Posts

Showing posts from February, 2019

LRC Book Critic Book Review - The Girl who could Fly by Victoria Forester

Image
This book is about a girl called Piper McCloud who lived in Lowland county and she has a special ability, she can fly.  Ever since she was little she would always float a little off the ground. She would practise her love of flying, until one day the incident occurred. Piper went to an institution ran by Dr Helion, where she agreed to not fly.  Unfortunately, it doesn’t turn out how Piper expected it to be. The girl who could fly and the boy who knows everything has to work together to save the world. This book is probably the best book I have ever read, this is because it was really tragic when Piper was crippled by the EVIL Dr Helion but is eventually ‘healed’ by Jasper (his power). My favourite character is Conrad - he knows everything. This is because he understood what was actually happening in the institution before anyone else did and he was the one who came up with the ingenious plan to save everyone.

Orphan Monster Spy by Matt Killeen - Our OPHS LRC Author for World Book Day!

Image
Orphan Monster Spy by Matt Killeen Shortlisted for the  Costa Book Awards 2018 A teenage spy. A Nazi boarding school. The performance of a lifetime. Sarah has played many roles - but now she faces her most challenging of all. Because there's only one way for a Jewish orphan spy to survive at a school for the Nazi elite. And that's to become a monster like them. They think she is just a little girl. But she is the weapon they never saw coming... with a mission to destroy them all. About Matt Killeen MATT KILLEEN was born in Birmingham, in the UK, back when trousers were wide and everything was brown. Early instruction in his craft included being told that a drawing of a Cylon exploding isn't writing and copying out your mother's payslip isn't an essay "about my family". Several alternative careers beckoned, some involving laser guns and guitars, before he finally returned to words and attempted to make a living as an advertising copywri

World Book Day 2019's £1 Books

Image
WBD book tokens will be ready for you to collect on Thursday, 7th March in the LRC

World Book Day - Online Stories

Image
STORYTIME ONLINE Watch a wonderful range of famous authors and stars reading children’s books and short stories for kids of all ages.  Storytime Online  makes storytelling possible at any time of the day—a brilliant way to keep children entertained and a fun way to help develop their language skills. Log onto https://www.worldbookday.com/storytime-online     and pick your online story or stories!

Books! Books! Books!

Image

KS3 LRC Book Recommendation - The Peculiar Peggs of Riddling Woods by Samuel J Halpin

Image
This is the story of a sleepy town called Suds. A place where stories fill the air of children who keep turning grey and disappearing without a trace... Poppy and Erasmus are certain there's something peculiar going on in Suds, and they're determined to unravel its secrets. But when they discover the answers might lie in the dark and twisting woods, can they find the courage to creep inside and solve this riddling mystery? Samuel J Halpin Born in Tasmania with Irish roots, Samuel J. Halpin is 27 and writes daily. Having studied journalism at the University of New South Wales, Samuel went on to take cinematography at AFTRS, the national Australian film school in Sydney before moving to London and working in comedy TV production.  The Peculiar Peggs of Riddling Woods  is his first answer to a childhood raised on a hodgepodge of fairy tales, crowded bookshelves and cups of hot chocolate.

KS4 LRC Book Recommendation - I'm on the up by Angie Thomas

Image
The Prize winning  author of The Hate U Give   returns with a powerful story about hip hop, freedom of speech - and fighting for your dreams, even as the odds are stacked against you. Bri wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. As the daughter of an underground hip hop legend who died right before he hit big, Bri's got massive shoes to fill. But when her first song goes viral for all the wrong reasons, Bri finds herself at the centre of controversy and portrayed by the media as more menace than MC. And with an eviction notice staring her family down, Bri no longer just wants to make it - she has to. Even if it means becoming the very thing the public has made her out to be. Angie Thomas Angie Thomas was born, raised, and still resides in Jackson, Mississippi as indicated by her accent. She is a former teen rapper whose greatest accomplishment was an article about her in Right-On Magazine with a picture included. She holds a BFA in Creative Writing from Bel

