Jasper Jones – Craig Silvey

It is the summer of 1965 and Charlie Bucktin is a 13-year-old boy in the mining town of Corrigan. Charlie is engrossed in the novels of William Faulkner, Harper Lee, Flannery O’Connor and Mark Twain. On the sweaty night that he begins reading Pudd’nhead Wilson, Jasper Jones, an older indigenous boy, appears at his window. “Jasper Jones,” Charlie explains, “has a terrible reputation in Corrigan. He’s a thief, a liar, a thug, a truant.”

Jasper needs Charlie’s help. He leads Charlie out of town to his secret glade deep in the bush. Here Laura Wishart hangs dead from a tree. Charlie, terrified, insists on reporting her death but Jasper is convinced that it is murder and that he is being framed for it: “This town, they think I’m a bloody animal … They don’t need any more than what they see right here.” So they cut Laura from the tree, weigh down her body with granite and dump it in a dam. Pledging secrecy, Jasper and Charlie also vow to expose Laura’s killer.

The Age

hittheroadjacq.com

Fallen – Lauren Kate

Seventeen-Year-Old Luce is a new student at Sword & Cross, an unwelcoming boarding/reform school in Savannah, Georgia.

Luce’s boyfriend died under suspicious circumstances, and now she carries the guilt over his death with her

as she navigates the unfriendly halls at Sword & Cross, where every student seems to have an unpleasant—even evil—history.

It’s only when she sees Daniel, a gorgeous fellow student, that Luce feels there’s a reason to be here—

though she doesn’t know what it is.

And Daniel’s frosty cold demeanor toward her? It’s really a protective device that he’s used again . . . and again.

Good reads
Examiner

Kath and Kim (movie)

Boy overboard – Morris Gleitzman

Jamal loves playing football, which isn’t easy is your goalie only has one leg

and you keep having to dodge landmines to get your ball back.

Jamal’s stubborn little sister, Bibi, is even better at football than Jamal.

But girls playing football is against the law in Afghanistan.

When it is discovered that Jamal’s mother has been secretly running a school,

the family must leave their home immediately and begin a long and dangerous journey to Australia.

The children survive separation from their parents, hunger, and violent smugglers

only to find that Australia isn’t as welcoming as they had thought but, even though they face an uncertain future,

Jamal, Bibi and their parents know that as long as they are together, that is all that matters.

getthemreading

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 (Movie)

Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban (movie)

The Lorax (movie)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 (movie)

Coin heist (movie)

Captain America – Winter soldier (movie)