Plague of the Undead

Want a good read, hordes of vampires, vampire hunters and some history thrown in? Then this is the book for you.

Plague of the Undead by Gary Cross is the first book in the Chronicles of Blood.
It begins in 1650 in Northern Italy when Lucius’s father returns as a vampire and kills his entire family. Lucius is spared, becomes a vampire hunter and spurred on by revenge begins the hunt for the master vampire.
His journey takes him through Paris and Europe until he arrives in London, ridden by the plague and now vampires. Lucius and his small band of vampire hunters battle against the master vampire and his horde of thousands, aided by the Great Fire of London which destroys most of London. Vampires included.
Unfortunately the master vampire escapes but Lucius and his new ally Peter vow to hunt him down. Even if it means traveling to the New World.

A good read and leaves me eager for the next book in the series.
Vicki @ Pakenham Library

Lady Macbeth's Daughter

Well done, Lisa Klein! Lady Macbeth's Daughter is a real winner!

This is a gripping story, taking the reader back in time to medieval Scotland.

The story begins one bewitching night when a baby is secretly carried to an ancient house in Wychelm Wood.

The baby, named Albia, grows up with no knowledge of her father, the powerful king Macbeth, or her mother, Grelach.

But when Albia reaches adolescence she begins to ask questions. She leaves the only home she has ever known and sets out to reach her fate, which brings her closer and closer to Macbeth and her mother.

Then she begins to fall in love with Fleance, Macbeth's rival for the throne.

Excellent reading.

-Ann

The Tent

Margaret Atwood weaves her magic again through this collection of short stories, poems, essays and musings. Her ability to use words frugally and by doing so create poignant visual imagery sweeps the reader up and stays with you long after you've turned the final page.

Darkly humorous at times, Atwood plays with meta-fiction to challenge our understanding of language and stories. A literary dream and a great read for anyone who wants a collection of short reads in one spot; or just something different.

Review submitted via our online form by:

Name: Riannon
Title: The Tent
Author/Artist: Margaret Atwood
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The Tomorrow Code

Hey guys!

I'm back once again, I just finished reading The Tomorrow Code by Brian Falkner.

It's about two teenagers living in New Zealand, Tane and Rebecca. They stumble across a secret hidden code while investigating whether people can be transmitted into the past or future via a time machine. After many hours of decoding the message, they come to realise that the world as they know it is under immediate threat, and that they are the only ones who can save it! This sets them on a mission to find out what exactly the mysterious threat from the future is, and how they, as two normal teenagers can save the lives of millions of people.

This is a thrilling book, a little slow at the start, but really really interesting and imaginative. By the time you get to the end, you realise that you've been taken on an emotional journey, that is filled with surprise and is sometimes shocking.

Definitely worth the read, it portrays a frightening future to our human race.

Hope you enjoy!

Nick

Are these my basoomas I see before me?

'Are these my basoomas I see before me?' is a very funny book that has wide appeal for teenagers. Sadly, it is the last in 'The confessions of Georgia Nicholson' series, written by Louise Rennison.

Readers may recall the first book in the series, 'Angus, thongs and full-frontal snogging,' which was developed into a successful film.

The heroine of the series is Georgia, and the last book begins with a crisis of her own making.

As her best friend, Jas, observes, if something bad happens or if someone is shouting, Georgia will be around!

Georgia's new boyfriend gets stroppy (or as Georgia says 'gets the megahump') after Georgia does the twist at a concert with Dave the laugh.

Georgia is forced to call an emergency meeting with 'the gang', except Jas, who also has 'the hump' with her.

We laugh along with Georgia's chaotic life and her slightly bossy nature as she weaves in and out of school, family and friendships.

Take the fire-making incident, for example. 'The gang' are freezing cold in the playground, so Georgia suggests a campfire to keep warm.

As luck would have it, Jas just happens to have a fire-making stick in her rucksack, so she is co-erced into producing a fire, mostly fed from crisp packets.

Greatly entertaining.

-Ann

The Poison Throne

The Poison Throne is the first book in the Moorehawke Trilogy by Celine Kiernan. The story follows a talented fifteen year-old female apprentice, Wynter Moorehawke and her friends, Razi, the King's illegitimate son, and his wild, tomcat friend Christopher.

After five years of exile, Wynter and her father return to the Kingdom to find it changed from the peaceful place they once knew where ghosts roamed freely with the living and talkative cats were respected. But King Jonathon has changed, people are forbidden from talking to ghosts and cats and the heir to the throne has disappeared. A battle is underway, with the mysterious weapon, the "Blood Machine" at its centre.

This is a great read for sci-fi lovers. It has the perfect combination of suspense, romance, political intrigue and adventure all while taking you into another world. Kiernan is a fantastic writer and is particularly good at keeping the reader in suspense; I was glued to the book. My only disappointment was that Wynter never gets to display her talents in this book but Book 2 sounds promising!

Rafah

Paper Bead Art

Crafting beads for jewellery from paper has been around since the Victorian era but it was a first for us at Hampton Park library.

Young adults gathered with staff as a pre Christmas activity to learn about the method of making these elegant and unique pieces of art. Who would have thought it was so easy.

Once shown the basics, they proceeded to put their own imaginative and creative touches to the task and left with plenty of ideas to try at home.

As you can use left over paper including gift wrapping, magazine and newspapers, it’s not only an eco friendly activity but involves using materials easily found around the home.

The process is quite simple. Triangles are ruled, cut out of coloured paper and rolled onto a bamboo skewer using a glue stick to adhere. Different shaped beads are achieved by using triangles of different lengths and widths. Leaving each bead on the skewer as you go, they are then sprayed with a gloss varnish. When dry they can be threaded onto elastic or leather to create a necklace, earrings or bracelet. Our group also used other beads provided from old necklaces to separate the paper beads and add to the look of their creations. It was amazing that something so simple could be so effective and the group were very pleased with the results.

Kim and Moira @ Hampton Park Library