Something to read for those after the whole Twilight series

Night Runner by Max Turner

This is for those of you who now need your next great read after the Twilight series. I picked up this book on the recommendation of my old boss and mentor Diane, and she is usually right on the mark, and she's done it again. This was an action-packed trill ride of the vampire kind. The action sequences reminded me of The extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp and I just couldn't put it down. It had elements of suspense, humor, action, adventure and romance all within its 261 pages.

From the back cover -

For Zack Thomson, living in the Nicholls Ward wasn't so bad. After his parents died, he developed strange and severe allergies, and the mental institution was the only place where he could be properly look after. As strange as it seems, it was home.

He could watch as much television as he wanted; his best friend Charlie, visited him often enough; and Nurse Ohelia -- the pretties no-nonsense nurse ever -- sometimes took him bowling. Of course, that didn't mean he had it easy. His allergies restricted his diet to strawberry smoothies, and being the only kid at the hospital did get lonely. But it never once crossed Zach's mind to leave... until the night a stranger crashed through the front doors and told him to run.

Now he's on a race for answers -- about his past, his parents and his strange sickness -- even as every step takes him closer to the darkest of truths.

This had a crazy amount to twists to it, and I was kept guessing right to the last chapter.

Congratulations to high school science teacher/author Max Turner of Ottawa for what is sure to be a hit with the kids at Lakie. We need more authors like you, who know how to keep them reading past that first page, first chapter, first hundred pages. Way to hook em!

Read on

Would you?

Would you by Marthe Jocelyn

Would you rather know what's going to happen or not know?

A summer night. A Saturday. For Claire, this summer feels fantastic, because she'll be zooming off to colledge in the fall. For her younger sister, Natalie, it's an okay time with her friends: summer jobs, then hanging out. Fun, mostly, but nothing special. A summer night. An accident. Life changes in a heartbeat.

Would you? Is a game that's played by Natalie and her friends. It goes something like this - "Would you rather have your father sing at the supermarket or your mother fart in the principal's office? / Would you rather lose all your hair or all your teeth? " This game is usually just a way to gross each other out, but the questions of the game take on new meaning after Claire's sister is involved in a life changing accident.

A book that explores what would you do? How well do you know yourself, and how would you answer the hard questions when faced with them. A story about sisters, friends, family and strength. I found this book didn't sugar-coat what a family goes through in an extreme and difficult situation, and that it left room for discussion and introspection. Overall I thought it was well done and reminded me of another great read called The Dive From Clausen's Pier.

Read on

Adrenalin Ride by Pam Withers

It's summer vacation for best friends Peter and Jake, and when they're invited to help develop a mountain bike trail west of the Canadian Rockies, they can' believe their luck. But as they start working hard in an isolated park, the boys sense that something's not right. Join the boys as they plunge into the mountain-biking descent of their lives. (from back cover).

"Adrenalin ride takes me back to my first adventures riding bikes on trails. It captures the energy and adrenalin generated when knobby tires are mixed with generous helpings of trees, rocks and dirt. Add intrigue, danger and suspense to the brew and you have an unbeatable read" Cam McRae, editor, North Shore Mountain Biking e-magazine.

I started this one this morning and finished it this afternoon.So obviously I liked it. I did find that it kind of got off to a slow start, but I felt the action picking up once they were out on the trails. Unfortunately I felt there wasn't enough difference between the characters Jake and Peter. I did however like the plot turns and felt it could be a good read for those into mountain biking. I liked how the guys worked/slaved all day building trails but still had energy and drive to rip-it-up or build jumps after a long day. Reminds me of guys I know, who with mountain biking or snowboarding after the lifts have closed for the day still are out there building jumps and climbing up to take hits off it. Sick! So this one is for those guys -way to go!

Cool new hockey books

Xtreme Hockey by Stephen Cole

Wow! What a cool book. The back cover raves that Hockey has never been so Xtreme, and with info on the fastest player, hardest hitters, greatest goals, vilest villains, rowdiest fan and worst injuries - I found that it did live up to all this. I learned tons of crazy facts - from where hockey originated to the injuries goalies sustained before they wore masks ("Once, a player stepped on his unmasked face with the sharp blade of a skate. Afterward, Glen could stick out his tongue through his cheek). Gross I know, but tidbits like this will definitely grab some of the hockey crazed that Lakie has. There was other cool stuff like how to throw an octopus if your at a Detroit game, and loads of stats through the years. The information is contained in very short snippets and complimented with loads of photos.

My other new hockey book is Hockey Superstars 2008-2009 by Paul Romanuk. This book features 17 of today's best players. It too is bound to be popular.

I might not be the biggest hockey fan, but I learned lots from both these books and feel I could shout a little louder at the next hockey game I go to.

Somethings rotten in Denmark Tennessee

Something Rotten by Alan Gratz
There's something rotten in the town of Denmark, Tennessee, and it's not the smell from the polluted Copenhagen river. Horatio is in town visiting his best friend Hamilton Prince after the death of Hamilton's father, millionaire paper-plant owner Rex Prince. On a surveillance video, Hamilton's father tells his son that he's been systematically poisoned over the course of the past few months, but the tape cuts off before he is able to name his murderer. Hamilton vows to avenge his father's murder and makes Horatio help by playing detective. Meanwhile, as Horatio pokes into the family secrets, Hamilton plays the drunk, hoping to fool everyone into thinking he's too out of it to notice what's going on. Hamilton's mother Trudy, who married her dead husband's brother, Claude, also seems to be clueless about the murder. But does she know more than she's letting on? And what about Claude? He had the most to gain, with the new wife and control of the family business. Add in one media mogul attempting a hostile takeover, one pretty evironmentalist convinced the paper plant is polluting the river and two redneck friends, and you have a cast of suspects that only Shakespeare could have bested.

