When a plane carrying teen beauty queens to their pageant destination, crashes on a densely forested island, the survivors have to bring all their resources together to stay alive.
SUITABLE AGES:
15 to 18
PUBLISHED:
2011
PUBLISHER:
Allen and Unwin
ISBN:
9781742377070
GENRE:
fantasy
CATEGORY:
Novel
THEMES:
Competitions
Beauty
Satire
Aeronautics - Accidents
Homosexuality
Survival
Transgender
Comparative texts
AWARDS:
Best Fiction for Young Adults 2012, LA Times Book Prize shortlist 2012
Dawan, a 12 year old girl wants to continue her education at a city high school in Thailand in spite of competition from her brother and opposition from her father.
SUITABLE AGES:
11 to 14
PUBLISHED:
2007
PUBLISHER:
Marshall Cavendish
ISBN:
9789812610010
GENRE:
historical
CATEGORY:
Novel
THEMES:
Thailand - Social life and customs
Asia
Brothers and sisters
Women
Robb, Simon et al.
Hope : the everyday and imaginary life of young people on the margins
2010
9781862548855
TITLE:
Hope : the everyday and imaginary life of young people on the margins
AUTHOR:
Robb, Simon et al.
Young people tell their stories, then teachers working in their schools give their opinions, and finally the four researchers give summaries from their viewpoints.
Jack and his companions set out to save tigers after finding a tiger paw in a medicine shop in Chinatown.
SUITABLE AGES:
7 to 10
PUBLISHED:
2011
PUBLISHER:
Ford St
ISBN:
9781921665134
SERIES:
Hazard River
GENRE:
adventure
CATEGORY:
Novel
THEMES:
Endangered species
Spies
Tigers
Humour
Bradley, Alan
Sweetness at the bottom of the pie
2009
9780752883212
TITLE:
Sweetness at the bottom of the pie
AUTHOR:
Bradley, Alan
Recommendation:
Recommended
Flavia de Luce, a dangerously brilliant eleven-year-old with a passion for chemistry and a genius for solving murders, sets out to solve the murder of a beloved puppeteer.
SUITABLE AGES:
12 to 18
PUBLISHED:
2009
PUBLISHER:
Orion
ISBN:
9780752883212
SERIES:
A Flavia de Luce mystery ; 2
GENRE:
crime
CATEGORY:
Novel
THEMES:
Detectives
Brothers and sisters
Mystery and suspense
Single-parent families
Chemistry
Murder
Strong female character
AWARDS:
Dilys Award 2010, Arthur Ellis Award 2010, Macavity Award 2010, Agatha Award 2009
SIMILAR BOOKS:
Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh, Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer .
Homer loves his house, it is quiet and his owner is quiet. But one day Homer is startled by a loud noise and jumps from the window. Alone in the street he searches for somewhere quiet to sleep.
Benjamin Brewster did not like school. Every morning he counted the nine hundred and seventy-two steps that it took him to get there. For The School for the Misguided was a place for ne'er-do-wells and bullies and Benjamin Brewster was in their sights, their fists and their feet.
In the last months of high school, charismatic eighteen-year-old Sutter Keely lives in the present, staying drunk or high most of the time, but that could change when starts working to boost the self-confidence of a classmate, Aimee.
SUITABLE AGES:
15 to 18
PUBLISHED:
2013
GENRE:
issues
CATEGORY:
Novel
THEMES:
Self-esteem
Dating
Substance abuse
Self-confidence
Secondary schools
Alcohol
Film of the book
Coming of age
Host, Andrea K.
Caszandra
2011
9780987056429
TITLE:
Caszandra
AUTHOR:
Host, Andrea K.
Since Cass was rescued from the abandoned world of Muina, the Aussie teen has proven more than useful to the people of Tare. Expeditions to their home world no longer ended in slaughter. The teaching city of Kalasa has been unlocked. After years of searching for answers, they are starting to make progress.
SUITABLE AGES:
15 to 18
PUBLISHED:
2011
PUBLISHER:
Andrea K. Host
ISBN:
9780987056429
SERIES:
Touchstone ; Part 3
GENRE:
fantasy
CATEGORY:
Novel
THEMES:
Survival
Lester, Alison
Baby days
2014
9781760111724
TITLE:
Baby days
AUTHOR:
Lester, Alison
Recommendation:
Recommended
The four stories, Bibs and boots, Bumping and bouncing, Crashing and splashing, Happy and sad, reflect activities within the family with warmth and humour.
