Cambridge High School Library 2024

By: Mitchell Hogan Location: FIC HOG Genre: Epic Fantasy     Series: Sorcery Ascendant Sequence #1  A rollicking good old fashioned fantasy!  A b ig fat epic fantasy with touches of  Tolkien, Williams, Eddings, Jordan, and Feist! Raised by monks after the death of his family in a suspicious fire, Caldan receives an excellent education and magical training. Upon reaching adulthood he leaves the monastery to make his own way, and try and find out who his family was, and who he really is.  Life in Anasoma is nothing that Caldan's sheltered upbringing prepared him for, and he soon finds himself homeless and penniless. In desperation he seeks and gains an apprenticeship with the Sorcerer's Guild, despite being several years older than the rest of the apprentices. While Caldan begins to settle down into his new life, make friends and investigate the mystery of his parents, an ancient evil is stirring, and soon will lay siege to Anasoma, once again throwi...

By: Vicky Martin and the students of Limpsfield Grange School Location: FIC MAR Genre: Real Why do I feel so different to everyone else? I'm just trying to be normal. How do I get normal ? I have worked beside amazing students who have autism, you see their struggles, their confusions and their constant awareness that somehow they are unaware. I am so thankful for the training I have had in learning how to communicate and understand these students, some of who volunteer in our library. But if I didn't- this book, a great colleague to Dog at Midnight- would be a huge help in giving me an awareness of how are friends see, or don't see the world. "M. That's what I'd like you to call me please. I'll tell you why later." M is for Autism is a book about a teenage girl with Autism written by teenage girls with Autism. The concept of this book is brilliant and the story is bravely and beautifully written. It has  pages  that are enhanced with colo...

By: Michelle Painchaud Location: FIC PAI Genre: Feamle POV, Mystery Young adult We Were Liars  meets  Heist Society  in a riveting debut! “Dear God, forgive me for my sins. I'm pretending to be a girl who went missing thirteen years ago. A girl who's rich. A girl who's dead.” Seventeen-year-old Violet’s entire life has revolved around one thing: becoming Erica Silverman, an heiress kidnapped at age five and never seen again. Violet’s father, the best con man in Las Vegas, has a plan, chilling in its very specific precision. Violet shares a blood type with Erica; soon, thanks to surgery and blackmail, she has the same face, body, and DNA. She knows every detail of the Silvermans’ lives, as well as the PTSD she will have to fake around them. And then, when the time is right, she “reappears”—Erica Silverman, brought home by some kind of miracle. But she is also Violet, and she has a job: Stay long enough to steal the Silverman Painting, an Old Master legendar...

By: Scott Westerfield       Margo Lanagan       Deborah Biancotti Location: FIC WES Genre: Urban paranormal fantasy Don't call them heroes. But these six Californian teens have powers that set them apart   Filled with high-stakes action and drama,  Zeroes  unites three powerhouse authors for the opening installment of a thrilling new series. Within these pages you will meet six unique teens. Nate/Bellwether   (aka Glorious Leader) has the ability to bend the will of crowds, to make them follow him. Chizara/Crash   can crash anything electronic, hence the name. But the downside to her power is that even being near electronics hurts her to her very bones, makes her brain itch. Riley/Flicker   is blind, but can see through the eyes of others. Thibault/Anonymous   finds it incredibly easy to disappear, but the flip side of this is that no one can remember him unless they’re looking at him. If any more than five peop...

 A movie that will make you smile! Enjoy

By: Jenny Downham Location: FIC DOW Genre: LGBGT- Family life- Alzhiemers  A sensitive family portrait wrapped up in secrets and misunderstandings . Unbecoming is Jenny Downham's third novel. Set in the town of Bisham, we meet seventeen year old Katie, her mother Caroline, and her younger brother Chris. She's never met her maternal grandmother but Mary has come to live with them after her mother was called as the emergency contact. Mary has dementia but despite this Caroline does not want her to live with them. It's a subject that she chooses not to discuss, but she was abandoned by Mary at a young age and brought up by her aunt. Katie on the other hand finds Mary delightful and the two instantly bond. Katie sets about writing down the stories Mary tells her and keeps them in a book to use as a way to remind Mary of who she is. I assumed because there were three women in this story, that there would be three perspectives, but there are only two, Katie's and Mary...

