Trash by Andy Mulligan

Synopsis

Raphael is a dumpsite boy who, one day, finds a wallet holding the keys to a mystery--two passports, a map, and a locker key. With the police hot on his heels desperate for that wallet too, Raphael and his friends Gardo and Rat run away, not only to save their lives, but also to decode the meaning of those clues...

Review

Genre: YA, Adventure, Mystery

Age Group: Children or Young Teens

Star Rating: 6/10

Verdict

An interesting book, but not particularly well written. The concept itself is fascinating, following the journey of three kids living in a dumpsite. How do they survive? How do they find clean water and food? I was hoping to learn more about the life of a dumpsite boy but only the first few chapters briefly touch on Raphael's life, so in that aspect, the book was a little disappointing.

I'm not a huge fan of mystery or adventure but it was well crafted. The thing I do have a quibble with is how neatly Raphael, Gardo and Rat managed to find and solve everything. I was hoping for a few trials and a few crossroads in their path but, no, everything just sort of fitted together like a jigsaw puzzle. On the other hand, one could argue that I should lay off Mulligan in this sense since the book is for children or young teens, and the content can't be too disturbing. 

The writing style is simple and keeps readers flicking through the pages. Overall, it's not a bad book but not the masterpiece of the century.

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

Synopsis

When Nora's biology class has a new seating arrangement, she is devastated, scared, and interested. Previously, she was sitting with her best friend, Vee, but now she has to make do with Patch, a transfer student. He doesn't give much information about himself, but somehow he is able to know a lot about Nora without even asking, just from a glance! This really peeves Nora off and she finds it really irritating and freaky that he can know so much about her when she knows basically nothing about him. Who could've known the deepest and darkest secrets about Patch, when he is usually quiet and keeps to himself? Meanwhile, Nora meets a new student that transferred from Kinghorn Prep, a private school, to a very ordinary CHS. Nora finds this a little bit strange and eerie. Nora is about to find out the stunning truth about Elliot and his friend that never shows up to parties as well as Patch.

Review

Category:

Age Group: Teens

Star Rating: 7.5/10

Verdict

I found this really interesting because i have never read about fallen angels before and I know there are quite a bit out there, in the big world of books. I was really interested in the way Fitzpatrick and structure the story so well, where all is revealed at the end and where the Prologue makes sense at last. She keeps the reader in suspense all throughout the book, although if you have read something similar before you might find it quite obvious, I don't know and I can't say. Based on someone with no experience whatsoever in reading books about fallen angels, I couldn't stop myself from stopping. No, it doesn't give you nightmares if you read before you sleep without having finished the book, but it certainly kept me awake and took me some time before i could fall asleep. I was wondering what would happen next; the suspense was really killing. If you love reading books where you can't wait to find out what happens next then this is the right book for you!

The Dragonfly Pool by Eva Ibbotson

Synopsis

Tally doesn't want to go to a boarding school, but for the safety of herself she must obey her father for World War II is almost upon themselves. Getting to the school, she settles in easily and meets many good friends. One day, Daley, the principal of the school receives a letter inviting some students to go to Bergania to perform at an international folk dancing festival. Previously while at the cinemas with a friend she saw a travelogue about Bergania and wants more than anything to go there, so at this opportunity she bullies her friends into training for the dance and going with her. She had no idea what an important deed she would be doing there until she arrived...

Review

Category:
Age Group: 12+
Star Rating: 8/10

Verdict

I found this book, to put this simply, quite amazing. Ibbotson describes things in this book quite marvelously and her imagery use is very strong. When, in the book, she describes Bergania "A ridge of high mountains with everlasting snow, wide valleys planted with orchards and vineyards, and meadows where children herded goats like in Heidi." (Page 67, chapter seven: matteo's moan.) I was astonished. When I was reading that i could see, like I was watching a movie instead of reading, the actual land in my mind. That goes for all the other parts of the story as well.

Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer

Warning: If don't want to hear Breaking Dawn being criticized please don't read my ranting verdict.
Synopsis
In the final book of the Twilight series, Bella has made her choice. She is going to leave everything she knew, humans and all, behind, and start her new life as a vampire.

Twilight tempted the imagination. New Moon made readers thirsty for more. Eclipse turned the saga into a worldwide phenomenon. And now, the book that everyone has been waiting for...

