Past Books of the Month
Falling Fast by Sophie McKenzie, recommended by Alannah Hughes 2C.
When River auditions for a part in an inter-school performance of Romeo and Juliet, she finds herself smitten by Flynn, the boy playing Romeo. River believes in romantic love, and she can’t wait to experience it. But Flynn comes from a damaged family – is he even capable of giving River what she wants? The path of true love never did run smooth...
When River auditions for a part in an inter-school performance of Romeo and Juliet, she finds herself smitten by Flynn, the boy playing Romeo. River believes in romantic love, and she can’t wait to experience it. But Flynn comes from a damaged family – is he even capable of giving River what she wants? The path of true love never did run smooth...
Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey
Eighty-two-year-old Maud’s memory is not what it used to be. There are gaps and lapses and blank spaces where words should be. Her cupboards are full of tinned peach slices and her pockets are full of notes reminding her not to buy any more tinned peach slices. Sometimes she stirs biscuits into her tea instead of sugar and sometimes she can’t quite remember how old her daughter Helen is. The one thing she is sure of is that her best friend Elizabeth is missing. The story moves between the present day and Maud’s retelling of the past. This novel is very creative and an unusual mix of genres. You can find mystery, humour, romance, drama, even horror. - Recommended by 2A
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Eighty-two-year-old Maud’s memory is not what it used to be. There are gaps and lapses and blank spaces where words should be. Her cupboards are full of tinned peach slices and her pockets are full of notes reminding her not to buy any more tinned peach slices. Sometimes she stirs biscuits into her tea instead of sugar and sometimes she can’t quite remember how old her daughter Helen is. The one thing she is sure of is that her best friend Elizabeth is missing. The story moves between the present day and Maud’s retelling of the past. This novel is very creative and an unusual mix of genres. You can find mystery, humour, romance, drama, even horror. - Recommended by 2A
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Recommended by Katelinn McKell, 2D
Stephen Chbosky's The Perks of Being a Wallflower is about a socially awkward teen called Charlie, he is a “wallflower”, always watching life from the side-lines. Two charismatic students become his friends and mentors, distracting him from his considerably dysfunctional family life. Free-spirited Sam and her step brother Patrick help Charlie discover the joys of friendship, first love and music
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Stephen Chbosky's The Perks of Being a Wallflower is about a socially awkward teen called Charlie, he is a “wallflower”, always watching life from the side-lines. Two charismatic students become his friends and mentors, distracting him from his considerably dysfunctional family life. Free-spirited Sam and her step brother Patrick help Charlie discover the joys of friendship, first love and music
***
Recommended by Cathy Gill, 5th Year
When a young couple learn they are both carriers of a gene likely to give their children a rare genetic disease, they visit a secret clinic for a ‘designer baby’. But it does not all work out as planned...
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When a young couple learn they are both carriers of a gene likely to give their children a rare genetic disease, they visit a secret clinic for a ‘designer baby’. But it does not all work out as planned...
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Recommended by Athena Kourmarianos, 5th Year
The Passage is the story of Amy—abandoned by her mother at the age of six, pursued and then imprisoned by the shadowy figures behind a government experiment of apocalyptic proportions. But Special Agent Brad Wolgast, the lawman sent to track her down, is disarmed by the curiously quiet girl and risks everything to save her. As the experiment goes nightmarishly wrong, Wolgast secures her escape—but he can’t stop society’s collapse. And as Amy walks alone, across miles and decades, into a future dark with violence and despair, she is filled with the mysterious and terrifying knowledge that only she has the power to save the ruined world.
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The Passage is the story of Amy—abandoned by her mother at the age of six, pursued and then imprisoned by the shadowy figures behind a government experiment of apocalyptic proportions. But Special Agent Brad Wolgast, the lawman sent to track her down, is disarmed by the curiously quiet girl and risks everything to save her. As the experiment goes nightmarishly wrong, Wolgast secures her escape—but he can’t stop society’s collapse. And as Amy walks alone, across miles and decades, into a future dark with violence and despair, she is filled with the mysterious and terrifying knowledge that only she has the power to save the ruined world.
