This is my third book for the British Books Challenge 2018. You can find everything you need to know about the Challenge here or you can click on the banner to the right of this post. This book was also generously provided to the Library by BookTrust, whose School Library Pack provides free books for schools across the UK. You can learn all about the Library Pack here. Now, on to the review! Twelve year old Tash lives by very strict rules. In Tibet, you have to follow them if you don't want to be harassed by soldiers. One of those rules is to keep your mouth shut, another is to never look a soldier in the eye and even more importantly, never say the words Dalai Lama. When a commits self-immolation in protest of the Chinese government's harsh rule, soldiers descend on her village and start rounding up suspected dissidents. When they knock on her door, Tash's father bundles her up with a satchel, some documents and instructs her to run for her life. Tash's parents are arrested and it's up to her, her friend Sam and their two Yaks to make it to the Indian border and to safety. It's no easy trek, though, with dangerous weather, rocky mountains and the constant threat of government snipers, they have to rely on stealth, cunning and friendship to endure a seemingly impossible journey. Running on the Roof of the World is a fantastic adventure story set against the backdrop of true events. It's a great opportunity to teach students about human rights abuses currently on-going in Tibet, not to mention a brilliant book overall. I recommend it for ages 9 and up!
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I was very excited to receive Hilda and the Troll as part of BookTrust's School Library Pack. If you are a school in the UK you should definitely be taking advantage of this great offer of free books! Hilda is addicted to adventure, so when she sets off to draw interesting rock formations around her home, she's thrilled to see a mountain troll. Although it looks like a strange rock, Hilda knows better, and ties a bell around it's long rock-noes. After some more sketching, she nods off, only to wake up in a vicious snow storm. Even stranger, the mountain troll is gone. As she wades her way through the snow, she meets a lost giant and a strange yet accommodating wooden man. Can she find her way home? And what's she going to do about that mountain troll on the loose? Filled with warm humour and beautiful illustrations, this series of graphic novels is perfect for reluctant and struggling readers. I can't wait to promote this to students in the Library as I know it will be a huge hit. If you haven't checked out the Hilda series it's a perfect read for anyone looking for a quick escape into a beautiful land. Will's brother Shawn has just been murdered. Will tucks a gun into the waistband of his jeans and sets off to exact revenge. In Will's neighbourhood, revenge is part of the rules of surviving. As he rides the elevator to the lobby of his building, he's joined by a man who looks eerily familiar. The man strikes up a conversation and to Will's horror, he realises that it's Buck. This wouldn't be odd except for the fact that Will knows Buck is dead. Then the doors open and in walks Dani, a girl who Will knew when he was eight years old. A girl he saw get hit by a stray bullet and die in front of him. Fearing he's losing it, Will doesn't know what to do with the information the ghosts are telling him as he makes his way down the floors of the building. As more ghosts from his past enter the elevator, Will learns some surprising and disturbing truths about his family. Told in gritty verse, Long Way Down is a powerful story about family, revenge and making ultimate choices. It's an important book for teens to read and will be a part of our Year 9 boys books club in the Library. Amazing, don't miss it! Sky Song is the second book I've read for the #BritishBooksChallenge18. You can read all about the Challenge and how to participate here. Sky Song is about Eska, a girl trapped inside the vicious Ice Queen's fortress. She is saved by Flint, a boy who dared to venture into the fortress to save his mother. In the land of Erkenwald, all of the adults are the Queen's prisoner and no amount of force or magic can set them free. Flint fancy's himself an inventor whereas his tribesmen want him to be more of a warrior. Flint's tribe is wary of Eska and assume she is one of the Queen's spy. Because of this, they exile her from the confines of the tribe and set her on her way, presumably to die in the frozen wild. The wild has other plans for Eska, though. She befriends a golden eagle who teaches her how to survive. When Eska and Flint's path rejoin, they decide to form their own tribe and take on the Ice Queen to save their families from destruction. The answer lies in a series of task they must complete, namely finding an ancient and lost horn that only exists in legend. With help from unexpected places, Eska and Flint discover what real friendship is and the power of forming your own tribe. Sky Song is a dreamy, powerful read with amazing characters. I am really excited to promote this in the School Library I manage and get it into the hands of the students, they are going to love it. I recommend it for ages 10 and up! The Polar Bear Explorers' Club is the first book I've read for the #BritishBookChallenge18 You can find out more about the Challenge here. Now, on to the review! Stella has wanted to be an explorer for as long as she can remember. Her foster-father, Felix, is preparing for a big trip to a strange and dangerous place called the Icelands and Stella is finally able to convince him to take her. On the voyage she teams up with three other junior explorers, Shay, Ethan and Beanie. Each explorer has their own unique approach to adventuring. Ethan is a magician, Beanie is a medic obsessed with macabre facts about the untimely demise of past explorers and Shay can summon wolves. Stella is unsure of her gift yet this becomes more clear as the novel progresses. When the four children get separated from the expedition, they embark on a wild adventure involving deadly frost fairies, man-eating cabbages, escaped convicts, an ice castle and singing cucumbers. Throughout the journey they learn a lot about each other and what really makes a good explorer. This is a perfect winter read, the characters are full of life and the novel speeds along at a great pace. The dangers are real and even somewhat terrifying (in a good way) and Stella is a fantastic hero. I really recommend this novel to anyone ages 10 and up! I'm very excited to be taking part in the 2018 British Books Challenge! The main focus of the challenge is reading and reviewing books by British authors. This is my first time taking part in the Challenge and I can't wait to be a part of it. The Challenge is hosted by Michelle Toy (@ChelleyToy) you can learn all about the rules and events surrounding it and you can sign up by clicking here or on the British Books Challenge button on the right side of this page! You can follow the Challenge on social media by using #BritishBooksChallenge18 If you sign up for the challenge you will be aiming to read at least 12 books by British authors (which works out to one a month). For every book you review each month you will get an entry into the draw to win a monthly prize pack (assuming that you’ve left all appropriate links on the monthly link page!). Therefore the more you review the more chances you have at winning that month’s prize(s). Here are just some of the British books I'm hoping to read and review in the coming months! |
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