Books - The Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

Rate the book: 8.5

when i first picked up the book i thought not another book but then i read a couple of pages and it seemed interesting so i kept going and turned out to be a great book.

----reviewed by Matt

Books - Finnikin of the rock by Melina Marchetta

Rate the book: 9

This is a powerful new fantasy from the popular author of ‘Looking for Alibrandi’ Quite different from her earlier novels, this is an engrossing adventure story set in the cursed kingdom of Lumatere. Finnikin of the Rock and his guardian Sir Topher have been travelling through the land of their exiled people for ten years recording their losses in the Book of Lumatere and waiting for a sign that the terrible curse will be lifted. When they meet the young novice, Evanjalin, they begin the final part of their journey together with the belief that they will finally be able to return to Lumatere and reunite their people. This book has been nominated for the CBC Book of the Year in the Older Readers category for 2009.

----reviewed by sue

Books - A bad boy can be good for a girl by Tanya Lee Stone

Rate the book: 9

Three very different girls all get sucked in by one cute guy and share their experiences in the back pages of a library book called 'Forever'. This acts as a warning to other girls not to be used by a guy and do things they may regret later. Written in verse it is really easy to read and makes good sense.

----reviewed by sue

Books - Von Gobstopper's Arcade by Alexandra Adornetto

Rate the book: 5 stars

17 year old whiz author, Alexandra Adornetto, makes a wonderful and enchanting impression with her latest novel, the third and last book in her highly-acclaimed series, The Strangest Adventures. Yet again we meet our main protagonists, Milli and Ernest, who are very excited, along with the rest of the children of Drabville, after a toy arcade is opened by acclaimed toy maker, Gustav Von Gobstopper, in their very honor. Milli and Ernest and the rest of their class at their new school St Erudite visit there on an excursion and soon find themselves becoming allies with several amazing talking toys.

There, they learn of a macabre plot to destroy Christmas for the town, led by the, yet again, Lord Aldor, now transformed and going by the title of Dr Illustrious. Will the two children finally defeat Lord Aldor, or, will this be their final showdown …. ?

Adornetto’s book is amusing, enchanting, and quite original. The plotlines and characters are very quirky, which is a good thing. However, some of the too-big language used in the book and narrative rambling leads the reader out of the story.

Nonetheless, highly recommended!

----reviewed by Brenton

Books - The Complete Book of Naughty Stories for Good Boys and Girls - Christopher Milne

This book is a funny book for kids of all ages. i know you will love this fantasic book. read well.

----reviewed by Ebony

Books - Max Remy and Mission in Malta by Deborah Abela

A book leaving readers biting their nails in suspense.

----reviewed by Kate

National Youth Week

28th March - 5th April

The theme for this year's National Youth Week is Make a Move and Eastern Regional Libraries are holding some great events:

Bring a graphic novel to life!
Participate in a free hands-on Animation workshop. You will be working with Gregg Brown from Playanimation and you will learn skills including:

• animation principles
• character & set design
• filming.

The workshops are for young people 10 – 25 years who live, work, study or recreate within the City of Knox. There will be free food and everyone will get a DVD of the final animation.

When: Wednesday 1st April 4:30 - 8pm
Where: Rowville Library, Stud Park Shopping Centre, Stud Rd, Rowville
Cost: Free event
Bookings essential phone 92941300

OR

When: Saturday 4th April 10am - 1:30pm
Where: Boronia Library, Park Cr, Boronia
Cost: Free event
Bookings essential phone 97624099


Fretshop performance
Live at Rowville Library, check out the Fretshop youth guitar collective performance.
When: Thursday 2nd April 6pm
Where: Rowville Library, Stud Park Shopping Centre, Stud Rd, Rowville
Cost: Free event
Bookings essential phone 92941300


Edward or Jacob? Vampire or Werewolf? -- BOOKED OUT
Food, music, prizes and lots of surprises. You can even come dressed as your favourite character.

When: Thursday 2nd April 7 - 8:30pm
Where: Knox Library, 425 Burwood Highway, Wantirna South
Cost: Free event
Bookings essential phone 98011422


Knox City Council - Knox Youth Short Film Festival
Also during Youth Week is the screening of films for the Knox Youth Short Film Festival.

When: Monday 30th March 6:30–9pm
Where: Knox Community Arts Centre, cnr Mountain Hwy& Scoresby Rd, Bayswater
Cost: Free event
Enquiries contact Kate Clark phone 9298 8550


Shire of Yarra Ranges - Elevation!
Join in a skate and BMX comp (12&U /16&U /OPEN) $5 entry

Also featuring live music from Ashley's Affair, Meliki, Triact, The Duke's, Driveby Epic and the Power Percussion Group

PLUS .... free rockclimbing wall, market stalls, mental health photo exhibition and much more!

When: Saturday 4th April 11am - 4pm
Where: Lilydale Skate Bowl, Hardy St, Lilydale

Cheers, Maryanne

Knox Youth Short Film Festival

Just wanted to give a bit of a plug for the Knox Youth Short Film Festival. There's only a couple of weeks left to submit entries to the Festival. Submissions are sought from filmmakers 10-25 years old.

