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  • Books, Grimm, Movies, Top 10

    Top 10: Book related 2013 movies

    07.01.13 | Permalink | Comment?

    2013 should be another great year for movies. Rebecca and Rachel are looking forward to The Perks of Being a Wallflower (starring Emma Watson (Hermione) and also Nina Dobrev from The Vampire Diaries), which is one of many intriguing upcoming book-inspired films, like:

    1. Catching Fire – November (book / IMDB page). New cast additions include Sam Claflin (who is Finnick, and from Snow White and the Huntsman) and Jenna Malone (Johanna).
    2. Beautiful Creatures – February (book / IMDB page). Based on the book by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, in which Lena is the girl of Ethan’s dreams, literally. The film stars Alice Englert (trivia: she is the daughter of New Zealand director Jane Campion) and Alden Ehrenreich. They may soon become household names.
    3. City of Bones – August (book / IMDB page). The first film, and the first book in the Mortal Instruments series, which, if you haven’t read it already and mean to, you should reserve now! Starring Lily Collins, Jamie Campbell Bower and Godfrey Gao (as Magnus Bane).
    4. Iron Man 3 – April (graphic novels / IMDB page). IMDB says that Stan Lee might put in an appearance. We shall see!
    5. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – December (book / IMDB page). Poor Smaug.
    6. Man of Steel – June (graphic novels / IMDB page). Starring Henry Cavill (Humphrey in Stardust, recommended recently by R and R – I agree, excellent sky pirate) and Russell Crowe as Jor-El (Amy Adams is Lois).
    7. Ender’s Game – October (book / IMDB page). Based on the über-popular book by Orson Scott Card, in which Ender Wiggin, genetically engineered genius, is sent to an elite school to train to save the earth from invasion by a (very) malignant alien race. NCEA seems not too bad now. The film stars Asa Butterfield (from Hugo) and Abigail Breslin (My Sister’s Keeper) and Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit). They’re also Marvel comics.
    8. The Great Gatsby – June (book / IMDB page). One of the 20th century’s enduring classics, written by F Scott Fitzgerald. Gatsby hosts great parties, but that’s all most people know about him. When Nick moves in next door, he’s keen to uncover the mystery, but becoming part of Gatsby’s world may reveal a dark side. Carey Mulligan, Leonardo DiCaprio star alongside Isla Fisher, who used to be on Home and Away.
    9. The Host – March (book / IMDB page). This is the other Stephenie Meyer novel, where she tries out Sci Fi. Wanderer (or Wanda for short) is an alien who inhabits bodies. When she’s given Melanie Stryder, she can’t quite take her over, and she’s drawn into Melanie’s world of free rebels fighting the alien invasion. Saorise Ronan is Wanda, and she’s also going to be busy in:
    10. How I Live Now – release date TBA (book / IMDB page). In the award-winning book by Meg Rosoff, New Yorker Daisy is sent to live in the English countryside, which seems like a major adjustment but the sudden onset of World War III puts that in perspective as Daisy battles to survive and find her family.


  • Books, Grimm, Horror, Top 10, zombies

    Top 10: Zombies

    15.10.12 | Permalink | Comment?

    Can you take a zombie seriously? Sometimes yes, sometimes no (it depends largely on whether there is supposed to be kissing).

    Seriously:

    This is Not a Test, Courtney Summers – this book is a horror story: imagine being trapped inside your school building with five other students, with moaning masses of the undead outside, lying in wait, when you know it’s only a matter of time before the water supply runs dry, you eat your last food, and face the prospect of either starving to death or running the zombie gauntlet outside, to who knows where. What makes it worse is how the horror plays out in the way that you and your schoolmates cope. And then, when you think you’ve barricaded the school building enough, someone gets in.

