THE FIRST THIRD by Will Kostakis

Publication date: July 24th 2013
Publisher: Penguin (Teen)
Number of Pages: 248
Date read: August 13th 2013
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Family, Humour, Romance, Realistic Fiction, Australian
Source: Recieved from Penguin Teen Australia (PTA) 





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(Description source: Goodreads)

Life is made up of three parts: in the first third, you're embarrassed by your family; in the second, you make a family of your own; and in the end, you just embarrass the family you've made.

That's how Billy's grandmother explains it, anyway. She's given him her bucket list (cue embarrassment), and now, it's his job to glue their family back together.

No pressure or anything.

Fixing his family's not going to be easy and Billy's not ready for change. But as he soon discovers, the first third has to end some time. And then what?

It's a Greek tragedy waiting to happen?

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The First Third is a heartfelt, deep novel that follows Billy and his family through the tough times that follow his Greek Yiayia (grandmother) being temporarily hospitalised.

Dysfunctional doesn't even begin to describe what his family is beginning to be, with his mother just beginning to date again after many years and being a little more than rough at it. His gay older brother, Simon, living in Brisbane, having an awesome time and his younger brother, Peter, rapidly drifting away from everyone in a tide of angst and misunderstanding.

After visiting his Yiayia she decides to give him a goal, her bucket-list in case she doesn't make it. With the help of his best friend Lucas, otherwise known as Sticks due to his physical condition, they start on fulfilling the not so easy list:

"1) Find your mummy a husband

2) Have Simon girlfriend in Sydney

3) Fix Peter"

Along the way both Billy and Lucas find new people in their lives, themselves and their families once more.

This is a novel that I found to be easy to read, I found Billy easy to relate to, I also loved his sense of humour and the relationships that grew over the course of The First Third. The characters each had likable qualities about them and their flaws and mannerisms had me in stitches at times due to me being able to relate them to people that I know personally.

The characters and vocabulary used by them was very Australian as well as the sense of humour and light-heartedness towards most things. It was an aspect of the novel that I especially liked and I think that not enough Australian authors use this writing style.

The way that Kostakis brings the story line together was interesting and the story was creative and certainly kept me interested in the plot. Although, in the middle there wasn't much of a climax or point of excitement, instead I found it to lag a bit and keep a much slower pace. I still really enjoyed these parts, don't get me wrong, I just think that he could have done the middle section in a different way.

Towards the end however, it hit that climactic point and had me gripped in such a way that I was really loathed to put it down for a few minutes because I felt that I had to keep reading.

The ending to the story was really unexpected for me and I felt that it was really well written as well as being surprising. At the same time it was quite a flat mood just prior to the end of The First Third but I am really glad that it ended the way that it did, it was the perfect ending to a great rollercoaster ride of emotions and family connections.

  

"I was fourteen when my grandmother taught me about love and the difference between moussaka and lasagne.
I was fifteen when I fell in love with lasagne.
I was sixteen when I met moussaka.
And I was seventeen when I realised it didn’t matter. Lasagne or moussaka, being on the other side of love hurt."

I rate The First Third Four out of Five!

TOMORROW WHEN THE WAR BEGAN by John Marsden

Book one in the Tomorrow series
Publication date: 1993
Publisher: Pan Macmillan (Australia)/ Scholastic
Number of Pages:304
Date read: April 12th 2006
Genre: Realistic Fiction, War, Young Adult
Source: Bought 

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(Description source: Goodreads)

 When Ellie and her friends return from a camping trip in the Australian bush, they find things hideously wrong — their families are gone. Gradually they begin to comprehend that their country has been invaded and everyone in their town has been taken prisoner. As the reality of the situation hits them, they must make a decision — run and hide, give themselves up and be with their families, or fight back.

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“At that age you think boys have as much personality as coat hangers and, you don't notice their looks.
Then you grow up.”

Set in country Australia, Tomorrow When the War Began follows the adventures of seven average, naive and inexperienced Australian teenagers and their growth as individuals and as friends. The story takes off with the main character Ellie recounting the events that came to pass since her and her friends went bush for a few days.

As the story begins to flow, it goes from being more of a second person story to completely first person. Tomorrow When the War Began is a gripping story which, from the beginning attaches you to the various different characters. Each of the characters are easy to identify with and have vastly different qualities and identities that make it so that there is someone in there that everyone will grow to adore.