Entries can be any genre but you need to follow these guidelines:

• The majority of the film crew lives, works, studies or hangs out within the City of Knox
• All films need to be of PG Rating
• All films need to be submitted on VHS or DVD
• All films to be no longer than 10 minutes long

Important dates:
Applications and entries due Wednesday 25th February 2009
Short films will be shown on Monday 30th March 6:30–9pm at the
Knox Community Arts Centre, Bayswater, as part of National Youth Week 2009.

Check out an ad for the Knox Youth Short Film Festival on Youtube - Green Foot Flicks



Cheers, Maryanne

Books - Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta

Rate the book: 10

By the same author as "Looking For Alibrandi", is another great book about a teens life. Even though the main character, Francesca is Italian (like in Looking For Alibrandi), this book focuses moreso on the troubles she faces when she is sent to a school that has only just become co-ed, leaving her friends from her old school behind.This book is also about boy troubles rather than trouble because of her ethnicity. A great read for those who love romance/friend/family type books.

----reviewed by sarah

Books - Trixie Belden Series by Julie Cambell, Kathryn Kenny

Rate the book: 8

For those who like Nancy Drew this is a great series of 39 books that are focused on the main girl Trixie, and the mysteries she gets herself into with her brothers Mart and Brian, best friends Honey and Di, romantic interest (and Honey's adopted brother) Jim, and Dan Mangan. This group of teens from 13-16 y/o form a club together. Whilst it is similar to Nancy Drew, this is a more old fashioned setting. Trixie is also a tomboy compared to Nancy being a tall, beautiful, confident blonde. The series starts off with the first book being "The Secret of the Mansion" and then "The Red Trailer Mystery" which both set up the series. Great innocent reads.

----reviewed by sarah

Books - One For The Money (Stephanie Plum series) by Janet Evanovich

Rate the book: 10

This book is the first in a ongoing series (currently still being written) about a woman in America who becomes jobless and is force to appeal to her cousin Vinnie for a job as a Bounty Hunter. Starting this job leads her to meet her to main romantic interests Joe Morelli (her on-off again boyfriend) and Ranger, the dark, mysterious man who pops in and out of her life. These books are great chick-flick type books, full of laughs, adventure and romance. A great series for slightly older readers (15+).

----reviewed by sarah

Note: this is in the adult fiction section of the library

Books - The Stand by Stephen King

Rate the book: 10

Before I begin my review I will let you know that this is only the second Stephen King novel i'v ever read, (and definatly not the last) although I am a big fan of the "horror" genre.

The Stand is a amazing novel, The plot unfolds after a deadly virus escapes and almost imediatly kills 99% of the worlds population. From there the remaining surviours find themselves either joining a "good" or "evil" side, i know this may sound kind of lame but it works. The book is very lengthy over 1000 pages!! but it never became dull or boring. The way King can make you visualise the events that take place is amazing from corpses slowly decaying on the streets to gunfights and mass meetings. The dark, graphic and gritty atmosphere created is very enjoyable, it is worth noting that some themes may affect certain readers as it deals with death and god very heavily, it is also a very dark and gory novel.

Overall it is byfar the best book i have ever read to this date i also went to the trouble of buying the mini series which i would only reccomend to people who have read the book, although it was still quite a good adaption of the film, with a cameo of king himself which i found quite hurmorus. I highly reccomend reading this book dont be overwhelmed by the size of it as it will draw you in and you wont put it down.

----reviewed by adam

Books - Corey in the Saddle by Bonnie Bryant

I really liked cory in the saddle and think you should write some more of those types of books i think it was the best one out of the series pony tails and loved readinf it the reason i loved readingn it so much was because it made you want to read on and was a cachy book i also like the name pony tails as you have probably worked out i like horses and have 4 of my own

----reviewed by Maddie

Books - Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan

Rate the book: 9

Nick is the bassist for a punk band with an ever changing name, and he's just had his heart broken. Norah doesn't know what she wants, and thinks she's ruined her life, by making all the wrong decisions just to annoy her super rich, music executive, father.

Nick and Norah are thrown together in one incredible night in New York City, that will change their lives.

This was a fantastic book, which has been made into a movie (due out in March '09, I think) and is really all about friends, love, and life in general; but mostly it's about music. And without sounding too sickening; the music of life. I'd recommend it to young adults; it's all sex, drugs, and lots and lots of swearing, but definitely an amazing read, totally romantic in places - not like a Mills and Boom romance novel, but really cool 'why-doesn't-this-happen-to-me-style' romantic. Read it!! It's fantastic!

----reviewed by kate

Books - The Secret Life of Sparrow Delaney by Suzanne Harper

Rate the book: 7.8

Sparrow just wants to be a normal 15 year old. But its hard to be normal when you are the youngest of seven sisters all named after birds, your grandmother practices Karate on you, there are baboon skulls decorating your front porch, and four of granny's husbands buried in the backyard. And you can see and talk to ghosts. Unfortunately for Sparrow, she is an amazing medium, and every ghost in the world knows it; although she does her best to ignore their constant requests for help. However when she starts at her new high school she meets two very nice boys; one's alive, but the other is dead, and Sparrow is the only person who can help them both.

