Itch: a science-themed action adventure. Books 1 and 2

The last week has been very busy working with English teachers to match the more reluctant boys in their classes with books they might enjoy. It can be hard work sometimes but so rewarding when you have some success. We also had parent/teacher interviews over two days/nights. The English teachers stressed that the boys should be reading in a number of interviews so I had a chance to talk to the boys and their parents about what might be of interest to them. It was also interesting to see that many parents after looking at the books on display (many were military fiction and biographies/autobiographies out for ANZAC Day) had their boys borrow a book for them to read.

I was very happy to talk about books and reading when I didn’t have an interview of my own. One of the books I enjoyed last year was Itch by Simon Mayo. I read a review in a blog from the UK and bought it via my Kindle to read. The book was later released as a paperback that we now have in the library.

The main character, who has the marvelous name of Itchinham Lofte, is fairly ordinary 14-year-old who loves science and has one obsession, his collection of elements. His obsession puts him and his friends in a lot of danger.

There is plenty of intrigue and action with a bad guy, in the form of a mad scientist and a ruthless corporation with dubious morals laying claim to the new element Itch has in his hands. Is the element dangerous and did it cause the death of the mysterious traveler “Cake”? Itch needs to know more but who can he trust with his secret?

An action adventure with a science theme made this book a little unusual. The pace was brisk and the ending a good one. So, after believing you have poisoned your whole class with arsenic gas then going on the run from a your mad science teacher and to top it off almost dying of radiation poisoning, what adventures could there be to write about? There were a few big questions unanswered at the end of the book so there are enough things open for a follow-up story.

The book trailer for the novel was also great. Watch it below.

Now the second in the series has been published. I have yet to read it. I will have to finish off some other books this weekend before I get a copy to read. I will probable get the kindle version before getting a hardcopy as well for the library. We have boys who like the digital format, boys that will read the story whatever the format and others who prefer the traditional book.

There is again a good book trailer to whet the appetite.

CBCA Young readers shortlist 2013 – with links

The discussions have just begun about the 2013 CBCA Book of the Year shortlisted books.

Here is my post about the shortlisted books for the younger readers. We have 3 of the 6 in our secondary school library. It is interesting to see that Pennies for Hitler was on both the Older and Younger Readers lists but made it to the Younger Readers’ shortlist. Of the three books we have in our library, two are about young people surviving the Holocaust and the third is about refugees as well. The runaway winner in our library is After by Morris Gleitzman. His books are very popular but the series of books about the plight of Felix has captured the imaginations of many of our boys.

2013 Younger Readers Shortlist

• French, Jackie Pennies for Hitler (Angus & Robertson, HarperCollins)
  • This is  a companion novel to Hitler’s Daughter but is not a sequel. The two books easily work as stand alone stories but each offer different perspectives on WWII. In Pennies for Hitler, set in 1939 Germany it is dangerous for anyone to have any Jewish ancestry. Life for 11-year old Georg is good, offering a lot of promise under the Führer. Everything changes when Georg’s father, an English university professor, is killed by a group of pro-Nazi students. His crime is that he is suspected to have a Jewish heritage. Georg’s German mother, fearing for her son’s safety, arranges for him to be smuggled into England. After an uncomfortable and frightening journey Georg reaches England and stays with his father’s sister, his Aunt Miriam. Her wartime work means that Georg spends a lot of time alone. He spends his time listening to the radio, reading newspapers and trying to improve his English accent. When the London bombing becomes too prolific Aunt Miriam, like many others at that time, decides to send Georg to safety in Australia. He is put into foster care and is taken by a kindly elderly couple living in country NSW. When things go wrong here as well Georg has an important decision to make.  This is a well written book with  a lot of historical accuracy. It is about war, and peace, and seeing things from different perspectives, developing empathy for others and tolerance.
  • Read a review from ReadPlus,  one from SMH and another from Children’s Books Daily. There are also teachers’ notes in PDF form from HarperCollins.
• French, Simon Other Brother (Walker Books Australia) Not in our library
  • Read the ReadPlus review and another on the AussieReviews site as well as one by Bec Kavanagh.
  • The is an activity sheet and another PDF detailing some classroom ideas you can download from the Walker site.
• Gleitzman, Morris After (Viking Books, Penguin Group (Australia))
  • I enjoy reading Morris Gleitzman’s books. His stories for young people involve many important human foibles and experiences but he maintains such a good balance and is never too intellectual or patronising to his readers. The third book in the series, Now, portrayed Felix as a grown man. In this novel Morris Gleitzman returns to the 1945 and the Gabriek’s farm where Felix is hiding in a whole after the brutal death of Zelda. He is not there for long. Soon Felix is facing some of his greatest challenges as the war draws to a close. The invading Nazis become an even greater danger and then he encounters the Polish partisans who appear to be just as dangerous to him as the Germans. Although he still has maintained some of his natural naivety he is determined to survive.  Felix is now a teenager and has developed skills that make him useful.  He has some medical skills the partisans can use, and as in the earlier books he still has compassion for others and a courage that wins him friends. Some of the final chapters are very sad especially when, as the war in Europe coming to an end, Felix goes looking for his parents in the death camps. What he finds is terrible.