By: Shaun Tan Location: NF 730 TAN Genre: Its weird, clay models of fairy tales. Grimm x Tan ! After looking through this stunning book of Shaun Tan sculptures,I can see why the fairy tales he so stunningly captures in these sculptures are by the GRIMM brothers. They are grim, this book is one to look at, really look at. Exquisitely strange little sculptures - absolutely stunning publication. A unique and alluring art book showcasing Shaun Tan's extraordinary sculptures based on the timeless and compelling fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm. In this beautifully presented volume, the essence of seventy-five fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm is wonderfully evoked by Shaun Tan's extraordinary sculptures. Nameless princes, wicked stepsisters, greedy kings, honourable peasants and ruthless witches, tales of love, betrayal, adventure and magical transformation: all inspiration for this stunning gallery of sculptural works. Introduced by Grimm Tales author Philip Pullman ...

By: Lauren James Location: FIC JAM Genre: Time Travel, Historical Fiction and Love! Series: Yep its the first and more to come This cover is stunning! A powerful and epic debut novel for teenagers about time-travel, fate and the timelessness of first love. The Next Together is told through a mixture of regular prose, diary entries, letters, "original" historical documents, news reports and internet articles How many times can you lose the person you love?  “She didn't know if she was crying for Matt, this Matthew, or for every Matthew she'd known and lost. All throughout history they had been doing this, finding and loving each other and then being ripped apart before they even had a chance to live. Why did Matthew always leave her alone? Why did it always end? Why did it always even start?” Katherine and Matthew are destined to be born again and again, century after century. Each time, their presence changes history for the better, and each time, they fal...

By: Ishmael Beah Location: FIC BEA Genre: War- fiction. Africa, the hope and the struggle! A haunting, beautiful first novel by the bestselling author of  A Long Way Gone  - t he story of a boy Soldier. This book is a brutal fairy tale. Africa- a place close to my heart, I have not been to places ravaged by civil war, destroyed by greed or aligned by sectarianism. But I have spent time with African people who dream dreams, who hope, who know that education and a strong village life is what will build nations within the continent. Sierra Leone has not been so lucky as the nations I have visited and this story unpacks just how difficult it is to bring healing and hope to a fissured and broken world.  Then when the capitalists move in with their mines  a different corrupt war starts! This book deals with it all! “We must live in the radiance of tomorrow, as our ancestors have suggested in their tales....

By: Peter Goes Location: NF 909 GOE Genre; Look at it all day and see stuff that makes you go "a ha" Written by a kiwi!!! Highly recommended for the curious and lovers of quizzes! This illustrated journey through our world’s culture and events travels from the Big Bang to the iPod and into the future. This is a trip through time, past dinosaurs, Vikings, Aztecs and spaceships. It looks at wars and disasters; introduces artists, explorers and leaders; shows us living in castles, yurts and skyscrapers. And it does not neglect the imagination—here too are dragons, mythical figures and TV characters, alongside world-changing inventions borne from the imaginations of scientists and explorers. Each scene puts global events in perspective, in space and time.  

By: R.C.Lewis Genre: Snow White  Sci Fi Location: FIC LEW "'Snow White' gets an upgrade in this clever, surprisingly gritty science-fiction version." - Kirkus Reviews If you like sci-fi, kick-ass heroines, plot twists, action, romance...basically all the things that make fiction worth reading...then add this to your to-read list, pronto. This is such a clever spin on the Snow White fairy tale. Loved it!- MELISSA Princess Snow is missing. Her home planet is filled with violence and corruption at the hands of King Matthias and his wife as they attempt to punish her captors. The king will stop at nothing to get his beloved daughter back-but that's assuming she wants to return at all. Essie has grown used to being cold. Temperatures on the planet Thanda are always sub-zero, and she fills her days with coding and repairs for the seven loyal drones that run the local mines. When a mysterious young man named Dane crash-lands near her hom...

