My Sister’s Keeper
My Sister’s Keeper is known as an emotional and loving story that revolves around the Fitzgerald Family. The main character, Kate, known as the eldest child is diagnosed with a rare form of leukaemia at the age of 2. Kate’s parents fail to find her a suitable donor until they finally decide to have another child that can donate a kidney to her. However, the child, Anna, decides not to give up a kidney for her sister and instead she files a lawsuit to be medically emancipated.
My Sister’s Keeper expands across 2 weeks and focuses on many different characters and how their relationships with each other change. I believe that it was easy for me to lose focus in this novel as it jumped from one thing to another, but the author did a good job of reminding me of Kate’s medical condition as she included many flashbacks of when she was the happiest. The author gave her a much more human side by doing this.
The novel makes the reader feel very alarmed and interested in Kate and her condition. The main two themes in this story are hope and love as Kate struggles to find both but in the end finds her way into both worlds by each character. The sensitive issue causes a few drops of tears but overall it leaves the reader wanting more.
I highly recommend this story to anyone if they are up for an emotional journey.
Ms Ferretti’s class.
Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix is a novel about love, betrayal, friendship, loyalty and much more, but most of all, it’s about magic and Harry Potter’s courage to stand up for himself against his enemies.
Harry Potter is in his 5th year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and his summer holidays have been tiresome and boring, with his aunt, uncle and their son Dudley. Harry’s best friends, Ron and Hermoine, are being very secretive and not giving him the information he desires. Harry is desperate to get back to Hogwarts to try and find out what has been going on. However, Harry’s discoveries about his friends’ secrets are far more than he can handle, and on top of this, his dreams always lead to a recurring place, in a dark mysterious corridor known as the Department of Mysteries, where the true mysteries indeed begin….
J.K. Rowling has done it again, producing a novel full of secrets and suspense, leading to her characters having an electrifying adventure like never before. J.K. Rowling is ensuring that you will never be able to put this spectacular novel down until the end.
Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix deserves a solid 9 3/4 out of 10 (for platform 9 3/4 of course), because it is a truly enjoyable novel for ages seven and above as the language is easy to understand, except for an exception of one hard word here and there. This is a novel in which it is a challenge to try and put the book down and walk away, because it keeps the reader on edge and wanting more (as every novel should). It is definitely worth a read.
By Zoe McCall 10G.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
The book that I read is called The Curious Incident of the dog in the night-time, by Mark Haddon. It;s about a boy called Christopher, who is 15 and finds his neighbour’s dog stabbed to death with a garden fork. He lives with his Father and his pet rat Toby and his Mother died two years ago. Christopher narrates the story himself and takes it upon himself to solve the mystery of Wellington’s death.
I really like the way in which the book is written. It reminds me of Perks of being a wallflower and Extremely loud and incredibly close in the way things are said, and I like the character of Christopher and how he is very determined to solve the mystery of Wellington’s death. The way that the book is written suggests that Christopher has Asperger’s Syndrome as everything is said in a very literal sense and he has certain things that he can’t tolerate.
The book takes an unexpected twist when Christopher finds a bundle of letters in his Father’s room that were for Christopher from his Mother, who Christopher thought was dead. He then loses trust in his Father and goes in search of his Mother, which turns out to be quite a traumatic experience as Christopher is very uncomfortable with being around strangers and he doesn’t like people touching him.
I didn’t really know what to think about the book once I’d finished. I liked the way it was written and when Christopher veered off the track and let the reader in to his view on the world, which is starkly different from normal people. But on the other hand, I would get really frustrated with him when he kept groaning and when he would only think of himself, and couldn’t see how much people were struggling around him. The book also made me realise how difficult it would be for a family to live with a child that has autism and what an incredible job they do.
Ms Ferreti’s class.
Safe Haven
Safe Haven, by Nicholas Sparks
You can forget about The Notebook, forget about Dear John. Nicholas Sparks has out done himself once again. Safe Haven is a gripping tale of love and survival, a riveting “read all night” page turner. This story lets us into the complicated life of Katie, who is in an abusive relationship that ends up in the small town of Southport in North Carolina.
