Category Archives: Great Reads

#readyouratoz

Some of my brilliant pupils have taken up the challenge to read their A-Z.

So we chose to break with convention and start with …. A

First up is
Apple and Rain by Sarah Crossan
Reviewed by Caitlyn
To be honest, this book was not for me. Normally, I am into the usual soppy story about reunion and love, however, this book takes it too far. I’m sorry to say this, but for me, this was not a credible book.
First of all, the book has too many ideas going on in a short period of time. It seems like the main character of her book, Apple, has almost every problem known to man. She loses her mum and is in the midst of losing her friend and her mum finally comes back and she has a new sister and then her mum isn’t being a proper parent. Not only is this all happening, but at the same time Apple is an amazing writer but is too scared to follow her talent. Furthermore she falls in love with a boy who helps her find her sister who ran away. What I’m trying to say is that there is too much going on at once and, after a while, the plot just gets confusing. I believe that this could have been one of my favourite books if it had a plot that didn’t stray off to completely different ideas.
Another point I believe should be noted is that why is a girl, of 13, finding love at the end of the book? No one that I have heard of has ever found love this young, yet Apple does? Not only does this have nothing to do with the main idea, but also I think that it is unbelievable which just does not flatter the book. I love books that make me believe in any possibility, which helps me to visualise myself in the main character’s shoes, yet, due to this ending, ‘Apple and Rain’, it does not have that effect on me.
Finally, I would like to point out the names of the main characters. Apollinia Apostolopoulou is the full name of the main character in this novel. I understand it’s Greek and it is to link to the title, but it is far-fetched when most parents in the UK would go for the more generic names such as Lucy, Sophie, and Eve etc. I know that the long name which is hard to say is probably a metaphor for how no one understands Apple and her life, but in all seriousness, this book is for your free time. You’re more than likely not to see this book being analysed in an English lesson, so why the symbolic name?
Overall, even though this book is probably not her usual writing style, it has sadly put me off reading any of her books.

Barrington Stoke and S1

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Books are books right? They all look the same, feel the same and smell the same? Well, no. If you take the time to open a Barrington Stoke titles you will be aware that you are looking at a book with a difference. The pages are well banana coloured, the chapters short and easily accessible, the font just the bit easier on the eye and the page set up just that bit simpler to follow.

Is this a fluke? Has the world gotten a little bit stranger?
Nope- this is how Barrington Stoke see the world or indeed how they want their readers to see the world.
As a fluent reader from an early age I find it difficult to comprehend just how hard it must be for some pupils with specific reading issues to pick up and read a book.

If words danced in front of your eyes and shapes and order lost their meaning would you keep going? Barrington Stoke books and those like them make reading easier. Please don’t just take my word for it take the words of my S1 class a mix of fluent and not so fluent readers who were up for the challenge of reading some of my over 200 different Barrington Stoke titles.

We started with a very honest lesson about how we saw ourselves as readers and what reading meant to us. Several pupils would not class themselves as readers at all with one or two saying they didn’t read at all. For some reading was a pleasure which they often indulged in after school for others just another bit of classwork.

Our challenge was to read 3 titles over the course of 3 months. So far, after 3 weeks most pupils have read 2 titles. I could not be prouder and neither could they.

I chose one lesson to be reflective- How are they getting on? What do they like and what don’t they like? How do they see themselves now?

Here are some quotes from my brilliant readers to speak for themselves –
Here is what they had to say when I asked them I have ( or have not) enjoyed reading this Barrington Stoke book because:
I just enjoyed it I don’t really know why.

It is very interesting because there are lots of characters in it and a lot of different storyline.

It was really interesting when it came to the Saturday game because I didn’t know what Blake was going to choose. This book made me not want to stop.

It was about football
The font is much easier to read
The books are short and really exciting to read!

It is very interesting and mysterious and at some moments it can be a little bit funny

I have never read a book like this

The pages are different colours and it is easier for me because I have Meares Irlen.
It was really exciting and I wanted to know what happened next.

I have loved this book because it was a horror/sport/romance novel. It covered lots of different types of things which kept me interested.

it is quite upsetting at the fact that Matthew hasn’t got a lot of money and is getting bullied, but I found it interesting when he got the new uniform and the bully ended up being the one who got bullied.

I found the story to be interesting. I wanted to know whether or not he would be able to convince people he was really ill.

I like the story.

It is really exciting and tense. You don’t know if he is going to succeed or not.

These books are better because it’s a better font because my dyslexia I find it harder for me to read fonts
I can not tell you how proud I am of these pupils willing to give this project a go and being able to see the results.
Who knows how far they will go after this?