By: Michael Escoffier Location: PIC ESC Genre; Heroines and superpowers My kids know I have superpowers. I have superpowers on the hockey field and superpowers making curry. When they were little they thought I had super- super powers, then they grew up. But some days- they thought they had them as well and they tried to exhibit them in stunning styles with hilarious results, I have video evidence even!. I swear my kids wrote this book- well all kids everywhere over all time.... Childhood is a magical time when even the stuff of the day-to-day is exciting and the ordinary often seems extraordinary. A part of this magic is that with just a little imagination, we all might be found to possess true superpowers!This isn't the first or last book where a child delightedly discovers her own superpowers. But it may be just about the driest, funniest, and sweetest, where the discovery is handled with humor and charm. One of the book's true pleasures is that it's a girl who di...

By;    Sarah Cohen-Scali Location: FIC COH Genre:  Historical fiction with a twist  I loved All the Light We Cannot See and Werner in that story reminds me of Max in this one! Werner redeemed himself- but can and will Max?  Perhaps the most distressing novel I've ever read, this visceral, brutal and shocking account of one aspect of of Nazi racial ideology, the Lebensborn programme, movingingly shows how complex and desperate war is. It's the sort of book that leaves you undone and changed, and realising that you may have held your breath (or at least felt like you were doing so) for the entire heart-pummelling novel.  Breathtaking, heartbreaking, devastating. And equally astonishingly brilliant .  ZOE This is the story of a child born under the Nazi "Lebensborn" program, which was essentially a program to breed pure Ayran babies who would be the future leaders of the Third Reich. Max is born on April 20, 1936, making him the first baby to r...

By: Connor Franta Location: 920 FRA Genre: You tubers memoir "Who are you? Answer; you are who you are in this given moment. Label-less. Limitless. Remember that from this day forward." Connor Joel Franta is an Internet sensation and global trendsetter with millions of followers on YouTube and many other social media platforms. He is the founder of Common Culture Coffee and works closely with The Thirst Project, a charity that provides clean drinking water in Africa, for which he raised more than $230,000 in thirty days.  He also curates music from up-and-coming bands for his Common Culture compilation albums.   Rachel says this about this book "Connor Franta  is one of my inspirations. As much as I'd love to say his personal journey - his struggles with image and sexuality - hit close to home, I would be lying. Connor's voice is what I love.  His energy, his creativeness, his humour, his lively, bubbly personality inspires me every time I watch one of ...

By: Brian Selznick Location: Fic Sel Genre: Historical fiction- graphic novel, art! The writer of  T he Invention of Hugo Cabret   has done it again. This book is stunning, the art amazing and the story  full and touching.  It is totally a book that hooks you to your seat! In The Marvels , Selznick tells two separate stories that take place multiple centuries apart. He begins with nearly four hundred pages of drawings telling one story, followed by two hundred pages of text telling the other. Though this strayed from his usual layout, it served to make the novel even more powerful as a whole. Beautiful book about a family of actors and their theatre in London. The illustrated half of the story about the Marvel family is excellent - the whole history of 200 years of a family conveyed in drawings. The second text half focuses on Joseph and his uncle Albert who lives in a time capsule historical house. Joseph's curiosity is overwhelming for Albert who has to dec...

By: Jandy Nelson Location: FIC NEL Genre: Contemporary Youth fiction. LGBGT   "A resplendent novel- Art and wonder fill each page"  SLJ Review "Structurally brilliant"  Kirkus Reviews " The heart doesn't listen to reason. It doesn't abide by laws or conventions or other people's expectations either. " ―  Jandy Nelson ,  I'll Give You the Sun  John Green fans this one is for you...  Its poetic, its witty, it artistic, its emotional, it has stunning metaphors, the writing is very creative . Miss Featonby and Miss Bichan- this one is definitely one for you. “And why do English people sound smarter than the rest of us? Like they should be awarded the Nobel Prize for a simple greeting?”  ―  Jandy Nelson ,  I'll Give You the Sun At first, Jude and her twin brother are NoahandJude; inseparable. Noah draws constantly and is falling in love with the charismatic boy next door, while daredevil Jude wears red-red lipst...

