The River

By Gary Paulsen

The story, in my mind is third in the series, Following 'Hatchet' and 'Brian's Winter'. Now I've begun the saga that is the Brian trapped in the wilderness I feel I have to complete the mission with him. I've really enjoyed this book, though the detail of their survival is lacking, but then is the length of time they need to survive. The assumption, I guess, is that we are all too aware now of Brian's skill in survival situations. We no longer need the detail of eating bugs and the longing, aching hunger that comes from a situation like this. That's not where the action lies. It's in pulling through someone who knows nothing of this at the beginning of the tail and spends the second half of the book unconscious. I'd certainly encourage my class to read this one for themselves the next time I share 'Hatchet'.

Synopsis

Two years ago, Brian Robsen was stranded alone in the wilderness for fifty-four days with nothing but a small hatchet. He survived. Now, the governmentwants him to do it again - to go back into the wilderness so that astronauts and the military can learn the survival techniques that kept him alive.
This time he won't be alone: Derek Holtzer, a government psychologist, will accompany him. But during a freak storm, Derek is hit by lightning and falls into a coma. Their radio transmitter is dead. Brian's only hope is to build a raft and try to transport Derek a hundred miles down the river to a trading post - if the map he has is accurate.

Author 

Gary James Paulsen (born May 17, 1939) is an American writer of young adult literature, best known for coming of age stories about the wilderness. He is the author of more than 200 books and has written more than 200 magazine articles and short stories, and several plays, all primarily for teenagers. He won the Margaret Edwards Award from the American Library Association in 1997 for his lifetime contribution in writing for teens. Wikipedia

 

Brian's Saga

Hatchet (1986)

The River (1991)

Brian's Winter (1996)

Brian's Return (1992)

Brian's Hunt (2003)

Other works

Dogsong (1985)

The Winter Room(1989)

Woodsong (1990)

Winterdance (1994)

Harris and Me (1993)

And more...

Smile

By Raina Telgemeier

This appears on the 100 books to read before you grow up so I've picked up a copy for my class set and here I am reading it. It's autobiographical in the main part, which is of real interest to me, and tell the story of the author's trials and tribulations around knocking her teeth out. The artwork is delightful, the story engaging and the discussion it has raised in my class this week is fantastic, I highly recommend this book to sit in your class library and to be enjoyed by all ages.

Synopsis

Family, friends, boys... dental drama?!

A True Story

Raina just wants to be a normal  sixth grader. But one night after Girl Scouts she trips and falls, severely injuring her two front teeth. What follows is a long and frustrating journey with on-again, off-again braces, surgury, embarrassing headgear, and even a retainer with fake teeth attached. And on top of all that, there's still more to deal with: a major earthquake, boy confusion, and friends who turn out to be not so friendly. Raina's story takes us from middle school to high school, where she discovers her artistic voice , finds out what true friendship really means, and where she can finally... smile. 

Author

Raina Telgemeier is an American cartoonist whose works include the autobiographic webcomic Smile, which was published by Scholastic Press's Graphix imprint as a full-color graphic novel in February 2010. Wikipedia

Other Books

• Smile (2010)
• Drama (2012)
• Sisters (2014)
• Ghosts (2016)

 

The Runner

By Christopher Reich

It's not often I say this but, of all the books I've reviewed this has to be one of the most disappointing. Perhaps it was because Reich's debut novel was so brilliant, maybe there was only one way to go. Having read many other novels by Reich I prefer to think of this one a slow, deep breath before beginning the long distance race which is the creation of a successful career as a novelist with many, many compelling thrillers in the canon.
Or maybe I was just wasn't compelled by the premise. It could easily be just your cup of tea.

Synopsis

July 1945. For Germany the war is over.
But in POW Camp 8 on the outskirts of Garmisch, one man refuses to believe his duty to the Fatherland is finished. Erich Seyss, once one of Germany's greatest Olympic sprinters, now awaits trial for war crimes committed as a fanatical officer in Hitler's SS. But he has no intention of facing his accusers. Instead, he is determined to run one last race for Germany.
Given only seven days to track down Seyss, Devlin Judge, a lawyer with in the international Military Tribunal set up to try Nazi war criminals, faces an almost task. Not only must he outwit an elite killer trained to operate behind enemy lines, but he must also fathom the extraordinary conspiracy to which Seyss is the key. A conspiracy that could change the face of Europe forever.

Author

He was born in Tokyo on November 12, 1961. He moved to the United States in 1965. He attended Georgetown University and the University of Texas and worked in Switzerland before returning to the United States to become an author. He lives in San Diego and is the author of nine novels. 

Other Books by the Author

Numbered Account (1998)
The Runner (2000)
The First Billion (2002)
The Devil's Banker (2003)
The Patriots' Club (2004)
Rules of Deception (2008)
Rules of Vengeance (2009)
Rules of Betrayal (2010)
The Prince of Risk (2013)
Invasion Of Privacy (2015)
The Take (2018)

Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking

By Anya von Bremzen

This is possibly one of the hardest reads that I've done in the last two years. It was interesting to go on the journey with the author and her family but I find Russian/ Soviet politics difficult. Have done ever since school. But don't let that put you off, I was one of the only people in my book club who did not care for this book. So it might be something you are right into, especially if you enjoy the food and historical nature of such works... наслаждаться

Synopsis

I had to return this book before I could accurately copy the synopsis from the back. Alternatively I have copied the synopsis from GoodReads ... I really hope they don't mind.

