Eclipse of the Crescent Moon (Monika Dombay)

Book: Eclipse of the Crescent Moon

Book By: Géza Gárdonyi

Review By: Monika Dombay

The siege of Eger in 1552 was an astonishing event. A small Hungarian garrison commanded István Dobó successfully resisted a huge Turkish army for nearly six weeks and forged it to retreat disgarace. Dobó became a celebrated hero. But little is know of his brilliant explosives expert, Gergely Bornemissza, whose ingenious devices demoralized the Turks. It is his story that Géza Gárdonyi tells in Eclipse of the Crescent Moon, an exciting tale of chivalry and love, adventures and disasters, heroes and villains, culminating in the siege itself. Gárdonyi’s story, a convincing blend of history and fiction, has become a Hungarian literary classic.

To be continued…..

Kringle (Juyoung park)

'Kringle' written by Tony Abbott is about a boy namedKringle, who finds the power to change the world.

'Deep in the lands of ghosts and frost, back in the days of long ago, when elves and goblins still roamed the earth, there was a boy named Kringle...'

This is a story about Kringle, a 12 year old boy who lived in a quiet, solitary life until the goblins attacked his hom and cast him out into the bitter wilderness. Through encounter with elves, pirates, the ancient magic of time, and the dark threat of the goblins growing bigger for an epic battle, Kringle realises a destiny he has to fill- and that even a small young boy has the power to change the world.

Kringle is a book of fantasy and Magic, suitable for eager children's bedtime stories. This is the epic story of a lone boy destined to become a legend throughout the ages.

Black Beauty (Juyoung Park)

'Black Beauty' written by Anna Sewell is a fantastic book which conveys emotions of kindness to the reader. This book is about a horse names Black Beauty (literal meaning) who spends his life loyally workng for a different master everytime he is sold or given away.

Everything started in a powerful, quiet meadow where he can close his eyes next to his mother in 1877, where horses were the main transport system. Everything ends in a peaceful meadow where he is reunited with his love of his life, Ginger, together they can close their eyes for eternity....

"Whether pulling an elegant can or a ramshackle cab, Black Beauty tries to live as best as he can. This is his amazing story, told as only he could tell it" -Anna Sewell

'Black Beauty' is a lovely, compassionate book written from the perspective of Black Beauty- the horse-. This book was an instant success in USA and people slowly started to recognize that these horse werent just dumb animals but had feelings and lived in a world where they were just considered as one of the many..

Black Beauty has many owners-Some of them cruel and some of them kind. All he needs is someone to love him again.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Juyoung Park)

'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone' written by J.K.Rowling, is a mix between fantasy and 'real' life. When Harry Potter, a 14 year old boy finds out that he is a son of a brilliantly powerful wizard/witch couple, his life starts to change dramatically. Before he has time to think, Harry is transported to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and is greeted by royal friends, melicious enemies, rather strange teachers and a suspicious stone.

This book arouses our imagination with a 'BANG!' and helps us to unite together as readers to accuse or criticise the wrong deeds or praise the heroic.

'J.K.Rowling has woken up a whole new generation to reading.' -The Times.

This is the perfect read for anyone interested in fantasy, talking portraits, powerfull life-changing stones and more! The story starts off in 4 Privet drive, where Harry has lived 14 years of his life, thinking that his parents had died of a car crash. The mysterious Hogwarts School, where the teachers look at him suspiciously and hides a secret. What is the truth...?

Toad Rage (Juyoung Park)

'Toad Rage' written by Morris Gleitzman is an epic story of a slightly squashed young cane toad's quest for the truth. Toad Rage is a story about a young cane toad who is on a journey to find out why humans hate cane toads so much. It is easier for Limpy to relate the questions back to humans, being a cane toad afterall.

"I had spotted the sings. The cross looks. The unkind comments. The way they squash cane toads with their cars..." -Limpy

'Toad Rage' is set in a thick swamp in Australia. It is full of bull ants and mosquitos. Limpy decides to go to South Australia and tell the humans just how adorable and nice cane toads really are. But with all the purposeful runovers aimed at Limpy and his cousin Goliath, it will be the most wart-chillingly dangerous journey of his life. But also the funniest.

'Toad Rage' investigates the themes love and loyalty even shown among the lowest of animals. 'Toad Rage' is written in the perspective of Limpy, the cane toad. But Limpy discovers that not all questions are meant to be answered...

The Phantom Tollbooth (Ju young Park)

'The Phantom Tollbooth' written by Norton Juster is a book that is full of fantasy, magical lands and talking dogs. When Milo recieves a Phantom Tollbooth given to him to cease his bordom, he decides to take a tour on it, with a statement:

'RESULTS MAY NOT BE GUARANTEED, BUT IF NOT PERFECTLY SATISFIED, YOUR WASTED TIME WILL BE REFUNDED.'

