HarperCollins, 2008. ISBN 978000726193 2
(Age 10 - 14) Mark is eleven years old and trying to deal with his
mother marrying again; a man who David does not get along with. They
have to move from London to Brighton and now his mother is sick and his
step dad is taking control of his life. Then he meets an elderly
neighbor who lives in their basement, in old servant's quarters.
She tells Mark a secret and shows him what lies behind the locked,
mysteries wooden door. Things suddenly go from bad to worse for
Mark and his inquisitiveness is aroused. With that a mystery is
unraveled and the only people that can help him are ghosts.
Boys will enjoy this book as will readers who love fantasy books.
Frances Kranendonk
Comment: Michael
Marshall Smith is a five-time winner of the British Fantasy Award.
Pat Pledger
Brisingr by Christopher Paolini
Doubleday, 2008. Brisingr is the third book of the Inheritance Cycle, the fourth
will
bring the cycle to a close. I was apprehensive when beginning this book
because I hadn't read the other two. There is a useful synopsis of
Eragon and Eldest which helps to bring you up to date
with the story so
far. It goes without saying, however that having read the other books
is an advantage especially early on in the narrative. In many ways
Brisingr brings many of the threads of the story into a cohesive
path
ready for the finale which is yet to come. At almost 750 pages there
are a considerable number of questions to which we find answers.
Eragon and his dragon Saphira are again the star characters, with
Roran, Eragon's cousin the other action hero. The Empire, and
Galbatorix at its head, are still powerful and becoming even stronger.
Despite The Varden, Elves and Urgals joining forces and with the aid of
a dragon rider victory appears a remote possibility. Galbatorix seems
to gain in strength, and without knowing how, the forces ranged against
him are at a great disadvantage.
The Varden find that some soldiers of the empire have extraordinary
power, in that they feel no pain and fight on despite horrific
injuries. The Empire's dragon rider and very young dragon seem to be
drawing on a source of power unknown to any of the magicians. Their
power and strength may soon be too strong for Eragon and Saphira to
conquer.
Eragon no longer has the sword given him by Brom and needs another.
When he seeks to enlist the help of the Dwarfs he also takes time to
visit Ellesmera and the Elf Oromis. He needs to know the secret of
Galbatorix' power and see if Solemnbum's prophecy about his new sword
is true.
There is plenty of action interspersed throughout the narrative, with
Roran's heroics featuring heavily in his battles with the Empire's
armies. But it's not all brute force and swords there is also intrigue
aplenty with plots and schemes among the diverse allied forces that are
more used to fighting one another than being comrades in arms.
This is a fantasy of the Lord of the Rings genre. It has many
of the
hallmarks of Tolkien; humans, elves, dwarves, dragons, magic and most
of all the fight between good and evil. Eragon is a heroic figure but
he is racked with guilt and pain at the death and destruction he
causes. He is also bound by oaths he has sworn to various individuals,
not least the one he swore at the Menoa tree, one he doesn't even know
the terms of. Fans of Paolini will enjoy this latest episode but
fantasy readers in general will appreciate the scope and depth of
Paolini's imagination.
Mark Knight
Mac Slater, Cool Hunter by Tristan Bancks
Random House Australia, 2008.
(Age range: 10-14) Mac Slater and his mate Paul are inventors.
The story begins with Mac and Paul trying out their latest invention, a
flying bike in front of an assembled crowd of fifty people on Kings
Cliff. As is often the case things don't go quite according to plan and
Mac ends up battered and bruised. Dejected from another failed attempt
they head to find Mac's mum who has a stall in the local market. Whilst
there they are approached by two business men with a proposition - to
become Coolhunters! Mac and Paul are amazed that these men would
consider them innovative enough to be part of an online vlog which
reports on the coolest things around. Their quest is to report for a
week on the 'cool' goings on of Kings Bay with the prize being a trip
to New York. The only problem is that Cat DeVees, the hottest girl in
school, is reporting too and at the end of the week's trial only one of
them will be chosen. Cat appears to have the upper hand as the week
begins and Mac is struggling for newsworthy items. Mac however has
underestimated the strength of family and friends and the power of self
belief.