    Morris Gleitzman also doesn’t shy away from the grey areas of war. Most people are not simply good or evil or clever or stupid. He does however explain what happened during this time very honestly and realistically. The violence, the damage and anger are all portrayed on the pages but throughout the story there is also courage, compassion and hope. It was a fitting way to finish the story of Felix.

  • You can read a review from ReadPlus or a student review from the Penguin blog.
• Hartnett, Sonya Children of the King (Viking Books, Penguin Group (Australia))
  • Sonya Hartnett is a consummate writer, whose stories often leave me feeling uncomfortable, but are always well told. In this book she combines stories from two eras. The first is set in wartime Britain, the second stems from the time of Richard III and the mystery of the missing “Princes in the Tower”. Two children, Cecily and Jeremy, are sent away from the London bombings to live in the country, with their mother and Uncle Peregrine. Whilst there Cecily and another evacuee, May discover two little boys hiding in a nearby derelict castle. Who they are and why are they there? The characters of all the children are well written and they all have interesting and different parts to play in the story. The themes of class, growth/emotional development are woven into the story that is not simply a wartime story nor a ghost story nor just a mystery story or a coming-of-age story. Sonya Hartnett has woven many strands into her latest book.
  • You can read the transcript of a Q&A about this book on the interviews page on Sonya Hartnett’s site.
  • Read a review from ReadAlert (SLV) and another from ReadPlus
• Herrick, Steven Pookie Aleera is Not my Boyfriend (University of Queensland Press) Not in our library.
  • The latest verse novel from Steven Herrick.
  • Read a review on the AussieReviews site and another by Joy Lawn for The Australian
  • Download the teachers’ notes PDF from the publishers site.
• Millard, Glenda & illustrated by Stephen Michael King The Tender Moments of Saffron Silk (HarperCollins)
  • Not in our library. Part of the Kingdom of Silk series: #6.
  • You can read more about the book here from the Children’s Books Daily.
  • Download the teachers’ notes PDF from the publishers site.

CBCA shortlist 2013 and the older readers list links

Congratulations to everyone who was connected to the short list this year, writers, publishers and of course the judges. The judges have such a difficult job to whittle down the long list to the short list. As always, there will be discussion with my colleagues about what was left out and their personal favourites. We have many of the titles on this years shortlist but a few did not make it to our shelves as we try to cater for our clientele and not break our budget. This year we had only one of the picture books,  A Day to Remember by  Mark Wilson and text by Jackie French, and none of the Eve Pownell shortlisted books.

Older Readers Short List 2013 (These books are for mature readers)

• Grant, Neil The Ink Bridge (Allen & Unwin)
  • Neil Grant has written a YA novel that tackles the very divisive political issue of asylum seekers whilst still delivering a story with enough action and suspense for our boys to enjoy the tale without losing poignancy
  • Teacher reviews  here and teaching notes also available from Allen & Unwin site.
• Lanagan, Margo Sea Hearts (Allen & Unwin)
  • This is the one book in this part of the list I have not read and we do not have in our library.
  • Reading groups guide, notes for teachers PDF and reviews by teachers PDF are also available from Allen and Unwin site.. Interestingly it is called The Brides of Rollrock Island for the US market
• MacLeod, Doug The Shiny Guys (Penguin Group)
  • An engrossing and affecting story on another serious subject, depression. Colin is a 15-year-old boy who, after a very traumatic event, is hospitalised. He exists in a world where fantasy and reality merge in his mind. Some of the other patients offer him friendship and are part of the lighter aspects in the story. Although not a comedic novel there are many touches of dark humour.
  • You can read more about this book on the Goodreads reviews page, the ReadAlert (SLV) site and a page on The Wheeler Center also discusses the novel.
• Touchell, Dianne Creepy & Maud (Fremantle Press) I have yet to read this and it must now be on my to-read list.
  • Teaching notes PDF is available and there are quite a few reviews on Goodreads
• Wakefield, Vikki Friday Brown (Text Publishing)
  • This story has many fascinating characters and very tangled relationships. Having lost her mother, seventeen-year-old Friday goes on the run and falls in with a band of street children who are led by an unpredictable but charismatic young woman called Arden. She running to escape her memories but throughout the book, Friday remains haunted by the ghost of her recently dead mother, and also the  family curse; a history of drowning.  Things don’t go well and Friday is lost, alone and afraid.
  • Teaching notes PDF is available. There is also an article you can read on the Readings site where Vikki Wakefield talks about the process of writing Friday Brown.
• Zail, Suzy The Wrong Boy (Black Dog Books, Walker Books Australia)
  • Suzy Zail is an Australian-born author and daughter of a Holocaust survivor. She writes this her first fictional story in the first person. Hanna Mendel, is a 15-year-old girl living with her older sister Erika and her parents in the Debrecen Jewish ghetto in Hungary.  She is a good student and talented pianist who has always behaved appropriately. Her world changes when the Nazis arrive to announce that the ghetto is closing and the family will be “resettled”. After a long train journey in a cattle car they end up in the camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau. There are examples of many survival strategies throughout the story and it quickly becomes evident that there are no longer any simple solutions or simple judgements in Hanna’s life. The characters are flawed and changeable, not simply good or evil but often a mixture of both. There is also a romance that blossoms between Hanna and the camp Captain’s son, Karl.  He does not seem to be like his Father and sees more to Hana than her Jewish heritage. Her mother and sister do not fare well but this is the story of Hanna. She may be a naïve teenager  but she is determined to survive. The end of the book leaves an opening for a further story.
  • Classroom Ideas PDF is available from the publishers sites and there are Reviews on the Insideadog site and Goodreads

Younger Readers Short List 2013 (Intended for independent younger readers.)

