ReadOn Book Review by Mrs Commisso:

All I Ever Wanted, by Vikki Wakefield, is about a young girl, Mim, who feels that she has been placed with the wrong family at birth. She desperately wants a life away from where she is now, away from her mother and the shame she feels with her brothers both in jail. ‘There are two types of people here. Criminals and their kin, and starched people with qualifications. I look at my purple toes and mum’s eighties half-perm and I know exactly which type we are.’

Mim makes mistakes, and plenty of them. She befriends Kate, sister of the love of her life, Jordan, but things (and people) are not always as they seem.

As the story spirals to its surprising conclusion, we’re left as stunned as Mim as she discovers “that there are so many ways to tell a person you love them.” I loved this book.

If you like books that are real life, thrillers, romance, surprise endings, easy to read then you will enjoy this book.

One of my favourite quotes from this book is ‘Being brave isn’t the same as being unafraid. Admitting that something scares you and facing it anyway, that’s being brave.’

I rate this book 5/5 ReadOn Stars.

I recommend this book to Year 9 +

Other realistic teen fiction books I would highly recommend include ‘The Fault in the Stars’ by John Green.

ReadOn Book Review by Mrs Grech:

Rose by any other name, by Maureen McCarthy, is about Rose, who leaves school and achieves a 100% on her year 12 VCE (the Victorian equivalent of our NSW HSC). Something happens that summer she regrets, along with many other problems within her family. Rose also has a massive fight with her dearest best friend Zoe, and a love affair that didn’t go to plan. All this makes her think again about studying law at university, following in her much loved father’s footsteps. After school ended Rose worked in a cafe and also wrote a column called “Ms Angst” for a magazine called “Sauce” the column  always began with the words “Don’t you hate it when…..” which became very popular.

The following summer Rose decides to go on a road trip to see her dying grandmother, packing her favourite 60s and 70s music CDs, her surfboard and hoping to be able to deal with the horrible secret she has kept this last year. Rose was looking forward to the trip, but then at the last minute her mother decides to go with her. Rose is not keen on the idea, her mother has changed too this last year and everything is not as it use to be in the past.

If you like books that deal with a strong character you love but would just like to strangle sometimes, family issues, love and at times funny, then you will enjoy this book.

If you liked “Looking for Alibrandi” then you might like this book too.

One of my favourite quotes from this book is “don’t you just love the way life messes you around! One minute you’re on the fast track to success, sure as hell you’ll get there, and then … wham! It tosses you off course and you’re flailing around like a piece of stray gunk from an old rusty fishing trawler. You surface gasping half blind. What’s the point? You ask…….Then something happens and you suddenly see it from a different angle. You start appreciating it.You start loving it. It’s like being on a wave. You hook into the swelling energy below and start gliding. Nothing can stop you now.”

I rate this book 4/5 ReadOn Stars.

I recommend this book to girls Year 10 and older.

ReadOn Book Review by Mrs Sylaprany:

Liar & Spy, by Rebecca Stead, is about a seventh-grade boy named Georges who has just moved from his large, comfortable house to an apartment with his father and mother. Georges’ father has recently lost his job as an architect so his mother, who is a nurse, has been working night shift in the intensive care ward. Upon moving to the apartment, Georges and his father come across an old dusty sign in the basement advertising a ‘Spy Club’. Georges dismisses it initially but curiosity gets the better of him and Georges meets some of the apartment’s other residents, homeschooled ten-year-old Candy and her aspiring detective brother, Safer. Georges days are divided between school (where he has to deal with bullying and the loss of a close friend to the ‘cool’ kids group), writing notes to his mother (who he never gets to see as she is working night shift at the hospital), setting up their new home with Dad and going to the local Chinese restaurant (frequently) for dinner and a few hair-raising adventures with Safer culminating in the investigation of Mr X (another resident of the apartment block).

If you like books that are amusing, clever, with lots of dialogue and unexpected surprises then you will enjoy this book. This is a story with layers. For most of the novel, readers will feel like they are being entertained. However, it is not until you reach the end of the novel that you will pause for a moment to reflect on what you have finally discovered.

If you like books by Meg Cabot and Ally Carter you might like this book too.

It’s a great read for Years 7 and 8 students (but also highly recommended for older readers and adults too).

Favourite quote – there were many lines and scenes that made me smile so it’s difficult to single out one line or lines but here’s one – “My parents are a little unusual, Georges. My mom is into table manners. But other than that, they’re not vey bossy.”

I give this book 4/5 ReadOn Stars.