Holiday Reading 2003

Fiction for Young Adults

Banks, Lynne Reid The dungeon: Set in medieval Scotland and China this paints a vivid picture of a very harsh period of history.
Black, Holly Tithe: a modern faerie tale: Sixteen-year-old Kaye, who has been visited by faeries since childhood, discovers that she herself is a magical faerie creature with a special destiny.
Brashares, Ann The second summer of the sisterhood: Lena's in love - but will it end in a broken heart? Bridget's about to face up to some painful truths about her late mother; Carmen's hoping destiny will play her cards right, and Tibby's going to film school. Sequel to The sisterhood of the traveling pants.
Brooks, Kevin Lucas: This novel explores the destructive nature of prejudice and mob violence. Caitlin encounters Lucas, a stranger on the island of Hale, who is a mysterious but doomed figure.
Burgess, Melvin Doing it: Dino is the boy who has the illicit party while his parents are absent; Jonathon has angst; Ben has the raunchy affair with the teacher; and Jackie won't let Dino have sex with her! A controversial novel with both supporters and detractors.
Cross, Gillian The dark ground: Robert is alone, in a strange jungle. He has no food, no shelter, no warmth. Unfamiliar creatures are roaming about - and he's not even sure how he got there. Follow the story of Robert's struggle for survival, and his extraordinary realization of where he is and what has happened to him.
Destination unexpected: short stories: edited by Donald R. Gallo Coming-of-age stories.
Disher, Garry Eva's angel: Nye is an Australian painter who has helped to set up a mentorship scheme whereby Italian master craftsmen teach young Australian artists. Matt is one of these students, but he begins to feel wary of the enigmatic Nye and aided by another student, Eva, begins to suspect his motives.
Donnelly, Jennifer A gathering light: When Mattie is given letters by a guest at the hotel in which she works, she promises to burn them. When the guest is found drowned the next day, Mattie has to think hard about her promise. Slowly, the stories of the murdered woman and Mattie's quest for freedom merge.
Dubosarsky, Ursula Abyssinia: As small children, growing up at their property called Abyssinia, Grace and Mary played with their dolls house together, side by side, always. A story about sisters.
Fine, Anne The more the merrier: Traditionally, families gather together for Christmas. In Ralph's case, this means ten or more weird adults and ghastly cousins. Jammed into a small house for three days, the TV on the blink and Mum on the verge of a breakdown, it soon becomes obvious that 'more' definitely does not mean 'merrier'.
Frank, E. R. Friction: When a new girl at the private school Alex attends starts rumours about Alex's favourite teacher, Alex and her eighth-grade classmates are not sure how to act around him or with each other.
Fredericks, Mariah The true meaning of cleavage: Sari and Jess are best friends and total opposites. They've liked each other ever since they discovered that they are the only two normal people at Eldridge Alternative. Now Jess has a new worry. Because if David is interested in Sari, Sari may not be interested in being Jess's best friend anymore. Cool is cool and geek is geek, and at Eldridge, the two definitely do not mix.
Galloway, Priscilla The courtesan's daughter: From humble beginnings, Phano rises to become one of ancient Athens' most powerful citizens through her marriage to Theo, but they both have powerful enemies who don't share their political views.
Gardner, Graham Inventing Elliot: Elliot is determined to reinvent himself at his new school. This time he will be so cool that no bully will touch him. But he is too successful. Taken up by the Guardians, a mysterious group who control and manipulate others to create a reign of terror, he is invited to become one of them.
Gibbons, Alan Caught in the crossfire: Set in a Northern town where right wingers are determined to stir up hatred and racial prejudice, Caught in the crossfire is about six teenagers whose lives are woven together by a series of shocking and tragic events.
Going, Kelly Fat kid rules the world: Seventeen-year-old Troy, depressed, suicidal, and weighing nearly 300 pounds, gets a new perspective on life when a homeless teenager who is a genius on guitar wants Troy to be the drummer in his rock band.
Goodman, Joan E. Paradise: based on a true story of survival: In 1542, eager to escape the French Huguenot household of her harsh father, sixteen-year-old Marguerite de la Rocque sails with her equally stern uncle, the Sieur de Roberval, to the New World, where she is left alone on an island with only her young Catholic lover and her chaperone to help her survive.
Gray, Keith Malarkey: Brook High is a great grey concrete ants' nest of a school. John Malarkey is the new kid, thrown in at the deep end of Year 11. He's the wrong person in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Gross, Philip The lastling: Paris is on a trek in the Himalayas with her uncle and his friends. On the way they come across a young Tibetan monk, Tahr, who reluctantly joins the party as his protector has died in an accident. Paris realizes the true reason for the journey, as she and Tahr strive to protect a strange animal.