A sequel to this novel is due out in February 2009.
Tracy Glover
Comment
I found this to be a rivetting read, with plenty of action and two
engaging, nerdy heroes who are prepared to try astoundingly dangerous
things in their quest to trial their inventions.
Pat Pledger
Roland Harvey's big book of Christmas by Roland Harvey
Allen and
Unwin, 2008.
(All ages) Full of colour and fascinating bits of information and
sidetracks, this reprint of the highly successful 1986 tome will fill a
hole in library collections. My copy is in serious need of weeding, and
so will many copies in school libraries, as this is a much used book.
This update, reissued showing the changes that have occurred over 20
years, reveals the traditions which surround Christmas for much of the
Christian world, the customs in many countries, whether they be Muslim
or Christian, and with an emphasis on what happens in Australia.
The book is divided into four sections; The story of Christmas (a
retelling of the story of the birth of Christ and then how that
traditions developed, with an emphasis on what happens here; Christmas
around the world (a trip through Europe, Middle East, North and South
America and Australia, showing how the customs are celebrated);
Activities (a sprinkling of things to do in the classroom) and Carols
(a reprint of the music and words of the more traditional carols,
thankfully rewritten, as the 1986 issue was very hard to follow)
Thus we have a most useful book for home and classroom, showcasing the
different customs and traditions of Christmas, full of fascinating
facts and followed up with things to do. Recipes pertaining to
each country round off the information give. I found it a most
interesting and useful book when it first appeared and the updates make
it even better for today's classrooms. Harvey's illustrations are
charming. Just a pity there is no index.
Fran Knight
Peka-Boo the smallest bird in all the world by Eliza Feely
Allen and Unwin, 2008. ISBN 978-1-74175541-1
(All ages) Highly recommended. What a unique book! Life as the smallest
bird in the world can be 'tough-witchetty'. Peka-Boo has to crack an
egg twenty times his own size to arrive, and then finds that he can't
keep up with his big brothers. When he is too tricky his mother sends
him to stay with Kapecki, the weirdest, deaf bird in the bush. How can
Peka-Boo get his attention and solve the enigmatic puzzle he poses?
The language is refreshing and the imagery is remarkable in this book.
It is sprinkled with unusual Australian sayings like 'gobdropper',
'feral feathers', and 'stone quiet' that make the readers stop and
think. Descriptions like 'Our family tree must have more shoots than a
mouldy potato' conjure up wonderful images in the reader's mind and all
are in keeping with the interests that a little bird would have. The
humour of the story is most appealing and the reader will want to go
and listen to magpies and kookaburras to hear their sounds.
The bird characters are also engrossing. Peka-Book is an exuberant
little attention seeker with a wonderful family that the reader will
fall in love with. Kapecki is wise and happy to spend time with the
smallest bird in the world.
The black and white illustrations of Peka-Boo and his family contrast
with the vivid colour of the surrounding bush. There is much to
discover on a close examination of the pictures: humourous little
asides and labels add to the fun. Lively sketches of Peka-Boo doing
things like riding snails and screeching at Kapecki are very enjoyable
and it is fun to find the tiny magpie in the illustrations.
This is a most rewarding book as each time it is read, new things are
found to think about and new images spring from the pictures. I loved
it and can see it as a future, timeless re-read.
Pat Pledger
The detachable boy by Scot Gardner
Allen and Unwin, 2008. ISBN 9781741753455
(Ages : 10-13) Over the Pacific, in his suitcase, John wants to go to
the toilet. He manoeuvres his arm to get Ravi's grandfather's pen
knife, cuts the tape, hops out and reassembles himself. He opens some
of the boxes around him to satisfy his hunger, but when the flight
attendant sees them decides they all need to be examined. Fainting
women all around, John reassembles himself and gets out of there. He is
off to rescue his friend, Crystal, kidnapped from Australia, and a
message on his mobile has led him to the USA.