    The Forest of Hands and Teeth, Carrie Ryan – to quote an earlier post: “Mary lives in a fenced village in the middle of the forest of hands and teeth; fenced, because the forest of hands and teeth is peopled with zombies (the Unconsecrated) with an undying drive to bite. When the village’s fortifications are compromised Mary must flee in the ensuing chaos, down the paths that run through the forest, following mysterious symbols that might lead her to the sea she dreams of.”

    Rot & Ruin, Jonathan Maberry – the School Library Journal likes this series, perhaps even better than The Forest of Hands and Teeth: they say it “appears to be a retelling of Carrie Ryan’s The Forest of Hands and Teeth but with a male protagonist. But Maberry’s vision of a zombie-infested future has more action, more violence, and more emotional depth” (School Library Journal). It must be good then! Instead of a forest, here there’s the Rot and Ruin where - Benny (the male protagonist) learns - the zombies actually aren’t even the scariest prospect. 

    The Enemy, Charlie Higson – the latest in the series (The Sacrifice) has recently arrived. When a sickness sweeps through London, affecting everyone over the age of 14, leaving them either (mercifully) dead or the walking undead, those under 14 find themselves in a fight to survive. Some, sensibly, hole up in supermarkets (the lucky ones in Waitrose, which is quite posh), while they must attempt to make their way to the relative safety of Buckingham Palace. But if they get to Buckingham Palace, what will they find? A zombie queen? Or something more problematic? We should’t be too flip: this one’s grim and doesn’t pull any punches.

    Not quite as seriously:

    Dearly Departed, Lia Habel – this series is called “Gone with the Respiration” (a salute to Gone With the Wind), so I think it’s safe to say it’s a bit fun. “Love conquers all, so they say. But can Cupid’s arrow pierce the hearts of the living and the dead – or rather, the undead? Can a proper young Victorian lady find true love in the arms of a dashing zombie?” (Goodreads.com). This brings a whole new meaning to the expression “undying love”.

    You Are So Undead to Me, Stacey Jay – the first in the series about Megan Berry, Zombie Settler. Homecoming (and people’s lives) are in peril when someone starts using black magic to turn the average, bumbling undead of an Arkansas town into souped-up zombies. Can Megan save the day? Can she what! (I’m picking).

    I Kissed a Zombie and I Liked It, Adam Selzer – take that Katy Perry. Ali meets the mysterious Doug – a strong, silent, Goth-type of singer – and falls madly in love with him before, doh, someone points out he’s actually a zombie. Naturally Doug’s mysteriousness is not all that attractive any more, but when Ali tries to dump him she learns it’s not so easy to get rid of a zombie. She also learns, along the way, that vampires don’t like their music being critiqued.

    Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Seth Grahame-Smith – I think you have to give credit to someone who basically invents a new genre in the 21st century. This was the first Classic Novel Horror Mashup, and there’s a bunch of others, including Romeo and Juliet, Sense and Sensibility, and P & P & Z even has it’s own sequels and prequels. Excellent.

    A mixed bag:

    Zombie Blondes, Brian James – Hannah is the new girl in a town where the many houses for sale and the, well, deathly quiet suggest something’s wrong. Hannah seems oblivious on her first day of school, when she meets the popular crowd: a group of cheerleaders who all look remarkably the same, and who Hannah really wants to be like.

    Zombies Versus Unicorns – more to the point, can you take a unicorn seriously? One or two writers have had a crack at it in this oddly fab collection of short stories.


  • Books, Grimm, Top 10

    Top 10: Dystopia Revisited

    30.04.12 | Permalink | Comment?

    Since we published our list of Top 10 Dystopian novels (see it here), the publishing world has gone a bit barmy for them, the result being heaps and heaps more to choose from. So, it might be time for another list! Here’s the 10 dystopian novels (and series) I have enjoyed the most since (or more accurately, found the most gripping).

