Get 'em hooked on a book - Part 3

Great Book Choices For YEAR 7

Holes by Louis Sachar

There is no lake at Camp Green Lake. There once was a very large lake here, the largest lake in Texas. That was over a hundred years ago. Now it is just a dry flat wasteland.

There used to be a town of Green Lake as well. The town shrivelled and dried up along with the lake, and the people who lived there.
During the summer the daytime temperature hovers around ninety-five degrees in the shade - if you can find any shade. There's not much shade in a big dry lake.

The only trees are two old oaks on the eastern ridge of the "lake". A hammock is stretched between the two trees, and a log cabin stands behind that.

The campers are forbidden to lie in the hammock. It belongs to the warden. The warden owns the shade.

Out on the lake rattlesnakes and scorpions find shade under rocks and in the holes dug by the campers.

Here's a good rule to remember about rattlesnakes and scorpions. If you don't bother them, they won't bother you. Usually.

Being bitten by a scorpion or even a rattlesnake is not the worst thing that can happen to you. You won't die. Usually.

Sometimes a camper will try to be bitten by a scorpion, or even a small rattlesnake. Then he will get to spend a day or two recovering in his tent, instead of having to dig a hole out on the lake.

But you don't want to get bitten by a yellow-spotted lizard. That's the worst thing that can happen to you. You will die a slow and painful death. Always.

If you get bitten by a yellow-spotted lizard, you might as well go into the shade of the oak trees and lie in the hammock.
There is nothing anyone can do to you anymore.

This book is a must read if it is not being used as a class reader. It is about Stanley Yelnats who is wrongly accused of stealing a pair of sneakers and sent to Camp Green Lake which is a whole lot nastier than it sounds, to dig - yes you've guessed it - Holes. If your child is a reluctant reader and has not read this book, then nothing could be a better start. The twists and turns, links and themes in this story, together with its Cool Hand Luke feel, short sentences and chapters, make it fascinating and virtually un-put-down-able.

Shadow of the Minotaur by Alan Gibbons

‘Oh my-' The beast stepped out from the tunnel, and the boy actually took a few steps back. It was as if his soul had crept out of his body and was tugging at him, begging him to get away. In the sparse light shed from the gratings in the ceiling, the beast looked even more hideous. There was the sweat for a start, standing out in gleaming beads on that enormous neck and shoulders.

But that wasn't all. The creature was smeared from head to foot with filth and dried blood. It was every inch a killer. The beast began to stamp forward, its hooves clashing on the stone floor. It raised its head, the horns scraping on the ceiling, and gave a bellow that seemed to crush the air.

‘I can't do this...'

He fell back, scrambling over obstacles on the floor and fled. That's when he realised he'd dropped the ball of string. His lifeline had gone.

‘Oh no!' The beast was charging head down. Got to get out of here!

In his mind's eye, he could see himself impaled on the points of those evil-looking horns, his legs pedalling feebly in the air, his head snapped back, his eyes growing pale and lifeless.

Suddenly, he was running for his life, skidding on the slimy floor.

‘Help me!'

He saw the startled brown eyes of the girl above the grating.

‘Don't run!' she cried. ‘Fight. You must fight.'

He was almost dying of shame. This wasn't supposed to happen. He wasn't meant to lose and there weren't meant to be witnesses to his defeat.

‘Fight', she repeated. ‘It's the way of things.'

The way of things. That's right, he was meant to stand and fight. It was in his nature to be a hero. But he couldn't. Not against that.
‘Please,' he begged, turning his face away from the girl in shame, ‘somebody help me.'

The beast was careering through the tunnels, crashing, bellowing, thundering through the maze. Its charge was hot, furious, unstoppable. It was almost on him.

Get me out of here!

‘That's it,' he cried, throwing down his sword. I've had enough. Game over!

Ripping off the mask and gloves, Phoenix bent double, gulping down air like it had been rationed. The dark half light of the tunnels was replaced by the welcome glow from an Anglepoise lamp in his father's study. He glanced at the score bracelet on his wrist. It registered total defeat: 000000.

He was out.

It was a game!

‘Well?' his dad asked. ‘What do you think?'

‘Mind blowing,' Phoenix panted. ‘It was all so real. It was like another world. I mean, I was Theseus. I went into the palace of the tyrant-king Minos. I could actually touch the stone columns, feel the heat of the braziers, smell the incense... The king's daughter Ariadne helped me and she wasn't just an image on a screen. She was a real girl. Then I actually came face to face with the Minotaur. It was really happening. I believed it.' He shivered. ‘Still do.'

This is a great for turning youngsters on to reading. It starts right with the action and has the appeal of a games machine which makes the wii look like a wet weekend. It won the author the Blue Peter 2000 ‘The book I couldn't put down' award. You could also try listening to an extract on the net being read by the author but for me the broad Mancunian accent didn't quite match the subject matter. If you enjoy this there are 2 more in the trilogy!

King of Shadows by Susan Cooper

This excellent book takes the reader back in time to the world of William Shakespeare. The plot centres on Nathan Field, a young actor from South Carolina who has been chosen to play Puck in Shakespeare's ‘A Midsummer Night's Dream'. This is not a normal production: ‘The Company of Boys', formed by the enigmatic Arby, are to play at Shakespeare's Globe in London, a modern replica of the theatre that stood at Southwark, on the South Bank of the River Thames, four hundred years ago. But Nathan suddenly finds himself in London, four hundred years before his own time. Here also, he is an actor, but an actor in the sixteenth century. We see London in 1599 through the eyes of a contemporary and experience its squalor, smells but also the excitement of being in another time. Nathan is to play in a brand new play by the popular playwright William Shakespeare and of course he is again chosen for the part of ‘Puck' and will play alongside Shakespeare himself but is this a chance time-slip; a fever induced hallucination; and what has Arby to do with all of this? There is even more to this than meets the eye, but can Nathan ever find his way back to his own time?

Well, hopefully you have already found some books to enjoy. Below is a list of a few more to whet the appetite:

Small Steps (Holes sequel) by Louis Sachar
Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson
Stargirl by Jerri Spinelli
Caught in the Crossfire by Alan Gibbons

Short Stories:
The Fib and other Stories by George LaytonThe Goalkeeper's Revenge and Other Stories by Bill Naughton

Poetry:
Sky in the Pie by Roger McGough

Read it Together:
Animal Farm by George Orwell (making sure the allegory comes through properly of the Russian Revolution)
Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff

Article written for Summer 2009 issue by

JONATHAN CLARKE

11+ and 13+ Tuition

In VR, NVR, Maths, English, Drama at 11+, 13+, CE and Scholarship levels

Mobile: 07905 711713 or email: jonathan_clarkeuk@yahoo.co.uk