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...

The Cellist of Sarajevo - Stephen Galloway

Set against the backdrop of the siege of Sarajevo (early 1990s), this is the fictional account of 4 people struggle to maintain a sense of humanity and morality as the city is decimated around them.

Recommended by a colleague, I couldn't put this down once started. Modern warfare at it's worst - the attempted destruction of a city and a people.

Based on real events - check out this link for an interesting point of view - the real cellist's!

The sixth lamentation - William Brodrick

Came across this author's first novel via an accidental conversation with a colleague. A fascinating read into the minds of a range if diverse characters - a Fransiscan monk (an ex lawyer) a Nazi collaborator, a death camp survivor, a woman who risked her life smuggling Jewish children out of Paris and a vast array of their families whose paths cross over the course of the novel.

While no actual historical link for the characters, they are based on people that Brodrick has come across or have links to his family.

The story moves across time periods from the Fall of Paris (1940) to the present day - and the final action is not fully revealed until the last page.