    1. The Chaos Walking trilogy, Patrick Ness – Todd lives in a strange world where only men exist, and they can hear each other’s thoughts, which are a constant “Noise” that is inescapable. While out with his dog, Manchee – who can talk – Todd finds an odd “hole” in the Noise, and it is his interaction with this whole that will send him on the most incredible, dangerous, hard journey you could possibly imagine: the books read like a nightmare rollercoaster. 
    2. The Hunger Games trilogy, Suzanne Collins – speaking of nightmare rollercoasters.
    3. Blood Red Road, Moira Young – this was fab! It’s a dangerous, post-apocalyptic road trip, where the danger comes more from some truly heinous characters than the desert-like landscape. There’s a kick-ass heroine, a witty and confident, mysterious hero, and a crow. Plus there will be a sequel. And a movie.
    4. The Forest of Hands and Teeth, Carrie Ryan – Mary lives in a fenced village in the middle of the forest of hands and teeth; fenced, because the forest of hands and teeth is peopled with zombies (the Unconsecrated) with an undying drive to bite. When the village’s fortifications are compromised Mary must flee in the ensuing chaos, down the paths that run through the forest, following mysterious symbols that might lead her to the sea she dreams of. Rather tense. This book has two companions, The Dead-Tossed Waves and The Dark and Hollow Places.
    5. A Long, Long Sleep, Anna Sheehan – a dystopian take on the sleeping beauty fairytale. Rose is, in effect, a society princess. Her parents are high flying elite, rich enough to afford a stas chamber, in which you can sleep for years without aging. So, one day Rose is woken with a kiss (as in, the kiss of life), to find she’s sixty two years in the future and everyone she knows is long gone. She must struggle to adjust to a whole new society, a new life, but there’s much worse: a terminator-like killing machine that’s out to get her, and the truth about her long, long sleep.
    6. Matched and Crossed, Ally Condie – this kind of goes together with:
    7. Delirium and Pandemonium, Lauren Oliver – these two series have, it is often pointed out, similar storylines. The characters live in societies that attempt to control human emotions, since it is human emotions that have caused all societal catastrophes in the past. They rule with an iron grip, but what happens when someone beings to question the rules, regulations, and truths that have been hammered into them all their lives? Not towing the party line, risking and living a little, and following your heart can lead you on a dangerous journey!
    8. Under the Never Sky, Veronica Rossi. I don’t think very much of the cover (sorry cover!), or the tag line on the cover (it needs a paper bag really). But! It’s a really good read. Lots of action, and a heroine and hero who learn things along the way, and develop, and don’t fall floppily in love with each other after a few moments.
    9. Divergent, Veronica Roth – the Veronicas! This one is soon to be followed by Insurgent. People have gone quite crazily enthusiastic for Divergent. If you’re after a gripping read with suspense, a courageous heroine and an aloof, super-cool hero, then please read! My only problem with Divergent is the idea central to its dystopian-ness, being that society is divided into factions based on character traits and behaviours (why?). I also hoped that the names for the factions could have been cooler. Still, am looking forward to reading the next!
    10. The Maze Runner trilogy, James Dashner – In The Maze Runner, Thomas wakes up in a lift that is climbing for what seems to be an eternity into a nightmare world, where a group of boys survive together in “The Maze” of shifting walls, and hideous machine-bug-like monsters. He has no recollection of his past, apart from a sense of having been here before, and a yearning to become one of the maze runners, who map the maze in the hope of finding a way out.

    But there’s much more! Here’s a selection of dystopian fiction (and other book lists are here).


  • Books, Grimm, Top 10

    Top 10: Books With Happy Endings

    04.04.12 | Permalink | Comment?

    This is to go with Top 10 Tearjerkers, for balance. The tearjerkers were a whole lot easier to find than the happy endings. Perhaps a happy ending is a lot harder to write well? So, without giving away too many punchlines, here is a selection of happy and happier endings.

