BOOKS

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

A lawyers advice to his children as he defends the real mockingbird of Harper Lees classic novel - a black man charged with the rape of a white girl. Through the young eyes of Scout and Jem Finch, Harper Lee explores with exuberant humour the irrationality of adult attitudes to race and class in the Deep South of the thirties. The conscience of a town steeped in prejudice, violence and hypocrisy is pricked by the stamina of one mans struggle for justice. But the weight of history will only tolerate so much.

Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

The story of a young man who discovers that his rage at living in a world filled with failure and lies cannot be pacified by an empty consumer culture. Relief for him and his disenfranchised peers comes in the form of secret after-hours boxing matches held in the basements of bars.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne

“One afternoon, when Bruno came home from school, he was surprised to find Maria, the family’s maid – who always kept her head bowed and never looked up from the carpet – standing in his bedroom, pulling all his belongings out of the wardrobe and packing them in four large wooden crates, even the things he’d hidden at the back that belonged to him and were nobody else’s business.” 

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

It was a dark and stormy night. Out of this wild night, a strange visitor comes to the Murry house and beckons Meg, her brother Charles Wallace, and their friend Calvin O'Keefe on a most dangerous and extraordinary adventure—one that will threaten their lives and our universe. 

Stuff of Life: a Graphic Guide to Genetics and DNA by Mark Schultz

A scientist from an alien race provides a primer on genetics in this hilarious and fun graphic novel for teenagers.

Talk To the Hand: the Utter Bloody Rudeness of Everyday Life by Lynne Truss

When did the world get to be so rude? When did society become so inconsiderate? It's a topic that has been simmering for years that it has now reached boiling point. Taking on the boorish behavior that has become a point of pride for some, Talk to the Hand is a rallying cry for courtesy.