Heartbreak High httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_O1NqPAEcsA

was the single most controversial and the longest running  kids program to grace our TV screens. It was successful because it dared to cover things most parents would never dream of talking to their kids about. The full cast and crew for season 1 can be found here.

The show was a spin-off of the movie from 1993 The Heartbreak Kid in which teacher Christina Papadopoulous (Claudia Karvan) and student Nick Polides (Alex Dimitriades) fall in love. The first season follows Nick and his classmates in their final years of high school. As the series continued the new batch of students take over from the graduates from the previous seasons.

We get to see Rebecca Smart again and quite a few other faces you’ll recognise from more current TV shows. Probably the most striking face would be that of Callan Mulvey, who now is a crime fighter on the Aussie made cop show Rush.

When a show can be that controversial and still manage to get 7 seasons aired, you know we had a quality program. Working, teen suicide, drug abuse, homelessness, pregnancy, racism, shoplifting, and romance all thrown in on top of the daily struggle to achieve in school and maintain some semblance of a social life.

The series was recently replayed on ABC 3, right from the beginning. I don’t think they played all 7 seasons but it was great to see the Heartly High kids back on my screen for a while.

They just do not make TV like this anymore. Political correctness has gotten in the way of the brilliant teaching aid that is the television medium. This golden era of Aussie-made programs is missed greatly by those who had the pleasure to live through it. We now cringe at the insipid and pointless plotlines of shows in recent years. We need to get back to basics and bring forth a second golden era of intelligently written, Aussie-made TV for Young Adults.

(Translated from the original German By Helena Ragg- Kirkby)

Julia Frost and her brother Robert have just started at the prestigious Grace College- a school for the best and brightest stuck in isolation in the Rocky Mountains. There’s something odd about the Valley and its inhabitants and when you’re desperately trying to hide your own past, trying to uncover the secrets of others is risky business.

The best way to sum up The Game in just a few words and give you a feel for the magic within would be to call it a mold breaker. Here we are introduced to a protagonist we never truly know until the very end, and who takes us on a journey unlike any other. Then there’s the fabulous jump-off-the-page cast of secondaries so shrouded in mystery and adept at throwing up the red herrings that you never know just who you can trust. And just to amp the mystery and intrigue value to the max, there’s a murder to solve and a blackmailer afoot.

All in all The Game is a standout story that will have your pulse racing and your mind picking through suspicious behaviour at breakneck speed. My only gripe was that it is hard to feel involved in the first few chapters- mainly because I felt no connection with our main – her doing the whole ‘lady of mystery’ act and all. As the plot unfolds, the action picks up and Julia starts to let the reader “in”, you can easily forget your earlier frustration. You’ll appreciate that the mystery is an an integral part of the story, and that it makes the revelations at the end all the sweeter. Fans of mystery will fall head over heels for The Game as it certainly ticks all the boxes and then some; but I highly recommend it to all readers of any genre- the freshness and uniqueness is a treasure in itself.

This is the first installment in a series. Unfortunately for me, the author’s website is in German and I couldn’t find any information in English on when we can expect more from Julia and co. If the cliffhanger at the end is any indication, however, it will be another nail-biting ride.

The Game-The Valley — Krystyna Kuhn

Published May 10, 2011, by Atom

Paperback, 320 pages

ISBN: 9781907410567

Hello there my readers! I have returned to bring you the cold hard reality of High Def: The Blu-Ray drive is not enough! If you truly want to experience the full power of HD you need complete the set with a nice HD TV. A few years ago these babies were worth an arm and a leg, but now they’ve replaced the ol’ tube that’s been with us since the age of the dinosaurs.

Now you’d think that if you go to the electronics store to check them out, they’re all the same, just different sizes. WRONG! The huge diversity of models means that there’s plenty of features to choose from including the very way the TV works! So check this out:

LCD TVs or Liquid Crystal Display sets are generally longer lasting and are the most common. Because of this, they’re the cheapest types available.