    1. My Most Excellent Year, Steve Kluger
    2. Will Grayson, Will Grayson, John Green & David Levithan
    3. Boy Meets Boy, David Levithan
    4. Fly on the Wall, E Lockhart
    5. Dairy Queen, Catherine Gilbert Murdock
    6. I’ll Be There, Holly Goldberg Sloan
    7. How to Save a Life, Sara Zarr
    8. One Whole and Perfect Day, Judith Clarke
    9. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
    10. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen


  • Grimm, Top 10

    Top 10: Tearjerkers

    21.02.12 | Permalink | Comment?

    Do you like a really good sad story? We do. Here’s some.

    1. The Fault in our Stars, John Green. Not wanting to give too much away: here’s an excellent reader review.
    2. Before I Die, Jenny Downham. Tessa is terminally ill. Deciding to make the most of the time she’s got left, she creates a List of Things to Do, but not of the “book appointment at the dentist” and “flea the cat” variety.
    3. Looking for Alaska, John Green. John Green, king of the weepies apparently. Looking for Alaska was his first novel, and it promptly won a very prestigious award. The chapters in the first half count down ominously (like, “one hundred thirty-six days before”), but you’re still not prepared for day 0.
    4. If I Stay, Gayle Forman. Mia and her family are in a truly horrific car accident, which only Mia survives – just. Hovering in a coma in hospital, she must choose between fighting for her life and letting go to be with her family.
    5. The Outsiders, S E Hinton. Stay gold, Ponyboy. This is a classic story of gang rivalry. Ponyboy is a Greaser, from the wrong side of the tracks: the Socs are from the right side, and they know it. The rivalry between the two is heated, and boils over into an act of violence that changes everything.
    6. Th1rteen R3asons Why, Jay Asher. Clay receives thirteen cassette tapes in the post from a classmate who recently killed herself. These tapes send him on a heartbreaking tour around town, as Hannah describes events that led up to her decision to end her life.
    7. Sweethearts, Sara Zarr. Once upon a time Jennifer and Cameron were best friends and social outcasts, until Cameron and his family leave town suddenly. Now, years later, Jennifer has transformed into Jenna, one of the popular girls in school. When Cameron makes a surprise reappearance Jenna’s life is turned on its head.
    8. The Sky is Everywhere, Jandy Nelson. Lennie is withdrawn and reserved. Her sister, Bailey, was the opposite: a shining light until her sudden death. The Sky is Everywhere captures Lennie’s passage through grief and self-discovery as she confronts her life of confusing relationships in the wake of personal tragedy.
    9. The Book Thief, Markus Zusak. In World War 2 Germany, Death narrates the story Liesel, a young girl with an irresistible urge to steal books. There are sad bits of course.
    10. Bridge to Terabithia, Katherine Paterson. This one is in the children’s fiction collection, but it’s a real howling sad story, so it’s here, in this list. Then you can graduate to the movie, with a large box of tissues.


  • Grimm, Top 10

    Top 10: Victoriana

    04.02.12 | Permalink | Comment?

    Queen VictoriaThe nineteenth century: mystery, adventure, magic, the supernatural, orphans, the industrial age of machinery and steam; all good stuff. Here’s a selection of fiction set in Victorian times (strictly speaking 1837 to 1901), mostly in London.