A celebrated food writer captures the flavors of the Soviet experience in a sweeping, tragicomic, multi-generational memoir that brilliantly illuminates the history and culture of a vanished empire.

Proust had his madeleine; Narnia's Edmund had his Turkish delight. Anya von Bremzen has vobla-rock-hard, salt-cured dried Caspian roach fish. Lovers of vobla risk breaking a tooth or puncturing a gum on the once-popular snack, but for Anya it's transporting. Like kotleti (Soviet burgers) or the festive Salat Olivier, it summons up the complex, bittersweet flavors of life in that vanished Atlantis called the USSR. There, born in 1963 in a Kafkaesque communal apartment where eighteen families shared one kitchen, Anya grew up singing odes to Lenin, black-marketeering Juicy Fruit gum at her school, and, like most Soviet citizens, longing for a taste of the mythical West. It was a life by turns absurd, drab, naively joyous, melancholy-and, finally, intolerable to her anti-Soviet mother. When she was ten, the two of them fled the political repression of Brezhnev-era Russia, arriving in Philadelphia with no winter coats and no right of return.

These days Anya lives in two parallel food universes: one in which she writes about four-star restaurants, the other in which a simple banana-a once a year treat back in the USSR-still holds an almost talismanic sway over her psyche. To make sense of that past, she and her mother decided to eat and cook their way through seven decades of the Soviet experience. Through the meals she and her mother re-create, Anya tells the story of three generations-her grandparents', her mother's, and her own. Her family's stories are embedded in a larger historical epic: of Lenin's bloody grain requisitioning, World War II hunger and survival, Stalin's table manners, Khrushchev's kitchen debates, Gorbachev's anti-alcohol policies, and the ultimate collapse of the USSR. And all of it is bound together by Anya's sardonic wit, passionate nostalgia, and piercing observations.

Author

Anya von Bremzen is a three-time James Beard Award-winning culinary writer. She was born in 1963 in Soviet Russia, and her works include The New Spanish Table, The Greatest Dishes: Around the World in 80 Recipes, and Please to the Table: The Russian Cookbook.

Other books by the author

Please to the Table (1990)
Terrific Pacific Cookbook (1995)
 Fiesta (1997)
The Greatest Dishes! Around the World in 80 Recipes (2004)
New Spanish Table (2006)
Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking (2014)
Paladares (2018)

The Last Juror

By John Grisham

I had such a run on John Grisham novels during the mid-2000s and finished at that point with this one. I've always enjoyed his writing and, almost despite that fact all his writing is stand alone, I've thoroughly enjoyed every novel he has written. The location of 'Ford County' is a recurring place that appears in multiple novels, and here we are again, in Ford County.

Synopsis

In 1970, one of Mississippi's more colourful weekly newspapes, The Couny Time, went bankrupt. To the surprise and dismay of many, ownership was assumed by a 23-year-old college drop-out, named Willie Traynor. The future of the paper looked grim until a young mother was brutally raped and murdered by a member of the notorious Padgitt family. Willie Traynor reported all the gruesome details, and his newspaper began to prosper.
The murderer, danny PAditt, was tried before a packed courtroom in Clanton. Mississipp. The trail came to a startling and dramatic end when the defendant threatened revenge against the juros if they convicted him. Nevertheless, they found him guilty, and he was sentenced to life in prison.
But in Mississippi in 1970, 'life' didn't necessarily mean 'life' and nine years later Danny Padgitt managed to get himself paroled. He returned to Ford County, and the retribution began.

Author

John Ray Grisham, Jr. is an American bestselling writer, attorney, politician, and activist best known for his popular legal thrillers. His books have been translated into 42 languages and published worldwide.  - Wikipedia

Other books by the author

A Time to Kill(1989)

The Firm (1991)

The Pelican Brief (1992)

The Client (1993)

The Chamber(1994)

The Rainmaker (1995)

The Runaway Jury(1996)

The Partner (1997)

The Street Lawyer (1998)

The Testament (1999)

The Brethren (2000)

A Painted House(2001)

Skipping Christmas (2001)

The Summons (2002)

The King of Torts (2003)

Bleachers(2003)

The Last Juror(2004)

The Broker(2005)

Playing for Pizza(2007)

The Appeal (2008)

The Associate(2009)

The Confession(2010)

Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer(2010)

The Litigators(2011)

Theodore Boone: The Abduction(2011)

Calico Joe (2012)

The Racketeer (2012)

Theodore Boone: The Accused(2012)

Sycamore Row(2013)

Theodore Boone: The Activist(2013)

Gray Mountain(2014)

Theodore Boone: The Fugitive(2015)

Rogue Lawyer (2015)

Theodore Boone: The Scandal(2016)

The Whistler(2016)

Camino Island(2017)

The Rooster Bar (2017)