Longing for the long list?

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Then long no longer.

It’s here – it’s long(ish) and it’s pre diction time! Take a look at the long list and tell me the final 8 you think might just make it to the next round it’s like the X-Factor but smarter.

Who will win this year?

2015 CILIP Carnegie Medal Long listed titles are:

My Brother’s Shadow by Tom Avery (Andersen Press)
Us Minus Mum by Heather Butler (Little Brown, Young Readers)
When Mr. Dog Bites by Brian Conaghan (Bloomsbury)
Apple and Rain by Sarah Crossan (Bloomsbury)
The Company of Ghosts by Berlie Doherty (Andersen Press)
The Year of the Rat by Clare Furniss (Simon & Schuster Children’s Books)
Tinder by Sally Gardner (author) and David Roberts (illustrator) (Orion Children’s Books)
Monkey and Me by David Gilman (Templar)
Cuckoo Song by Frances Hardinge (Macmillan Children’s Books)
The Fastest Boy in the World by Elizabeth Laird (Macmillan Children’s Books)
Buffalo Soldier by Tanya Landman (Walker Books)
Scarlet Ibis by Gill Lewis (Oxford University Press)
The Middle of Nowhere by Geraldine McCaughrean (Usborne Books)
Hello Darkness by Anthony McGowan (Walker Books)
More Than This by Patrick Ness (Walker Books)
Close Your Pretty Eyes by Sally Nicholls (Marion Lloyd Books)
Trouble by Non Pratt (Walker Books)
Picture Me Gone by Meg Rosoff (Penguin Books)
Smart: a Mysterious Crime, a Different Detective by Kim Slater (Macmillan Children’s Books)
Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith (Electric Monkey)

Unfestive read-a-long

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Thanks to the lovely people at the Scottish Book Trust we have been set an unfestive challenge. To read a book over the holidays and have a right good chinwag about it when we get back from the break.

Out of a selection of books on offer I chose the most unfestive book I could find – the non Christmassy, no tinsel or baubles in sight – Zom-B by the brilliant Darren Shan.

SBT have given, yes given, us 20 copies of this title with only one request – that we read and chat (I know that is two requests but reading without talking about a great book is impossible, right? – so it really is only one request) all things Zom-B in the New Year.

Pupils are signing up fast to take part ! So, if you are in S3+ and you want to get your paws on a lovely new book and take part in some interesting book chat – pop in to the library as soon as possible. But warning as the title suggests this is not for the squeamish, so if you are a sensitive flower best not to go for this read and look out for other suggestions and perhaps another read-a-long.

Even if I run out of books why not get your own or borrow one from the school or local library and come along to the talk? Or have your own talk? Or just talk to me or just talk to yourself?

Here are some things to think about before you start the book

Did you know there have been more than 50 blockbuster movies made about zombies?

The first ever zombie movie was made back in 1932 and called White Zombie and starred the early horror actor Bela Lugosi in the lead role (he also played
Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster, Ygor and many more creepy characters)

In times of economic recession the number of zombie books increases.

There is a term called the “Zombie economy” where businesses do not thrive or collapse they simply stagnate.

The BBC2 series “In the Flesh” referred to zombies as having ” partially deceased syndrome”.

Often zombies are used in fiction and movies as metaphors for other evils in society.

One author went so far as to say that Vampires are the rich upper class and zombies the working class!

The very first novel to include the term zombi was the 1929 novel The Magic Island by William Seabrook.

Follow me on twitter @stninianslib for some twitchat about the book starting on the 19th December over the hols.

Out and about …

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As librarians are wont to do, I wandered off to the Mitchell Library to meet with 4 yes 4 count em, teen fiction authors.

Heading the bill on equal status were * insert drum roll here* –

Tom Bowler
Sally Prue
Gillian Cross and
Geraldine McCaughrean.

All brought together by their publisher OUP on a roadshow to talk about teen novels and their new books.

The Jeffrey Library tucked in the attic of the beautiful Mitchell library was the perfect setting for us to get up close and personal with the authors, all of whom took time to read from their books, discuss their characters and inspirations and answers lots of rather good questions.

There was a real mix of genres on show – from prehistoric mammoth fighting to mystical visions to crumbling seaside town ghosts to the collapse of life in the Uk as we know it. A juicy melange of writing.

There was an opportunity for chatting and mingling after the formal procedures and I was lucky enough to ask Geraldine to sign a couple of books.

Look out for a library competition to win one!

Great evening, great books and great company.

Off to see John Green on Friday… will report back on that next week.

