Trash
by Andy Mulligan
Raphael lives in a slum and works on a rubbish tip, rifling through daily trash to find anything worth keeping or selling. One day he and his friend Gardo find a bag, inside which is money, ID, a key, and a letter and map. The letter is addressed to someone in prison, and when googled, the photo ID belongs to a man who the police are after. The boys find themselves mixed up in a case of government fraud, murder and police pay-offs. Will they discover the truth before they are killed?
A great book detailing not just the adventure but also life for the boys living in boxes or underground with rats, and the inescapable work of rubbish rifling for the rest of their life. Makes you feel so lucky to be living in a civilised western society.
Andy Mulligan is also the author of the great Ribblestrop series for 9-12, set in a school for a colourful bunch of characters!
Why We Broke Up
by Daniel Handler
Probably better known as his pseudonym Lemony Snicket, Daniel Handler turns his hand to something more emotional and teenagey. I loved this book - I wanted to read it again once I'd finished it. Min Green starts dating Ed Slatterton, the very popular basketball player at school, infamous for his dating of girls. However, their relationship comes to a hurtful end and Min boxes up all her mementos of their time together ready to give them back to him. This book is a series of letters to Ed explaining each memento and why they now mean nothing to her, and it is in this way that we the reader find out how their relationship had progressed but then come to its sudden painful end. Brilliant. One for fans of John Green (see my review of one of Green's books - The Fault in our Stars). Also, if you like this try Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan, and Ketchup Clouds by Annabel Pitcher.
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 and 3/4
by Sue Townsend
I first read this at about age 13, and re-reading it now I realise a) how much of the story I'd forgotten, and b)how much I'd probably not understood at the time!
Adrian's mother has an affair and leaves his dad, whose world falls apart - not helped when he loses his job and has to sign on. All this is happening to a pubescent 13 year old, who is keen on literature, poetry and love. In other words, an angst-ridden teenage intellectual. The book was originally written for adults and you can see why - both subtly funny and dark.
VIII
by H.M. Castor
A superb book about Henry VIII, from childhood to death. We learn about his father's disappointment with him, and of how his father favoured Henry's older brother Arthur. However, Arthur died and Henry became King. We learn of his love of jousting, of yearning to go into battle, but also of his inner demons, his ghostly visions, his insecurities and suspicions of everyone close - including his wives and his closest mentor. He was never to have a surviving son that he constantly yearned, yet saw a strength in his daughter Elizabeth that was not in his other daughter Mary.
I did not want this book to end! I'm very excited to read on the author's website www.hmcastor.com that she is writing a sequel to VIII about his two daughters Elizabeth and Mary. Can't wait!
Second Chance Summer
by Morgan Matson
By the author of Amy and Roger's Epic Detour (fantastic book), this story follows Taylor and her family as they travel to their summer house in Lake Phoenix, Pennysylvania. It's a summer of high emotions - Taylor's father has cancer and he knows this is the last summer they'll be spending together. Also, the last time the family were at the summer house (5 years ago), Taylor had fallen for Henry but it had ended badly, and she'd fallen out with her best friend there, Lucy. So she comes ready to face the past, and to face the future without her dad.
A great easy read - recommended.
The Night Sky in my Head
by Sarah Hammond
Mikey is 14 and due to an accident which we are not at first told about has a learning difficulty and behavioural problems. The only friend he has is his dog, Timmer, who is constantly by his side. His dad is in prison. Mikey has the ability of being in a particular location and seeing into the past to see what happened there. In this way he slowly pieces together what happened to his dad, why he ended up in prison, why he has escaped now, what happened to a tramp found dead in the river and what happened to himself - why does he have a scar down the back of his head, and why does he keep having headaches?
As the back of the book says, a cross between Skellig and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, but definitely not as good as either - a bit darker and more depressing!
What I Saw and How I Lied
by Judy Blundell
A post war American romance novel, full of first love, jealousy and a mysterious accidental death. I read it in one sitting and loved it.