Goodreads


Review
Category: Teen Fiction/Romance (Mild Violence)
Age Group: Teens
Star Rating: 0.5/10


Verdict (Beware: Rant)
What can you say about an absolutely rubbish book with no plot? Funnily enough, the book's initials are B.D., which suits the contents perfectly. Breaking Dawn is an absolute Brain Drain. Bella, who never bothered me from the start of the series, started really bugging me in New Moon. Please leave Edward alone if he's convinced he's too dangerous for you. Stop whining about the amazing 'after' car your fiance has bought you. If you are THAT displeased sell the car and donate the money to Salvation Army. Bella has become so much of a whiner that it totally spoils the book as readers stop to stab at her name with sharp fingernails and glare.
On the plot. Stephanie Meyer has previously spent three long books describing the supernatural world and what can and cannot happen in it. Then she turns around and totally ruins everything I was reading about. Rule: Vampires cannot have kids. Bella has a kid. Rule: Newborn vampires spend years being bloodthirsty and out of their head. Bella is not.
Come on. Supposedly, Bella has to struggle with the fact that if she wants to become a vampire, she will have to cut off ties with all humans she ever knew; she will be out-of-her-head-crazy for at least a few years; she will never be able to have kids. All this is spoiled with the author's obsession for having a happily-ever-after ending that Bella gets the best of both worlds by being beautiful, controlled, having a talented, amazing child, being amazingly talented herself. She opens her eyes and sees the world in a whole new perspective. After reading this, doesn't everyone want to be a vampire? There are absolutely no downsides to it! Mummy, I want to be a beautiful vampire with paranormal powers too. This total Brain Drain killed me to read and I ended up throwing my hardback copy across the fence to my three year-old neighbour who will hopefully enjoy tearing them up and chewing on the hard cover.

Chasing Orion by Kathryn Lasky

When Georgie moves houses, she has to face new neighbors. However, this is not usually a problem except this time of the year is Polio season and back in 1952 the vaccinations were not yet invented. What is strange about her neighbors is that their daughter had Polio so is now in an iron lung. Georgie learns to make friends with this girl, Phyllis, who is around the same age as her elder brother. They all get to know each other and soon Phyllis starts a relationship with Emmett, Georgie's brother. This is all perfectly find until Georgie finds out about Phyllis' lies and plans.

I think this book was quite interesting; the reader can learn of the past and compare differences with the current day and life 60 years ago. It is fun to know what they used to do for relaxation purposes withoutany of the current technologies such as computers, PSPs, iPads etc.

Age Group: 12+

Star Rating: 6/10

It was quite cool to read but some bits dragged on for a while.

Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua

Synopsis
According to Amy Chua, playing drums leads to drugs and a mother is not meant to be liked by her children. Her 'job' is to prepare her children for the future. Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother is a story of how Chua came to raise highly successful children.

Review
Category: Adult non-fiction/Biography
Age Group: Teens and Adults
Star Rating: 5/10


Discussion
After reading about much controversy surrounding this book, I picked it up and was prepared for two things; 1, to be completely shocked and blown away by just how emotionally abusive Chua was, and 2, to feel extreme pity for her children.
I was steeling myself to read the book after reading some reviews (a memorable one from Goodreads by Elisha Condie-

"Holy cow, I hate this lady so much. Her book kind of gives me a headache, but I can't stop reading it. I hope it doesn't end with one of her kids waving a gun around at a piano recital, but I won't be surprised if it does...Amy Chua is just appalling! I can't stand this woman."

So yesterday, when I finally picked it up from the bookstore (it is surprisingly sleek and the print is relatively large), I was surprised to find, firstly, that it wasn't all that interesting, and secondly, that Chua was not really the sort of abusive mother I expected her to be. She's tough, sure, but I don't think it's to the point were she's abusive. She does back off at one point.
The problems don't lie there. The book appears to be about conflicts between Chinese and Western parenting on the back cover. However, when you flip through the actual thing, three-quarters of it are about Chua screaming at her kids to play the piano or the violin; the remainder is a song of praise for Chinese parenting and slamming any other conflicting opinions between her and her husband (this isn't a direct quote, but think along the lines of: 'I am always right; you're the American Puss and I'm the Chinese Tiger. You will take our kids to water parks with dangerous slides and let them engage in such revolting behaviours over my dead body.') It isn't keeping me interested and the only reason why I ploughed through it was for the pure sake of finishing the thing. Another big problem with the whole thing is that the author can go on, and on, and on...and on, about something absolutely insignificant.
Take the Caviar example.
The Chua family is in Russia. They order caviar. Lulu refuses to eat it. Mother tells Lulu she must eat it. Lulu refuses. Mother tells Lulu she is an uncultured savage. Lulu screams.
This goes on for pages and Chua focuses all her parenting energy into making her daughter eat that one single egg. As it appears, there is nothing more interesting for her to say.
In summary, we as readers are basically left to ponder the life-changing question of whether Chua's kids will:

