Cambridge High School Library 2024

By: Sophia Bennett Location: FIC BEN Genre: Chic Lit Pitch Perfect in a book. It has it all- the  music comp, the "fat girl" - though her name is not Amy- or Patricia for that matter  ( it is actually Rose), it has the bullying and the attempt at redemption. If you loved Pitch Perfect - then this book is for you. What it also does is have a cold hard look at the power of social media, and cyber bullying- what it does and who it can destroy. This is our world and so often we use the tools we have to destroy others - you see it is easier to mock on a phone, than to a face. Yet through it all- the theme of friendship prevails, of girlfriends doing there thing, staying tight and together dealing with the cyber bully. Kinda makes me really feel for those people who have gone through X Factor  and the like with all the issues they face- being public is not licence enough to destroy you on line for your looks, voice or what you say- aren't we bigger than that- nop...

By: Sam Hepburn Location: FIC HEP Genre: Adevnture/Mystery "Mum's gone. Killed in a hit and run car crash. Her last words a message for someone I've never heard of. What happened that night? All I've got is a trail of secrets and lies, but am I just chasing the dark?" The first in a pulse- pounding crime mystery series starring Joe Slattery, a boy left with nothing, who must uncover the truth of his hidden inheritance. I wonder what I would say as a last message to my kids-  maybe " Eat with your mouth shut" or  "Wipe the bench down". Hopefully it would be a bit more meaningful like  " Never lose your integrity" or  "be the change..." but what I can tell you for sure- it will have nothing to do with an inheritance- sorry kids- love you anyway!!!

By: Vaddey Ratner Location: FIC RAT Genre: Historical Fiction The Killing Fields- the movie that made me weep beyond control- has a new story, a new voice- this story will leave you in the same state as the movie did me!!! Any story of tryanny and genocide makes me writh in powerlessness, the feeling that we humans can become so base, so cruel, so heartless. I am afraid this story- based on the authors own journey will make me experience those emotions all over again. Yet it is written so beautifully and written with hope- the brutality does not destroy  the beauty. "The horrors committed by Cambodia's Khmer Rouge, as experienced by one extremely resilient girl. A brutal novel, lyrically told." Oprah Magazine  "There will remain only so many of us as rest in the shadow of the banyan tree ." "Ratner's  first novel describes her family's story during the genocide carried out by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia in the late 1970s. Despite the  eff...

By  L. Pichon Location: FIC PIC Genre: Is it a book, or is it a graphic novel- or is it both? This book is a story, made with words, doodles and and a stack of different fonts. It will suck you in as Tom Gates tells his daft stories in a nonconformist way! These books have won heaps of awards, and it tells the story of every 14 year old .- but lets the You Tube do the talking. ( But do you know who the real Tom Gates is... Thomas Sovereign Gates Jr. was United States Secretary of Defense from 1959 to 1961 - scary!!!)  

By: Diane Ackerman Location: NF 920 ACK Genre: Sheltering the Holocaust Radical acts of compassion: 'Why do we humanize animals and animalize humans?' What a combo-The story of animals in a zoo and a story of hiding Jews in Nazi Germany- I mean who would dare go to look in the Lions Cage- only if your name was Daniel I guess. Jan and Antonina Zabinski were Polish Christian keepers of the Zoo when the Germans under Hitler's scheme of world domination and purification of Europe for the chosen race of Aryans began. Ackerman quietly builds her setting by concentrating on the special gifts of these two remarkable people in caring for the animals of the zoo: her descriptions of the various members of the menagerie are at once comical and insightful. When Hitler's move into Poland began the Zabinskis, long friends with the many Jews who lived around them, devised clever ways to turn the zoo and their own villa into a safe haven for the increasingly threatened annihil...

