A few pages into The Leaving I told my secretary to hold all my calls. Then I realised I didn't have a secretary and that I was talking to the toaster. The point is, The Leaving is so engrossing, you won't want to have anyone or anything distract you from the end. It's tense and dreamy with an air of mystery on every page. Six children, all five years old, vanish out of thin air. There are no witnesses, other than someone that says they saw a small bus parked behind the school the day they went missing. Eleven years later, five of the six children return, dropped off on the side of the road. They have no memories of where they have been or who they're supposed to be. Their parents and friends have been spending eleven years trying to move on, so it's an understatement to say that their sudden return is a shock. The police are called, psychiatrists are called, the news hounds their every move. The teens remember nothing, not even each other. However, slowly but surely, little pieces of what happened to them starts to emerge. It's difficult to write any more without spoiling the entire thing. I found this novel very easy and fun to read, it kept me guessing until the last few chapters and I enjoyed the characters. Dealing with a missing child is a parent's worst nightmare and I feel the reaction of the adults was well thought out. I'm not sure the teens would be more interested in who kissed who while they were missing but maybe they would, I don't know, I'm not a teenager. Overall I think this book will be very popular with the teens at my school. I recommend The Leaving to Years 10 and up!
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Mana is having a rought night. First of all, she's just consumed a little bit of coffee which everyone knows she shouldn't because she's either allergic or has some sort of other weird reaction to it that makes her act completely out of control. Second, in the middle of her cheerleader routine at her high school, she sees Dakota, the boy she has a crush on, being kidnapped. Terrified, she still manages to run into the locker room after Dakota to try and help. This is when Mana's night becomes very, very strange. Yes, Dakota is being kidnapped, but the person she once knew as Dakota is now an acid-spitting alien with an elongated tongue. Standing over her is a Man in Black who calls himself China. China claims that Dakota is evil and needs to be exterminated. In shock, Mana runs away, desperate to find her mother and inject some reality into an ultra crazy day. The problem is, Mana returns home to find it trashed, her mom gone and a creepy, lizard-like alien in the bathroom ready to devour her. With the help of her friend Lyle and the strange yet protective China (whom she can't figure out if she can trust) Mana embarks on an epic mission to find her mom and figure out what the heck is actually going on. Chalk-full of snarky commentary and high octane action scenes, Flying is a great adventure story that teens will love! I recommend it to ages 15 and up! Lizzie Summersall is gone. Not just gone, she's dropped off the face of the earth. Vanished, poof. Nobody's seen hide nor hair of her for ages. Aiden Kendrick has been spending a lot of time trying to forget about Lizzie, but what he can't forget is the day the police knock on his door and start asking him questions about her. Scared to death, Aiden recruits the help of his friend Scobie to try and track down Lizzie. Rumours swirling around school say that she was meeting strangers through Facebook, that she might have run off with one of them. To make matters worse, Lizzie's sister appears unfazed about her disappearance. The star of a reality tv show, she seems to be using Lizzie's disappearance as a way to further her career. However, as Aiden is about to find out, nothing is what it seems. I really enjoyed Follow Me Back. It's got sharp dialogue that kicks you in the gut as you live through the Aiden's anxiety of being questioned by the police. On top of that, I genuinely had no idea what had actually happened to Lizzie right up until the very end. If you're a fan of Gone Girl or GIrl on the Train you'll enjoy sinking your teeth into this one, I promise. I recommend Follow Me Back to ages 15 and up! June's life is hell. Her stepmother Kathleen is abusive, both physically and psychologially. Even worse, she can't convice her dad to see the truth. June's stepsister, Megan, is a pawn caught in Kathleen's twisted game and goes along with the abuse. June finds no respite in school. Her classmates bully her, frame her and treat her like garabge. Her teachers don't trust her. She's utterly alone. One day, after escaping to the woods she meets Blister. Blister's not like everyone else, he doesn't go to school. In fact, neither does his whole family. They live slightly off the grid in a series of trailers. They welcome June with open arms, they don't judge, they don't question. In Blister, June finds a true friend that will give her a brief release from the torment she experiences at home. As the years pass and her homelife worsens, June's nerves reach a breaking point that will change the lives of everyone around her. Gut-wrenching, taught and divisive, Paper Butterflies can be hard to read at times but is always engaging. I know this will be a top pick for several of our students. I recommend it for ages 14 and up! Libby Strout needs to start over. Being labelled "America's Fattest Teen" and having the world watch on television as a