Cambridge High School Library 2024

By: Degree of the state Location: Wellington and Waiheke island Genre: reading, sleeping, eating and family Yes it is time for us in New Zealand to have two weeks off school and therefore two weeks off this blog! When I get back we will be celebrating a huge milestone- 100,000 hits on the blog (we are 99,960 at the moment!) Not bad for a little school in the bottom of the world. AND when we come back we will have new carpet in our library! What am  I reading in the holidays- the new Sebastian Faulks novel- Where my Heart Used to Beat - its a bit of a heavy read, but well written is my pick, WW1 story about a doctor who is reflecting on his life and the life of his father. ‘A masterpiece… This is a terrific novel, humming with ideas, knowing asides, shafts of sunlight, shouts of laughter and moments of almost unbearable tragedy’ Sunday Telegraph   I am also going to read Saint Mazie as well, . T he novel's protagonist, Mazie Phillips-Gordon is a little spitfir...

By: Marisa Reichardt Location: FIC REI Genre: Youth Fiction that is real 'It turned out I wasn't dying on the outside. I was only dying on the inside, where nobody could see.' 1. Breathe 2. You are okay. 3. You are not dying. Underwater focuses on Morgan who hasn't left her apartment for months. Instead of going to normal high school, she has spend most of the junior year taking online classes that allow her to stay inside in her pajamas. She has a rhythm - take classes, watch TV, eat tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches every day for lunch. Why does not Morgan go outside, you may ask? She is scared. She is afraid of losing control. She is terrified of the things that can happen to her if she leaves the protective walls of the apartment. She feels like danger lurks everywhere. No place is safe, expect her apartment. And going to a normal school, living normal life like she used to, feels like something she can never do again. When Evan moves to the apar...

By: Sarah Ayoub location: FIC AYO Genre: Contemporary Youth Fcition Five teenagers. Five lives. One final year. The Yearbook Committee is being described as this generation’s The Breakfast Club and I can see why! The setting for this novel takes place in a private school. Five Year 12 students are thrown together onto the yearbook committee and we get to read about their progress over the entire school year. The school captain: Ryan has it all … or at least he did, until an accident snatched his dreams away. How will he rebuild his life and what does the future hold for him now? The newcomer : Charlie’s just moved interstate and she’s determined not to fit in. She’s just biding her time until Year 12 is over and she can head back to her real life and her real friends … The loner : At school, nobody really notices Matty. But at home, Matty is everything. He’s been single-handedly holding things together since his mum’s breakdown, and he’s never felt so alone. The popu...

By: Ryan Graudin Location: FIC GRA Genre: Suspense, Thriller, Young Adult, Dystopic 730. That's how many days I've been trapped. 18. That's how many days I have left to find a way out RUN FAST TRUST NO_ONE ALWAYS CARRY YOUR KNIFE  Right now, my life depends completely on the first. Run, run, run. Dai traffics drugs for the most ruthless man in the Walled City. To find freedom, he needs help from someone who can be invisible...Jin Ling hides under the radar, evading the street gangs as she searches for her lost sister. Mei Yee survives trapped in a brothel, dreaming of escape while watching the girls who try fail and die. Damaged and betrayed, can these three find the faith to join forces and escape the stifling city walls? With a fantasy setting inspired by Kowloon Walled City, Hong Kong,  DAI, trying to escape a haunting past, traffics drugs for the most ruthless kingpin in the Walled City. But in order to find the key to his freedom, he needs help from som...

By: Tanya Burr Location: NF 646.7 BUR Genre: Life skills, lessons, guidance and tips for young woman I reckon I would have bought this book for my daughter when she was at High School, it is useful, but meaningful, not demeaning to woman but empowering to them. It has life skills,  and  all manner of self care and relationship tips that probably I failed to impart! It is inclusive, it is real and it is genuine. It not only deals with outward appearance but also with inner strength and dignity and it is really well laid out, easy to read, great photography, awesome "top 10' lists, makeup tips, hair ideas, and ideas on how to make relationships hum and tips on how to relax and be happy with who you are!... And  there are some great recipes as well!! Hi everyone and welcome to Love, Tanya!  This book is really close to my heart, because it's inspired by my journey to becoming confident and feeling happy about who I am. I wanted to write a book to share the thing...

