94. The Industry by Rose Foster

The Industry by Rose Foster
Published April 2012 Harper Collins

From the publisher:

Kirra Hayward is an ordinary sixteen year old - smarter than most, but otherwise completely anonymous. When she stumbles across an unusual puzzle on the Internet and manages to solve it, she has no idea of what she's letting herself in for. Kidnapped by a shadowy organisation known only as The Industry, Kirra soon discovers how valuable her code-breaking skills are. And when she stubbornly refuses to help them, they decide to break her ... by any means at their disposal. Kirra knows that to protect herself, she must trust no one, not even her fellow prisoner, Milo. But as time goes by she realises he might be the only person she can rely on ..


This is a fast paced book from the outset.  One minute Kirra is a smart loner who solved a mystery puzzle on the Internet, and the next she is kidnapped from the street on her way home, flown to the other side of the world, and kept prisoner in a cold cement cell.

Kirra is one of only a handful of people in the world who can solve the Spencer System code.  She doesn't even know how she does it, she just can.  This code is being used for many high security locations in the world, from businesses to prisons.  There are villainous groups out there that want these codes...which means they want Kirra.

93. Andy Roid and the Superhuman Secret by Felice Arena

Andy Roid and the Superhuman Secret by Felice Arena
Published March 2012 Penguin

From the publisher:


When you're half boy, half machine, it's hard not to be a hero.Andy's just a regular kid with a normal, everyday life. Or is he? Why is a sinister scientist out to kidnap him? And who are his parents really? He's about to find out, but this superhuman secret will change everything!

Andy Reid is just a regular 12 year old boy.  He’s average at maths and gets nervous around the girl that he likes.  One day on the way home from school, he avoids being kidnapped by a man who claims to be a friend of his parents, only to ride his bike into the path of an oncoming truck.  Andy doesn’t die; he wakes up and finds his world tipped upside down.  Apparently his parents are not bakers, but scientists who work for the department of defence.  They are the ones who operated on him after the accident and saved his life, without the use of their latest, top secret invention, Andy might not have made it.  It does mean, that Andy is not quite the same anymore...he is part machine!

92. Skin Deep by Laura Jarratt

Skin Deep by Laura Jarratt
Published March 2012 Hardie Grant Egmont


From the publisher:


After the car crash that leaves her best friend dead, Jenna is permanently scarred. She struggles to rebuild her life, but every stare in the street, every time she looks in the mirror, makes her want to retreat further from the world. Until she meets Ryan. Ryan is also an outsider. When he and his mother arrive in town she tells him this time it will be different. He doesn't believe her. Until he meets Jenna. As Jenna and Ryan grow closer, repercussions from the crash continue to reverberate through the community. And then a body is found...

Jenna is a teenager whose life has, in her eyes, been ruined.  Because of one stupid mistake she now has to live with a scarred face and the memory of seeing her friends die in a horrific car accident.

Ryan lives with his Mum, on a narrowboat.  They never stay in one place for long, he has no friends, all he wants is to find a place to settle down.  In addition to this, his mum suffers from bipolar disorder, so he often has to take on the role of parent.

When Ryan meets Jenna he is shocked by her face but it doesn't take him long to see past it.  What starts as a friendship, becomes a  romance and  for the first time in a long time, Jenna starts to feel confident enough to venture out into the world again.

3 months down

It is hard to believe that we are a quarter of the way through the year already.  

Another month down and some more amazing books.  

So many good ones in fact that I struggled to narrow down my favourites, but here they are:

 

91. Cloth from the Clouds by Mark Catchpool and illustrated by Alison Jay

Cloth From The Clouds by Michael Catchpool and illustrated by Alison Jay
Published April 2012 Walker Books


From the publisher:


The boy who spins cloth from the clouds is wise. He spins only enough cloth for a warm winter scarf, not one stitch more. But a greedy King sees the marvellous cloth and demands that the boy spin cloaks and gowns galore. Soon there are fewer clouds in the sky and finally the rain stops. Will it be possible to undo the damage done by greed?

I should start by saying that I am a bit biased towards Alison Jay, in that I love her work.

This book did not disappoint.

It’s a beautiful book about a boy who can spin cloth from cloud.  The cloth is so beautiful that the king wants all of his clothes made from this cloth. The boy warns the king that it is not wise to use too much of this cloth, but the king does not listen. So the boy spins and he spins, until there are no clouds left.

90. The Wrong Boy by Suzy Zail

The Wrong Boy by Suzy Zail
Published March 2012 Black Dog Books


From the publisher:


Hanna is a talented pianist, and the protected second daughter of middle class Hungarian Jews. Relatively late in World War II the Budapest Jews were rounded up and sent to Auschwitz. Hanna and her mother and sister are separated from her father. Her mother becomes increasingly mentally ill until she too is taken away somewhere. Her sister Erika is slowly starving to death. Hanna is quite a naive 15-year-old but when presented with the opportunity to play piano for the camp commander, she is desperate to be chosen. She goes each day under guard to the commander's house and stands waiting in case the commander should want some music. Also living in the house is the commander's son, Karl. A handsome young man who seems completely disengaged from what is happening around him. Hanna hates him as he sits drawing in the music room. But the longer Hanna goes to the house, the more she realises there are other things going on. Secret things. Karl may not be the person she thinks he is. Before she knows it she has fallen in love with the wrong boy.

There is no denying that there have been many stories written about the holocaust for teenagers and children as well as for adults.  I am always interested in why the author has chosen to write a holocaust story, and in the case of Suzy Zail’s connection with the holocaust is that he father was an Auschwitz survivor.  He didn’t tell her until she was an adult, and he was dying.  He though the best way to deal with the horror was to build anew life and try to forget the past.  His daughter Suzy believes the only way to ensure it wouldn’t happen again is to keep talking about it.  And after reading this book I have to agree with her.

89. Sword Girl Book 1: The Secret of the Swords by Frances Watts

Sword Girl Book 1: The Secret of the Swords by Frances Watts
Published April 2012 Allen & Unwin

From the publisher:

Tommy, a kitchen girl at Flamant Castle, dreams of becoming a knight - and when she is made the Keeper of the Blades, caring for all the swords in the castle armoury, it seems like her dream might come true. But then Sir Walter's most valuable sword goes missing from the sword room. Will Tommy be able to find it before she is sent back to the kitchen in disgrace? 

I think this new series is going to be a winner.  Such a treat to read something a bit different for the beginning readers.  It has been marketed as a new series for girls who do not want the 'girly' pink books.  There is no pink, no fairies, unicorns or magic puppies.  What we do have though are a talking cat, a talking crocodile and talking swords.