Tales of the Popes and Jesus, a Short Life

My holiday reading of two new library books was stimulating and complementary. “Tales of the Popes” up til 1600 lived up to its subtitle of ‘an infamous history’; the politicising and corruption of many is part of our Churches sinful history.
Larry Buttrose looks at the Papacy as a human institution with all the flaws, failings, intelligence and resourcefulness of mankind. An engrossing read.

John Dickens “Jesus, A Short Life” looks at Jesus through the eyes of an historian and I was left with a faith and understanding somewhat repaired. Jesus’ life, teachings, supporters, controversy, death and resurrection are all examined through an historian’s eye. Of particular interest was his treatment of miracles and the Resurrection. The magnificent at works selected to illustrate key events in Jesus life add to the readability and stimulation of this book –refreshing and provocative.
reviewed by Mr Kim C.

Tales of the Popes

My holiday reading of two new library books was stimulating and complementary. “Tales of the Popes” up til 1600 lived up to its subtitle of ‘an infamous history’; the politicising and corruption of many is part of our Churches sinful history.
Larry Buttrose looks at the Papacy as a human institution with all the flaws, failings, intelligence and resourcefulness of mankind. An engrossing read.

John Dickens “Jesus, A Short Life” looks at Jesus through the eyes of an historian and I was left with a faith and understanding somewhat repaired. Jesus’ life, teachings, supporters, controversy, death and resurrection are all examined through an historian’s eye. Of particular interest was his treatment of miracles and the Resurrection. The magnificent at works selected to illustrate key events in Jesus life add to the readability and stimulation of this book –refreshing and provocative.
Mr Kim C.

Witches abroad

By Terry Pratchett

Witches abroad is about a girl who’s a servant and she can’t marry a prince. There are three witches, Nanny Ogg, Granny Weatherwax and Margrat Garrlick. The servant girl needs to find a man to share her life with but she can’t marry a prince which makes life difficult for her. This is just a small part of the story.

I highly recommend this book for children from the age of 12 to 15. Its filled with love and adventure.

Alexander D. of Year 9.

Class A

by Robert Muchamore

Class A is the second book in the CHERUB series. The book is about the a bunch of kids aged 11 to 17 who work with the British intelligence, under cover to catch criminals. James Adams, the main character goes undercover selling drugs to others. Keith Moore is suspected for selling cocaine. The police have been trying to catch him more than twenty years. James’ mission is to befriend Keith’s son but the mission nearly kills one of the CHERUB agents. Will James survive and prevail over Keith or will Keith prevail over James? Read class A and find out.
I give this book 8 out of 10
Dominic C. of Year 8.

I HAD SEEN CASTLES

By Cynthia Rylant

This story is about a man named Tony who is growing up in Pittsburgh. He is living in parent’s house. His dad is a war hero and his mum doesn’t work. He is fascinated about war because his dad went to war; so he loves it.

When Tony finds out that his best mate John is applying for the army he is keen too. they start training but just days before they go to war Tony falls out of a bus and hurts his spine. Because of the injury that resulted he was unable to go off to war.

When he is in the medical hut he meets a girl named Ginnie and they start going on dates until Tony finds out that his best mate John has died during war. Tony becomes very sad and he has to tell John’s parents. They were very upset and depressed.

Tony and Ginnie keep on going out on dates for a couple of months eventually getting married and living happily ever after.

Reviewed By Nathan S. of Year 9

Angels and Demons

by Dan Brown.
Angels and Demons revolves around a massive Research Lab called CERN in Geneva.
The trouble starts when they are developing an opposite of matter, which is Antimatter and it gets stolen. The Swiss Guard discover that their wireless camera number 86 has been stolen. It still projects an image that shows a droplet of antimatter. Then they call a Harvard professor named Robert Langdon and a CERN Scientist called Vittoria Vetra.The story takes Vittoria and Robert on a Rollercoaster Ride through Rome in the search of the Antimatter.

Reviewed By Dhrupad P. of year 7.

TETRARCH

Written by Ian Irvine

Tetrarch is the second in a four book series known as “The well of echoes” created by famous author Ian Irvine. It is the story of Xervish Flydd; a disgraced Scrutator, Tiaan; A wrongly accused artisan formerly owned by her indenture to a war machine factory. Also a protagonist in this story is Cryll-Nish Hlar and Irisis Sturm, who also worked in the factory and are now on the run from the law.
The story follows these separate people’s story as they live out their life trying to defeat the war against an invading race known as the Lyrinx; huge humanoid creatures with bird-like features. The war has been going on for over two hundred years and the story follows the footsteps of these people in their bid to defeat the invading aliens.
Tiaan is an artisan working off her indenture to get back her freedom. She was born in a breeding factory and longs to find out her true identity. She is wrongly accused of insanity after being tricked into drinking poison and is now on the run from the law. Xervish Flydd is a disgraced scrutator who is trying to recover his honour. He is something along the lines of a war minister and currently, was he not disgraced, carries the second highest rank that is available in this time. He, as well as Tiaan and Irisis hold a trace of the art, a magical force that is manipulated from the forces of nature.
Irisis Sturm like Tiaan is an artisan working off her indenture, although slightly Tiaan’s junior she believes she will rise above Tiaan’s rank as master artisan and become “Crafter”. She holds little of the art and is now worried if she has completely lost her ability to control crystals and bend them to her will. Her partner in crime is the son of a man who holds the most powerful position in the time. Nish as he is more commonly known as is a very low rank in the chain belonging to the Artificer branch. He is also an undercover spy more commonly known as a “Prober” along with another man that flies under everyone’s radar including Nish’s and even the Overseer himself.
This book is the second in a line of books called “The well of echoes’. It is followed by “Scrutator” which will follow into more detail of the former scrutators life and “Chimera” which ends the series and brings forth another horror that has been directed created from the destruction of the secret art. This series is also followed by another series known as “The song of the tears’ which will follow entirely Nish’s life as he struggles to fight the world.
Reviewed By Cain D. of Year 9.

