Fallen Star Stories: childrens books & other ephemera
The Rest Of Us Just Live Here
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There are few writers today like Patrick Ness. His turn of phrase and unusual gift of expression create powerful, yet subtle novels for young adults. With his latest work, The Rest Of Us Just Live Here due out at the end of August, he has created a unique voice for the ordinary, everyday teenager. On the cusp of entering the adult world, a group of friends in a small town find themselves the unwitting background for the more dramatic, extraordinary lives of the 'chosen few'...those who have to fight off zombies or vampires or whatever threat of mass extinction is the current thing. This is the story of Mikey, a normal kid who, with his friends, just want to graduate from high school and do normal things before someone or something blows up the high school....again. These kids are just normal; well, everyone except Jared, who just might be a god or something.With some lovely nuanced passages with the very-much-in-the-background
adults, comes an implication that perhaps these weird, earth-shaking
events occurring in the lives of these ordinary teenagers have happened
before; or at least something very similar. This is the story of us all.
Told with compassion, humour and acknowledgement of the sheer frustration of just trying to get through life, The Rest Of Us Just Live Here is exceptional in a world of young adult literature that is becoming almost as confusing as those pivotal years themselves. With incredibly accurate insight, Ness has given a true and memorable voice to those not quite so memorable and he has done so with an insanely beautiful writing style and character portrayal.
Not all of us have to be heroes; not all of us have to save the world, some of us are just collateral damage... the rest of us just live here.
The Rights of the Reader; Daniel Pennac, illustrated by Quentin Blake Summer is here and we do encourage summer reading with numerous incentives and programmes. It is important for children (of all ages) to 'keep their reading up' outside of school time. This is the time when kids develop their own taste in books and can be free to read books of their own choosing. And this is the single most important factor in young people developing a lifelong reading habit. But how do we, as the 'gatekeepers' of kids reading, encourage them properly without running the risk of thrusting pressure and our own ideas on them? Do that and you'll run the risk of pushing them away from reading, and there are already so many distractions for the young reader to contend with that can tempt them elsewhere. Published by Walker Books; 9781406300918 In 1992, French writer Daniel Pennac originally published this little gem of a book; The Rights of the Reader. I highly recommend
This year marks the anniversary of the publication of an extraordinary book. In 1991, Poolbeg published The Summer of Lily & Esme by John Quinn and in the 25 years since, it has never been out of print. The Summer of Lily & Esme tells a quiet story, filled with compassion, friendship, memory and heart. It is the story of Alan, an 11-year-old boy who has moved from the city into a house in the countryside; in the middle of nowhere.The house is old and extremely large and immaculate; and there is a locked, boarded over attic room that is said to be haunted by the ghost of a young boy who died tragically. Alan is not too pleased with this move and becomes even less thrilled when he discovers his closest neighbours, in fact his only neighbours, are a pair of elderly sisters, Esme and Lily, who seem to be suffering from dementia. When Alan falls down a hill of brambles and weeds, the sisters, who believe they themselves to be children, mistake Alan for their
For a book lover, Iceland has a very special tradition. Each year, in the few months before Christmas, Icelandic publishers release the majority of their books. This is "Jolabokaflod", or the Christmas Book Flood. Hundreds of books are published each year at this time, revealing just how strong a literary tradition exists in this small Northern island, dating back to medieval times. During World War II, there were strict currency restrictions, which limited the amount of imported giftware Iceland could take in. But paper itself was less restricted than other items, so this really led to books being seen as an ideal gift. Add that to the traditionally strong literary sector in Iceland, and the annual Book Flood really began in earnest. As Christmas nears, sometime around the end of October-beginning of November, a catalog is delivered to every house in Iceland, detailing the books available for that year. Iceland now represents one of the strongest book publishing countri
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