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ReadPlus is a collection of selected books and films arranged under themes. This web site provides lists, reviews and resources for librarians, teachers and parents about books for young people aged 5 to 18.

Review Blog

Jul 02 2009

One dragon's dream by Peter Pavey


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Walker Books, 2009 (c1978) ISBN 9781921150746
(All ages) Highly recommended. It is wonderful that this fabulous Picture Book of the Year has been reprinted. It is such a treat: a counting book with intricate pictures that just beg to be...
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Jul 02 2009

Ten mile river by Paul Griffin


cover imageText, 2009
(Age 14+) Recommended. 14 year old Ray and Jose are best friends. Jose is good looking with a talent for wise cracking; Ray is large, strong and very intelligent. Finding the juvenile detention centre not to their taste, they go...
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Jul 01 2009

Fate by Jennifer Lynn Barnes


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Random House, 2009. ISBN 9761741663044
(Age 13+) In this sequel to Tattoo, Bailey Morgan looks and acts like a normal teenager during the day, but at night she is the third Fate, weaving what happens to life. Every evening she...
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Jul 01 2009

Skulduggery Pleasant: The faceless ones by Derek Landy


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HarperCollins, 2009.
(Ages 10+) The Faceless Ones, the third title in the series of Skulduggery Pleasant books, is best read sequentially as the story line and myriad of characters could otherwise prove confusing. In book one,...
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Jun 30 2009

The good daughter by Amra Pajalic


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Text, 2009 ISBN 9781921520334
(Age 14-16) Sabiha has become conscious of having Bosnian background since her grandfather's arrival in Australia. Before that, she and her mother were somewhat alienated from the community, due to her...
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Jun 30 2009

City of glass by Cassandra Clare


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Walker Books, 2009
(Ages 14+) Clare has come up with a very satisfying and gripping conclusion to her magical The Mortal Instruments series. Clary, still on a quest to find a cure for her mother who is in a coma, enters the City of...
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Jun 29 2009

Ruby and Leonard and the great big surprise by Judith Rossell


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Little Hare Books, 2009 ISBN 9781921272967
(Ages 5-9) Ruby and Leonard, two mice who live with their brothers and sisters in a tin at the back of the cupboard in the kitchen, plan to make a batch of cupcakes for someone's birthday. The...
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Jun 29 2009

Jolt by Bernard Beckett


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Text, 2009. ISBN 9761921520211
(Age 14+) Recommended. An exciting thriller from an award winning New Zealand author, the action and excitement in Jolt keeps the reader on edge. 16 year old Marko wakes up in a psychiatric ward....
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Jun 29 2009

The Scarecrow by Sean Williams


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HarperCollins, 2009. ISBN 9780732284763
(Age 11+) Recommended The Scarecrow is the satisfying conclusion to Williams' Broken Lands trilogy, which began with The changeling, followed by The dust devils which were both...
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Jun 26 2009

The Ant Colony by Jenny Valentine


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HarperCollins, 2009. ISBN 9780007283590
Highly recommended. The house is like an ant colony, everyone living in their own compartment, together but separate, until one incident brings them altogether and they find friendship and hope for...
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Jun 26 2009

The remarkable secret of Aurelie Bonhoffen by Deborah Abela


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Random House, Australia, 2009
(Age 8-10) Having been brought up at the Seaside Pier funfair, Aurelie Bonhoffen has had the kind of life of which many children would dream, filled with fun, freedom, and fabulously eccentric extended family....
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Jun 25 2009

Worldshaker by Richard Harland


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Allen and Unwin, 2009. ISBN 9781741757095
(Ages 12+) Recommended. Colbert Porpentine is a teenager living on board Worldshaker, a huge steam driven Juggernaut that flies around the world. It is a highly structured society of 10,000...
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Jun 25 2009

Prom nights from hell by Meg Cabot et al


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HarperCollins, 2009. ISBN 9780007319893
(Ages 14+) A collection of five entertaining short stories by authors who enjoy a following by those who like the vampire, paranormal and horror genre, Prom nights from hell will engage...
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Jun 22 2009