But Milo is a very, extremely bored boy who doesn't know what to do with himself. He meets different characters, goes to different places and takes on a whole new positive perspective to the world. Milo will have to save princesses, fight demons and go through the Kingdom of Wisdom to come out again.

But is he really in the Kingdom of Wisdom? Is Milo really driving a Phantom Tollbooth? Or is he just realising something that has always been there?

Face



Written By Benjamin Zephaniah

In the book face written by Benjamin Zephaniah.

Martin is on top of the world thinking life could not possibly get better , he’s the coolest guy at school , has a fantastic girlfriend and is a leader of a gang of three(Mathew , Mark and himself).That is until his world turns upside down - literally .After a night out partying at the club in town Martin finds himself drunk and wandering home when one of his schools students , that he doesn’t know , offers him a lift home. Martin thinking he is only getting a lift home jumps in the car not realizing who’s driving. After the accident , Martin doesn’t realize he’s been in , he wakes up in a room, not his room, a blank white sterile smelling room. Later on questions are being fired at him one after the other….exhaustion takes over and questions bother and fill his mind. Where is he?Why am I here?Where are my friend and family.Why do I feel so stiff ??????? He doesn’t want to be seen by anyone , everyone always stares at him , his friends treat him differently and suddenly it seems as if his girlfriend isn't really his anymore.

In this book the characters are martin, Mathew, Mark, Natalie, Martin’s parents , Martin’s counsellor and Anthony. Anthony is a boy in hospital who meets Martin while he is in hospital .He makes Martin realize that he is still not suffering as bad as some people ,especially Anthony who has to still go in for operations years after his own birth defect in which he had no control over it. Mathew and Mark are Martin’s best friends as well as having Natalie as a close friend and girlfriend . Throughout the whole book the person that stays Martins good friend is Mathew. Mark slowly breaks off from being part of the gang of three after Martins accident and finds another group of friends to hang out with.Natalie is a great girlfriend until after the accident when she finds it hard to see Martin with his burnt face .Martins parents are also very important and are very kind and help Martin through his operation and facing school. Martin also has a very important counsellor who helps with facing his friends, school, and other little problems he faces along the way.

I really enjoyed this book because it had you feeling like it was a true story .I felt that this book always had new little problems that were popping up . The thing that kept me hooked was that you always wanted to see what was going to happen next.

In conclusion I would recommend this book to people around the age of fourteen as it would be a situation that a few teenagers would get into not realizing what their in for.

By Jess Maxtone

BOOK REVIEW: House Rules - Jodi Picoult

House Rules by Jodi Picoult introduces a character, Jacob, who is diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, and because of his disability he is unable to understand human emotions. However, he has a huge interest in forensic science and crime scenes, and when his behavioral psychologist, Jess, is murdered, he is the prime suspect. Was he really the murderer or was it just a misunderstanding?

This book kept me reading. Even though there were multiple storylines they all tied together in the end. The main character’s emotions really made me feel so sorry for him. Only two things I didn’t like: the fact that the main storyline tended to get lost around all the other story lines, and the ending was very abrupt and didn’t quite follow on for long enough to make me understand what was really happening.

This book has mature themes and some difficult concepts. I would rate it 8 out fo 10.

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams (Logan)

"Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency" by Douglas Adams is described on one edition's cover as a "thumping good detective-ghost-horror-who dunnit-time travel-romantic-musical-comedy-epic" and I believe that just about sums it up.

It is difficult to describe the setting of this book. There is a time machine, so the span is from about four million years ago to present. As for location, there are several places of interest. A majority of the book is set in St Cedd's college, Cambridge, England. Other times are spent in the main character's houses, Dirk Gently's office, and even Mauritius (a small island east of Madagascar).

The main characters are Dirk Gently, Richard MacDuff, Professor Urban Chronotis (Reg), Gordon Way, Susan Way, Michael Wenton-Weakes, and an unnamed alien ghost. Dirk Gently is intelligent but lazy, possibly clairvoyant, and rips off old ladies with missing cats as a detective. Richard MacDuff is a young software engineer who works for WayForward technologies II. His Anthem software is extremely popular, but he fails to meet many of his deadlines. Reg is a professor at St Cedd's college. He operates a time machine and is "on the older side of completely indeterminate". His position, Regius Professor of Chronology was appointed by King Richard III. Gordon Way is the founder of WayForward technologies. He is the brother of Susan Way. Susan Way is a professional cellist, Richard's girlfriend, and Gordon's sister. Michael Wenton-Weakes is a spoilt son of publishing giant Lord Magna. His magazine, Fathom, was sold to Gordon Way after his mother took over the family business. This upsets him and makes him susceptible to hypnotism and possession. I will not describe the alien ghost's background as that would spoil the story.

