I highly recommend the following 2 books for Forms 3-5.
"Submission" by Amy Waldman deals with the grief and loss after the 9/11 attacks in New York.
"The landscape painter" by Craig Higginson is a love story with a difference set in the time of the Anglo Boer war. Numerous twists and turns.

The newsletter going out on Friday has a list of recommended books for all ages. I compile this list according to the most popular books in the Library. I have also read "The glass room" by Simon Mawer and loved it. Recommended for adult level. It's a very human story centred around a modern house with a glass room and takes one from pre-war days to the Nazi occupation to the Soviet occupation after the war. If you love war time stories and historical novels then please try this one.

Left Bank : The suburb of excellence in the excellent Paris.
Written By: Kate Muir

By Roneque Janse van Resnburg Form 2 K

Olivier and Madison Malin have what most celebrity magazines would call the perfect life. Olivier is a philosopher, food-lover, and media personality.He love all paris’s cafés, as well as the love of more than one mistress. And Madison’s the celebrity’s personality has even been hidden from her husband. An American film star turned Parisian It girl, Madison has forgotton of her Texas upbringing and he true age.She adores the french salons, and impeccable French accents, and a collection of fashion designer gowns. Together, Olivier and Madison live in the one of the most well-respected neighborhood of neighborhoods, the Left Bank, where the perfect couple and their friends indulge in fine wines, bon mots, and some exceptional cheeses.
Everything looks flawless and to good to be true, a touch exaggerated. But when their intelligent trophy daughter Sabine goes missing at a European mega-amusement park, her self-centered parents are finally forced to focus on something other than their own social and pretentious lives.
This book has a travelling reader inspired while delightfully mocking the family life of families along Paris’s Left Bank the book will have readers of all ages laughing and dreaming of the wonderful Paris.

Hello to all library monitors

I can't wait to see all your book reviews. Keep them coming. Enjoy National library week.

Mrs D.

Lovely Bones
By Alice Sebold
A teenage girl is murdered by a disturbed man. She goes to Heaven and from Heaven she looks down on her family and watches as they are dealing with her being missing. The later when her body is found and her family heart-broken. She watches as the police and her family try find her killer. The police eventually tell the parents that there are no more leads they can follow. Her family is torn apart and can’t accept her death. Her father continues searching because he has his own leads. And up in Heaven, the girl watches this all unfold.
The book is very interesting, but disturbing and sick in a way. If you are a sensitive reader do not read it. It questions faith and who can you trust. The girl looked down and saw the man living in her neighbourhood nearly get away with many murders. But did they ever
have leads to suspect him…?
By Roneque JvRensburg
Form 2K

What a fabulous page you ahve created Dani. Well done. I am impressed. I would love to see other girls create their own pages.

The Dangerous Days of Daniel.X
James Patterson

From the day his parents were brutally murdered, Daniel X has been on a mission to destroy the world’s most bloodthirsty aliens, especially the one who killed his parents. Daniel has secret abilities to control objects and animals with his mind or to recreate himself in any image he chooses. Through using his powers he has managed to survive. Now Daniel is 15 and the fate of the world is resting on his hands. Using a list of the demonic aliens, Daniel vows for vengence, and to take his father’s place as “the Alien Hunter”, and as the protector of Earth.

This book had me hooked until the very last page. Suspence, romance, action, adventure, comedy. It’s got it all!

I recommend this book to any person of any age. There are a few parts in the story that are quite groosome, however sensitive readers should not be affected.

Fateful
Claudia Gray

While walking home alone one night, Tess is saved from the clutches of a wolf by a handsome gentleman by the name of Alec. He tells Tess to run or he will kill her. Tess runs! Now Tess and her Mistress Lady Regina, along with her Mistress’s daughter have boarded the Titanic. Alec has also boarded, but he’s brought along more than just luggage. Alec is controlled by a dark secret. As terrifying as his secret is, Tess cannot keep away from him, and she’s not the only one. Will Tess be able to save Alec from the clutches of darkness, and protect him from his secret, or will she be too late.

I absolutely loved this book; I recommend it to all readers.

