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| NEW !!! What's hot and What's not for December
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Grade 9
Erin Walker read “ Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging” as well as the
other three books in Rennison’s series. Erin said, “It was soooo funny, I
nearly cried at one part!” The only thing she regrets is that there are only
four books in the series.
A recent bestseller that we have in the library is “The Bookseller of Kabul.”
Katherine Sieber read it and “liked the honesty of the book, nothing is
played down or avoided, everything horrible about their lives is there. You
get a very good understanding of the sense of duty everyone in the story
has.” Katherine did not like not seeing things from everyone’s perspective.
I would have liked to have seen one of the second wives have a voice, instead of just the first “discarded” one.”
Grade 10
A new series we’ve acquired is “Mates, Dates, and Cosmic Kisses.” Joanne
Harker said “it was fun to read” but disliked that it “sounded so much like
the author was trying to copy Louise Rennison. Joanne says the author even
mentioned ‘Angus, thongs, and full frontal snogging.’ Still, I would read
other books in the series.” Joanne also read “Born Blue” and said “the story
was sad but good. I cried! [but] it was weird to read because of the way it
was written and I didn’t like the character, she wasn’t really inspiring as
much as selfish and self-absorbed.” Keeping on with Joanne’s reviews, of
“The Royal Diaries: Victoria”, she comments that she liked “reading about
everything that Victoria went through to become the great queen she was.”
Hillary Johnston is just catching up on the Harry Potter series and likes
“almost everything!!!” about the books but “didn’t like how Hagrid was blamed
for something he didn’t do.” Of “The Goblet of Fire” she says “Poor Cedric”
and that she like “the dragon and Sirius”.
Courtenay Johnston is rereading “The Lord of the Rings” as she really likes
the “characters, description, and Gollum’s argument.” Unfortunately, she
thinks, “the series was too short”. She also read the “Guinnis Book of
Records 2004” and liked the “graphs, dates, precise weights etc.” but
“wished they kept some stuff of last years.” (We have all the Guinness books
of records going back to 1998)
“The Silver Gryphon” says Sara Pears, is great because “its detail helped me
envision each chapter” but she disliked “Tadrith’s character”. Sara also read
“ Sandry’s book” and “enjoyed the detail put into the book” in this one as
well. Still reading, Sara said, about “The Jackal’s Head” that she liked the
way “they explained anubis” but felt that the title was not very interesting.
And Sara also read “Harry Potter” of which she comments that “its
creativity made a fabulous story, all the characters had interesting and
outgoing personalities”.
We’ve added a series of books on drawing Manga and of the one entitled
“Manga, Manga”, Katlyn Durocher says “it helped me draw better”. This
series is really popular. Check it out!
Pamela Plantinga “can’t think of anything rightfully dislikable” about “Silent
to the Bone” and she did like “ the determination and diligence that the boy
showed to his ‘criminal’ friend to try to understand throughout the silence
what his mute friend was telling him.” She also liked “ how the boy figured
out the puzzle to the mystery and how he remained a friend” to the end.
Marilisse Fair read “The Boy in the Burning House” and liked the portrayal
of how prevalent mental illnesses are branded on people who think
differently.” But she felt that “how perfectly everything ended up in the
end, no loose ends” was something she disliked.
Hunter Rosvold read “A Way of His Own” and liked that it was a bit like
“The Clan of the Cave Bear.” He suggests that its a “good story about
nomads and how they survive in old days” but did not like “stupid actions
from characters not evil enough” and that it was “too short” and “not a good
plot”.
“I Capture the Castle” is now a “major motion picture” and the novel is in the
library. Stephanie Nicoll read it and liked that “it was very realistic and
[she] really got sucked into the story. Also the writing was excellent.”
Stephanie disliked that “the main character was too perfect and so was her
stepmother.” She also disliked “that it ended.”
Grade 11
Olivia Horner raves about Evanovich’s series. Of “Hot Six” Olivia mentions
that “it was funny and thrilling and the adventure is riddled with puns and
creative ideas.” “It is a bit long [though] and near the end a bit depressing.”
John Grisham’s “Painted House” is “a wonderful story about the hardships,
secrets and triumph of a cotton-farming Arkansas family” according to
Oliver Terry. Justin MacAulay in Grade 10 also read this novel and liked its
realism and excitement and suspense.
Oliver also read “I am the Cheese” of which, he says, “the title is very cool;
its derivation is even cooler”. However, “the plot [was] a bit cryptic [and]
things were revealed too slowly.” And he read “The League of Extraordinary
Gentlemen” - which is one of a number of new graphic novels we’ve included
in the collection . . . graphic meaning the book is illustrated like a comic book
. . . and mentions that “it was probably better than the movie. It was also
neat to see famous characters together eg. Captain Nemo and Dr. Jekyll”.
But, Oliver explains, “it was a bit too gory, and also there were too many
secrets about the characters kept from us.”
