Rabbit, Soldier, Angel, Thief – Katrina Nannestad

Wood splinters and Mama screams and the nearest soldier seizes her roughly by the arms. My sister pokes her bruised face out from beneath the table and shouts, ‘Run, Sasha! Run!’

So I run. I run like a rabbit.

It’s spring, 1942. The sky is blue, the air is warm and sweet with the scent of flowers.

And then everything is gone.

The flowers, the proud geese, the pretty wooden houses, the friendly neighbours. Only Sasha remains.

But one small boy, alone in war-torn Russia, cannot survive.

One small boy without a family cannot survive.

One small boy without his home cannot survive.

What that small boy needs is an army.

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind – Bryan Mealer & William Kamkwamba

 

When William Kamkwamba was a young teen, a terrible famine struck his tiny village in Malawi, Africa. The loss of crops left his family with nothing to eat or sell. Without money, William was forced to drop out of school.

Fortunately, William found hope in the village library. There, he came up with an idea that would change the lives of the people around him. He would build a windmill.

Made from junkyard scraps, William’s amazing creation would bring electricity to his home. It would help his family pump the water they needed to farm the land. And it would turn this ordinary African teenager into a hero known all around the world as the boy who harnessed the wind.

Good Reads

 

 

Deep water – Sarah Epstein

Henry Weaver is missing.
Three months ago, thirteen-year-old Henry disappeared from The Shallows during a violent storm, leaving behind his muddy mountain bike at the train station.

Mason Weaver is trapped.
While Mason doesn’t know who he is or what he’s capable of, he knows the one thing binding him to this suffocating small town is his younger brother, Henry.

Chloe Baxter wants answers.
Why would Henry run away without telling her? One of Chloe’s friends knows something and she’s determined to find out the truth.

As Chloe wades into dangerous waters and Mason’s past emerges, a chilling question ripples to the surface: how far would you go to keep a secret?

Good Reads

The peacock detectives – Carly Nugent

Eleven-turning-twelve-year-old Cassie is an expert Peacock Detective.

Her sharp eye for details is why the Hudsons from across the street call her every time their pet peacocks wander away.

But there are some things even the greatest Peacock Detective can’t figure out, like why her best friend is so angry lately; why her older sister is cutting her hair off; or why her parents are acting like they don’t know each other anymore.

Cassie is an expert at solving things. But what’s a master detective to do when her whole world is changing, and all the answers are out of reach?

Good Reads

Little women 2019 (movie)

The library of lost things – Laura Taylor Namey

From the moment she first learned to read, literary genius Darcy Wells has spent most of her time living in the worlds of her books. There, she can avoid the crushing reality of her mother’s hoarding and pretend her life is simply ordinary. But when a new property manager becomes more active in the upkeep of their apartment complex, the only home Darcy has ever known outside of her books suddenly hangs in the balance.

While Darcy is struggling to survive beneath the weight of her mother’s compulsive shopping, Asher Fleet, a former teen pilot with an unexpectedly shattered future, walks into the bookstore where she works…and straight into her heart. For the first time in her life, Darcy can’t seem to find the right words. Fairy tales are one thing, but real love makes her want to hide inside her carefully constructed ink-and-paper bomb shelter.

Still, after spending her whole life keeping people out, something about Asher makes Darcy want to open up. But securing her own happily-ever-after will mean she’ll need to stop hiding and start living her own truth – even if it’s messy.

Good Reads

Ford v Ferrari (movie)

The Secret Society for Second Born Royals (movie)

Scars like wings – Erin Stewart

Before, I was a million things. Now I’m only one. The Burned Girl.

Ava Lee has lost everything there is to lose: Her parents. Her best friend. Her home. Even her face. She doesn’t need a mirror to know what she looks like–she can see her reflection in the eyes of everyone around her.

A year after the fire that destroyed her world, her aunt and uncle have decided she should go back to high school. Be “normal” again. Whatever that is. Ava knows better. There is no normal for someone like her. And forget making friends–no one wants to be seen with the Burned Girl, now or ever.

But when Ava meets a fellow survivor named Piper, she begins to feel like maybe she doesn’t have to face the nightmare alone. Sarcastic and blunt, Piper isn’t afraid to push Ava out of her comfort zone. Piper introduces Ava to Asad, a boy who loves theater just as much as she does, and slowly, Ava tries to create a life again. Yet Piper is fighting her own battle, and soon Ava must decide if she’s going to fade back into her scars . . . or let the people by her side help her fly.

Good Reads

Private practice (TV series)