Monthly Archives: February 2012

The Great Death by John E. Smelcer

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The Great Death

I found this book to very enjoyable, I felt it emphasised the hardship that the native Alaskans’ faced and enlightened me on their extraordinary way of live.

This book is about a small Alaskan village that is ravished by a terrible disease. Millie and Maura are the only survivors from their village. Along with their two dogs, Millie and Maura try to travel down river to find a trading settlement where hopefully they will find other people. However, during this epic journey almost nothing goes to plan and lives are lost.

   This book is great because it’s full of courage and family loyalty and you really feel the author portrays the emotions excellently. Moreover, Smelcer manages to capture the overwhelming beauty of the harsh but beautiful Alaskan landscape and makes it rise vividly from the page.

Lastly, Smelcer manages to tell us in an underlying theme about how a peaceful and enduring culture destroyed by ignorance and greed. Furthermore, I found this to be a real eye-opener because it really does make you think that it was completely wrong for us to go and destroy an entire culture just for money.

Mathew S3

Go BZRK!

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http://gobzrk.com/

This is the brain child of Gone author Michael Grant (who will be coming to Glasgow soonish for the Aye Write festival). If you have read his other books then BZRK will not be too much of a shock if you have not then be afraid probably very afraid!

This web site is a brilliant example of a growing trend in storytelling called “Transmedia” – which started as an academic term, coined by Henry Jenkins in his book Convergence Culture who said, “transmedia represents the integration of entertainment experiences across a range of different media platforms,” Jenkins defines transmedia as storytelling that “immerses an audience in a story’s universe through a number of dispersed entry points, providing a comprehensive and coordinated experience of a complex story.”

 One person has described the book as if “Stephen King had written Lord of the Flies”, this should give you an idea (or warning!) of what to expect.

I am planning something of my own transmedia project in the next few months based on The Hunger Games – so watch this web site for more information. Oh, and enjoy going BZRK!

Flip out over this brilliant read

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What would you do?

Fourteen-year-old Alex Gray wakes up one morning to discover he’s not in his own bedroom. More surprising is that he doesn’t recognize his hands, or his legs… When he looks in the mirror he gets the shock of his life! How is it possible that Alex has become another boy – a boy who everyone calls Philip? And how have six whole months passed overnight? A riveting psychological thriller by a brilliant new voice in children’s books.

This is also on the long list for the Carnegie award.
Well worth getting your hands on, this fantastic read incorporates ideas that will linger with you long after you have reached THE END.

The Kindles have arrived!

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We have just taken delivery of three little tiny bundles of joy in the form of some library kindles.

The plan is to have a set of 6 which can be used with class projects and be loaned out to avid readers.

If you are interested in borrowing a Kindle or would like to recommend what I should download just let me know or if you have access to GLOW pop to our Kindleland site there and add your comments.

Hungry for a great read?

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Twilight schmilight, Potter who?

The Hunger Games

THE big read of the summer is The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

Follow our heroine Katniss Everdeen in her life or death adventure in the arena – and you thought lunchtime in the forum was tough!

So, if you have not already taken the challenge get yourself into the library where, for a limited time only I am selling the first in this thrilling series for a measly £3 – saving you £4.99.

MARCH UPDATE: ONLY 4 COPIES LEFT

Avalon High Graphic Novel

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The Merlin Prophecy

The Merlin Prophecy

The book is a graphic novel by Meg Cabot .The main character was Ellie and her boyfriend .Ellie has just joined a new school and already has the most popular boy in the school as her boyfriend and is really popular .The twist in the story is that her boyfriend is believed the be the reincarnation of prince Arthur of Camelot that has to save the world from darkness, its her responsibility to prepare him but he doubtful about him being the reincarnation.

I liked the effect that the graphic novel had and how it showed what the characters looked like and gave you a better feel it got me hooked quicker than normal books as I found it exciting and easier to read as I didn’t have to imagine what the scenes would look like .I thought the pictures were tremendous and really captured the characters personalities.

 

I also really liked the story. It was gripping and once I started reading I didn’t want to put the book down. Despite the story of the high school and her being the new girl it also had the story about Prince Arthur. It was rather like two stories in the one. I sympathized with the 2 main characters and felt anger towards the other jealous characters. Reading this book was over all an enjoyable experience.

Amelia S3