Book Review: DANGEROUS LIMELIGHT

Dangerous Limelight by Maranna Chan

Another gem by a local writer. Hot off the press, Dangerous Limelight has only been published this year. It is the first book of the Triple 9 Sleuths series. I did not come across any article about the book before I read the book so, apart from the sparse summary in the blurb, I totally had no idea what to expect. However, it is my pleasure to pronounce that the book exceeded my expectations.

The Triple 9 Sleuths comprise of a trio of 13-year-olds: Cordelia Lam (known as Corey to all her friends and family), her elder brother Colton Lam (they are not twins even though they are the same age; he was born in January and she in December of the same year; a rare occurrence but it happens) and their friend Stacy Rodriguez, a Eurasian girl who is being brought up by her grandmother because her mysterious mother is supposedly dead and she has no idea who her father is (from the way Maranna has been laying the plot, I’m sure Stacy’s parentage will crop up again in the later books).

In Dangerous Limelight, Corey and Colton’s neighbour, also named Cordelia (in fact, Corey’s mother had named Corey after this neighbour) is found dead and decomposing in her flat. The police very soon discover that she, Cordelia Teo, has been murdered because the autopsy reveals that poison has been found in her corpse. Our sleuths are intrigued and promptly form the Triple 9 Sleuths to investigate the crime. Despite the obstacles that stand in her their path (sceptical police authorities and the difficulty of research for amateurs – crime investigation is after all not a subject taught in school! – and their tender years), they actually come up with some leads. They discover that three Cordelias have died in the same year: Cordelia Teo, Corey’s neighbour, Cordelia Roberts, a model and Cordelia Loke, an interior designer.

Spelling Lists for Semester 1 Week 25

Tip of the Week

What is the difference between 'alright' and 'all right'?

There is none actually. Both are interchangeable. The only thing to note is that 'all right' is more widely accepted than 'alright', that is, it is like a credit card that is accepted at more places. So if you want to be kiasu, I suggest you use 'all right'.

~.      ~.      ~.

Book Review: THE HUNDRED DRESSES

The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes

Classics are by definition books, films, pieces of music (essentially works of art) that have endured over the years because the value they offer to man does not diminish over time. In other words, they are not a fad; instead they contain universal truths that remain unchanged over the passing of time and The Hundred Dresses definitely falls into the category of classics.

It was written by Eleanor Estes of the famed Moffat series and the book won a Newbery Honour medal. Accolades aside, it is at heart a beautifully written story that will tug at the heartstrings of anyone who has gone through the experience of being an outsider.

A FORMAL LETTER

In Semester 1 Worksheet 22, the pupils for the Advanced Writing classes were asked to write a formal letter.

As I want to focus on the format of a formal letter, I will not reproduce the whole question in this post. Instead, I'll just give the main points that need to be mentioned in the letter and move on from there because the focus of this post is to highlight the format of a formal letter and the tone that should be used in the PSLE.

A Composition A Week

This week, we'll be offering two compositions for Primary 3 and Primary 4.


The stories are based on the following pictures.

Spelling Lists for Semester 1 Week 24

Tip of the week


Many people like to say/write the following:

Adrian and his friends played ball at the void deck.


That is actually not quite correct.


The correct sentence should be:

Adrian and his friends played with a ball at the void deck.


I think it's because people get mixed up about the game and the toy.


We play a game. Examples:

• Karen played tennis in the morning.
• Lily played badminton yesterday.
• Oliver plays football once a week.

But we play with a toy. Examples:

• Jack is playing with his toy train set.
• Leonard is playing with his Lego blocks.
• Ahmad is playing with a ball.

So take note of the distinction between a game and a toy and how we treat them differently in our sentences!

~.      ~.      ~.

Book Review: PICTURE PERFECT

Picture Perfect by Jodi Picoult

Picture Perfect is a story about Cassie Barret as she struggles to deal with the pain of domestic abuse.

The story starts off with Cassie, amnesiac and wandering around a grave. She is found by Will, a police officer, and taken to safety - after which her husband, Alex Rivers, one of the most famous of Hollywood’s actors, returns to reclaim her. The story then proceeds to describe Cassie’s gradual recovery of her memory - how she and Alex met, how they fell in love and got married, and, eventually, the reason why she ran away: to avoid the domestic abuse being inflicted upon her.

