Waterstones Children's Book Prize

We just wanted to share with you some of the amazing teen titles that have been included in our Waterstones Children’s Book Prize shortlist. There’s lots of exciting titles on there, including Ketchup Clouds which I have just read and loved!

Ketchup Clouds by Annabel Pitcher

I Love This Book!!!! Honestly it’s easily my favourite teen book of the year of far. It’s a brilliant unusual story from the author of My sister lives on the Mantelpiece. It follows the story of Zoe who tells her story in the form of letters that she’s writing to a prisoner on death row. Through these letters you learn more and more about Zoë’s life and her incredible secret. Full of suspense, intrigue and a fair amount of romance, this has everything you could want from a teen novel and really keeps you guessing till the end. <3

Wonder by R. J. Palacio

I won’t go into too much, if any detail on this one because of the previous blog post. All I will say is that we’re very happy to see it’s made the shortlist.

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Now moving on to the books that we have yet to read. Throne of Glass looks to be a much more adventurous story that the previous two and seems perfect for Hunger Games fans! Celaena Sardothien (amazing name!) is a beautiful, deadly trained assassain who got caught and is now serving a life sentence. Enter her saviour, the young captain Westall who offers her a deal, Celaena must represent the prince in a to-the-death tournament. This is the first book in a series, and we’ve already had many enquiries about a follow-up which does come out later in the year.

Geekhood: Close encounters of a girl kind

We’re not going to say too much about this one but it’s been very popular here. If you love the big bang theory you’ll love this! We’ll give you a proper review in the next couple of months as this is our book club title for March!

Serephina by Rachel Hartman

A book that has everything in! Full of fantasy, mystery, romance and thriller there is surely something in this fantastic series to suit every need? Perfect for Eragon and hobbit fans, Seraphina seeks to find the murderer of the prince of Goredd that has shattered the fragile peace between humans and dragons. Mysterious!

Skin Deep by Laura Jarratt

Part mystery, part romance this books incredible and has had some amazing reviews! Jenna is covered in scars from the car crash that killed her best friend. Struggling to cope with the aftermath of the crash and of the continuous stares and second glances that accompany her scar covered skin, Jenna is tempted to just hide away. That is, until Ryan turns up and turns her world upside down.

Insignia by S.J. Kincaid

This looks perfect for fans of Anthony Horowitz’s Alex Rider series or the fantastic Cherub series. Full of adventure and action! Fourteen year old Tom Raines is recruited by the state to become a Combatant: one of an elite group of teen soldiers, chosen for the unique virtual reality skills to fight world war II in space! Perhaps this all sounds a little far fetched but has had amazing reviews so far. Just look at the reviews on our website: http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/s-+j-+kincaid/sammy+yuen/insignia/9016597/

  

Sorry about the length of this post and congratulations if you’ve made it all the way to the end! You can pick all of these up in store now and they’re on the buy one get one half price offer (yay!!!). Also we now have a review bay back in the teen section, so if you’re struggling to find your next book just have a look on their. 

 

Wonder

First of all apologies for the very very late post here! Things have been a bit hectic at the moment in book world what with Christmas and the giant kids moves that have taken place this month. Hopefully a few of you will have noticed but if not pop in and let us know what you think. The teen section has had a bit of a revamp as well with a much larger selection of titles on our buy one get one half price offer! Yay!!

 So, back to Wonder, which I loved!!! Please let us know what you think about it but I’ll give a little review as well.

  

Wonder is about a boy called August, or Auggie who suffers with a bad facial deformity that severely affects all aspects of his life. Up until now Auggie has been homeschooled, shielded by his parents who fear he wouldn’t cope in the outside world. This year it all changes though! Auggie is being sent to his local school for the first time ever. Wonder follows his first year at his new school and how he deals with the challenges it presents. Perhaps more importantly however is the way this book also follows how other people deal with Auggie.

The book is narrated from several different perspectives, so that you can really see how Auggie’s life affects the lives of others. The most poignant part for me was the part narrated by his sister, Via who speaks really honestly about the difficulties of having a brother with all these problems. You need to be prepared though, you WILL fall in love with Auggie and it will probably make you cry. At points it is a super emotional story but the characters are so well written and in many cases likable, that you'll be sure to laugh as well. 

If you liked this I think you’d really like the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time and The Fault in our Stars which I know loads of you loved! What do you think of this book? Please let us know in the comments below. If you haven’t read it yet then I thoroughly recommend it!

Hattie, Gale and Sara J

P.s Don’t forget to tweet us @waterstonesleeds using the hashtag #leedsteenbooks

Remember, Remember!

Apologies for the delay in this months' announcement, I have been on holiday, but fear not! November is here and with it a new book club title! So, without further ado, our teen book club choice for November is...

