Seren+O

Seren Oroszvary's   Literature Canon   **Summer 2011**   Not in any particular order...   The Perfect Lie Emily Bar

//I lifted a hand to wave, without looking around. Then I stepped out into the night...//


 * OH MY GOD! Thrilling. I'm nearly finished this book. So I have read it technically... I just haven't read ALL of it. The fact that it has made it onto my list without me fully reading it should probably give you some idea of how I feel about this book.**
 * Death, disruption, love, hate, friendship, hope, fear, escape, there are an endless amount of themes that this novel brings and to top it all off is the marvellous genre or mystery, adventure and romance.**
 * I. Absolutely. Adore. This. Book. This is the first book of Emily Barr's that I have read and it has made me want to read others of her's as well.**

//'////Look for me,' I said quietly. 'Look for me. Find me.' She stirred in her sleep. I held my breath. 'Look for me,' I whispered again. Then I sat down and wrote a note that said exactly the opposite.// I **don't want to give too much of the plot away because this is really one of those books that needs to be read without the knowledge of what will happen. That's what makes it so wonderful. There have been so many mysteries and channels that I have followed and have come out the end thinking 'woah did not see that one coming!'**
 * Set partly in Venice, Italy. VENICE ITALY! Shouldn't that fact alone make you want to read this book? I know that the reason I picked this one up was because I had just returned from Italy, and I saw the front cover of this book and went YES. GIVE TO ME. lol, but no seriously. This is a must read.**
 * It basically follows the story of Lucy Riddick who is actually Marianne Jenkins... actually wait. I'm just going to copy the blurb into here so you can read it because frankly I believe this blurb gives you the perfect background knowledge you need to know for this story without any hint of giving away the mysterious and sensational plot...**

//'For Lucy Riddick, Venice has always been the dream destination. A dream inspired by the pretty picture pinned to her mother's kitchen wall. To Lucy, Venice seems the ideal place to lose herself. And now she needs to do just that. The secret she's been keeping from her boyfriend and her friends has finally caught up with her and Lucy needs to disappear - and fast. There's no better time to pack her bags and head for Italy. But what if, when she sets foot in Venice, Lucy finds that the one this she has been running from, the one thing she has been trying to escape, is already there, lying in wait for her?'//

//...//

‘All about Rachel' Series  Sarah Mlynowski **//Extremely Hilarious, witty, fun and keeps your pages turning!//** Bras & Broomsticks is a novel I adored so much that I went out and bought it, then read it twice again before buying the next two in the series, and NOW there is a fourth book out! Don't be surprised if you see me in Frankston or Mornington looking for "Parties & Potions" the fourth novel in the 'All About Rachel' series and one I am sure measures up with the quality of the first three. Now I know what you're thinking - I can see the expression on your face right now - "Oh, not another one of those predictable teen books." **However don't judge a book by its cover - literally - and pick it up, have a go. I can guarantee you will be surprised.** **What's so great about these books is the reality that comes with a twist. The normal life of a Rachel Weinstein is turned up-side-down when she finds out that both her mother and her sister are witches and that the ability-to-perform-magic gene seemed to have skipped her. Of course, Rachel is devastated that she cannot easily have the things she wants without fawning over her younger sister Miri, or her single mother. Rachel comes to the conclusion that she is just a complete and utter freak and that something must have gone terribly wrong since the gene wasn't past onto her... or so she thinks. **  Rachel is sassy, self-absorbed, shy and insecure and many of her concerns are comfortably familiar to real teenagers. This novel is the perfect teen novel, encompassing themes like family angst, friendship, school and magic but most of all it implies a strong message of believing in one's self and appreciating the things you have. A pleasant read with fabulous and realistic characters and dialog, deliciously complicated predicaments that we, as teenagers, can relate to, and an originally marvellous spellbinding plot!

The Knife of Never Letting Go Patrick Ness

Odo Hirsch //"Sometimes you are really terrible, Hazel Green." Good, thought Hazel. Everyone should be terrrible sometimes.//    **Float back to childhood. Let your mouth water and your insides melt while your imagination comes alive with Custard Donuts, Chocolate Eclairs, Vanilla Slices, Almond Crossants, Strawberry Tarts and Chocolate Dippers...**  **The beginning of this glorious novel took me out of my reality and into the pages of Hazel Green's wonderful world as she lent over the railing of her 12th floor apartment balcony, her bare feet tingling on the cool tiles of the early morning, and took in the meandering aromas floating up from Mr Volio's ground floor bakery.**     **Although I read this book quite a while ago, I have never forgotten the way Hazel Green describes each pastry she bites her teeth into and the way she cherishes every taste she comes across and every crumb she licks from her fingers of one of Mr Volio's delectable pastries. These are my favourite parts of the book - when Hazel patters into Mr Volio's pastry shop before the sun comes up and tastes a free sample of his early morning masterpieces.**   **If you're not into the melting chocolate dippers and the tingling strawberry tarts, then please do not fear. Apart from this small aspect of the book, Hazel Green is a marvellous story of independence and friendship. Hazel Green, a free-spirit and the most endearing young heroine one could meet, shows us that with a cup of determination, a table spoon of courage and a sprinkle of charm, anyone no matter if you're big or little, can stand up for what they believe in. Hazel Green should be read by everyone - even adults - as it contains many inspirational events and Hazel Green herself could teach everyone a few things about individualism, leadership and morality.**
 * [[image:http://www.toysandbooks.com/Summer_2003_Newsletter/HazelGreen.jpg width="307" height="460" align="right"]]Hazel Green **