This was a great story, and I'd recommend it to 12+ readers. The supernatural theme is really nicely handled, and it's definitely worth a read.

----reviewed by kate

Books - To Dance: a Ballerina’s graphic novel by Siena Cherson Siegel with artwork by Mark Siegel

This is the story of Siena as she realises her childhood dream of becoming a ballerina. The story starts off in Puerto Rico with Siena as a 6 year old discovering about the world of dancing and then following Siena’s life as she decides that she wants to be a ballerina. The story then follows Siena as she pursues this dream to New York and onto the stage. The story also follows what is happening in Siena’s family life and how this affects her by spending more time working on her dancing.

The illustrations in the story draw the reader into Siena’s world. Through the graphic illustrations the story starts on the end pages of the book at both the beginning and the end. The words and the graphics work very well together and the story in an interesting insight into why people dedicate themselves to the world of dance. I found this story to be a great and enjoyable read but also one that makes the reader aware of what drives people to dedicate themselves to something like dance.

----reviewed by sarah

Books - Broken glass by Sally Grindley

Our lives are fragile- one minute we are up the next down in the gutter. This is just the case for two the brothers in the novel, Broken glass by Sally Grindley. Suresh and Sandeep leave after their father loses his beloved mother and his job and becomes abusive, towards their mother and them. Sadly, the boys believe that things will improve for their mother if they are no longer around.

This is a powerful story of the hardships encountered by the boys in a large city in India. The only way they find of making, what turns out to be a pittance, to exist on, is to pick their way through mountains of rubbish in search of broken glass. However, amongst the seeming hopelessness of their lives, the boys find time to enjoy the pleasures of companionship with other street kids, through a simple game of cricket. A masterful novel, that allows the reader to imagine themselves running through the streets of India along with the other unfortunates.

----reviewed by pia

Books - Birth Of A Warrior by Michael Ford

Birth of a warrior by Michael Ford is a fast paced adventure story. The second in the series entitled Spartan Warrior, it is not necessary to have read the first, The Fire of Ares, to have a full understanding of the story as Ford artfully intersperses relevant details throughout. However the reader will want to devour the earlier title as well.

Lysander is a half breed, the son of a Spartan Warrior and a Helot slave, and is continually having to prove himself even to the extent of being forced to whip his old Helot friend, Timeon. Training to become a Spartan warrior is difficult and full of dangers. As part of this training, Lysander is sent into the mountains with only a small amount of water and bread, to face the Ordeal, a five day test with his old enemy Demaratos as a companion and another boy, Agesilaus as their guide. Each must use their wits, strength and sheer will to survive. Lysander soon discovers that Agesilaus means to sabotage his every move.

Boys will love this book. It has all of the ingredients to captivate them. Filled with fascinating historical detail, Birth of a Warrior is energetic and gritty. It is both enjoyable and entertaining whilst 'teaching' the reader about life and friendship.

----reviewed by pia

Books - Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan

Shaun Tan's latest offering, Tales from Outer Suburbia, is a whole package that is to be poured over countless times. From the intriguing front cover, of a dog sitting on a television set, that pulls the reader, most insistently, into the book, to the back cover. The 15 stories contained within are thought provoking, they cling to the reader, like survivors of a shipwreck holding on to the remains of the ship, even though the book has been closed. Initially, with casual reading. the stories appear fantastical and even, a little weird - surely a water buffalo could not exist in a suburban landscape, and certainly would not be directing the inhabitants. Delving deeper into each story, though, the reader finds meaning in the stories, even words of wisdom. The illustrations, whose media vary from crayon, pencil, paint and collage, add further meaning and delight to a reading of the tales.

To select favourites from the 15 wonderful stories (fables), is no easy task, However the tale of Eric the foreign exchange student is a special delight amongst many. It is easy to imagine a classroom teacher reading this without the illustrations and asking the students to picture Eric. How amazed they would be to view Tan's Eric? Or what about Grandpa's Story? Or distant rain? It leaves only one thing more for this reader to say, GO, GO quickly, grab a copy of Tales from Outer Suburbia, find a quiet place to sit, then don't move till you have read every word and examined every illustration, over and over again. It will thrill and delight you!

----reviewed by pia

Books - Rhyming Boy by Steven Herrick

Rhyming Boy is award winning author Steven Herrick's first foray into prose novels. It is about one young boy's search for identity. Obsessed with words, dictionaries and the Guinness Book of Records, Jayden Hayden (hence the nickname “rhyming boy”) lives with his single Mum, who is equally obsessive, but in her case with football and football players. One player in particular, Jayden Finch, to such an extent that she named her only child after him!

Life is fine, until the day the School Principal announces a program called Boys and Books and Breakfast. The Upper Primary male students are invited to bring along their favourite books and their Dad. With the help of new girl, Saskia, Jayden finds, not only his father, but also himself.

Rhyming Boy is a novel that touches Jayden's life sensitively. Herrick, as always, uses humour to great effect throughout the tale. Herrick's latest does not have the depth of his verse novels but, nevertheless, teenagers will see their own lives reflected in its pages.

----reviewed by Pia