“Changing Jareth”, says Stephanie Picard, was great because of its “realism”
and “I can relate to some of his problems. This pulls me into a book.”
Stephanie goes on to say “There wasn’t much I didn’t like about the book,
but some stuff was repeated in the book.”
Jenn Rodger read the old classic, Cyrano de Bergerac, which she liked
because “Cyrano is so brave and chivalrous and the book is extremely funny.
“ Jenn did not like it that “Roxanne loses the man she loves twice. Cyrano is
sometimes too honourable for his own good, sacrificing his own happiness for
the memory of Christian.”
The library recently acquired the biography of Eminem and Stephanie also
read that book. She mentions “I love Eminem (Rap artist). He is one of my
idols. It was very well written, the story of his life was amazing.
[However], there could have been more pictures/ images.”
We’ve got a great collection of non-fiction horse books in the library and
Angelina Risi really enjoyed “the beautiful horse photos” in our latest
acquisition but felt “it lacked in the information I was looking for.” She also
read “Airs Above the Ground” which is a Mary Stewart mystery based
around Lipizzaner stallions. She comments that she “liked the
description/detail and all the information about horses [but found that] the
slang was a little bit over [her]head because it’s an old book, making it
sometimes hard to understand.”
Anthony Rainaldi read the sci fi classic “Dune” and liked the “scheming
between the great houses, the plot, the treachery of the Harkonrens. The
Duke Artiedies and Paul are the best characters.” Anthony disliked “almost
nothing: the book had good depth and explanation of the story and plot twist
to make the story even more interesting.”
The battle scenes of Robert Jordan’s “The Path of Daggers”, according to
Nova Blackburn quoting the New York Times review at the beginning of the
book “have the breathless urgency of first hand experience, and the . . . .evil
laced into the forces of good, the dangers latent in any promised salvation,
and the sense of the unavoidable onslaught of unpredictable events.”
Grade 12
“The Winds of Fury”, suggests Kelsey Franklin, was enjoyable because of
“how the characters were described” and how “they grew as the story
became more in-depth.” However, she disliked “the way the antagonist was
‘destroyed’” as “he is made out to be so smart yet he is killed by something
so simple.”
Jennifer Boyd read the “British Columbia Murders” which she described as a
suspense book she liked because it was “very descriptive [with] lots of
interesting facts”. She also read “Strange Events” which she liked because
of “the different types of short stories to do with incredible Canadian
Unsolved Events [and it was an] easy read.”
Josh Brenner read Hemmingway’s classic “For Whom the Bell Tolls” and
found he liked its “excellent descriptive writing [and] good plot.”
“I loved how magic worked in the story,” Christine Ellis on “Fires of Merlin”,
but she did not like it “when the dragonling died.”
Bobbie-Rae read Margaret Atwood’s latest novel: “Oryx and Crake” which,
she notes, expanded on existing concepts as opposed to creating something
out of nothing. [It was] plausible [but] didn’t explain some things well
enough.”
It was the philosophy in “The Essence of Buddhism” that Dylan Hare liked,
and there was nothing about it he disliked. We have an entire series of
books on philosophy and religions that explain some complex issues in a
straightforward manner. A lot of them are graphic books ( ie comic strip
like )
Christine Ellis read “Switchers” and liked that “extremely detailed on what
the characters felt” but disliked “the way it ended.”
Marg Rickinson read “On the Bright Side, I’m now the girlfriend of a Sex
God” and liked the style of writing, humour, and the fact that it was British.”
She disliked that the book wasn’t “big enough”.
Staff
Mr. Taylor read “The Kalahari Typing School for Men” which he liked
because of the positive role model for women although he found it rather
short for a really good read (but can Mr. Taylor type? and does he know that
this is one of the four books in the series so far?)
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| What Vanier students recommend
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Dancing Naked - Shelley Hrdlitschka
“I loved her style of writing with the diary entries, normal writing and
emails. . . . I disliked the fact that the book was so short.” Naomi Hoffart
(Gr. 11)
At the Sign of the Sugared Plum - Mary Hooper
Heather Dzuba (Gr. 12) liked that the book “replayed what it would have
been like to live in London, in 1666, during the plague” but disliked that the
book “was not very challenging, more for your own enjoyment.”
Knocked out by my Nunga Nungas - Louise Rennison
“Very funny” says Joanne Harker ( Gr. 10 ) and the only thing she dislike was
that “it was too short,” and the next in the series, Dancing in my Nuddy
Pants is “sooo funny” but, unfortunately, “supposed to be the last one” in the
series notes Joanne Harker ( Gr. 10 ). Olivia Horner felt that the novel “was
funny and had me laughing out loud more than once.” Like Joanne, Olivia
notes that this novel is the “last in the series and [she] wants more.”
Douglas Adams’ Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy is “funny, original, bizarre
and thought-provoking” according to Zack Mitchell who suggests that there
is nothing to dislike about the novel.