Plasma TVs work differently and are slightly bulkier. However the colors they display are much richer and defined, and the black is very close to actual black (like when you turn it off). Unfortunately, these babies are a little more fragile and they get hot. Add to this a higher price tag and you get a wonderful but dying technology that will soon disappear from the store room. If you are lucky enough to grab one, don’t let it go!

The list of brands of Hi Def TV sets is almost endless. Beware that the brands that sound too weird (meaning that you haven’t seen around much) are usually of poorer quality from the mainstream. Personally, I recommend anything from Sony, Vizio, Samsung, Panasonic and Toshiba. Did I also mention that these sets will work if you hook them up to the computer? Yep, they do!

Be sure that to really enjoy that Blu Ray copy you just rented or bought, you have to get one that displays 1080p. This is the highest resolution on distributed media, and I assure you the investment is definitely worth it.

My little baby is a modest 23” Samsung 1080p tv/monitor. It’s served me well, and because of Samsung’s legendary reliability, you can bet that it’ll be around in a few years. You can see it here.

As I’ve told you before, be sure to check everything out when you go TV shopping! If you got questions, post a reply below or write on my twitter feed!

One look will steal your heart, but her touch will take your soul…

Votive is the second book in The Curse of the Bond Riders Series, and the follow-up to the exquisite Tallow (recently reviewed here by Cels). Votive continues the story of Tallow, no longer a humble candle-making apprentice hiding her true nature as an Estrattore, but as the unwilling weapon of the wicked and self-serving Giaconda Maleovelli and her nobile father. Through various means, they convince Tallow to become Tarlo, the most beautiful courtesan Serenissima has ever seen. And, the most deadly.

Votive digs deeper into the lives and motives of those surrounding Tallow – those who want her for their own devices, and those who want to protect her. As an Estrattore, Tallow’s very existence is outlawed by the church. She has the power to extract emotion from anyone, or anything she touches and distil those emotions elsewhere. All who harbour or protect her place themselves in danger of public execution – or much, much worse.

Karen Brooks is one of my favourite world-builders – that is, her words have the ability to place you right there, in Serenissima. In the first book, I was blown away by her skill and Votive is no different. But this time around, it was the characters that struck me, deeper than our last adventure together. I found myself whispering to Tallow, ‘No! Don’t do it!’ and begging her to watch over her shoulder for those who wished to use her for their own gain. Brooks has the ability to make you care for the most unlovable character, cry for the one you thought meant little, and despise the one you hoped would redeem themselves. I don’t think I’ve read a book with such a large cast where each and every character is pivotal to the story itself. The characters we knew, loved and despised in Tallow are back (well, most of them…), but this time with more depth, more substance. Like Tallow, Votive is written from a number of different points of view, just one of those being Tallow herself in the first person. In some books, this technique can get a bit messy, but Brooks makes it perfectly clear at all times whose eyes we’re seeing this beautiful world through. Every one of the secondary characters becomes more important as the tale unfolds; each one has flaws and imperfections making their motives even more intriguing, their fates entwining with twists and turns that are impossible to see coming.

I have to admit, when I read both Tallow and Votive, they took me much longer to get through than the average novel aimed at the Young Adult audience. But this wasn’t because they dragged or I didn’t enjoy them. Quite the opposite, in fact. I seriously didn’t want them to end. Brooks has built a world so magical, so real, it feels tactile; as though you could actually reach out and stroke the delicate fabrics of the amazing gowns, inhale the scents of Tallow’s candles and taste the blood from a crushing blow. At times, it was almost sensory overload, and I found myself placing the book down after only a chapter, needing time to digest the heartbreak, joy and gob-smacking deceit that flowed from the pages.

For those of you who loved Tallow… you’ll adore Votive. And, like me, you’ll be counting the days until book 3, Illumination hits the shelves.

Votive — Karen Brooks. (Curse of the Bond Riders: 2).
Published 1 June, 2011, by Random House Australia
Paperback, 628 pages.
ISBN: – 978 1 86471 943 7