Red House Children's Book Award 2010

The shortlists for the 2010 Red House Children's Book Award have just been announced:

Older Readers
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (Available from Library)
Ausländer by Paul Dowswell (Available from Library)
Love, Aubrey by Suzanne LaFleur (Available from Library)

Younger Readers
Angel Cake by Cathy Cassidy (Available from Library)
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw by Jeff Kinney (Available from Library)
Mondays are Murder by Tanya Landman

Younger Children
A Very Strange Creature by Ronda Armitage & Layn Marlow
Crunch Munch Dinosaur Lunch! by Paul Bright & Mike Terry
The Baby Dragon-Tamer by Jan Fearnley
Bottoms Up! by Jeanne Willis & Adam Stower

My favourite would have to be The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - a fantastic futuristic thriller. Vote for your favourite at http://www.redhousechildrensbookaward.co.uk/vote-now.asp

Percy Jackson Film

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan - film of the book released on February 12th:

Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood. I never asked to be the son of a Greek God. I was just a normal kid, going to school, playing basketball, skateboarding. The usual. Until I accidentally vaporized my maths teacher. That's when things started really going wrong. Now I spend my time fighting with swords, battling monsters with my friends, and generally trying to stay alive. This is the one where Zeus, God of the Sky, thinks I've stolen his lightning bolt - and making Zeus angry is a very bad idea...

Book of the Week

Splendor by Anna Godbersen

Eagerly awaited finale to The Luxe series.
It's a brand-new year and in this dramatic conclusion to the Luxe saga, the future of Manhattan's favourite socialites is looking decidedly different from the ones they had imagined for themselves. With old ties being broken and new ones formed, every decision comes at cost. And who knows who can afford it . . .

Hidden Gems

This is a new feature of the blog highlighting fantastic books which have been around for a while but aren't as well known as they should be...

Red Sky in the Morning by Elizabeth Laird

Anna's cares and concerns are those of any teenager - until her baby brother Ben is born handicapped. At first Anna is confused because she loves Ben but she can't bring herself to tell her friends at school about him. Anna learns to accept her feelings about Ben but other problems lie ahead. Can Anna look after Ben while coping with the other concerns in her life - school, a Saturday job and changing relationships with her friends? And will Anna's family remain together?

Book of the Week

The Medusa Project: Hostage by Sophie McKenzie

Fourteen years ago, four babies were implanted with the Medusa gene - a gene for psychic abilities. Now teenagers, Nico, Ketty, Ed and Dylan have been brought together by government agents to create a secret crime-fighting force - The Medusa Project. But now Ketty's brother Lex has stumbled into a dangerous game involving his boss and a hidden bomb. It's up to Ketty to save him without letting on what she knows to the rest of the team. But can she control her psychic visions, and her feelings for Nico, without getting the team's cover - and herself - blown sky high?

Read a review at http://www.wbqonline.com/review.do?bookid=6735553