The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien

In light of the upcoming film, we thought it would be nice to read (or in most cases re-read) The Hobbit before the film comes out in December. It can be found in our Teen Book Club display in store in the teen section. (You will also find your reader reviews of our previous book club titles on display here too!) It's priced at £7.99, but don't forget you can get 25% off with your teen membership card! 

As usual, we aim to have this read by 20th, then we will post our reviews. If you read it before then or have already read it, do feel free to leave your comments and reviews below, but please remember to *SPOILERS ALERT* where necessary! 

You can also send us your book suggestions for December by tweeting your requests to @WaterstoneLeeds or commenting below.

This was a childhood favourite of mine, one that I haven't picked up for a number of years so I'm looking forward to reliving the adventure again - we hope you enjoy it too!

Happy Reading!

Hattie and Sammy x

Rain Rain, Go Away!

October is here! The weather is cold, rainy and miserable. Wouldn't it be nice to go somewhere warmer? With this in mind and in light of the many dystopian future suggestions we received, we've decided to leave rainy Britain behind and journey to the hot, dry dust lands of dystopian fiction.

In celebration of the recent release of the sequel, Rebel Heart, our Teen Book Club choice for October is...

Blood Red Road by Moira Young

Something a little different from the teen angst of John Green and Stephen Chbosky, the first in the Dust Lands series can be found in our Teen Book Club display in store in the teen section. (You will also find your reader reviews of our previous book club titles on display here too!) It's priced at £7.99, but don't forget you can get 25% off with your teen membership card! 

As usual, we aim to have this read by 20th, then we will post our reviews. If you read it before then or have already read it, do feel free to leave your comments and reviews below, but please remember to *SPOILERS ALERT* where necessary! 

You can also send us your book suggestions for November by tweeting your requests to @WaterstoneLeeds or commenting below.

We hope you enjoy this one! It has a Hunger Games tagline on the cover, but don't let that put you off - with it's unusual style of writing and good reviews in the past (it won the 2011 Costa Book Award) we're optimistic this could be a real gem.

Happy reading!

Hattie, Sammy and Gale x

Teen Book Club Membership Cards!

GREAT NEWS!

I've spent the ENTIRE afternoon printing and laminating official 'Waterstones Leeds Teen Book Club' membership cards which entitle you to 25% off our current book club choice. Altogether now, yaaaaaaaaaaay!

Of course - as with everything - terms and conditions apply:

*puts on stern professional voice*

1. The card is only valid at the Leeds branch of Waterstones.
2. The holder of the card will receive 25% discount on one copy of the current book club choice outlined by
    Waterstones Leeds.
3. The card cannot be used in conjunction with any other promotions, discounts or special offers.
4. The card must be presented at the time of purchase to receive discount.
5. The card may only be used by the person to whom it was issued. It is not transferable and no more than
    one card will be issued to any person.
6. The card has no monetary value and cannot be resold.
7. If lost or stolen, a replacement card will be issued upon request and the lost/stolen card will become
    invalid.
8. Waterstones Leeds reserves the right to refuse to honour discount at any time for any reason.

If you would like to sign up, pop in store and ask a bookseller at our Ground Floor tills.

Happy Reading! x

New Book Club Read!

It's September! And that means a new book club title. The books are holding their breath in anticipation, so without further ado, our Teen Book Club choice for September is...

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky!

We aim to have this read by 20th September, then we will post our reviews. If you read it before then or have already read it, feel free to leave your comments and reviews below. Please remember to *SPOILERS ALERT* where necessary - let's not give too much away!

The new young adult edition - exclusive to Waterstones *waves tiny 'W' flag* - has just been released and can be found in our Young Adult fiction section priced at £6.99. Don't forget you can get 25% off with your teen membership card, or you can have it as part of our buy one get one half price offer.

I hope you all enjoy this one! It is a personal favourite of mine and I CAN'T WAIT for the film, which is released in the UK on Wednesday 3rd October - "Orange Wednesday" win!

You can send us your book suggestions for October by tweeting your requests to @WaterstoneLeeds or commenting below.

Happy reading!

Hattie, Sammy and Gale x

REVIEW: The Fault In Our Stars

by John Green

Star crossed lovers? Sound familiar? Well, I guess with a title like this AND it being John Green, I should have known what I was letting myself in for and the emotional trauma I was probably going to put myself through!

The novel is based around our dying heroine, Hazel, a girl living her last few months after a lifetime of cancer, medicine and hospitals.

One (of the many) amazing ways that John Green writes about people with illnesses, he doesn’t leave much out. Describing the sickness and aches Hazel is going though with intensive treatments, genuinely made me feel tired and achey too. Sometimes it can be quite exhausting, but Hazels witty commentary keeps it from getting too stuck.