 From the innocent, gullible, sheltered teenagers seen at the beginning of the novel, they begin to change as the harsh reality sets in that Australia is at war and that they need to survive on their own until it's over. That is unless they wish to become captives like the rest of their town and those surrounding.

When they decide to keep themselves from being captured they also decide that it's time, time to help the war efforts and fight back guerrilla style and hit the enemy forces where it hurts, their soldiers, their vehicles and the main routes to their strongholds. But it isn't going to be an easy task and may cost the seven friends their lives. 

Tomorrow When the War Began is an absolutely AMAZING book that really should be on everyone's to read list!!! It is enthralling and I when I first read it I absolutely could NOT put it down, I read it every second that I possibly could and then found myself desperate for the second. These book do not disappoint in the slightest and I recommend them to all readers!
 

“They say teenagers can sleep all day. I often used to look at dogs and be amazed by the way they seemed to sleep for twenty hours a day. But I envied them too. It was the kind of lifestyle I could relate to.

We didn't sleep for twenty hours, but we gave it our best shot.” 

I rate Tomorrow When the War Began Five out of Five!

GO ASK ALICE by Anonymous

Publication date: March 5th 1971
Publisher: Prentice Hall
Number of Pages:214
Date read: May 18th 2013
Genre: Realistic Fiction, Young Adult
Source: Bought 

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(Description source: Goodreads)

 January 24th

After you've had it, there isn't even life without drugs....

It started when she was served a soft drink laced with LSD in a dangerous party game. Within months, she was hooked, trapped in a downward spiral that took her from her comfortable home and loving family to the mean streets of an unforgiving city. It was a journey that would rob her of her innocence, her youth -- and ultimately her life.

Read her diary. 

Enter her world.

You will never forget her.

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“I'm afraid to live and afraid to die.” 

Go Ask Alice is the emotional, heart-wrenching story of a teenage girl. Written by Anonymous, it explores her inner most feelings and experiences and makes readers grow attached to this unnamed girl. 

Since her family moved away for her fathers job 'Alice' has come down from cloud nine when she realizes that this school will be just the same as the last one. She will just be another nobody with very few friends. 
On a holidays to visit her grandparents back in her home town she is invited to a party with the girls from her old school. Feeling accepted for once she goes and is exposed to a dark world full of lies, cheats and drugs. 

As 'Alice' spirals further into this new world she meets new people, falls in love and tries new things. Following the first hand account of this teenage girl as she watches her life spiral out of control and feels powerless to control it. Getting dragged into a world that she barely knew existed and suddenly having so many expectations until her gives teenagers a realistic but terrifying view at the impact that drugs often have on youths.  

Go Ask Alice follows this normal sixteen year old through her day by day life since getting herself the diary. It may not be written in every single day but it makes readers feel involved in the story and is definitely a must read for Young Adults. I LOVE this book, it may not be modern or action- packed, but I recommend this book to all Young Adults because it exposes ideas that aren't generally discussed openly in an interesting and approachable way.

“Even now I'm not really sure which parts of myself are real and which parts are things I've gotten from books.”

I rate Go Ask Alice Five out of Five!

ART GEEKS AND PROM QUEENS by Alyson Noel

Publication date: September 1st 2005
Publisher: St Martin's Griffin
Number of Pages: 226
Date read: April 12th 2013
Genre: Young Adult, Fiction, Realistic Fiction
Source: Bought
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(Description source: Goodreads)

Being the new girl is tough—just ask sixteen-year-old Rio Jones.
A New York transplant, Rio has no clue how she's going to fit in at her fancy new private school in Southern California.
 Plus, being late, overdressed, and named after a Duran Duran song doesn't make the first day any easier.

Then, Rio meets Kristi. Beautiful, rich, and a cheerleader, Kristi is the queen bee of Newport Beach, and she isn't friends with just anyone, so Rio is thrilled when she's invited to be part of the most exclusive, popular clique. 

At first, Rio is having a great time, but as she becomes more immersed in the jet set crowd, she discovers an unwritten rule that her new friends forgot to mention:

don't cross Kristi...

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"But why didn't you just ask me?" I set down my fork and glare at her.
"Because you were sleeping," She says, taking a sip if Chardonnay.
"I was taking a nap, Mom. It wasn't intended to be some kind of Disney fairy-tale hundred-year snooze."

Art Geeks and Prom Queens draws you into the life of 16 year old Rio Jones who is forced to move away from where she is more than happy, with her wonderful and supportive friends in New York to Southern California. 

