Review 1 by: John Keesing

The Recruit is a thrilling story about kids who have been chosen to be a part of Cherub. Cherub is a secret organisation that trains kids to become spies. What I loved about this book was that the story felt realistic, not just the concept of spies, but the characters as well. Yes, these kids are spies, on secret missions for the government, but they still act like kids. I felt I was reading about real kids. This is what distinguishes this book from others. The Recruit is the first book of the Cherub sires and I would strongly recommend it.

Review 2: by Lachlan Brennan

The Recruit of the Cherub Series by Robert Muchamore is the first book in the series.

James Adams was an ordinary teenage boy living with his mum and sister. However, he was a troubled boy, often getting in trouble in school and with his mum being a famous thief and having a cruel stepdad, he did not have a happy life. This life, however, changed when one day his mum died. He was sent to a foster home while his sister, Lauren stayed with her dad (James’ stepdad). After a few tough days with his roommate, Kyle Blueman, he wakes up one day in a mysterious room and realizes that he has been accepted as a member of Cherub, a intelligence branch which trains kids as the spies. James has to go through training and go on missions in the future if he does not want to go back to the foster home. Can James survive the brutal training and his first mission? 

A great read!!

 This book is available in BLRC at: F MUC

The Happiest Refugee is an autobiography by Anh Do. It goes through the life of a young Vietnamese boy who becomes one of Australia’s most loved comedian. It’s really entertaining and hard to put down once you’ve started reading. It can be funny but at times can be very poignant as his family eek their way through life.

After reading it for our Year 9 English Topic it has become one of my favourite novels and it’s no wonder why it won 2011 Indie Book of the Year. 

 I can highly recommed this book.

Reviewed by: Simon O’Neill Year 9

This book is available in BLRC at: NF 792.702 DO

Kathryn Stockett’s ‘The Help’ is the most amazing book I’ve ever read! Told through the perspectives of Skeeter Phelan, a college graduate finding her place in Jackson, Mississippi. Aibileen Clark, a colored maid overcoming the death of her son and Minny Jackson, another colored maid who’s cooking is as sassy as her tongue. These three women come together and break the law to expose cruelty in the town of Jackson and take down Hilly Holbrook. It is well written and so well described. I loved reading this book and I believe that loads of kids would love to read it to!

Reviewed by Thomas Laing

This book is available in the BLRC at: F STO

This book is about a boy called Christopher John Francis Boone. He’s not your average kid because he is autistic and has many unusual behaviors. He turns to mathematics for comfort, he won’t eat foods if they are touching on his plate, and he  judges the start of his day by the number of similarly coloured cars that pass him on the way to school. He finds his next door neighbour’s dog dead and he decides to investigate the dog’s death. He gets more then he bargained for and creates sadness for everyone involved. This is a great book and to those who haven’t read it, I strongly suggest you do.

Reviewed by: Henry Lindsay

Available at BLRC: F HAD

Mister Monday is about a boy named Arthur who is meant die of an asthma attack while running. He is saved by a mysterious man and an individual who appears to be his butler.  They give him a key that is very like a magic wand and a book that seems to be about the House. But these gifts big along big trouble as well as a sickness that is fatal to humans. So Arthur goes to the mysterious “House” to find a cure for his “kind” but is faced with all sought of trouble. I really liked this book and suggest to people who haven’t read it to do so.

The story is about a son of a high ranking German Nazi and a young Jewish boy becoming friends under the most unlikely circumstances. Both being young and innocent, they don’t realize that their friendship is dangerous, especially for Bruno, whose father was a Nazi. I really liked this book and suggest to people who haven’t read it to do so.

Reviewed by: Henry Lindsay

Available in BLRC: F BOY

Angus Soloman is a boy with one thing to do: Become a Pirate in the school play. Angus lives with his glamorous TV mother who plays a mother in an Australian soap opera. He has to look after his little brother and sister (technically his step-brother and sister) because his mother is ALWAYS working. Angus’s dad is a ‘to-be’ book writer hoping to write the next, great Australian picture book. He is Angus’s real dad, and Angus’s little brother and sister are ‘made’ from Angus’s mums’s boyfriends. 

Angus meets a girl named Rindi who he doesn’t know, changes his life. He thought he had the worst life in the world, well that all is about to change…

 Bumface is a cleverly written book by Morris Gleitzman and shares the tales of Angus and Rindi as they both try to save Rindi from her horrible fate…

Review by Patrick McTaggart

Available in BLRC at F GLI

A challenging central plot around ‘survival of the fittest’ which makes for an exciting read while raising questions about our sense of humanity.  For boys growing up in a world of unlimited ceaseless gaming carnage this is a story which will immediately appeal; And give cause for reflection.     

Reviewed by: Luke Stevens (dad)

Available in BLRC: F COL

A book I think every teenage boy should read is “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding. It is an extraordinary look at what happens to the social order in a group of boys who become stranded on a deserted island. The imagery, violence and ultimate reassertion of control by adults are very thought provoking, and particularly relevent to teenage readers.

Review by: Roderick MacKinnon Dad)

Available at BLRC: F GOL

It  is a very very funny book (as is the movie based off it), but also one that also captures the enjoyment of your imagination taking you to far off places in a great book.  William Goldman is a wonderful writer and very famous for his Hollywood screenplays (a couple of Oscars) and also a hugely popular book on writing for Hollywood.

Review by: David Matherson (Dad)

Soon to be available in BLRC