Hayley+Reading

****__Pool__****

 * Author:** Justin D’ath
 * Publisher:** Ford Street
 * Genre:** Mystery, Fiction, Romance
 * ISBN:** 9781876462512
 * No. of Pages:** 297

Wolfgang Mulqueen is a teenage boy, who of all things loves to collect butterflies. He lives in the town of New Lourdes, Victoria, and has a passion for catching and identifying the flying creatures. One day a black butterfly flutters into his life, and leaves a mark as being a species that he has never seen or heard of before.

The black butterfly brings him to meet Audrey. Wolfgang discovers her while working at his new job at the local swimming pool. The pool water there is unusual- it defies gravity and is thought to have healing powers. Every day, lying in the same shady spot next to the pool, is Audrey. Audrey is blind, and was born 18 years ago- around the same time that the pool’s water begun to tilt. Audrey’s father is very concerned about Audrey, so decides to ask Wolfgang to be her friend after he sees how much they connect. But Wolfgang and Audrey end up coming together in more than just a friendship, despite so many obstacles in their way. Audrey introduces Wolfgang to her strange world, which eventually becomes consuming and causes them more trouble than she intended. Wolfgang also discovers how the swimming pool, Audrey and the mysterious black butterfly are all related…

I really enjoyed this book. It’s full of mystery, and definitely makes you want to keep reading. The originality and uniqueness of the plot draws you in, as does its many layers, and the fact that they all connect at the end. I also loved that this book had aspects of things that I have never heard of before, such as a pool with tilted water, and Audrey’s theory about what lies beneath the pool.

Another good point is the fact that this book gives you an insight to what it’s like to be blind, like Audrey. It describes some things from her point of view, and makes you feel her pain and frustration. It really made me aware of the struggles sight-impaired people face. There are not many books that include a blind character, but Justin D’ath manages to pull this off without fault.

My favourite character was Wolfgang. It was hard at the start of the book to imagine what he was like, but as you got through it he progressed more as a character, and his character traits showed more. This was a bit annoying, but it got you to understand his character and the rest of the book once the plot started to blossom and his personality showed more.

This book is great for a bit of light reading. It’s like a mystery, but not as heavy as some others. It keeps you guessing and new unexpected twists pop up all the time. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys this sort of genre or wants to try something different.

By Hayley

Reading Task 2 Term 3 2009
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 * Reflection:**

**__ The Host __**  **Author:** Stephenie Meyer It is the future, and Melanie Stryder, her partner Jared, and younger brother Jamie are all on the run. A life form called the ‘Souls’ have taken over the planet and inhabited the mind of nearly every human. Melanie, Jared and Jamie are doing all they can to keep themselves human and avoid the souls. But their luck must run out and Melanie and Jared split up. Melanie gets chased by a group of souls and finds herself cornered in a building. To try and preserve her mind and body from the Alien Souls, she leaps down an elevator shaft. Wanderer is a Soul who has been on many planets before Earth- her ninth. She is assigned to Melanie’s body, which was recovered. Upon waking up in her new body, Wanderer is greeted with a surprise. Aside from receiving all of Melanie’s memories- which is normal for host bodies- Wanderer discovers she can still hear Melanie inside her head. Melanie is trapped and cannot control her body- all she can do is watch. But still full of love for Jared and Jamie, Melanie thinks of them and as she does, so does Wanderer. Wanderer can’t help but want what her body craves, so she and Melanie set off to find the man and child they both love. Trekking through the desert, Melanie and Wanderer come close to dying, but then come across Melanie’s Uncle Jeb and are saved. Jeb takes Melanie and Wanderer into his secret hideaway- an empty volcano where Melanie and Wanderer begin a new life full of changes for them both. I thought this book was extremely well written. I enjoyed nearly all of it, and could not put it down once I understood what was happening! I think that part of what made this book so good was its complete originality, rather than the storyline. All of her Stephenie Meyer’s ideas were completely original and amazingly imaginative. At the start of the book, I was very confused as to what was happening because I had never read any book like this before. But a little further on I grasped the concept. During the first half of the story, I wasn’t enjoying the storyline very much, because I found that nothing interesting happened. Towards the end, the story started to take shape for me and I really enjoyed it. I found it really amazing that Melanie and Wanderer grew together as the book progressed. For example, at the beginning of the book, their movements and actions were separate. But as they began to accept each other, their movements and actions were together. Instead of ‘I’ or ‘she’ the words ‘we’ and ‘our’ were used. And then once the two became good friends, it went back to ‘I’ and ‘she’. The characters in this book were all individual and unique, but my favourite character would have been Jamie, because he accepts Wanderer regardless of the fact she’s from a different planet, and he grew to love both Melanie and Wanderer like no one else did. I really enjoyed this book and I definitely recommend it to any or all young adults.
 * Publisher:** Sphere
 * Genre:** Science Fiction, Romance
 * Number of Pages:** 617
 * ISBN:** 9781847441843