One bookclub, two bookclub, red bookclub, blue bookclub

There are changes afoot in the Younger Sun.

From September there will now be TWO bookclubs.

The Teen Bookclub will continue as is, with the group reading fantastic, fast-paced stories aimed at girls and boys aged 9 to 13 and featuring books like The Golden Day, the Percy Jackson series and When You Reach Me.

For the Saturday 3rd September bookclub (meeting at 2pm) we will be reading Northwood by Brian Falkner. It's in stock now, with a 20% discount, as usual. Come on in!




In October we are thinking about reading Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.




The Young Adult Bookclub is a new offshoot, aimed at slightly older readers who still want to read well-written stories but those that explore themes for older readers aged 14 to 18. Think Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, Sarah Dessen, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part time Indian and Generation Dead.


For the inaugural Young Adult Bookclub on Saturday 3rd September (meeting at 3pm) we'll be reading Lili Wilkinson's rom-crime novel A Pocketful of Eyes. In stock now, 20% off.

If you have any questions at all, please send us an email at youngersunbookclub@gmail.com or call Kate on 9689 0661.

March Bookclub : The Last Dragonslayer

In the good old days, magic was powerful, unregulated by government, and even the largest spell could be woven without filling in magic release form B1-7g.

Then the magic started fading away.

Fifteen-year-old Jennifer Strange runs Kazam, an employment agency for soothsayers and sorcerers. But work is drying up. Drain cleaner is cheaper than a spell, and even magic carpets are reduced to pizza delivery.

So it's a surprise when the visions start. Not only do they predict the death of the Last Dragon at the hands of a Dragonslayer, they also point to Jennifer, and say something is coming. Big Magic...

Join us on Saturday 5 March at 2pm to discuss the hilarious (and possibly a little weird and confusing) story of Jennifer Strange, Kazam, Tiger Prawns, the Quarkbeast and Big Magic at Teen Bookclub.

You can email us here: youngersunbookclub@gmail.com

Teen Bookclub : Dancing in the Dark with Robyn Bavati

On Saturday 5th February the Teen Bookclub met to discuss Dancing in the Dark by Robyn Bavati. Very excitingly Robyn was able to come along and be there to field questions and issues that the group had about her book.

Have you read it yet? It's a brilliant story about a young girl called Ditty who has grown up in an ultra-orthodox Jewish family and who wants to learn to dance ballet, even though her parents disapprove and will not allow her to take lessons. Ditty takes lessons in secret, even though disobeying her parents makes her feel unbelievably guilty and she becomes aware of the world outside her community. It's sensitive and sweet and you should all go out and read it now.

We had a great chat, with everybody asking questions and having a say - everyone really loved the book and connected with Ditty. It was also our biggest bookclub by far, filling the long table in the Sun Theatre's Hogwarts room. Above is a teeny selection of awesome bookclubbers with Robyn in the Younger Sun afterwards.

Thanks for coming Robyn!

Click here for Robyn Bavati's blog (where she says nice things about us).

Teen Bookclub 2010 : FEBRUARY

SATURDAY 5th FEBRUARY at 2PM

Dancing in the Dark by Robyn Bavati

He tossed her into the air as if she were weightless, and just for a moment she seemed suspended there, defying gravity. I couldn't take my eyes off her. I knew what she was feeling. It was in every movement of every limb.

Here was a power I had never seen before, a kind of haunting loveliness I had never imagined. Seeing it made me long for something, I didn't know what...

Ditty was born to dance, but she was also born Jewish. When her strictly religious parents won't let her take ballet lessons, Ditty starts to dance in secret. But for how long can she keep her two worlds apart? And at what cost?
A dramatic and moving story about a girl who follows her dream, and finds herself questioning everything she believes in.

The author, Robyn Bavati, will be at bookclub(!!) - so bring along all your questions to get answers right from the source!

Contact the Bookclub

If anybody is interested in joining the Younger Sun Teen Bookclub, please send us an email at youngersunbookclub@gmail.com.

We are a lively group of girls and boys aged 10 to 16. It's always hilarious at bookclub, with laughing and talking and tzatziki. Bookclub will begin again in 2011.

John Marden writes to the Teen Bookclub

Dear Teen Bookclubbers -

John Marsden read everything we wrote about Tomorrow, When the War Began.

He wrote to say:

"I read the comments and love them. They use some pretty powerful words. And needless to say I was pretty happy with the number of points they assigned the book."


Isn't that great? Thanks for being great bookclubbers, guys. And thank you John for being brilliant.



If anyone is interested in joining the bookclub, please call 9689 0661 or email info@sunbookshop.com

Teen Bookclub on Tomorrow, When the War Began

We met to talk about Tomorrow, When the War Began (by John Marsden, published by Pan Macmillan) on Saturday.

Disturbing, but 4 and a half stars - Isabella
Gut-wrenching - Clare
Gory, and 4 stars - Pele
Explosive! - Alexandra
Sad, 4 and three quarter stars - Charlotte
Julian was only 10 pages in but LOVING IT.
Kate's read it over and over again and still loves it, 5 stars.

We talked about how real the story felt, like it could have been happening to us. It was really frightening to read, but so interesting and we couldn't put the book down. Most of us thought Homer was fantastic and funny and our favourite (although Corrie and Fi and Lee also got some votes). We thought that John Marsden is amazing at writing teenagers and that he got their voices completely right. We were all sad about the dogs. Pele wondered if Robyn could have been so innocent if she wasn't so religious. We discussed the moral dilemmas of fighting in a war, and what "good" and "evil" actually means.

It was a great bookclub, thank you to everyone who came. You are all now free to go and see the movie!

Next month we're reading This is Shyness by Leanne Hall. There are signed copies at the Younger Sun, available this month at 20% off!

Teen Bookclub : Tensy Farlow and the Home for Mislaid Children

On Saturday at the Younger Sun Teen Bookclub we discussed Jen Storer's remarkable Tensy Farlow and the Home for Mislaid Children. We decided that we loved Jen's attention to small details that don't really impact the story as a whole, but that created such a rich and interesting world. We loved Albie. The Watchers reminded us a little bit of the Dementors from Harry Potter. We're not sure how to pronounce the name of the river Charon (Sharon? Char-on?) but that it doesn't really matter because LYTHIA WAS VERY SCARY. But ultimately, everyone really loved it and we are so glad it was shortlisted for the CBCA Book of the Year for Younger Readers.

Next Month at Teen Bookclub: Tomorrow, When The War Began by John Marsden.