Japan's enduring national legend comes to comics! This epic mission of loyal Japanese warriors to avenge their wronged master epitomizes the samurai code of honor, and 47 Ronin recounts the sweeping saga of duty and duress in all its violent grandeur. Opening with the tragic incident that sealed the fate of young Lord Asano, this graphic novel follows a dedicated group of Asano's vassals on their unwavering road to bloody vengeance. (From back cover)
SUITABLE AGES:
14 to 18
PUBLISHED:
2014
PUBLISHER:
Dark Horse Books
GENRE:
historical
CATEGORY:
Novel
THEMES:
Samurai
War lords
Japan - History - 1600-1868, Tokugawa period
Japan
AWARDS:
Top Ten Great Graphic Novels for Teens 2015
Dickins, Rosie
Greedy dog
2015
9781409584841
TITLE:
Greedy dog
AUTHOR:
Dickins, Rosie
Based on a story by Aesop. Dog is always hungry and his thoughts are always about food. As he bends over the water for a drink, he sees another dog with a bone, fat and juicy and bigger than his. He is determined to have it.
Toby has a body that stumbles, he's uncoordinated and finds sports challenging. His older brother Shaun is better at everything, sports and his school work. Mum's decision to seek a diagnosis for Toby's condition makes a huge difference. With Lisa the occupational therapist's guidance, he begins a new way of coping with school and home life.
On his fifteenth birthday, Monty is at rock bottom. Ignored by his parents, bullied at school, and with a brain that's prone to going walkabout, he's all by himself. Until he meets the black dog for the first time. It's just like any other dog, except that only Monty can see it.
A young sugar glider has to make her own way in the world. Sugar finds herself a place to live and works hard to make it a home. Sugar's new neighbours make her feel welcome. Sugar notices she is different to her new friends and she didn't like it, until one day when she learnt why she was different and used this difference to save her new friends.
Somewhere in the Badlands, embedded deep in centuries-buried rock and sand, lies the skeleton of a massive dinosaur, larger than anything the late nineteenth century world has ever seen. To Samuel Bolt it's the 'rex', the king dinosaur that could put him and his struggling, temperamental archaeologist father in the history books. For Rachel Cartland this find could be her chance to prove herself on this expedition with her professor father.
When three noisy, mischievous rising stars of a British boy band come to Los Angeles to make their first album, they stay in the home of a record producer and her seventh-grade daughter, a talented but painfully shy singer-songwriter, urged by her best friend to step into the spotlight.
SUITABLE AGES:
11 to 14
PUBLISHED:
2016
PUBLISHER:
Bloomsbury
ISBN:
9781408868546
SERIES:
Girl vs boy band
GENRE:
adolescent
CATEGORY:
Novel
THEMES:
Singers
Composers
Bands (Music)
Friendship
Shyness
Composers (Music)
Los Angeles (Calif.)
Fame
Townsend, John
Animal jokes and facts
2017
9781925520484
TITLE:
Animal jokes and facts
AUTHOR:
Townsend, John
Recommendation:
Recommended
What makes this stand out from the standard joke book are the foul facts that accompany the very humorous jokes.
The complexities of grief and the impacts that it has when those who grieve feel an element of guilt, are part of the burden for the teen protagonists, Juliet and Declan.
Usborne illustrated classics : The secret garden and? other stories
2014
9781409586562
TITLE:
Usborne illustrated classics : The secret garden and? other stories
AUTHOR:
Firth, Rachel ed.
Recommendation:
Recommended
This collection includes The secret garden, The railway children, The wizard of Oz, Black Beauty, Little women and Heidi, all based on the original stories and beautifully illustrated to entice the young reader ready to take their reading in a new direction.
Ben Braver is an ordinary kid living, well, an ordinary life. So when he's chosen to go to a secret school for kids with super powers, he sees it as a chance to be special. He's hoping his super powers will kick in soon, but it's not looking promising.
What happens when things don't go the way you plan? Can you try and try again? Spirit is a beautiful picture book about hope. I built a ship from this and that. I named her Spirit. Could Spirit sail? I knew she could.
While still inspiring rebel girls of the world to dream bigger, aim higher, and fight harder, this sequel is bigger than each of us, bigger than our individual hopes, and certainly bigger than our fears.
Ten year-old Mia Tang moved to the US for a better life, a freer life, but so far, it's a life where she runs the front desk of a motel while her parents clean rooms. And she's not even allowed to use the swimming pool.
Cymbeline (yes, really!) has never been swimming, not ever, not once, so he's a bit nervous at the prospect of his first school swimming lesson ever. But how hard could it be?
