are), and the longer words are defined which is great for kids who already don’t know what the words are. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens next.
Professor Gargoyle: Tales From Lovecraft Middle School #1
By Charles Gilman; illustrated by Eugene Smith
Quirk has done it again! I loved, loved, loved this book! Here we have the perfect blend of strange, creepy and horrific (which I am sure H.P. would have given his two thumbs up for). Not only will the front cover draw kids in but the story will hold them…this is the kind of stuff that kids should (in my opinion) just lap up. The black and white illustrations throughout were superb, giving the story that extra little oomph. I can’t wait to read what’s next, and I really can’t wait to get this book on to the library shelf!
Phineas L. MacGuire Erupts!
By Frances O’Roark Dowell
An all around feel good book, written with a sense of humour and an enthusiasm for science. I liked the message this book gave about friendship and gender roles. The experiments in the back of the book will also be a lot of fun and be easy to do.
The Key to Rondo by Emily Rodda
This one has been sitting in my school basket for quite some time, and I had been putting it off because it was obviously a fantasy story and I was just off the genre all last year. This year is different, and I actually really enjoyed this story. There were lots of references to fairy tales, nursery rhymes etc., which were pretty funny eg. “Polly ran off to put the kettle on”, I got a good chuckle out of that one.
Naomi’s Road by Joy Kogawa
A troupe performed this opera at my school last fall and it has taken me all this time to pull out the book, and then listen to the opera (the group very kindly left two copies of the opera for class discussion). I personally think that this is a topic that isn’t discussed as much as it should be when November comes around and there is some attention paid to Remembrance Day.
I want to seek out Kogawa’s other novels and her adult story of ‘Obasan’ of which ‘Naomi’s Road’ is based on.
The New Normal by Ashley Little
This book did not turn out to be what I had expected: an issue book! Instead the main protagonist Tamar is engrossing, interesting and funny. I had in the recent past just talked to someone who had become a widow about how she should not be seeking to get her old life back, but how instead she should be building a new life around what her circumstances really are now that she has to live without her husband, and in this book you get to see Tamar do just that, learn to live her “new normal” life. This is a definite ‘must read’ for teens.
No comments:
Post a Comment