  By: Valerio Massimo Manfredi Location FIC MAN Genre: Historical Fiction This is a brutal trilogy of power, passion and grand adventure. It is the story of Alexander the Great, tutored by Aristotle, in love with Queen Olympias and on the journey to become the mightiest and most charismatic warrior the world has seen. He is one of the worlds greatest characters and this trilogy is written by Professor Manfredi- a prof in Classical Archeology- he knows his stuff! This epic trilogy tours the known world  with an army that crushes any resistance at every turn, - Babylon, Persia, Egypt, India, the heart of Asia. Actually- with this combo of history that takes me to exotic places of the world and at the same gives me some great learning of how our world was formed- I reckon this series will end up on my E Book and I will take it to Africa on my own exotic journey - I will feast on an amazing series. All you Yr 13's that study Alexander in classics- this is the rea...

By: J. A. London Location: FIC LON Genre: Vampires Three in the series, Darkness before Dawn , Bloo d-Kissed Sky and After Daybreak . - ONLY SUNLIGHT CAN SAVE US - OUR LAST HOPE LIES WITH OUR OLDEST ENEMIES - THERE IS NOWHERE LEFT TO HIDE As you know- I don't like this genre, but this series is a student request, so I have obliged! It is about blood sucking vampires, who are concerned as Blood Supplies run low, and if they do, they become infected with a disease called Thirst- this turns them into mindless killers. Please -oh please, don't make a movie from these books! It all gets worse with 'Day Walkers' - vampires who can do there vampire thing in the day. Of course you have your hero's- Victor- a trustworthy vampire, and you have your arch enemies- Lord Valentine, and your heroine called  Dawn Montgomery who is only 17 years old, when her parents are assassinated following a meeting with the head vampire -Lord Valentine Dawn and the rest of the humans...

By: Rachel Carter Location: FIC CAR Genre: A Lovely Story  We take for granted the ability to talk, to communicate what we think and feel, using speech. It is so easy to do- "Hay Im hungry- when is dinner?"  or "Wow look at that elephant- it is huge" or      "Thanks Mum- youre the best!". Of course now days we resort to texting, which is a cheapskate method to communicate, the true power of a story is with the words it is spoken by. How do you begin to tell your story when you can't speak? Ethan lives on the canal. He likes it there. He can go to the pond and catch newts and minnows. He can learn everything he needs to know from books and from his mum. No one there laughs at him because he doesn't talk. Ethan can't remember exactly when he stopped talking or why. It is only when he meets Polly, a girl who has recently moved to the canal, that he begins to wish things were different.

SO- here it is- the Book Thief   Movie Trailer. Please though read the book first, because then you will have in your mind what Death looks like and  sounds like - if you know what I mean. How are they going to do that....

By: Jonathan Meres Location:FIC Mer Genre: Humour For all you weird students that like gas humour..... Age: Nearly 13 Height: 1.53 metres Eyes: Two Likes : Bikes Doesnt Like: Chelsea Least Favourite Word: Hormones Thinks: Everything is unfair May: Produce gas NORM knew it was going to be one of those days when he woke up and found himself standing at a supermarket totally naked. NORM knew it was going to be one of those days when he got blamed for global warming. And that's just the tip of the iceberg..... "Fans of Jeff Kinney who pick up THE WORLD OF NORM will not be disappointed. A funny clever book" Books for Keeps

By: Dan Smith Location: FIC SMI Genre: War Web page: www.dansmithbooks.com Now there is an oxymoron- My Friend the Enemy. I reckon country music is an oxymoron as well. It is because of books, stories, that I am becoming more of a pacifist, stories like Private Peaceful and Tu  - they just annoyed me so much. Young men, talented, hopeful, and strong lads, sons, husbands and brothers- going to war to obey at times senseless orders- to kill and to die. Yes I know that at times there is no choice and at times we need to protect our land, our freedoms with force, but to wilfully, blindly march in gungho war, declaring all of those people we fight against as evil- is not worth my sons dying for. This is a story about Peter in 1941. A German plane is downed in his rural English village and he and his friend Kim, discover the enemy- a German soldier. They discover something about him- he feels, he laughs, he hurts, he has family, he is not the representation of all evil...