Meet Oliver Tate, 15. Convinced that his father is depressed ("Depression comes in bouts. Like boxing. Dad is in the blue corner") and his mother is having an affair with her capoeira teacher ("a hippy-looking twonk"), he embarks on a hilariously misguided campaign to bring the family back together. Meanwhile, he is also trying to lose his virginity - before he turns sixteeen - to his pyromaniac girlfriend Jordana. Will Oliver succeed in either aim? (Publisher)
SUITABLE AGES:
15 to 18
PUBLISHED:
2011
PUBLISHER:
Penguin
ISBN:
9780241955154
GENRE:
humour
CATEGORY:
Novel
THEMES:
Adolescents
Boys
Family relations
Human relations
Family relationship
Social relations
SIMILAR BOOKS:
The secret life of bees by Sue Monk Kidd, The Way way back (Film)
Lola was just a baby when her family left the Island, so when she has to draw it for a school assignment, she asks her family, friends, and neighbors about their memories of her homeland and in the process, comes up with a new way of understanding her own heritage.
Malaya, 1949. After studying law at Cambridge and time spent helping to prosecute Japanese war criminals, Yun Ling Teoh, herself the scarred lone survivor of a brutal Japanese wartime camp, seeks solace among the jungle fringed plantations of Northern Malaya where she grew up as a child. There she discovers Yugiri, the only Japanese garden in Malaya, and its owner and creator, the enigmatic Aritomo, exiled former gardener of the Emperor of Japan.
SUITABLE AGES:
15 to 18
PUBLISHED:
2012
PUBLISHER:
Canongate Books
ISBN:
9781782110187
GENRE:
historical
CATEGORY:
Novel
THEMES:
Gardens, Malaysia
Apprentices
Prisoners of war
Human relations
Social relations
Apprenticeships
Malaysia - History
Astle, David
David's Astle's 101 weird words (and three fakes): from ambidextrous to zugzawang
2018
9781760633660
TITLE:
David's Astle's 101 weird words (and three fakes): from ambidextrous to zugzawang
AUTHOR:
Astle, David
Recommendation:
Recommended
More than a dictionary, more than a mystery, 101 weird words (and 3 fakes) is also a book abounding in mini-puzzles, corny riddles and cool word-facts, not to mention Pauls' zany pictures. (Introduction)
Mary Stuart's attempts to overthrow her cousin Elizabeth 1, Queen of England, finds her condemned to years of imprisionment before facing execution.
SUITABLE AGES:
MA
PUBLISHED:
2019
GENRE:
historical
CATEGORY:
Novel
THEMES:
Power
Rivalry
Mary, Queen of Scots
Biographies
Scotland - Kings, queens and rulers - Biography
Great Britain - History - 1485-1603, Tudor period
Scotland - History - 16th century
Wild, Margaret Illus. Joyner, Andrew
Boo!
2019
9780670078073
TITLE:
Boo!
AUTHOR:
Wild, Margaret Illus. Joyner, Andrew
Recommendation:
Highly recommended
Everyone loves to play Boo! Join six gorgeous babies as they play Boo! with their favourite animal toys. But what will happen when the animals play too? (Publisher)
Fully updated and redesigned, GWR2020 celebrates the latest record-breaking achievements, covering topics from the classic - amazing animals, jaw-dropping geography and spectacular sporting achievements - to the cutting-edge - including viral sports and robots and AI.
A windowless shack in the woods. Lena's life and that of her two children follows the rules set by their captor, the father: Meals, bathroom visits, study time are strictly scheduled and meticulously observed. He protects his family from the dangers lurking in the outside world and makes sure that his children will always have a mother to look after them. One day Lena manages to flee - but the nightmare continues. It seems as if her tormentor wants to get back what belongs to him. And then there is the question whether she really is the woman called 'Lena', who disappeared without a trace 14 years ago. The police and Lena's family are all desperately trying to piece together a puzzle which doesn't quite seem to fit.
Not every gift is a blessing. Every morning, Melanie waits in her cell to be collected for class. When they come for her, Sergeant Parks keeps his gun pointing at her while two of his people strap her into the wheelchair. She thinks they don't like her. She jokes that she won't bite. But they don't laugh. Melanie is a very special girl.
Strange things are happening in Nevermoor. Morrigan Crow and her friends have survived their first year as proud scholars of the elite Wundrous Society, helped bring down the nefarious Ghastly Market, and proven themselves loyal to Unit 919. Now Morrigan faces a new, exciting challenge: to master the mysterious Wretched Arts of the Accomplished Wundersmith, and control the power that threatens to consume her. (Back cover)
