Bad girls don't die

Bad girls don't die by Katie Alender

From the back cover:
Alexis thought she led a typically dysfunctional high school existence. Dysfunctional like her parents' marriage; her doll-crazy thirteen-year-old sister, Kasey; and even her own anti-social, anti-cheerleader attitude.
When a family fight results in some tearful sisterly bonding, Alexis realizes that her life is creeping form dysfunction into danger. Kasey is acting stranger than ever: her blue eyes go green sometimes; she uses old-fashioned language; and she even loses track of chunks of time, claiming to know nothing about her strange behaviour. Their old house is changing too. doors open and close by themselves, water boils on the unlit stove and an unplugged air conditioner turns the house cold enough to see their breath in.
Alexis wants to think that it's all in her head, but soon, what she liked to think of as silly parlor tricks are becoming life-threatening - to her, to her family, and to her budding relationship with the class vice president. Alexis knows she's the only person who can stop Kasey - but what if that green-eyed girl isn't even Kasey anymore?

Writer's Public speakers pay attention

Hey all of you writer's and public speakers i know your out there, and i know that at some time in your lives your gonna have to do both of these things , so here's a fun rap that sums it up nicely.

It's all about the hook!!!!!

39 clues

The Viper's Nest Book 7 in the 39 clues series by Peter Lerangis

The hunt for 39 hidden clues that lead to an unimaginable power have taken a heavy toll on fourteen-year-old Amy Cahill and her younger brother, dan. They've just seen a woman die. They're wanted by the Indonesian police. They're trapped just seen a woman die. They're trapped on an island with a man who knows too much about the death of their parents. And a tropical storm is rolling in. Just when they think it can't get any worse, it does. Because the Cahills have one more rattling skeleton for Amy and Dan to discover ... the terrible truth about their family branch. (from the back cover.)

This was one of the books I read on the weekend, and while I liked it, it isn't my favourite in the series. I did love the fact that the search took them to Africa. Once again there was some great riddles and word ciphering to be done but of course Dan is great at that so he sees the clues long before I do. Anyways anxiously awaiting the 8th.
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Percy Jackson

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Demigod Files by Rick Riordan

Hey just read this sweet little addition to the Percy Jackson stories. It includes three short stories or should I say further adventures of Percy and friends, interviews with your favourite characters, a map of camp half-blood and some fun puzzles and word searches at the end of the book.

If you can't get enough of Percy Jackson or you need a primer before seeing the movie this one will be perfect (it's only 151 pages!)

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Picture Valentines Day

This little picture book is perfect for valentines day. Hope you enjoy the book trailer.



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Numbers by Rachel Ward

Numbers by Rachel Ward

Whenever Jem meets someone new, no matter who, as soon as she looks into their eyes, a number pops into her head. That number is a date: the date they will die.

Burdened with such an aweful awareness, Jem avoids relationships. Until she meets Spider, another outsider, and takes a chance. But while they're waiting to ride the London Eye Ferris wheel, Jem notices all the other tourists in line flash the same number. Today's date. Terrorists are going to attack. Jem's world is about to explode.

I was captivated, this strange gift that Jem has, how would you handle this? how would anyone? It seems so crazy. I especially liked the message Jem gives toward the end of the book - "You're all alive and kicking. You've been given another day. We all have." - "we know it's all going to come to an end one day, but we shouldn'y let it stop us from living."

In some ways it reminded me of Elsewhere but grittier.

Captivating, compelling, tantilizing and intriguing.

Here's the cover illustration for the UK edition

For fans of Greg Heffley's

For fans of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, I thought you'd love to see the trailer for the movie that will be coming out this spring. Sometimes when I'm looking out across the forier at lunch I cast some of you for my own wimpy kid movie. This looks like they've done a pretty good job of casting it too.

Extra Credit

Extra Credit by Andrew Clements

It isn't that Abby Carson can't do her schoolwork, it's just that she doesn't like doing it. And that means she's pretty much failing sixth grade. When a warning letter is sent home, Abby realizes that her slacking off could cause her to be held back - for real. Unless she want to repeat sixth grade, she'll have to meet some specific conditions, including taking on an extra-credit project: find a pen-pal in a foreign country. Simple enough (even for a girl who hates homework.)

Abby's first letter arrives at a small school in Afghanistan, and Sadeed Bayat is chosen to be her pen pal. Well kind of. He is the best writer, but he is also a boy, and in his village it is not appropriate for a boy to correspond with a girl. So his younger sister dictates and signs the letter.Until Sadeed decides what his sister is telling Abby isn't what he'd like Abby to know.

As the letters flow back and forth between Illinois and Afghanistan, Abby and Sadeed discover that their letters are crossing more than an ocean. They are crossing a huge cultural divide and a minefield of different lifestyles and traditions. Their growing friendship is also becoming a growing problem for both communities, and some people are not happy. Suddenly things are not so simple.

A thoughtful book, that I wish would have been around when I was a kid. I think it suggests at ideas of so many cultural difference - I just wonder if many kids will take it that step further than what Abby did?

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Calamity Jack

Calamity Jack by Shannon and Dean Hale

Jack thinks of himself as a criminal mastermind with an unfortunate amount of bad luck. A schemer, a trickster... maybe a thief? But, of course he's not out for himself, he's trying to take the burden off his hardworking mom's shoulders. She'd understand, right? He hopes she might even be proud. Then, one day, Jack choose a target a little more ... "giant" than usual, and as one little bean turns into a great big building destroying beanstalk, his troubles really begin. But with the help of Rapunzel and other eccentric friends, Jack just might out-swindle the evil-giants and put his beloved city back in the hands of the people who live there ... whilst catapulting them and the reader into another fantastical adventure.

A fun follow up to Rapunzel's Revenge.

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Outlaw: The Legend of Robin Hood

Outlaw: The Legend of Robin Hood by Tony Lee

How did Robin of Loxley become Robin Hood? Why did he choose to fight injustice instead of robbing for his own gain? Expressive and gritty, this graphic novel whisks readers back to Crusades era England, where the Sheriff of Nottingham rules with an iron fist, and in the haunted heart of Sherwood Forest, a defiant rogue- with the help of his men and the lovely Maid Marian - disguise himself to become an outlaw.

This was a real fun graphic novel, the legend of Robin Hood is one that we're all familiar with and in this retelling we're once again met with our hero Robin of Loxley (Robin Hood), and his band of merry men - Little John, Friar Tuck, Will Scarlet and Maid Marian - who steal from the rich and give to the poor (and a little bit extra).

This definately isn't the Disney version, in fact it give lots of the history of the culture, customs and politics of the time, without dragging the pace of the story down.

The art work is dark and brooding - giving the perfect atmosphere for the deep dark Sherwood Forest, unfortunatley sometimes this dark look made it difficult to tell some characters apart.

Overall I think this will be a popular graphic novel for our library.

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