This is an interesting mystery with a twist. AJ is finding life hard, he has not done well at school and his mother somehow manages to get him an interview at a law firm. His friends are in big trouble with some very unfriendly characters and life is becoming very difficult. At work he finds… Continue reading The Door that Led to Where by Sally Gardner
Patrick Ness has a special knack for writing about the extraordinary in an ordinary way, while at the same time extraordinarily portraying the ordinary. His latest novel, The Rest of Us Just Live Here is the story of a boy named Mikey and his group of friends. They lead what appear to be ordinary lives,… Continue reading The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness
This is a delightfully illustrated book. The main character, Oliver is a lonely little boy who has just moved house to a city from the countryside. This book highlights some of the issues living in a city showing that many people do not have time for each other as they are too busy with their… Continue reading Oliver and Patch by Claire Freedman and Kate Hindley
This is a beautifully reinvented fairy tale with Snow White and Sleeping Beauty being weaved together and altered to create a story of dark magic, adventure and female heroism. This book is not only fantastically enjoyable to read but also visually stunning, but this is no surprise as it comes from the joint efforts of… Continue reading The Sleeper and the Spindle – Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell
This story focuses on Cara, a 17 year old girl who’s family has been inflicted by the accident season for one month every October for as long as she can remember. During this month all the members of her family suffer accidents which lead to minor bruises, broken bones and in some cases can be fatal.… Continue reading The Accident Season by Moira Fowley-Doyle
Inspired by the ever popular ‘Where’s Wally’, this innovative picture book gets the youngest readers thinking about a big issue: deforestation. There are hardly any words: you just have to find the elephant, the snake and the parrot in the beautiful brightly coloured illustrations of the jungle. This starts off being quite tricky, as they… Continue reading Where’s the Elephant? By Barroux
This is one of the best teenage books I have read recently. A historical novel that really helps you understand the problems of integration during the battle for civil rights in America. This book not only gives you an insight into how the battles were won in the courts but it really opened my eyes to… Continue reading Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley
What is information literacy? Knowing how to find, evaluate, select and use good quality information. Schools’ Library Service (SLS) Librarians work throughout the Bailiwick schools, alongside teachers, to support independent learning through information literacy. During last term SLS librarians ran workshops after school at our public library to support children with research homework. These were… Continue reading 4 reasons information literacy is essential for improving your child’s academic attainment
An intriguing story about a young boy called Mark who has cancer. I was not sure how I felt about this book as I read it, I generally steer clear of books about cancer as it is a tough subject and the beginning of the book took us in the direction that you would… Continue reading The Honest Truth by Dan Gemeinhart
Winner of the Irish Children’s Book of the Year, TiN by Chris Judge is a charming and innovative story of a young robot and his little sister. With their clever names and bold colours, this metallic robot family are bursting with character right from the offset. Solely through the use of two small circles and… Continue reading TiN by Chris Judge
