Bundy High Library

Another book which has been sitting by my side for some time and I finally get to finish it! And very well worth it, I must say. I am disappointed that the end of the year has come and I will have to wait till next year to tell people about it.

Some might say, “Another Herrick verse novel…Let me guess, there’s a guy and girl and they take it in turns with the poetry?” OK, yes, but it is more than that. Like all of his characters, Lucy and Jake are well-rounded and interesting. How does he manage to give them life in so few words? Each poem is like a dab with a paintbrush. We see the characters clearly in that one brief instant. We sense their despair, for that is the kind of life they live. They may well grow up to be people in a Tim Winton novel.

Growing up in a desolate valley, Jake and Lucy seem worlds apart initially, but are thrown together in a search for the dog/wolf which Jake’s father is sure lives in the hills, eating his sheep and howling at night. Lucy just wants to escape her wretched father and the life in their rundown house. She is the real hero of this novel. But it is the way Herrick manages to convey her life and situation in so few words that wins me over. It is a phrase here, an incident described there. I feel as though I know these people. Lucy’s mother has very few words in the text but we get the sense that she has given up some time ago. None of the adults get a chance to share their thoughts via the poems. It is Jake, Lucy and Peter, Lucy’s younger brother, who dominate. And why not? It is a YA novel.

There is something about verse novels that just works (for me). I like the way I can knock them over quickly. I like the brief little snapshots of life that they show. I love the way Herrick manages to use simple language to make his cast live. It would be great to teach with the text…

Filed under: Book Reviews, YA, reading | Tagged: verse novels, YA fiction | No Comments »

These books are Awesome. They are fantasy, history and science fiction all in one!!

“A thrilling Celtic Fantasy that wreaks havoc with history.”

The story follows Australian-born Tory when her car breaks down outside a stone circle. Deciding on a whim to sleep inside the circle, Tory wakes fourteen hundred years before. Carrying items such as a CD player and camera, but also marked by the Tuatha De Danaan (fairies) with a dragon on her forehead, Tory is a totally foreign personality in 6th century . Found by travelling knights of Gwynedd, including crown prince Maelgwn and his champion, Sir Brockwell, Tory is accused of being a witch, and given the option of hand-to-hand combat with Brockwell to prove her innocence. Tory fascinates Maelgwn, and after Tory wins the duel, he swears to protect her from the Saxons and take her back to his kingdom for safety. As you do, she falls in love with the medieval prince of modern ideas and brings 21st century Tae-kwon-do to Britain several decades before its beginnings in Asia.

With the best girl power in the universe, these books continue unerringly to kick butt. With concepts of reincarnation, Merlin (Myrddin), Taliesen, a King Arthur figure (Maelgwn), Chosen Ones, Old Ones, soul mates, science and magic, Atlantis, telekinesis and powers of the mind – who doesn’t want to find out what Harding has in store? Basing her novels on theories already existing (such as doomsday, parallel universes and time travel) and by not making up whole new worlds, these stories amaze without completely confusing. But beware boys, there is romance, love and mystery that satisfies the female mind and frustrates the male. Read more »

Filed under: Book Reviews, Fantasy, Science-Fiction, Student Reviews, YA, reading | Tagged: fantasy, historical fiction, magic, paranormal, romance, science-fiction, supernatural, YA fiction | No Comments »

What is it with series? I always seem to make the mistake of starting one and then finding that I have set myself up for another few novels, usually very long, or that they have not finished the series and I have to wait another year for the conclusion or the next part!

In this case, I have had the fortune of catching up with a book I should have read a long time ago and continued my time with another fave!

Mister Monday is the first in Garth Nix’ Keys to the Kingdom series. It has been out for some time (2003) and is one of those books that I feel I should have read earlier. Certainly kids have been borrowing it and eagerly awaiting the next so my curiousity finally got the better of me. I thoroughly enjoyed it though I almost gave it away in the first chapter. Why? The opening is very Pratchett-like, with hints of Douglas Adams. Weird characters with weird names doing weird things to a clock which is not a clock and so on. Give me a quest with some good guys and some villains and I am happy!

