That day was no different than any other. High school was as cruel as ever. Many teenage stories are ultimately about belonging. It's something we all want, of course - to belong to someone or something, to feel connected to a group, a family, a tribe who makes us feel like we're not alone, like … Continue reading The Color of the Sky is the Shape of the Heart | Chesil #JPNfiction
First things first, Grandpa's gone. Somehow I seem to have started 2022 with a run of books that have turned out to be only so-so. The Cat Who Saved Books was okay, but really it was little more than a simplistic YA story about why reading and books are so good. Yes, it's heart warming … Continue reading The Cat Who Saved Books | Sōsuke Natsukawa #JPNfiction
‘we are strong, we are beautiful and we should be proud of our culture, our stories, our languages.’ – Danzal Baker (aka Baker Boy) Homeland Calling is a collection of poems created from hip-hop song lyrics that channel culture and challenge stereotypes. Written by First Nations youth from communities all around Australia, the powerful words display … Continue reading Homeland Calling | edited by Ellen Van Neervan #AWWpoetry
After thoroughly enjoying my time with Charlie, and his new boyfriend Nick in Heartstopper Vol 1, I knew I had to complete the trilogy to see how things turned out for them. Heartstopper Vols 2 & 3 shows that being in love is pretty easy for these two sweet guys. The hard part is coming out … Continue reading Heartstopper Vol 2 & 3 | Alice Oseman #GraphicNovel
How can someone so young be so successful already? Alice Oseman has been a YA publishing sensation for 6 years now. She was only 19 when her debut YA novel, Solitaire first appeared. Solitaire is narrated by Tori Spring 'a pessimistic...teenage speed skater with a penchant for solving mysteries'. The story is all about her, … Continue reading Heartstopper Vol 1 | Alice Oseman #GraphicNovel
You know how it is when you get one of those perfect books? The kind of book where you savour every line, every chapter, every character. The kind of book that sweeps you away to another time, another place. The kind of book that makes you sigh and cry and laugh out loud. The kind of … Continue reading Bitter Greens | Kate Forsyth
As you all know vampire-lit is not my usual thing. All the ones I've tried to read until now just leave me cold. They're either too tedious and ernest or too teenage-angsty. So I started reading Dead Until Dark, the first book in the Sookie Stackhouse series reluctantly. Sookie lives in a world where vampires … Continue reading Dead Until Dark | Charlaine Harris
I reluctantly picked up Midwinterblood by Marcus Sedgwick. It's black and red cover with a looming dracula-like figure hiding a knife behind it's back, did not really look like my kind of book. But I wanted to read something by Marcus Sedgwick as I had heard good things about him. Midwinterblood turned out to be a "don't … Continue reading Midwinterblood | Marcus Sedgwick
Fifteen-year-old Daisy is sent from Manhattan to England to visit her aunt and cousins she's never met: three boys near her age, and their little sister. Her aunt goes away on business soon after Daisy arrives. The next day bombs go off as London is attacked and occupied by an unnamed enemy. As power fails, … Continue reading How I Live Now | Meg Rosoff
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