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Malorie Blackman
Prizes, prizes, and prizes: Malorie Blackman has a golden touch
when it comes to winning prizes for her books. Since she became a
full-time writer in 1990, she's won the Young Telegraph Award
twice, the W.H. Smith Mind Boggling Book Award and been commended
for the Carnegie Medal.
But Malorie didn't start out as a writer, though she
was always a compulsive reader. When she was a child her ambition
was to be a teacher. She never became a teacher. Instead, her first
jobs involved working with computers, which is why in some of her
stories such as Dangerous Reality, Hacker and A.N.T.I.D.O.T.E
children use different kinds of technology, especially computers,
to help solve problems.
Malorie lives in London with her husband Neil and
daughter Elizabeth. She loves writing, and spends most of the day
working away in a back bedroom of her house. She needs to write in
complete silence and finds any noise very distracting.
When she's not writing Malorie likes going to the
cinema or the theatre, as well as watching TV and, of course,
reading. She has a massive collection of books - over
10,000 titles - and she's still counting. Her best way of relaxing
is playing computer games. She's also learning to play the guitar,
the piano and the saxophone, but promises that she'll never give up
writing.
Noughts and Crosses
Callum is a Nought - a second-class citizen in a world run by the ruling Crosses. Sephy is a Cross, and not any old Cross but the daughter of one of the most powerful men in the country. Callum and Sephy have been friends forever, but now there seems to be no way for them to be together. A scary picture of an alternative reality in which those with colour rule over a society divided by rigid rules about who is right and who is wrong. Can two teenagers in love bridge that divide? They can certainly try. (12+)
Published by Doubleday
Thief!
It's not true! Lydia is victimised after being accused of a crime she didn't commit. Fleeing from the persecution, she is swept up in an unnatural storm and swirled off into the future. From her position in a new time she sees the long-term and complicated effects of the theft she didn't commit, and has to make a superhuman effort to get back to her own time to set things straight. A thought-provoking story about how knowing what happens in the future can affect the past. (10+)
Published by Corgi
A.N.T.I.D.O.T.E
Elliot's mum is a secretary. What a boring job, he thinks. Why couldn't she do something more interesting? But when his mum disappears and his uncle is arrested Elliot has to use all his computer skills to find out exactly what's been going on. Who is the spy in the ANTIDOTE camp? What has his mum been up to and why is it so dangerous? Elliot tells his thrilling story, unravelling the drama until his mum is safe. (10+)
Published by Corgi
Dangerous Reality
VIMS, the Virtual Interactive Mobile System that Dominic's mum has worked on for years, is tampered with making a vital demonstration of its abilities go seriously wrong. Dominic's mum is an expert in virtual reality, but when she's injured it's Dominic who has to stop anyone else interfering with the equipment and find out what's been going on. A high-tech thriller with an absorbing storyline. (9+)
Published by Corgi
Pig-Heart Boy
Thirteen year-old Cameron is dying. Only a heart-transplant will save him. It's a risky operation, especially as the heart in question belongs to a pig. Cameron and his family have to decide whether to take a chance with the pig's heart or to face the inevitable consequences of not having the operation at all. Cameron's diary records all that he is thinking and feeling in the days and weeks that follow. Brave stuff. (11+)
Published by Corgi
Hacker
Vicky can't believe that her father is guilty of stealing a million pounds from the bank. But how can she prove his innocence? Using all her knowledge of computers, and with the help of her stepbrother Gib, Vicky hacks into the bank's system and finds out just who has been pulling off the fraud. Vicky saves her father's reputation and also proves to herself that, even though she's adopted, she's a vital part of the family. (10+)
Published by Corgi
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[ Windows Media Clip 1- Pig-Heart Boy ]
[ Windows Media Clip 2- I write the stories I like to read ]
[ Windows Media Clip 3- It never occurred to me to be a writer ]
[ Windows Media Clip 4- I'd read as many books as I could ]
