MUFYreading



=MUFY English Book Club=

The Golden Day by Ursula Dubosarsky

Ursula Dubosarsky has written wonderful stories based around major Australian events.

The Golden Day is a tale about a teacher who disappears while in a cave, and how her small class of 11 girls act when they cannot find her; forming a pact of silence. A very atmospheric novel set on the day the last person was hanged in Australia. You can read more about the Golden Day here

read more about Ursula Dubosarsky on her website =[|**Ursula Dubosarsky's website**]=

= = =Happy as Larry by Scott Gardner=

The not-so-ordinary life of a boy named Larry, set against the great events of the world.

Description
Laurence Augustine Rainbow is born into an ordinary family, and seems set for an ordinary life. But as the world changes around him, so does the happiness of his own family.

Unique, dark and ultimately uplifting, this is a beautiful story of one family - and one boy - trying to hold their heads above water in a world quietly gone mad.

Teachers’ Notes by Fran Knight - Happy as Larry by Scot Gardner

=To Kill a Mockingbird voted UK's best-loved book= Harper Lee's novel edges out previous favourites Pride and Prejudice and The Lord of the Rings

Some of my favourite reads are on this list: Would you like to read any of these books?
We meet Sydney-sider Peta after she has decided to accept a twelve-month contract in Melbourne, and live apart from her adoring boyfriend James. What follows is a light-hearted romp recounting her daily adventures in Melbourne, artfully woven with commentary on politics and the arts. (from MC reviews http://reviews.media-culture.org.au/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=2857)

In the small town of Perdido Beach, California, everyone fifteen and over mysteriously disappears in the blink of an eye. In school, no one knows what to do and there is mass chaos and confusion among the remaining population (Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gone_(series))

Luxe is set in Manhattan, 1899 and explores the world of the Holland sisters who have grown up in a world of wealth and luxury. As the family fortunes decline it falls to the older daughter, Elizabeth, to accept an unwanted marriage proposal. Her ‘best’ friend Penelope Clay is furious as she has an interest in Elizabeth’s fiancé Henry Schoonmaker, and the plot thickens when her younger sister falls love with him also.

” This story involves lots of pus, blood and nasty injuries, in a series of clashes between near-feral children and even more feral grown-ups. Set in London, from Archway Pool and the Holloway Road Waitrose to Buckingham Palace and the Tower of London, it follows a band of children trying to survive under repeated attack from slow-witted, drooling, cannibal adults..." The Sunday Times review by Nicolette Jones All 16-year-old Cameron wants is to get through high school—and life in general—with a minimum of effort. It’s not a lot to ask. But that’s before he’s given some bad news: he’s sick and he’s going to die. Which totally sucks. Hope arrives in the winged form of Dulcie, a loopy punk angel/possible hallucination with a bad sugar habit. She tells Cam there is a cure—if he’s willing to go in search of it. With the help of a death-obsessed, video-gaming dwarf and a yard gnome, Cam sets off on the mother of all road trips through a twisted America into the heart of what matters most. (From novel thoughts blog http://www.novelthoughtsblog.com/2011/04/review-going-bovine-by-libba-bray.html) Would you like to read this book. Sign besides the book cover Magic is dangerous--but love is more dangerous still. When sixteen-year-old Tessa Gray crosses the ocean to find her brother, her destination is England, the time is the reign of Queen Victoria, and something terrifying is waiting for her in London's Downworld, where vampires, warlocks and other supernatural folk stalk the gaslit streets. Only the Shadowhunters,...more (From Good Reads http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7171637-clockwork-angel)

Prince Aleksander, would-be heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, is on the run. His own people have turned on him. His title is worthless. All he has is a battletorn war machine and a loyal crew of men. Deryn Sharp is a commoner, disguised as a boy in the British Air Service. She’s a brilliant airman. But her secret is in constant danger of being discovered. With World War I brewing, Alek and Deryn’s paths cross in the most unexpected ways, taking them on a fantastical, around-the-world adventure that will change both their lives forever. (From http://scottwesterfeld.com/books/leviathan/)

There's a reason more than 10 million Twilight series books are in print. Twilight, the first in the series, is the addictive story of two teenagers –- Bella, a regular girl, and Edward, a perfect gentleman and a vampire. This is the type of book you might read in just a few sittings, becoming engrossed in its fantastical world and oblivious to your physical surroundings. While not the next great thing in modern literature, it's a fun book to get lost in and comes to an end much too quickly. (From http://bestsellers.about.com/od/fictionreviews/gr/twilight.htm) An epic and gripping tale of catastrophe and survival, The Passage is the story of Amy–abandoned by her mother at the age of six, pursued and then imprisoned by the shadowy figures behind a government experiment of apocalyptic proportions. But Special Agent Wolgast, the lawman sent to track her down, is disarmed by the curiously quiet girl—and risks everything to save her. As the experiment goes nightmarishly wrong, Wolgast secures her escape—but he can’t stop society’s collapse. And as Amy walks alone, across miles and decades, into a future dark with violence and despair, she is filled with the mysterious and terrifying knowledge that only she has the power to save the ruined world. (From http://enterthepassage.com/)

