In this sequel to Misery Guts, the ever-cheerful Keith Shipley has reached Australia, but even halfway around the world, he frets over his parents’ happiness, hoping that making a fortune in the opal mines will save his family.
Realistic Fiction
Realistic Fiction genre
The Genuine Half-Moon Kid: 9
To escape South Africa’s turmoil, recent high-school graduate Jay Watson begins a journey that gives him new purpose, connected to the mysterious contents of a box that had belonged to his grandfather. By the author of Crocodile Burning.
Twenty-Four Hours
It is seventeen-year-old Ellis’s first night at home after graduating from prep school. By chance he bumps into Jackie Cattle, whom he remembers from grade school. Jackie is a couple of years older than Ellis, a drifter, disreputable, yet with an odd charm and a disarming wit. For the next twenty-four hours, Ellis enters an extraordinary world on the fringe of society that he never knew existed. Jackie introduces him to life at the Land-of-Smiles, a dilapidated motel where nightly a strange collection of local characters gather to drink and talk. Two attractive sisters, Ursa and Leona, the elder studying to be a lawyer, live there. Leona loves and takes care of a baby whose mother stops in only once in a while. Then the baby disappears, and Ellis is thrust into a wild, sometimes almost violent search for the child. This is a stunning novel that grips the reader as it sweeps to its conclusion. Rich characterization, breathtaking action, and an ultimately heartwarming solution distinguish this latest triumph of Margaret Mahy.
New Clothes for New Year’s Day
The New Year is the start of everything new. A young Korean girl prepares for celebrating the Lunar New Year’s Day, and the book shows a step-by-step description of her dressing in her outfit.
Featured in WOW Review Volume XI, Issue 3
Under the Ramadan Moon
Ramadan is one of the most special months of the Islamic year, when Muslims pray, fast, and help those in need. This story serves as an introduction to Ramadan.
Misery Guts
High-spirited Keith Shipley tries to cheer up his gloomy parents, nicknamed the “”misery guts,”” using such ploys as painting their favorite restaurant a Tropical Mango Hi-Gloss color.
Indigo’s Star
It’s back to school for the start of a new term, and the eccentric Cassons are up to their old tricks! Indigo, having just recovered from a bout of mononucleosis, must return to school after missing an entire semester. Only his younger sister and loyal sidekick, Rose, knows why he’s dreading it so much. As it turns out, the school bullies are eagerly awaiting Indigo’s return so that they can pick up where they left off — flushing his head in the toilet. But Indigo hasn’t counted on meeting Tom, an American student who is staying with his grandmother in England for the year. With his couldn’t-care-less attitude and rock-and-roll lifestyle, Tom becomes Indigo’s ally, and together they work to take back the school. Meanwhile, eight-year-old Rose is desperately trying to avoid wearing horrible glasses, nineteen-year-old Caddy is agonizing over her many suitors, Saffy is working overtime with her best friend, Sarah, to protect Indigo from the gang, and with their father, Bill, in London at his art studio, their mother, Eve, is just trying to stay on top of it all! In this hilarious, heartwarming companion to her award-winning Saffy’s Angel, Hilary McKay shows us a new side of the Cassons and reminds us that nothing is stronger than the bonds of family.
Are U 4 Real?
Kyla is exactly the kind of girl Alex could never talk to in real life. She’s a gorgeous, outspoken L.A. girl who parties to forget about her absent father and depressed mother. He’s a shy ballet dancer from outside San Francisco who’s never been kissed. Luckily, when these 16-year-olds meet for the first time it’s not in real life–it’s in a chat room, where they can share their feelings of isolation and frustration away from the conformity-obsessed high school scene. Alex and Kyla quickly forge a friendship that’s far from virtual–maybe they’re even falling in love. But what happens when the soul mate you’ve never met moves from online to in person? Sara Kadefors’s wildly romantic, award-winning Swedish bestseller perfectly captures the universal angst of being a teenager, and the perhaps even more universal struggle to negotiate identity in a multi-platform world.
Lockie Leonard, Scumbuster
Nothing’s simple for Lockie Leonard. He’s only lived in town for a year and his dad’s the local police sergeant, two facts that don’t win Lockie any popularity contests. Dumped by his popular girlfriend, he’s back to being the loneliest kid in town until he makes friends with Geoff Eggleston, or Egg, the weirdest human being Lockie’s ever known. Egg is a dark-haired, pimply-faced, very bright “Metal Head” who can’t even swim, though their town is right on the Australian coast. By contrast, Lockie is a trim, blond, expert surfer. Lockie and Egg decide to somehow clean up the town’s harbor, partly covered with scum from industrial waste. In the middle of all their planning, Lockie falls in love again, with a girl who turns out to be only eleven. To make it worse, she surfs better than he does, though he’s the best in his school. Can a thirteen-year-old surfrat have a headbanger for a best friend, stay in love with an eleven-year-old gremmie, and still save his town from industrial pollution? Tim Winton is a prize-winning Australion novelist whose The Riders was short-listed for the 1996 Booker Prize. He himself is an, expert surfer. With rich characterization, strong narrative drive, and much humor, Winton has written a contemporary story that reflects the concerns of all teenagers and will reach a wide audience.
Would You
WOULD YOU RATHER know what’s going to happen or not know? A summer night. A Saturday. For Natalie’s amazing older sister, Claire, this summer is fantastic, because she’s zooming off to college in the fall. For Natalie, it’s a fun summer with her friends; nothing special. When Claire is hit by a car, the world changes in a heartbeat. Over the next four days, moment by moment, Natalie, her parents, and their friends wait to learn if Claire will ever recover.