back-hoe rips a hole in the side of your house so you can simply leave the house would make anyone feel like a fresh beginning. Thrown in the heart-crushing reality that her mum is dead and you've got an epic level potential for depression. Still, Libby feels she's ready to go back to high school, make new friends and try new things. Jack Masselin appears to have it all, good looks, the most popular friends and a great girlfriend. All of that's just surface trash, though. Underneath, Jack's dealing with the fact that his dad is cheating on his mum while trying to survive cancer, his brother's being picked on at school and oh yeah, he has Prosopagnosia - the inabilty to read faces. It's not like he looks at someone and it's just a blank face, it's that he can't remember facial details. He could turn his head for a second and forget who everyone is in the room if he doesn't have the right identifiers. Yes, this is a real thing and it sounds awful. Even worse, Jack hasn't told anyone about it, he's just tried to survive without telling anyone. Both Jack and Libby feel really alone and out of place in the world, then they meet and realise that they don't have to be. I enjoy Jennifer Niven's writing, it's fluid and pained but still makes you want to connect with the characters. I think part of this book is about figuring out that everyone is dealing with something, nobody's life is perfect and that to really get to know someone is something special to cherish. It's also about the dangers of fat-shaming and putting labels on people, bullying and all of the nasty stuff that comes with that. If you enjoyed her pervious work, All the Bright Places, you'll certainly enjoy Holding Up the Universe! I recommend this book to ages 15 +. Bella Fisher can't catch a break. Not only is she stuck in a smelly caravan in Wales on the worst family holiday of all time, she's missing the party of the year. In a twist of fate, she meets Zac while on holiday and instantly falls in love with him. That's the good news. The bad news is that Zac is seventeen and Bella is only fifteen. This doesn't stop Bella from lying about her age so Zac doesn't go running for the dreary Welsh hills. Once she's back home, all of Bella's little white lies and attempts to be the focus of Zac's life backfire on her in a spectacular fashion. This book is very relatable for guys or girls. Everyone has those moments in high school when the world comes crashing down. Bella just seems to have them happen on a daily basis. Her actions don't come across as forced, though. To her, the world actually is falling apart, which is a common thread amongst teens of her age. Everything is enhanced, the slightest embarassment is magnified by fishbowl that is every single high school on earth. There are tons of pop culture references and acronyms that teen use to survive the daily minefield of teenage life. Bella's friends are developed characters that get caught up in her circus of white lies and misdirection. Of course, there's a huge redemption scene where Bella learns how to be a real friend and to stop trying to force life to happen. Our Year 8s are going to be Skyping with Beth Garrod in a few weeks and I know they'll love this novel and speaking to her! 1959 Virginia. The U.S. is locked into a fight between those that want black and white people to integrate, and those that want to keep them separate. Caught in the middle of this is Sarah, her friends and her family. Being the first black students to enter the halls of Jefferson High, they have only the slightest idea as to what are about to endure. It's clear they're not welcome, not by the teachers or the students. Even worse, the teachers look the other way when the meaner white students harass, threaten and attack the black students. On the other side of the coin we have Linda, daughter of a staunch segregationist and nominee for Worst Father in America 1959. Linda writes scathing articles in the school newspaper about the dangers of integration and how it will destroy white culture. However, when they're forced to work together for an assignment, both realise things about each other. First, that not everything is as plain as it seems on the outside. Second, the feelings Sarah and Linda start to have for each could have dangerous consequences. It's a book that will make you angry and happy all at the same time. I recommend this book to Year 9 and up although some Year 8s will probably enjoy it as well. Katherine and Matthew can't catch a break. After some serious research, they discover that they've both lived past lives together. From the 1745 Siege of Carlisle to the Crimean War of the mid 19th century to the near future (2039) and more, they are destined to be together. Each time, however, they are torn apart by tragic circumstance. This is something that the 2039 Kate and Matthew are determined to reverse, but can they before it's too late? Kate and Matt are good together, and James creates some believable chemistry that spans the ages. I found myself enjoying all of the time periods that they existed in. None of them felt forced or tired, there was enough suspense and action to keep my going right to the end. The story is told through emails, diary entries, newspaper articles and actual historical documents. A smart, funny and tragic story about love through the ages. If you enjoy Marcus Sedgwick's work, or the Time Traveller's Wife, you'll really like The Next Together. |
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