Here she feels further out of her depth than even she felt before, coping with a father who is away on business more than he is ever at home and an ex model mother who Rio often feels is more than a burden than family.

With the pressure from her mum to be the perfectly dressed popular girl that she was in her youth, Rio's first day at school is off to a rocky start but she quickly finds friendship with two art geeks like her, Jas and Mason.
But getting into trouble with them on the first day puts them on her mums bad side and she is told not to see them again.
With time she falls into the 'popular' clique and her life begins a rollercoaster ride that brings her away from who she really is and turns her into someone she vowed she would never be.


Filled with superficial b*****s, deceit and a very easily swayed main character, Art Geeks And Prom Queens, retells a frequently done plotline.
Happy but geeky main character is forced to move away from the friends she loves, she makes some nice friends but soon turns her back on them for popularity.
Things go haywire, she realises the original friends she had were good to her and she goes back to them.
Along the way both relationship and family issues occur to dramatise the story some more.

Very similar to Mean Girls, but still a book that I enjoyed despite Rio turning into a slut partway through, which honestly was more annoying than anything, but the book was still a nice read that was entertaining as well as humourous.


One aspect of Rio and her ralationships with her boyfriends was how much they changed her and how her newly found popularity made her think that essentially cheating on her boyfriend is no big deal!! It showed how deluded and stupid she had really become.

It does reflect a lot of what does happen to teenagers in school and reflects what
many 'geeky' or 'unpopular' students would like nothing more, to turn from being how they are into popular. It shows the risks and repercussions of changing who you are in such a drastic way and even that cheating on your boyfriend is a bad thing (duh!).

It is a good, light hearted read with some interesting aspects to it that you will enjoy, both the good points and the bad make Art Geeks And Prom Queens the individual book that I enjoyed.

I rate Art Geeks And Prom Queens Three out of Five!

CHECKERS by John Marsden

Publication date: 1996
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Number of Pages:128
Date read: February 16th 2007
Genre: Young Adult, Realistic Fiction
Source: Bought 

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(Description source: Goodreads)

She lives in the best suburb. She goes to the finest school. Her family is wealthy and powerful. She has everything money can buy.

So why are there reporters outside her house?
And why is her father telling lies on television?
And why is the Premier talking about them in State Parliament?

Something is wrong. Something is terribly wrong.
 Riveting and compulsively readable, John Marsden's Checkers plunges us deep in the mind and world of a teenage girl whose life has spun completely out of control.

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Checkers  is the emotional, heart-wrenching story of a teenage girl who, in the space of a few hours, gets her life thrown upside down and learns that no one in life can really be trusted. 

Written in the form of diary flashbacks, Checkers introduces us to a girl who voluntarily checked in to a nearby psychiatric ward but refuses to talk about what helped her to make her mind to be there. 

In flashbacks we get to experience her life before the Psychiatric ward, featuring her dysfunctional and uncommunicative family of four as life for them spirals out of their control. Checkers, the dog that her father buys for her is a beacon of light for the unnamed girl when her father comes under attack from the media due to being under suspicion for fraudulent activities within his co-owned business. 

 When a connection ties Checkers to the fraud case, the situation worsens and everything takes a turn for the worse. A turn that makes everything change forever.

Checkers was a gripping book that had me emotionally entranced from the opening chapter.  Like many of Marsden's other novels, Checkers takes on a different writing style, which does take some getting used to , but personally I found it to be quite interesting and effective for this storyline. 

It helps to express how the main character feels and what she is thinking, which gives more dimension to the plot line and encourages more empathy towards her. 
The ending to Checkers is gripping and really gives the story an individual spin, showing that Marsden is not afraid to take things all the way and he really goes off on a limb ending things the way that he does. 

This is an enjoyable, emotional novel that is worth reading and doesn't take much time at all. 

   

"It’s a miracle anyone survives to be a teenager. It’s a miracle any teenager survives to be an adult."

I rate Checkers Four out of Five!

ANGUS, THONGS AND THE FULL- FRONTAL SNOGGING by Louise Rennison

Book one in the Confessions of Georgia Nicolson
Publication date: June 24th, 1999
Publisher: Piccadilly Press
Number of pages: 160
Date read: September 14th, 2013
Genre: Young Adult, Humour, Chic Lit, Romance, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction
Source: Bought
Format: Paperback





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(Description source: Goodreads)

There are six things very wrong with my life:

1. I have one of those under-the-skin spots that will never come to a head but lurk in a red way for the next two years.

2. It is on my nose

3. I have a three-year-old sister who may have peed somewhere in my room.

4. In fourteen days the summer hols will be over and then it will be back to Stalag 14 and Oberfuhrer Frau Simpson and her bunch of sadistic teachers.

