The Book of Firsts by Ian Harrison

We know the popularity of the Guiness Book of Records so this addition will be much sought after. I grabbed it as a resource for a recent staff Trivia Night and have found it an amazing collection of history, facts and trivia. The book is really reader-friendly with lots of illustrations, time-lines and brief descriptions covering chapters as diverse as food, transport, law and order, sport and technology.
Very highly recommended for history or trivia buffs.
Mr Kim C.

Point Blanc THE GRAPHIC NOVEL by Anthony Horowitz

An ACTION PACKED novel that you’ll never forget, a novel leading into a different path, Point Blanc THE GRAPHIC NOVEL by Anthony Horowitz . This time the 14 year old teenage superspy is in bigger trouble, but the M16 have better plans for the brave, talented and most daring Alex Rider. As you have noticed the many places that the young teenager has visited. Well in this novel, (more like a comic really) the M16 have prepared Alex a trip to the Alps. While armed with only a false ID and a set of disguised gadgets installed for him, he takes a ride of his life as a mission to infiltrate the Point Blanc academy. But how can he accomplish his task when the enemy is undertaking him? Can he be clever enough to escape or will he get swamped by the enemy. It all leads up to one thing CAN HE DO IT BEFORE ITS TOOO LATE ?.
By Chethan P

Lord of the Rings : Two Towers

by J.R.R. Tolkein

Reviewed by Chethan P. of Year 9

This novel is a continuation of Part 1 of the novel Lord of the Rings : the Fellowship of the Ring where it tells a recap of what has happened so far. Frodo receives a ring from Gandalf and says that is his responsibility to keep the ring. Frodo later on accepts his challenge to embark on a journey and destroy the demise of the ring in the great fires of Mordor.

The three companions – Legolas with his bow and arrow, Aragorn (Strider) with the help of his sword, Gimli with the help of his axe, Gandalf, Boromir and many others embark to protect the younger ones.

As they start their journey things start to get a little out of shape as Gandalf goes down and the fall of Boromir occurs when the main leaders of the orcs shoots him with his bow and arrow.

Part II of the novel commences as Frodo and Sam get stranded by ors in another place, all looking so cautious at the hobbits. When the orcs leave the two hobbits make a dramatic escape. The hobbits continue running as they arrive place filled with trees and rest awhile. They meet new friends, called Treebeard with all his ents (trees). Then Treebeard joints with the hobbits for the great battle of Middle Earth.

Meanwhile the three companions also meet their new friends “The Riders of Rohan” and together they travel. Later on Legolas and Aragon spot something very surprising “GANDALF”. From here on while the three companions walk, Gandalf tells his amazing story of how he escaped.

The next day, Legolas hears that the orcs are marching. So Gandalf and with his three companions build their army and have the battle of Middle Earth.

I give this book 4 ½ out of 5.

Onion Tears

By Diana Kidd

Reviewed by Nicholas S.

Year 8

Onion Tears is about a young girl named Nam Huong,
She is on a quest to find her parents and the rest of her family. Nam Huong lives with her Aunty and works in a restaurant with Mr & Mrs Noc.

This is a multi-cultural book

I rate this book as a 7/10

Boy Overboard

by Morris Gleitzman

Reviewed by Grant J. of Year 8

Boy Overboard is about a boy called Jamal and his sister Bibi and their quest to get to their dream home, Australia. They have to go on an epic journey to get to Australia and some of the time they just lose all hope of one day becoming soccer stars for their country. But do they get to Australia safely? Or do pirates stop them from reaching their dream? There is only one way to find out. Read Boy Overboard and step into the shoes of Jamal or Bibi.

I give this book a rating of 9/10 for its humility and real life situations.

Top Stories Book 1 and 2

by various authors

Reviewed by Brendon D. of Year 9

I walked into the library one day, hoping to find an interesting ‘new’ book. I passed the shelves that are crammed full of ‘quick-reads’ and one caught my eye, Top Stories.

If you’re the kind of reader who doesn’t want to spend hours of your day huddled in the corner with a bulky novel, or you don’t have enough time to read, then this is the perfect collection of stories for you.

Top Stories is a collection of short stories with various genres and themes. The stories are written by one of Australia’s best and well-known authors such as Andy Griffiths, Garth Nix, Libby Gleeson, Sophie Masson and many more, in the hope of showcasing the art of the short story.

My score for this is five out of five because I thoroughly enjoyed this ‘novel’ because it didn’t need to be read in a particular order, and the writers made each story “imaginative, stylish, moving, funny, thoughtful and innovative” etc, etc.

Tongue-Tied!

by Paul Jennings

Reviewed by Ryan A. of Year 8

This is all about a boy that loves a girl from his school. He has done a paper run now for many years with a rusty bike. He finally has saved up enough money to buy a new bike. But it is the girl's birthday so instead of buying a new bike he buys her a present.

Read the book to see what happens between them.

