Tuesday 26 May 2015

How to talk about books you haven't read- repost



I love a site called brain pickings-slightly intellectual and fond of literature.

here's a post about NOT reading books, populated with many references to authors and their views of reading.

Thursday 21 May 2015

Favourite author tweeted us!


We all love the Telesa series (staff included) here at Tamaki College. Hopefully we can arrange a visit!

Tuesday 19 May 2015

The Stranger- Review by Nicola Wells

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I devoured this book in a single afternoon, desperate to find out not who the stranger was, but the truth behind a secret that he revealed to protagonist Adam Price in the first few pages of the book.

The stranger visits a few people throughout the book, always revealing a truth about them to loved ones before walking away and leaving them stunned. These visits do eventually link to one another, but the story always returns to Adam and his slowly imploding family. Where is his wife Corrine? Why did she leave? What is the huge secret she can't possibly discuss?

The characters are compelling and the book is so fast paced that there's no time to put it down! 5 stars from me :) Now to find time to read another...

Wednesday Popcorn Party





Bobbiegrace is reading Seeking Crystal by Joss Stirling. She's read her other ones but not this one.

Kim recommends Misty Falls, and is reading The Jane Austen Book Club. It's very meh.

Lana is reading The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold, who wrote The Lovely Bones.

'Asinate is reading The Last Boyfriend by Nora Roberts- just starting, so no opinion yet.

Racheael, Cherub and Bobbigrace asking Lani Wednt Young to visit us!

Racheal is reading Telesa for the first time. She's never read it, she's nervous. According to Bobbigrace, even though is cover is a bit sexy it follows traditional Samoan values. I've ordered the series from bookdepository.com (Ms Metcalfe)

Cherub is reading When Water Burns, the second in the Telesa series.

Aki is getting The Selection Stories by Kiera Cass.

Ms Metcalfe issued The Realm of Possibility by David Levithan.

We had a discussion about how we find the time to read and study at the same time. No conclusive answers provided, but we did decide that reading is equally important.

Sunday 17 May 2015

Speak by Lauri Halse Anderson- Review by Ms Emery



SPEAK by Laurie Halse Anderson


SPEAK is about a 13 year old girl who loses the ability to talk to others after she experiences a traumatic event. Her friends abandon her, she is shunned by the rest of the school, and her parents don't seem to notice her at all. So she seeks solace in her Art class and finds ways to hide from everybody, including herself. The story is told from Melinda's point of view, so as a reader, we can hear the thoughts that she cannot say out loud. 

It is easy to feel sympathetic towards Melinda because she is a typical girl, struggling to do well at school. It's a quirky, funny, sometimes sad novel about what it's like to be judged and feel like the outcast, while dealing with identity, acceptance and finding inner strength. This is a 'can't put down until it's finished' book. You'll recognise characters in this novel, from your own school experiences, and one of them might even be you.

- Ms Christine Emery

Dust Girl- review by Ms Metcalfe



Dust Girl is an urban fantasy novel, set in the 1930s American Dust Bowl. The Dust Bowl was a huge human-made ecological disaster, caused by poor crop management and lack of soil conservation. Basically, the once productive fields of Kansas, Oklahoma and other states turned to dust and the topsoil blew away.

In this setting we have Callie, living in a hotel with her (crazy) mother, waiting for the father she has never met to return. The dust storms are killing her and her mother won't leave...until she unleashes her magic.

Would recomend this, I read it in one day. I look forward to reading the next two in the series.

Check out the author's site here.

Friday 15 May 2015

Wednesday Book Party




So there's the roll call of what we're all reading....

Ms Metcalfe- reading Not That Kind of Girl by Lena Dunham- memoir. Suitable for senior students.

Kim- true beleiver by Nicholas Sparks. This "Sparked" a discussion about romance stories and his novels in general. (see what I did there?)

Lana- The Mortal Instruments: City of Glass. Such a popular series.

Aki- Parallel- "What if you woke up to a new life everyday?"

Irene- The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones. This has been recommended so many times, and apparently the movie is also very good.

We had a highly successful bakesale last week, raising more than enough to pay for our trip to the Auckland Writers and Readers Festival next Thursday. Thanks to everyone at school who supported us and to everyone (especially parents and grandparents) who provided the superlative baking to sell.

We'll be reporting back after our trip! We're booked in to see...


Grace Taylor, amazing spoken word poet- check out this interview

Anthony Horowitz- writer of the well-known Alex Rider series and now Sherlock Holmes novel Moriarty. Check out his site here.


Laurie Halse Anderson, writer of The Impossible Knife of Memory. Check out her site here.



Morris Gleitzman- written soooooo many books for children and young adults. His site is here.


Auckland Writers and Readers Festival

We had a great time at the festival, hearing from Morris Gleitzman, Anthony Horowitz, Grace Talyor and Laurie Halse Anderson. We purchased a bunch of books, so reviews will be coming soon. I read Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson the day I bought it- what an amazing book.

Check out our photos below...

Racheal and Bobbiegrace enjoying the show

Dakota, Chelsea, Issak and Lana

Lana, Cherub, Raheal, Grace Tayloe, Bobbigrace, Isaak, Chelsea and Dakota throwing shapes.