Magonia by Maria Dahvana Headley

Not Just Another Dying Girl Story.

Aza Ray is getting sicker by the day. Struggling to breathe from the rare illness she’s carried since birth, Aza feels like her lungs are slowly filling up with feathers. When Aza begins to hear the birds around her calling out her name, she knows something very strange is happening. Then, in a moment of blackout, Aza awakens to find herself in a land of flying pirate ships and talking bird people. Where is she?

Magonia

This book is a juxtaposition of tragic realism, boy meets girl and the most fantastical story of mid-sky magic since Peter Pan! Our readers have been snaffling up all available copies of Magonia since it came out in April this year. Our librarians have been promoting it a lot too and we love to use this little book trailer from Epic Reads to help describe the complicated plot.

5 *****

All The Light We Cannot See

I normally just blog about books for children and young adults, but his month I just have to write about All The Light We Cannot See – the wonderful new book by Anthony Doerr which has taken out the Pulitzer Prize for fiction and a host of other fiction prizes this year.

I simply love this book – it goes down as my favourite read of the year. In fact, I think I could almost state that this is the best book I have EVER read!

What’s quite wonderful about this book is its suitability for readers of all ages: adults, young adults and pre-teens. The two young protagonists of the story, French born Marie Laure & German born Werner - innocents in the chaos of wartime – will enchant the hearts of all readers from the very first chapters.

Senior English students looking for deeper-reading texts will also find plenty to immerse themselves in. The captivating characters and cleverly woven plot of this novel make it is easy to see this book becoming a staple, classic literary text.

All The Light We Cannot See is a sweet, beautifully crafted wartime story that you’ll never want to come to an end. Each passage is a treasure, each line a shining piece of literature to be savoured.

Need I say more ?

“A novel to live in, learn from, and feel bereft over 

when the last page is turned.” 

Booklist

“Tackling questions of survival, endurance and moral obligations during wartime, the book is as precise and artful and ingenious as the puzzle boxes the heroine’s locksmith father builds for her. Impressively, it is also a vastly entertaining feat of storytelling.” –New York Times Book Review/

                                                     http://www.anthonydoerr.com/books/all-the-light-we-cannot-see

What's hot in our library?

The Selection Trilogy by Kiera Cass – we just can’t keep them on the shelves! Our girls are snapping up everything coming out by Kiera Cass, and I have to admit it’s the book covers with those gorgeous gowns that are helping them fly off the shelves. It has also helped that the team at Harper Collins Auckland made us up some awesome posters of the book covers, which we were able to turn into a stunning display.

But credit where it is due, the stories are very appealing too. The ‘Selection’ is a competition to find a bride for the young prince of the Kingdom of Iléa.  This glamorous and sometimes catty quest is recorded live for Iléa Reality Television and streamed back home to the masses.  Maid-in-waiting teams hover at contestants' beck and call appearing with glittering gowns and gifts, in order to present their candidate at her most beautiful. Is this not every girl’s dream?

You’d not be wrong if you’re thinking this sounds very much like a blend of The Bachelor meets The Hunger Games. Fortunately, in this dystopian elimination no one need die in the process.   

                                                                                              

About the Book – From Harper Collins http://www.harpercollins.com/9780062059932/the-selection

 For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in a palace and compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince Maxon.

But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.

                                                                                                               

Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself—and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined

Watch Kiera Cass act out her Dramatic Readings from the Selection Books 

South America Dreaming

It’s been a gorgeous summer here in NZ. Wonderful summery days have stretched out the holiday feeling right into March – Personally, I hope it lasts until Easter!

The summer holiday break is usually the time I use to get through a great pile of Young Adult books I've had on my to-read list. This year, however, I took my holiday in South America, joining a group of volunteers heading to a home for orphaned girls in Bolivia.  I loaded my pack with books – very heavy, but not for me to read – these were popular YA titles in Spanish that I took for the girls in the orphanage to enjoy. I had been told that the girls loved to read, but only had a very small library that was read over and over.

So…ttt here are 2 things in this world that I know well:

1.       Young adult/ children’s books

2.       How to order books online (in any language!)

The day after we presented the books we joined the girls and the orphanage staff on a bus trip high up into the mountains, to Lake Tunari at the foot of the Andes.

The majestic scenery was breathtaking, the lake was glassy smooth, looking up to snow covered mountains. We saw wild horses and even Alpacas and discovered shepherd huts as we walked the trails. Even we from Middle Earth found it very ‘Lord of the Rings’ – stunning and impacting. But there was another image that stayed in my mind from that day. On the cliff- hanging bus ride up the mountain, two girls in the seat opposite were heads down, totally engrossed reading their new books. Not wanting to wait in line, they had grabbed the books and risked high altitude bus sickness (not pleasant) to get in first.

Ah job satisfaction…eeeven in deepest Bolivia