Tag Archive for young adult reading

Peeps by Scott Westerfeld

13/12/2011 Joh reading

I have read plenty of Scott Westerfeld’s books . ‘Peeps’ contains a couple of the characters mentioned in ‘The Last Days’ and tells about the same ‘plague’. It was another good read.

There was a lot of information in it about parasites and a very handy afterword that informs how to avoid them. The entire way through reading the book, I wanted to get to Scott Westerfeld’s blog and ask him if that information was fact or fiction, but I didn’t have to, because he explained it all in the end. Fascinating!

‘Peeps’ is the short form of parasite positives, and when Cal Thompson is infected through a random meet with a woman, his life changes forever. As a carrier only he has passed the parasite on to all his former girlfriends and the book is about how he sorts out the problems he has created before the place goes crazy. Those who experience the full symptoms are quite similar to what we would call vampires.

I’m a bit over the ‘vampire’ genre, yet I enjoyed ‘Peeps’. I really like his writing. I think I will order ‘So Yesterday’ and ‘Evolution’s Darling’ to add to my pile of summer reading:).

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Gravity by Scot Gardner

12/12/2011 Joh reading, work

The back cover of Gravity reads “Saturday night. Nowheresville.” How many teenage regional dwellers have this to say for the place they live in? I related to this story because I was busting to get out of here when I was a young person. I’d love a massage for every kid I’ve taught that has plans of heading elsewhere as soon as… I certainly didn’t have the heavy home life that Adam (the protagonist) lived with. His mum has already shot through.

I enjoyed this book. I have been meaning to read Scot Gardner’s books for a long time. He is a local author and I want to use some texts created in our area next year with my students. He names local towns that students are familiar with. I am aiming for connection. Not just to school, but to community and place. I’m not sure I will use this novel, cause I think it would be more relevant to older students. Scot Gardner has written many books so I’ll work my way through them and find a suitable one I’m sure.

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Ads R Us by Claire Carmichael

27/10/2011 Joh reading

‘Ads R Us’ is set in a dystopian world where advertising has taken control. In many ways like our own:). The main character, Barrett comes from ‘Simplicity’ an alternative lifestyle commune that rejects the ‘Chattering World’ he nows finds himself in. When his uncle, the founder of ‘Simplicity’ dies, he goes to live with his aunt.

Barrett’s sudden exposure to the new world reveals the manipulations and persuasions of advertising as he uncovers his value to his aunt and uncle. It has many themes including ‘cliques’ and popularity, privacy, personal freedom, power and corruption, materialism, addiction, all the things that come with a society that revolves around consumption.

I read this book with my Wednesday students. It’s the year 8 text at their school. In the US it’s been published under the title ‘Leaving Simplicity’.

Here is a Reading Guide from the authors web page.

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The Last Days by Scott Westerfeld

24/10/2011 Joh music, reading

‘The Last Days’ begins with a chance meeting over a puzzling occurence in New York. Why would a woman be throwing her own precious stuff out the window and seeing it smash on the streets? In the bid to rescue a rare and valuable guitar, two musicians connect. So begins a musical journey set in a world of plague.

An unlikely band forms with dreams of success, however poor timing necessitates that their performances are of higher importance to civilisation than the aspirations they began with.

This is a companion book to ‘Peeps’. That’s next on my young adult reading list. The plague is a vampirish infection, a popular theme with young adult readers . It also had a music theme and the chapter titles are all band names. I enjoyed it.

 

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Blue Noon by Scott Westerfeld

13/09/2011 Joh reading

I finished ‘Blue Moon’. It is the third and last in the Midnighters series. In this book the Midnighters find that all is not as it seems. A major threat is coming and the rules of midnight are changing. The whole world is at risk. Another point of view, one of an enemy, threatens history:

The odd thing was, whenever Rex read normal daylighter history, he never took the word of just one historian. You had to check with several sources – everybody knew that.

The team of five young people thrown together in this challenge have a variety of strengths and skills. They don’t all like one another. They have to trust each other. It makes interesting reading.

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The Pipers Son by Melina Marchetta

02/09/2011 Joh love, reading

I finish this with a tear tracked face. I am glad I’m not wearing makeup on my days off or I would look pretty messy now.

‘The Piper’s Son’ is an immensely clever and touching tale about a young man rebuilding a life after grief drives him to oblivion. It’s not just him, it’s his whole family who experience loss. The story reveals the triumph of love and I loved it for it.

