New Wimpy Kid - The Long Haul

Just got a glimpse of the new Wimpy Kid book The Long Haul - Coming Soon

It's medal time again

The shortlist for the 2014 Carnegie Medal has just been released. This medal is awarded for the best children/teenage novel in the UK. It has been running for 77 years and past winners include C.S Lewis (The Last Battle 1956),  Neil Gaiman (The Graveyard Book 2010) and Patrick Ness (A Monster Calls 2012) The awards were named in honour of Andrew Carnegie a man of great charity. He had made a fortune in the steel industry in the USA, although he was Scottish by birth. He was a great believer in reading especially for children and in his lifetime paid for over 2800 libraries to be set up over the world. 

In America the best children's book is awarded the Newbery Medal, whilst in Australia we have the CBCA best book award (Children's Book Council Award).  The shortlist for these last 2 awards have not yet been announced.

Reading books that win awards or even ones that get shortlisted is a great way to make sure you are reading a book that is good quality and well written. The books that are chosen are usually the best in their field and face a lot of competition to make it to the final.

The list for the Carnegie medal this year is an unusual one. More than half the books deal with kidnap and or captivity, not a cheery subject but all are powerfully written and worth reading especially for the older readers 13+

You can read reviews of all these books online here

                                    

                                     

 

                                 

  

                                      

 

The Screaming Staircase

This is one of the best books I have read for while. I loved it because it was based on an intriguing and original idea. England has been afflicted by an outbreak of ghosts and they are not nice. Only children have the sensitivity to hear, see and sense ghosts so they are ones who have to fight and destroy them. The main characters Lucy, Lockwood and George have started a ghost fighting agency but things are not going well, that is, until they are hired to clean up England's most haunted house. A screaming staircase and a room that drips blood are just two of the ghastly obstacles they will need to face before the night is over. This book is scary but also funny and entertaining.  This is the first book in a new series by Jonathan Stroud who wrote the famous Bartimaeus sequence. Read it today!

Kostka Hall Bookclub

At our next meeting (April 1st) we will be discussing the book The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate. This is a fantastic, easy to read, novel that is both funny and sad. Inspired by a true situation, this is the story of Ivan, an easy going Silverback gorilla who was captured in Africa and transported to America where he is kept in a cage at a local shopping centre to amuse shoppers. Ivan tolerates his life until Ruby the baby elephant moves into the cage next door, sparking a chain of events that sees Ivan become the brave leader he was meant to be. It won the 2013 Newbery Medal.

                                                     

Choosing Books

Do you ever have difficulty choosing books or don't know what to read next when you have just finished a fantastic series or book. It can be annoying, however there are quite a few helpful websites that you can use to help pick that perfect next book or help you choose something that you may not have thought of before.


Amazon - www.amazon.com

This is  a fantastic website for discovering new books and authors. You don't have to buy anything and you can spend hours just wondering around  You can look up the bestsellers list, read reviews by experts and ordinary readers and follow other buyer's suggestions and lists. I love browsing through Amazon. If you find any books you like suggest them to the librarians and you may see them in the library very soon.



Fantastic Fiction - www.fantasticfiction.co.uk

This great site lets you look up authors and books by name and see what books your favourite author has written and when new books will be published. Using this website you can easily see the order of book in a series which is very useful to know Most authors also give their recommendations for other books. So, if you want to know what Robert Muchamore likes to read in his spare time look him up.



What should I read next - www.whatshouldireadnext.com

Enter a book you like into the search bar and this website will search it's database to provide book recommendations and suggestions about what to read next.






Have fun looking for your next book

Exciting new Robert Muchamore series

Robert Muchamore is about to release a brand new series in which he moves away from the spy/secret agent themes of the Cherub and Henderson Boys series.

Rock War is the story of five groups of teenagers as they form bands, and enter a TV talent show. Some are destined for stardom, while others will vanish back into obscurity!

You can read the first chapter and check out more about Robert Muchamore  on his website

http://www.muchamore.com

A new series from Robert Muchamore

The Enemy official book trailer