• play the piano at Carnegie Hall, and not get into the Ivy League
• play the piano at Carnegie Hall, and get into the Ivy League (which we all know will probably happen)
• not play the piano at Carnegie Hall, and get into the Ivy League
• not play the piano at Carnegie Hall, and not get into the Ivy League (The shock horror of bringing your forefather's dreams and your Chinese heritage down by not getting into the Ivy League and not playing piano at Carnegie Hall!)

Verdict
A brief verdict: firstly, this book is too repetitive. There is apparently nothing more interesting to talk about apart from the fact that Lulu refuses to play the violin properly. If it is that much of a big issue, make her give it up, please. Secondly, the author seems to be very stereotypical, far over-generalising 'Westerners' and 'Chinese' people. This gets to me a little. Otherwise, the book is told in a witty, honest, fresh maner, and is a good read--if the preaching doesn't get to you first.

Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy

Skulduggery Pleasant is the first book in the Skulduggery Pleasant series. Confusingly enough, Skulduggery Pleasant is also the name of one of the main characters in this book. Skulduggery Pleasant is a live skeleton; he has died but his bones and life still remains. When Stephanie Edgley's uncle dies, she attends the reading of the will. Every member of the family shows up - and one mystery person that no one knows anything about - Skulduggery Pleasant. When she meets him and realizes that he is a living skeleton she receives a big surprise. However, when she finds out about what he does for a living she is flabbergasted. Skulduggery Pleasant teaches her magic so that they can destroy the evil magicians.

I really enjoyed this book because I found the idea of an "undead" hero quite funny. It is an enjoyable read; it's fun to read about the adventures of Stephanie and Skulduggery as they fight the evil to bring peace back. People who enjoy science fiction will enjoy this!

Age Group: Teens

Star Rating: 8/10

The Tomorrow Series by John Marsden

The Tomorrow series consists of 7 books, beginning with Tomorrow When the War Began and ending with The Other Side of Dawn. During these books Ellie and her friends are constantly thinking up new tactics to try and defeat the enemy soldiers as well as trying to keep their lives going.

Personally, i think the series is quite good because once you've started reading you don't want to put the book down, or wait until you can get the next book in the series. I was quite sad when i reached the ending as there was nothing else i could go on to, but i was quite satisfied with the way Marsden ends it all off. Even though I wasn't expecting it to be closed off the way it did, i can't think of any other way else to make it such a great and interesting read.

Apart from all the fighting and (mild) violence, there are also other themes in the play such as romance and friendships. The series can be quite sad at times, such as when friends pass on, but most of the time the reader can enjoy the mighty adventures of Ellie and her friends.

Age Group: Teens

Star Rating: 9/10

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

Synopsis: Bilbo Baggins, an ordinary hobbit, is dragged onto an adventure with the mysterious wizard Gandalf and a number of dwarfs to regain treasures taken by an evil dragon.
On the way, he encounters Gollum, whom he defeats (through the use of a ring of invisibility) and navigates his way through a number of obstacles in the forest, finally arriving at Lake Town, where Smarg the dragon is guarding his stolen treasures.

Suitable for: Fantasy Lovers

Age Group: Kids and Teens

Star Rating: 8/10

Verdict: I am not a huge fan of fantasy, but this is a great, funny, interesting book. A good rea; there is a reason why it is a classic. Readers may also be interested in The Lord of the Rings, the sequel to Bilbo's adventures. The Lord of the Rings review will be completed soon.

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

Synopsis: My Sister's Keeper is a story about a girl who is diagnosed with APL, a rare form of leukaemia, at a young age. Her parents are willing to do anything to save her, to the point where they create a 'spare parts child', first to donate cord blood at birth, then blood and bone marrow.
This is where things are complicated, when Kate is diagnosed with end-stage renal disease (kidney failure). Her parents want Anna, the 'spare parts child' to donate a kidney, and Anna, who apparently has had enough of being her sister's lifesaver, decides to file a lawsuit, suing her parents to the rights of her own body.