Kingdom hearts

by Shiro Amano


Kingdom hearts is a manga style book. It is about a 3 children (Sora, Riku, Kairi) living on an island who want to build a raft to go to other countries (or worlds as they call it). They got the idea from the time the third child (Kairi) got washed up ashore after the raft was destroyed. One of the boys disappeared and gave in to the dark side of his heart and the girl went inside kingdom hearts.
The boy (Sora) finds himself on a part of his island with a giant heartless and a key, known as the key blade. After it is defeated he finds himself in a town called Traverse – a town for those whose world has been devoured by darkness. There he meets Cid, Leon, Yuffie, Aerith and his team mates Donald and Goofy who were found during a battle with the heartless. They say they were searching for their king and will help him find his 2 friends Riku and Kairi. They set off for a new world called Wonderland where they find evidence to prove that the heartless want the Queen of heart’s heart.

After a fight with cards Alice goes missing and Sora, Donald and Goofy leave to go back to Traverse and be taught about the keyhole that was sealed in Wonderland. Leon finds Riku, who turns out to secretly be working for the creator of the heartless. Sora gets a secret block installed on his ship. What world will Sora travel to next? This was a magnificent manga filled with final fantasy and Disney characters and I give it a 10/10

reviewed by Aaron S. of year 7

Naruto

By Masashi Kishimoto

Naruto and his friends battle other people in a tournament with crazy names that I can’t pronounce. Really Naruto is training to become the fourth Hokage so he can be remembered on the massive rock. In the first, second and third books he wants to be the fourth one the massive rock.

The strange thing is that they can run really fast, getting anywhere in seconds.

reviewed by Nicholas C. of Year 7.

The Detachable boy

by Scot Gardner

This book is about a young boy named John Johnson. He is a boy who can literally detach all of his limbs apart from head to toes. He is a unique boy who can do anything with his body and a very interesting pal to his two friends.

Ravi is one of John’s friends. Ravi is really smart and can solve many difficult problems that John is going to face. John’s other friend is Crystal. She is a slim, tall, beautiful young girl who is a special friend to John and loves to eat. Crystal happened to be kidnapped by a really unusual stranger, who has more limbs on his body than anyone could imagine. John and Ravi do their best to find a way to sneak away from home and save Crystal from the kidnapper’s clutches.

I really enjoyed this novel, because the story is very adventurous and full of hidden mysteries that are funny and really interesting to read about.

reviewed by Joseph C. of Year 10.

The last explorer

by Simon Nasht

Hubert Wilkins (1888-1958) comes across as a composite of Biggles, James Bond and Indianna Jones and why so few Australians know of him amazes me. Nasht's research enables an engrossing description of Wilkin's life as a photographer in WWI (twice decorated for bravery), pioneer aviator and survivor of three plane crashes, 33 expeditions in polar regions, original submarines seeking the North Pole, knighted by the Kings of England and Italy ... What drove this man is still relevant today as he sought to understand and forecast weather patterns which he belieived originated in the polar regions.

Very highly recommended and very readable.

10/10

reviewed by Mr Kim C.

Soldier Boy

by Anthony Hill

This is a story about one of Australia’s youngest soldiers, Jim Martin. Jim was 14 years of age but on his army registration papers he put down that he was 18. His parents tried to stop him but he threatened to move out and register under another name if they did not sign the papers.
If you want to find out the rest of the book, then you’re going to have to read it and find out for yourself.
This is a great story that I would recommend for people aged 13 and above. It is a book about an amazingly brave young soldier who risks his own life to fight for this great land that he loved, Australia.

reviewed by Cain M. of Year 8

Twilight

Twilight is a great intense cliff-hanging novel which takes the character known as “Bella” in a journey of fear and lust. She is bound to a student at Forks High named Edward Cullen. She couldn’t wish for anything more. Until she finds out what she is.

reviewed By Jacob T. of Year 8

Making it real

by David Beckham

Have you ever dreamed about scoring from the halfway line, bending a free kick past a wall of defenders, assisting in the perfect goal or leading your team to one of the biggest soccer tournament in the world?
David Beckham has fulfilled his ambition to give something back to the soccer world and to all his fans across the world. to The David Beckham Academy inspiring young and old soccer players now have the opportunity to see their dreams and ambitions.
This incredible book features David Beckham teaching his knowledge of the game and his skills developed from playing for the best clubs in the world such as the England captain, and his life in Madrid all captured as never before seen.
Rating: 9.5/10Reviewed by: Brendon S of year 9

The Haunted Cave

by Christopher Pike

Christopher Pike’s hit series ‘Spooksville’ started in 1995. All together Pike has written 24 books for the series. The Haunted Cave is about when the new kid Adam comes along and has no idea of what trouble he’s about to get himself into.

