SQA Exams

Good luck to everyone sitting exams over the next few weeks.

In The Archived by Victoria Schwab, Mackenzie (Mac) Bishop is a Keeper like her Da (her grandfather). Her job is to prevent Histories from escaping from the Archive into the world of the living.

When you die your body is stored in the Archive where the Librarians can read your life story – your history. The dead sleep in the Archive but sometimes a History will awake and wander the Narrows. It is the job of a Keeper to usher the History back through the correct door to the Archive.

Mac is a talented Keeper but the loss of her ten-year-old brother has hit her hard. Then she discovers that Histories are being deliberately altered and the Archive itself is in danger.

A fascinating concept, this novel deals with loss and what it is that makes us who we are.

Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi is the sequel to Shatter Me which I reviewed earlier this month.

The story in both books is told by Juliette whose touch is deadly.  At the start of this novel, Juliette is finding it difficult to connect with the others at Omega Point, the headquarters of the rebel resistance and a refuge for people like her who have gifts (or super powers).

Juliette needs to learn to control her powers but she is afraid. All her life she has been told she is a monster and she believes it. She only feels safe and loved with Adam who is immune to her touch but then she discovers that Adam has been hiding a terrible secret from her.

Yes, this is another dystopian novel and yes, there’s a love triangle but this is a series you really shouldn’t miss.

The Price of Perfection

I can’t remember how old I was when I saw the film ‘The Stepford Wives’ for the first time (I am referring to the 1975 film with Katherine Ross and not the terrible 2004 remake) but I do remember being horrified by it.

The Adjusters

In The Adjusters by Andrew Taylor it is the teenagers rather than the women (or wives) who are being made ‘perfect’. I know that it might seem hypocritical coming from a teacher, since teachers spend a lot of their time complaining about discipline problems, but the idea of a classroom of perfectly behaved, perfectly compliant teenagers does not fill me with joy.

Henry’s mum seems to have landed the perfect job in the perfect town but, as Henry is about to discover,  perfection comes at a terrible price.

When Henry and his mum stop at a gas station, Henry discovers a girl hiding in the toilets. She pleads with him to help her but is terrified when she discovers he and his mother are on their way to Newton. Henry lies to the policeman looking for the runaway girl but is unable to prevent her from being discovered. As the girl is taken away in a police cruiser by Trooper Dan, she mouths the word ‘Run’ to Henry.

Henry is anxious not to let his mum down again but when someone leaves you a note warning you not to let them ‘scan your brain’, it’s hard not to suspect that everything is not as it seems.

If you enjoy this book, try Candor by Pam Bachorz which is even darker and more disturbing.

 

 

End of Term

Have a great Easter break.

Enjoy your retirement, Mrs Turner!

Mrs Turner, our school librarian, is retiring tomorrow. I will especially miss her help and support. We’ve worked together on the school library magazine and Book Week and lots of other projects designed to encourage reading. She has listened patiently to my moans and plans and given me wise advice on lots of occasions.

Thanks for everything. We’ll miss you.

Books I’ll Be Reading in the Easter Holidays

These are just some of the books I’ve sent for to read during the Easter holidays. What could be better – time to read and the perfect excuse to eat chocolate!

Light by Michael Grant – the final book in the Gone series. If you haven’t read this series yet, now’s the perfect time to start. I’ve reviewed all of the books on this blog and I’m really looking forward to seeing how it all ends.

Department 19: Battle Lines by Will Hill. Book 3 in a fantastic series for boys (and girls) with Dracula himself making a dramatic return.

If you enjoy dystopian sci-fi (is ‘enjoy’ the right word?) then check-out Fragments by Dan Wells, the sequel to Partials, and the final instalment of the Delirium trilogy, Requiem by Lauren Oliver.