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Showing posts from September, 2023

The Library Weekly Book Recommendations - KS5/Adult - The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman

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  You'd think you would be allowed to relax over Christmas, but not in the world of the Thursday Murder Club. On Boxing Day, a dangerous package is smuggled across the English coast. When it goes missing, chaos is unleashed. The body count starts to rise – including someone close to the Thursday Murder Club – as our gang face an impossible search and their most deadly opponents yet. With the clock ticking down and a killer heading to Cooper’s Chase, has their luck finally run out? And who will be 'The Last Devil To Die'? Publisher:  Penguin Books Ltd ISBN:  2928377181581 Number of pages:  400

The Library Weekly Book Recommendations - KS4 - The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

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  She came from nothing. Avery has a plan: keep her head down, work hard for a better future. Then an eccentric billionaire dies, leaving her almost his entire fortune. And no one, least of all Avery, knows why. They had everything. Now she must move into the mansion she's inherited. It's filled with secrets and codes, and the old man's surviving relatives - a family hell-bent on discovering why Avery got 'their' money. Now there's only one rule: winner takes all. Soon she is caught in a deadly game that everyone in this strange family is playing. But just how far will they go to keep their fortune? Jacket may vary. Publisher:  Penguin Random House Children's UK ISBN:  9780241476178 Number of pages:  400

The Library Weekly Book Recommendations - KS3 - Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell

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  'It was a very fine day, until something tried to eat him.' A boy called Christopher is visiting his reclusive grandfather when he witnesses an avalanche of mythic creatures come tearing down the hill. This is how Christopher learns that his grandfather is the guardian of one of the ways between the non-magical world and a place called the Archipelago: a cluster of magical islands, where all the creatures we tell of in myth live and breed and thrive alongside humans. They have been protected for thousands of years from being discovered; now, terrifyingly, the protection has worn thin, and creatures are breaking through. Then a girl, Mal, appears in Christopher’s world. She is in possession of a flying coat, is being pursued by a killer, and is herself in pursuit of a baby griffin. Mal, Christopher and the griffin embark on an urgent quest across the wild splendour of the Archipelago, where sphinxes hold secrets and centaurs do murder, to find the truth – with unimaginable con

The Library Weekly Book Recommendation - KS5/Adult - Black London: History, Art & Culture in over 120 places by Avril Nanton and Jody Burton

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  London is a city justly proud of its cultural diversity, yet for too long tourists and Londoners alike have had to rely on guides focusing on its white history and landmarks. Now Black London allows us to see this familiar city anew, gathering together the places that tell the story of its Black inhabitants, stretching back to Tudor times. From Cleopatra's Needle sitting on the Victoria Embankment, carved in Egypt three and a half thousand years ago, to the Black Lives Matters mural in Woolwich, the city is rich with features that symbolise its Black history. Here are places worth visiting and revisiting. Get your bearings, revise your history, and be inspired by the work of some remarkable individuals who made London a truly global, modern city. Publisher:  Fox Chapel Publishing ISBN:  9781913618193 Number of pages:  192

The Library Weekly Book Recommendation - KS4 - Black and British: A short, essential history by David Olusoga

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  A short, essential introduction to Black British history for readers of 12+ by award-winning historian and broadcaster David Olusoga. When did Africans first come to Britain? Who are the well-dressed black children in Georgian paintings? Why did the American Civil War disrupt the Industrial Revolution? These and many other questions are answered in this essential introduction to 1800 years of the Black British history: from the Roman Africans who guarded Hadrian's Wall right up to the present day. This children's version of the bestseller  Black and British: A Forgotten History  is Illustrated with maps, photos and portraits. Macmillan Children's Books will donate 50p from every copy sold to The Black Curriculum. Publisher:  Pan Macmillan ISBN:  9781529063394 Number of pages:  176

The Library Weekly Book Recommendation - KS3 - Brilliant Black British History by Atinuke and illustrated by Kingsley Nebechi

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  An eye-opening story of Britain, focusing on a part of our past that has mostly been left out of the history books: Black British history. Did you know that the first Britons were Black? Or that some of the Roman soldiers who invaded and ruled Britain were Black, too? Join this fascinating journey through the ages to meet those first Britons, as well as the Black Tudors, Georgians and Victorians who existed in every walk of life here. The incredible journey through time is brought to life through Atinuke's fascinating storytelling and illustrated scenes, detailed maps, and timelines created by illustrator Kingsley Nebechi. From science and sport to literature and law, celebrate the brilliant Black people who have helped build Britain. Learn about key and complex historical topics such as the world wars, slavery, the industrial revolution, Windrush and the Black Lives Matter movement. This fascinating book will change everything you thought you knew about our green-grey British is

The Library Weekly Book Recommendation - KS5/Adult - This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar

