Louis has never had luck with pets, they all seem to croak after a little while. When his father brings home a sick, baby donkey, he's determined to nurse it back to health. Everyone around Louis tells him constantly not to get attached to the donkey, that it won't survive. Louie decides to name it Winslow and despite it's constant braying and barking, loves it more than anything else. What follows is a heart warming tale about friendship, loyalty and standing up for what you believe in. Louie's bond with Winslow is very touching and reminiscent of Charlotte's Web and many other great novels with animal connections. I recommend this story for ages 8+, a short, sweet novel with a lot of heart.
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Lucas is driving with his parents when his father loses control and goes off the road. Both of his parents dead, Lucas climbs out of the wreckage to see a wolf standing in the middle of the road. He's sent to live with his Nan, an ageing lawyer who lives far from his home. Sent to a new school and coping with trauma, Lucas becomes obsessed with the image of the wolf. Then he hears it, news stories about a wolf killing farmers' sheep. Lucas' Nan doesn't believe it, neither does his friend Deb, whose father is a farmer, someone that is convinced the wolf is real. Coping with dangerous bullies and forced to go to anger management therapy, Lucas feels that his mind is slipping, that he's losing control of his sanity. As the hunt for the wolf intensifies, Lucas decides to take matters into his own hands. I really loved this novel, Lucas is a dark, complicated character with a lot of guts. Lambert's writing is poetic and brooding, pounding away at you until you are completely absorbed into the story. It's a nice shot in the arm for anyone looking for a book to really grab you by the collar and give you a shake. I recommend it for ages 11+. When Christine first meets Moon, she's intimidated. Christine has heard stories that Moon will beat you up for no reason. Then Moon moves in next door to Christine and she quickly becomes best friends with her. Moon is daring, mischievous and art simply pours out from her. These are all the things Christine isn't. Christine's parents are relatively conservative and aren't too sure they like the influence Moon is having on her. Moon often tells Christine about the star creatures that talk to her and that she is from another planet and will be joining them soon. Christine brushes this off as Moon is always creating, always thinking of things that "regular" people don't think about. Then, something disastrous happens and Christine has to summon all of the courage that Moon has instilled in her to carry on and be a great friend. This is a lovely graphic novel about friendship, heartache, anxiety and pain. This is exactly the kind of graphic novel I'm looking for to fill the shelves at Glenthorne High School as I know it will be extremely popular.
Gene Luen Yang is a bestselling graphic novelist and a teacher at Bishop O'Dowd Catholic School. He's struggling to come up with a new graphic novel idea after his best selling work "American Born Chinese." After hearing a buzz around school surrounding O'Dowd's basketball team, The Dragons, he decides to talk to the coach to see if there's a story there. The issue is that Gene is not a sports guy, he's a comic book guy. When he was young he was nicknamed "Stick" by his classmates because he was so skinny. He's always shied away from competitive sports because it's not the world he feels comfortable in. However, once he becomes immersed in the world of The Dragons, he finds himself fascinated with the players' back story and the competition that surrounds them. Dragon Hoops is not only a whirlwind history of basketball, it's a fascinating glimpse into the real lives of these players and coaches. Yang covers the anxiety, fears and even racist attitudes that the players face on a daily basis. I love dhow he slowly grew more and more excited about each upcoming game, much to the confusion of his family. It's a wonderful graphic novel for fans of basketball, comics and true stories told with an honest voice. I recommend it for ages 11+! Effie feels alone and invisible in her school. Her teachers don't seem to like her and she's always bumped into, ignored and called a nerd behind her back. One day she discovers a school for ghosts in the woods near her human school. Despite warnings, the other ghosts take her in and she starts to learn the ways that the ghosts can control lost spirits. It's all fun for Effie and very exciting until she's asked by her new ghost friends to track down an actual lost spirit, one that proves to be quite dangerous. Effie now has to prove to her new friends that she deserves to be in the ghost school and that she's got special powers like the others. It's a great story about believing in yourself and finding your true friends. It's also an important story about bullying and how easy it is to fall into the trap of not only being bullied but becoming one yourself. Great comic for fans of ghosts and good storytelling for ages 9+ In Aster's world, all the girls get trained to be witches while the boys get trained to be shape shifters. However, Aster knows in his heart that he's destined to be a witch. He doesn't fit in with the boys and has no real friends because the girls are told to exclude him from their studies. He's lost, confused and angry at everyone's rigid reaction to his passion for studying witchcraft. Despite this, he starts to learn it in secret, breaking a long tradition that can land him in serious trouble. However, when one of the boys goes missing, a horrible disturbance in the balance of order is sensed by the elders. An old foe has reared its head and returned to their land and Aster just might have the goods to help out this time. I really loved Witch Boy, it's beautifully told with a great cast of characters. Aster is a boy struggling with his identity, where does he fit in, he's not a jock or a shape shifter like most of the boys in his community.His parents and cousins don't understand him, he just doesn't