The sentence at the start is a good indication of all the themes. The name Holistic Detective Agency refers to Dirk Gently’s “conviction that what we are concerned with here is the fundamental interconnectedness of all things”. This book suggests an afterlife, and makes links from this to the interconnectedness and perfect music. There are several puzzles the characters face in this book. Richard has a sofa that is wedged in his hallway, and his computer simulation shows it is impossible to get out or into its position without fundamental restructuring of the walls. Reg performs an impossible conjuring trick involving an ancient pot and a salt shaker. Samuel Taylor Coleridge is possessed by a spirit who influences his poems the Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla Khan. This book also goes into computer generated music, suggesting that natural beauties are actually complex maths.

This book is very entertaining to read and interesting to think about. At the start many of the events seem unrelated, but as the book progresses you notice the fundamental interconnectedness of things. It was just as amusing, if not more, to read for the second time, as you find many intricate details. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants an intelligent comedy read. There is also a sequel which I have not read but should find a copy of.

-- Logan

Dragon Keeper by Carole Wilkinson (Hayley)

Dragon Keeper

by Carole Wilkinson

This story is the first book out of the three series of book it has.

It is about an unnamed chinese girl who had been sold by her parents when she was a baby to a brutal master who was the Imperial Dragonkeeper, Master Lan. She is the slave of Master Lan and is always asked to do things by his commands. He was bad-tempered and was always cold to her, and in the book it was mentioned, the only time he would smile was when he was laughing at her stupidity. As he was the Dragonkeeper, he was the one who is meant to be the one looking after the dragons, instead, because of his laziness, he asked the chinese slave girl do the work for him.

The time the main characters, the Dragon and the girl had met was when the dragon was about to be slaughtered, she heard a voice in her mind. Through the dragon, she found her name which was Ping, and the Dragon's name being Long Danzi. The Dragon trains her as an Imperial Dragonkeeper, and as she was not educated, she learnt her language by the dragon's help.

They face danger when they try to escape from the isolated area. They come across adventures too and meet knew people and Ping learns new skills as a Dragonkeeper.

Overall, this story is a fantasy and an adventure book. It is recommended to intermediate level and juniors in the high school range. It is quite a nice story and the descriptions and details compliment on the story.

Dont call me Jojo by Tania Mills (stephanie)

Don't Call Me Jojo written by Tania Mills is a quick and easy read. This short, 130 page novel is an emotionally deep story and shows a great insight into the characters mind.

The main character, Josephine Wilder (Jojo) is a thirteen year old girl with a fun and perfect life. One night Jojo hears 'a murmuring, scraping sound' from outside her window and is for the first time truly afraid. She jumps out of bed, picks up her eighteen month old sister, Nell and shakes her parents awake. Her mum opens the door to find the police on their doorstep with a warrant to search their house for stolen goods. Later Jojo's father is arrested and moved to a jail in Pleasant Valley where she, her mum and sister will eventually move.

Hatred for her dad, annoyance at her mum, Jojo feels like her whole world is closing in and suffocating her. Josie is now the name everyone must call her, no more innocent Jojo she decides because it was the nickname her father gave her.

Luckily she fits in well at school and everyone is very friendly and soon enough Josie has a new best friend, Jamie. Bubbly, confident Jamie lands the lead role in their school production and Josie, very proud of getting into the chorus. In between helping her mum at home and school rehearsals, Josie slowly starts to forgive her dad. Not having the mental strength to visit him in prison though she starts to write him letters every week. With the production coming up and her dad release nearing is Josie prepared for what's about to happen?

This captivating story is well written, making you experience a range of various emotions. I recommend this book for all ages because it makes you open your eyes and see the world through a different perspective.

Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean m Auel (Jessica Saul)

Title: The Clan of the Cave Bear
Author:Jean M Auel

Tis novel is about a girl named Ayla who has lost her family and almost got killed by a Lion. Agroup of people called 'Clan' take her in . The Clan speek in gestures that Ayla learns to speek in . Ayla learns that the females in the clan do anything a male tells them. Ayla grows up with the Clan and starts training to be a medicen woman .
Broud the son of the leader has a deep hatered for Ayla . Broud is attention seeking and Ayla has taken the attention and she deffies his commands . Broud makes Ayla's life misreble .
There are many surprise twists to the story .

This is a great novel that is well written and gives you an insite to how prehistoric civilisation worked .

