Fran's dozen (baker's) 2009 (a selection of what I have read and enjoyed in 2009) by Fran Knight
Picture books
Cummings, Phil Wang Wang and Funi (How can anyone
pass up Phil's picture book with his familiar rhyming story inviting
small readers to look for the pandas at the Adelaide Zoo. The
illustrations by Adelaide artist Shane Devries, add to the excellence
of this lovely book, a far cry from the usual book published as part of
a merchandising campaign.)
Thompson, Colin Free to a
good home (Thompson's
unusual look at family life had me laughing at loud. Instead of an
animal following them home, the children have a granny. She is adamant
that no-one is looking for her, and makes herself cheerfully useful in
this house. A wonderful multi layered story to enthrall all kids, big
and small)
Middle school
DiCamillo, Kate The
magician's nephew (Conjuring of an elephant
which
falls into the audience, devolves into
a story about family and obligation, and where a person, or animal,
fits into the scheme of things. Peter knows that his sister is alive
and has been told by the fortune teller that her discovery will be
linked to an elephant.)
Flanagan, John Halt's
peril (The ninth book in the
Ranger's Apprentice series, this one is deliberately mystifying.
Flanagan took great glee in setting up a story which had people
guessing as to who might die, and whether Halt would survive this
episode, and just whose funeral is taking place. See my interview with
him on Readplus.)
Millard, Glenda A small
free kiss in the dark (A
marvelous futuristic story shows war demolishing Sydney and a young
girl, Tia, having to find a safe refuge, along with several strangers
who become like a family. A survival story out of the ordinary, finding
positives where none should be.)
Westerfeld, Scott Leviathan
(SteamPunk at its best
with the story of the beginnings of World War One, with the
assassinations of the Archduke and his consort and what may have
happened to their young son. The creatures created by the author are
fantastic, the intrigue believable, and the history in the background,
most credible. And with all that it is a romp, with plenty of adventure
and a brush of humour.)
Teens
Collins, Suzanne The hunger games (Imagine a future
where there are nor wars! But each year two teens are chosen from each
district to fight to the death on behalf of their home area. Usually
the result is a forgone conclusion as one from the warrior district,
with heavy support and advertising rights, and well trained comes out
on top, but this year is different, as Katniss, a skilled hunter, takes
her sister's place. An amazing story of survival and determination,
along with a sly dig at reality TV.)
Henderson, Don Keepinitreal (an entertaining story
concerning the oddest collection of people coming together to save the
local greyhound race course. Set in the western suburbs, the characters
are very real, without being caricatures, the setting tangible and the
action, hilarious.)
Murray, Kirsty Vulture's
gate (Bo and Callum come
together by chance and survive together in a hostile world where women
have all but died out. Callum has been used as a trained gymnast doing
daring tricks on motorcycles to get money for the men that own him and
Bo has hidden since her grandfather died. Australia in a near future
where Bo has a roboraptor to keep her company and help her survive, but
the pair must move across hostile territory to make it to the city
where they expect to find safety.)
Larbelestier, Justine Liar
(Micah's friend Zach has died, torn apart by dogs in the park. Micah
must search her very being to work out whether she was the culprit, and
the story, divided into three parts, Telling the truth, Telling the
true truth and The Actual real truth, will have readers agog as they
try and work out how reliable the narrator really is. I still don't
know.)
Rai, Bali City of ghosts (The Amritsar Massacre in
1919 was one of those incidents I read about in Yr 11 British
Commonwealth History (albeit from one point of view) but reading about
it in this astonishingly realistic historical novel, where both sides
of what happened are shown through a group of quite different
characters makes this one to read and reread.)
Sedgwick, Marcus Revolver (Sedgwick is one of my
favourite authors, and here he tells a survival story with a
difference. A boy is cornered by a man who wants to kill his father,
but father's body is lying on the table in this tiny cabin, snowbound
near Nome. A life and death struggle between the man with the gun and
the lad captures your attention to the end. If anyone wanted something
for those kids hooked on Hatchet, then this is it.)
Valentine, Jenny The ant
colony (Fleeing to London
Sam finds himself getting involved with the lives of the others in his
building of run down flats. Without realizing it he begins to reveal
parts of himself that he wants to keep hidden, and people begin to care
about him and him about them. A stunning climax sees Sam returning to
the rural area where he was born to confront the reason he fled.)
And of course, several goodies have been missed out, so I must
suggest Anna McKenzie's The sea
wreck stranger and
Catherine Jinks' hilarious take on the vampire genre, The
reformed
vampire support group. And I read several that have been
published
before 2009, The giver
(Lois Lowry) and Here lies
Arthur
(Philip Reeve)
Fran Knight