I really enjoyed this modern twist on Shakespeare's Hamlet. I recognized lots of one liners from the play - but not so many that if your unfamilair with the it that it would bog you down. Hip, darkly funny, a sarcastic main character, and a mystery to boot.

Dog sense

Dog sense by Sneed B. Collard III





This was one of the books I picked up at the K-9 conference I was at. So I thought it appropriate that I read the canine book.


Dog sense is the story of Guy Martinez who has recently moved to Montana from California (and life sucks, until the day he gets to choose a dog from the SPCA - enter Streak the border collie). The first day of school he makes his first enemy, school bully Brad Mullen and his first friend Luke Grant. Guy's relationship intensifies with both these characters through his dog Streak. Luke encourages Guy to enter Streak in the town Fair's Frisbee-catching competition. This also happens to be Brad Mullen's main event. The rivalry between Guy and Brad escalates until an impulsive wager pits the boys head-to-head and places Streak in jeopardy.

Although I found some of the characters to be stereotypical, I found the dialogue (especially Grandpa) to be well done. I learned stuff about a sport I never would have known and this is always a good thing. Having been around border collies in my life, I thought that Collard did a great job of explaining their intense personalities that are in constant need of challenging.

Read on

If a tree falls at lunch period

If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period by Gennifer Choldenko

First sentence: "This is lame but I'm actually looking forward to school this year, because every day this summer was like crap: dog crap, cat crap -- I even had a few elephant crap days. Trust me, it was bad."
Told in alternating chapters, the voices of Kirsten McKenna and Walker Jones tell the story of two kids and their middle school worlds colliding.
Kirsten world is falling apart, her parents marriage is falling apart, her best friend has dumped her for a more beautiful popular group, and her main way of dealing with this is eating.
Walker finds himself in a new world, where he's the only African American in the class and he knows that he can't mess this up (for his mom's sake).
Kirsten and Walk's worlds collide on more than one occasion - being late the first day of school, the teacher's missing wallet - but these are nothing compared with the family secret that Kirsten learns.

Read on.

Stuff I've been reading

Keturah & Lord Death by Martine Leavitt

Kethurah has enchanted many in her village, not with her beauty alone but also with her captivating storytelling. So when Kethurah becomes lost in the woods and meets Lord Death she rallies and through her storytelling ability saves herself for another day, but is she clever enough to save her friends and family and the lives of those who live in the village?

An interesting mix of fairytale, romance and suspense woven together in an incredible story where Death has a leading role. The character of Death you want to hate, you don't want to understand him or worse yet sympathize with him - and yet you do begin to view this character differently by the end of the book.
"If untimely death came only to those who deserved that fate, Keturah, where would choice be? No one would do good for its own sake, but only to avoid an early demise. No one would speak out against evil because of his own courageous soul, but only to live another day. The right to choose is man's great gift, but one thing he many not choose - the time and means of death."
At times this book reminded me of the Book thief by Marcus Zusak, in which Death is the narrator - honest, humble and lonely.

I enjoyed the pacing of the book and found myself wondering if she could fulfill the promises she makes to friends, neighbors and Lord Death.
Read On.

Wowed by Kaleidoscope

For those of you who think I'm talking about the tube that you look into and see colorful shapes change with each little turn you'd be right, I do get wowed by those, but this time I'm talking about the Kaleidoscope 9 Children's Literature Conference. This conference is held every four years and brings together some of the best authors and illustrators from around the globe. It also brings together the best and brightest teachers and librarians from across the country.
Of course you can't make it to see all your favourites but here's a few that I did manage to see.

Shaun Tan - wow, when I saw that he was going to be at this conference I immediately signed up - he happens to be one of my favs. Here's some stuff that I jotted down, wonderfully odd, visual rhyming, each page a complete miniature story, troubled sense of belonging, returning to a child like state, confounding, all experience has layers, melts into real life, lost stories form the past, reconstructing memories, and people to a strange place or a stranger to a known place.
If you haven't looked through The Arrival or The Rabbits you're missing out on a wondrous experience that will stick with you for a long while.

Lois Lowry - another favourite for many many reasons, and as she revealed more about herself I saw infinite caring, humor and a deeply thoughtful person. Here's some stuff I wrote - human integrity, the importance of memories, we need the sad parts to balance and give importance to the rest.

George Little Child - How I'd love for him to come to our school and do an art workshop, his ability to tell stories, explain history depicted on a colorful canvas is almost beyond words. Here's some stuff I wrote - art has been his best friend and always been there for him, oral traditionalist, pictograph influence, blood memory (intuition), stars of hope.

I did see other workshops but these three are still firmly at the forefront of my thinking. How stories are all around us. That boxes full of pictures at a grandparents house represent amazing stories to be discovered or reinvented. To think of the ordinary from an outsiders view. To enjoy another persons perspective even when it differs greatly from your own.

I'll blog on individual titles by some of these folks soon.

The Juvie Three by Gordon Korman

The Juvie Three by Gordon Korman.

This was my quick fix for weekend reading, and here I thought i'd give you a look at the two current covers for the book. I think the one on the right does a better job of grabbing your attention and also does a better job of capturing the theme of the book.

When three young offenders are offered a second chance, a chance to live outside of prison, they of course say YES! Gecko has been sent to Juvie for driving the get-away car for his brother. Terence planned a robbery as part of a gang initation and was left holding the bag. Arjay fought back against a group of jock bullies and with one punch ended up killing one of them. So when Douglas Healey enters their lives and offers them a very alternative option to Juvie and jail they gladly accept before even thinking about the conditions that go along with it. The critical condition is that if one of them screws up, they all go back behind bars.

In true Korman fashion, there's a sense of humor along with a story that keeps you rooting for the characters and turning the pages.

Read on.