Reading - The Giver

The Giver by Lois Lowry



n a world with no poverty, no crime, no sickness and no unemployment, and where every family is happy, 12-year-old Jonas is chosen to be the community's Receiver of Memories. Under the tutelage of the Elders and an old man known as the Giver, he alone holds the memories of the true pain an pleasure of life. Now it's time for Jonas to receive the truth. There is no turning back.

Reading - Messenger

Messenger by Lois Lowry



Grade 6 Up-Matty, who has lived in Village with the blind Seer since running away from an abusive childhood, is looking forward to receiving his true name, which he hopes will be Messenger. But he is deeply unsettled by what is going on. He has discovered his own power to heal others and learned of disturbing changes within his community.

Under the gentle guidance of Leader, who arrived in Village on a red sled as a young boy and who has the power of Seeing Beyond, the citizens have always welcomed newcomers, especially those who are disabled. But a sinister force is at work, which has prompted them to close admission to outsiders. Also, it seems that Matty's beloved Mentor has been trading away parts of his inner self in order to become more attractive to Stocktender's widow. When the date for the close of the border is decided, Matty must make one more trip through the increasingly sinister Forest to bring back Seer's daughter, the gifted weaver Kira.

Reading - The Opposite of Fate

The Opposite of Fate ( A book of Musings) by Amy Tan



Born into a family who believed in fate, Amy Tan has always looked for alternative ways to make sense of the world. And now, in The Opposite of Fate, her first book of nonfiction, she shares her thoughts on how she escapted the expectations and curses of her past and created her own destiny.

Amy tells of her family, of the ghosts that inhabit her computer, of specters of illness, ski trips, the pliability of memory, rock and roll, and the twinned mysteries of faith and fate. Whether she is remembering arguments with her mother in suburban California, recounting trips to an outdoor market in Shanghai, or describing her love-hate relationship with the CliffsNotes edition of her first book, The Joy Luck Club, her recollections offer an intimate glimpse of a best-selling writer whose own life story is as magical and hopeful as her fiction.

In this book, also has written her participation in making the film of her book - The Joy Luck Club. I like this part.

Reading - Chinese Cinderella and The Secret Dragon Society

Chinese Cinderella and The Secret Dragon Society by Adeline Yen Mah



Ye Xian is a twelve-year-old girl living in Japanese-occupied Shanghai, China during World War II. She loves spending time with Big Aunt because she teaches her English and is much kinder to Ye Xian than her father's new wife. Ye Xian loves to go by her English name Chinese Cinderella or CC.

When CC's stepmother takes her abuse too far, CC runs away and finds refuge with a group of za zhong, or unwanted "mixed-caste" children. They invite CC to join their Secret Dragon Society and help them save China from the hands of the occupying Japanese soldiers.

Reading - Kira-Kira

Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata



Grade 6-8--Katie's first word is "kira-kira," the Japanese word for "glittering," and she uses it to describe everything she likes. It was taught to her by her older sister, Lynn, whom Katie worships. Both girls have trouble adjusting when their parents move the family from Iowa to a small town in rural Georgia, where they are among only 31 Japanese-Americans. They seldom see their parents, who have grueling jobs in chicken-processing plants. Then Lynn becomes deathly ill, and Katie is often left to care for her, a difficult and emotionally devastating job. When her sister dies of lymphoma, Katie searches for ways to live up to her legacy and to fulfill the dreams she never had a chance to attain.

Katie's parents can barely afford to pay their daughter's medical bills, yet they refuse to join the growing movement to unionize until after Lynn's death. All of the characters are believable and well developed, especially Katie, who acts as a careful observer of everything that happens in her family, even though there is a lot she doesn't understand. Especially heartbreaking are the weeks leading up to Lynn's death, when Katie is exhausted and frustrated by the demands of her sister's illness, yet willing to do anything to make her happy.

Reading - The True Confessions of Adrian Albert Mole, Margaret Hilda Roberts and Susan Lilian Townsend

The True Confessions of Adrian Mole, Margaret Hilda Roberts and Susan Lilian Townsend by Sue Townsend



This book is written in diary form about Adrian Mole, Margaret Hilda Roberts and Susan Lilian Townsend.

Adrian Albert Mole was the editor and main contributor to the Neil Armstrong Comprehensive School magazine.

Margaret Hilda Roberts 's diary is believed to have been written in the nineteen thirties and was discovered between the pages of the Be-Ro Cookbook for girls at a car boot sale in Grantham on a Bank Holiday Monday in 1988.

Susan Lilian Townsend enjoyed notoriety at one time but has sunk into obscurity since her involvement in the 'five dwarves in a bed' scandal in 1989 for which she received a suspended prison sentence of two years.

Reading - Edward Trencom's Nose

Edward Trencom's Nose by Giles Milton



Edward Trencom, the owner and operator of London's pre-eminent cheese emporium, holds the title Life President of the Most Worshipful Company of Cheese Connoisseurs. During a tour group's visit to his shop, a mysterious Greek gentleman accosts Edward and prompts him to explore his family history.

His world is turned upside down when he stumbles across a crate of family papers. To his horror, Edward discovers that nine previous generations of his family have come to sticky ends because of their noses. When he investigates further, Edward finds himself caught up in a Byzantine riddle to which there is no obvious answer. Like his ancestors, he is hunted down by rival forces whose identity and purpose remain a total mystery. Trapped between the made, the bad and a cheese to die for, Edward Trencom's nose must make a choice - and for the last nine generations it has made the catastrophically wrong decision.