THE SEEING

by Diana Hendry

[Blurb: 1953. When wild, dangerous, break-all-the-rules Natalie arrives in the quiet town of Norton, thirteen-year-old Lizzie is drawn irresistibly to the new girl from the wrong side of the tracks. Desperate for Natalie's friendship and respect, Lizzie soon discovers a side of the town - and of herself - that she had never imagined.

As the girls grow closer, Natalie and her strange, eerie brother, Philip, reveal a shocking secret. For Philip has a second sight, and all around them he sees evil - 'left-over Nazis' lying in wait until the time is right for revenge. Natalie and Philip believe it's up to them to root these people out of Norton.

Lizzie is swept up in what starts as a thrilling game - but the consequences of Philip's 'gift' quickly spiral into disaster.

A chilling, powerful tale from Whitbread Award-winner Diana Hendry.]

This was a chilling tale! It was strange right from the start. Reading the first few pages (the Prologue) I had no idea what the setting was and when I finished the book I actually went back and read it again... now I know what it all meant!

When Lizzie pals up with a very strange girl from school, Natalie, and her brother, Phillip, she will have no idea how her life will change. According to Natalie, Philip has an eerie secret... he sees things. Nazi's, who are sleepers in their village. To win Natalie's friendship Lizzie goes along with the secret mission to seek out all those Phillip points the finger at and they must try to run them out of town. Natalie and her brother live in the poor end of town and her mother is incapable of looking after them. Lizzie lives on the right side of town and has a very different home life to her two friends.

This story is gripping, I couldn't put it down, and at the end I found it quite disturbing. It certainly wasn't a 'feel good' read but it was very interesting. I wonder what you'll think of it.

ALICE BLISS

by Laura Harrington

[Blurb: When Alice Bliss learns that her father, Matt, is being deployed to Iraq, she's heartbroken. Alice idolizes her father, loves working beside him in their garden, accompanying him on the occasional roofing job, playing baseball. When he ships out, Alice is faced with finding a way to fill the emptiness he has left behind.

Matt will miss seeing his daughter blossom from a tomboy into a full-blown teenager. Alice will learn to drive, join the track team, go to her first dance, and fall in love, all while trying to be strong for her mother, Angie, and take care of her precocious little sister, Ellie. But the smell of Matt is starting to fade from his blue shirt that Alice wears everyday, and the phone calls are never long enough.

Alice Bliss is a profoundly moving coming-of-age novel about love and its many variations--the support of a small town looking after its own; love between an absent father and his daughter; the complicated love between an adolescent girl and her mother; and an exploration of new love with the boy-next-door. These characters' struggles amidst uncertain times echo our own, lending the novel an immediacy and poignancy that is both relevant and real. At once universal and very personal, Alice Bliss is a transforming story about those who are left at home during wartime, and a teenage girl bravely facing the future.]

Unfortunately I only got half way through this book. It started of well, and I was at first interested in Alice and her relationship with her father, who had been sent to fight in Iraq, however it didn't hold my attention after half way through, and I decided to move onto the next book in my huge pile to read. Maybe you will like it though!