By: Rafael Mantesso Location: probably all over the library Genre: Dog photos x art x humor x real life! This book is for anyone that likes dogs, photography and humor. This book is hilarious, I could just see us doing this to our foxy  Rex when we had him!! He would of been a blues singer and a bull fighter and a shark killer and a fireworks maestro...  Why didn't we think of this.... During the summer of 2014, an adorable bull terrier went viral on the internet. The owner, Brazilian visual artist Rafael Mantesso, was recently divorced and left with not much except his small unfurnished apartment with white walls and floor and his beloved five-year-old bull terrier, named by his fashion executive ex-wife after the famous shoe designer Jimmy Choo. As Mantesso took up painting and drawing again, he found inspiration in his blank walls and floor and best friend, snapping iPhone photos of Jimmy Choo in various poses and costumes, often with added quirk...

By: Erin Lange Location: FIC LAN Genre: Youth Ficiton Rebel, Bully, Geek, Pariah is billed as a modern, high stakes reboot of the Breakfast Club. The rebel:  Andi, once a 'Barbie', now tattooed and dreadlocked  wild child.  ... And a bit of a kleptomaniac. The bully:  York, seemingly a heartless thug, but is there more to him than that?  York torments everyone who crosses his path, especially his younger brother. The geek:  Boston, York's brother, SAT score near perfect, set to attend an Ivy League school. Tired of being bullied The pariah:  Our protagonist, Sam, the scars on her head serving as evidence for the struggles with her mother's drug addiction, she tries to make herself invisible to those around her. When Andi, York, Boston, and Sam find themselves hiding in the woods after a party gets busted by the cops, they hop into the nearest car they see and take off—the first decision of many in a night that will change their lives forever. ...

By: Justine Larbalestier Location: FIC Lar Genre: Youth-  psychological thrillers - Mental illness, Male POV What if the most terrifying person you'd ever met was your ten-year old sister?  Today is international Sibling Day- so here is a book about a brother and his sister! It is no ordinary story... My Sister Rosa   is a clever, creepy, and thought-provoking YA thriller.  ingeniously constructed, charismatic and terrifying. The narrative wheedles into your brain, wrong-footing you, making you doubt yourself and triumphing over you in its beautifully constructed twists and turns. I. Could. Not. Resist. It.- Rachel I promise,' said Rosa. 'I won't kill and I won't make anyone else kill.' I can't see the loophole. Since the guinea pig there's been nothing. Months now without Rosa killing as much as a mosquito. As far as I know. Che Taylor has four items on his list: 1. He wants to spar, not just train in the boxing gym. 2. He wants a girlfrien...

By: Adrienne Jansen and Liz Grant Location: NF 920 JAN Genre: As real as you can get Kiwi stories I loved this book. I loved how I could connect to a story of me sitting in a taxi from the airport to my destination- knowing that my driver had a story, a journey and wanting to ask, but never knowing if I should. Still don't know after reading this book- if I should. They get sick of the question " so where are you from?" But it seems such a good question to ask. But maybe the answers are to hard, to awkward or to personal. Cambodia and the Killing Fields Iraq and the war Serbia and the genocide Afghanistan as refugees! These are the stories of our taxi drivers, talented, intelligent, qualified, hard working now kiwis that have hopes and dreams, for themselves but more drivenly- for their kids. Why are so many of them taxi drivers when they could be my doctor, or my accountant? What is NZ really like- what are traditional kiwis really like, especially boozed on...

By: Seth Meyerowitz Location: NF 940.544 MEY Genre: For fans of Unbroken Mr Peters loved this book- it inspired him and he devoured it! That means it is a pretty good yarn! This is the remarkable, untold story of World War II American Air Force turret-gunner Staff Sergeant Arthur Meyerowitz, who was shot down over Nazi-occupied France and evaded Gestapo pursuers for more than six months before escaping to freedom. Bronx-born top turret-gunner Arthur Meyerowitz was on his second mission when he was shot down in 1943. He was one of only two men on the B-24 Liberator known as “Harmful Lil Armful” who escaped death or immediate capture on the ground.   After fleeing the wreck, Arthur knocked on the door of an isolated farmhouse, whose owners hastily took him in. Fortunately, his hosts not only despised the Nazis but had a tight connection to the French resistance group Morhange and its founder, Marcel Taillandier. Arthur and Taillandier formed an improbable bond as the resist...

