PRIVATE PEACEFUL

PRIVATE PEACEFUL

By Michael Morpurgo    (LWH)

A lovely easy to read book about a young boy named Tommy Peaceful. Tommy tells his story over a 24hr period, each chapter brings you closer from past to present tense. He recounts his life growing up, the death of his father, dealing with the cruelness dealt to his retarded brother, the struggle of his mother providing for the family with little money, and falling in love with his best friend. The relationship with his brother is so strong as he is the one always looking out for Tommy.

He enlists, although underage, as he doesn't wasnt to appear to be a coward, and is now serving alongside his brother as they look out for each other's safety. As he looks over his life he knows death is eminant.  The real sense of fear is felt as he describes the situation he is in and the absolute horror of war and loss of lives and how sensless it all seems. The touching end comes with a twist that will leave you in tears.

Although it's aimed as a YA audience, I think anyone would enjoy reading this book.

THE BOOK THIEF

THE BOOK THIEF   by Markus Zusak   (LWH)

- Australian Writer 

WATCH THIS INTERVIEW WITH MARKUS TO SEE WHAT INSPIRED HIM TO WRITE THIS BOOK...

I so loved this unforgettable book. I was taken on an incredible journey from the very first page and by the time I got to the final chapters, I was ‘sobbing’ all the way to the end.  With ‘death’ as the narrator, you may think this would be gruesome, but on the contrary, it is told in such a sensitive way it astonished me. Death explains at the start that he can be cheerful, agreeable, amiable and fair. He refers to himself as the 'soul carrier'.  It was like no other book I have ever read… it touched my soul.

I actually forgot it was ‘fiction’ the descriptions were so real. It truly mesmerized me and I found myself re-reading descriptions and sentences over and over. It was wonderful reading it on my Kindle as I highlighted many of the precious thoughts and sentences I wanted to revisit.  I also loved the way it flowed, previewing what was going to happen in each chapter was really different, along with many facts.

Set during WWII, (yes another war story… why do I do it to myself), you meet a small girl named Liesel Meminger who is travelling with her mother and brother, to live with her new foster parents outside Munich. On the way her brother dies and they need to bury him. It is snowing and at the site of the grave Liesel discovers a book stuck in the snow. She secretly takes it, although she doesn’t know how to read.

Liesel's foster mother is rather scary and harsh, but she grows to love her foster father, who plays the accordion and through the long nights of her loneliness and nightmares, and begins to teach her to read her only book. From there her love of reading and books grows until she must steal another, and another. Her foster parents hide a Jew in their basement and they must keep this a secret, even from her best friend Rudy, as their lives depend on it.

The story tells of being part of the Hitler Youth, the rationing of food, the difference between the poor and rich during war, the burning of books on Hitler’s birthday, the mayor’s library, giving a gift when you have nothing to give, and much more. With the patience of her foster father Liesel learns to read so well that during the bombing raids she reads to her neighbours, as they are huddled in the basement, bombs landing close by. I’m sure I’ll be reading this novel many more times.

From now on I will try to remember the colours of the day, not just it’s beginning and end.

 About the author:

Australian author, Markus Zusak, now lives in Sydney, but grew up hearing stories about Nazi Germany, about the bombing of Munich and about Jews being marched through his mother’s small, German town. He always knew it was a story he wanted to tell.

With the publication of The Book Thief, Mark is now being dubbed a ‘literary phenomenon’ by Australian and U.S. critics. He is also the award-winning author of four previous books for young adults: The Underdog, Fighting Ruben Wolfe, Getting the Girl, and I Am the Messenger, recipient of a 2006 Printz Honor for excellence in young adult literature.

HITLER’S DAUGHTER  

HITLER’S DAUGHTER   by Jackie French   (LWH)

Although this is not a new release this was a great little book and a real easy read. A group of four school friends waiting for their bus ask Anna to tell them a story, which she had done many times before, but this time it was a little different. She tells the story of a girl named Heidi who was the daughter of Hitler. The story is told with such feeling and great detail and the children are mesmerized, none more than Mark, who thinks what he would do if he was put in Heidi’s place. Questions arise for Mark like… if he knew his father was evil or doing terrible things to others would he be able to do anything about it? If your mother or father are capable of evil things does that mean their children will follow in their path?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:   There is far too much to write about Jackie French and she is a prolific writer so CLICK HERE to go to her website and find all the questions to everything you need to know, including all her other novels, tips on writing and getting your work published and lots more. There’s even photos of her beautiful garden.

To go to an interview with Jackie about what inspired her to write this book CLICK HERE

LIST OF JACKIE’S BOOKS

DAYS LIKE THIS

DAYS LIKE THIS   by Alison Stewart   (LWH)

This book was full of surprises. For a genre I don't usually read I must say I found this novel to be fabulous. The concept of the story was very clever and I read it in two sittings, reading well into the night. The plot was thrilling and there was danger around every corner (or page) and I was on the edge of my seat as to how it was all going to play out.

 Lily is a prisoner in her own home, along with her brother and sister, Blacktroopers and the 'Committee' make sure of that. Her parents are acting very wierd, like they don't have emotions anymore, and they seem to not be aging. A wall has been built to keep out the poor (and to keep those wishing to escape in!). When Lily and her brother discover the Committee are planning to farm teenagers for a special serum, her brother suddenly disappears. She plans to escape to find her brother and get over the wall to see what lies beyond. Along with all this, global warming has damaged the weather and atmosphere, and resources, including water is scarce.

Lily was a great character, very brave, and the budding romance with Kieran (towards the end) wasn't overwhelming and didn't distract from the main story. I love the fact that it was set in Sydney and I could definately picture it. This story touches on many subjects and would be a great class novel to explore with themes on global warming, corruption in society, a dying world, morality, playing God with Science.

Author the author: Alison is a Sydney journalist and writer.  She has lived in Sydney for more than 30 years after growing up in Cape Town, South Africa. The idea for Days Like This came from a growing unease about our diminishing natural resources, combined with the rise of a heartless individuality. The book explores the consequences – a world where people are shockingly exploited to serve the desires of an elite few.