    1. The Hunchback Assignments, by Arthur Slade. Steampunk mystery! The catalogue says: “In Victorian London, fourteen-year-old Modo, a shape-changing hunchback, becomes a secret agent for the Permanent Association, which strives to protect the world from the evil machinations of the Clockwork Guild.”
    2. Clockwork Angel, Cassandra Clare. Speaking of steampunk, Cassandra Clare brings her world of shadowhunters and Magnus Bane to 19th century London, complete with automatons.
    3. The Agency series, Y S Lee. Speaking of mystery. Mary Quinn is an orphan rescued from death by hanging and set to work for a detective agency (masquerading as Miss Scrimshaw’s Academy for Girls) as an undercover agent, investigating mysterious deaths. Which is a much better fate.
    4. The Monstrumologist, Rick Yancey. The monstrumologist is Doctor Pellinore Warthrop, and 12 year old Will Henry is his apprentice. Together they hunt and study monsters, epic and mythic and horrible. The sequel is The Curse of the Wendigo and – stop press! – The Isle of Blood has recently arrived.
    5. Everlasting, Angie Frazier. Described as part romance, part adventure, Everlasting tells the story of Camille, who travels from San Francisco to Australia on her father’s ship, only to have the ship founder, and to discover a letter from her supposedly dead mother (complete with treasure map to a magic stone that holds the secret to immortality). The first mate is where the romance comes in.
    6. A Great and Terrible Beauty, Libba Bray. A fantastical, magical adventure story (again, with some romance), in which Gemma Doyle arrives in England after the violent death of her mother in India, and becomes aware of a frightening and wonderful spiritual realm, and her own considerable magical power.
    7. Whisper My Name, Jane Eagland. Set in 1885, Whisper my name is a Victorian mystery with a backdrop of séances and mediums – the author says on her website: “A fascination with the world of Victorian spiritualism, the British in India, nineteenth century theatre and science all form part of the mix.”
    8. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens. It wouldn’t do not to include the king of Victorian fiction.
    9. Bewitching Season, Marissa Doyle. More intrigue: “In 1837, as seventeen-year-old twins, Persephone and Penelope, are starting their first London Season they find that their beloved governess, who has taught them everything they know about magic, has disappeared.” (catalogue)
    10. Folly, Marthe Jocelyn. “In a parallel narrative set in late nineteenth-century England, teenaged country girl Mary Finn relates the unhappy conclusion to her experiences as a young servant in an aristocratic London household while, years later, young James Nelligan describes how he comes to leave his beloved foster family to live and be educated at London’s famous Foundling Hospital.” (catalogue)


  • Books, Grimm, Music, Top 10

    Top 10: books and CDs from 1991

    10.12.11 | Permalink | Comment?

    It is the central library’s 20th birthday today.  To celebrate, we thought a Top 10 list was in order, so here are five books and five CDs that first appeared in 1991. You might not have realised they were so vintage.

    1. The Juniper Game, Sherryl Jordan (New Zealand) – “Juniper, a fifteen-year-old girl with telepathic powers, convinces her best friend Dylan to experiment with her powers.” (catalogue description)
    2. Out Walked Mel, Paula Boock (New Zealand) – “Mel never knows when to keep her mouth shut and when she storms out of school she sees it as an escape – from a past and present too messy to deal with. But running to her self-centered father or her boyfriend aren’t easy answers either.” (Syndetics summary)
    3. The River (the sequel to Hatchet), Gary Paulsen – “Because of his success surviving alone in the wilderness for fifty-four days, fifteen-year-old Brian, profoundly changed by his time in the wild, is asked to undergo a similar experience to help scientists learn more about the psychology of survival.” (catalogue)
    4. The Awakening (the first Vampire Diaries book), L J Smith – yes, way before Twilight there were the Vampire Diaries. The Awakening is the one in which Elena first meets Stefan, while the town of Fells Church is the repeated victim of vicious animal attacks.
    5. Letters from the Inside, John Marsden – “Two teenage girls become penpals and over a period of time seem to get to know each other – but do they?” (catalogue)
    6. Nevermind, Nirvana – ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ — ‘Come as You Are’ — ‘Lithium’ — ‘In Bloom’ etc etc etc. Pretty brilliant.
    7. Gish, Smashing Pumpkins – this was the Pumpkins’ debut album.
    8. Blue Lines, Massive Attack – possibly best known for ‘Unfinished Sympathy’ which was a rather large hit.
    9. Metallica, Metallica – the tracks on Metallica average out to be about 5.1 minutes each, Metallica being fans of the long song.
    10. Ten, Pearl Jam (adult CD – we ran out!) – Another dirty great long list of classic tracks. I like ‘Release’ the best.


