Monthly Archives: February 2016

A Year in the Life of a Total and Complete Genius

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A Year in the Life of a Total and Complete Genius by Stacey Matson

Book of the Week: 28 February 2016

Year in the Life

 

This story, told in the form of diary entries, assignments, letters and notes from teachers, features the ‘genius’ Arthur Bean. Arthur fancies himself as a great writer of the future but can’t seem to get started, let alone finish, an original piece of writing. He also has a huge crush on Kennedy who is popular and pretty and can’t stop writing ‘LOL’ in every single email she sends. He is meant to be helping a struggling student called Robbie Zack, who finds spelling a problem, but Arthur complains about him constantly. Arthur’s real sadness is the recent death of his mother and dealing with his grieving father. Fortunately, he has the support of some extremely understanding teachers and discovers that friendship can be found in unexpected places.

Arthur is nerdy and overly-confident in the tradition of Adrian Mole and Michael Swarbrick but often veers from being amusingly self-deluded to being plain annoying. There are lots of jokes and funny scenes to balance this out and, if you enjoy creative-writing, there is masses of useful advice from the teacher-characters.

Stacey Matson joins other good Canadian authors who have come to the fore recently. Susan Neilsen’s We Are All Made of Molecules was popular in the Year 9 Book Award last year, as was The Dogs by Allan Stratton. There is also Graham McNamee who writes pacey thrillers such as Acceleration and Bonechiller.

Here is the first page of A Year in the Life of a Total and Complete Genius if you would like to sample the style.

A Year - first page

Nimona

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Nimona by Noelle Stevenson

Book of the Week: 21 February 2016

Nimona

This week’s book is a graphic novel.

Lord Ballister Blackheart may look like a villain, with his forbidding look and mechanical arm, but he is really not achieving very much until Nimona, his self-appointed sidekick, turns up. She appears to be a smart-mouthed young girl but with the added benefit of being a powerful shapeshifter. Perhaps with her help, Blackheart can propel himself up the league-table of villains and outrank official hero of the Institution of Law Enforcement, Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin. The two used to be friends and rivals until Goldenloin blew Blackheart’s arm off in a jousting match. Although Nimona calls Lord Ballister ‘Boss’, is he really the one in charge?

Graphic novels have become far more mainstream in recent years and with good reason. There are many with sophisticated stories and striking artwork. They range from prize-winning political works such as Maus by Art Spiegelman, Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi and Palestine by Joe Sacco to graphic versions of well-known series of books for young people like the Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz and Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer.

If you would like to read more about Nimona the website is here

Other sites that cover graphic novels include Grovel and No Flying No Tights

graphicnovelsspinner

The graphic novel spinner in the School Library

 

The Art of Being Normal

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The Art of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson

Book of the Week: 7 February 2016

Art of Being Normal

Ever since he was eight years old, David has wanted to be a girl. When asked in primary school what he wanted to be when he grew up, this is was his answer. Since then, he has learned not to mention it and now he is fourteen only his best friends, Felix and Essie, know his secret. Even his affectionate and supportive parents have no idea.

David spends his time at school trying to keep a low profile and avoiding the attentions of the class bully, Harry Beaumont, who calls him ‘Freak Show’.

When Leo, who is rumoured to have been expelled from his previous school for chopping off a teacher’s finger with a hacksaw, joins David’s school he is intrigued by his surly good looks and tries unsuccessfully to make friends. David gives up until one day Leo stands up for him in a fight and the ice is broken. But something has happened in Leo’s past and his background is very different from that of most students at Eden Park School, so he is not sure that he wants to make new friends.

The story is told alternately by David and by Leo and is one of the few for young people to feature a central character who is transgender. It is to the author’s credit that this never overwhelms a sympathetically told story with sparky dialogue, identifiable situations and likeable characters.

To read more about the book and its author, Lisa Williamson’s website can be found here.