How to steal a car

How to Steal a Car by Pete Hautman

Pete Hautman has given such fabulous reads as Rash and Godless, these books are entertaining, thought provoking and push at some YA boundaries. So it's no wonder that his next book How to Steal a Car once again set me up for an enjoyable, provocative read.

From the back cover-

Are you bored out of your mind? Sick of your friends and family? Wish you were somewhere (anywhere) else? Stealing a car might help.

15 year old Kelleigh enters the world of stealing cars quite by accident, finding a man's car keys in a parking lot and taking the car for a spin was just a prank, borrowing her Dad's Lexus in the middle of the night an escape from her torturous family, stealing the neighbours car was to help out a friend, but before long the sense of being alive only comes when she is driving a stolen car.

This is a short read, told in first person narrative with tight chapters and believeable characters and will make readers consider the challenges of coming of age.

Copper

Copper by Kazu Kibuishi

First off I have to say how much I admire the work of Kazu Kibuishi, the style and incredible workmanship of his drawings for Amulet, Flight and now Copper are outstanding.

Copper is a series of short 1 -4 page vinettes about an optimistic, hopeful boy - Copper and his best friend, sometimes fearful, not-so-optimistic dog Fred. The situations these two encounter are very much real life, but at the same time have a dreamy, other dimension feel to them. I love them, I love the idea of facing your fears with a sense of discovery rather than sense of dread.

i think my favourite - is The Waterfall on page 39.
I also appreciate Kibuishi's encouragement to young artists, and his efforts to explain the process he takes in making graphic novels and comic strips. If you'd like to see more of his work check out Amulet 1&2 at the library or visit his website and blog @ - http://www.boltcity.com/
Read On

Do Not Open

Do Not Open : An encyclopedia of the world's best kept secrets by John Farndon

With a name like this who can resist the temptation to peek inside? I know I couldn't. And what was inside surprized and delighted me, answers to stuff I've always wondered about.

The book is divided into eight sections

The Unexplained, Unthinkable, Freaky Facts, Unknowable, Spine-chilling, Spooky, Strange Coincidences and Classified.

I loved finding out how they do magic tricks, conspiracy theories from around the globe and theories about mysterious places like the Bermuda Triangle and the Nazca Lines in Peru.

If your a reader who enjoys Guinness World Records or Ripley's Believe It or Not style of books then you'll probably enjoy DO NOT OPEN. This would definately make my top ten 2009 non-fiction list.

Read On.

The Maze Runner

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

As you can see from my last post this was one of my favourites but I didn't get a chance to blog about it before we left for the break. So here goes...

Exciting, riveting, face-paced, curious these are all ways I would describe this book. The story centers around Thomas, a young man who arrives to a strange new world inhabited by a group of teenage guys. The glade is what they call the place and it is surrounded by sky-high walls with four openings leading out into a mysterious maze that changes everyday. The boys including Thomas have all had theirs memories wiped out and exist in a crude almost primative way, with most doing boring jobs - except for an elite group that goes out into the maze everyday trying to map and make sense of the maze, figuring that if they can solve it they can return home.

Life of the glade is changed the day after Thomas arrives and for the first time a girl is sent along with the message that she is the last thing to be sent. The pace of the story and the intensity just climbs and climbs from this point on.

This is the first book in what will be a trilogy. So here's hoping that book two will make its way to us in 2010.

Here's the book trailer-

Favourites from 2009

I took some time to look through my list of books that i read in 2009 - 112 in total (down from last years 134.) I found it hard to just do a top five so i've decided to make it a top ten for this year.

And my winners are---

10 - Pop by Gordon Korman
9 - 39 clues - the entire series so far
8 - The Maze Runner by James Dashner
7 - Impossible by Nancy Werlin
6 - Love, Aubrey by Suzanne LaFleur
5 - Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
4 - When you reach me by Rebecca Stead
3 - Map of the Known World by Lisa Sandell
2 - The Compound by S.A. Bodeen
1 - Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Here's hoping that 2010 holds loads more great books to read.
Read On

Holiday Reading

As some of you know, I spend most weekends and holidays tucked away in my cozy cabin out west of Beaver Mines. The cabin is rustic and we don't have a computer or internet access there so blogging gets put on hold till I'm back in town. So I did spend the majority of my days outside skiing, cutting wood and playing in the snow but I also made time to read 8 books, 2 magazines and the Saturday paper.
Here's some of what I read.

Chasing RedBird by Sharon Creech
It started out as an ordinary summer. But the minute thirteen-year-old Zinny uncoved an old overgrown trail that ran through the woods behind her family's house, she realized that things were about to change. Right from the start, Zinny knew that uncovering the trail would be more than just a summer project. It was her chance to finally make people notice her, and to have a place she could call her very own. But more than that - Zinny knew that the trail somehow held the key to all kinds of questions. And that -- the only way to understand her family , her aunt Jessie's death, and herself, was to find out where it went. I love the simple stylings of Sharon Creech's writing. It reminded me of trying to find my own place amongst my 3 sisters and 3 brothers.