I recomend this book to anyone who enjoys Adventure ,History or Fiction books .

The Clique by Lisi Harrison (reviewed by Christine)

In this young adult novel, elementary schooler Claire Lyons moves from sunny Florida to the famous and chic suburb, Westchester County, New York. Obviously knowing that she doesn't fit into the high-society social circle, Claire's journey in this book is definitely not your ordinary fairytale.

Claire's family and herself moved to Westchester, and stayed with one of her dad's old friends. He has a daughter named Massie Block, who is the same age as Claire, and will be "schooling buddies" not very long after. Massie is known as the top of the food chain at her prestigious private school. Massie never fancied Claire, and always gave her a hard time.

Massie has her school-ruling buddies as well, or more oftenly known as The Pretty Committee, which consists of Alicia Rivera, the "second-in-command" after Massie, the exotic beauty who dresses in Ralph Lauren, Dylan Marvil, the gateway of the clique to the showbiz world, as her mother is a famous talkshow host, and lastly Kristen Gregory, an all-star football player, but this doesn't mean she is a tomboy, she is a designer-clothing aficionado and she is highly intelligent.

My favourite quote from this book is:

Did I ask you to take my temperature?
No
Then why are you all up my butt?

The Pretty Commitee conspires to ruin Claire's life, bit by bit. Until Claire fights back. Will Claire succeed in getting even with the Pretty Committee, or even turning out to be better than them?

Blabber Mouth By Morris Gleitzman ( Courtney Russell)

Rowena Batts has just shifted school and the reason why is that the school she was at just got shut down it was a special school as she called it. She can not speak because she was born with bits of her throat missing but other than that she is a normal girl who can write, draw,point, nod, shake her head, and screw up her nose.



She has a normal dad she lives with. She says that he is stopping her from being popular because of his weird behaviour. But she thinks that he is the best. he is an apple farmer in Australia.



This book is set in Australia where her dad is a apple farmer and she also goes to a normal school now instead of her special school.



When she goes to her new school she hands out this letter that her and her dad spent most of the night writing. some kids in her new class smiled some laughed in a nice way and some nudged and gave her smirky looks she got teased so much she went and locked her self in a janitors closet.

The main characters are her (Rowena Batts) her dad (you don't really find out his name she just calls him dad, her teacher (Ms. Dunning) and that is the main characters but there are a lot or minor roles like the guy (Darryn Pecks) in her class and Rowena's new friend(Amanda Cosgrove.)

My opinion of this book is that it is kind of sad because i felt a little bit sorry for the girl but the thing is that it did not stop her from getting on with her life. which showed that she did not care about what people thought and she just made that most of every second.

Digital Fortress by Dan Brown (Reviewed by Brian)

"Who will guard the guards?"

Susan Fletcher, the National Security Agency's head cryptographer, receives a call from her fiance, David Becker, to postpone their trip due to an emergency and promising to call back to explain. While Susan waits, her NSA Deputy Director of Operations, Trevor Strathmore, calls with an emergency. The N.S.A.'s best code-breaking machine, TRANSLTR is having difficulty breaking a new type of code and it appears that its programmer has mysteriously died in Spain. Unknown to her, David Becker is heading to Spain to retrieve the key to the code

Digital Fortress is the first novel by Dan Brown, and unlike his famous fourth book, The Da Vinci Code, does not challenge religious beliefs. Rather, it challenges whether the authorities should be able to ignore civilian privacy for the good of the country.

I enjoyed the way Brown uses a lot of minor characters to make the story rich and interesting. By doing this, we learn a great deal of information which helps us to understand the story.

Like all great thrillers, the book has a dramatic twist which was not easy to predict, teaching us that characters may not be as they seem.

Personally, I loved Digital Fortress. It is, in fact, one of my favourite thrillers and I would rate it 8.5/10. There is nothing in particular that I want to criticise about the book. I think it shows you the standards of what thillers should be like. It has rich, interesting story with a memorable twist. If you are looking for something fun to read in your spare time, this is just the book for you.

P.S. If you don't read every chapter carefully, you are gonna have hard time solving the puzzle on the last page of the book.

Book Review: Cherub The Fall

Cherub: The Fall is about when James Adams (the main character) comes back from a disastrous mission in Russia where 2 American agents unexpectedly kill someone. James is nearly killed before he can escape and barely makes it out of the country alive. Back at the Cherub campus the investigation into the mission is moving very slowly and James suspects the investigator isn't telling him everything.

The Cherub series is composed of eleven books all following the life and missions of James Adams his friend and sister. Cherub is a facility in England for training children as agents for investigative purposes. They often work in cooperation with FBI and other existing police force and investigation corporations. It isn't particularly fast paced for an action but I see that as a positive aspect to the series meaning that it is very believable and not just packed with ridiculous levels of impossible stunts like many action books. It spends more time focusing on how the system of law and police force operates and how to gain enough evidence to convict people for crimes.

