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Bittersweet and sometimes hilarious – solace of the road

Solace of the Road

~ Siobhan Dowd

Holly’s story will leave a lasting impression on all who travel with her.

Memories of mum are the only thing that make Holly Hogan happy. She hates her foster family with their too-nice ways and their false sympathy. And she hates her life, her stupid school, and the way everyone is always on at her. Then she finds the wig, and everything changes. Wearing the long, flowing blond locks she feels transformed. She’s not Holly anymore, she’s Solace: the girl with the slinkster walk and the supersharp talk. She’s older, more confident—the kind of girl who can walk right out of her humdrum life, hitch to Ireland, and find her mum. The kind of girl who can face the
world head-on. So begins a bittersweet and sometimes hilarious journey as Solace swaggers and Holly tiptoes across England and through memory, discovering her true self and unlocking the secrets of her past.

Buy from Amazon

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Brilliant, hugely ambitious, and life changing – The Book Thief

The Book Thief 

by Marcus Zusak


  • Format:  560 pages
  • Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers;
  • Published:  March 14, 2006
  • ISBN-13: 978-0375831003

Reading level: Young Adult

 Zusak has created a work that deserves the attention of sophisticated teen and adult readers. Death himself narrates the World War II-era story of Liesel Meminger from the time she is taken, at age nine, to live in Molching, Germany, with a foster family in a working-class neighborhood of tough kids, acid-tongued mothers, and loving fathers who earn their living by the work of their hands. The child arrives having just stolen her first book–although she has not yet learned how to read–and her foster father uses it,The Gravediggers Handbook, to lull her to sleep when shes roused by regular nightmares about her younger brothers death. Across the ensuing years of the late 1930s and into the 1940s, Liesel collects more stolen books as well as a peculiar set of friends: the boy Rudy, the Jewish refugee Max, the mayors reclusive wife (who has a whole library from which she allows Liesel to steal), and especially her foster parents. Zusak not only creates a mesmerizing and original story but also writes with poetic syntax, causing readers to deliberate over phrases and lines, even as the action impels them forward. Death is not a sentimental storyteller, but he does attend to an array of satisfying details, giving Liesels story all the nuances of chance, folly, and fulfilled expectation that it deserves. An extraordinary narrative.–Francisca Goldsmith, Berkeley Public Library, CA 
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.


Markus Zusak talks about the writing of The Book Thief

Pre Reading Activities

Book Club discussion notes

Reading Group Guide - discussion questions

Marcus Zusak talks about writing The Book Thief



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“What book got you hooked?”

· Join Celebrities, Communities in the “What Book Got You Hooked?” Campaign
What book left a lasting impression on you as a kid? For actor Morgan Freeman, it was Anna Sewell’s Black Beauty. For singer Patti LaBelle, it was Johanna Spyri’s Heidi, and for Newbery-award-winning author Kate DiCamillo, it was Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind. These and about 80 other authors, journalists, actors, artists, and librarians are taking part in “What Book Got You Hooked?,” a campaign by the nonprofit organization, First Book. more » » »

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Kids’ Authors team up for “”Exquisite Corpse


 Plans are ramping up for the ninth annual National Book Festival in Washington, D.C., which will take place on September 26. For 2009, the Library of Congress and the National Children’s Book and Literary Alliance have teamed up with 18 children’s book authors and illustrators for a special presentation entitled The Exquisite Corpse Adventure, an ongoing story that will be unveiled over the course of a year. more » » »

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A Gripping thriller from Sophie McKenzie

Winner of the Red House Children's Book Awards

A Kid's Review

fab book
u can't put the book down, i have read all her other books and this is the best so far...

Read a synopsis here

Buy the book here

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With the movie coming soon – time to catch up with Percy Jackson (and use some lesson plans)

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief

by Rick Riordan

The escapades of the Greek gods and heroes get a fresh spin in the first book in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, about a contemporary 12-year-old New Yorker who learns he's a demigod.

more synopsis ... also provides links to:

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief is scheduled to release on February 12, 2010 in the United States.

Read an extract

Hear the first part of the book, as read by the author.

  • Video interview with Rick in North Carolina

  • Video interview with Rick in Cincinnati

For Teachers ...

  • The Lightning Thief: A Teacher’s Guide.

A complete Lightning Thief unit

  • The Lightning Thief: A Reader’s Guide.

  • Rationale. A curriculum rationale, based on NCTE models, for those teachers considering Percy Jackson for classroom use.

  • Literature Circle Questions

  • Biographical Information on Rick Riordan.

  • A Readers Theater from Lightning Thief.

  • Percy Party event guide.

  • Project ideas.

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Hilarious, dramatic, moving mayhem from Australian, well-loved children’s author

Andy Griffiths returns with the latest in the Just Series.  Accompanied by hilarious illustrator Terry Denton, he has created another amazing story.

Take one Shakespearean tragedy: Macbeth.

Add Andy, Danny and Lisa – the Just trio, whose madcap exploits have already delighted hundreds of thousands of readers for the last ten years.

more here

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Chaos and colourful creativity in Neil Gaiman’s “Crazy hair” for kids

Crazy hair

by Neil Gaiman

Illustrated by Dave McKean

The duo responsible for The Wolves in the Walls (2003) return with another chaotic picture book popping with bright collage and multimedia imagery.

... more

---Listen to the author, Neil Gaiman reading his poem

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Harry Potter opening night

'Potter' pic charms box office

'Half-Blood Prince' full-bodied with $22.2 mil

Those who grew up on Hogwarts' most famous boy wizard may have gotten older -- millions are now young adults -- but they appear to have lost none of their loyalty to Harry Potter.

The public -- and Hollywood -- are used to the long lines outside moviehouses and bookstores whenever a "Harry Potter" film or novel is released, but no one expected the massive box office start for Warner Bros.' "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince."  >>>

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Advice to children’s book publishers

A school librarian wrote an open letter to book publishers with her top 10 list of suggestions for them, including “Better editing,” “Give that cover a makeover,” and “Stop changing the title in different countries.” more » » »