By: Jessica Shirvington Location: FIC SHI Genre: Fantasy The perfect life- OR the perfect love? Which one?? This story has an interesting plot- Sabine has two lives. A bit like our  neighbours cat! Lives a life of luxury in one home, and a life of fear and scare in the other- but one human pats him- so he keeps coming back. Two lives, two homes all in one day!!  At midnight Sabine shifts and spends 24 hours in that life. At midnight she shifts back to midnight again and continues on with that day. She doesn't ever miss a day, or even a minute, she lives every day twice but there are differences between each life.  In one life she is glamerous, she has a designer wardrobe, perfect grades and the hot guy in school to date. In this life her future is charmed.  But then she shifts into her other world. In the second world she is from a poorer family, she is a bit of a rebel, her options arent great- yet her family cares for her. In one life she has a sister...

Ohhh this movie is going to be soooo gooood!!!! But PLEASE read the book first! FIC CAR is where you will find it and all its sequels! ENDER'S GAME is an epic adventure starring Harrison Ford, Asa Butterfield, Hailee Steinfeld, Ben Kingsley, Viola Davis and Abigail Breslin. Based on the best-selling, award winning novel  by Orson Scott Card. In order to develop a secure defense against a hostile alien race's next attack, government agencies breed child geniuses and train them as soldiers. A brilliant young boy, Andrew "Ender" Wiggin lives with his kind but distant parents, his sadistic brother Peter, and the person he loves more than anyone else, his sister Valentine. Peter and Valentine were candidates for the soldier-training program but didn't make the cut—young Ender is the Wiggin drafted to the orbiting Battle School for rigorous military training. Ender's skills make him a leader in school and respected in the Battle Room, where children play at ...

By: Lisa Tuttle Location: FIC TUT Genre: Fantasy and magic!! The Silver Bough is a gentle fantasy that weaves Scottish mythology, magic and romance into a seamless tale of wonder. It has a librarian in it and an apple orchard- well there are two things in common with me. Except in Nelson they never had a "Apple Queen" anyway I am too much of a hobbit to win a title of Apple Queen, but in this story- that title has magic, lore and destiny.  Appleton, despite its name, is a Scottish town. Myths and rumors surround it, and there's always been a little aura of magic around the area. The town thrives on its apple industry--at least, it used to before it fell into economic shambles. The rational explanation for this decline is that the man who owned the apple orchard and mill disappeared without a trace, leaving his property mortgaged and the town without its most important industry. The magical one is that the Apple Queen, crowned at the apple festival, did not eat the...

By: A J Betts Location: FIC BET Genre: Cancer Lit I have journeyed with a family who have watched their lovely 15 year old daughter- Becca- die of a brain tumour, it was a surreal haunting ride, the emails from her father utterly heart wrenching. The journey into the world of cancer is a fearful one, a tsunami of emotion, a ride that has lows deeper than any ocean trough and then those deceiving highs that allow you to swell with hope... The Fault in our Stars by John Green made it big, two teenagers with terminal illnesses journeying together, to savour life, conquer death and be in love. This book is A. J. Betts version, yet is stands alone beside TFIOS not as a competitor. The author worked for 8 years as a hospital teacher, so she has seen some stuff and knows her subject- illness and how kids deal with it and react within it. It is set in Western Australia, that alone will make it a very different read from a book based in the USA. The last person Zac expects in the...

By: Neil Gaiman Location: FIC GAI Genre: Fantasy “Adults follow paths. Children explore. Adults are content to walk the same way, hundreds of times, or thousands; perhaps it never occurs to adults to step off the paths, to creep beneath rhododendrons, to find the spaces between fences.” I love recalling my childhood, on a farm, at the end of the road. The lifestyle, the people, the Early's across the river from us, the Fosters down the road, with 5 daughters whose names all ended with...ine. There was Christine, Noeline, Pauline, Josephine, dieseline and gasoline- so we joked. The taste of turnips eaten straight from the soil, the smell of freshly cut hay, the emotion of bleating sheep who have lost their lambs, the stillness of walking across the paddocks with the Southern Alps infiltrating your soul- deep memories. I can see why people get lost in the memories of childhood- especially a childhood spent on a farm. A middle-aged man returns to his childhood home on a f...

