Cambridge High School Library 2024

By Bear Grylls   Location: NF 646.7GRY- Not for Loan- its a book to mull and scan over. Genre: Feel good inspirational lessons in life. I am the proud Mum of two wonderful sons. These boys have a great Dad and they have had great adventures in the outdoors, most memorable- climbing Mt Ngarahoe during a full moon. Dads have such a huge role in growing boys into men, we minimize this role at our peril, and our societies need men who know what true adventure is, playing x box is not a true man!!!! Bear Grylls has written this book of spiritual and practical wisdom to share with his sons, about risks, tumbles, and victories of a well lived life. Here are a few... When you are right- shut up and when you are wrong, admit it! Have a firm handshake. Be kind to those who others neglect. Be ambitious- think big and take calculated risks. Thank God for your many blessings; then go and blossom. It is okay to succeed! I hope and know my boys live by many of these lessons and I...

By: Alexandra Adornetto Location: FIC ADO Genre: Paranormal These three books have amazing covers, good thing you don't judge books by their cover... except I do. It seems these books don't measure up to the cover though! These books have the worst reviews I have ever seen. I believe in Angels, I believe they exist and I believe they do stuff. I believe we have a few looking after us, but do they have wings and are they all stunningly handsomeness and stud like, living in posh town! Ah I don't know about that. So these books... Three angels – Gabriel, the warrior; Ivy, the healer; and Bethany, the youngest and most human – are sent by Heaven to bring good to a world falling under the influence of darkness. They work hard to conceal their luminous glow, superhuman powers, and, most dangerous of all, their wings, all the while avoiding all human attachments.Then Bethany meets Xavier Woods, and neither of them is able to resist the attraction between them. ...

By: Victoria Scott Location: FIC SCO Genre: Illness, Family, Dystopia, Journey, Competition thing ! OK it is Hunger Games cross The Amazing Race , cross Fault in our Stars cross Life of Pi! Tella Holloway is losing it. Her brother is sick, and when a dozen doctors can't determine what's wrong, her parents decide to move to Montana for the fresh air. She's lost her friends, her parents are driving her crazy, her brother is dying—and she's helpless to change anything. Until she receives mysterious instructions on how to become a Contender in the Brimstone Bleed. It's an epic race across jungle, desert, ocean, and mountain that could win her the prize she desperately desires: the Cure for her brother's illness. But all the Contenders are after the Cure for people they love, and there's no guarantee that Tella (or any of them) will survive the race. The jungle is terrifying, the clock is ticking, and Tella knows she can't trust the allies she mak...

By: Jamie Oliver Location: 641 OLI Genre: ummm Yummm What makes a hero! Jaime is one of mine. Why do you ask? Because he inspired my son, gave him courage and hope. They are both Dyslexic and when my son was going through High School he knew he could make it, be a man, a success... and he is. Jaime pointed the way, Ty walked the path. Ty did Food Tech all the way through High School- got the nick name masterchef , until he sliced his finger to the bone making a lamb rack. Nothing a few stitches did not fix, he then cheffed it the next day with brilliance. Ty did not end up working full time as a chef, instead he is an Outdoor Educator taking kids at risk into New Zealand's great outdoors- and those kids get the best food cooked on a gas cooker ever! So Jamie- thank you for being a role model that counted, for being inspiring and creating this amazing cookbook for the new generation of students at Cambridge High in New Zealand. Maybe,  just maybe I need to go and buy Ty on...

By: Michael Pryor Location: FIC PRY Genre: Technothriller. The Bourne Identity meets The Terminator in this fast-paced technothriller for fans of  Cherub Series. It is ordered and on its way!! This book trailer is a beauty!

By: Tracy Deebs Location: FIC DEE Genre: Apocalyptic BEAT THE GAME- SAVE THE WORLD. I cannot resist photos, especially photos of childhoods. I love looking at my own, the few that there are, when you are the fourth kid in the clan, there are not too many photos of you.. but they retell a story, some of the stories are known, some are not. Some are memories, others show events you cannot recall but there you are in the midst of them anyway. Childhood photos are irresistible, compelling and curious. This book is about Pandora's an average teen, glued to her cell phone and laptop, until the day her long-lost father sends her a link to a mysterious site featuring photos of her as a child. Curious, Pandora enters the site, unwittingly unleashing a global computer virus that plunges the whole world into panic: suddenly, there's no Internet. No cell phones. No traffic lights, hospitals or law enforcement. Only Pandora's Box, a virtual-reality game created by Pand...

By: Kristin Bailey Genre: Fantasy Location: FIC BAI Keys, they lock and they unlock. Let you in and let you out. They provide escape and they imprison. The book Sarah's Key haunted me for several days, a key that could unlock and give life, instead it remained in the hands of one bound never to be able to turn the lock. This book is also about a key, in the form of a clock, steam punk style. When a fire consumes Meg’s home, killing her parents and destroying both her fortune and her future, all she has left is the tarnished pocket watch she rescued from the ashes. But this is no ordinary timepiece. The clock turns out to be a mechanical key—a key that only Meg can use—that unlocks a series of deadly secrets and intricate clues that Meg is compelled to follow. Together with the handsome stable hand she barely knows but hopes she can trust, Meg is swept into a hidden world of deception, betrayal, and revenge, uncovering evidence of an elite secret society and a dangerous i...