Here, he climbs his way down an underground bunker, finds Crystal,
escapes, is recaptured, both rescued by Ravi and the trio goes through
an extraordinary set of adventures before they return home in time to
tell their parents they have been at a school camp for the week. A set
of bizarre happenings, all bound up in this delightfully silly story,
littered with slightly off jokes and puns will be sure to please middle
to upper primary kids as they laugh out loud at the antics of the
children whose appendages can be removed. Scot Gardner's books have
always been a treat to read and this is no exception.
Fran Knight
Audrey goes to town by Christine Harris
Little Hare Books, 2008.
(Age 8-12) The adventures of Audrey take a twist when her family
relocates to Beltana, a town in South Australia's Flinder's Ranges, for
a month. Here they board with Mrs Patterson, known in the town as
Patterson's curse, a noxious weed. But Audrey's inquisitive nature and
endearing ability to put people on their back foot, undermines the
prickly nature of the woman at every turn.
Mrs Patterson takes on Audrey as a project, wanting to teach her
manners, how to knit and behave like a lady. Audrey in turn wants to
find her good side, and beguilingly does so as she talks the older
woman into wearing a yellow ribbon and coming along to the Beltana
dance. Ann James' perfect illustrations keep us guessing until the very
last chapter about what Mrs Patterson looks like, and her sly little
glance at Audrey is enough to make any reader's heart melt.
Christine Harris' ability to make places and people come alive is
nowhere more evident than in this, the second of the series, Audrey of
the outback. Younger readers will readily see with Audrey's eyes, her
new home, the dusty wide streets, the houses, the people who live
there. She innocently compares her house with that of Mrs Patterson,
revelling in the different rooms, the windows, the linoleum and the
table, but soon longs for the dirt floors and glassless windows of her
home. Beltana now is little more than a ruin, but Christine Harris
fills the place with life, revealing it in its useful days before the
railway bypassed it. And along the way, readers will learn many of the
expressions and words no longer in use, and fittingly, there is a
glossary of 'interesting words' to help people remember them.
Fran Knight
Sprite Downberry by Nette Hilton
Angus and Robertson, 2008. ISBN
978073228548 7
(Age 11-14) Highly recommended. Sprite's refuge is her family; her dad,
the artist; mum, the fun loving woman who starts things but never
finishes them; and Mozz her little brother. Nits stray into her hair,
and her school friends reject her, saying she is dirty. But she still
has her family. When her family begins to unravel, and her father stays
away one night, Sprite goes to school the next day, hopeful that he
will return that evening. But her class mates talk of seeing her mother
at the clinic, and call her a druggie, which sets the precarious Sprite
off, and she hits one of her tormenters. Returning home she finds
her mother has not left her bed and is too full of sorrow and remorse
to think clearly.
This is a fearless book, showing a family in disarray, the young girl
left to look after the mother and her brother. She holds onto the
belief that her father will return, all the while piecing together the
bits of information she has learnt about her mother; the sweet tobacco
smell when she smokes, the fact that she has gone to a clinic, the
overheard argument between her parents when her father told her to get
rid of it before the police found out. She begins to realise that her
mother has an addiction, and this addiction has permeated all their
lives.
One of the many highlights of this book is the lack of recrimination.
Hilton presents the story as any story of any child who may be in
trouble. This is a family in crisis, with a child called on to make
adult decisions about herself and her family. Children reading it may
be shocked at the behaviour of the mother and possibly the father, but
it will open a window into the lives of some of their classmates, and
for those for whom this story has resonance, what a marvel for them to
see that they are not alone and that there can be a resolution.
And most appreciatively, it is in the third person, making it not just
another angsty sub-teenage novel told in the first person, but a
rounded, informative story about a family from a benevolent and
omniscient point of view.
Fran Knight
Black Rabbit Summer by Kevin Brooks
Penguin Books 2008.