By: Marsha Mehran Location: FIC MEH Genre: Food Fiction I love Middle Eastern Food and I love a good story told. When you combine those two things- you have a recipe for book lovers heaven. This book is a bit like, Chocolade or Th e Hundred-Foot Journey by, Richard Morais - a story of  exile, food and identity, yet this book goes one better- it includes recipes as the entry to each chapter. Elephant ears- yum- I last had those in Silver Creek, Oregon USA at the Homer Davenport Festival, then there is Baklava and Torshi- which is made from EggPlant and so therefore must be very delicious. This is a story of three Iranian sisters who end up in Ireland to escape the Iranian revolution and they end up in a nice quite reserved Irish village. To make a living they open the Babylon Cafe. As the smell of traditional Persian cooking wafts through the Mall, it works its own magic on many of the townsfolk: business is growing as is acceptance. But the past is not yet ...

By: Valerio Massimo Manfredi Location: FIC MAN Genre: Historical Fiction According to Herodotus, not all the three hundred Spartan warriors perished during the Battle of Thermopylae: Two were spared and this is there story... One is a cripple- the other- a warrior and they are brothers, they just don't know it! If you saw the movie and likes  The 300 or Clash of the Titans- then this is a book for you. Set in 504BC - 464BC in ancient Greece, this historical fiction was a thrilling read. The story begins in Sparta, and follows a young man born to a noble Spartan family, but abandoned due to his deformity. The boy is found by a Helot and raised as a servant to the Spartans. He later travels the world, and is torn between his upbringing and his heritage and the mystery surrounding his purpose. An amazing story of courage and bravery and a fascinating look at the culture and laws of this period. Plenty of politics, intrigue, prophecy and war to keep you engrossed for th...

By: Lara Morgan Location: FIC MOR Genre: Dystopia Can you survive in a world where a bottle of water costs more then a shirt? Five hundred years into the future, the world is a different place. The Melt has sunk most of the coastal cities and Newperth is divided into the haves, the “Centrals”; the have-nots, the “Bankers”; and the fringe dwellers, the “Ferals”. Rosie Black is a Banker. When Rosie finds an unusual box, she has no idea of the grave consequences of her discovery. A mysterious organisation wants it – and will kill to get it. Forced to rely on two strangers, Rosie is on the run. But who can she trust? Pip, the too attractive Feral, or the secretive man he calls boss? From Earth to Mars, Rosie must learn the secrets of the box – before it’s too late.

Titles: The Name Of The Star and The Madness Underneath By: Maureen Johnson Location: FIC JOH Genre: Historical Paranormal "Fear can't hurt you. When it washes over you, give it no power. It's a snake with no venom." Jack the Ripper set in modern day London, it is a thrilling suspense with supernatural twist. The Name of the Star was a thrilling start to what will no doubt shape up to be a highly entertaining series. Mystery, murder and mayhem haunt the streets of London as old terrors resurface and a teenager girl with a special ability finds herself caught in the middle of the terrifying chaos. A perfect blend of humour, suspense, history and supernatural which will appeal to all those fascinated by Jack the Ripper or else just in the mood for something fresh and captivating . Brodie from Goodreads.com This book has one of the most divergent range of reviews I have seen- so come on- tell me- what do you think?

