I have read 'Before I Die' and I enjoyed it but I don't know about whether it is the sort of book to put on the open shelves. In a school this size there are bound to be pupils with direct or indirect experience of terminal illness and I do not want to have a book that might be upsetting rather than comforting to a teenager who is in a similar situation or imagines that they are.

Margaret

I'm adding this here because I am not yet sure whether everyone or only Di can read my reply to her request for new senior titles so it may be a repeat !

I read lots this summer and amongst the best was "the Road home" by Rose Tremain. It is a heart rending story of an immigrant man who comes to Britain from an impoverished East European country . His wife has died but he is desperate to improve the lives of his mother and daughter back home. The book charts his physical and emotional struggle as an immigrant, trying to adjust to his loneliness and a very different culture. His journey 'home' is harrowing but beautifully told. I think it would work well for a special study (but with a fair smattering of sexual encounters it would need to be for someone with a bit of maturity)

13 November 2008 15:57

Dear Anne,
I love you but you need to get out more! Before I die is a fabulous, ground-breaking work that is long overdue. If I were to die, I would want to live my final hours at the rate of knots and Yes, Johnny Depp and I WOULD get together! If you're talking about bad books on death then Life, Interrupted by Damian Kelleher IS badly written and derivative. I read Before I die and immediately lent it to my 14 year old who loved it too.
Anyone else feel strongly about this book?
Plus, we must all read every book by Jaclyn Moriarty....now they really are well written!

Love ya!

Rachel

PS Coral has taught me how to blog and is now worried about what she has released onto the WEB!

next senior reading group meeting

Our next meeting is on the 5th December, so if you have read any good books that you would like to see on the next list, please add your blog to the site, and we will take the ideas forward.

Di

Before I die

OK here goes trying to stir up a bit of a debate about a book I recently read.
It is "Before I die" by Jenny Downham. I can hardly say I enjoyed this book because the subject matter was quite depressing. What can you say about a terminally ill teenager who is working her way through a list of excesses before she dies ?
I thought it was not very well written anyway, but my main problem was the morality of the main character: sex, drugs, petty crime are high on her list of things to achieve before she dies.Her friends, the boys in her life do her no favours until she meets Adam, the 'boy next door'. I do not know if this is the way a terminally ill teenager would think or behave, but I do think that this was not sensitively handled and in parts was quite gratuitous.
I would struggle to recommend this to pupils not because of the subject matter (there have been several excellent books about death and young people recently e.g. Skin and Ways to live forever) but because of the lack of hope in the main character. Okay, what hope does a dying person have ?I can believe in a rebellious reaction to a terminal illness but her recklessness makes Tessa very unlikeable for me. If anyone else has read this what do you think ?
Tell me I am being too hard on this book and that teenagers will love it !
Who might you expect to read this ?

Novel nights out!

There are two fantastic looking films coming out in January based on teen fiction. ok I’m more than a bit excited…I’ve just watched the trailer for Inkheart and it looks fantastic! When I was reading the book -it really made me question the darker side of writing, inventing a character who is everything dark and evil and then discovering he could come alive, ArG! Imagine the guilt, if he kills does that make you a murderer, accessory??? I hope the film is just as magical. www.inkheartmovie.com
Also there's Twilight, It’s a lurve story between a high school girl and the weird boy at school –who turns out to be a vampire! The book is brilliant. I read the first 3 in the series back to back in one week! I was seriously desperate until the next book comes out, and now I have spotted it in C2C. Imagine how happy-making that is :-) Check out the trailer for the film… www.twilightthemovie.com
Anyone fancy a novel night out or two to dispel the winter blues?

People of the book

This was a fascinating read with lots of historical interest. It was based on the fate of one very rare book and its journey around the world. Each chapter flipped from different places and times so you had to concentrate on the detail. There was particular mention of a librarian and a book conservator but also intrigue and romance. I would think S6 and adults would enjoy this one which has recently come out in paperback.

The reader by Bernard Schlink

I have recommended this to so many people this summer and no one has been disappointed.
It was on the previous 'Free your mind' list but not the latest one , but I see it is being released as a film soon. It is beautifully written but it is also the first book I have read which attempts to talk about German atrocities during the Holocaust from an immediate post war German perspective. The relationship between the young man and the older woman with a 'past' is fascinating , almost incredible. When her past catches up with him at a later stage in his life , he struggles to balance his concern for her with his horror at her past.
It is a compelling read and would easily work for H or AH.

Crusade

Ok here goes! Crusade by Elizabeth Laird - loved it! Thank you Val for lending it to me to review. Maybe you have to love history but I think a story about the Crusades has resonance in today's world. The book has pace and strong sub plots. The two boys, on either side of the conflict during the seige of Acre, are exceptionally well defined and accessible to a modern readership. The story unfolds through their eyes and in their two voices and p.o.v. With the benfit of hindsight and dramatic irony, I found this a very poignant read. The Crusade to reclaim Jerusalem from Saladin was vicious, bloody and lacking in all conscience - Christian or otherwise. You feel the boys' fear and can't help but say"If only...."

Anne B

key words: Crusades; Islam; Prejudice; Conflict; Family

PS think I may not entirely have the hang of this format yet!! :-)

Sea glass

I am not always a fan of Anita Shreve; I find them a bit lightweight but I was very moved by "Sea glass" . It is set in American weaving mills following the Wall Street crash. It describes a fascinating period of history during which mill owners squeezed their workers to retain their own profits while the almost slave workers struggled to survive. It is mainly a love story though told from a variety of viewpoints: the woman, her new husband, the man she falls in love with, an impoverished child mill worker and a bored, rich, society heiress. The way their story is woven together provides a great insight into the politics of the time. At its most basic level it is the story of a lonely young woman who marries the wrong man because it is the 'done thing'.
I think it would work well for Int 2 since it has the 'angle' of the different viewpoints which they could use to interpret the ongoing story. The theme of glass worn down by the sea reflects the hopelessness of the woman's situation. Apart from being suitable for a student personal study, it was a very enjoyable read .

Alexander McCall Smith

Been reading lots of Alexander McCall Smith books this summer - all the Isabel Dalhousie novels especially. (The 5th one in the series in "The comfort of Saturdays"). I've enjoyed them very much but not sure that our Senior pupils would. What do you others think?
I have only got the first in the series "Sunday Philosophy Club" in the LRC, and I 'm not sure whether it's worth buying the others in the series for my book stock.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is my book of the year! I read it earlier this summer and sent a recommendation by text to my friends - "some books touch your soul, this one took mine and danced with it!" David, my youngest son, read this book (probably his first - I know I'm a failure as a Mum and a Librarian!) for his personal study for English Higher and even he cried...he even admitted to his pals and his teacher that he'd shed a few tears. Death is the narrator of the story about a young girl growing up in Germany during the Holocaust which at first might seem sombre and depressing. This book is funny, heart rending, unique and life changing! I would recommend it to a good reader in S2/3 as well as for Personal Study.