The Quicksand Pony  Alison Lester
 * The novel begins with the escape of a mother Joyce and her baby Joe in the middle of night, heading off in a boat out into the wilderness. This immediately absorbs the reader and sets up a mysterious tale for one to immerse themselves into.**

Nine years later, nestled in the coastal headland of Australia, nine year-old Biddy lives with her parents and her grandfather. Every year Biddy's parents embark on a three day muster and Biddy is always left behind with Grandpa. But this year, Biddy gets her chance to come! Devastatingly, the trip ends with sadness after Biddy's pony Bella is caught in quicksand while the cows are being lead along the beach. Biddy's excitement and good spirits are crushed as she is forced to abandon her pony. When she goes back looking for Bella the next day, she cannot find her. Instead she spots a set of hoof prints in the sand which lifts her hopes that Bella may still be alive. But she also comes across a smaller pair of footprints alongside the hoof prints. The journey that Biddy takes to find her pony is an incredible tale of mystery, hope, friendship and trust.
 * The book tells two stories from different perspectives - Biddy's story and Joe's story - in parallel by alternating between the chapters, captivating the reader as they follow the tracks to uncover an enchanting link between the two stories and a touching finish.**

The setting is breathtaking, the chapters are gripping, the characters are original and the story is one to remember. Encompassing themes dealing with death, family, young-marriage, love and the fight for survival 'The Quicksand Pony' shows us that everything happens for a reason and to never give up on faith. This enchanting and tender tale kept my lamp on at night as I turned the pages of this wonderful novel.

Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte

Twilight  Stephanie Meyer ﻿DON'T SCROLL PAST THIS WITHOUT READING IT!!! ﻿I don't care if you're completely disgusted by this book, have a strong sense of abomination and would happily chop the pages into little pieces before burning them, OR - to the other extreme - if you're a vampire and werewolf enthusiast who shares their appreciation over internet blogs, attends monthly 'Twilight conventions' and soaks yourself in glitter baths to show your true commitment and devotion...  Please put down your sinister remarks and fixed opinions and go back to the time when you were first reading this book - forget about the whole phenomenon and all the overrated fan clubs and publicity, the so called "second-rate acting" and the debates on whether a creature on two legs or four legs is hotter. Go back to when you picked up this book because, just like any other novel, you liked the cover, you were intrigued by the blurb, or a friend recommended it to you. And if you're one of those people who read Twilight during the phenomenon, with the preconceived judgement of "OMG TWILIGHT IS SO BAD" and read it just to fit in with the crowd so you could have some idea on what you were accusing, then drop that as well and appreciate Twilight (the first NOVEL) for what it really is. An exhilarating, delicately written teen story about an average girl who falls in love with a beautiful boy, who holds a mysterious and extraordinary secret that affects his control of devotion towards her, and sets up a tale of intense page turning, engaging mysteries, breathtaking predicaments, and a thrilling affection of these star-crossed lovers. Surely with this view, you can find some aspect of Twilight to appreciate. And may I also add, that if this whole Literature Canon is based on the vote of the "the most enjoyed" and the "best of" then technically Twilight is pretty up-there with over 17million copies sold worldwide, spent over 91 weeks on the //New York Times Best Seller// list and has been translated into 37 different languages... just saying.

Much Ado About Nothing  William Shakespeare

Black Beauty Anna Sewell



Black Beauty. A gentle classic that follows the story of a beautiful and loving horse who comes under the ownership of many different men - with love, gentleness, care, respect, foolishness, cruelty and anger. As Black Beauty lives his life and undergoes many different predicaments, this tale produces feelings of sadness, compassion, pleasure, fear and anger in the reader. I absolutely loved this story and the way it was written as Sewell makes you feel like you are Black Beauty in his world being softly brushed with the loving hand of young lad Joe, or being beaten with the cutting whip of the cruel Mr Skinner. I have always remembered the advice his mother gave him when Black Beauty was just a young colt and as this sets up the story it's a very strong portion of the novel which teaches us that no matter where one heads in life, one should always be good natured and moral and most likely good treatment will come their way. This is a novel of love, beauty, passion, heartache, danger, family, adventure and fear and everyone should read this marvellous novel that was the only book Anna Sewell ever wrote and was published just five months before she died. With fifty million copies sold, Black Beauty is an enchanting novel that I adored and I am sure you will too...

//She told me the better I behaved, the better I should be treated, and that it was wisest always to do my best to please my master; 'but,' said she, 'there are a great many kinds of men; there are good, thoughtful men like our master, that any horse may be proud to serve; but there are bad, cruel men, who never ought to have a horse or dog to call their own. Beside, there are a great many foolish men, vain, ignorant, and careless, who never trouble themselves to think; these spoil more horses than all, just for want of sense; they don't mean it, but they do it for all that. I hope you will fall into good hands; but a horse never knows who may buy him, or who may drive him; it is all a chance for us, but still I say, do your best wherever it is, and keep up your good name.'//


 * //Some other favourites of mine include//: **