By: Paolo Bacigalupui Location: FIC BAC Genre: Dystopia, violence and a bit of Social Justice to make you think! Series: Ship Breaker US NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST. I have seen the doco's. We nearly all have. Kids in India and Bangladesh clambering around in old ship graveyards, trying get anything of value from them and then on selling them for a pittance, while others make huge amounts of money off their toil. We have seen how they scarp like seagulls over a french fry for whatever piece of coil, or scrap, they can find. The ship breakers in Bangladesh make for heartbreaking doco viewing. This book is a dystopian view of this world, set in The Gulf- where oil spills happen and hurricanes of huge force occur. This is about a gang of ship breakers. the protagonist is a feisty young male called Nailor, he has the soul of a gladiator yet struggles always between what is smart and what is right.  The world is against him, especially his drug addicted angry fa...

By : Mark Lawrence Location: Fic Law Genre: Game of Thrones revisited... Series: Broken Empire It is gory, it is violent, it is gripping, it is a medieval fantasy trilogy. Robin Hobb calls it "D ark and relentless." Let me give you a taste.. " To reach greatness you must step on bodies. Ill win this game of ours, though the cost of it may drown the world in blood" Nothing like rage, treachery, rape, bloodthirsty thugs, slaughter, omens and dark magic to keep you reading, as for me Narnia is as far as I go, but since you are not all pathetic like me- go for it. King of Thorns and Emperor of Thorns awaits you as well. Don't say I did not warn you... " A morbidly gripping, gritty fantasy tale"- Publishers Weekly

By: Jonathon Safran Foer Location: NF 613.2 FOE Genre: Food and Ethics I like meat, I love a good steak, I adore lamb curry and pan fried fish- hmmmm:) I am also pleased that mostly the meat I eat is from New Zealand, and our animals are treated with more dignity than the USA animals of mass consumption are. Yet in saying that it would be wrong for me to ignorantly stuff my mouth with medium rare and not know or understand what the issues with mass production of meat is doing to our worlds food supply as a whole. My husband and daughter have read this book, they still eat meat- but far less and far more thoughtfully. My fear is if I read this book- then I will become a vegetarian as so many have- it is that powerful. Jonathon Safran Foer wrote this book from the journey of explaining to his son where the meat on his dinner plate came from and as he researched and discovered the truth of farming animals intensely for the BBQ, he came to the conclusion that eating anim...

By: Wendy Delsol Location: FIC DEL Genre: Fantasy and Love with a twist of Norse Cool cover but why does every amazing female heroine have a name starting with K. Why cant a heroine be called Riley or Helen or Joy!! Why do they all start with K- does K have super powers or something! Anyway Katla the protagonist in this story is part of a ancient order of woman called Storks. Katla is a modern girl, into fashion, she has the typical angst with boys- good and bad, has to deal with her parents divorce and she writes for a column in the school paper -normal stuff, but she is not normal. After her parents get divorced, Katla moves to her mom's hometown in Minnesota, which is full of people of Icelandic descent. Katla discovers that she's a member of a secret society known as the Storks, women who help guide souls into the right vessel - ie, they see a vision of a baby and help decide who the right mother is. It deals with Icelandic myths and not better-known ones. The ...

By: Dan Wells Location: FIC WEL Genre: Dystopia and Post Apocalyptic This is about babies, it is about death, it is about survival and a deathly virus, it has real science in it and an amazing protagonist- Kira- that gives Katniss a great run for her money. It has rave reviews! Why is death and the end of the world so popular, or maybe it is the courage we find in those who fight to the end, to survive and overcome, maybe it is that we like! Fragments is the second in the series and the third book in the series Ruins - is due later this year. I am telling you now- this will be a blockbuster movie within a couple of years!! Kira doesn't believe in the Hope Act, the law decreeing that every female over the age of 18 must get pregnant as many times as possible. No baby has ever survived more than a matter of days since the Partial War due to the deadly RM virus and Kira's tired of watching them die right in front of her when she, as a medic, can do nothing at all to save...

