Twelve year old Nick lives for soccer. Along with his best friend Coby, there's few moves he doesn't know on the pitch. Off the pitch, now that's a different story. His father's a wordsmith and makes Nick learn new, uncommon words on a regular basis. His mum's a horse fanatic that's tempted by a job in another state. As troubles at home mount, Nick finds the pressure of success and humiliation by bullies a little too much. Guided by a rapper turned librarian named Mac, Nick tries his best to figure life out before he gets swallowed up by it. Written in verse, Booked is a follow up to Alexander's award winning novel The Crossover, also written in verse. I really loved this story and can't wait to get it into the hands of the students at the school I work at. Nick's story could be any of the students' that I speak to on a daily basis and I know they'll connect with it on a deep level. I recommend Booked to ages 10 and up!
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, Prince Alfie can't complain, but sometimes he still does. As the son of a king, he's got everything at his fingertips. The problem is he can't escape the title of Prince - there's paparazzi, bullies and his ever present and overly protective bodyguard, Brian. Then, without warning, Alife is made king. At fourteen, he doesn't think he's ready. When he finds out that being king is actually turning into a superhero clad in magic armour that rides an equally magic flying horse and has to do battle with the ancient and evil Black Dragon, he knows he's not ready. With the help of his brother Richard and his friend Hayley, Alfie might survive his battle against evil. Let's put the emphasis on might. Defender of the Realm is a fast paced action romp with lots of laughs and sharp dialogue. It's brimming with English historical nuggets that are snuck in effortlessly so students won't realising their learning as they devour this fun read. Even better, it's got a few great twists that will keep you guessing to the very last page, literally! I can't keep the copies of this book on the shelves long enough, I recommend it to Ages 10 and up! George knows she's a girl. An elementary student, she was born a boy but can feel every fibre in her being that she was meant to be a girl. Nobody knows this, not her mother, her brother or her best friend Kelly. Then the school announces that they're going to be auditioning students for Charlotte's Web. George knows that if she can get the part of Charlotte, the kind spider, people will finally see her for who she really is. Before that can happen, though, she has to contend with bullies, her mum and a school administration that doesn't appear overly sympathetic. This is a short but powerful read about standing up for who you are. It's also about the power of friendship and understanding. George is a tenacious character that will stick with you for a long time. Fans of Wonder will really love this! I recommend George to Years 7 and up! When I was a kid, my favourite movie was The Goonies. I would shove our well-worn VHS copy of it into the giant Panasonic player and my friends and I would pretend we were those kids, faced with insurmountable odds, solving riddles, getting into trouble, doing something fun. Click Here to Start brought up all those great memories for me as I read it in one sitting over the weekend. Twelve year-old Ted loves video games, particularly the "escape the room" genre. He spends way too many hours of a hot L.A. summer sitting on his laptop cracking codes, solving riddles and beating the games, sans-walkthrough. Then Ted gets news that his great uncle has passed away. In addition, he's left Ted everything in his apartment along with a cryptic message that there's treasure to be found. At first, Ted thinks that his great uncle just left behind a lot of junk. That's until he realises that the apartment is actually a riddle unto itself, a real life escape the room game. Together, with his friends Caleb & Isabel, Ted must solve the riddle before the treasure gets into the wrong hands. Jam-packed with pop culture, literary and historical references, Click Here to Start is quickly becoming one of the most popular books at Glenthorne. If you need a book to recommend to both boys and girls who love video games, puzzles or just plain fun, this is the book. We had the great pleasure of Skyping with author Denis Markell on two occasions and it was great fun, I highly recommend getting in touch and Skyping with Denis for any year group! I recommend Click Here to Start for years 7 and up! Kelsea can't catch a break. At 19, she's heir to the throne, leader of her very own kingdom. Awesome, right? Wrong, it couldn't be further from awesome. Her mother is dead, her father, well, he's not even in the picture and the kingdom she's inheriting is essentially District 12 and the Dreadfort from Game Thrones thrown into a blender. Still, she's the chosen one and she's got a job to do. The problem is, nobody expects her to survive a day on the throne. Her uncle is still technically in power, there's a sorcerer / Queen / complete nutcase over the hills making everyone's life miserable through means that I won't spoil but I assure you it will never leave your brains ever. Yes, things are stacked up against Kelsea. Yet, the one thing she does have is loyal gaurds. Guards that would die for her if need be. And they just might have to. I loved this book. I know I'm late to the game and that absolutely everyone compares this thing to Hunger Games and Game of Thrones but I simply couldn't help it either, maybe I'm a hack reviewer. That said, once this books sinks its teeth into you it will be hard to turn away. You will really become invested in these characters and the seemingly insurmountable odds they have to face. I will certainly be getting the second book in the series soon! I recommend this to ages 16 and up! |
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