By: Suzanne Young Location: FIC YOU Genre: Real sad stuff- suicide and depression Around 50 teenagers a year in New Zealand feel so helpless that they take their own life, that is 50 lives, full of potential that never have the chance to flourish. It is a sad stat, this book addresseses the issues of Youth Suicide, in a kind of dystopian way! In Sloane’s world, true feelings are forbidden, teen suicide is an epidemic, and the only solution is The Program Sloane knows better than to cry in front of anyone. With suicide now an international epidemic, one outburst could land her in The Program, the only proven course of treatment. Sloane’s parents have already lost one child; Sloane knows they’ll do anything to keep her alive. She also knows that everyone who’s been through The Program returns as a blank slate. Because their depression is gone—but so are their memories.Under constant surveillance at home and at school, Sloane puts on a brave face and keeps her feelings burie...

By: Erin Bowman Location: FIC BOW Genre: dystopian-post apocalyptic -utopian, with a love triangle and a male POV. There you have it! Walls, there have been a few, the Berlin Wall, The Warsaw Ghetto,  the wall in the West Bank, the fence in the boy in stripped PJ's- all barriers to stop you going in- or coming out. People have them too. Walls. They put them up inside themselves to stop you coming in, or you put them around yourself to stop you going out. Walls are never good! This book is about a wall, and it is not good either... There are no men in Claysoot. There are boys—but every one of them vanishes at midnight on his eighteenth birthday. The ground shakes, the wind howls, a blinding light descends…and he’s gone. They call it the Heist. Gray Weathersby’s eighteenth birthday is mere months away, and he’s prepared to meet his fate–until he finds a strange note from his mother and starts to question everything he’s been raised to accept: the Council leaders and thei...

By: Holly Bourne Location: FIC BOU Genre:  Love x paranormal x dystopian. Can you have a soulmate, good question? What does a soulmate look like and what does the term really mean anyway? Are you best mates in your soul, or are you linked in a spiritual kind of way? Every so often, two people are born who are the perfect matches for each other. Soulmates. But while the odds of this happening are about as likely as being struck by lightning, when these people do meet and fall in love…thunderstorms, lightning strikes and lashings of rain are only the beginning of their problems. Enter Poppy, the 17-year-old cynic with a serious addiction to banana milk, and Noah, the heart-throb guitarist; residents of mediocre Middletown, sometime students, and…soulmates. After a chance meeting at a local band night, Poppy and Noah find themselves swept up in a whirlwind romance unlike anything they’ve ever experienced before. But with a secret international agency preparing to separate them, ...

By:Ransom Riggs Location: FIC RIG Genre: hmmm Time travel and Fantasy combo maybe The first book here was a hit- photos mixed with text, mixed with fantasy- it ws weird but for many of our readers, it was a weird that worked. Here is the sequel.. The extraordinary journey that began in Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children continues as Jacob Portman and his newfound friends journey to London the peculiar capital of the world. But in this war-torn city, hideous surprises lurk around every corner. Like its predecessor, this second novel in the Peculiar Children series blends thrilling fantasy with never-before-published vintage photography to create a one-of-a-kind reacting experience.

By: Eric Walters Location: Pic WAL Genre: Real true African story that made my Year 12s say awwwww all the time!! Muthini is a young boy with a disabled hand,and his name means "suffering" . It is a horrible thing really- "Hay Suffering come over here" "Suffering can you please fetch the water". He had a daily reminder of the pain he was in and that he also caused others. However his caring Grandmothers measured Muthini by other qualties, the size of his heart, the depth of his mind, the naure of his spirit. The problem was his Grandmother was very poor and weak and she could not care for a disabled child, Muthini had to go. After a  long walk they went came to there destination- an orphanage, and there Muthini was going to be left, but the owner would not take a boy who was "suffering". "Suffering" was not welcome at this place, but 'Blessing" was and that is what Muthini became- a blessing- Baraka Awwwwwww So note to s...

By: K C Hilton Location: FIC HIL Genre: I love this genre, an old tale told again with spunk and fantasy...and a dragon !! This book also goes into the most awesomest cover book category, it is a stunning cover. "My tale has been told again and again, and I’ve heard each one. Except for my hair, I barely recognize the pitiful renditions. Muddled versions, crafted to entertain laughing children…but the children wouldn’t have laughed if they’d known the real story. It wasn't their fault. They didn't know the truth. Nobody did. My name is Rapunzel and I will tell you my story. I will tell you the truth..." If you love a good fairytale, with a bit of dragon, magic, spells, witches and off course a love interest or two. then let down your hair and read this one.