By the picking of my nose by Martin Chatterton


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Little Hare Books, 2009. ISBN 978192127287
(Age 8-11) 11 year old William Shakespeare loves going to the theatre, but because of the rules only allowing adults, and his father wanting him to go into the family business of tanning, he...
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Jun 22 2009

Gone by Michael Grant


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Egmont, 2009. ISBN 9781405246347
(Age 13+) Recommended. Imagine how a group of kids would react if suddenly all the adults disappeared. This is what happens in a small town in Southern California. In the blink of an eye everyone over...
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Jun 19 2009

Switched by Sienna Mercer


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Egmont, 2009. ISBN 9781405240864
(Ages 10+) Telling us that this the first in a series called My Sister, the Vampire, then boldly claiming to be a younger version of the Twilight series, made me curious. It's a claim I've seen...
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Jun 19 2009

Chester's back by Melanie Watt


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HarperCollins, 2008 ISBN 9780007270248
This sequel to the funny Chester (2007) the picture book about a forward and pompous cat, which kept intruding upon the illustrator's page, doesn't quite match the original in humour. In this new...
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Jun 18 2009

Pop Princess by Isabelle Merlin


cover imageRandom House, 2009. ISBN 9781741663365
(Age 12-14) The second book by Isabelle Merlin, set in France, Pop Princess, like the first, Three Wishes, will appeal to romantically inclined girls of lower secondary school age. Both...
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Jun 18 2009

The Witch's children go to school by Ursula Jones and Russell Ayto


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Orchard Books, 2009. ISBN 9781408300725
(Ages 5-7) Recommended. It's Gemma's first day at school and at the school gates she meets the Witch's children, who assure her that she has nothing to worry about even though the Grade 3 children...
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Jun 18 2009

Mending Lucille by J.R. Poulter and Sarah Davis


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Lothian Children's Books, 2008.
(Ages 5-7) Highly recommended. Shortlisted by the Children's Book Council of Australia, this is a heart wrenching yet uplifting book about a small girl whose mother has left her, flying away on...
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Jun 17 2009

The tomorrow code by Brian Falkner


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Walker Books, Australia, 2008. Random House Books (UK)
(Ages 12+) Highly recommended. 'Crack the code or tomorrow is history' is the phrase on the front cover of this thrilling sci fi novel that looks at how people are exploiting the world...
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Jun 17 2009

Stanley Paste by Aaron Blabey


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Viking, 2009. ISBN 9780670071807
(Age 5-8) Highly recommended. Poor Stanley Paste hates being small. He's never picked for sport and can't defend himself from the school bullies. Then he meets Eleanor Cabbage who hates being tall because...
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Jun 17 2009

Magic to the bone by Devon Monk


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Harper Voyager, 2009. ISBN 9780732289324
(16-Adult) Allie Beckstrom is a Hound, a tracker who seeks out the source of illegal spells cast on the innocent. In her world every use of magic has a cost, and sometimes people want to use it...
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Jun 16 2009

The book from Baden Dark by James Moloney


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Angus and Robertson, 2009.
ISBN 9780732287672
(Ages 8-13) The Book from Baden Dark draws together the characters Bea, Fergus, Nicola and Marcel, heroes of The Book of Lies, in a new quest. Marcel is now a powerful...
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Jun 15 2009

A book for kidz by C.J. Dennis


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Black dog, 2009. ISBN 9781742030944
(All ages) Highly recommended. A reprint of C.J. Dennis' original book with his own illustrations is a treat for all. Dedicated by the author to 'All good children over four and under four-and-eighty'...
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Jun 04 2009

Crime Stories by David Belbin et al.


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Evans Publishing, 2009. ISBN 9780237536183
Sci-Fi Stories by Mary Chapman et al, Evans Publishing, 2009. ISBN 9780232536190
(Ages 10+) These two small books (about 60 pages long) each has 4 short stories along the theme of the book....
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© Copyright Pledger Consulting 2007-2009

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