Thankfully, the second chapter introduce Arthur Penhaligon, a young reluctant hero who is “saved” from death by the inheritance of a magic key which he uses to try and restore his and other worlds to normality. It is all part of a larger struggle which takes him inside the House to do battle against Mister Monday’s minions and Nix’ creations. It is truly a wondrous world that he has created and of course, I feel like a goose for not reading them sooner! I will have to set aside the rest of the series for the Christmas holidays!

Likewise, John Flanagan’s Ranger’s Apprentice series is (for my money) one of the best sets of books young people could read. The ninth in the series, Halt’s Peril, has just been released and was a great read. It picks up just after Book 8 and brings to an end the chase for Tennyson and his cult. Without spoiling too much of the plot, the three main characters, Halt, Will and Horace, are thrown together in their quest to overtake Tennyson and have to battle the Genovesan assassins.

The series never talks down to the reader, making it suitable for adult and child alike. The only thing that grates with me is the usual fantasy thing – why does this world still work with minutes and kilometres as units? Would they not have their own way of measuring time and distance? The setting resembles the United Kingdom with a place called Picta (home of the Scotti, who wear kilts) and a remote corner called Celtica. I can overlook all of these trivial things though, as the story is great and the characterisation superb. Having read the bulk of the series last holidays, I feel as though Halt and Will, especially, are close friends. I guess Flanagan will have to stop writing about them one day, but I am not looking forward to it!

Filed under: Book Reviews, Fantasy, YA | Tagged: Book Reviews, fantasy, series fiction | 2 Comments »

It has taken me a long time but I have finally finished this book. Why so long? Was it not that good? Quite the contrary but it is a busy time of year in school(s) so this just sat there taunting me. Now I know why all of our copies keep moving off the shelves! It was originally published in 2007, though I suppose it was caught up in the Twilight fever, like so many other paranormal romance stories. It deserves better because even though it has vampires in it, and one of the minor characters is a werewolf, that is about it, in terms of similarities.

I read somewhere that people were referring to the genre as “urban fantasy” which is fairly apt. The story is set in New York and contains as many fantasy figures and conventions as you can imagine. Pixies, demons, minor gods, portals to other places, witches, magical items. But without the Dungeons and Dragons style of bare-chested hero which is normally associated with fantasy. The human characters go to poetry readings, hang out at emo/goth clubs, live in apartments and drive beaten-up vans. This makes it refreshing.

Clary is the central character and she is caught up in events which involve her but she is not too sure how and why until … everything is explained to her and the world is never the same again. There are impossibly handsome demon killers, providing the romance angle, truly evil forces trying to subvert the causes of good and helpful characters who provide guidance at various times. Typical fantasy stock but well-handled and interesting.

This is the first in a trilogy and I cannot wait to read the rest! If I can find them. I know they weren’t on our shelves this morning so…

One last thing. The books these are closest to are possibly Terry Brooks’ Armageddon’s Children series, with their battles against demons set in an Earth not too far away from ours. These are also very good and easy to read; urban fantasy is an apt description of these books. Brooks links his world to the earlier Shanarra series and the elves which are the central focus. We have this series also but they do not have the romance angle that City of Bones introduces. It is not as heavy as the Bella-Edward thing but would certainly account for the appeal to some students.

Filed under: Book Reviews, Fantasy, YA | Tagged: fantasy, supernatural, urban fantasy, vampires | 3 Comments »

One of our avid Year 8 readers told me about this the other day so I dutifully bought and read it over the weekend. The things we do!

It continues the story which ended on the VERY LAST PAGE CLIFFHANGER of Six Ancient Stones featuring Jack West and concerns the discovery of the Pillars which will STOP THE DARK SUN from returning and DESTROYING ALL EARTH!

Why am I writing in capitals? The book makes you read and write like that, truly. Like all Reilly’s books, it is action-packed and short on reflection and big on explosions. Like the Dan Brown novels, there is a mix of conspiracy theory, research into ancient mystery and conjecture about what happened to famous people from the past. Did they do this? Leave that there? Who were the race of beings who constructed the Machine which will stop the Dark Sun? Will our heroes make it to the next chapter without being trapped/blown up/maimed…The action moves quickly from one set piece to the next, barely leaving time for emotional release. Even when there are breaks in the narrative of some weeks or months, Reilly covers these with a couple of paragraphs, saying that the characters are researching and then gives us a lecture on their findings. This is great if you are not interested in knowing what their thoughts are or how they feel about anything. If all you want is to be catapulted into the next firefight, it works well.