• French, Jackie Pennies for Hitler (Angus & Robertson, HarperCollins)
• French, Simon Other Brother (Walker Books Australia)
• Gleitzman, Morris After (Viking Books, Penguin Group (Australia))
• Hartnett, Sonya Children of the King (Viking Books, Penguin Group (Australia))
• Herrick, Steven Pookie Aleera is Not my Boyfriend (University of Queensland Press
• Millard, Glenda & Stephen Michael King The Tender Moments of Saffron Silk (HarperCollins)

CBCA Book of the Year 2012 – Older Readers Winners & the others on the Shortlist

Over the weekend I reflected on the winners and the shortlist in general. They were books that had appealed to many of our boys but it was interesting that the winners were mainly male authors, Ursula Dubosarky being the exception. This seems to remind me of a criticism of some other writers awards. Does it mean anything, probably not, and the judges were all female this year – so would there be a bias? As always I suppose there will be some discussion about what missed out and what was declared the winner but I have no complaints and I will be able to “sell” all of them to our students.

My favourite, Goliath (part of the Leviathan series)by Scott Westerfeld didn’t make the shortlist but I do like to read Robert Newton (Runner – set in Richmond in the early 1900′s and The Black Dog Gang, early Sydney) and Scot Gardner (One Dead Seagull and White Ute Dreaming amongst others). Both these authors have done a lot to encourage our boys here to read. Scot Garner has also been to the school in the past to talk to bots about writing. Many were very impressed and his books flew off the shelves for the next few months. Bill Condon has written some very interesting books but a smaller number of our readers seem to like to read his works.

It was also interesting that the publisher who had the most success this year was Allen and Unwin. I seem to think that Penguin have been the dominant publisher in the past. Allen and Unwin have certainly  been very proactive in supporting some good Australian authors.

You can listen to a great podcast recorded by two judges, Trisha Buckley (2012 QLD judge) and Tehani Wessley (2012 WA judge), on the Book Nut Blog. They recorded their discussion on the shortlist for the 2012 CBCA Older Readers category a week before the winners were announced. They were very careful and there were no spoilers before the winners were announced. You can find the podcast on iTunes by searching The Book Nut or access via the Podbean website here

The Winner

Gardner, Scot  The Dead I Know

Find more information about Scot Gardner on the author’s homepage here. Read a review here. The publisher has downloadable notes for teachers and teacher reviews available on their site. Readingjay‘s review here and ReadPlus review

Honour Books

Newton, Robert

When We Were Two

The publisher’s page has some information. Read a review from the Fancy Goods site and a review from ReadPlus.

Condon, Bill  A Straight Line to my Heart

Find more information about Bill Condon on his website. Read a review here and another from Read Plus. The publisher has downloadable notes for teachers and teacher reviews available on their site.

Other shortlisted books:

Bauer, Michael Gerard  Ishmael and the Hoops of Steel

Find more information about on the author’s homepage. Reviewed on the Good Reads site here.

Dubosarsky, Ursula  The Golden Day

Find more information about the author on her website. Read a review here. The publisher has downloadable notes for teachers and teacher reviews available on their site. Listen to Ursula Dubosarsky discussing The Golden Day on ABC Radio National’s The Book Show. You can also watch the BookTrailer

McGahan, Andrew  Ship Kings: The Coming of the Whirlpool

The author has a “mini site” as part of the Allen&Unwin site. Review here There is a Radio National podcast of an author interview available to listen to and you can read an interview with Andrew McGahan about The Coming of the Whirlpool (the Fancy Goods blog). There is also a discussion by the author on the Readings site here. The publisher offers downloadable notes for teachers and teacher reviews available on their site.

Looking forward to John Flanagan’s latest book

Our boys at school love the Ranger’s Apprentice series. It has been a great adventure series. We recently purchased The lost stories (#11 in the Ranger’s Apprentice) which fills in a lot of background to the characters in the series. The stories were in part inspired by the questions the author received from his readers. This book flew off the shelf but the students are also very keen to get their hands on the longer story that is advertised on the back cover.

They are all seem to be eagerly awaiting the publication of The outcasts, book 1 in a new series Brotherband. This is a story that picks up on the lives of the Skandians, people from one of the nations mentioned in The Ranger’s Apprentice books. Set on the high seas it looks to be another winner. To avoid answering the same question over and over I hope it comes out soon!

Watch the brief interview with John Flanagan:

And then the official trailer:

Official Trailer for Brotherband by John Flanagan, posted with vodpod