Suitable for: Anyone who has Time for a Book that Drags on and is Filled with Flimsy Junk
Age Group: Teens and Adults (or older children capable of handling a more mature topic)
Star Rating: 2/10

Verdict: Put very bluntly, My Sister's Keeper is a book with a good storyline which is ultimately wasted by the quality of the writing. Picoult drops metaphors in every chapter which were clearly intended to be deep and meaningful. Which I, as a normal person, has no brain capacity to absorb (a lot of junk about a house being bulldozed and rebuilt-literally-and then the narrator, in this case the mother, ends by saying 'but you know what? They rebuilt.) I mean come on. It is being over-dramatised far, far, far too much and it ends up becoming a load of cheesy junk. How does a house being rebuilt have any relationship to a kid with leukaemia?
Enough of that. Apart from too many failed metaphors supposedly containing the Meaning of Life, the characters personalities are completely cliche; there's the Teenager who Rebels, the Kid with her Own Opinions, and the Saint. Oh please. Added to that heap of failure there is also an amazingly stupid and completely irrelevant sub-plot about Anna ('spare parts child')'s lawyer, and the counsellor/social worker being in love. This is meant to be a book which questions ethics and morals and the basis of human society and the legal system, not a love story. Even Twilight would be a better choice than this if I wanted to read a love story (and considering how much I dislike Twilight, that's saying something).
Spoilers Below
The ending was an epic fail. It was too predictable, and far too unrealistic. Leukaemia Kid is miraculously cured. Dad gets over Spare Parts's death. Mum mourns but gets over it. Teenager who Rebels becomes good.
I personally know a cancer survivor, and someone who died from cancer. And either way, that's not the way it works.

Raven's Gate by Anthony Horowitz

Raven's Gate is the first of the five books in The Power Of Five series written by Anthony Horowitz. It is about some people who are trying to protect the world from evil spirits, which somehow Matt, the main character, is involved in. Raven's Gate is the gate that can bring the evil ones back into the world, and Matt must find out how to stop it from happening!

I think this book was very interesting, it was pretty fast action paced which kept me flicking through the pages without putting the book down. Younger readers might get nightmares if they read before sleep as there are parts that are a bit spooky.

Age Group: Teens

Star Rating: 8.5/10

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Katniss Everdeen, a 16 year old girl is about to go to reaping for Hunger Games, a cruel game that the Capitol organised which 2 children aged 12-17 in each district has to kill each other. The motto is To kill or be killed. On the day of reaping the two children was chosen and it turned out to be her dear sister. On the verge of fainting, Katniss volunteers to step forward instead of her sister and to risk her life.

When the hunger games begin, Katniss will be in great danger. Will she succeed? Will she make enemies and allies?

Rating: 9/10

Warning: contains violence

I really enjoyed this book because it was one of the books that you had to read until the very end. The page turning book was well structured and was full of twists and turns.

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

The Da Vinci Code is a bit of a religious book as it contains content regarding Christian beliefs. Basically this book is about this group of people that want to be in possession of a particular item, or secret. Not many know about where this can be found, but this group of people is very desperate to know - they are able to go all out, no matter what it takes, even if it means to murder someone.

I think that this book is quite interesting, it has a good plot, but sometimes it goes on and on a bit too much which are the bits you can skim over. Apart from that, if you like reading about a chase and a fight to see who can solve the mystery first, this is a book you should definitely try.


Age Group: Teens & Adults (Mild Violence)

Star Rating: 7.5/10

Life As We Knew It by Susan Pfeffer

Life As We Knew It is about what happens when a meteor crashes into the moon. Yes, it sounds quite boring/uninteresting but it really is quite cool. When the moon gets hit it moves closer and closer to the earth, disrupting the waves of the seas, causing natural disasters, etc. This is like the end of the world; lots of people are dying from natural disasters and the effects of no electricity.
Life is hard to survive in when mother nature is not in a good mood.

Age Group: 12+ - teens

Star Rating: 8.5/10


Apparently they are now making this a series called The Last Survivors. They have now 3 books in the series, Life As We Knew It, The Dead and The Gone, and This World We Live In.