(Age 15+) As a huge fan of Kevin Brooks I fell on this book - two
of his previous novels Candy and Kissing the Rain are
in my opinion
near perfect. Black Rabbit Summer tells the story of Pete -
sixteen,
lonely and a little depressed and the events that catapult him and his
friends into disaster. This is a summer of change. Everyone has left
school, friendships have drifted and Pete is losing touch with the
people he grew up with. A call from his former girlfriend results in a
trip to the fair with his old friends. Undercurrents bubble away,
fuelled partly by the drugs and alcohol that are now on the scene. The
night ends in tragedy when two of the group go missing - streetwise
Stella and damaged Raymond. Are their disappearances connected? Is
someone with a troubled mind capable of murder?
Stella's body is discovered and Raymond, still missing, becomes the
prime suspect. But Pete is convinced of his innocence and sets out to
prove it, exposing the real perpetrators in the process and putting his
own life on the line.
The plot is gritty and realistic but for me Brooks' story never really
takes off. At over four hundred pages this is a weighty tome that in my
opinion could have been pruned by at least a quarter. Brooks' fondness
for stream of consciousness results in lengthy forays into minute
detail which become irritating after a while and I was exasperated at
how slowly the story developed.
This book is relentlessly grim. The characters are flawed and dark and
I found it hard to empathise with any of them apart from Raymond, and
he disappears early on. There is plenty of shock value which may
impress young readers, but I found the whole story strangely flat.
Brooks packs a lot into this novel: homosexuality, abuse, drugs,
murder, knife crime, blackmail - but for me the tide of 'issues' was
just too overwhelming. In comparison it made me recall one of the
seminal teenage novels: Junk by Melvin Burgess, scenes from
which
remain with me to this day. Black Rabbit Summer had much less
of an
impact and I finished this book with a sense of relief.
Claire Larson
The gift of the Magi by O. Henry
Walker Books, 2008.
(All ages) This beautifully illustrated book, recreates the story of
the Christmas presents given by a married couple to each other, in such
a way that the story is given extra breadth and depth. Many will know
the story. A young couple, living in impoverished circumstances in a
flat in an American city, sell one of their possessions to buy the
other a present. The girl sells her hair to buy her husband a watch
chain, and he sells his watch in order to buy her combs for her hair.
It is a wonderful story of the selflessness of giving, of love and
marriage, of the custom of giving presents, begun by the magi on the
first Christmas.
The illustrations expose the poverty of their lives, the dirt and grime
of the city, the haven that is their flat. The preponderance of brown,
grey and white underscores the paucity of their lives, as she counts
out her small money, saved to buy him a present. Students of all ages
will immediately see the irony of the story, and will readily pick up
the echoes in the illustrations. A lovely picture book which will be
read by many, particularly at Christmas, when present giving becomes
the opposite of what is shown here.
Fran Knight
Death diamond by Dan Jerris
Lothian, 2008. ISBN9780734410719
(Age 9-12) The first in the series, Dragon Blood Pirates, Death
diamond
is a funny, tongue in cheek story of 2 boys transported back in rime to
the age of piracy. Redolent of Pirates of the Caribbean, and with
touches of many other pirate stories and themes, this series of novels
will fill a niche for readers of early chapter books. 80 pages long,
with large print and many funny drawings by Rory Walker, this book is
easy to read and follow.
Al and his friend, Owen are searching a chest in the attic, when they
find themselves on a rock in the ocean. Rescued by the crew of The
Booty, they are offered maggoty biscuits for tea, and that is just
the
first of their problems. Following the treasure map is the crew of
another ship, The Tormenter, with their hideous captain, Snotty
Nell.
Each side tries to outwit the other as they search for the treasure
through a cave with mantraps, clues and lots of danger.
A funny tale with lots of hilarious episodes, all giving a passing nod
to famous stories and films, this book will have appeal to kids looking
for an escape to another world.
Fran Knight
Big and me by David Miller
Ford St, 2008.
(Age 7+) Highly recommended. Congratulations to the author on
tackling such a difficult topic as mental illness in a sensitive and
moving way. Big and Small are machines that work together as a team.
'But some days Big goes a bit wobbly', and Small gets 'a lot worried.'
With the assistance of The Boss and Mechanic, Big gets some medicine to
help him get better.