I found it a thoroughly enjoyable series and it is very worthwhile reading.

Highly recommended.

Theo Moolenaar.

Reggie And Aaron are best friends in so many ways including the love off all things horror

When I Was Joe Written By Karen David Reviewed By Kenadee

This story is about a shy boy named Ty, who witnesses a life-changing murder. When he tells his mum, she takes him to the police. The police then put him into witness protection because he names a few of the people involved. When Ty gets a makeover he looks like a new person. Once he starts high school he almost instantly becomes "The Cool Kid Joe" who joins the track team. His trainer/mentor Ellie who is a few years older than Ty. Ellie is wheel-chair bound, She doesn't let that stop her though she constantly tries her best and is in the paralympics. When Joe spies a shy girl Claire in his class one day he is instantly reminded of his former self. Later on in the story we find out that Claire is Ellie's little sister and she also has a dangerous secret of her own. If you enjoy stories about popular girls getting absolutely nothing they want, or Love stories that aren't all gooey and soppy,or thrillers, or stories where you don't want to put the book down then this is definately the book for you.

"The Merchant of Venice" by William Shakespeare

One of Shakepspeare's favourite classics, The Merchant of Venice has all the thrill of justice, cruelty, friendship and love.

Antonio, a rich venetian merchant takes the risk of a pound of flesh in order to borrow 3000 ducats from Shylock, a Jewish money lender. The money is then used by Bassanio in order to woo Portia, a rich woman from Belmont. After Antonio fails to pay back the borrowed sum, the story pledges into action with everybody ending up in court to debate the case...

Will Antonio's flesh get cut by Shylock? Will anybody stand to prevent such result? Read the book to find out more - It will certainly not disappoint you.

The Pact by Jodi Picoult (stephanie)

The Pact by Jodi Picoult is an intense read but well worth it.

This story is about two seventeen year olds who believe they are soul mates and it shows how their relationship evolves and changes throughout their lives. Emily Gold is a smart and friendly girl who everyone is fond of and Chris Harte is a smouldering sporty boy that anyone would be happy to be with. Their parents have been best friends ever since they moved next door to each other as pregnant mothers so when their beloved children start to date it comes as no shock to anyone. Chris and Emily seem so happy just to be in each others company but the whole scene is ripped apart when Emily is found dead with a gunshot wound to her head and Chris lying next to her covered in blood with a gun in his hand. At first Chris was sent to counselling as it was believed to be a double suicide attempt, but as the story unwinds and a long string of secrets that both Emily and Chris have held close are revealed.

This a compelling novel and it was hard for me to put down as just when you think you have figured out the many mysteries a new piece of the puzzle is revealed. This is a dark, twisted story but I recommend it for anyone that likes the unexpected with a feel-good ending.

By Stephanie

Someone like you by Sarah Dessen (Jaimee)

This is a girly book that reflected teenage life's and the consequences of the choices you make in life.

Halley and Scarlett(main characters), have been best friends for years. People know Scarlett as the popular one, and Halley as her quiet friend. at the beginning of their junior year alot of dramas become reality. First, Scarlett's boyfriend Michael is killed in a motorcycle accident. Soon afterward, she realises that she is carrying his baby.

This story shows how halley the quiet friend who always depended on scarlett, is now having to be supportive for scarlett and the baby to come. It also shows how halley meets a boy named macon, and how he changes her into a girl she doesnt want to be, forcing her to get in to alchol and drugs while attending parties. Macon now wanting sex gets rejeacted by halley and as he is mad at her he drives her home shouting and screaming at her causing an accident where halley is seriously injured.

Halley then realises the girl she has became and now as scarletts baby girl (Grace Halley Thomas) is born, decides to focus on being there for her friends and family and leaving macon for good.

This is a great story and shows you what growing up is all about, you have to face challenges in life but if you make the right decision, then everything will turn out alright in the end.

Ask Me No Questions by Marina Budhos (Reviewed by JoonSu)

Fourteen-year-old Nadira and her family are immigrants from Bangladesh living in New York City. Nadira has an eighteen-year-old sister, Aisha who dreams of going to college to become a doctor. Although they were living on expired visas, their lives were going well until 9/11 happens. 9/11 totally changes the family’s life, and it is when Abba (Nadira’s father) decided to flee to the Canadian border hoping for a new life. But Nadira’s dad is arrested and detained at the border, everything goes worse. Now Aisha has to take care of Nadira and pretend to be nothing happened. This is shown in page 30 when Mr. Friedlander, the coach for her math team asks her ‘I was looking for you yesterday, were u sick?’ Nadira lied ‘Nothing big, just a little stomach flu.’ I notice from the story that Nadira were not even allowed to say anything about her status to her best friend, Lily Yee. Aisha is in an absolute panic, she is in fear of going back to Bangladesh. Nadira try to find a way to bring her family together but there is not much for a girl to do with the powerful American government. The story ends with a happy ending where Nadira’s family was granted residency status.