seem to belong anywhere. It's a great story because it's made clear that it's not Aster's fault, he does fit in, it's those with the power around him that fail to see his potential. On top of that message it's a great fantasy adventure with a genuinely creepy threat. I highly recommend this comic and its sequels for ages 10+ Izzy & Eric are both obsessed with an upcoming video game called Dungeon City. When Izzy receives her copy first, she decides to give it a try despite promising Eric she won't play it until they both have their copies in their hands. Then, something strange happens, Izzy gets sucked directly into the video game! There she meets Rae, a robot who tells her that she's been sent to the world of Dungeon City to save the land. With Rae's help, she starts levelling up in preparation to meet the final boss. The problem is, she starts neglecting her real life responsibilities like school and her friendship with Eric. Not everything is as it seems in Dungeon City, and Izzy soon finds herself in grave danger. Any fan of video games will devour this great comic, I'm currently playing Zelda Breath of the Wild and there are so many great video game references that you will find yourself going back to re-read them. Anyone who has ever hunkered down for the long haul on their floor as they crawled through dungeons and worked out puzzles on their video game consoles will want to pick this one up, don't miss it! Willow loves exploring the woods outside of her house, it's where she and her mother did tons of exploring. One day, Willow gets into a huge fight with her sister and runs away with her dog. While she's in the woods, she runs into Pilu, a wood spirit who has also lost her way. Willow realises that Pilu's home is the same grove that she and her mother used to visit all the time. However, danger is lurking in the woods and Willow must overcome her own fears to help her new friends. This is a heartwarming comic book for fans of all ages. Anyone who has ever loved My Neighbour Totoro will really adore this. Can't recommend it enough! Five years ago student Andie Bell was murdered by Sal Singh, then Sal, consumed with guilt, killed himself. Everyone knows this, the police, the townsfolk, even Sal's family. One person, however, doesn't quite believe it, Pippa Fitz-Amobi is doing her EPQ (Extended Project Qualification) on the murder, despite the fact that everyone tells her it's not a good idea to snoop around where the police have already gone. To start, she's told not to contact the family of Sal Singh so what does she do? Immediately meet's Sal's brother for an interview. Once little pieces start to fall into place, Pippa realises that she's on to something, that things aren't what they seem in her idyllic little town. Unfortunately, this means that Pippa herself starts to get embroiled in the conspiracy, in that she becomes a target, putting herself and those she loves in danger. I really devoured this novel, as a huge Serial podcast fan, this novel hooked me from the start. Holly Jackson has created in Pippa a long-lasting and authentic detective character, a role model for teens and someone you'd want to have on your side if things went south. The novel is sprinkled with Pippa's notes, ideas and interviews. It's a glimpse into her genius brain and how it works. Pippa herself creates a "murder board" which she hides under her bed so her parents don't see it. It's a board filled with notes, pictures and string to connect everything together, I loved the idea of it and could picture it in my head. I also loved how those around Pippa think she's becoming a little too obsessed with the murder, with her school work falling behind, her relationships being strained and her own mental state fraying at the ends. A Good Girl's Guide to Murder is a top-notch murder mystery with amazing characters and twist after twist that will keep you guessing until the last page, I cannot wait to discuss this book with our students at Glenthorne High School! Meat Market has been shortlisted for the YA Book Prize, You can hear Juno's interview with one of our students at Glenthorne High School by clicking here. It's the story of Jana, a teen from a council estate in London. When she's at a theme park she's scouted by a model agency and signed almost immediately because she's "got the look." Her friends are freaking out, her boyfriend supportive but somewhat wary and her parents aren't having any of it, although they are very supportive throughout the novel and I was happy to see this family dynamic rather than a one dimensional cardboard set of parents that just scream at the main character whenever they get a chance. Jana herself isn't too sure, it's a big time commitment and she is genuinely worried about her school work. However, she soon gets sucked into a whirlwind of casting agents, shoots and catwalks. She's whisked to New York, Dubai, MIlan, all over the world and seemingly overnight finds herself, as a teen, on billboards all over the world. People are copying her hair style, going into hairdressers and asking for "The Jana". It's all a dream, and it all becomes too much. Jana very quickly sees the dark side of the modelling industry, the pressure not to eat and the loneliness, the pressure to get to the shoot at five am when she's expected to go to parties all night. Drugs, sexism and the idea that she is just a mannequin to be posed however they want and then discarded. Her relationships begin to strain, her mental state becomes frazzled and then something happens that shatters her to her core. Meat Market is impossible to put down, Dawson has created a character in Jana that cuts to the bone, she is real, funny, stubborn and smart just to name a few. You will find yourself cheering her on every step of the way and getting angry at those who deliberately try to keep her down. This could have been a book on any industry in my opinion, Dawson is such an expert writer that truth pours off the page, really loved this one and I can see hundreds of students in my library that will really want to get their hands on it. |
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