February saw the members of the Book Club read and discuss books written for Young Adults. As usual, a wide variety of books were chosen. The conversations and discussions surrounding the books were reflective and interesting.
SHEILA - SHALLOWS by Tim Winton. Characters were miserable and didn't really seem to be aimed at young adults. Not an enjoyable read.
DIANNE - THE GRAVEYARD BOOK by Neil Gaiman. This author was not known to Dianne at all. Set in the world of the living dead, in a graveyard, it begins with the murder of a mother and daughter. The murderer - called The Man Jack - fails in an attempt to kill a baby also in the house. The baby escapes, gets to a graveyard where he is protected & raised by numerous 'souls' who have come from many past centuries. Well illustrated but not liked by the reader!
LAURA - OKAY FOR NOW by Gary D Schmidt. A young boy, raised in a very tough environment and bullied by family members, moves with his family to different locations. As he grows, rather than turning into a bully himself and thus continuing negative learnt behaviours, he tries to change his ways and break away from his harsh family environment. Told through the boys eyes it was a good read, filled with hope.
PRU - VIRALS by Kathy Reichs. A quick read, short chapters, many themes that are relevant to young readers. Tory Brennan - main character - loses her mother & goes to live with her father a micro biologist. They live on an island with a number of other scientists & a few children. The children bond & as happens they are from very diverse cultural backgrounds. Exploring, Tory and her friends find old dog tags & begin a search to see to whom they belonged. They discover a secret lab, find a captive wolf cub & take it with them. Sickness emerges & it appears the wolf cub, having parvo virus, infects the children. They present with canine qualities of better hearing and a heightened sense of smell - but only when very anxious or stressed. The mystery continues.
JUDY - A MAN CALLED OVE by Frederik Backman. A Swedish author, the book is slow to start but worth the perseverance. Well written, the story moves between past and present & reveals the life of the man OVE and what he is actually trying to do.
PAULINE - THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT TIME by Mark Hadden. A murder mystery, the narrator has Aspergers. The sentence structure is simple, even mundane. However the story about a boy who finds a murdered dog & sets out to solve the mystery reveals a lot about the behaviours, thought processes and relationships of people with Aspergers.
CONNIE - TOMORROW WHEN THE WAR BEGAN by John Marsden. Seven 17 year olds go away for a few days deep into rural Victoria. When they begin their return journey they find the town has no electricity, no people, no sound. Puzzled, the children do not reveal their presence as they discover that the residents have all been captured & held in a compound. The story is full of survival, excitement, relationships, leadership and tactics. Connie now wants to read more in the series.
WENDY - TOMORROW WHEN THE WAR BEGAN also. Enthralled, could not put the book down. She went on to read the next 2 books in the series. The characters were believable, had their faults but found it interesting to see the characters develop.
PAMELA - BRIAR ROSE by Jane Yolen. Briar Rose is another name for the fable Sleeping Beauty. A grandmother - Gemma - tells the story of sleeping beauty, with some changes. Gemma dies early in the story but makes her daughter and granddaughter (Rebecca) promise to find a mysterious Prince and a Castle. Rebecca finds an unknown box in her grandmothers things, a picture showing her grandmother is revealed. Using this, Rebecca tracks down someone who knows about the photograph and so a mystery, fantasy is revealed. Endings in fables are not always happy or predictable.
JOAN - CHINESE CINDERELLA AND THE MYSTERY OF THE SONG DYNASTY PAINTING by Adeline Yen Mah. The painting is real & is on display, on silk, in the Imperial Palace Beijing. The story is about a 12 year old girl in China who joins a secret society, away from parents. The group helps rescue 4 American pilots at the end of WW2. The main character, CC, has an accident, is in a coma & part of her treatment is hypnotherapy. During this she goes back 800 years, to the time when the painting was created & reveals the story behind the artwork. Cultural practices, Chinese history, the power of the Emperor and the role of eunuchs are all revealed in the tale.