Tomorrow When the War Began

by John Marsden

Reviewed by Brendan C. of Year 10

This book is about the story of a small rural town in Australia, focusing on a group of friends who live there. During the summer holidays the group plan to go camping for the summer in the bush, to a secret place they found called “Hell”.

The group spend two weeks out in the bush while the rest of the town gets ready for the yearly show. The group pack up and return to the town, which seems to be a completely different world as it is abandoned and invaded by outsiders.

From this event begins the Tomorrow Series, beginning with this book, and tells of the adventures of this group struggling to survive in their town taken over by others.

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

By Douglas Adams
Reviewed by Joshua M of yr.8

For those of you who have seen the movie I can guarantee that you will enjoy the book a lot more. It is packed with deliciously witty humour that all relates to the ultimate question of Life, the Universe and Everything. Some parts of the storyline can become muddled and difficult to grasp if you don’t remember the smallest of details but that is part of what makes it such a great story. To list all the characters we meet throughout the book would take an age and a half but our brave, valiant and very muddled heroes of the universe are Arthur Dent, Ford Prefect, Trillian, Zaphod Beeblebrox and Marvin the Paranoid Android.

As the author puts it, “to truly understand this novel you should have a basic understanding of everything in the universe.” But please, regardless of whether you do or don’t dive in to discover what a big, startling and frighteningly large universe we live in.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

By J.K. Rowling

Review by Marlo BYear 7

Well let me just start off with, what a great and magical journey Harry Potter has been for me, and probably you. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is the final instalment in the Harry Potter series, and it ends it stunningly.This book continues several weeks after the sixth book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, obviously. After Dumbledore’s sad departure, he left Harry an overwhelming task to undertake and complete. Harry must find and destroy Voldemort’s remaining Horcruxes.Horcruxes is a totally different level of dark magic. It splits the soul in half, but leaving the body severely weakened. In the sixth book, we learn that Voldemort split his soul into seven and put portions of his soul into legendary items which once belonged to great wizards.Harry, Ron and Hermoine, the only three people that Dumbledore entrusted this perilous journey to, venture forth. Many sad, revealing deaths and injuries occur, leaving families torn apart from grief.
My personal opinion of the book is it’s a great and thrilling end to the series, although the very ending could have been done a bit better. I’m sad that the series over, but glad I had the chance to read this. I recommend this to anyone who loves magic, fantasy and of course, the Harry Potter series!And so, the concluding final battle to end the series takes place. “One cannot live while the other survives.” Who will win? Will Harry, Ron and Hermoine succeed? Will the Dark Lord rise to power? All the answers will be told, in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.READ IT!Rating: 9.4/10

Tetrarch : Well of Chaos

by Ian Irvine

Reviewed by Cain D. of year 7

Tetrarch is the second of a 4 series book called The Well of Echoes. The book follows the book Geomancer and is followed by the books Scrutator and Chimera.

It is a about a war between the Lyrinx (large humanoid bird-like creatures) who are trying to take over the human world (Santhenar). The humans known as the old-humans by their superior human race (Aachim) who have fled their world (Aachan) due a massive volcanic eruption, use a 20 year old girl known as Tiaan to build a gate so that the Aachim could travel over to Santhenar.

The Aachim who tricked Tiaan into making the gate have now attempted to take control of Santhenar by becoming neutral in the human-Lyrinx war, waiting until both forces are weakened then bringing their entire force of constructs (machines that hover off the ground and can fire powerful javelards) to destroy the survivors. Cryl Nish Hlaar, commonly known as Nish is trying to find Tiaan to bring her back to the factory which makes weapons for the war. Tiaan has already fixed several important issues that were killing the human army. She ran away because she was falsely accused of having crystal fever (hallucinations induced by crystals usually known as hedrons). Irisis Stirm is Nish’s companion in finding Tiaan. Scrutator Xervish Flydd (scrutator: second in command in controlling the worlds army) has been helping Irisis and Nish in their mission. Xervish Flydd who is also Irisis’ lover is on another mission to destroy the Lyrinx Torgnadyr which absorbs the nodes energy which helps control clankers (monstrous machines of war) to move and fire their javelards and catapults.

The Torgnadyr is in the Lyrinx stronghold which is where the humans are going to attack next with the help of the Aachim who the humans managed to persuade to help them because of their distant relation. Unfortunately when Xervish Flydd placed upon the Torgnadyr which was supposed to destroy the Torgnadyr instead destroyed the entire node and the clankers and constructs are now helpless and must use all their strength to haul the clankers and constructs away from the attacking Lyrinx.

Deltora Quest, The lake of tears

By Emily Rodda
Reviewed by Mandeep S of Year 8

This is the second book of the deltora quest series. After beating the guardian of the forest of silence with the help of Barda and Jasmine, Lief got the first gem, the Topaz which clears the mind. Barda was an old beggar and Jasmine is a girl who grew up in the dangerous forest of silence and can also talk with some animals and trees like her bird Kree and her unusual creature Filli. The guardian they battled with at the forest was strong, skilled and had guarded its treasure for hundreds of years. The treasure it guards is a powerful flower with nectar that can heal any wound.