I have told the truth

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As part of my summer reading I chose to read the books shortlisted for the Royal Mail Awards this year.
I must admit none of them really jumped out at me as being a “read me, Mrs. B” type of boook ( but then again I have been over indulging in a Hunger Games marathon so maybe not that surprising).
The first on the pile was CODE NAME VERITY BY ELIZABETH WEIN and I specifically chose not to read about the book and just jump in and I was so glad that I did.
The book follows the lives of two young women during the second world war; their lives link by their love of aircraft.
The book is wonderfully researched and you really do feel that you have been transported back in time.
It is difficult to talk about this book without giving too much of the plot away and I really think that even the slightest hint would be a detraction from the impact of reading the book on your own.

So, this is really a review without a review.

No peas in this POD

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Oh I do love a dystopian novel and POD by Stephen Wallenfels nestles rather well into this catergory but with aliens thrown in for good measure. A bit like a modern-day War of the Worlds – strangle alien POD things hover in the sky zapping (fun fact: In Dutch the book is called Zap) anyone who dares to come out of their house.

The story is split into two perspectives Meg trapped in a car park and Josh trapped in his house.
The tension is palpable and there are often moments where you truly think “What would I do?”. Despite the aliens the book feels strangely realistic or I wonder if that’s because we are so used to the notion of alien attack that the novel is breaking no new ground here.
If you are a little bit of a sensitive soul I would steer away from this as it has some quite shocking and a touch grisly scenes.

However, for those who are fans of Michael Grant and Susanne Collins I think you will be more than happy.
There is a real twist in the morality of the book as the aliens are not the only enemy in this desperate fight for survival.
So, if this sounds like your cup of literacy, pop into the library and pour yourself a POD. You could also check out his web site at
www.stephenwallenfels.com/

Mrs B.

I’ll name that in 4

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It’s got pink on the front it’s got black on the front – must be for Goth girls…and well it kinda sorta is.
Girl with name shortened to boys name Rory (to make her funky and cool and hip I’m sure) comes alllllll the way from America to London to go to a posh school- happens all the time – hello Gossip Girl are you listening? And for the first 120 pages I was getting in to it… new school, quirky girl, potentially handsome but smart ( phew!) boyfriend, jolly hockeysticks and someone pretending to the Jack the Ripper – good work Maureen I thought so far so… oh oh and then the book goes all Buffy the Ghostieslayer and I, like a little library balloon, began to deflate.
Sure, the writing was still quirky and sometimes laugh out loud (or LOL for those under 21) but not quite for me. There are two more to this series and the ending did have a little amusing crackle to it BUT the books (my little library owl tells me) have been delayed twice; never a good sign and not sure if I am overly bothered by this.
HOWEVER, don’t just take my word on this quote from a pupil “I loved this – it was so cool can’t wait for the next ones”.
So, why not try it for yourself and see who you agree with OR even dun dun dun have your own opinion. Please let mw know I would really like to hear it.
Mrs B

Delicate brilliance

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Lucky old us there are 8 books on the Carnegie short list – which to my mind means it’s not short but medium. My plan, as usual, is to read them all and for once I might actually do it.

One of the contenders this year is Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys. I had not read anything about this book before I opened it which is rare for me; being quite nosy, and I am glad that I did not. I think the impact of the book would have been lessened a little if I had prepared myself for it’s content. This, now makes it hard to review as I do not want to give away much of the story as I want you to experience it in the same way I did.

In the criteria of shadowing a book award one always stands out for me – does this book stay with you when you have closed it?
Between Shades of Gray does that. The characters are so real you feel you could almost reach out and touch them and the settings are so vivid that you forget you have not actually physically been to these places.

The book is set during WW2 but not the WW2 that you recognise from so many other fiction books. This story is different and hauntingly so.
I heartily recommend this book to people who enjoy reading powerful books and please don’t read too much about it before you open it. let the book itself work it’s magic on you.

Unforgettable

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Some books are like chewing gum – you chew ‘em up and spit them out and instantly forget them. Others are like bad kebab and leave you with a bad taste in your mouth. Very few are like Ben and Jerry’s chunky monkey ice –cream; you want more and more and once tasted you can’t even remember what life was like before you sampled it!

Such is the way with the book Hatchet by Gary Paulsen (please Google this man and find out how a librarian changed his life).

Brian’s parents have divorced and his summer is to be split between them. In order to get from one to the other he has to take a shortish ride on a plane, or so he thinks. When an accident occurs on the plane our hero finds himself lost and alone in the Canadian wilderness with only a hatchet to make the difference between survival and well err the other thing.

I love this character he is brave, he is funny, he is weak and vulnerable; he is us and more.

Try to get hold of a copy of this little gem and you won’t forget it.