The Boy Who Lost His Face by Louis Sachar
Cursed!
David was only trying to be cool when he helped some of the popular kids steal Old Lady Bayfield's cane. But when the plan backfires, he's the one the "old witch" curses. Now David can't seem to do anything right. the cool kids taunt him and his only friends are weirdos. He even walks into Spanish class with his fly unzipped! And when he finally get up the nerve to ask out a cute girl, his pants fall down in mid-sentence. Is it the Bayfield curse at work? Or is David simply turning into a total loser?

This book often turns up on the challenged / banned book list - but really it takes a great look at how we treat each other, peer-pressure, bullies, real friendship. Even though it was published in 1989 the issues remain the same. Wonderfully funny, thoughtful even if it does have some swears in it. You can tell that Louis Sachar has spent time with Middle Schoolers.


Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
This was the book that kicked off my winter holiday reading - it totally set the mood for the frosty temperature we were having. Loved it - No wonder its a Newbery Award Winner. Here's the summary.

Miyax, like many adolescents, is torn. But unlike most, her choices may determine whether she lives or dies. At 13, an orphan, and unhappily married, Miyax runs away from her husband's parents' home, hoping to reach San Francisco and her pen pal. But she becomes lost in the vast Alaskan tundra, with no food, no shelter, and no idea which is the way to safety. Now, more than ever she must look hard at who she really is. Is she Miyax, Eskimo girl of the old ways? Or is she Julie the modernied teenager who must mock the traditional customs? And when a pack of wolves begins to accept her in their community, Miyax must learn to think like a wolf as well. If she trusts her Eskimo instincts, will she stand a chance at survival?


The Ruins of Gorlan (Ranger's Apprentice #1) by John Flanagan

Summary:
He had always wanted to be a warrior. The Rangers, with their dank cloaks and shadowy ways, have always made him nervous. The villages believe the Rangers practice magic that makes them invisible to ordinary people. And now fifteen-year-old Will, always small for his age, has been chosen as a Ranger's apprentice. What he doesn't yet realize is that the Rangers are the protectors of the kingdom. Highly trained in the skills of battle and surveillance, they fight the battles before the battles reach the people. And as Will is about to learn, there is a large battle brewing. The exiled Morgarath, Lord of the Mountains of Rain and Night , is gathering his forces for an attack on the kingdom. This time, he will not be denied...
Thanks to all the grade sixers that told me I had to read this, it turned out to be great!!


The Year My Sister Got Lucky by Aimee Friedman

Katie and Michaela Wilder are sisters, New York City girls, and best friends. They attend a renowned dance school together and tell each other everything. But the sisters' world changes when they move upstate to rural Fir Lake. Katie is horrified by their new surroundings: the too- friendly neighbors, the lack of a subway, the fact they live near actual cows. Katie is shocked when Michaela adapts to the country life effortlessly by making friends, dating a cute football player, and attending homecoming. But nothing compares to finding out that Michaela's been keeping secrets from her - especially the biggest secret of all.

I wish I could say I like it more but I can't but on the other hand I know quite a number of girls that I will hand it over to as soon as we're back at school.

There's a couple more but that's all I have time for right now.
Read ON

Worst case scenario

Braces. Bullies. Chores. Childhood is chock full of perils but finally here's something to come to the rescue. This book provides hands on, step-by-step instructions for outwitting a nosy sibling, surviving a school dance, cleaning your room in a snap, dealing with an irritated parent (recognizing the tell-tale signs) and more. If you don't believe me - check out this clip.

Ring of Fire

Ring of Fire by P.D. Baccalario

Four kids. One hotel room. And a briefcase full of mysteries.

Rome. December 29

A mix-up with their reservations forces Harvey form New York, Mistral from Paris and Sheng from Shanghai to share a room with the hotel owner's daughter, Elettra. Soon the four kids discover an amazing coincidence - they all have birthdays on February 29, Leap Day. That night, a strange man gives them a briefcase and asks them to take care of it until he returns. Soon afterward, the man is murdered.

The kids open the briefcase. in it they find a series of clues that takes them all over Rome, through dusty libraries and dark catacombs, in search of the elusive Ring of Fire, an anicient object so powerful that legend says even a Roman emperor couldn't control it.

This is the first in a four book series surrounded by mystery that will take four cities and four extraordinary kids to solve.

This book is being hyped as DaVinci code for kids. I'd like to say I liked it more than I did, but it didn't quite grab me - it could have had more character development and the mystery seemed scattered at best. I did think the visual clues (in the center of book) useful but I wasn't really sure when to look at them - once I had finished the book?

Curious what the students will think of this one.

Remembering Raquel

Remembering Raquel by Vivian Vande Velde

Fourteen-year-old Raquel Falcone is, as one of her classmates puts it, the kind of kid who has the tendency to be invisible. That is until the night she's hit by a car and killed while walking home from the movies. In brief, moving chapters, we hear about Raquel from her classmates, her best friend, her family - and the woman who was driving the car that struck her. The loss of this seemingly invisible girl deeply affects her entire community, proving just how interconnected and similar we all really are.

Left me feeling very thoughtful.

Skeleton Key

Skeleton Key by Anthony Horowitz

from the publisher - For fans of the Alex Rider graphic novels Point Blank and Stormbreaker, the wait is finally over. Alex is back! Featuring the same action-packed, manga-esque style as the previous installments, Skeleton Key brings all the thrills and the gadetry to life in colorful, page-turning form.

Winner of a graphic novel, fun fast paced just like the novels. Couldn't put it down.