No Spelling for Semester 1 Week 23

Dear pupils,


As most of you, actually, it's more like, all of you will be having your mid-year examinations in this coming week, hence there will be NO spelling for Semester 1 Week 23.



Work hard for the examinations.

And all the best! :)




Best wishes,
Learning Partners

TRICKY GRAMMAR!

Many pupils in Singapore will be taking their mid-year examinations the following week.


Although we have gone through the revision with pupils in class already, I know that some would not remember all the various questions that we have covered. Thus I would like to use this post to serve as a reminder to the pupils some of the grammatical items we have gone through in class.

1. What is the difference between 'a number' and 'the number'?

Book Review - CUDDLE THE CUTEST KITTEN: SCHOOL OF SPELLS

Cuddle the Cutest Kitten: School of Spells by Hayley Daze

I'm Cuddle, the cutest kitten. Do you agree?

Cuddle the Cutest Kitten is a series of books about a magical talking kitten’s adventures with her two human friends, Grace and Olivia. The series is a cross between the Harry Potter series and Enid Blyton’s books, describing how Cuddle and the girls get entangled in various adventures and how they help the characters they meet during these adventures, with a dash of magic.

In School of Spells, Cuddles and the girls are transported to a school of magic, Miss Rosamund’s School for Magical Creatures (hence the Harry Potter reference). This school is meant for fairies, elves, gnomes and other magical creatures.

In the school, the trio comes across a painfully shy unicorn, Cosmo. The unicorn, being so shy, has no friends and is very sad and lonely. To make matters worse, he is always getting picked on by a mean troll, Mossfly. Cosmo ends up skipping classes most of the time because he feels he is not good enough to learn.

A Composition A Week

For this week's composition, I've chosen a story that is told from a different perspective. Most of the stories that we write, they are told from the perspective of the main character. Occasionally, we get pupils who will write from the perspective of the villain. But the rarest stories are those told from a non-human perspective, like this one.

The Gold Shop Robbery

            “Oh my gosh! That is so cool!” My admirers stared at me as I glistened in the light, showing off myself. “Better buy me now, I’m the last of my type!” I said sadly. All my best pals had been sold long ago. I had always wanted an owner, but there were always insulting comments like “Too expensive!”, “Hey! There is a scratch!”, “Oh! That is nicer than this!” or even “Why is it not sparkly?” Then, the shop owner picked me up and handed me to a lady clad in black. She tossed and turned me this way and that, looking for scratches on me.

Spelling Lists for Semester 1 Week 22

Tip of the Week


One of the stories that we did recently took place in an MRT train.


Some of the pupils who are more sensitive to language sat up and asked, 'An MRT train?' I was so happy when they brought that up because it showed an awareness of how English was being used.


And yes, it should be 'an MRT train'.


The confusion is that we usually use the article 'an' before a word beginning with a vowel. Hence, 'an apple', 'an elephant' and 'an iron' would be correct. But 'M' is not a vowel, it is a consonant.


However, there is an additional part to this lesson that is not usually taught in schools. It is not a formal part of the curriculum and sometimes teachers may bring it up, but sometimes not. And that part is this:


When a word or letter sounds like it begins with a vowel, then when we want to put an article before it, we need to use 'an'.


'M' sounds like it is spelled 'em', so we say an 'MRT train'.


Other letters that have the same effect include:

• 'f' - 'ef'
• 'h' - 'aitch'
• 'l' - 'el'
• 'n' - 'en'
• 'r' - 'ar'
• 's' - 'es'
• 'x' - 'eks'

~.      ~.      ~.

Book Review: UNEARTHLY

Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

Unearthly, as its title suggests, is a book about unearthly creatures – angels. The protagonist, Clara, appears to be a normal human at first. At fourteen, however, she is told the truth by her mother, Maggie: that Maggie is in fact a Dimidius, a half-angel, which makes Clara and her brother “quarter-angels”, Quartarius, and that, as beings with angel blood, they will have a “purpose” to fulfill, sent by God.

And that is where the story starts off, with Clara getting her first dream about her purpose. Slowly, she begins to find her purpose: to find a boy called Christian and save him from a forest fire. In order to fulfill her purpose and find Christian, their family moves to Wyoming thus starting a new life.