The book is a wonderful metaphor for a young child living with someone
who is mentally unwell. It is not difficult to substitute an adult for
Big and the story goes through many of the things that a young child
would see when living with an unstable person. Sometimes the pair work
as 'a good team, the best', but sometimes Big does strange and
frightening things. Medicine helps Big, but when he is convinced that
he doesn't need it any longer, the world becomes 'grey and dull'. As
Boss explains, it is not Small's fault that Bgi's computer is not
working properly and this explanation should help relieve children's
fears about being the cause of a parent or care giver's strange
actions. The author doesn't avoid the big issues in this book and it
will be a tremendous help for both children and adults in understanding
mental health problems.
Miller has illustrated this book with fantastic paper sculptures of big
and small machines set against vivid backgrounds of ochre and dark
blue. They are a treat in themselves and their close examination will
give lots of enjoyment, as well as adding to the meaning of the text.
The book ends on a positive but realistic note - Big will always have
problems but with medicine will be OK most of the time. This is a book
that has a place in all libraries.
Pat Pledger
The Trap by Sarah Wray
Faber and Faber, 2008.
(Age 11+) Luke is amazed to find that he has been accepted to go to a
camp in New York State for high achievers. The camp is designed to give
nerdy kids some outdoor activities and work in social situations,
things which some of them miss. But from the start, Luke has
trepidation about the place. One of his room mates, Mark, is a bully,
his friend, Matt, seems nervous, and he is surprised to find Natalie, a
girl he knew at primary school, at the camp. On the first day, Luke
finds a coded note in his cabin and when they work out what it means,
they are excited as to what it will lead them to. Each day builds
tension and fear amongst the campers, and this is increased when they
hear the tale of three campers who disappeared from one of the camps in
the past.
A horror story which will have broad appeal to middle school kids, this
tale has some very creepy moments, made even more so by the strange
counselor Luke has in his cabin.
Fran Knight
Blackthorn by Elizabeth Pulford
Walker Books, 2008 ISBN9781921150470
(Age 10+)When her father dies, Alyana can no longer play the role of
the dutiful daughter and be relegated to a relative's house, learning
to cook and sew. She renounces all attempts at helping her, preferring
to hide out in the nearby forests and survive alone. She has hunting
skills learnt form her father, and feels she is able to stay alive
without help.
But she is naive and needs the help of the man who finds her in the
forest, starving and scared, the one she calls Boar, the man with the
twisted leg. He gives her a puppy and together they survive with the
skills and instincts taught her by Boar. Calling herself Blackthorn,
she denounces all that she knew before and learns to survive in the
forest.
Here she learns more about herself and her limits, and sees for herself
some of the other inhabitants in the forest. An unusual little read
about acceptance and self determination.
Fran Knight
A good arriving by David McRobbie
Puffin Books, 2008. ISBN
978014300403 5
(Age 11+) When Helen's family is evicted from their small farm, Helen
is forced to go and work in the big house nearby. She attracts the
attention of the son of the lord, and in rebuffing his advances, loses
her job. She becomes a friend of the doctor's wife in the village and
when that family decides to emigrate to New South Wales, Helen is
invited along as companion to the wife and nurse to the child. On Board
the Recovery, the family discovers that the ship is also a convict ship.
An interesting look at the migration of a varied lot of English people
to early Australia, A good arriving is broad in it scope. On the
Recovery, Helen finds that the doctor is interested in her, so she must
repel him. The son of the house where she worked is also on board,
offering his protection. One of the sailors also looks kindly upon
Helen, so she must be wary. Below the cabins dwell the convicts and
they are seen but rarely. When they do come on deck, Helen recognizes
one of them, a small boy called Ben who she helped when he was in the
big house as a chimney sweep. She helps him again and this leads to his
release on board ship from the confines of the convict quarters.
This book will prove an easy way of learning about Australia's early
history. The main character Helen, is too modern to be believable, but
kids will enjoy the way she makes her way in the world. Once the
amazing coincidences are forgotten, the story reads very easily,
smoothly taking in historical romance, crime and adventure all rolled
into one. When Helen arrives in NSW, the stage seems set for a sequel.
Fran Knight
