NEW QUICK PICKS
Here are some great new books that are interesting, fun and quick to read. Below are the overviews of the books with some comments (in bold print) made by fellow Blakers who have read them!
BEAR MARKET - Michele Bossley
"Bears being poached and their parts sold. Local students try to stop them. Will they succeed? Mystery lovers will love this mystery! - Declan
While volunteering at the local zoo, Robyn, Nick and Trevor learn that grizzly bears are being poached and their gall bladders removed for use in alternative medicine. Always ready to solve a mystery, the kids set out to find the poachers. Bear is not only big game, they learn, but big money to poachers. The stakes are high and the suspects many, as the kids head into their most dangerous adventure yet.
MIRROR IMAGE - K. L. Denman
"Two opposite people are put together for an artistic project. They learn more about each other and find out they're not so different after all!" - Chloe
Sable wears only black and has always felt that doom is near. Lacey wears pink and seeks beauty everywhere. A sadistic art teacher pairs Sable and Lacey together for their final project. The girls have to get to know one another and select a suitable poem for the back of each other's decorative mirror. Sable is less than thrilled at having to spend time with Lacey, who she believes to be nothing more than a brainless doll. As the project progresses, and Sable gets past her resentment, she learns some surprising truths about who Lacey really is. All of Sable's images begin to change, including the one she holds of herself.
KICKER - Michelle Bossley
"This story is about the three most important things I look for in a book: it's about soccer, it's a mystery and it's funny!" - Brandon
Izzy and Julia have been on the same team for years. Izzy is frustrated that Julia spends too much time cherry-picking and getting all the credit when they score. But when someone starts threatening the team and their home field is sabotaged, the friends must work together to find the answers. Why would someone threaten their star player? And what is the connection to a century-old train robbery and the rumor of buried treasure? Trying to solve the mystery and keep the team in the playoff race, Izzy and Julia find themselves in deeper than they thought, and in more danger than they imagined.
CHAT ROOM - Kristen Butcher
"Linda's school makes a chat room where she meets a new boyfriend. Her best friend warns her chat rooms aren't the best way to meet someone - and turns out to be right! Dramatic, realistic fiction." - Julia
Linda is shy and avoids getting involved at school. But when her high school sets up online chat rooms she can't resist the urge to visit them. Fuelled by interest in a student with the nickname Cyrano, Linda participates in online conversations using the nickname Roxane and gains a reputation as the queen of one-liners. Soon Linda starts receiving gifts from a secret admirer who signs his gifts, "C." She is certain that her life has taken a turn for the better until "C" reveals his true identity.
CROSSBOW - Dayle Gaetz
"Matt and his friends build a cabin in the woods then meet a hermit who teaches
them how to shoot a crossbow. He's interesting at first until they realize the guy is trouble!" - Conner
Fourteen-year-old Matt has only one goal in life: to become a hermit. He has no use for school, but he loves the solitude of the forest. When he hikes up to the cabin he built for himself, he discovers a mysterious stranger named Forrest has moved in. At first Matt doesn't connect Forrest's appearance with the rash of local robberies. Forrest seems to be the perfect hermit, and he teaches Matt the skills he needs to achieve his goal, including how to hunt with a crossbow. But when Forrest tries to kill an endangered Roosevelt elk, Matt questions the ethics of his new friend. When Matt discovers a stolen rifle in his cabin, he finds himself trapped in a dangerous situation.
LAGGAN LARD BUTTS - Eric Walters
"The Laggan Lard Butts basketball team starts out as a horrible team but gradually get really good. Any kid who likes sports books - especially about basketball - would like this book." - Colby
Sam Campbell's school team, the Laggan Lairds, always loses. When someone suggests that their name be the Laggan Lard Butts, Sam thinks the team should change its name. What is a Laird anyway? The basketball coach agrees, and soon the whole school is involved in an election for a new team name. Sam and his friends nominate the name Lard Butts. When the basketball team starts winning games after a warm-up cheer of "Go Lard Butts!" it seems the Lard Butt campaign might actually win the election.
MAXED OUT - Daphne Greer
"Max really wants to play hockey but since his father died has no time because he
feels he has to help his mother and brother at home - will he ever get back on the
ice?" - Max
More than anything, twelve-year-old Max wants to play hockey like he used to. But since the death of his dad, his mom does more crying than mothering, and Max has to take his special-needs brother, Duncan, with him everywhere he goes. The team needs Max to win the upcoming game against the Red Eagles, but one practice with Duncan makes it evident that it's not safe to leave him unattended on the sidelines. With only a week to figure out how he can play in the big game, Max is feeling the pressure. Will he find a way to be a good teammate, a good brother and a good son, or is it too much for one kid?
BEYOND REPAIR - Lois Peterson
"Cam keeps running into a strange man - first all over town, then near his house. Does this guy have anything to do with his father's recent death? If you like mysteries, this is your book!" - Chris
As much as life has irrevocably changed since the death of his father, much has stayed the same for Cam. He's always had a great deal of responsibility around the house, but the burden is heavier now in combination with the load of grief he's been carrying. After the man who was driving the truck that killed his father turns up at the end of the driveway, Cam feels pressure to keep his family safe as well. He starts to see the man everywhere: at his work, in stores, at his sister's school. Cam needs to know what the man wants from his family, and he starts following his father's killer in search of answers.
