Bluefish - Pat Schmatz

This was recommended to me by our wonderful new librarian, Wendy Wright. So thanks to her I think we'll be ordering a class set of this, probably for Yr 10 or Yr 11 classes.

Travis has been raised by his grandfather in small town, rural America. Financial difficulties force Travis and his grandad to move into town and closer to the school Travis hates so much. At school nothing seems to make sense to Travis, learning just doesn't 'fit'. However meeting Mr McQueen and teaming up with new friends,Velveeta and Randy, opens up a new world for him.

While being incredibly well crafted in terms of it's language and structure, it is also very realistic in terms of the a teenage boy struggling to overcome a serious learning issue while trying to hide the truth about it.

Unwind - Neal Shusterman

The recent re-discovery of 'dystopian' literature by teens, makes this a good choice for classroom study. Set in the near future, Unwind is set in a society where until the age of 16, you can be 'unwound' and your parts recycled.

Teenagers who question, challenge or are just not up to the grade, can have this 'punishment'.

Connor, Risa and Lev, challenge the system and survive - to help lead a struggle to change society...

Check out the book trailer here

Erebos - Ursula Poznanski

Erebos is a computer game, unlike any game ever played before - it seems to be alive, so alive that it crosses over from the world of the computer into the living world. Not just anyone can play - you have to be invited. And then you only get one chance to play.

But there is something sinister about a game that becomes so encompassing, a game that takes the lives of players totally.

An unique story - a creepy story.......

The bookseller of Kabul - Anne Seierstad

Post 9/11 Norwegian journalist Seierstad lived with a bookseller and his family for three months in Kabul. As a western woman , wearing the burkha, she had access to both the male and female sections of the household and so her narrative provides a unique insight into the lives and minds of a middle class Afghani family.

She tells of the everyday concerns of the patriach of the family, Khan, but also of the day to day issues concerning the women of the household - the shame of a second wife being brought in, the drudgery of the youngest female of the household, the lack of education of both the males and female children of the household as the take on roles in the family business empire.

A fascinating read that has caused its' subject - the anonymous 'Khan' family much difficulty in their homeland. You can read more about that here - The bookseller of Kabul

Extremely loud and incredibly close - Jonathan Safran Foer

9 year old Oskar's father 'disappeared' on Sept 11. A chance find of a key leads Oskar to believe that his father left a clue to his whereabouts - a clue that he must solve. So he begins his journey to look for the lock that the key fits - even if it means looking for every possible lock in New York City.

Oskar's journey brings him into contact with an array of interesting characters on the way to discovering some truths about himself, his family and his father.

Wonderfully written, interspersed with graphic images and cartoon pages - highly recommended.

iboy - Kevin Brooks

I have been a long time fan of Kevin Brooks. His books often deal with a harsher look at the life of disenfranchised teens. His style is very contemporary and very gritty. iboy is no exception.

A shocking attack begins the story - and for this reason I would recommend this only to mature teen readers. The attack changes Tom and Lucy forever - in different ways. Tom's brain has somehow merged with the mobile phone that is embedded in his head. A phone that provides him with continual online hook-up with the entire mobile network. Just how will he use this power?

Set against a backdrop of housing estate gangs, drugs and violence, Brooks provides a tense and emotional journey.

American Youth - Phil LaMarche

It's not often that I don't like a book that's been recommended - but this is one of those times.

I really expected to be won over by this story of Terry, an ordinary boy from small town America, whose life is changed by a fatal mistake. After his family tries to cover up and hide the truth Terry's issues become internalised. The novel has been lauded as 'great' by American critics. I simply did not 'warm' to any of the characters.

I guess the scary thing is, is that fiction mirrors life. Read about the real life NZ case here...

Homer and Langley - E L Doctorow

I read about this novel awhile ago and it took me some time to find a copy. Worth the wait! An incredibly interesting tale based on the lives of the Collyer brothers who lived in New York through to the 1960s. They were renowned for their compulsive 'hoarding' - you can see some of it here . The events are told from the narrative point of view of Homer, as he slowly went blind. His views on some of the most radical times of the 2oth century are as eccentric as the brothers themselves. They say that fact is stranger than fiction - and so it is with Homer and Langley.

You can read about Homer and Langley here

Elegance of the Hedgehog - Muriel Barbery

Rene, the unattractive widowed concierge of a Parisian apartment. A deep thinker and philosopher, she hides this from the residents she has lived with for 27 years. Until Paloma, the 12 year old daughter of a resident family discovers her secret. Almost at the same time a new resident, Mr Ozu , also finds out the depth of her intellect.

Paloma and Rene's narrative voices are quite distinct and but they are linked by their common bond of wanting to remain apart from those around them. While some critics think that these voices are artificial and unrealistic, I enjoyed the contrasting stream of consciousness style.

And I was surprised by the ending!

Between the assassinations - Aravind Adiga

Adiga's second novel ( though written before the highly successful White Tiger ) blurs the boundaries between fiction, travel log and history text. The history of the fictional town of Kittur and the travel log of the city's sites are interspersed with detailed descriptions of the lives of the privileged and not so privileged inhabitants of Kittur.
Set in the years between the assassinations of Indira and Rajiv Gandhi, there appears to be little joy in the lives of the characters.

A fascinating depiction of the city and it's people.