Tomorrow Series by John Marsden

Tomorrow When the War Began is the first out of the seven books in the Tomorrow Series. In this book, the main characters go camping over a weekend in the bush, with no adults to accompany them. When they come back from their camp they notice that there was nobody left in the houses and they were all quiet; some houses had been broken in and ravaged through. The night before they had left to go back to the city was the night they had seen planes in many formations go by. This was the beginning of something big, something that would change their lives forever.

Age group: Teens/12+

Star Rating: 8/10

Warning: This book contains violence and death scenes.

Mean Girls Movie Review

I LOVE this movie, starring Lindsey Lohan, Amanda Seyfried, Rachel Mc Adams and Lacy Chabert. Mean Girls is about Cady Heron who came from Africa and goes into High School and gets introduced into the different types of people(cheerleader, sporty, popular, nerds, freaks, asians, cool asians etc.) Eventually she makes friends and they plot to destroy Regina George the most popular girl in the school and has a group called "the plastics" containing Regina George The head of the plastics, Gretchen Weiners who knows a lot of things about everyone, Karen Smith the dumb one. After a while she becomes friends with Regina and slowly she becomes a plastic and starts to be mean like the rest of the them.

I love this movie as it is a chick flick and hilarious. Also has the BEST quotes.

Rating: 10/10

Rated: M

Reviewed by grace

Mao's Last Dancer by Li Cunxin

A moving tale of love and hardship, Li captures the essence of living in the time of the Cultural Revolution. The story moves seamlessly from his childhood, to the Ballet Academy in Beijing, to his life abroad, and although the back cover contains a full synopsis of the story, it really isn't the plot that makes this book special, it's the way he portrays Mao's China and the little incidents that made up the big picture of his lifetime. Competing with rats for food, witnessing the execution of counterrevolutionaries, and finally defecting from his motherland, this is a captivating autobiography by a truly amazing dancer--a must-read.

Suitable for: Weekends and Holidays

Age Group: Young Children (picture book), Kids (kids' version), Teens, and Adults

Star Rating: 9/10


Buy the Book Here

Read about the Movie Here (may take a while to load)

Horror High Series

The Horror High series are about horror stories (hence the name) about high school students dying, murder cases, vampires, all the scary things that you can imagine. These series are written by several authors such as R.L Stine (well known for his goosebumps series) Diane Hoh and many many other authors

The one that I read was called "Horror High Deadly rumours" was about Abbie who just moved schools finds Louis and becomes his girlfriend. After some time she heard a story on how his girlfriend mysteriously died and Abby wants to find the truth after she gets threats and having to go under life threatening situations.

This story you could say it was predictable (as I suspected the killer on the first few chapters) but you keep turn the pages to see what happens as there are so many twists and turns.

Rating for the series: 7.5/10

Rating for Deadly Rumours:7/10

by Grace

Air Head by Meg Cabot

My friend introduced to this book a while ago, but I never took it really seriously. I read it today and it was about a tomboy called Emerson. During an accident at Stark's mega grand opening (a company for models) Emerson is suddenly slipped into supermodel Nikky Howard's shoes, leaving her old self and troubles behind and starting a new struggle with the life of a supermodel.

Ranking 6/10

Although the plot is well structured, I have to say that it was mostly a really long and included lots of unnecessary detail and I didn't really have a link to the main character.

by grace

Kitchen Chinese by Ann Mah

So I bought a new book last year for Christmas but never got around to reading it. It was a first edition paperback of Kitchen Chinese by Ann Mah. I finally finished the 368-page novel yesterday and decided to try out one of the recipes one of these days.

Kitchen Chinese is a story about a young woman who is fired ('I used the handy term "laid off",' says Isabelle in the book) and decides to move to China to find a new job and get a fresh start. With all of the usual features of mainstream fiction written by young women (lots of romance, smooching, and details on Isabelle's love life), it is a lighthearted story filled with juicy details and plenty of mouth-watering descriptions of Chinese food. It's a nice, quick read, but doesn't really have that much of a plot, and is a tad too predictable. The main character doesn't really undergo a major change in the end and I guess a personality or characteristic change is something I like to see in characters.

Suitable for: Quick Reads

Age Group: Teens and Adults

Star Rating: 6/10

View Ann Mah's Site and Buy the Book Here