Haddon, Mark The curious incident of the dog in the night-time: A murder mystery like no other, this novel features Christopher Boone, a 15 year-old who suffers from Asperger's syndrome. When he finds a neighbour's dog murdered, he sets out on a terrifying journey destined to turn his whole world upside down.
Hautman, Pete Sweetblood: After a lifetime of being a model student, sixteen-year-old Lucy Szabo is suddenly in trouble: at school; at home; with the 'proto-vampires' she has met online and in person; and most of all with her uncontrolled diabetes.
Hearn, Julie Follow me down: The story of Tom, who travels back in time to the 18th century where he meets a group of people who are displayed as freaks at Bartholomew Fair. Tom is able to help them, while at the same he acquires the strength to tackle his own, modern-day problems.
Hearn, Lian Grass For His Pillow: Book two in the Otori Trilogy.
Hesse, Karen Aleutian sparrow: An Aleutian Islander recounts her suffering during World War II in American internment camps designed to 'protect' the population from the invading Japanese.
Hoeye, Michael The sands of time: The second adventure of the watchmaker mouse Hermux Tantamoq.
Hoffman, Alice Green angel: When her family is killed in a terrible disaster, 15-year-old Green is haunted by loss. Struggling to survive both physically and emotionally, Green retreats into the realm of her garden. It is only through a series of mysterious encounters that she relearns the lessons of love and begins to heal.
Hooper, Mary At the sign of the Sugared Plum: Hannah is excited about her first trip to London to help her sister in her shop 'The Sugared Plum'. Hannah does not however get the reception she expected from her sister. Instead of giving Hannah a hearty welcome, she is horrified that Hannah did not get her message to stay away. Set in 1665.
Horowitz, Anthony Eagle strike: Fourth in the series featuring the indomitable Alex Rider.
Johnson, Kathleen Jeffrie The parallel universe of liars: Surrounded by sexually unfaithful and physically beautiful adults, Robin, a fifteen-year-old fat girl, misses her best friend who has recently moved, gives in to an older neighbour's sexual advances, and doesn't recognize that a handsome black classmate likes her as she is.
Jones, Diana Wynne The Merlin conspiracy: When Nick slides into a world far from ours - a world of magic, pageantry and ritual - Roddy, who exists there, needs his help: the world is not working as it should and a new Merlin has taken the place of the old. Nick wants to help, but what makes Roddy believe he is a magic-user?
Koja, Kathe Buddha boy: Justin spends time with Jinsen, the unusual and artistic new student whom the school bullies torment and call Buddha Boy, and ends up making choices that affect Jinsen, himself, and the entire school.
Mackler, Carolyn The earth, my butt and other big round things: Feeling like she does not fit in with the other members of her family, who are all thin, brilliant, and good-looking, fifteen-year-old Virginia tries to deal with her self-image, her first physical relationship, and her disillusionment with some of the people closest to her.
Magrs, Paul Hands up!: Ventriloquist Frank Lurcher is a washed-out, grumpy has-been and his scraggy puppet Tolstoy is stuffed away in a trunk in the loft. But Tolstoy the Long-Eared Bat is making a come-back along with a gruesome revenge on the showbiz puppets and people that wronged him in the past.
Marchetta, Melina Saving Francesca: Moving from her familiar school and circle of friends into a mostly all-boys' school, Francesca struggles to make a place for herself, a task complicated by the depression her mother is suffering. By the author of Looking for Alibrandi .
Mark, Jan Something in the air: Peggy is a fifteen-year-old at odds with the world around her. Her older sister berates her constantly for being messy. Her teachers reprimand her for being unladylike. Her best friend has stopped talking to her. And now, she's got the strangest sounds reverberating through her head. Could they really be voices from another world, as her auntie thinks? Or is there a simpler explanation? A novel of family life in the 1920s.
Mark, Jan The Stratford boys: Will spends his days fitting gloves to pretty hands in his father's busy shop. But the good people of Stratford require a play and Will finds himself responsible. With the help of a motley selection of friends and neighbours, will he get to hear the sound of applause when they take to the stage?
Marsden, John While I live: the Ellie chronicles: The town of Wirrawee is emerging from war, slowly, like flowers after a cold snap. Businesses are starting to reopen, the school has re-commenced classes, and local farmers are gradually repossessing their land. But it's not the same Australia as before the war.
Moloney, James Black taxi: A humorous novel in which a teenage girl becomes responsible for her grandfather's old Mercedes and the surprising number of people dependant on it.
Moriarty, Jaclyn Finding Cassie crazy: Cassie is in Year 10 at Ashbury High. Ashbury students claim that the kids at Brookfield High are drug-dealers and psychopaths. Their teacher starts a pen-pal project which leads to an escalation of the war between the two schools, to secret romance and to Cassie learning to face her fears.