The Royal Diaries series is popular but Joanne Harker (Gr. 10) did not like
the ending of Cleopatra VII (Kristiana Gregory) which “felt . . . cut off, like
the story should have gone on, but . . . didn’t.” However, she “enjoyed
reading about what life was for Cleopatra and knowing that these could be
things she really went through.” She did, however, like reading Marie
Antoinette,(Katherine Lasky) and found it “interesting to see her go from
child to queen” but thought the sentences were written in a weird way, like
the words were mixed up . . . “
Memnoche and the Devil (Anne Rice) had “a good story line” according to
Sara Pears (Gr. 12) but “was too long [and the] characters were weird.”
Jasmin Fair(Gr. 12) thought that Elizabeth Wennick’s Changing Jareth “was
very realistic [and had a] neat style of writing” but thought that, for a
contemporary realistic novel “some things were too much out of the
ordinary.”
White Wave by Mary Razell, according to Marilisse Fair (Gr. 10), “took place
around Vancouver Island” which was something she enjoyed, but the fact
that the author “wrote off one of themain characters halfway through the
book and didn’t mention him at the end” was a drawback.
Tim O’Brien’s If I die in a Combat Zone had a “great [writing style] and [was]
very believable. He makes it easy to imagine what the Vietnam War was
like.” Oliver Terry (Gr. 11)
When Girls Feel Fat (Sandra Friedman) was good because “it was factual
[and] provided a good sense of knowledge of how girls become this way”
according to Ashley Reidl (Gr. 12).
Robert Cormier’s The Chocolate War was “a fascinating look into defiance,
cruelty, and human nature within a school setting” according to Oliver Terry
(Gr. 11) but dislike that the “bad guys, as it were, don’t get punished: for all
their vileness, they get away scot-free.”
Tamora Pierce is a prolific writer, and Sandry’s Book: Circle of Magic,
suggests Nicole Johnson (Gr. 10), “brought different kinds of kids from 4
different backgrounds that would not usually talk to each other together”
which was a good thing. What Nicole did not like was that Pierce jumped
from one rescue to another [which was] very confusing”.
The novel, Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury, was
enjoyed by Zack Mitchell (Gr. 12) as a “suspenseful, exciting, horror tale”.
While the fantasy novel, The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams, got off to a
“slow start”, according to Hunter Rosvold (Gr. 11), it was “funny” and had an
“evil councillor”. Hunter disliked the “broken back, squished head” dog killing
part.
Of Going After Cacciato, Oliver Terry (Gr. 11) states that “unlike Tim
O’Brien’s other books, it is a bit lighter, more fictional and whimsical.”
Alma by William Bell, according to Carrie Pears (Gr. 12), had a good mystery
quality to it, but . . . well, we can’t tell you what Carrie disliked about the
book or it would give away the story.
Beyond the Chocolate War.
Oliver Terry (Gr. 11) appreciated this Robert Cormier novel as “it was nice to
read the conclusion of the Chocolate War. It sort of brought to a close
what had been left hanging in the first book.” Still, Oliver felt that “the
plot’s twists and turns were a bit hard to follow; the characters weren’t well
explained and described until the end and there was too much jumping
between stories.”
Kim: Empty Inside, by Beatrice Sparks, according to Jasmin Fair (Gr. 12) was
a good book because of “how everything was said so honestly”, but the way
the “story jumped around” detracted from the novel.
Fantasy story The Black Gryphon by Mercedes Lackey and Larry Dixon
contained “good descriptions about the characters [and has a] storyline
[which] was nice and strong” says Gr. 10, Courtenay Johnston.
Courtenay also read Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and really liked “the action
and fantasy”, but disliked having some words that “I didn’t understand.”
Oliver Terry (Gr. 11) notes, of the fantasy story The Wizards Dilemma, that
“it is interesting to see yet another author’s take on magic: how it’s done,
why it’s done, and the rules and laws that govern it”, but, “as Diane Duane
contines her young wizards series, they seem to get worse. I guess it’s the
law of sequels coming into play.”
Gr. 9 student, Heather Jackson, read Soldier X by Don Wulfsson of which,
she states, “it was a great book and I liked how it showed both sides of the
war” but “maybe it was a little bit too graphic and turned a bit into a horror
book, but I guess that’s what the war really was.”
The Anthony Burgess classic A Clockwork Orange is a great piece of literary
fiction, according to Zack Mitchell (Gr. 12) because of “its use of . . .
language and intellectual philosophies”. Along similar lines, Zack read
Bagombo Snuff Box by Kurt Vonnegut which, he suggests, has “really, really
good short stories about American Life post WW II”.
Jess Campbell borrowed Annette Klause’s Blood and Chocolate from
another school, which any student can do through the library on an
inter-library loan . . . just ask! She suggests that “the book was well-written
and full of bizarre twists. The author does a wonderful job of developing
well-rounded characters.” The only thing Jess disliked “was how stuck up,
Vivian, the main character could get.”
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