Llamas

Llamas are pack animals with long necks and funny looking fur. Despite appearances they are intelligent. They can weigh from 127 kilograms to 204, and the can carry from 20-30% of their body weight. Llamas spit in order to establish rank within their herds, and they are sociable animals- and they're super awseome because (DUN DUN DUN) they're LLAMAS!

The originated from North American around 40 million years ago, but now over 100 000 live in South America. Their biological name is (hehehe) lama glama. They also feature in the completley fantastic Llama song!

Moon

Because the moon takes approximately a month to orbit the Earth, and the earth spins on its axis (23.5 degrees is the tilt angle) while orbiting the sun, we only ever see one side of the moon.

Borrowed Light

An honest, emotional and down to earth story, twisting mysteries of the moon and stars into the painful experiences of a sixteen year old girl, Borrowed Light is written with grace and has a unique style to it.
Callisto May is named after a moon, and a night she gazes up at the twinkling stars, thousands of years old, perhaps already dead. She could tell you something you didn't know every day, but when it comes to being herself she has no idea. She calls herself a moon: a borrower of light, and tries to fit in, blending her personality, her appearance, to those around her. A disaster at sixteen shakes her out of this boring way of life, but she finds she has been as distant as the furthest galaxy, and there's no one to help. Throughout this book she deals with her family and its foggy secrets, licked with dust but always there, and the realization that there's no one to be except yourself.
Anna Feinberg writes with piercing sensitivity and skilled perception of every day life that makes this book one of my favourites. It's completely believable and beautifully touching, and has been shortlisted.

Of Butterfly and French

Here's a random fact, with not much importance, C: If you are a person who studies butterflies (formally known as a Lepidopterist), and find youself in Spain with no idea where the local butterfly's are, the Spanish word for butterfly is mariposa.
If you happen to travel to France with your cat, which unexpetedly gets run over by a car, you would say "Mon chat est mort," meaning, "my cat is dead." However, if you are a evil scientist with questionable methods and you find yourself in France, you'll need to say "Mon chat etait mort," meaning "my cat was dead," because obviously, as an evil scientist, you'll have the means to bring it back to life.

The butterfly shown in this picture is known as the Blue Morpho butterfly, or Morpho menelaus

UnLunDun

UnLondon needs a hero, fast. Evil genius Smog, aka a huge chemical creation formed by London and the rest of the world's pollution, is trying to take over UnLondon, and the rest of the ab citites- Parisn't, Lost Angeles, Hong Gone, Helsunki, No York, Sans Franciso and Romeless. It's world that's quite similar, but quite Unlike our regular world. Milk cartons have a life of their own, and the Umbrellaisimo has dark secrets to hide with his army of broken brolls.
Our junk from this world seeps into the Odd then out the other side, into Unlondon and other abcities but this includes pollution.
So while our world is unknowingly feeding th Smog, unlondeners are fretting away about the prophecy: a hero is to come and save them, the Chosen One. Perhaps what they really need is an UnChosen One.
Zanna and Deeba stumble into the fantasmagorical world of Unlondon, get swept up in the city's ancient wars, and strive to find a way out again. One of them might return sooner than she thought...

This is China Meiville's first book for young readers, and is incredibly funny with original ideas (black windows of Webminster Abbey) right the way through. It gets a bit dragged out towards the end, but it's still incredibly enjoyable and recommend it for a great read! C: Also, after reading this we're pretty sure there has to be a sequel, so heads up.


link to the official website: http://www.randomhouse.com/delrey/unlundun/index.html

Our Say

Hello curious squid enthusiasts! For the few of you with high intellect, you'll know that Curious Squid is from Jingo, one of Terry Pratchett's funny books about the Discworld. So this blog has reviews and random facts about a few of our all time favorite books (and a couple of old classics, ones we know we won't like, and the even funnier ones about how to cook banana smoothies so we won't know how to review them!) and some other random stuff that has nothing to do with books- enjoy!