By: Heston Blumenthal Location: NF 641.59 BLU Genre: Science, cooking and entertainment, so Scicookiment. Ah yes- how to blow up food and eat it. Horror Food that is delicious. Titanic Ships you can eat and Willy Wonka made real.  Here is a few of the dishes in the menu: Dracula's Little Bites, Jekyll and Hydes Bubbling Potion of Transformation, Chocolate Water and the BFG, Lickable Wallpaper, or Savoury Slush Puppies. This guy cooks like he is Roald Dahl's imagination let loose in a kitchen with King Henry the 8th watching over his every move as he sails into the yonder on the Titanic. If he moves- he cooks it, if he can think it up- he makes it. What I love about Heston Blumenthal- it all comes from his own genius, he has had no formal training as a chef, he just is the world best one!

I am ready- I have ordered more books, yep City of Bones movie is on its way, but please read the book first- I have multiple copies and will get more- promise!!!! It is going to be massive yet it's kinda scary, might need to duck behind a cushion, or maybe I am just weak! What do you guys think of the trailer??

By: Rainbow Rowell Location: FIC ROW Genre: Young Love :) “ Eleanor & Park reminded me not just what it’s like to be young and in love with a girl, but also what it’s like to be young and in love with a book.”— John Green, The New York Times Book Review Hmm can you met someone when you are a teenager and truly know love, what if you are both misfits, not the cool kind. What if for whatever reason others say you don't fit, different races, ages, family values. Well for the record, I met my man when I was 17 and we are about to celebrate our 28 wedding anniversary so there. You go Eleanor and Park- you show them it can be done, just like we have!!! As for this book- it is a smash hit in the USA at the moment, and we got it here before it has got too famous, so I would read it now, so you can skite later!! Bono met his wife in high school , Park says. So did Jerry Lee Lewis , Eleanor answers. I’m not kidding , he says. You should be , she says, we’re 16 . Wha...

By: Brandon Sanderson Location: FIC SAN Genre: Who cares- Sanderson wrote it!!! Rithmatists are people who draw with chalk. The cool thing in this story is the chalk drawings come to life- there are goodies and baddies. This book is based on art, maths, geometry and calculations- not my cup of tea, which I wont be having many of over the weekend as I just chipped my tooth! But maybe I could draw a dentist in chalk and hire a Rithmatist and make the dentist come alive and fix my tooth for free. Only problem is I cant draw. But Joel, the pragmatist in this book can draw, and he has studies the ways of Rithmatists and he cant be one, but he wants to be. More than anything, Joel wants to be a Rithmatist. Chosen by the Master in a mysterious inception ceremony, Rithmatists have the power to infuse life into two-dimensional figures known as Chalklings. Rithmatists are humanity’s only defense against the Wild Chalklings — merciless creatures that leave mangled corpses in their...

By: Laini Taylor Location: FIC TAY Genre: Urban Fantasy Series: First in trilogy called   Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love. It did not end well. “Wishes are false. Hope is true. Hope makes it’s own magic.” Kristalia from Goodreads This book was brilliant. It was majestic, beautiful, epic and strong ... Everything about it was perfect : the characters, the story and the ending... Never before had i read about something so powerful that it left such a strong impact on me , that i remember every single part and detail of it. It's so strong, it's so beautiful, it's just...magical! This book will make you weep, cry and laugh... it will rip your heart out , and it will make you feel everything. Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she’s prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head ...

Holidays are over, school is back.  I love the holidays gives me a chance to read- to escape into a book and savour it. I managed two these holidays- And The Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini and The Other Hand by Chris Cleave. Both are about redemption, both are about a journey, both are about a young female who is by circumstances disempowered and both these stories trace how they deal with and regain that which was lost to them. Khaled Hosseini is a master story writer and this book is like the best coffee ever, it sits in your pallet and you mull on it, discover its depth and a few days later a new link reveals itself in your mind- this man is a clever writer. Chris Cleave is a master wordsmith, the way he uses minimal words to express big ideas and emotions is genius. This book has to sit beside The Visitor- the DVD, as it explores the world of the detention centre and the hunting down of illegal immigrants that resides in them. It paints the Wests paranoia with foreign...