Advent calendar 2013
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This document provides summaries and recommendations for 24 books to read during the Advent calendar period in 3 sentences or less per book. It includes titles like Burn Mark by Laura Powell about a witch crime thriller in London, Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner about a dyslexic boy in an alternative 1950s Britain, and Wonder by R.J. Palacio about a boy with a facial deformity attending school for the first time. Each book summary also includes a button to watch a trailer for that book.
Advent calendar 2013
- 1. Advent Calendar A book suggestion for every day of advent
- 3. Burn Mark by Laura Powell 'I'll win or I'll burn -- whatever it takes' Witch crime takes to the streets of London in the first of a captivating series of crime thrillers with a fantasy twist. Glory is from a family of witches and lives beyond the law. She is desperate to develop her powers and become a witch herself. Lucas is the son of the Chief Prosecutor for the Inquisition - the witches' mortal enemy - and his privileged life is very different to the forbidden world that he lives alongside. And then on the same day, it hits them both. Glory and Lucas develop the Fae - the mark of the witch. In one fell stroke, their lives are inextricably bound together, whether they like it or not . . . Back to calendar Watch the trailer
- 4. Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner Maggot Moon tells the story of a dyslexic schoolboy, Standish Treadwell, who lives in an alternative 1950s Britain ruled by a ruthless regime. As his family and friends disappear around him, Standish finds himself involved in a plot to win the race to the moon. Back to calendar Watch the trailer
- 5. Velvet by Mary Hooper Velvet is a laundress in a Victorian steam laundry. With both her mother and father dead, she is an orphan and has to rely upon her own wits to make a living. The laundry is scalding, back-breaking work and Velvet is desperate to create a better life for herself. Then Velvet is noticed by Madame Savoya, a famed medium, who asks Velvet to come to work for her. Velvet is dazzled at first by the young yet beautifully dressed and bejewelled Madame. But soon Velvet realises that Madame Savoya is not all that she says she is, and Velvet's very life is in danger . . . Back to calendar Watch the trailer
- 6. Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein Two young women become unlikely best friends during World War II, until one is captured by the Gestapo. Only in wartime could a stalwart lass from Manchester rub shoulders with a Scottish aristocrat. But then a vital mission goes wrong, and one of the friends has to bail out of a faulty plane over France. She is captured by the Gestapo and becomes a prisoner of war. The story begins in “Verity”‟s own words, as she writes her account for her captors. Truth or lies? Honour or betrayal? Everything they've ever believed in is put to the test... A gripping thriller. Back to calendar Watch the trailer
- 7. The 5th Wave by Rick Yancy After the 1st wave, only darkness remains. After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive. After the 4th wave, only one rule applies: trust no one. Now, it‟s the dawn of the 5th wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from Them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see. Who have scattered Earth‟s last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, Cassie believes, until she meets Evan Walker. Beguiling and mysterious, Evan Walker may be Cassie‟s only hope for rescuing her brother—or even saving herself. But Cassie must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up. Back to calendar Watch the trailer
- 8. The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater Blue has spent the majority of her sixteen years being told that if she kisses her true love, he will die. When Blue meets Gansey's spirit on the corpse road she knows there is only one reason why - either he is her true love or she has killed him. Determined to find out the truth, Blue becomes involved with the Raven Boys, four boys from the local private school (lead by Gansey) who are on a quest to discover Glendower - a lost ancient Welsh King who is buried somewhere along the Virginia ley line. Whoever finds him will be granted a supernatural favour. Never before has Blue felt such magic around her. But is Gansey her true love? She can't imagine a time she would feel like that, and she is adamant not to be the reason for his death. Where will fate lead them? Back to calendar Watch the trailer
- 9. Divergent by Veronica Roth In sixteen-year-old Beatrice Prior's world, society is divided into five factions -- Abnegation (the selfless), Candor (the honest), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent) -- each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue, in the attempt to form a "perfect society." At the age of sixteen, teens must choose the faction to which they will devote their lives. On her Choosing Day, Beatrice renames herself Tris, rejects her family's group, and chooses another faction. Back to calendar Watch the trailer
