Life: An Exploded Diagram

Life: An Exploded Diagram, Mal Peet (Walker Books)

A historical love story - John van de Ruit's Spud meets the most concise and enjoyable history book you've ever read - this is a book not to be missed.

Clem is a council flat boy. Frankie is the wild(ish) daughter of a wealthy local landowner. They shouldn't be together but can't keep apart. But meanwhile the shadow of nuclear warfare and the Cold War looms and threatens. Indeed, we spend chapters with JFK as he botches the Bay of Pigs and tries to decide what the heck to do about Russian nukes in Cuba.

It might take you time to get into it, you may at times think come on come on, get back to Clem and Frankie, but by the explosive end you'll be left reeling and want to start again immediately. The aftershocks will continue for days.

DEPARTMENT 19

WILL HILL’S

DEPARTMENT 19

is an amazing futuristic fantasy novel about a kid called Jamie Carpenter whose dad gets killed (in the prologue). After a while Jamie’s mum gets taken by a vampire named Alexandru Rusmanov who wants Jamie dead because his father (Julian Carpenter) killed his wife (Ilyana) who was the only thing he loved. The plot is Jamie trying to rescue his mum from Alexandru. Jamie joins DEPARTMENT 19 so that he can save his mum.

DEPARTMENT 19 was made to kill Dracula the oldest vampire ever but he turned others, lots of others, into vampires and they turned even more, so there are heaps more vampires in the world.

I really like this book because, well, it’s a really good book - I just can’t explain it. I can’t wait for the next one to come out because DEPARTMENT 19 was the best book I have ever read.

--Ned Pearson, nearly 10

First Light - Rebecca Stead

First Light, Rebecca Stead (Text Publishing)

What was actually Rebecca Stead's first book, First Light has arrived to our Australian shores as the follow-up to her Newbery Medal-winning stunner When You Reach Me.

First Light is a dual-narrative novel for readers around 10 and up that explores environmentalism and politics through a cracking adventure - and slightly sci-fi/fantasy-ish - set in Greenland.

Peter has gone to Greenland with his parents, who are studying climate change. He begins to spend time with the sled dogs, exploring his new icy home. Having suffered from headaches in the past year or so, Peter also begins to have strange visions...

Thea lives at Gracehope, an underground city her ancestors built after they fled England, a people persecuted for 'gifts' and 'talents' they possessed. Gracehope is a model of sustainability, but its ruler is less than receptive to any questions or suggestions that young Thea puts forward.

Of course, these two curious, intelligent characters are destined to meet and it's when Thea and her cousin find a passage to the surface that the plot changes gear and pitches forward at an exciting pace. The themes are accessible and the language perfect. Highly recommended. 10+

So you loved The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time?

My sister lives on the mantelpiece, Annabel Pitcher

Jamie's big sister Rose died nearly five years ago and his family just hasn't been able to be happy again. Mum's gone off with a man from the support group and his Dad takes Jamie and his big sister (and Rose's twin) Jas to live in the country.

At his new school, Jamie finds it hard to fit in - he can't seem to tell people the truth about his family, his holidays, his Christmas. He has to wear his Spider-Man top every day, so when his Mum comes to visit she will see him in it. His only friend is Sunya, whose hijab is really a cape, but he knows his Dad would not like him being friends with Sunya and he has to keep her a secret.

My sister lives on the mantelpiece is a page-turning sob-fest and would appeal to fans of Mark Haddon's modern classic The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time.