  • Grimm, Top 10

    Amazon’s Top Ten Books for Teens in 2011

    17.11.11 | Permalink | Comment?

    Hello! It is November, which means the annual Best Of lists are emerging. Amazon.com has released its Best Books lists: here’s what they have chosen as the top ten books for teens:

    1. Daughter of Smoke & Bone, Laini Taylor
    2. Delirium, Lauren Oliver
    3. Exposed, Kimberly Marcus
    4. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, Ransom Riggs
    5. Between Shades of Gray, Ruta Sepetys
    6. The Running Dream, Wendelin Van Draanen
    7. Divergent, Veronica Roth
    8. The Scorpio Races, Maggie Stiefvater
    9. You Against Me, Jenny Downham
    10. Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25, Richard Paul Evans

    What do you think? Looks like a pretty good list to me (lists with 10 things on them being inherently pleasing).


  • Grimm, Top 10

    Top 10: Ballet Fiction

    03.11.11 | Permalink | Comment?

    Thanks to Natalie Portman and Black Swan and whatnot, ballet is resurgent and popular! There is plenty of storyline potential in ballet, with dancers driven to succeed, and the mysterious inner workings of dance companies and schools. This list is a sort of companion to the theatre list, and also as a salute to mum, a ballet fiend, and other ballet fiends like her:

    1. Bunheads, Sophie Flack – Great cover! Nice title! Hannah is consumed by her ballet - the hours of rehearsals, the performances – until she meets Jacob, a free-spirit musician. Her growing relationship with him helps give her a new perspective on life, and ballet’s place in it.
    2. Ballet Shoes, Noel Streatfield – this is a classic children’s book, so if you haven’t read it maybe you must? Either that, or you could cheat and watch the DVD with Emma Watson of Hermione fame.
    3. Dancing in the Dark, Robyn Bavati – not the song by Bruce Springsteen. In this a girl born into a strict Jewish family is not allowed ballet lessons, so (as often happens with forbidden things) she learns in secret and begins to question the world she lives in.
    4. The Splendour Falls, Rosemary Clement-Moore – with a supernatural twist! Sylvie’s broken leg ruins her ballet career, and after her father dies her mother ships her off from New York to Alabama. Everyone knows that mysterious, unexplainable things happen in the deep south.
    5. Rose Sees Red, Cecil Castellucci – set in 1982, when the USA was at loggerheads with the USSR. Rose is an American teen who lives to dance, and Yrena is her next door neighbour, a Russian ballet dancer performing in New York and sick of being confined in her apartment. One night, Yrena makes a bold escape, out her bedroom window and into Rose’s, and what follows is a night out on the town, which would be great in New York.
    6. Fish Feet, Veronica Bennett – not exactly a title the screams ballet, but nonetheless! Erik loves ballet and football, but when he decides to audition for the Royal Ballet School he faces the prospect of letting down his football team: you can imagine how understanding they are. A book about branching out, taking a risk, and being different.
    7. A Company of Swans, Eva Ibbotson - Swan Lake in the Amazon jungle! “Defying her father, Harriet runs away to join the ballet on a journey to the Amazon. In a grand opera house, deep in the heart of the wild jungle, she performs Swan Lake – and falls in love with a mysterious British exile. But Harriet’s father has tracked her down… and her new life is under threat.” (catalogue)
    8. The Melting Season, Celeste Conway - ”Giselle, the sheltered daughter of two famous ballet dancers, comes to terms with her relationships with both her late father and her mother, realizing some important truths that help her move forward both in her life and with her own dancing.” (catalogue)
    9. The Kings Are Already Here, Garret Freymann-Weir – Phebe takes the summer off from training to be a ballet dancer to stay with her father in Switzerland. There she meets Nikolai, a young chess champion on his own quest to find legendary chess player Stas Vlajnik. Phebe organises a search to find Stas, and together with Nikolai and her father, travels across Europe following her leads.
    10. Audition, Louise Kehoe. Sara wins a scholarship to study ballet. Her life as a full-time dancer in training is hard, but enjoyable (including being the muse of Remington, choreographer), but she starts to question her life’s direction when she discovers a love of writing.