5. I am very ugly and need to go into an ugly home.

6. I went to a party dressed as a stuffed olive.

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“Look, I can't go out with you, because...because...because I'm a lesbian.”

Angus, Thongs and the full-frontal snogging was a novel that I recall my friends many years ago raving about and trying to get me to read. Having finally caught up I can say that I regret not reading them back when I was in my early teens because the humour and style mimicks that of a 14 year old girl perfectly!

We are drawn into the life of Georgia Nicolson through her diary and get to experience everything that happens along with her. Her crazy family and friends that all drive her wild at times as well as the highs and lows of both boys and dating. Along with her wicked sense of humour that often kept me laughing for pages on end she looks at everything exactly the way that most 14 year old girls do.

When sex-god Robbie arrives the comedy really sets in with her small comments and snide remarks about things that drive her bonkers. Georgia eventually decides that Robbie will be hers soon and devises a fool-proof plan that will certainly land her Robbie. But family and friends can really get in the way sometimes.

Overall I enjoyed Angus, Thongs and the full-frontal snogging a lot and found it to be quite funny, it certainly had its moments though. I can see how easily other girls in their early teen would find this novel to relate to and the messages and lessons that Georgia learns throughout it can be very valuable indeed.

To me Georgia was an irritating character, being not only vain and incredulously self-centred but also demanding, high maintenance and hormonal. By the time I was nearing the end I had gotten used to her character and interestingly enough she didn't irritate me to the degree that she had at the beginning.

The plot was not as predictable as I had initially thought and I enjoyed that it took those different turns along the way, so that I could not be entirely sure as to where Georgia would end up in life. It was well paced until about halfway through when it really slowed down until it was almost the end, but lifted its game a but then.

I am looking forward to continuing the series and seeing what else Georgia gets involved in and how much trouble she creates.

“Unbelievable! I said, "What would I be doing walking the streets at night as a stuffed olive- gate-crashing cocktail parties?”

I rate Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging Three out of Five!!!

THE GREAT GATENBY by John Marsden

Publication date: December 31st 1989
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Number of Pages:155
Date read: July 3rd 2008
Genre: Young Adult, Realistic Fiction
Source: Bought 

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(Description source: Goodreads)

Maybe deep down every kid knows his parents want him to be the Pride of the School, the Captain of Cricket and Tennis and Rowing and Darts and Knitting and anything else that's going down.
They don't want to know about the fact that you've had more detentions than any other new student in the history of the school, that you're going out with a girl who doesn't wear a bra to PE, that the Head Swimming Coach is some kind of Nazi whose last job was training the shark in Jaws.

Erle Gatenby has been sent to boarding school to straighten out, but there's about as much chance of that happening as there is of his giving up smoking... or drinking... or falling through the Art Room roof.

Erle's a full tank of petrol... and wild, sexy Melanie Tozer is about to light the match.

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Erle Gatenby has been kicked out of his previous school and now must attend Linley boarding school, it isn't ridiculously strict but Erle loves to push the boundaries and do things his own way, which probably isn't always the best way to go about things at times. 
But his strong personality and persistence stands him in good stead to make new friends and enemies alike and gives him the courage to pursue the gorgeously stunning Melanie Tozer. 

By either his wits or just plain old good luck, Erle lands the girl and finds a heart- warming and strong bond with Melanie that makes him happy for once and fills him with a desire to be the best that he can be. Their passionate, adoring love is gorgeous and through the downfalls of everyday life they are the light in each others lives to keep going. 

This quick and enticing novel is hard to adjust to at first, with what I found to be a strange writing style and use of language (I'm not sure whether it is due to my gender or the time in which it was written). But I soon adjusted to it and really came to like both Erle and Melanie, amongst others, at characters.

I will warn that for younger readers there is a risque (sexual) scene or two as well as Young Adult themes (and references) and to read at your own rick/ maturity and to please be aware of this. I know that this particular book is not to everyone's taste but I really enjoyed The Great Gatenby and found it to be witty as well as serious in places. 
   

"Everyone gazed at the girl, who was sitting on the arm of a chair in the middle of the room. Her parents were red with humiliation. The girl stared right back at the Housemaster. I fell in love with her on the spot."

I rate The Great Gatenby Four out of Five!