- 10. Young Sherlock Holmes: Death Cloud by Andrew Lane The year is 1868, and Sherlock Holmes is fourteen. His life is that of a perfectly ordinary army officer's son: boarding school, good manners, a classical education -- the backbone of the British Empire. But all that is about to change. With his father suddenly posted to India, and his mother mysteriously 'unwell', Sherlock is sent to stay with his eccentric uncle and aunt in their vast house in Hampshire. So begins a summer that leads Sherlock to uncover his first murder, a kidnap, corruption and a brilliantly sinister villain of exquisitely malign intent ... Back to calendar Watch the trailer
- 11. Delirium by Lauren Oliver There was a time when love was the most important thing in the world. People would go to the end of the earth to find it. They would tell lies for it. Even kill for it. Then, at last, they found the cure. Now, everything is different. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the government demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Haloway has always looked forward to the day when she'll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy. But then, with only ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable Back to calendar Watch the trailer
- 12. Department 19 by Will Hill In a secret supernatural battle that's been raging for over a century, the stakes have just been raised -- and they're not wooden anymore. When Jamie Carpenter's mother is kidnapped by strange creatures, he finds himself dragged into Department 19, the government's most secret agency. Fortunately for Jamie, Department 19 can provide the tools he needs to find his mother, and to kill the vampires who want him dead. But unfortunately for everyone, something much older is stirring, something even Department 19 can't stand up against! Back to calendar Watch the trailer
- 13. Artemis Fowl and The Last Guardian by Eoin Colfer Seemingly nothing in this world daunts the young criminal mastermind Artemis Fowl. In the fairy world, however, there is a small thing that has gotten under his skin on more than one occasion: Opal Koboi. In The Last Guardian, the evil pixie is wreaking havoc yet again. This time his arch rival has reanimated dead fairy warriors who were buried in the grounds of Fowl Manor. Their spirits have possessed Artemis's little brothers, making his siblings even more annoying than usual. The warriors don't seem to realize that the battle they were fighting when they died is long over. Artemis has until sunrise to get the spirits to vacate his brothers and go back into the earth where they belong. Can he count on a certain LEPrecon fairy to join him in what could well be his last stand? Back to calendar Watch the trailer
- 14. Gods and Warriors by Michelle Paver Hylas couldn't take it in. Last night he and Issi had made a camp in a cave. Now his sister was missing, his dog was dead, and he was running for his life. The Black Warriors - nightmares of black rawhide armour and bronze spears - want him dead. He doesn't know why, but their pursuit will be relentless. So begins his quest across land and sea with only Pirra, the rebellious daughter of a High Priestess, and a dolphin called Spirit for company. Back to calendar Watch the trailer
- 15. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Third Wheel by Jeff Kinney Love is in the air, but what does that mean for Greg Heffley? A Valentine's Day dance at Greg's school has turned his world upside down. As Greg scrambles to find a date, he's worried he'll be left out in the cold on the big night. His best friend, Rowley, doesn't have any prospects either but that's small consolation. Then an unexpected twist gives Greg a partner for the dance and leaves Rowley the odd man out. But a lot can happen in one night, and in the end, you never know who's going to be lucky in love . . . Back to calendar Watch the trailer
- 16. Wonder by R.J. Palacio A boy named August (they call him Auggie) who has a deformity on his face. I know that doesn‟t sound nice, but his ears look like tiny fists and his eyes are too low and he has no eyebrows or eyelashes. I don‟t know how to explain him. Auggie has been home-schooled until his parents decide that it‟s time to send him to a real school, Beecher Prep, and Auggie is resistant at first. He‟s afraid. But when his parents tell him that the principal‟s name is Mr. Tushman, Auggie laughs and decides to go. The rest of the book is about his year at school and how he manages to survive bullies, „the plague‟ — and a jerk named Julian.” Back to calendar Watch the trailer
- 17. Time Riders: Gates of Rome by Alex Scarrow Liam O'Connor should have died at sea in 1912. Maddy Carter should have died on a plane in 2010. Sal Vikram should have died in a fire in 2026. But all three have been given a second chance - to work for an agency that no one knows exists. Its purpose: to prevent time travel destroying history ...Project Exodus - a mission to transport 300 Americans from 2070 to 54AD to overthrow the Roman Empire - has gone catastrophically wrong. Half have arrived seventeen years earlier, during the reign of Caligula. Liam goes to investigate, but when Maddy and Sal attempt to flee a kill-squad sent to hunt down their field office, all of the TimeRiders become trapped in the Roman past. Back to calendar Watch the trailer