‘The Old Man and the Sea’ by Ernest Hemingway is a vivid tale of a sage and experienced fisherman named Santiago who is detached from his contemporaries, although truly at heart with the sea. After an unlucky spell of 84 days without catching fish, Manolin, his young apprentice, is forbidden to sail with the old man as Manolin’s parents wish for him to work with more successful fishermen. After sighting a big fish which seems to be a marlin, the old man attempts this grand catch. The old man finds that bearing the great tension of the line drifts him out further and further into the sea. After hard days and sleepless nights Santiago persists to conquer the largest catch of his life despite his pain, struggles, and the ever-changing tides to his predicament. The short, strongly metaphorical and rich tale is definitely worth reading.

Reviewed by Dominic Kocx

Available in BLRC: F HEM

 “The Knife that Killed Me” is an extremely interesting text as it invokes the reader’s thoughts into the mind of the main character Paul Vanderman and the school thug Roth. The author, McGowan is not afraid to address touchy topics such as striving to belong and the cruelty of school children and in this novel he follows a teenager, Paul Varderman, as he tries to fit in with a group in his school.

At the beginning of the book, he is a loner, looking into the groups from the outside. A series of events in which he stands up for members of a group known as “The Freaks” lead to him becoming included by them. “The Freaks” are different from the other groups as they do not live under the rule of the school thug, Roth.

As Paul becomes more involved with “The Freaks”, he also begins to become influenced by Roth. Roth uses Paul as a messenger between himself and a rival school and gives him a knife. The relationship between the two schools develops, with Roth leading the way to war between them. Paul struggles to fulfil his feelings of loyalty to both the Freaks and Roth.

Reviewed by: Curtis Witt

Available in BLRC: F MCG

When Zak Darke’s parents die in an unexplained mass murder, he is left alone in the world. That is until he is sought out by a mysterious man leading to Zak becoming Agent 21. What happened to the 20 agents before him he’ll never know? What he does know is that his life is about to change forever. Chris Ryan gives the reader an amazing suspenseful feeling. If you like being on the edge of your seat then you should read  Agent 21

Reviewed by Nicholas Rupolo

Available in BLRC: F RYA

This book, as the title suggests, is about video games. Without giving away the plot too much; the book is set in a futuristic world people spend most of their time on a computer system called “OASIS.” It allows the person to control another person using virtual reality. The book is about a competition and the winner will win billions of dollars and complete control over OASIS. The story revolves around a young poor boy named Wade who becomes the most famous person in the world.

Highly recommended. A magical book with a cast of characters that you will really care about.

Reviewed by Nicholas Eberl

 This book is about a boy named Ram who wakes up in a dark corridor, with no memory and finds a dying man. The man has said something to the boy that other people need to know. He is then on the run as the prime suspect to the man’s death. While on the run he meets good and bad people along the way. The book is an action packed thriller and is definitely one to read. This is Book 1 in a series of four books

By Joseph McCarthy

The book  is the story of how former world number 1 tennis player, Rafael Nadal, came to glory. The book takes you through his lifestyle in his hometown of Mallorca, his training and the hard work he had to do to get where he is now. The ebook focuses on his second grand slam in 2007 against Roger Federer. I recommend this book to tennis players and fans who love this player.

Reviewed by Nicholas Rupolo

This books is available in the BLRC at NF 796.342092 NAD

Sixteen-year-old Robin lives with his father in the Victorian Alps. His dad runs a snowmobile hire business. His mother left them when Robin was only a baby. Robin lives in fear of his bullying father who hates Robin and blames him for the disappearance of his mother. As events unfold he runs from his father, he runs from the girl he loves, he runs into trouble, he runs from himself. His suspicions about his mother’s disappearance grow. Could this be a murder mystery, or is this all part of his tortured mind?

As Robin starts to piece things together towards a dramatic climax, so too builds the intensity of everything else going on in his life: his fears and confusions; his unwanted images; his hopeless relationships; and the desire of his first love. The Nest will have you guessing to the very end.

Paul Jennings has written a great novel. This novel has many different aspects of the story and he tells a very realistic and interesting story.

I rate it 8.5/10 and I recommend it to all teenagers.

Reviewed by Isaac Riley

Available in BLRC at F JEN

Fight Club is a text which attempts to depict issues of masculine identity in a capitalist consumer society where the class/wealth hierarchy is extremely divided and unequal. The narrator, unnamed in the novel, experiences a ‘rebirth’ in masculinity caused by the manifestation of Tyler Durden, a personality that embodies the narrator’s subconscious desire for essentialist notions of a masculine identity. The ‘body’ has strong significance throughout Fight Club, and is portrayed as a site of both power and resistance through the mode of destruction.

Reviewed by Geoffrey Abdallah

Available in BLRC at F PAL

CHERUB: Class A is the second book in series “CHERUB” This series focus’ around James Adams. A thirteen year old who is a undercover agent for the British Intelligence branch of “CHERUB” a Spy organisation for kids aged 10-17 that doesn’t ‘exist’ to the ‘real world’. In this mission, “Class A” is when James, his friends Kerry and Kyle and a newbie Nicole go on a undercover mission to uncover the biggest underworld drug empire in British history run by Keith Moore. This story has a horrific twist at the ending that will make you shout out “pancakes!”. Will James Survive? Is this the end for his freshly started Cherub career?  I’m defiantly not going to tell you. You will have to read it for yourself!  
‘Class A keeps the saga of Cherub going strong.

I would rate this book 9.99999/10’
You can buy this book from any good book store or borrow it from the resources centre: F MUC 
Reviewed by Nick Cusack

Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone is a magical tale of self-discovery that transports the reader into a fantasy world full of spells, broomsticks and Quidditch.

The story follows the tale of Harry, an eleven year old boy, who discovers he is a wizard. He then begins a magical education at Hogwarts, where he encounters trolls, three-headed dogs and what really happened to his parents all those years ago, all while making friends and learning a lot about himself along the way. You’ve probably been living under a rock if you haven’t read it, but if you haven’t, you definitely should.

I rate it 10/10.

This book is available in the BLRC library at: F ROW