Springville is a name only used by the parents of all the children. The children adopted the name ‘Spooksville’ as they have all been face to face with evil itself. This adventure is when Adam, Cindy and a few others of the crew wander into a cave. As they soon discover that there’s evil inside and they name it ‘The Haunted Cave.’ Bats, trolls and witches may sound fun…But they’re not, especially in this story.

I first read this series in 2005, which soon became my favourite book series. Christopher Pike also quickly became my favourite author, and he still is to this day. I think that this book and this series could quickly become anyone’s favourite. Christopher has written books for all ages.

Rating :
10/10

8E9 by John W.

Teen Power Inc - Bad Apples

by Emily Rodda.
Teen Power Inc., now known as The Raven Hill Mysteries.
together with Tom, Liz, Richelle, Nick, Elmo and Sunny Teen Power Inc has to save the world from a bad apple that tries to become the super villain of a small little town. This book will keep you in suspense for many hours; it is great for people between the ages of 9 to 16.

A great story I rate this story 10/10

By Alexander D. of Year 8

Boy Overboard

by Morris Gleitzman

Boy Overboard is about a boy and his sisters, Jamal and Bibi who come from the war torn country of Afghanistan. His mother runs an illegal secret school for children and his father drives a taxi and sells baked bread in the back of his car. Bibi is a confident 8 year old who doesn’t care about anything but she loves soccer. Jamal is a soccer addict who wishes he can play for the Afghanistan National Team one day. He has a friend Yusuf who has one leg but can still play soccer.

The story starts off with the government finding out about the mother’s secret school and ends up blowing up the house. So Jamal’s parents leave but their mother is caught and taken to be tortured.Their father goes to rescue her in the city. He goes through the soccer stadium and gets her. They end up going to a refugee camp and catching a boat to Australia. In the process the parents and the children are split and go on separate boats. On the way to Australia Jamal and Bibi meet some new friends. After a few days on the boat it is abandoned and high jacked by pirates. The Australian navy saves Jamal and Bibi and takes them to an island off the coast of Australia. They wonder if their parents are all right since the navy told them no one made it on that boat, but they were wrong. They were re-united on the island waiting to enter Australia. They were so happy that they had freedom to do anything now, even girls can go outside to play soccer.

It’s a wonderful book I rate it 10/10. Read It!!!

By Mark C. of Year 8.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Author : JKRowling

This book is the final instalment of the Harry Potter series. It is awesome to read, and if you are a Harry Potter fan, this book will be hard to put down. I also enjoy the style J.K.Rowling writes the Harry Potter series. This book is full of adventures and mini-tasks that Harry, Ron and Hermione go through. The fun part in reading is, that the novel is so gripping, that every chapter reveals a new secret. I personally would rate it 10 out of 10. This novel contains 36 action filled chapters with a nail biting finish. Every safe corner you think you turn, dangers always lurk within. The criminal mastermind behind it all, (voldemort) is more evil than ever , gathering more and more followers. This novel’s journey has many up’s and down’s for Harry. This book is a must for anyone who likes adventure.

By: Sean P. of Year 7.

Gunna Burn

By Wendy Jenkins

Gunna Burn is the latest edition to Wendy’s Aussie Rules series. Greg Lukin the main character is a young teenager with hopes and dreams of making the AFL one day. In the off-season he trains recklessly thinking weights will get him his dream. Every week that goes by he is getting bigger and fitter.

Just before the season starts he has a season threatening injury. But he toughs through it and his motto is no pain means no gain. He hides his injury from everyone but his girlfriend. She is moving states so they have to break up and this effects Greg immensely.

In the week before the grand final he is involved in a massive brawl and is lucky not to be in hospital. In the final he cannot play with a clear mind because he is constantly thinking about his ex girlfriend. He nearly costs his team the game but comes home hard in the final stages of the match and wins the game. In four years’ time he has matured into a young adult. Does he make the AFL draft? You will have to read this thrilling book to find out. I rate this book an 8 out of 10 and if you don’t like reading much because you think books are boring I highly recommend you read this because it is a simple book with hopes and dreams that come true.
Reviewed by George K. of Year 9.

Sadako & the Thousand Paper Cranes

by Eleanor Coerr

This story is about a young Chinese girl named Sadako. She was a very athletic person and wanted to become a running star but she soon became ill with dizzy spells and then fainted. She was taken to hospital and found to have Leukaemia. She was told by her best friend that if you fold 1000 paper cranes you would be allowed to gain one wish or so she thought….

David P. of Year 7.