By: Rosanne Hawke Location: FIC HAW Genre: Girls, Justice and fighting for what is right. Think Malala , think any book about Pravana , think And the Mountains Echoed or In the Sea there Are Crocodiles. These are the books and stores that inspire me and infuriate me and some have even caused me change what I think and what I do and how I discuss the world I live in.These stories anger me, I hate injustice based on race, gender, religion or culture- I just don't get it!! The storyline follows Aster, a Pakistani Christian girl who becomes the hope of her family after her brother dies. An opportunity at education that would never have otherwise been hers turns into a nightmare when a teacher accuses her of blaspheming the Prophet in a written exam. Arrested so quickly after the test is over that later investigators come to the conclusion the timing was too fast not to be suspicious, Aster is imprisoned. Her family has to go into hiding. Her village is abandoned for fear of...

By: Fiona Wood Location: FIC WOO Genre: Romance- Youth Fiction- Jane Eyre- Contemporary “Never listen to fools who dis  Jane Eyre  as being a story about a girl who gets her mean man. This is a character who gets what she wants and lives on her own terms by having moral fortitude, intelligence, courage, imagination and a will of iron. And that is one hell of a checklist. Imagine Charlotte Brontë writing this book in 1847. What a powerful story for women living at that time!” I have just read a book about immigrant taxi drivers in NZ, it has impacted me, it makes me see every immigrant as a carrier of a story, a journey that has led hurting people to a country that at times has not embraced them a it should. I will be so much more engaged and so much more understanding of these immigrants because of that book! Cloudwish is a delightful, gentle young adult novel, that brings forward a female character who's non-Caucasian, so that alone was refreshing...

By: Fleur Ferris location: FIC FER Genre: Cyber safety and the ruination of lives What happens on line, what can happen on line- it is horrifying! This book is written by an ex policewoman and paramedic, they know, they have seen it. The way in which our youth are drawn into this online world, when their real life world is full of angst and insecurities, it seems quite understandable at times that young people would feel safe meeting a person in real life whom they’ve met online. These predators buoy up those in need of attention, shower them with interest, and provide that much sought after feeling of being desired. Of course, it’s not only young people that engage in this behavior, but this story focuses on the issue of 16 year old high school student in suburban Melbourne, Australia. Risk  is a novel about a girl named Taylor, whose best friend, Sierra goes missing because she falls in love with a guy she met online. Sierra was perfectly comfortable t...

By: Discovery Location: NF 597.3 SHA Genre: Sharks- not the rugby ones either! My son and my sister in law follow sharks online. Yes I know- it seems weird. These sharks are tagged with microchips and you can see where they are swimming and follow there routes. They have names like Bruce the Shark or Phyllis, or Finn! You can become there friend. Sadly it wont tell you how many cute fishes they have gobbled up or surfers they had scared the living daylights out off, but is a fun app anyway! So if you are a shark lover and need to know more- this book is for you! Discovery Sharkopedia , is the definitive visual guide to everything there is to know about sharks! With more than 400 incredible color photos of the world's most infamous sharks, including great white, bull, and tiger sharks,  Sharkopedia  explores the evolution of sharks-did you know sharks have been swimming in the world's oceans since before dinosaurs roamed the earth?-and introduces kids to...

By: Kimberly McCreight   Location: FIC OUT Genre: Young Adult, Mystery Series:- The Outliers #1 “Why are the bad things always so much easier to believe? It shouldn't be that way but it is every single time, you're too sensitive, and too worried they say, you care too much about all the wrong things. One little whisper in your ear and the words tumble through your head like you're the one who thought them first. Hear them enough and pretty soon they're etched on the surface of your heart.”   Imagine if you could see inside the minds of everyone around you – your best friend, your boyfriend, your enemies…?  Imagine how valuable you'd be…  Imagine how much danger you'd be in…  Imagine being an Outlier. The Outliers is a novel that sits somewhere between contemporary, mystery, and thriller, which makes it a unique beast. The story begins with Wylie, who in the wake of her mother’s death has been left deeply anxious and agoraphobic. She receives a text mes...