***
Recommended by Leah Brady, 5th Year
Since his 1951 debut in The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield has been synonymous with "cynical adolescent." Holden narrates the story of a couple of days in his sixteen-year-old life, just after he's been expelled from prep school, in a slang that sounds edgy even today and keeps this novel on banned book lists. His constant wry observations about what he encounters, from teachers to phonies (the two of course are not mutually exclusive) capture the essence of the eternal teenage experience of alienation.
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Since his 1951 debut in The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield has been synonymous with "cynical adolescent." Holden narrates the story of a couple of days in his sixteen-year-old life, just after he's been expelled from prep school, in a slang that sounds edgy even today and keeps this novel on banned book lists. His constant wry observations about what he encounters, from teachers to phonies (the two of course are not mutually exclusive) capture the essence of the eternal teenage experience of alienation.
***
This recommendation took inspiration from our visit from author John Connolly.
The Gates tells the story of young Samuel Johnson and his dachshund, Boswell. These two come to witness strange goings-on at 666 Crowley Road. Here, the Abernathys don't mean any harm by their flirtation with the underworld, but when they unknowingly call forth Satan himself, they create a gap in the universe, a gap through which a pair of enormous gates is visible; the gates to Hell.
This book is bursting with imagination and impossible to put down. The Gates is about the pull between good and evil, physics and fantasy and the courage of a boy who is barely old enough to trick or treat on his own.
***
The Gates tells the story of young Samuel Johnson and his dachshund, Boswell. These two come to witness strange goings-on at 666 Crowley Road. Here, the Abernathys don't mean any harm by their flirtation with the underworld, but when they unknowingly call forth Satan himself, they create a gap in the universe, a gap through which a pair of enormous gates is visible; the gates to Hell.
This book is bursting with imagination and impossible to put down. The Gates is about the pull between good and evil, physics and fantasy and the courage of a boy who is barely old enough to trick or treat on his own.
***
Highly recommended by Ms Boland's fifth year English class!
The Truth About The Harry Quebert Affair is an engrossing page-turner that tells the tale of a young author named Marcus Goldman who is seeking inspiration for his new book. Shortly after he arrives to stay with his old college professor, the remains of Nola Kellergan who has been missing for 33 years are found on the professor's property. The book becomes an intriguing, fast-paced 'who done it' tale and Marcus soon finds ample inspiration for his novel.
***
The Truth About The Harry Quebert Affair is an engrossing page-turner that tells the tale of a young author named Marcus Goldman who is seeking inspiration for his new book. Shortly after he arrives to stay with his old college professor, the remains of Nola Kellergan who has been missing for 33 years are found on the professor's property. The book becomes an intriguing, fast-paced 'who done it' tale and Marcus soon finds ample inspiration for his novel.
***
Recommended by Molly Walker in 1A
Girl Online is written by Zoe Sugg, a British blogger and Youtuber.
It was the fastest selling book of 2014.
Set in Brighton, the book is about a sixteen year old girl named Penny Potter who writes an anonymous blog about her hidden feelings, her crazy friends and family, boys, school drama and the horrible panic attacks that have taken over her life.
After things go from bad to worse, Penny's family decide to take a trip to New York.
During this holiday, she falls in love with a boy called Noah.
Everything goes well for them until Penny finds out about Noah's secret which shakes things up a bit.
Girl Online is easy to read and I couldn't put it down!
It was a fantastic story with a great plot and twist.
I really enjoyed it and I think other teenage girls will love reading it too.
***
Girl Online is written by Zoe Sugg, a British blogger and Youtuber.
It was the fastest selling book of 2014.