Katie is quite determined to keep her old life a secret but her sudden arrival to southport raises many questions. While trying to reform her life she ends up falling for the local General Store owner, Alex. He is a widower with two children. His daughter Kristen attaches to Katie like glue but his son Josh isn’t keen on the idea of his Mum being replaced. As well as this new found love, Katie manages to become good friends with her new neighbour Jo. She gives Katie a helping hand with her new house and getting to know about the people in Southport.
Now that her life is stress free she receives an unexpected visitor from the last place she expected. Has her past caught up with her? She comes to realise that her love for Alex is the true Safe Haven.
Ms Ferreti’s class.
Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell
Nick Bugeja // Jul 16, 2013 at 10:02 pm (Edit)
1984, by George Orwell
Is there a more gloomy, sinister, utterly bleak piece of literature out on the market?
Winston Smith, the protagonist of this dystopian classic, lives under a cloud of disillusion and restriction, enforced by the totalitarian leadership of Big Brother. He ironically works for the government who oppress him, re-writing the history books, literally. His existence unexpectedly revives itself with the help of the much younger Julia. With the government always watching, how long can Winston remain in such a state?
The message contained within the book, the reason Orwell wrote this book, is so palpably poignant. You, well I, lived vicariously through Winston in a totalitarian society. All is conveyed through him. He is Orwell’s object, just as he is Big Brother’s, if you will.
The potential, I found, for visualisation went far beyond any book I have ever read. Whether it was purely because I had recently watched V for Vendetta, or whether Orwell applied a heavy emphasis on description to aid him in his quest for darkness, I’d say the latter is more probable. I, too thought that his selection of words worked successfully in accordance to the picture that was being, no, that was painted. The style wasn’t eloquent so much as grating, but hey a good author can sometimes sacrifice style for function. After all, its message is everything.
I loved the book for all its blackness, and a lesser person would’ve perceived it as oppressive as Big Brother itself. All I can say is this, I hope I never really live under a totalitarian government, metaphorically of course.
By Nick Bugeja
Thanks Nick. Want a second opinion? (or over 3,000 opinions!)
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Mortal engines, by Philip Reeve
What a terrific read!
The city of London is on wheels, as are all the towns and cities of Europe. Massive steam engines propel the towns over land and dusty sea beds. The large towns chase down the small towns and when they catch them they devour them, reusing the metal, commandeering the food and making any human survivors slaves to keep the large towns running. The skies are filled with airships – the glamour form of transport of the day.
Tom was working in the Natural History section of the London Musem as an apprentice when it all began.
“It was a dark, blustery afternoon in spring, and the city of London was chasing a small mining town across the dried-out bed of the old North Sea.”
A fateful decision to go to the observation decks to watch the chase sparks a series of events that see Tom pushed from the moving city and left for dead, in the wastelands with only a horribly disfigured would-be assassin for company.
Tom and Hester, for different reasons, both want to get back to London. An adventure packed with airships, pirates and indestructable resurrected men follows and all that Tom believes and respects about London and its heroes is set to change forever.
This is a totally engrossing and entertaining read. I want to be inside Philip Reeve’s head!
For more Steampunk fiction click HERE.
Ms Carrington.
The Debt, by Philip Gwynne
Friday Brown
Friday Brown, by Vikki Wakefield.
Short-listed for the 2013 Children’s Book Council Awards, Friday Brown is a great book. Friday is a strong, feisty 16 year old who has just buried her mother. After a nomadic life, where moving on was the norm, she is struggling to cope with life in her grandfather’s sprawling home, where her mother died. She sneaks away in the middle of the night and ends up in the city on a railway station, at exactly the right moment to save a baby from disaster and meet Silence, a boy who can’t talk.
Strangely drawn to him she ends up in a squat where she meets Arden, the leader of the squat. Arden is charismatic and strong, but there is also something threatening and dangerous about her. This novel is about family, belonging, friendship, grief and hope. The characters will stay with you long after you finish the book. Definitely a worthy contender for the Children’s Book Council awards.