There is a line in the story which I am quite impressed’ The thing is we’ve always been this way-floating, not sure where we belong. In the beginning we lived so that we could pack up any day, fold up all our belongings into the same nylon suitcases…you forget, you don’t really exist here, that this really isn’t your home.’ This expresses the uncertainty of the immigrants in USA. Uncertainty is a typical problems faced by the immigrants. Marina Budhos uses Nadira as the narrator so that the feelings are easily shown throughout the story. More background explanations might have made this book great.

Divine Madness by Robert Muchamore (by Liam)

James is a normal teenage orphan boy. The only difference is that James is part of Cherub, a teen spy organisation. In this action filled novel, James has been sent to Australia to investigate a possible connection between the terrorist organisation Help Earth and the religious group called the Survivors. James and his sister Lauren get into the school of the Survivors at the Ark and find a helpful friend to survive the chaos when the survives go into meltdown.

This is a great book to read if you are into Spy's and Action. Look out for the next book "Man vs Beast" in the great Cherub series.

Reviewed by Liam

Brigands M.C. By Robert Muchamore

This 'high-octane action' book is filled with thrills and suspence leaving you compeled to read futher on.Being the 11th book of the series , you are expected to know about the characters behavior and personalities but this book does give a brief discription of the characters through-out the novel.At the start of the book , a new character Dante is introduced.He is new to the cherub series but does say a few words in the 1st book.Dante has been recruited as a cherub agent and is out to get revenge on the people that have destroyed his past.Along with Dante , James Adams is the other staring character in this book also being the main character in all the previous books.

The book being set in South Devon is based on Dante , who's parents were killed by The Fuhrer the leader of The Brigands in a row about leadership and now The Fuhrer wanted Dante dead.Dante , lucky enough to survive , escaped and was later picked up by CHERUB a special organisation for kid spys.Now Dante wants revenge and he teams up with the older and highly qualified James Adams and his sister Lauren who is the same age as Dante in a mission to destroy the Brigands from the inside.

I found this book action packed and filled with twists and turns all the way through

and very hard to put down.I look fowards to the the series' 12th and last book titled 'Shadow Wave coming out later this year. - Max

Sara's Face written by Melvin Burgess (reviewed by Bethany)

Sara's Face by Melvin Burgess is a novel that focuses on a young girl called Sara and her addiction with fame. Sara wants to be famous and not for doing something just for being someone; she wants to be a walking art work. When she meets the superstar Jonathan Heath who has gone through to many surgeries to change his pop star image she feels her dreams will come true. When he takes her under his wing and removes her from the life she once lived in order to prepare her for a surgery things become strange and even more so when Sara starts seeing ghosts.

Melvin Burgess sets this book out as if it the story you are reading is factual and all of this is happening to some poor 17 year old girl. The use of a transcript of a 'video diary' to let the reader know what is going on inside Sara's head during these times gives a more personal touch to the third person narrative used. Although he tries to rope you in and keep you on the edge of your seat I found myself often guessing the next plot twist before it appeared on the page.

Overall this book interestingly explores the impact of fame and pressure one can put on ones self concerning there appearance. Also it explores how people can turn a blind eye towards the suspicious nature of things when their dreams are being handed to them. These themes have the reader thinking long after they turn the final page.

Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella (reviewed by Christine)

This book is a nice girly book to read. It is more for the teenage/young adult crowd. It is a fiction book, and it has been made into a blockbuster movie in mid 2009. You'll find this book very enjoyable, easy-going and humourous.

This book is about a girl named Rebecca Bloomwood (also known as Becky Bloomwood), and she is a major shopaholic, one day, her debt was too much that her bank manager called her up, and wanted to have a meeting with her, face to face. She keeps procrastinating and when her bank manager got so furious, he asked her to pay up or all her credit cards will be terminated.

This story also introduces other characters such as Suze (Becky's best friend), Luke Brandon(Becky's soon-to-be husband), and Derek Smeath (The bank manager).

There was an incident where Becky wanted to buy a Denny & George scarf, and she had no cash, so she had to use her credit cards, but all of them could not be used, and she wanted that scarf so badly, so she ran across the road to a hot dog stand and asked the vendor to exchange a cheque for cash, then Luke was standing right there and he gave Becky $20, just like that. She was so happy, and that was how Becky and Luke met.