Set in Brighton, the book is about a sixteen year old girl named Penny Potter who writes an anonymous blog about her hidden feelings, her crazy friends and family, boys, school drama and the horrible panic attacks that have taken over her life.
After things go from bad to worse, Penny's family decide to take a trip to New York.
During this holiday, she falls in love with a boy called Noah.
Everything goes well for them until Penny finds out about Noah's secret which shakes things up a bit.
Girl Online is easy to read and I couldn't put it down!
It was a fantastic story with a great plot and twist.
I really enjoyed it and I think other teenage girls will love reading it too.
***
Recommended by Rebecca Lennon, 3A
Fangirl is a book about twins Cath and Wren. Cath and Wren did everything together before they left their single, bipolar father at home as they headed off to college. The girls had two very different experiences at college.
Cath wants to share a room with her sister but Wren wants to try sharing a room with someone new. Wren found her new roommate online and they became best friends before they got to university. Cath, however, ends up with a roommate who she doesn't get on with called Reagan.
While Cath is busy being the anonymous number one Simon Snow fanfiction author, keeping up with her fiction writing class and trying not to fall in love with Reagan's ex-boyfriend Levi, Wren is losing the run of herself and quickly develops a drinking problem.
Their dad's health then begins to deteriorate. Cath wants to help her dad, but Wren is not much help as she is now an alcoholic. Whether Cath likes it or not, Levi is the only person there to help her.
This book is very enjoyable with a plot that is original and unexpected. The characters in the book are all very likeable.
***
Fangirl is a book about twins Cath and Wren. Cath and Wren did everything together before they left their single, bipolar father at home as they headed off to college. The girls had two very different experiences at college.
Cath wants to share a room with her sister but Wren wants to try sharing a room with someone new. Wren found her new roommate online and they became best friends before they got to university. Cath, however, ends up with a roommate who she doesn't get on with called Reagan.
While Cath is busy being the anonymous number one Simon Snow fanfiction author, keeping up with her fiction writing class and trying not to fall in love with Reagan's ex-boyfriend Levi, Wren is losing the run of herself and quickly develops a drinking problem.
Their dad's health then begins to deteriorate. Cath wants to help her dad, but Wren is not much help as she is now an alcoholic. Whether Cath likes it or not, Levi is the only person there to help her.
This book is very enjoyable with a plot that is original and unexpected. The characters in the book are all very likeable.
***
Highly recommended
Harriet Manners knows a lot of things. She knows that a cat has 32 muscles in each ear, “a jiffy” lasts 1/100th of a second and the average person laughs 15 times a day. What she isn't quite so sure about is why nobody at school seems to like her very much.
So when she's spotted by a top model agent, Harriet grabs the chance to reinvent herself, even if that means stealing her best friend's dream, incurring the wrath of her arch enemy, repeatedly humiliating herself in front of handsome supermodel Nick and even lying to the people she loves.
As Harriet veers from one couture disaster to the next with the help of her overly enthusiastic father and her uber geeky stalker Toby, she begins to realise that the world of fashion doesn't seem to like her any more than the real world did. And as her old life starts to fall apart, the question is will Harriet be able to transform herself before she ruins everything?
Harriet Manners knows a lot of things. She knows that a cat has 32 muscles in each ear, “a jiffy” lasts 1/100th of a second and the average person laughs 15 times a day. What she isn't quite so sure about is why nobody at school seems to like her very much.
So when she's spotted by a top model agent, Harriet grabs the chance to reinvent herself, even if that means stealing her best friend's dream, incurring the wrath of her arch enemy, repeatedly humiliating herself in front of handsome supermodel Nick and even lying to the people she loves.
As Harriet veers from one couture disaster to the next with the help of her overly enthusiastic father and her uber geeky stalker Toby, she begins to realise that the world of fashion doesn't seem to like her any more than the real world did. And as her old life starts to fall apart, the question is will Harriet be able to transform herself before she ruins everything?