KS5/Adult LRC Book Recommendation - The Outsider by Stephen King

Image
A horrifying crime. Water-tight evidence points to a single suspect. Except he was seventy miles away, with an iron-clad alibi. Detective Anderson sets out to investigate the impossible: how can the suspect have been both at the scene of the crime and in another town? About Stephen King Stephen King is the author of more than sixty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. His recent work includes  The Institute ,  Elevation,   The Outsider ,  Sleeping Beauties   (co-written with his son Owen King) and the Bill Hodges trilogy,  End of Watch ,  Finders Keepers , and  Mr. Mercedes  (an Edgar Award winner for Best Novel and an AT&T Audience Network original television series). His epic works  The Dark Tower  and  It  are the basis for major motion pictures, with  It  now the highest grossing horror film of all time.  He lives in Bangor, Maine, with his wife, novelist Tabitha King.

Carnegie and Greenaway Long Lists 2019

Image
The Carnegie Medal 2019 longlist in full The Poet X  by Elizabeth Acevedo (Electric Monkey) Rebound   by Kwame Alexander, illustrated by Dawud Anyabwile (Andersen Press) The Colour of the Sun  by David Almond (Hodder Children's Books) The House with Chicken Legs  by Sophie Anderson, illustrated by Elisa Paganelli (Usborne Books) The Weight of a Thousand Feathers  by Brian Conaghan (Bloomsbury) Moonrise   by Sarah Crossan (Bloomsbury) Norse Myths: Tales of Odin, Thor and Loki  by Kevin Crossley-Holland, illustrated by Jeffrey Alan Love (Walker Books) My Side of the Diamond  by Sally Gardner (Hot Key Books) Bone Talk  by Candy Gourlay (David Fickling Books) A Skinful of Shadows  by Frances Hardinge (Macmillan Children's Books) A Different Boy  by Paul Jennings, illustrated by Geoff Kelly (Old Barn Books) The Lost Words  by Robert Macfarlane, illustrated by Jackie Morris (Hamish

19th February 2019 - Magha Puja Festival

Image
Māgha Pūjā is the second most important Buddhist festival, celebrated on the full moon day of the third lunar month in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Sri Lanka and on the full moon day of Tabaung in Myanmar.  

19th February 2019 Lantern Festival

Image
The Lantern Festival or the Spring Lantern Festival is a Chinese festival celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first month in the lunisolar Chinese calendar. Usually falling in February or early March on the Gregorian calendar, it marks the final day of the traditional Chinese New Year celebrations.
OPHS LRC World Book Week Countdown…. Monday 4 th March: Staff dressing up Day Tuesday 5 th March: Harry Potter Day Wednesday 6 th March: World Book day Surprise! Thursday 7 th March:   Author Visit and WBD Tokens given out Friday 8 th March: World Book Week Sponsored Read Finale! Come and join in the fun for the whole week in the LRC commencing 4 th March 2019

KS5/Adult LRC Book Recommendation - Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

Image
Adapted by the BBC in a lavish new television series for Christmas 2018,  Les Misérables  is a timeless story; a plot-driven epic of one man’s search for redemption and of lives swept up, made and broken in the tumultuous social and political changes of early nineteenth-century France. It is nothing to die; it is dreadful not to live. An epic portrait of crime, punishment, exile, justice, redemption, love, despair and high idealism,  Les Misérables  is justifiably regarded as one of the greatest novels of all time. At its heart are the reverberations rippling from the life of one man: Jean Valjean. Imprisoned in the Bagne of Toulon for 19 years for the original crime of stealing a loaf of bread, Valjean emerges embittered; fuelled by rage at a broken system of justice. When the course of his life is changed by a single, unexpected act of faith and generosity he begins a life of escape and reparation. Yet as he attempts to forge a place in society Valjean is forever dogged by

KS4 LRC Book Recommendation - Boy 87 by Ele Fountain

Image
Shortlisted for the  Waterstones Children's Book Prize 2019 Shif is just an ordinary boy who likes chess, maths and racing his best friend home from school. But one day, soldiers with guns come to his door - and he knows that he is no longer safe. Shif is forced to leave his mother and little sister,and embark on a dangerous journey; a journey through imprisonment and escape, new lands and strange voices, and a perilous crossing by land and sea. He will encounter cruelty and kindness; he will become separated from the people he loves. Boy 87  is a gripping, uplifting tale of one boy's struggle for survival; it echoes the story of young people all over the world today.

