Tyranny by Lesley Fairfield

A short but hard-hitting graphic novel which shows the transition of a young girl from healthy to close to death and her struggle to return to healthy again. Tyranny is the “other voice” telling her she must lose weight – that she is not skinny enough when she  is actually skeletal.

In the shadow or no towers by Art Spigelman

From the title to the cover where you have to look carefully to see the shape of the Twin Towers that were the target of a terrorist attack in 2001. Most people will be able to tell you what they were doing at the time when the planes went into these massive towers in New York City and how they watched in awe and fear as the fires started and eventually both buildings totally collapsed.

Art Spigelman is well known for his graphic novels, his most famous one being “Maus” – his parents’ story during the Holocaust. Art lived in New York in 2001 and his daughter had just started in a school at the foot of the towers three days before the event. But this is not just Art’s story – it is the story of so many people in the city, and of the city itself. Each double page includes so many different pieces of information on them that you need to spend time to take it all in.

This is an amazing work of art, and an incredible insight into an event which changed the Western world forever.

Beautiful Malice by Rebecca James

Ever had a friend who seems to be everything to you – companion, supporter  encourager? And even though they may not be perfect, you still love them because they love you with all your imperfections? Well that was Alice – a great friend but with some strange personality traits.

But Katherine likes her – she needs friends when she moves to Sydney to live with her aunt after shocking events have happened in her family. It’s just that as the story progresses, Katherine begins to doubt that the pluses are more than the minuses in her relationship with Alice.

It’s great to see a book set in Sydney. Katherine’s parents seem very realistic and Alice’s ability to twist most people around her little finger is almost scary to watch.

The Fetch by Laura Whitcomb

Calder is a ‘Fetch’, a ‘being’ who takes souls from their body up to heaven once they die.  Calder is rather curious, and so switches places with a man; taking his body whilst the soul roams in the place between Earth and heaven. The body he takes is that of Rasputin’s, the religious healing man, and close friend of the Russian Tsarina. After the Russian Royal family is killed, Calder( as Rasputin) takes care of the Tsarevitch- Alexis and princess Anastasia, who have not been killed. The real issue I had with this book was not the writing (which was good) or the plot (which was really quite slow, but still interesting) but the idea of Calder/Rasputin falling in love with Anastasia. Ana is around 16 years old, and Calder himself is 19, however the mental image of a pretty teenage girl with an overweight, hairy, dirty and just plain creepy man in his late 40s was just too weird. I must admit I didn’t finish the book, and I don’t un-recommended it, I just personally was very disappointed and (whilst I persevered as long as I could) uninterested. Perhaps my expectations were too high.

 *note for Modern History girls – this book is set during the Russian revolution and studying the Romanov’s in year 11 adds further knowledge and extra interest  when reading!

 However I highly recommend Whitcomb’s other book A Certain Slant of Light – a lovely ghost/romance novel with lots of poetic allusions. (Probably for Young Adult, or even Senior Fiction)

Impossible by Nancy Werlin

Lucy Scarborough is a seventeen year old girl, who lives with her adopted parents and her good friend, Zach, whom she has know since they were both small. She soon discovers that all the women in her family have been cursed to fall pregnant at 17, and must complete three ‘impossible’ tasks or turn crazy after the birth of a  baby girl – the fate endured by her own biological mother who often follows her. However living in our technological age has its advantages, as do having extremely dedicated parents and definitely-more-than-just-friends Zach (who is so cute!), and so the prospects look better for Lucy than they did for the previous women in her family.

This book is based on an old poem ‘Scarborough Fair’, which is also a Simon and Garfunkel song. I thought this was a wonderful book. Recommended to readers who like to read urban-fantasy with a bit of romance. I would say probably for slightly more mature readers, as there are some ‘sensitive’ scenes/issues.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

I had read so many amazing reviews of The Forest of Hands and Teeth, and was quite excited when I actually got to read it.

It is basically a post-apocalyptic novel, set after the world has been taken over by zombie-like beings. Mary lives within the boundaries of a big fence, which the ‘unconsecrated’ (or zombies) are constantly shaking at. The Sisterhood are a group of “nuns”, who control the small village of people who haven’t been infected by the unconsecrated. Before Mary can be ‘bonded’ (aka married) to Harry, the village is infiltrated. And Mary finds herself escaping with Harry, her real love Travis (Harry’s brother!), his betrothed and Mary’s brother and wife. They all manage to get out unharmed – left with absolutely nothing but Mary’s hope of finding the ocean, a ‘thing’ she has heard about from her late mother but doesn’t quite believe in.

 This is a fantastic book; so beautifully written and very gripping. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend it to perhaps slightly mature readers who enjoy fantasy, romance and adventure.

 Sequel out now [The Dead Tossed Waves]. And supposedly movie in the making. Yay.

The Rules of Survival by Nancy Werlin

Matt lives with his two sisters and their single mother. She is seriously mentally unstable so their life is one of walking on eggshells. What state will Mum come home in? Will she be nice to them or tease and hurt them.

The novel moves at a fast pace with the reader wondering who will break first – the mother, the children or the various people that Matt hopes will help them survive. Nancy won several awards for this and other books. You can find out all about her at http://www.nancywerlin.com/

Twenty boy summer by Sarah Ockler

It’s hard to say too much about this book without giving parts away. Let’s just say it’s about love at its best and at its worst. How different teens handle the ups and downs of their lives. The title gives an obvious hint that there will be romance involved as the girls set out to meet twenty boys (each) on their holiday.

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

If you lived in the world of this novel and was a troublesome teenager, you could be “unwound” – sent to be used for spare body parts. Or you could be the tenth child – the one who was to be sacrificed for the “good of society” for “unwinding”. Either way, it wouldn’t be a good end to your young life. Three such teenagers decide to revolt against this sytem and their desperate fight to stay out of the hands of the authorities makes for some exciting reading.

City of Bones, by Cassandra Clare

It takes me a while to give in and read these really popular books. But I did and I have to say that I was really disappointed. While I thought “Twilight” was a great read with lots of tension and excitement, I found this one a bit ridiculous with the demon hunters and stuff. I suppose I’m not much of a fantasy reader to start with.

So sorry to disagree with the many girls who have read and loved the whole series – I won’t be reading the other two. But then, that’s what reading’s all about – we’re all different (thank heavens) and we won’t always like what other people do. So you should try it if you haven’t read it, and see if you agree with me or the many girls who love this series.