Steal my Sunshine-Emily Gale

I chose this book because when I read the blurb I found it very interesting.

This book is about a girl named Hannah, she lives in Melbourne and there is currently a record breaking heat wave. Hannah lives with her mother, brother and her grandmother Essie, with her dad walking out on them earlier in the book. Hannah and her mother never see eye to eye and are always fighting with her and her brother so Hannah spends a lot of time with her grandmother.

Essie has kept a secret from her family for 20 years and is ready to finally speak up, Essie send Hannah and her best friend Chloe go on a crazy journey to find out what this secret is.

But Hannah’s loyalty to both is tested, first by her attraction to Chloe’s older brother and then by Essie’s devastating secret that sheds light on how the family has lost its way.

“it had been thirty degrees most of the night and I wasn’t sure if I had slept for any of it. I could tell from the safety of my bedroom that mum had woken up foul: heavy footsteps in the kitchen, cupboard doors slammed, the dishwasher drawers yanked out and rammed in again. When I walked into the living room the floors were already baking underneath the sloping glass roof. The air-con remote was in the fruit bowl on the kitchen table. I pressed the button, hoping it would cool mum down, and keep my distance.”

This part of the novel best describes the relationship between Hannah and her mother and the environment that they are in.

I think the main idea of this book is identity.

I would recommend this book to teenage girls from about 12 and up as it has some romance in it.

Renee Viney Year 9

ALL THE TRUTH THAT’S IN ME BY JULIE BERRY

I chose this book because when I read the blurb all it said was “I am forbidden from telling” which I found very intriguing.

All the truth that’s in me is about a girl named Judith , Judith had been kept hostage for two years but before returning home her tongue was cut off in a savage attack to prevent her from telling who the kidnappers were. When Judith does return home she is considered as an improper lady or a monster, so pretty much an outcast. Judith doesn’t have many friends but she is in love with a boy named Lucas although Lucas is getting married to another woman. Throughout the book Judith starts to realise that it is her silence protecting her fromthe evil doers that wish to remain hidden. 

“There’s a curious comfort in letting go. After the agony, letting go brings numbness, and after the numbness, clarity. As if I can see the world for the first time, and my place in it, independent of you, a whole vista of what may be. Even if it’s not grand or inspiring, it is real and solid, unlike the fantasy I’ve built around you. I will do this I will triumph over you.” 

This part of the book shows that Judith is becoming more strong and independent, starting to take over the situation.

I recommend this to anyone above 12 years old, as some parts of it are quite gruesome although there is romance in the book so I would recommend it more towards girls.

Rachael Hayden Year 9