The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer

This is a seriously long title and I’ve seen it on lists before as highly recommended but never read it. Well, don’t do what I did and ignore this book – it is so good. Even though it’s in Senior Fiction, almost anyone in high school could read it – a really feel good read.

I never knew about the Germans occupying the Channel Islands during the Second World War – had no idea about this. But they did – and that is part of the narrative of the book – islanders telling their stories of the Occupation. It’s a clever central idea that allows these stories to be told in easily digested portions, in a very readable way. And then there are several other stories linked in with this as well.

The novel is a series of letters to and from the main character who is an author. Watching her changing attitude to different people, Guernsey and life is a large part of the pleasure of the book.

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)

Raven by Allison van Diepen

For me this was a bit of a mix between Twilight and Step-Up (a movie about a street dancing). Nicole is a teenage girl who works at a night-club part time serving drinks. However, to pull the crowds she, and the dance group she belongs to, often perform their moves on the dance floor and even have organised ‘dance-offs’ with other groups. Zin is the leader of her dance group, and he is the best best-friend Nic could ask for. Except there’s more than just platonic feelings between them, and they both know it. So why doesn’t Zin return any of them? Nic soon discovers that pretty much the entire staff at the night club are called ‘Jiang Shi’ or immortals, who have to keep moving every 10 years, so as to not arouse suspicion.

This book was fairly well written, with an interesting albeit unusual concept. If you are into dancing then I would recommend it. Overall, Raven by Allison van Diepen isn’t a bad read.

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 Worst Thing She Ever Did by Alice Kuipers

It takes a while until you know what happened to Sophie over the previous summer. The diary entries feed you bits of information until you understand the whole heartwrenching story.

It’s hard to imagine how Sophie and her mother could manage life after what they have been through – but I’m not going to tell you what happened. Read it – you will be enthralled.

Finding Freia Lockhart by Aimee Said

I really enjoyed this book because Freia is 16 and is struggling to keep up with her best friend Kate who has started hanging out with the ‘populars’. My favorite character was Freia. I liked how she thought her family was bonkers. It’s funny and it deals with some of the dilemmas teenagers go through.

Georgia Year 7

Avoiding Mr Right by Anita Heiss

Peta has a new high-powered job, but it is in Melbourne – far from her favourite beaches, friends and boyfriend. She is a feisty character, never letting people get away with saying anything about aboriginal people as she is proud of her background. Will she be able to stay faithful to James? Will she be able to stay sane in a city she always said she disliked? And what exactly are the qualities of Mr Right?

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.

When the war began by John Marsden

This is the first in a series about a group of teenagers who are camping in a very isolated bush area when Australia is invaded. There are many in the series. Imagine if you and your friends were the only ones around to help save your country from invaders. Exciting, scary stuff.

This is a trailer for the movie which is to be released later in 2010.

Sarny: A life remembered by Gary Paulsen

Sequel to Nightjohn. This is everything that happens after Nightjohn leaves. It begins in 1930 with Sarny looking back over her life and thinking about her life.

Sarny takes us through her loves, children, liberation and the frantic search that she sends herself on during the fighting of the Civil War. Instead of heading north away from the battles, she heads south – you’ll have to read it to find out why.

Despite all the terror and horror of war that she lives through, she has many opportunities later in life. But she remains true to her character – following on from what Nightjohn has taught her – that education is everything for her people – no matter what.