Overall, I think this is a good book to read when you are on a vacation, or on a normal day before going to bed.

61 Hours by Lee Child (Reviewed by Brian)

Reacher, the ex-military police vagabond, faces another mission in Bolton in South Dakota.

It's winter. Reacher gets stuck in the 'small' village with the largest prison in the U.S.A., Bolton, due to the wreckage of the bus that he has been on. As he stays a night in the house of the police officer, Andrew Petersons, he discovers that an important witness, Janet Salter, is being threaten by a mob of bike gangs and agrees to aid local police, led by Cheif Holland, to help protect the witness.

61 Hours is the fourteenth book in the 'Jack Reacher' series. As always, our half-French, half-American action hero fights through a challenging and unfair environment, thinks ahead of the enemy, and solves the problem. The story is well-presented, entertaining, and intense - all you can ask for in/from a thriller. It is totally engrossing, like the other books from the series.

However, unlike previous novels, the ending is unusual because Reacher does not achieve all of his goals. Also, in the last chapter, both Reacher and his enemy suddenly disappear, and it just says "To be continued", which, as far as I know, has never happened before in the series. Where is Reacher? Why hasn't Mr Child given us a conclusion? This ending was a bit frustrating, because I have to wait until the next book, 'Worth Dying For', comes out at the end of the year, to find out what happened.

Apart from the random ending, there are two things I found boring about the style of writing. First, though I have said it is 'well-presented, entertaining, and intense', it is also predictable. If you have read Lee Child's books, you know who the bad guy is and how the story will progress. It will be another repetitive story of the smart hobo helping civillians. Secondly, conversations in the book are too repetitive. It is like 20 major and minor characters share the same personality with slight intellectual differences. A certain situation or conversation just repeats in different scenes. For instance, when Reacher says something smart, Anderson will say "Ok." and when Anderson tells Reacher about the bike gangs, Reacher ends the conversation with "Ok.". After Reacher teaches Janet Salter how to shot, she ends the tuition by saying "Ok.".

To sum up, 61 Hours is entertaining and has everything that you can ask for in a thriller; 'well-presented, entertaining, and intense'. However, the random ending and its typical "Jack Reacher" progression and conversation can kill the fun for those who have read any previous novels. I would rate it 7/10 and strongly encourage those who haven't been through a Reacher adventure before to grab the book immediately and experience his 61 hours.

By Brian

The Ring of McAllister - by Robert Marantz (reviewed by Julian Chu-Tan)

This novel is set in the small town of Red Fork, Pennsylvania. There lives 17 year old, William Lassiter and his two best friends, Katie Wilson and Tyrone Martin or 'Ty' as they call him. The town used to be the country estate of a very rich and powerful man know as Algernon McAllister in the late nineteenth century. McAllister died on the maiden voyage of the 'Titanic '. Most of the families in Red Fork have lived there for a few generations, including the Lassiters. All the residents of Red Fork enjoy the peace, comfort and closeness of the town, all except for one, Will. He always felt like he was locked inside a cage, he wanted to see the rest of the world and he wanted to leave Red Fork as soon as possible. He lives next to the massive mansion which was where McAllister lived in his day, but it always had a strange feeling and eerieness to it which made most residents stay away. But when his new neighbour, Dr. Perez and his daughter Laura moved into the ' Stone Manor ,' a mystery began to unfold, one that was covered up for centuries. That's when things start to get really, really strange...

' The Ring of McAllister ' is a great book for adventure lovers and also people who enjoy a good thriller! There are a few slightly disturbing parts that might make you to prefer to read it in daylight. This book is full of nail-biting excitement and action and completed with a thrilling, suspenseful and powerful storyline that makes this novel extremely hard to put down. This book is well written and is full of highly descriptive language and is very detailed. I definitely recommend this book to others and assure them that it will not fail to please even the most discerning readers!

Don't Call Me Jojo

Don't Cal Me Jojo

By Tania Mills

Don't Call Me Jojo By Tania Mills In the book “Don’t call me Jojo” written by Tania Mills.Everything is going well for Jojo the main character. She feels life is going pretty good until one morning Jojo wakes up to a loud banging on their front door. She is terrified and lies in her bed frozen stiff. The police are now in their sitting room with Jojo’s dad while Jojo's mum and little sister wait in the kitchen, confused by the whole situation. Next thing Jojo knows she finds out her dad is a criminal. She find’s out her favourite birthday present (a cell-phone her parents gave her) was stolen by her dad. Her mum is yelling and screaming at her dad asking why? Jojo is embarrassed and just as she thought things couldn’t get any worse they did....

