Goodness Gracious! Where did 2014 go???? A crazy busy Christmas break with some of us working on our final ILS paper (thank god!). Yay for coffee breaks, and recreational reading time!!!
BookTalk this term saw us being hosted at 'Hastings Public Library'. WOW! What an awesome place to be. I for one will definitely be going over to make use of the super space and just absorbing the amazing atmosphere. Thanks to Kristin & Mya for hosting us :-) p.s. the brownies were DEVINE!
Our BookTalk theme was to share what we had been reading over the summer break (well ... break for school librarians anyway).
Favourite Reads
Picture Books:
Press Here / Mix it Up by Herve Tullet
- Interactive books
- Adults & kids really get into them
Fifteen things not to do with a baby by Margaret McAllister
- Humorous
- GREAT READ-ALOUD
Three Little Fish and the Big Bad Shark by Ken Geist
- Re-telling of the 3 Little Pigs story
- Such a cool story!
Open Very Carefully by Nicola O'Byrne
- Interactive book
How to Train a Train by Jason Carter Eaton
- A-MA-ZING read
- Tongue-in-cheek realistic
Children's Fiction:
Pippi Longstockings illustrated by Lauren Child
- Modernised the story without loosing the integrity of the original
Spirit Animals : Tales of the Great Beasts by Brandon Mull & Others
- Stand-alone to the sereis
- How the Great Beasts came to be
- Year 5+
The Book With No Pictures by B.J. Novak
- Great read-aloud
- Check out the YouTube clip of him reading 'The Book With No Pictures' from Penguin Kids
Brotherhood of Thieves Bk1 The Wardens by Stuart Daly
- Fantasy / Thieves / Quest
- Awesome read
- Year 5+
Jessica Cole Model Spy Bk1 Code Red Lipstick by Sarah Sky
- Female James Bond
- Year 6+
Angela Nicely Bk1 by Alan MacDonald
- Author of 'Dirty Bertie' series
- Angela is Bertie's neighbour
- NOT a 'girly' book - despite the pink cover
-- She tries to be good and 'all things nice' but she is a little rascal
- 3 stories in each book. 4 chapters per story
YA Fiction:
The Walled City by Ryan Graudin
- Based on research of the Walled City in Kowloon, Hong Kong Island, before it was destroyed
- Not a historical story though
- Used the research as a guide to write the story, and does include a lot of factual information
- Done really well
When we Wake by Karen Healey
- Author is a Kiwi living in Aussie
- Dystopian
- Cryogenic theme
- Questioning if she is a person or owned by the government
- Environmntal / Climate change / Political issues
- Clever that it is set in Aussie with Imigration issues (it wouldn't have the same impact with an NZ setting)
- While we Run is the sequel, BUT you don't have to read it. It can be a stand-alone read
Pure trilogy by Julianna Baggott
- Very creepy dystopian
- Great read ... BUT very 'black'
- Senior read, not Junior school
Singing Home the Whale by Mandy Hager
- Kiwi Author
- Chapters alternate between the main character and the Orca whale
- Connections - man & beast
Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult
- Elephants
- Very interesting
- Very well written
Cooper Bartholomew is Dead by Rebecca James
- Suicide
- Each person has their own take on what happened
- Shows how different people have parts to play
The Secret Life of Luke Livingston by Charity Norman
- Kiwi Author
- Suicide
- Set in Britain
- Woman in a guys body
-- How do you tell your wife you want to be a woman?
- Deals with family and how well can you ever know someone
- Really good book
- Being officially launched Friday 6th March 2015
The Crossover by Kwame Alexander
- Novel in Verse
- AWESOME read
- Reading poetry without realising you are reading poetry
- Rhythm of a basketball game
- Split into quarters like a basketball game
- Life teachings told through the game of basketball
- Sibling rivalry
- short read - good for reluctant readers
- So well done!
- Good text for NCEA Level 1
- Suitable for Year 7+
Unwind series by Neil Shusterman
- Premise is so creepy and disgusting
- Pro-lifers & Pro-choicers - come to a compromise
- So many layers to the story
- Amazing read
Reality Boy by A.S. King
- Defication (Poo!)
- Dysfunctional families
- As a 5-year-old the family were on a Reality Nanny show
- Very well done
-- Alternates between present day & flash-backs to the show
- Anger issues
- Coming of age
- Good text for NCEA Level 2
The 100 series by Kaas Morgan
- TV series based on the book
- Set in a Space Station which is failing
- Over 18-year-olds (100 of them!) get put on a shuttle back down to Earth
- Post-apocalyptic
- Earth plot-line is very basic
- Flash-backs of main characters
- Suitable for Year 7+
The F- It List by Julie Halpern
- Really good read
- Cancer (friend) / Death (father) themes
- Bucket list
- Better than 'Fault in Your Stars'
- Well written
- ** WARNING ** - Masturbation scene/paragraph in about the 3rd chapter
- Senior read, not Junior school
The Broken Hearted series by Amelia Kahaney
- Distopian
- Scared but Strong female character
- Really good read
- Book trailer is really good (from HarperTeen)
- Suitable read for Year 7+
Evil Librarian by Michelle Knudsen
- Hot Demon Librarian!!!
- Plucky Heroine
- Buffy if Buffy was a normal human
- Friendship / Relationships themes
- Nancy Drewish
The Martian by Andy Weir
- Best book read in ages!
- Humorous
- Main character is lost on Mars, during a Mission to Mars that was aborted
-- Is a Botanist & Engineer
-- Has to last for 4 years until the next mission is sent up
- MacGyver on Mars!!!
- Diary style
- 3 Points-of-view - Main character, Control center, Crew still on ship
- Boys will love it!
- Being made into a movie
- One of the funniest books to read
Adult Fiction:
Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
- X-men meets Hunger Games
- Post-apocalyptic world
- Really well written / Beautifully written
- Very good characterisation
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
- Plot twist
- Get to the end and you want to start it all again as it's not the book you thought!
- Girls!!!
- Set in WWII in France
- WOOOO!!!!! (Lots of hand gesticulation!!!) 5*
Last to Die by Tess Geratsin
- Best book by far of hers
- Set in Africa
- Massacre / Only survivor / Set 7 years in the future
- Awesome read!
Other Tips and Hints
Check out Derek Landy talking about the title of his new book
Steph found it on his blog which he updates regularly with his trademark humour. Thanks Steph :-)
Book Trailers 4 Kids and YA - Desna Wallace, Kiwi Author
Blog for reviews and book trailers
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