The Hidden
Jessica Verday

Abbey and Caspian are deep in love, there is only one problem – Caspian is a ghost. Abbey lives in the town of Sleepy Hollow, so falling in love with a ghost isn't the strangest thing rumoured to have happened in the area. Abbey discovers that her newly found friends Kame, Sophie, Uri and Cacey are Revenants and have come into Abbey’s life help her die so she can spend the rest of her life with Caspian . This is very much a love story. Abbey thinks about Caspian all the time, which is appropriate since they're in love and they encounter all these tragic and life-threatening obstacles. Abbey and Caspian make an adorable couple with nicknames for each other and regularly declaring their love for one another. In dying Abbey knows that she has to make a lot of sacrifices to be with Caspian, like losing her parents who care very much for her and all of her other family and friends, but this she is willing to do. The question is will Abbey give up everything just to be with Caspian?

I love how in this book Jessica Verday has referred a lot of the fiction to the short story - The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving. She has even gone as far as creating still-living ghost versions of the Headless Horseman and Katrina Von Tassel, characters from the short story.

If you like romance mixed with a little spookiness and some tragic mystery I suggest you read this.

Matched
Ally Condie

Cassia Reyes lives in a future where Society controls everything. You marry the person who the officials prove would best suit you and would be the best option to carry on your gene pool and have perfectly healthy children. Society’s reasoning is to preserve their race and control everything, in society’s eyes – a better world. Cassia is matched to one of the closest friends, which is almost unheard of in their modern society. A glitch in the system makes Cassia question her match and pay more attention to Ky Markham, an outsider Cassia has never really known. Cassia’s grandfather encourages her to asses all her options between both boys she was matched too. The question is which match will she pick…

I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys romance novels with a twist.

Eragon
Christopher Paolini
A simple farm boy, while he is out hunting, discovers a peculiar stone that appears in a flash of green light. He is then thrown into a strange world of magic and elves. His incredible journey has only just begun. He soon discovers that the stone is actually an egg and not just any egg; one of the last three remaining dragon eggs. On his extraordinary adventure he will gain an unexpected teacher and an amazing ability to perform magic. He will also feel the cold touch of sorrow, pain and loss.

I enjoyed this book because it captivates your imagination and transports you into a magical world. It is very well written and full of exciting twists and turns. I found the book un-put-down-able. Eragon is the first in a series of four books; the Inheritance series by Christopher Paolini. The fourth book has recently come out. Eragon has also been made into a movie but the books are much better and filled with much more detail.

Most types of readers would enjoy this book as iIt has a bit of everything. Eragon is a fantasy book that is filled with magic, mystery and romance. The book does contain scenes of violence, epic battles, magic duels and sharp wit.

Mister Monday
Garth Nix

Arthur Penhaligon was meant to die. Until a mysterious stranger, in a wheelchair arrives and gives him the minute hand of a clock. Then everything changes.

Arthur, after starting at a new school, suffers from a near fatal asthma attack. This is the beginning of Arthur’s journey into the House, a strange world in which strange creatures roam around. Arthur, as the Architect’s heir, must find all seven keys to the kingdom that the disloyal, power hungry trustees have failed to give to him while at the same time fighting the rising forces of Nothing that threaten to devour everything.

This is the first book of the Seven Keys to the Kingdom series by Garth Nix. There are seven books in the series. I enjoyed the whole series because it is something different and very entertaining. There is never a dull moment and full of unexpected twists to reality. This book tests your imagination, while captivating you into this amazing world.

The book is fantasy. If you enjoy different kinds of books full of weird creatures and civilizations then you will definitely enjoy this one. The book is very well written and will transport you into a world that test your version of reality to its limits.

The delcaration by Gemma Malley

THE DECLARATION opens in the year 2140, and people have conquered death in the form of Longevity drugs. With limited food and fuel resources, waste has become a serious crime and the worst crime of all is having a child. Anna is one of these children. She is housed at Grange Hall where she and other Surpluses are taught that the most they can ever hope for is a harsh life of servitude to make amends for their existence. But then Peter arrives at Grange Hall...

The carbon diaries 2015 by Saci Lloyd

It’s January 1st, 2015, and the UK is the first nation to introduce carbon dioxide rationing, in a drastic bid to combat climate change. As her family spirals out of control, Laura Brown chronicles the first year of rationing with scathing abandon. Will her mother become one with her inner wolf? Will her sister give up her weekends in Ibiza? Does her father love the pig more than her? Can her band the dirty angels make it big? And will Ravi Datta ever notice her?

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Tally lives in a world where your sixteenth birthday brings aesthetic perfection: an operation which erases all your flaws, transforming you from an 'Ugly' into a 'Pretty'. She is on the eve of this important event, and cannot wait for her life to change. As well as guaranteeing supermodel looks, life as a Pretty seems to revolve around having a good time. But then she meets Shay, who is also fifteen - but with a very different outlook on life...

