I see that Warner Brothers have just bought the rights to Skulduggery Pleasant. The debut novel of Irish playwright Derek Landy, Skulduggery Pleasant is the first of a planned nine book series. The novel crosses the horror, comedy, mystery and sci-fi genres. The story follows Skulduggery, an undead wizard and detective, his newly-acquired assistant Stephanie, and numerous magic-wielding allies as they try to prevent an evil sorcerer from unleashing a weapon of terrible power on the world. It won the Red House Children's Book Award. We have a copy in the library!

The second book 'Playing with Fire' released earlier this year is also in the library and very popular. The stories convey no messages (other than playing with fire is a bad idea!!), but are probably better without them!

Skulduggery Pleasant is the best book I have read this year! Mr G

"I try not to depend on magic these days; I try to get by on what's up here." [Skulduggery] tapped his head."There's empty space up there.""Well, yes," he said irritably, "but you know what I mean."

Stephanie: "And am I going to be accompanying you?"Skulduggery: "That depends. Do you need your parents' permission?"Her parents wanted her to find her own way in life. That's what they'd said countless times in the past. Of course, they'd been referring to school subjects and college applications and job prospects. Presumably, at no stage did they factor living skeletons and magic underworlds into their considerations. If they had, their advice would probably have been very different. Stephanie shrugged. "No, not really.""Well, that's good enough for me."

The Top Three

1. 

1. Jam-Packed Jamboree was borrowed 17 times this year...although I suspect that its popularity is not particularly due to the great literary content and more likely popular because it was one of the first graphic novels to make it into the secondary library!


2. New Moon is very popular with the girls mixing romance and vampires! 15 people borrowed the book and it deserves a place in the top three. The other books in the series are also in the library (see below).


3. Artemis Fowl is a great story. Suitable for boys or girls the story follows the evil scheme of the anti-hero Fowl. Hilariously funny at times it is a great book for young or old. It is interesting that the graphic version of the book comes in at number 5. There are lots more in this series.

Books are useless! I only ever read one book, “To Kill A Mockingbird,” and it gave me absolutely no insight on how to kill mockingbirds! Sure it taught me not to judge a man by the color of his skin…but what good does that do me? Homer Simpson

Twilight Series

Take a look at Stephenie Meyer's website ( the link is at the side of this page) for more information about the next book in the Twilight Series: Breaking Dawn. It will be released on 2nd August 2008, so we should have a copy for the start of term.
If you haven't read the other books in the series...join the queue! They are among the top ten most popular books in the library this year.

Or you could wait for the movie, but the books are ALWAYS better!

A.N.T.I.D.O.T.E - Malorie Blackman

A.N.T.I.D.O.T.E.(1996)A novel by
Malorie Blackman

It's a normal Friday evening for Elliot until the police call and tell him his mum's in serious trouble. A security video clearly shows her breaking into a giant pharmaceutical company on behalf of A.N.T.I.D.O.T.E., the environmental action group. Even worse than that, she's also gone on the run.

This book has just arrived!

"It is with the reading of books the same as with looking at pictures; one must, without doubt, without hesitations, with assurance, admire what is beautiful." Vincent Van Gogh

The Eagle of the Ninth - Rosemary Sutcliff

The Eagle of the Ninth has been heralded as one of the most outstanding children's books of the twentieth century and has sold over a million copies worldwide.

This tale takes place in ancient Roman history, the Ninth Legion marches into the wilderness of Britain and never returns. A young, former Roman commander takes it upon himself to rescue the Eagle standard of the Ninth Legion, for as long as the Eagle is recovered the spirit of the Legion lives on. And he'll need the most unexpected of people to help him on his quest. The plot moves along at a lively pace, particularly in the second half of the book.

I highly recommend this historical fiction novel, especially for anyone studying Roman history. reviewed by Belinda Z, age 13
http://tweedlebooks.blogspot.com/

This book has just arrived in the library!