By: Katie McGarry Location: FIC McG Genre: Young adult, romance, death and bad bike rs! An unforgettable new series from acclaimed author Katie McGarry about taking risks, opening your heart, and ending up in a place you never imagined possible. Sizzling, suspenseful and unputdownable. A gripping story about finding freedom, forgiveness and love. At seventeen, Emily lives a pretty quiet life with her family and friends in Florida… but when she was ten she found out that the man she calls Dad isn’t her biological father and every year she tolerates his one visit to see her but never really digs deeper because he made the choice to give her up. Her mum raised her by herself and that means more to her than someone who shows up in her life suddenly claiming to want to know her.  An email from her father turns her life into a tailspin. Someone has died and that means the family is heading back to the town that her mother fled when she found out she was pregnant. But Emily hasn’t...

Three titles : Bazaar of Bad Dreams Finders Keepers Mr Mercedes Location: FIC KIN Genre: Scary horror whodunnits I never will read these, I like to sleep and I like my "fitbit" heart rate to stay normal, but because I am the provider of your requests I have bought three new titles for your scaryment! Don't blame me if you cant sleep and are totally unable to concentrate the next day- it is not my fault, you issued these and you read them!!!! So why does Mr King write what he does, he explains I saw lots of horror films when I was a kid (you probably guessed that). I was an easy target, and most of them scared me to death. It was dark, the images were so much bigger than you were, and the sound was so loud that the scares continued even when you shut your eyes. On TV, the scare quotient tended to be lower. There were commercials to break the rhythm of the thing, and the worst parts were sometimes snipped out to avoid giving complexes to any little shavers who...

By: Renee Knight Location: FIC KNI Genre: P sychological Thrille r   "I loved this atmospheric, beautifully written novel, a real page turner and an intriguing and often twisty plot with some terrifically well drawn characters."  Liz “It is extraordinary how much strength anger gives one.”  ―  Renée Knight ,  Disclaimer Catherine and Stephen have a good life and stable marriage, but all that is about to change. Their son Nicholas has recently moved out and although he hasn’t achieved all they hoped, he seems stable and happy in his work. It’s then that Catherine reads a book which mysteriously appears on the bedside of their new home. The book disclaimer has a neat red line through it ‘Any resemblance to persons living or dead….’ Catherine only appreciates the significance of this as she reads on! Catherine finds that she is the main character in the book and that it reveals a secret that she thought only she could now know. This is where it begins and ...

By: Kai Meyer Location: FIC MEY Genre: Urban fantasy, Mythology, Shapeshifter Series: #1 Arcadia Awakens            #2 Arcadia Burns            #3  Arcadia falls New series and all three arrived at once, so no waiting for the next installment. Its FRIDAY- come and grab all three and read a series for the weekend! This is written by a German Author which is not to common in New Zealand libraries especially in youth fiction.W ith millions of books sold worldwide, Kai Meyer is one of Germany's most successful authors. His novels have been translated into 27 languages including English, Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese, Russian and Chinese. Kai Meyer was born in 1969 in northern Germany. He began college at the University of Bochum, Germany, where he studied film, theatre, and philosophy.  Kai wrote his first novel in his early 20s, and it was published when he was just 24 years old. He has been a full-time no...

By: Cixin Liu Location: FIC LIU Genre:  Chinese Sci Fi The Three-Body Problem: Particle physics, the rise and fall of civilizations, and alien contact The Three-Body Problem is the first chance for English-speaking readers to experience this multiple award winning phenomenon from China's most beloved science fiction author, Liu Cixin. This book is bursting with fascinating ideas about the rise and fall of civilizations, virtual-reality gaming, mind-blowing particle physics, the lonely life of scientists and intellectuals, the madness of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, and alien contact as well. Set against the backdrop of China's Cultural Revolution, a secret military project sends signals into space to establish contact with aliens. An alien civilization on the brink of destruction captures the signal and plans to invade Earth. Meanwhile, on Earth, different camps start forming, planning to either welcome the superior beings and help them take over a world seen as...