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  Among the ashes of a dying world, an agent of the Commandant finds a letter. It reads:  Burn before reading. Thus begins an unlikely correspondence between two rival agents hellbent on securing the best possible future for their warring factions. Now, what began as a taunt, a battlefield boast, grows into something more. Something epic. Something romantic. Something that could change the past and the future. Except the discovery of their bond would mean death for each of them. There's still a war going on, after all. And someone has to win that war. That's how war works. Right? Publisher:  Quercus Publishing ISBN:  9781529405231 Number of pages:  208

The Library Weekly Book Recommendation - KS3 - Murder Most Unladylike - A Murder Most Unladylike Mystery by Robin Stevens

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  At Deepdean School for Girls,  Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong  have set up their own detective agency.  But they are struggling to find any  real  crimes to investigate.  (Unless you count the case of Lavinia's missing tie. Which they don't.) Then Hazel discovers the Science Mistress, Miss Bell, lying dead in the Gym. To add to the mystery, when she and Daisy return five minutes later, the body has disappeared.  Now Hazel and Daisy not only have a murder to solve: they have to prove one happened in the first place. Determined to get to the bottom of the crime before the killer strikes again Hazel and Daisy must hunt for evidence, spy on their suspects and use all the cunning and intuition they can muster. But will they succeed?  And can their friendship stand the test? Publisher:  Penguin Random House Children's UK ISBN:  9780141369761 Number of pages:  352

The Library Weekly Book Recommendation - KS4 -The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

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  Oscar Wilde's alluring novel of decadence and sin was a succes de scandale on publication. It follows Dorian Gray who, enthralled by his own exquisite portrait, exchanges his soul for eternal youth and beauty. Influenced by his friend Lord Henry Wotton, he is drawn into a corrupt double life, indulging his desires in secret while remaining a gentleman in the eyes of polite society. Only his portrait bears the traces of his depravity. This definitive edition includes a selection of contemporary reviews condemning the novel's immorality. Publisher:  Penguin Books Ltd ISBN:  9780141439570 Number of pages:  304

The Library Weekly Book Recommendation - KS5/Adult - The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker

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  'It is never what you worry over that comes to pass in the end. The real catastrophes are always different - unimagined, unprepared for, unknown...' What if our 24-hour day grew longer, first in minutes, then in hours, until day becomes night and night becomes day? What effect would this slowing have on the world? On the birds in the sky, the whales in the sea, the astronauts in space, and on an eleven-year-old girl, grappling with emotional changes in her own life..? One morning, Julia and her parents wake up in their suburban home in California to discover, along with the rest of the world, that the rotation of the earth is noticeably slowing. The enormity of this is almost beyond comprehension. And yet, even if the world is, in fact, coming to an end, as some assert, day-to-day life must go on. Julia, facing the loneliness and despair of an awkward adolescence, witnesses the impact of this phenomenon on the world, on the community, on her family and on herself. Publisher: 

The Library Weekly Book Recommendation - KS4 - My So-Called Bollywood Life by Nisha Sharma

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  Bollywood film fanatic Winnie has grown up believing the future is written in the stars. Her family's pandit predicted she would find the love of her life before her eighteenth birthday. So when her relationship with Raj collapses, despite him meeting all the criteria, Winnie is lost. This is not how her perfect ending is scripted. Then fellow film geek Dev challenges Winnie to look beyond her horoscope: is taking the future into her own hands the way to find her happily ever after? To get the perfect ending, Winnie will need a little bit of help from fate, family and, of course, a Bollywood movie star. A fate-filled debut sure to dazzle fans of Stephanie Perkins, Maureen Johnson and Sandhya Menon. Publisher:  Little Tiger Press Group ISBN:  9781788951463 Number of pages:  320

The Library Weekly Book Recommendation - KS3 - While the Storm Rages by Phil Earle

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  September 1939. The world is on the brink of war. As his dad marches off to fight, Noah makes him a promise, to keep their beloved family dog safe. When the government advises people to have their pets put down in readiness for the chaos of war, hundreds of thousands of people do as they are told. But not Noah. He's not that sort of boy. With his two friends in tow, he goes on the run, to save his dog and as many animals as he can. No matter what. Publisher:  Andersen Press Ltd ISBN:  9781839132056 Number of pages:  384

The OPHS Online Library Newsletter September 2023 #26

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  The OPHS Library Online Newsletter September 2023  #26 A huge Welcome to our new Year 7 Students!!  And welcome back to our existing students!!! Every month, in our new Library Newsletter, we will have reviews on wonderful books that we have in our Library, snippets of new books on the horizon and interesting information about lovely Authors and books-to-movies information. There will be links to access upcoming books that are in The Library and lots of book information that you will enjoy.  We will have competitions, winner announcements, links to short stories and poems and other interesting literacy information all in one Newsletter!   If you would like to add a contribution to our next Newsletter (October issue), such as, what did you read over the summer?  What were your favourite and/or worst books that you have ever read?  Would you like to send in a book review and/or a literacy picture? Can you think of anything else that would look great in our newsletter?  Then please emai