Their next goal is the lake of tears where they will find the next gem and the next dangerous guardian. On the way to the lake they run into about 20 grey guards taking a little ralad man as hostage. Just to inform you grey guards work for the shadow lord and have poisonous ammo to throw at you. They save the man and end up to be cooked alive by 2 monsters who are 2 of the 13 children of Theagan. They escape to battle with a monster called Soldeen and Theagan. Do they survive the battle?

I rate this book 9/10

Falcon's Malteser

by Anthony Horowitz

Reviewed by Brendon D. of Year 9

In an ordinary house in Fulham England lives Tim Diamond, the world’s worst private detective.

One day little Johnny Naples (thinking it will be well protected) entrusts Tim with a small box of Malteser’s. Little does he know that he is making the biggest mistake of his life. Later that day, Johnny is assassinated, Tim is blamed for the death and every criminal in their town is on the lookout for the ‘package’ that Tim’s wisecracking younger brother, Nick, now has.

But what is so special about this small ordinary box of Maltesers?

Anthony Horrowitz has written another suspenseful and gripping tale in The Falcon’s Malteser, a ‘spy-based’ book. There are many twists and turns ahead for the Diamond brothers as they try to solve the mystery of the Maltesers. This is the perfect story for anyone with a quick sense of humour (it contains many ‘funny’ jokes).

This book receives a 9/10 from me as it was extremely chaotic and it was hilarious to read about the Diamond Brothers and the sticky situations that they got into.

Deep Waters - Zac Power

by H. I. Larry

Reviewed by James M.

This book is about a boy who’s name is Zac Power. He is a spy and a student at the same time . He goes to the sea aquarium with his school on an excursion. Zac thinks is was boring so his spy role kicks in and he jumps in the aquarium and a shark bites him. Everybody is panicking.

He masters piloting an anphibious submersible. He is on a mission to stop a marine tech evil group from designing a techno. On his mission he saves a woman and a man. He suffers an injury soon after and gets caught by marine tech, but escapes and completes his mission and gets a new ipod.

I like this because it was great and very exciting.

At the Beach

By Roland Harvey

Reviewed by Matthew G. of Yr 7

At the beach is about a family who is
going to Crabby Split. The characters are
Mum, Dad, Henry, Frankie, and Rajah. The main
character is Penny. Penny is constantly writing
letters to her grandma, pa and family members.

I give this book 7 out of 10

The Shining

By Steven King

Reviewed by Brendan C. of Year 10

This book is about the story of a boy named “Danny Torrance” and his family who overtake the role of looking after an eerie hotel in the mountains during winter.

With the harsh weather resulting in them being locked in for the winter, the hotel’s presence seem to come alive, and the strange powers of the boy described as “the shining” lead to an exciting conclusion that will draw the reader in.

I rate this book 8 and a half out of 10.

The Singer of all Songs

By Kate Constable

Reviewed by Sahil S. of Year 7

A young girl called Calwyn who is only a chanting beekeeper in the city of Antaris, lives a peaceful life with the other sisters, but when she meets an injured man called Darrow who is hunted by an another chanter by the name of Samis, he seeks to help Darrow then overnight her life is thrust into a fierce journey to find Samis.

The Singer of all Songs is a book that enthrals you from the beginning to the end.

Red Dragon

Written by Thomas Harris.
Reviewed by Hayden C.
Red dragon is the first book on Hannibal Lecter. It is a gruesome tale of a psychotic doctor named Hannibal Lecter. It is an exciting crime story that has a great story line. Throughout the book it has some gruesome paragraphs that if you close your eyes you can picture everything in the murder. It is a very gory book. The story isn’t just about the murders it’s also the mystery in the first few chapters of the book on working out who did what.
There are other books in the series that are very, very, very good to read. They are: Silence Of The Lambs
Hannibal
Hannibal The Rising
Every one of the books are movies you should read the books before you watch the movies.

Cry of the Icemark

By Stuart Hill

Reviewed by James B. of year 8

The Cry of the Icemark is a really good book for people who like fantasy books and thrillers. This book is about a lot of things like how a teenage girl finds allies to help her defend her country of Icemark using vampires, werewolves and giant snow leopards.

This is a wonderful book and is very adventurous and is good reading for everyone who likes to let their imagination run free. Read this book and you will know what I mean.

I would give this book an 8 out of 10 rating.

SELBY SCRAMBLED

by Duncan Ball

Reviewed by Siddharth B. of Year 7

Selby, the only talking dog in Australia, and perhaps the world, is back. Selby Scrambled is the 12th book of the Selby series and one of the best. In this exciting book Selby is in on the action again as he scales the glass walls of the world’s tallest skyscraper, saves a shipload of passengers from certain death, defeats an Evil Genius who is out to tell Selby’s secret, becomes a star radio shock jock, and takes on the world’s top soccer star at his own game? And just when Selby thinks he is free, along comes the greatest challenge- Frank, the robot monster.

How does Selby cope with all these obstacles? To find out you must read the book.

I rate this book 8.5/10.