The hunger games

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. But Katniss has been clse to death before-and survival, for her, is second nature. The Hunger Games is a searing novel set in a future with unsettling parallels to our present. Welcome to the deadliest reality TV show ever...

Across the universe by Beth Revis


Amy has left the life she loves for a world 300 years away.Trapped in space and frozen in time, Amy is bound for a new planet. But 50 years before she's due to arrive, she is violently woken, the victim of an attempted murder. Now Amy's lost on board and nothing makes sense Yet someone is waiting for her. He wants to protect her; and more if she'll let him. But who can she trust amidst the secrets and lies? A killer is out there - and Amy has nowhere to hide . . .

Divergent by Veronica Roth

For sixteen-year-old Tris, the world changes in a heartbeat when she is forced to make a terrible choice. Turning her back on her family, Tris ventures out, alone, determined to find out where she truly belongs. Shocked by the brutality of her new life, Tris can trust no one. And yet she is drawn to a boy who seems to both threaten and protect her. The hardest choices may yet lie ahead…. A debut novel that will leave you breathless.

Crossed by Ali Condie

Chasing down an uncertain future, Cassia makes her way to the Outer Provinces in pursuit of Ky- taken by the Society to his certain death-only to find that he has escaped into the majestic, but treacherous, canyons. On this wild frontier are glimmers of a different life and the enthralling promise of rebellion. But even as Cassia sacrifices everything to reunite with Ky, ingenious surprises from Xander may change the game once again.

Never letting go by Patrick Ness

Imagine you're the only boy in a town of men. And you can hear everything they think. And they can hear everything you think. Imagine you don't fit in with their plans... Todd Hewitt is just one month away from the birthday that will make him a man. But his town has been keeping secrets from him. Secrets that are going to force him to run...

Blood red road by Moira Young

''It's 'Mad Max' and 'The Hunger Games' meet 'True Grit', except the protagonist... Saba, is arguably fiercer than the young women in those latter titles... a must-read, where girls rescue boys, and where the future looms up full of hope and loss, struggles and archetypes that give the story a timeless, classic edge.'' --Globe and Mail

Delerium by Lauren Oliver

They say that the cure for love will make me happy and safe forever. And I've always believed them. Until now. Now everything has changed. Now, I'd rather be infected with love for the tiniest sliver of a second than live a hundred years suffocated by a lie. There was a time when love was the most important thing in the world. People would go to the end of the earth to find it. They would tell lies for it. Even kill for it. Then, at last, they found the cure.

The Luxe
Anna Godberson
Elizabeth Holland is a girl who has everything, the looks, all the boys and the rich lifestyle. She is forced to marry Henry Schoonmaker a very handsome, very rich yet very arrogant this turns into a love hexagon. With her best friend and sister liking Henry and Henry best friend liking Elizabeth and the stable worker being in love with Elizabeth and Elizabeth being in love with the stable worker and her maid liking the stable worker it is like an olden day version of Gossip Girl. Read this book to find out who ends up with who.
I recommend this book to anyone who loves a good romantic scandal
Kate Lambert

Iron Fey (series)
The Iron King - by - Julia Kagawa
Meghan Chase lives an ordinary life with her mother, her baby brother and her mom’s boyfriend. Despite the fact that her father was declared missing many years ago, everything seems quite normal. That is, until her sixteenth birthday, when her life suddenly spirals out of control. Her baby brother has been abducted by the Iron King, and in his place lies the unsettling feary child- a changling. Her best friend, Roby Goodfell is non-other than Robin Good-fellow (better known as Puck) who was sent to the mortal world to serve as Meghan’s protector. Her father is really King Oberon of the Summer Court and because of this, Meghan has powers that no creature has ever seen before. With Help from a supercilious Cat and her best friend Puck, Meghan must learn to control her power, save the land of Nevernever, rescue her brother and fight her feelings for her arch nemesis Ash, Prince of the Winter Court.

I absolutely loved this series. It is quite similar reading to Twilight. However Twilight does not do these books justice. Those who enjoyed Twilight will love this.

My Favourite character in the story is Grimalkin, as he has such a predictable attitude and tends to disappear whenever danger is on the way. I enjoyed the fact that this was one of the few characters who cause vast amounts of tension throughout the story.

My Favourite quote in the book is said by Grimalkin many a time when one wishes to know how it is that he could do something so spectacular, or if he will be alright, he says: “I am a cat”. I love this quote as it adds just a little bit more magic and confusion to the story.

By Emma Parlabean