Morpurgo, Michael Private Peaceful: Told in the voice of a young soldier, the story follows 24 hours in his life at the front during World War I, and captures his memories as he looks back over his life. Full of detail and engrossing atmosphere, the book leads to a dramatic and moving conclusion.
Morgan, Nicola Fleshmarket: In nineteenth-century Scotland, following the death of his mother during surgery, Robbie decides to take revenge on the surgeon who performed the operation, Dr. Robert Knox, and in the process, makes a gruesome discovery about the lengths the medical profession will go to advance its knowledge.
Nix, Garth Abhorsen: Abhorsen-In-Waiting Lirael and Prince Sameth, a Wallmaker, must confront and bind the evil spirit Oranis before it can destroy all life.
Oates, Joyce Carol Small avalanches and other stories: A collection of twelve short stories.
Peck, Richard The river between us: During the early days of the Civil War, the Pruitt family takes in two mysterious young ladies who have fled New Orleans to come north to Illinois.
Peters, Julie Anne Keeping you a secret: As she begins a very tough last semester of high school, Holland finds herself puzzled about her future and intrigued by a transfer student who wants to start a Lesbigay club at school.
Pierce, Tamora Shatterglass: Tris and her mage-student, a young man whose glassmaking magic has been amplified and mixed with lightning, team up to track a killer who may be nearer than they suspect. Book four in The circle opens series.
Price, Susan The Sterkarm kiss: The Time Tube has been reopened and people are able once again to travel back five centuries. Sequel to The Sterkarm handshake.
Rapp, Adam 33 snowfish: A homeless boy, running from the police with a fifteen-year-old, drug-addicted prostitute, her boyfriend who just killed his own parents, and a baby, gets the chance to make a better life for himself.
Rees, Celia Pirates!: When a young woman is sent to the West Indies to marry well, her life takes a very unexpected turn. She does not marry the man her family thought was destined for her. Instead she runs off with an escaped slave girl and they take to the high seas and become pirates.
Sedgwick, Marcus The book of dead days: Set in a dark threatening city and a frozen countryside this is a story of sorcery and desperate magic as Boy and Willow battle to save Valerian's life, little realising the price they will be asked to pay.
Simmons, Michael Pool boy: When his father is arrested for insider trading and his family loses all their money, Brett Gerson takes a job as an assistant to a 70-something pool cleaner in his former wealthy California neighbourhood and learns some valuable life lessons.
Singer, Nicky Doll: There is something strange about Tilly's doll, something dangerous. And there are questions that have not been answered. Is Tilly's mother really dead, or is there a more painful reason for her absence?
Slade, Arthur G. Dust: Eleven-year-old Robert is the only one who can help when a mysterious stranger arrives, performing tricks and promising to bring rain, at the same time as children begin to disappear from a dust bowl farm town in Saskatchewan in the 1930s.
Sleator, William Parasite Pig: Sixteen-year-old Barney, infected by an alien parasite, and his friend Katie are taken to the planet J'koot by extraterrestrials intent on playing the dangerous game known as Interstellar Pig. Sequel to Interstellar Pig.
Stroud, Jonathan The Amulet of Samarkand: The Djinni Abartimaeus is summoned by a young apprentice, Nathaniel, to steal the Amulet of Samarkand from the powerful magician, Simon Lovelace. Chaos and action ensue but the apprentice and the djinn save the day. Part one of the 'Amulet' trilogy.
Updale, Eleanor Montmorency: When a petty thief falls through a glass roof trying to escape from the police, what should have been the death of him marks the beginning of a whole new life. He soon becomes the most elusive burglar in Victorian London, adopting a dual existence as both thief and fashionable, wealthy gentleman.
Vijayaraghavan, Vineeta Motherland: The Other Side of my Heart: Maya, who is 15, is sent over from the United States to stay with her relatives in India for the summer when she would much rather be back home with her friends.
Wallace, Karen Wendy: The story of Wendy Darling before she met the boy who wouldn't grow up. One night she sees her father kiss vile Lady Cunningham. The image of it beckons Wendy into a dark, adult world of mystery and lies, one where her beautiful mother shows herself in an entirely different light.
Wild, Margaret One night: The parties in other people's houses were Bram's idea, planned impeccably to leave no trace when the owners return. Gabe's job is to collect girls - beautiful and careless, just like him. But then comes Helen, who stays with Gabe until morning; just one night, but with consequences for them all.
Wooding, Chris Poison: When Poison's beloved baby sister is snatched by the phaeries, she leaves her suffocating hometown, deep in the marshes of the human realm, to rescue her. Many dangers await, including the horrifying Bone Witch, the capricious phaerie king, and Lady Asinastra, queen of the spiders.
Yolen, Jane Sword of the rightful king: a novel of King Arthur: Merlinnus the magician devises a way for King Arthur to prove himself the rightful king of England - pulling a sword from a stone - but trouble arises when someone else removes the sword first.