Top reads for 2009 by Pat Pledger
Teens
Fire by
Kristin Cashore. Fire is the last of the human Monsters and she is
feared because of her beauty and her ability to control minds. A
companion volume to Graceling,
this
is
fantasy
at
its best, with a strong heroine, plenty of action
and a low-key romance.
Along for
the ride by Sarah Dessen. Auden's sleep patterns have been
disrupted ever since her parents' divorce. The quest she goes on with a
fellow insomniac will change her life. If you haven't tried Dessen's
novels before then you are in for a treat.
Vulture's
gate by Kirsty Murray. The story of Callum, a young boy kidnapped
by the dangerous Outlanders and Bo, Roboraptor Girl, who has survived
alone in the desert since her grandfather was murdered. A Science
fiction survival story set in outback Australia, with overtones of Mad
Max.
The ask and
the answer by Patrick Ness. Todd has taken the dying Viola into
Haven but it has been made into the stronghold of his enemy Mayor
Prentiss. The first in the series, The knife of
never letting go had
gripping tension, high adventure and thought provoking themes and the
second is even better!
Exposure
by Mal Peet. A star footballer, Othello, meets a beautiful pop singer
Desmerelda at a celebrity party. They fall in love and quickly marry
much to the delight of the media. Wonderful expose of fame based
loosely on Othello.
Beatle
meets Destiny by Gabrielle Williams. Beatle, named because his name
is John Lennon, meets Destiny at a tram stop in Melbourne one Friday
night and from then on the reader is led into a hilarious story of
young love, astrology and weird art projects.
The
uninvited by Tim Wynne-Jones. For Jackson Page, the little cabin is
a place to compose in. For Mimi Shapiro the snye in the wilds of
Eastern Ontario is a perfect hideaway and for Cramer Lee, it is a place
where he can spy on Jay. In an exciting thriller Wynne-Jones keeps the
reader guessing right to the end about the
uninvited
visitor who is stalking Jay and Mimi .
Middle school
Waterslain
Angels by Kevin Crossley-Holland. Ten year old Annie, an
independent and risk taking young girl, joins up with Sandy, an eleven
year old asthmatic geek, on a summer quest to find the missing carvings
of angels that once adorned their Norfolk church and which haven't been
seen since Cromwell's time.
Love, Aubrey
by Suzanne LaFleur. A terrible thing has happened to Aubrey. Now she is
all alone with only her new fish Sammy for company. A memorable tear
jerker.
Loblolly boy
by James Norcliffe. The loblolly boy can fly wherever he wants and has
eternal youth. He also has the power to Exchange - to swap places with
others who are Sensitive and can see him. Margaret Mahy describes this
as a new classic and it is certainly memorable.
When you reach me by Rebecca Stead. Winner of the Newbery Medal.
Miranda gets a message that says "I am coming to save save your
friend's life, and my own." This book is an intriguing puzzle that will
have its readers following clues until its explosive conclusion.
Angel fish by Lili Wilkinson. Gabriel believes Stephan when he
says
that children can save save the Holy Land. Will his faith sustain him
on the perilous journey that the Children's Crusade undertakes?
Picture books
Sarah's
heavy heart by Peter Carnavas. Sarah has a heavy heart that she
carries all the time, on the bus, in the playground, at the park.
My silent
world by Nette Hilton and Vincent Agostino. A deaf girl has a rich
inner life. She knows about everything, but she is afraid of the unseen
monster that fits in her ear - a cochlear implant.
Isabella's
garden by Glenda Millard and Rebecca Cool. Isabella's garden is a
place where the soil is 'all dark and deep' and where Isabella and her
friends plant the seeds that emerge into a glorious garden, changing
with the seasons until Jack Frost comes and all that is left is a
well-feathered nest and a handful of seeds.
First the
egg by Laura Vaccaro Seegar. The book looks at how things evolve.
First comes an egg and on page turn, the reader sees the egg change
into a chicken.