I texted my son because I remembered he had told me to read ‘Saving Francesca’ which has the same characters. He’d already been on to it. ‘finished it 3 weeks ago’ was the reply I got to my recommendation. Good to know he doesn’t wait around for me to recommend books to him any more:).

Melina Marchetta creates endearing characters. I just went through his boxes of books to find ‘Saving Francesca’ because starting a new book with those people I have grown to love will make the sadness of finishing ‘The Piper’s Son’ more bearable.

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Touching Darkness by Scott Westerfeld

29/08/2011 Joh reading

The second in the Midnighters series was even better than the first. I read this post on Scott Westerfeld’s blog, a fan has a tattoo from the novel. That’s keen:).

Touching Darkness (Midnighters, Book 2) reveals more of the history of Bixby and introduces a Midnighter we haven’t met yet. I’ll share some of my favourite parts:

Didn’t any of these brainless wonders ever notice that TV shows were called programs? The same word that meant a bunch of numbers stuck into a computer to make it dance for its masters

pg 53

and then

‘In the summer of 1949, I had just turned eleven. We played all day until it grew dark, which in summer was very late. young children and teenagers together, while the adults sat on the porches, visiting. Everything was in the open, everyone could see each other.’……….

…….’Hang on – you’re saying you lost to the darklings because of air-conditioning?’

Madeleine lifted a finger sternly. ‘And television. You can’t discount television. You see, Dess after that first evening the adults stayed inside, watching Mr. Jack Benny instead of looking after our childish games.’

p155-156

I can’t wait to read the next in the series:)

 

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Alyzon Whitestarr by Isobel Carmody

04/06/2011 Joh reading

Alyson Whitestarr by Isobel Carmody was a great read. This author never dissappoints me. Reading her writing takes me to places that I want to go.

The main character in this story has an accident that creates ‘extended senses’. She can smell peoples energy, their basic energy and transient, emotionally produced energy. It enables her to communicate at a whole new level. I loved the idea. How facinating would it be to open a whole new sense world. She had other enhanced senses as well, but I’m not going to reveal it all to you. This gift comes with a mission and she forms a team of new friends to save the world, well at least her world.

I love Isobel Carmody’s books. I’ve read the Obernewyton series and many of her other books. I first read ‘The Gathering’ and found it one of the scariest books for young adults I’d come across. I have often recommended it to students who like scary movies. I don’t, so it was the best I could do :) .

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Kill the Possum by James Moloney

28/06/2009 Joh reading

‘Kill the Possum’ is like ‘Our Little Secret’ in some ways. It lets you into a world where young people are trapped in secrecy and powerlessness. It is a very thought provoking book and filled me with anguish in parts. I could feel the pain and desperation in the young teenage males who had no where to go to save the people they loved. It was frightening they were contemplating murder, yet at another level, understandable. The conclusion was very cleverly written, although not what I wanted to read, it added to the credibility of the story. It was great storywriting.

James Moloney creates such believable characters. He draws you in compassionately and this novel reminds me of the empathy I felt for Karl and his desperate life, in ‘Bridge to Wiseman’s Cove’. I enjoyed these two books but I enjoyed doesn’t seem the right word. They move you, they open you to the shadowy figures around school that you wonder about. They remind you that there are often things going on in lives that you have no idea about. I enjoyed Moloney’s ‘Book of Lies’ and it’s sequel more. I read on his site that he’s releasing the conclusion of that series on July 6. The protagonists in these books endure and face evil, the same, yet the alternate setting makes it more bearable for me.

This novel is for an older reader though and I think when I take it back to the junior campus library, I’ll recommend it goes to the senior campus. There are moral issues that require a mature consideration. There are dilemmas that would be beyond a younger reader I would hope.

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Our Little Secret by Allayne Webster

24/06/2009 Joh reading

‘Our Little Secret’ is very popular with the girls at school. Now that I have completed it, I can see why.  It’s set in a small community and unpretentiously reveals some of the hardships teen girls grapple with. The position the young, innocent heroine finds herself in is described with a clear youthful voice. It was very believable and I’m confident this book would be a great aid to young women who find themselves manipulated and abused in this way. I would even go so far as to say it could protect and help to heal some of the damage done to girls who find their sexual behaviour going too far too fast.  It reveals the insecurities and vulnerabilities with a gentle and considered approach. I recommend it for young women.

 Read a review on Inside a Dog. The writer Allayne Webster’s story is an interesting read also.

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