KRIS - PAPER TOWNS by John Green. A mystery definitely aimed at youth. 18 year old Quentin, a nerdy boy thinking always of girls, lives next door to Margo - an unattainable girl. She disappears & he tries to find her & what has happened. He uses a poem by Walt Whitman to gain clues as to her disappearance.
LESLEY - THREE SUMMERS by Judith Clarke. The 'summers' refer to different stages of the main characters life ie Secret Places when she is a younger girl, her past story & how she is anxiously awaiting the results of her HSC. She hopes to win a scholarship to Sydney University so she can leave the small, country town she has grown up in. But - there is an interesting, sexy young man who catches her eye just before she intends to leave town. The next summer moves the story along quickly & is told through Ruth's letters to her best friend from school days - Fee. Fee chose to stay in the town, marry the boy next door & produce 5 sons. The last summer - The Real True Thing has Ruth back in the town, retired, happy, single, fostering a troubled young woman. There are many connections throughout the story - it's well written, interesting & very readable.
PAT - LOOKING FOR ALIBRANDI by Melinda Marchetta. A 17 year old girl, struggling with cultural clashes of her family in the Australian context deals with complex relationships in a growing mature way. Very well written.
JUDY J - CANNILY, CANNILY by Simon French. Trevor, son of hippies, is dragged around the country by his parents. They like a unrestricted, free lifestyle and live in a Combie, picking fruit to earn a few dollars when needed. Trevor goes to many schools. When in 6th class the school he is placed in has a very narrow minded, cruel teacher - Mr Fuller. He ostracises, humiliates & punishes Trevor is any way he can. Trevor overcomes many of these difficulties, other children actually start to stand up for him & even other parents are supportive. But - his parents decide its time to move again, just as Trevor is making friendships.
ANNE - ME AND MR STENNER by Evan Hunter. 1976. An 11 year old girl, Abigail, watches as her parents go through a divorce & has to deal with all the emotional baggage that it brings. Her mother finds a new companion - Mr Stenner. Abigail is torn between liking Mr Stenner & her loyalty to her father. Change is part of life.
JULIA - HATING ALISON ASHLEY by Robin Klein. 2 girls are the main characters but there are many incidents that provide a humorous, entertaining look at primary school children. One girl thinks she is the star, on stage, at her school - talented & popular. Alison arrives at school very pretty, rich, clever and well behaved. School Camp provides the setting for more adventures for the 2 girls.
ROSEMARY - NONA AND ME by Claire Atkins. Set in a mining town, Nona is an Aboriginal girl who is best friends with Rosie - a white girl living with her mum in an Aboriginal part of town. One girl leaves the town for a number of years & returns when in Year 10. Things have changed as have both girls. Also set during the time of the Intervention, the relationships and issues that surround the girls are well explored. Well written.
JO - THEODORE BOON by John Grisham. A very clever 13 year old boy, son of lawyers, sees his life surrounded by lawyers, judges & the law. He sets out to find a witness in a serious crime - & does so. Well written.
BEV - THE MAZE RUNNER by James Dashner. SciFi. Thomas, 16 years old, awakes from a sleep & finds himself in a lift. When it opens he is in a concrete environment, surrounded by teenage boys who all have set jobs to do to survive. Each night they all must be back inside the compound, gates closed, as there are mechanical beasts outside who are ready to kill them. The maze changes daily & some are tasked to find the pattern in the maze. Enter a very bright girl with a message - 'I am the Last'. What does all that mean? Boys begin to die, the gates don't shut. The maze has clues as does all the codes they see.
ROSEMARY - THE MINISTRY OF PANDEMONIUM - Chris Wentworth. Set in the spiritual world, a young boy has the job of checking the machine that shows who are the next souls to pass over. He thinks he sees his mothers name on the next list & so steals the card with her information - hoping to stop her dying. Consequences result from him tampering with the machines order.
DEATH BOY AND CO by Di McClune (?). Another spiritual book about a boy who is involved with being a guardian of souls. The 3 Fates - being born, living and dying - are all supposed to keep a balance of how many souls there are, but one of the Fates starts taking too many souls away.
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