Fiction – Iqbal Book Corner

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Hina Rizvi — Fri, 24 May 2024 10:27:23 +0000

Willy Wonka’s famous chocolate factory is opening at last! But only five lucky children will be allowed inside. And the winners are: Augustus Gloop, an enormously fat boy whose hobby is eating; Veruca Salt, a spoiled-rotten brat whose parents are wrapped around her little finger; Violet Beauregarde, a dim-witted gum-chewer with the fastest jaws around; Mike Teavee, a toy pistol-toting gangster-in-training who is obsessed with television; and Charlie Bucket, Our Hero, a boy who is honest and kind, brave and true, and good and ready for the wildest time of his life!

Matilda

Hina Rizvi — Fri, 24 May 2024 10:22:36 +0000

Matilda is a brilliant child with a magical mind.

But her parents have decided she’s just a nuisance who wastes too much time on reading and stories.

And her headmistress Miss Trunchbull is a terrible bully, who thinks children are rotten and awful and should be locked up.

Now it’s time for Matilda to find the power to change her story, and show them just how extraordinary children can be . . .

The text in this edition of Matilda was updated in 2022 for young independent readers.

Charlotte’s Web

Hina Rizvi — Fri, 24 May 2024 10:02:24 +0000

Celebrating 70 years of Charlotte’s Web – the timeless classic story of friendship and acceptance.

This is the story of a little girl named Fern who loved a little pig named Wilbur and of Wilbur’s dear friend, Charlotte A. Cavatica, a beautiful large grey spider. With the unlikely help of Templeton the rat, and a wonderfully clever plan of her own, Charlotte saves the life of Wilbur, who by this time has grown up to be quite a pig. A time-honoured classic favourite.

Wonder

Hina Rizvi — Fri, 24 May 2024 09:58:59 +0000

August Pullman is not an ordinary ten-year-old kid. Sure, he’s a huge Star Wars fan, he loves his dog, and he’s got a pretty good sense of humor. But August was born with a craniofacial abnormality, a genetic defect that caused his facial features to be severely deformed. His life has never been “normal.”

Despite his differences, August and his parents decide to transition him from home school to private school now that he’s entering fifth grade. It’s the start of middle school, they reason, so everyone will be new. But August has to deal with so much more than just being new. Will he make friends? Will he decide to stay at the school? And can the people around him learn to see past his appearance?

This brilliant, sensitive story, narrated not only by August, but also by his older sister, his classmates, and other kids in his life, takes an insightful look at how one person’s differences can affect the lives of so many others.

And The Mountains Echoed

Hina Rizvi — Sat, 18 May 2024 08:17:41 +0000

From the no. 1 bestselling author of The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, the book that readers everywhere have been waiting for: his first novel in six years. So, then. You want a story and I will tell you one… Afghanistan, 1952. Abdullah and his sister Pad live with their father and step-mother in the small village of Shadbagh. Their father, Saboor, is constantly in search of work and they struggle together through poverty and brutal winters. To Adbullah, Pad, as beautiful and sweet-natured as the fairy for which she was named, is everything. More like a parent than a brother, Abdullah will do anything for her, even trading his only pair of shoes for a feather for her treasured collection. Each night they sleep together in their cot, their skulls touching, their limbs tangled. One day the siblings journey across the desert to Kabul with their father. Pad and Abdullah have no sense of the fate that awaits them there, for the event which unfolds will tear their lives apart; sometimes a finger must be cut to save the hand. Crossing generations and continents, moving from Kabul, to Paris, to San Francisco, to the Greek island of Tinos, with profound wisdom, depth, insight and compassion, Khaled Hosseini writes about the bonds that define us and shape our lives, the ways that we help our loved ones in need, how the choices we make resonate through history, and how we are often surprised by the people closest to us.

The Kite Runner

Hina Rizvi — Sat, 18 May 2024 08:13:55 +0000

Afghanistan, 1975: Twelve-year-old Amir is desperate to win the local kite-fighting tournament and his loyal friend Hassan promises to help him. But neither of the boys can foresee what will happen to Hassan that afternoon, an event that is to shatter their lives. After the Russians invade and the family is forced to flee to America, Amir realises that one day he must return to Afghanistan under Taliban rule to find the one thing that his new world cannot grant him: redemption.

The Hot Zone

Hina Rizvi — Sat, 18 May 2024 08:06:59 +0000

“The Shadow of Mount Elgon” delves into the history of filoviruses, as well as speculation about the origins of AIDS. Preston recounts the story of “Charles Monet” (a pseudonym), who might have caught Marburg virus from visiting Kitum Cave on Mount Elgon in Kenya. The author describes the progression of the disease, from the initial headache and backache, to the final stage in which Monet’s internal organs fail and he hemorrhages extensively in a waiting room in a Nairobi hospital. This part also introduces a promising young physician who became infected with Marburg virus while treating Monet. Nancy Jaax’s story is told. Viruses, biosafety levels and procedures were described. The Ebola virus disease outbreaks caused by Ebola virus and its cousin, Sudan virus, are mentioned. Preston talks to the man who named the Ebola virus.