By: Captain W E Johns Location: FIC JOH Genre: WWII Fiction Why is Biggles only for my brothers... why could I not read them? Why was I stuck with Anne of Green Gables and Little House on the Prairie? I wanted  dangerous missions in enemy territory, missing in action or abandoned in the deserts, I craved handsome hero's and spunky war pilots and all I got was nice lush fields that you pranced through to go pick the raspberries. So now, I have adult revenge, and with this collection of 4 action packed stories, I will not have to pull up my long dress, expose my knickerbockers and make jam ever again!!! Shot em down Biggles!!! Caught up in the German invasion of Norway in the early days of the Second World War, Biggles has to use all his cunning to stay one step ahead of the enemy. With his old opponent Von Stalheim hot on his trail, it's going to take a daring act to avoid the horror of the Nazi firing squad. Deep in the jungle heart...

By: Eric Walters Location: FIC WAL Genre: Great story of humanity and challenge set in Tanzania!!! Series: The Seven Series POLEPOLE  ah yes the Swahili word for slow. They call the buses in Tanzania polepole buses, it mocks the word, they go insanely fast, and there is not too much metal to hold them together as they lurch over pot holes the size of Lake Taupo. Have I been frightened in my life- oh yes in Tanzania on a Polepole bus. I like Kili, it is the local name for Mt Kilimanjaro and I know a few people who have climbed it, it is not a walk in the park, it is a massive climb that attacks you with altidue illness. The porters help you out, but you have to do the walking. Between Heaven and Earth is part of a series of books written by different authors. The idea behind the series is that there are 7 boys whose Grandfathers, in their wills, has given them each a specific quest to fulfill. In this book the protagonist, DJ, is challenged to climb Mt. Kilamanjaro in...

By: Wolfgang Herrndorf Location: FIC HER Genre: Youth Fiction on a Road Trip A stolen Lada and two  unpopular14 year old boys on a road trip in East Germany... but wait, it is a great book, it is authentic and real and really gives you a good chuckle. Roadtrips to me are an inner journey, you learn stuff, discover stuff, talk about stuff, take risks.. this road trip is certainly all those things.  Tim said this about  Why we took the Car This book is a wonder! It is an energetic road movie that is true and poetic at the same time. I was grinning the whole read and thoughtful for days after. Must read ! Mike Klingenberg doesn't get why people think he's boring. Sure, he doesn't have many friends. (Okay, zero friends.) And everyone laughs at him when he reads his essays out loud in class. And he's never invited to parties - including the gorgeous Tatiana's party of the year. Andre Tschichatschow, aka Tschick (not even the teachers can pronounce his name)...

By: Cassandra Clare Location: We don't have it yet, it is due in MAY - here is a taster!!!! Genre: Mortal Instruments I saw this fan based book trailer and loved it, so going to share it with you to whet your whistle, I have two of these books on order- OK it was an accident, but I know they will be issued non-stop by you guys nonstop- so it is a good accident! The idea of a war between heaven and hell- is not new, it is called Armageddon, but what I wonder will be the Cassandra Clare take on it? And can love really, I mean really, conquer all?

By: Andrew Smith Location : http://camhigh.wheelers.co/title/9781743581537/epub    This people is our FIRST E-BOOK review. This book is located on our Wheeler E Platform http://camhigh.wheelers.co/ . It is coming soon as a paper book! Genre: Youth Fiction, coming of age and apocalyptic Wow that is green! Like grasshoppers and teenagers. Well if you read this book you will be less green- that is a warning. Just saying!!! Sixteen-year-old Austin Szerba interweaves the story of his Polish legacy with the storyof how he and his best friend , Robby, brought about the end of humanity and the rise of an army of unstoppable, six-foot tall praying mantises in small-town Iowa. To make matters worse, Austin's hormones are totally oblivious; they don't care that the world is in utter chaos: Austin is in love with his girlfriend, Shann, but remains confused about his sexual orientation. He's stewing in a self-professed constant state of maximum horniness, directed at bo...

By: Carlos Ruiz Zafon Location: FIC ZAF Genre: Gothic tale for all ages! I have a new favourite author, it is the guy that wrote this book. OK- second favourite, it would take a lot to topple Chaim Potok, but I like them for the same reason. They craft words, play with words, make words powerful and so the story that comes from those words has depth and colour, emotion and power, wit and cunning. At times when I read Potok or Zafon, I lean back and purely delight in a sentence that has so much in it, yet is so simple. Dale Harcombe from Goodreads reviews this book.. . The cover of this book is enough of a reason to want to read it. I adored the cover. As to the book itself, it is hard to describe. Much of the writing is extremely beautiful. It feels like reading poetry as the writing is so rich in imagery. The depiction of Marina’s lips touching Oscar’s ear is described as ‘tingling on the nape of my neck, like a centipede dancing the bossa nova.’ Or this quote from Quim...