Are you into audio books? They’re a great way to multi-task because you can read with your ears while you drive, do chores or even exercise.
Summer Reading
Tag: YA Lit
Ms. Haigh Reads – Under a Painted Sky
Under a Painted Sky by Stacey Lee is an exhilarating western filled with numerous twists, turns and near misses. Set during the California gold rush, the story follows the unlikely pairing of two young women: a young Chinese fiddle player and a runaway black slave who must fight to stay alive. Brought together by unfortunate circumstances the girls lean on each other as they begin the treacherous journey West towards safety and a potentially better life. Pretending to be boys to keep their identities hidden, the girls befriend a group of young cowboys and struggle to learn the pioneering skills necessary to stay alive. This is a book filled with painful moments of racism, the power of friendship and the difficulty of unrequited love. But most of all, it is about adventure, survival and the ability we all have to surprise ourselves with our own strength. Though the events are at times implausible, it is still a good read if you enjoy exciting stories about the Wild West.
Ms. Haigh Reads – An Ember in the Ashes
I will start this post off with the fact that I am not generally a fantasy fan. I have always had difficulty picturing imaginary worlds, but in an effort to expand my horizons I read An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir and absolutely loved it.
Though it is fantasy, the world is accessible and filled with the perfect amounts of gore, mystery and romance. Fans of the Hunger Games, will definitely enjoy this book.
This is the first book in a four part series and Tahir creates a gore filled world which is allegedly based on Ancient Rome. In this world, the Emperor rules with an iron fist and kills anyone who goes against his will, but a revolution is rising amongst the lower classes.
Told in alternating points of view, the story follows a young woman named Laia who agrees to spy for the rebel cause after her brother is arrested. Her seemingly impossible mission is to spy on the head of the world’s elite military academy where hand-picked children are trained to become deadly assassins.
There she meets Elias, the school’s best soldier who is having second thoughts about his life of violence and murder. As the story develops their destinies become intertwined as they each struggle with how to fight against the tyrannical system.
Ms. Haigh Reads – The Crossover
The Crossover by Kwame Alexander is a story about family and basketball that is written in verse. This means that the entire novel is made up of poems. But don’t be turned off if you don’t like poetry, these poems are more like hip-hop lyrics and spoken word than ‘traditional’ poems.
The plot is easy to follow and focuses predominantly on the basketball games and lives of star athletes (and twin brothers) JB and Josh. Josh is the narrator and spends a large part of the book competing with his brother for acclaim on the court, and this competitive spirit is only heightened by their father, a former European league basketball champion who works them hard off the court. But when JB gets a girlfriend and Josh starts to realize that his dad is quietly suffering from a life threatening illness, everything changes.
This book is for you if you like sports, basketball, hip-hop/ rap or if you’ve ever felt that you were in competition with a friend or sibling.
Ms. Haigh Reads – Flannery by Lisa Moore
Flannery by Lisa Moore is a story of love, friendship and struggle.
Flannery Malone is a 16 year old in Newfoundland, living on welfare and helping her free-spirited mother raise her younger brother. But despite her struggles at home, what dominates most of her attention is her love for her childhood best friend Tyrone, but he hardly even acknowledges her existence. So, when they are paired up in entrepreneurship class to create and market an innovative product, making and selling a love potion seems like the obvious choice. But when their love potions seem to start working, everything else starts falling apart.
This story has everything from humour to devastation to romance, so check it out!
Ms. Haigh reads – The Nest by Kenneth Oppel
The Nest by Kenneth Oppel is a quick page turner that is both creepy and haunting.
Steve is a young man who will do anything to help his sickly newborn baby brother. Haunted by bad dreams, Steve’s reality and his imagination start to blur throughout the story and leave him constantly worrying and full of anxiety. Instead of relaxing for the summer, Steve spends his vacation fixated on the fact that his life feels like it is spinning out control. But when a mysterious stranger comes to him in a dream and offers a way to make is brother better, how can Steve say no? But this deal is full of loopholes and may have disastrous consequences that will leave Steve fighting for more than just his baby brother’s life.
Not only is this eerie story an enjoyable read, but it is also littered with dark and creepy illustrations by Jon Klassen and is definitely worth checking out.