“Don’t call me Jojo” is a very realistic and powerful story that makes you realize how much some children have to suffer because of a wrong a family member has made. It was written for the teenage age group as younger readers may misinterpret the whole concept and situation.

The main characters in this book are Jojo, her mum, her little sister and her dad .Jojo is a strong willed character who is quite emotional at times. She is really hurt by what her dad has done and cannot believe that they are going to move so that they are closer to the dad when he is in jail doing his sentence. She can not stand to even go and see her dad while he is in jail. Jojo’s mum is devastated by what her husband has done, after he promised her he would never steal again after an earlier incident. She goes and visits her husband in jail every week. Jojo’s little sister is quite oblivious to what has happened to her dad and is a good distraction to take Jojo’s mind off her father.

I really enjoyed this book because it had a good moral which was always stand up for yourself and friends are the people who care about you no matter what and also explained what would happen to some families in real life, when a family member goes to prison. It showed true dedication from the family in supporting the dad when he went to jail, and how important one member of the family can be. Even though at the time Jojo hated the idea that they were moving away from town , she realized it wouldn’t actually matter because everyone at school knew of what her dad had done so it probably wouldn’t be that fun staying there anyway .

In conclusion I would recommend this book to a female who is between the age of 12 and 15 and who enjoys a book with an interesting twist , enjoys books that have a good moral or like books that always keep you hooked by putting in new small or difficult problems. This is a great read for someone who likes to feel that they never want the book to end.

By Jess Maxtone

Snake Head by Anthony Horowitz (Logan)

Snake Head is the seventh book in the Alex Rider series (eight books by Anthony Horowitz). In these books Alex Rider, a teenage spy, is persuaded by intelligence agencies from all over the world to work for them.

Alex’s father was a talented spy who died with his mother in an “accidental” plane crash when Alex was young. Alex was brought up by his uncle and a young housekeeper. The series begins with his uncle’s death. Alex finds that his uncle was also a spy. Alex is ideal for the use of the MI6, ASIS and CIA as he is a skilled skier, mountain biker, scuba diver, climber and has a black belt in karate (almost as though his uncle had been grooming him with useful skills for a spy). He also thinks fast, weighs up all the options and makes sensible decisions.

In this book Alex travels widely, starting by splashing down from space in the Australian ocean. He goes to Bangkok with his godfather Ash, gets taken to Darwin in a cargo boat by the snake head, he gets taken to an illegal organ transplant clinic hidden in the Australian bush and finally escapes and stops the Royal Blue from detonating and causing a tsunami that would wipe out Australia. Alex is at first persuaded by the ASIS to work for them act as a cover for his godfather Ash like he did in Skeleton Key. He chooses to cooperate in hope that he might learn about his parents, who knew Ash well. He ends up fighting for his life against terrorist groups Snake Head and Scorpia.

I think Snake Head is the second best book in the series so far. The best was Point Blanc, in which Alex is sent to a French school for rich boys to find out about the assassination of the fathers of two of the boys there. I liked Snake Head because of the good variety of characters and plot. The plot is also topical in that it features illegal organ harvesting, a pacific tsunami, refugee smuggling and state of the art modern weaponry.

-- Logan

Being By Kevin Brooks (Josef)

Being
By Kevin Brooks

This book is about a 16 year old boy named Robert Smith, who lives in Essex, England. He goes into the hospital for a routine endoscopy. His safe and comfortable life is soon destroyed by an intense discovery made by an innocent and unsuspecting doctor. What is he? Is he an alien from outer space? Is he a monster from the sewers? Is he a lab experiment gone wrong? So many questions, no answers. What he does know is that he needs to run away from a man named Ryan and his men, because they want 2 cut him up and find out whats wrong with him. Robert goes to the only person he can trust, Eddie. Will they run away and hide successfully or will Robert end up being cut up to pieces?

This book has a lot of description and vocabulary but is still easy to understand.
"Memories about his birth parents feel manufactured. Hopping around from foster home to foster home through the years, he doesn't recall ever getting sick or seriously injured. All he has are his dreams, and those bad dreams feel real enough."
This extract shows us the extensive use of vocabulary that the author has used. He uses a lot of description to introduce us to the environment. He uses all the five senses, sight, hearing, smelling, touching and tasting. This is, why I think, he wrote this book excellently.

I recommend this book for anybody aged 12 - 16 who likes a slow but intense action book.

Intro

This blog is about the class, 10OS of Burnside high school reading the (hopefully) crazy amount of books and reviewing them on the internet. These will include a wide range of different books of fiction and non-fiction. ENJOY