Spotlight Magazines Spotlight Magazine for Mansfield North Sept 2015 | Page 12

Spotlight Magazine

A Good Read
Diary of a Wimpy Kid
by Jeff Kinney

A Good Read

Of course this month
children all over the
country said goodbye
to the long summer
holiday and trudged
(many of them
reluctantly) back to
the classroom. So
this month we have
a ‘back to school’
theme with the first
book in the smash hit
US book series.
Greg Heffley is finding his way through
the minefield that is middle school. As
he points out at the start of the book this
isn’t really a diary. In his own words there
is none of this ‘dear diary’ rubbish and he
won’t be discussing his ‘feelings’.
It’s a journal, and as a journal it takes us
through the school year from the allimportant decision of where to sit on the
first day of class, to the embarrassment
of playing a tree in the school production
of ‘The Wizard of Oz’ (and not even being
able to throw apples at annoying Patty who
is playing Dorothy!).
Along with his best friend, Rowley, he plans
a Hallowe’en haunted house to raise some
money but unfortunately they only manage
one terrified guest before Rowley’s dad
brings it to an end. But as we find out,
that was not quite the end of the matter
and it takes a full school year before the
consequences of Hallowe’en night are fully
realised.
Described as ‘a novel in cartons’ this is
a perfect book for both those who love
reading and those who are ‘reluctant
readers’. Yes, it’s an American book, but
there are no issues with readers relating to
the culture: school is school, wherever you
are in the world!
Cross Stitch by Diana Gabaldon
This engrossing novel is the first in the
‘Outlander’ series and introduces the
reader to Claire Randall. It is 1945 and

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Claire is on a second honeymoon with
her husband after being reunited with
him following the end of the war. The
Scottish Highlands seems idyllic although
she accepts that the real reason for the
destination is for her husband, Frank to
research his family history.
Claire visits a stone circle at Craigh na Dun
and faints after hearing a strange buzzing
noise. When she comes round she finds
herself transported back in time to the 18th
Century.
Not knowing when or if she will ever return
to 1945, Claire sets about surviving in an
alien culture. She falls for Jamie Fraser,
a young Scottish warrior, who is about as
different from Frank as you can possibly
imagine.
She learns of his life and how it crossed
paths with Captain Randall: the ancestor
that her husband is researching back in
1945. Her heart and passions are divided
between Frank in 1945 and the Scotsman
she is forced to marry
to save her life.
Winner of the Romance
Writers of America’s
award of ‘Best
Romance’ when it was
first published, the
story has recently been
adapted for American
television and is shown
here on Amazon Prime.
Gabaldon has created
a rich world for her
characters set against the romantic
Scottish H