KS3 LRC Book Recommendation - The Mystery of the Colour Thief by Ewa Jozefkowicz

Image
Shortlisted for the  Waterstones Children's Book Prize 2019 First the accident, then the nightmares. The shadowy thief steals all the colours from Izzy's world leaving her feeling empty and hopeless. Will her new neighbour and a nest full of cygnets save Izzy and solve the mystery of the colour thief? A heartwarming story about families, friendships, school, nature, hope and self-confidence. After a frightening car accident, Izzy's mum is in a coma. Her family is in pieces. Her best friend at school has dumped her. And her nightmares are haunted by a shadowy man stealing all the colours from her world. She's trying so hard to be brave, but Izzy thinks everything is her fault. Then she meets her new neighbour, Toby, and together they find a nest of cygnets who need rescuing. Particularly the odd one out, called Spike. Will saving Spike save Izzy? Will she and Toby solve the mystery of the colour thief and bring hope and happiness back to Izzy's life? Writt

LRC Book Critic - The Clockwork Sparrow by Katherine Woodfine

Image
This book is about Sophie, she was a rich and spoilt girl who had everything she ever wanted. But when her father died, everything started to crash down and she was left penniless and alone. In order to carry on living she pulls herself together by finding a job. However, when she was a suspect of a stolen clockwork sparrow, she was fired and she needed help from her friends: Lil and Billy to clear her name and get her job back. This book is different to other   books because in between a few chapters there are a hats and it explains what and why they wear them (because she works on hats).    Plus, in the book the description of Sinclair’s store is so detailed you could picture it. My favourite character is Lil, she is one of the ’mannequins’ and she wants to be a famous actor.   This is because she is very loyal and a very good friend to Sophie.

KS5/Adult LRC Book Recommendation - The Salt Path by Raynor Winn

Image
Just days after Raynor learns that Moth, her husband of 32 years is terminally ill, their home and livelihood is taken away. With nothing left and little time, they make the brave and impulsive decision to walk the 630 miles of the sea-swept South West Coast Path, from Somerset to Dorset, via Devon and Cornwall. They have almost no money for food or shelter and must carry only the essentials for survival on their backs as they live wild in the ancient, weathered landscape of cliffs, sea and sky. Yet through every step, every encounter, and every test along the way, their walk becomes a remarkable journey. The Salt Path  is an honest and life-affirming true story of coming to terms with grief and the healing power of the natural world. Ultimately, it is a portrayal of home, and how it can be lost, rebuilt, and rediscovered in the most unexpected ways.

KS4 LRC Book Recommendation - The Twisted Tree by Rachel Burge

Image
Part ghost story, part Nordic mystery - a creepy and chilling tale steeped in Norse myth, perfect for fans of Neil Gaiman and Michelle Paver's DARK MATTER.  Martha can tell things about a person just by touching their clothes, as if their emotions and memories have been absorbed into the material. It started the day she fell from the tree at her grandma's cabin and became blind in one eye.  Determined to understand her strange ability, Martha sets off to visit her grandmother, Mormor - only to discover Mormor is dead, a peculiar boy is in her cabin and a terrifying creature is on the loose. Then the spinning wheel starts creaking, books move around and terror creeps in . . .  Set in the remote snows of contemporary Norway, THE TWISTED TREE is a ghost story that twists and turns - and never takes you quite where you'd expect.