Each chapter and part usually has a map and/or diagram so you can see how intricate the mess is likely to be for Jack West and his mates. At the same time, you can admire the author’s skill in devising these scenarios. If you thought Indiana Jones or National Treasure were tricky, you are in for a surprise.

Boys will love this book. It has explosions, military details about guns and planes and weapons and other things that blow up, kill or maim, little in the way of romance, treasure and chases. I enjoyed it but as with reading all of his books, I found myself rushing through them and then not really being able to remember much of it at all. It is like eating a meal of pure sugar. Tasty while it lasts but not very nutritious.

Filed under: Action-Thriller, Book Reviews, reading | Tagged: action, Book Reviews | 2 Comments »

It has been some time since I have posted on this site. Why? Blame my new iPod Touch which has meant that I am now watching vodcasts instead of reading (sometimes) and checking out apps for use in school. You can read about this here, on another site I have set up to discuss ICTs. Blame also the time of year with Awards Night, Senior Yearbooks and so on.

But a few lessons with different classes yesterday have been enough to inspire me once again. The Year 11s have begun investigating various social issues for their final spoken tasks and this gave me an opportunity to promote some very underused resources. Firstly, our magazines. I think I am the only person who reads some of the journals, such as Time. While this is great for me, it concerns me that it sits there each week waiting for use. I showed it and some other titles to the Year 11s and how to access their contents via the OPAC so hopefully they will see a bit more use. Too often, I think students get a research topic and think that research = internet = Google.

So I showed them Studysearch which I would rather they sued instead of the straight Google that many go to first. Once I explained how it trims away all of the excess from some Google searches, they seemed keen so I can only hope…

The othe site I showed them was Echo Online, which allows them access to issues from the past year with discussions for and against certain topics. It is a great resource for this assessment item. Once again, enough kids were excited and using it for me to feel justified that spending the money is worthwhile. Time will tell.

Filed under: Library, Research | Tagged: Research, websites | No Comments »

A recent browse through the SLAV Bright Ideas site got me thinking once more about library home pages. They should be more than just a page of policies and opening hours, though these things have their place, too. If we are serious about organising information and helping people to find their way through a variety of information sources, then our internet prescence needs to reflect that.

One way of doing this is using a service like Netvibes.

What is it?

It is essentially a portal page. I have been using iGoogle for many years now (well, it feels that way, though in the way of the internet it is really not that long ago!) and it allows me to have a customised home page for my browsers. I get my inbox directly in front of me, stories from Macworld, ABC News and so on, as well as RSS feeds from a variety of sources. All on the one page. It is a development of Web 2.0 that allows the user some control over their internet experience. Netvibes is very similar. According to them, they

pioneered the personalized homepage as alternative to traditional web portals. Netvibes lets individuals assemble their favorite widgets, websites, blogs, email accounts, social networks, search engines, instant messengers, photos, videos, podcasts, and everything else they enjoy on the web – all in one place.

(http://about.netvibes.com/)

Who was first is probably debatable but I remember trying them in the past and thinking that, since I had my iGoogle set up, why bother with another? Things have changed, though; they have added some new features and I noticed that some schools were using a Netvibes page as their Library home page.

I have made a small start here. It is not much and will no doubt change.

How does it work?

Firstly, you need to sign up. This is free and allows you to save your customised pages.

What can you do with it?

I have added tabs across the top to direct users towards different aspects, such as reading or News or conducting research.

Is it good, then?

Yes and no. Yes, it can pull a pile of “areas” together into a nice page and let you tailor a home page to suit your own needs, rather than have someone else do this for you. But at school, bandwidth and various filter blocks make it not as useful as it is at home. In that case, I may as well stick with my iGoogle page until I get a workaround.

Filed under: ICT Links, Library | Tagged: internet, Library, netvibes, web 2.0 | No Comments »