=Let Michael know if you want him to buy any of these books or any other novel for the Library= =100 Notable Books of 2010 from the New York Times=

The Hypnotist by Lars Kepler [|The last werewolf by Glen Duncan]


 * I am reading** **Kraken by China Mieville**[[image:lastwerewolf.gif width="147" height="227"]]

Hunger by Michael Grant I have just finished Hunger and loved this follow on to Gone**.** and now we have the third in the Trilogy Lies
 * '**Things aren’t getting any easier in the FAYZ (Fall-out Alley Youth Zone) since the big Thanksgiving Battle against Caine and the other Coates Academy kids. In fact, everything seems to be going from bad to worse. Sam, the appointed leader of Perdido Beach, is feeling the pressure of all the day to day decisions. The biggest problem that everyone is facing is starvation.' More here


 * Liar by Justine Larbalestier**

I loved Liar, this is a book with many twists and turns and surprises. Micah's boyfriend has gone missing suspected murdered. What role did Micah play in his demise? Can we believe a word she says, as she and her friends recover in the aftermath, and are subject to a police investigation. As we read the story we are reminded constantly that the story is being told by a self confessed liar who keeps on telling the reader that she is in fact telling the truth.


 * We love the Luxe books @olmclibrary. Here are reviews of the first two titles. We need reviews of Envy and Splendor. Here is a [|booktraile for Luxe]**


 * Luxe by Anna Godberson**

Luxe is set in Manhattan, 1899 and explores the world of the Holland sisters who have grown up in a world of wealth and luxury. As the family fortunes decline it falls to the older daughter, Elizabeth, to accept an unwanted marriage proposal. Her ‘best’ friend Penelope Clay is furious as she has an interest in Elizabeth’s fiancé Henry Schoonmaker, and the plot thickens when her younger sister falls love with him also.

Luxe is a great read and follows in the tradition of the great 19th century writers who explored these themes but it is written in a knowing 21st century style. Follow the twists and turns of this love triangle and be enthralled by the drama of a family who must marry off its daughters in order to keep their social position.

Rumours by Anna Godberson

This is the much anticipated follow up to Luxe which has just arrived in the Library. Elizabeth Holland is in California when word comes from her sister Dianna that their mother is ill. Dianna is floundering without her big sister to look after the family interests and is being groomed to marry her late father’s business partner whose intentions are not honourable. Henry Schoonmaker is trying to avoid marrying Penelope Clay. Will Henry and Dianna get together?

I agree, this is a really great read. It reminded me of Henry James' novel Portrait of a Lady. This is also about a beautiful young American woman, a bit like Emma from Jane Austen, who is determined not to marry. However, her life turns out quite differently from that she expected, largely because of her marriage.

Find out more about the Luxe books here []




 * Handling the Undead by John Ajvide Lindqvist**

One day in Stockholm, Sweden, the lights go funny and the electricity goes off, everyone gets a migraine and the dead come alive, so far so Steven King. The novel looks at the impact the ‘reliving’ have on several families who have lost their loved ones who have come back but are not the same as they once were.

This is an engrossing ‘horror’ story which looks at how a society (the state) and individuals deal with an unnatural phenomenon.


 * **Gone by Michael Grant**

I loved this story about the day all the adults disappear and the remaining children have to look after themselves. Anarchy develops and the children split into factions without adults and teachers to sort them out. Chaos ensures as the older children desperately try to find out what is going on before they turn 15 and vanish as well. This is a great story about survival in a hostile environment. I can't wait for the sequel - read more here [] ||  ||   ||

This is a great story about a young girl who is aware that there is a great mystery regarding her own mother and father and the circumstances of her birth. Homeschooled by her father and living in a huge big house, Ariella does not get out much but when she does mayhem and murders follow. After the death of her new best friend, Ariella runs away from home determined to find her mother who disappeared on the day of her birth. She finds her mother and hopes to bring her parents together, but then finds out that her house has been sold and that her father has now disappeared. Will Ariella find her father and bring her parents back together…? Find out more about this book on the [|official website]
 * The Society of S by Susan Hubbard**

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