  • Grimm, Top 10

    Top 10: Translated Novels

    26.08.11 | Permalink | Comment?

    So what are people reading in other languages? Wellington City Libraries has a small but growing collection of translated young adult fiction (as well as the super popular manga series). If you’re interested in reading something that started life in another language here’s a fairly comprehensive list of what we’ve got. Also, here are a few highlights:

    1. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Nagaru Tanigawa (Japanese) – this is the first in a series of books about Haruhi Suzumiya, a teen with the ability to destroy the universe. In Melancholy, Haruhi and her friends set up an after school club dedicated to “finding aliens, time travelers, and other forms of supernatural life, with the intention of having fun with them”. Cool. Also, recommended by library staff.
    2. Nothing, Janne Teller (Danish) – a bleak rumination on nihilism that has received awards nominations and very positive reviews (here at the library also). Thirteen year old Pierre decides there’s no point to life, so his classmates set out to prove him wrong, with increasingly disturbing consequences.
    3. In the Sea there are Crocodiles, Fabio Geda (Italian) – new to the library! (Here’s a description.)
    4. Ruby Red, Kerstin Gier (German) – Interestingly set in London, although translated from German. Gwyneth’s cousin Charlotte is supposed to have the time-travelling gene, so she’s been prepared and trained for it since she was young. However, it’s Gwyneth, not Charlotte, who has the gift, so Gwyneth must find out why her mother has been trying to shield her from the truth, while travelling back in time to 18th century London with Gideon, a gifted traveller. One review suggests re-reading the first chapter after you’ve finished for insight into what’s going on. The first in a trilogy.
    5. No and Me, Delphine de Vigan (French) – Lou lives in a quietly disfunctional family, where her father is barely holding up and her mother hasn’t left their appartment for years. She meets No, a homeless girl, and invites her to live with them. A novel about ” the true nature of home and homelessness”.
    6. The Prince of Mist, Carlos Ruiz Zafon (Spanish) – A ‘haunting story of magic, mystery and adventure’, about a boy who moves to a house overlooking the sea and the mysterious (and terrifying!) Prince of the Mist. And a weird, staring cat.
    7. Message in a Bottle, Valerie Zenatti (French) – a story set around the Palestine-Israeli conflict. After witnessing a bombing in Tel Aviv, an Israeli girl pours her heart into an open letter and places it in a bottle, requesting her brother to throw it into the Gaza Sea. It is found and read by a young Palestinian man, who is at first angry, but responds and eventually their exchanges turn to friendship.
    8. Winter Song, Jean-Claude Mourlevat (French) – the Amazon.co.uk description is good: “Four teenagers escape from their prison-like boarding schools to take up the fight against the tyrannical government that murdered their parents fifteen years earlier. Fleeing across icy mountains from a pack of terrifying dog-men sent to hunt them down, only three of the friends make it safely to Jahn’s Restaurant, the headquarters of a secret resistance movement. It is here they learn about courage, freedom and love, and discover the astonishing power of one voice as the battle begins – to free a depressed and terrified nation from a generation of cruelty, and to save their captured friend, forced to fight to the death in a barbaric ancient game.”
    9. The Book of Everything, Guus Kuijer (Dutch) – The Book of Everything is nine-year-old Thomas’ diary, in which he writes his thoughts on everything. Thomas is ingenious, but his home life, especially with his ultra-religious father, is stifling Thomas’ ambition, which is to be “happy”.
    10. Planet of the Apes, Pierre Boulle (French) – easy to forget with all the movies that this was originally a French book, La Planète des singes. This is on our Classic Novels list here.


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