Usborne, 2008. ISBN9780746087114
Ben is prenticed to John Symes, manager of Lord Bonner's players whose
usual stage is at Shoreditch, north of London. They have moved to the
Rose, south of London, but have fallen out with the company which plays
at the Swan, and so have come in for some petty thievery and a small
fire. But now, a vagabond has landed on their stage and run their lead
actor through. Things are looking grim, and with their new play about
to be acted before Elizabeth 1, and costumes missing, Ben has an idea
about how to flush out the traitor.
The background of this racy novel teaches the reader much about the
sights and sounds of Elizabethan London, as well as reflecting the
different ideas about crime and punishment. Ben, a boy actor, is used
to dressing up as a female for his roles on stage, and so dressing up
to find the culprit is second nature to him. The first in a series
called Elizabethan mysteries, this one reflects the times succinctly
and is an action packed story designed to thrill the readers.
Fran Knight
Gifted by Nikita Lalwani
Penguin 2008.
(Age 16+)
Adults reading this book may recall the child prodigy Ruth Lawrence
beginning her Oxford degree at the tender age of thirteen. In this
novel Rumi is coached by her father to fulfil a similar ambition. It's
hard to believe this is a first novel and I'm not surprised it was
long-listed for the Man Booker Award. The complex, brooding story is
both heart wrenching and incredibly funny, demonstrating Lalwani's deep
understanding of the human psyche. Nearly every emotion in the book is
concealed; love, anger, hate, need. The incident where Rumi asks her
Mother for a bra is quite savage, full of Shreene's suppressed rage and
Rumi's anguish.
We first meet Rumi aged five when numbers are like beads; to be
threaded into countless different patterns. Numbers are clearly
friends, providing succour and support, but by the time she starts
university at the age of 15, Rumi is a product of her parents' strict
and merciless control and some kind of break down is inevitable.
Isolation is a recurring theme. Rumi's mother, Shreene takes a thermos
flask to work so she can avoid the other women in the staff kitchen.
Rumi is not permitted to invite friends home, and spends a soul
destroying two hours after school each day studying alone in the public
library.
Rumi's young life is an endless drudgery of study. Chess is one of the
few games approved of by her father. Even a simple trip into town is
turned into an educational minefield when Mahesh questions his daughter
on everything from the German exchange rate to the Indian economy. As
Rumi says, why can't they just have fun?
Her parents are not monsters, Mahesh and Shreene love their daughter
and want what's best for her, but in such a misguided and brutal way
you long to shake some sense into them. Mahesh, serious minded and
diligent, manages to imbue a solo visit to Disney Land with such sombre
gravity that I wanted to laugh and weep in equal measures.
There is so much to think about and discuss that I'm sure Gifted will
be a must for many book clubs and it should certainly be required
reading for AS and A Level literature students. Lalwani's next novel is
due for release in 2009. I can't wait.
Claire Larson
Screw Loose by Chris Wheat
Allen and Unwin, 2008. ISBN 978174175495 7 326p. (Ages 12+) Angelo fields a phone call from the assistant manager of the Hobart Cockies, the AFL team he has been playing with, about his photo in the daily newspaper. Angelo broke his finger in his first match for the junior AFL team. The assistant manager is not happy. Angelo mustn't talk to the media without consulting him, and his girlfriend is not what she should be, offering a more suitable specimen from his squad of footballers' girlfriends. But Angelo is just one of the diverse groups of people who inhabit this world.
Wheat's knowledge of schools and families is unforgiving. He lampoons, satirises, ridicules and criticizes with impeccable ease, drawing out foibles and insecurities with the eye of a specialist, holding them up to our scrutiny, shaping our view of them, drawing us into their world. I laughed out loud at the antics of Zaynep, boiling her family's shoelaces and Chelsea, trying to get her state school to be more like the private school she was expelled from, or Georgia, enrolling at the private girls' school because it gave more scope of getting a girlfriend, or Matilda, saved from the dingoes that raised her, and now a minor celebrity. Wheat introduces us to the zaniest of characters but each is totally believable. He has the ability to make these unusual people credible and brimming with humanity, not one is a stereotype or cliched (well perhaps one or two of the minor characters) but his ability to make his readers empathise with his range of people is outstanding. It is a marvelous read, one that kids of all ages and backgrounds will absorb, from secondary to adult. And it's very funny, refreshingly so. Fran Knight
The H-Bomb Girl by Stephen Baxter
Allen and Unwin, 2008.
(Age 11+) When Laura moves to Liverpool with her mother, strange things
happen. Her mother's boyfriend, Mort is part of the American forces in
Britain, watching the television news avidly, telling Laura that she
and her mother will be OK. But her father gives her a key, which she
must keep hidden, and commit a series of codes to memory, to use only
in the case of an emergency. Her new school friends are agog at the
similarities between Laura and their teacher, Miss Wells, and the girl
in the ticket box at the Cavern where the friends go to hear the new
groups in Liverpool could be her twin.
It is 1962. In the background we hear the news broadcasts about the
missiles getting closer to Cuba. Policemen talk at the school, telling
the students not to worry, windows are whitewashed, and people talk
about building shelters. But Laura has more day to day problems, as she
and Bernadette search Miss Wells's locker, finding a small rectangular
metal box which vibrates and sends messages. Eventually when the
group is confined to hiding in a cellar before the bomb is dropped;
Agatha reveals that she is Laura's daughter, come back from the future
to take the key to make the first bombing raids in the coming war. But
Miss Wells is also Laura, in a parallel time frame, needing the key to
stop the war that eventuates.
The first half of the novel seems confusing as more and more intrigue
is uncovered but details are given which make things ultimately clear.
The story seems to be one thing and then another, each step opening up
possibilities and directions, but as the story unfolds, it takes on the
unexpected shape of a time travel story, but one so utterly different
as to hold the reader's attention. Laura and her friends are utterly
believable, their language and ideas all part of the youth culture of
the early 1960's. It will be a shock to some of our students to read of
time before mobile phones, or instant money, or contraception. This
book is a stimulating look at a previous time, when events conspired to
put the world on the brink of extinction. The diary entries describing
what happened to Liverpool after an H-Bomb was dropped makes
fascinating reading, and the parallels to today's society can be
construed by the astute reader.
Time travel novels are few and far between and good time travel novels,
a rarity. It's great to see one which will engender much discussion in
the classroom, and could be used in a topic to do with war, or survival
or time travel. Some students may like to further research the
activities of the CND, or the author, H. G. Wells, as a result of
reading this book.
Fran Knight
Revolution is not a dinner party by Ying Chang Compestine
Puffin,
2008.
ISBN 9780143303855, 244 pp
(Age 11+) This story of living through Mao's Cultural Revolution,
relates one family's experiences, as they yearn for freedom and
privacy. Ling lives with her family in Wuhan, comfortably off with her
father a doctor at the local hospital and mother, a nurse. But when one
part of their flat is given to Comrade Li, things change. Initially the
changes occur to other people, but when the Red Guard seize their
neighbours, taking them off for re-education, the reader knows that
Ling's family will soon suffer as well.
Bullied at school, where she is not allowed to wear the red scarf of
the workers, Ling manages to remain high spirited and defends herself
against all accusations and intimidation, but when her mother becomes
the victim, she learns to toe the line. The harsh treatment dolled out
to the people of China who are not true believers in the eyes of a few
radicals, becomes overwhelming, and just as the reader wants to cry
'enough', Mao dies, and the radicals are imprisoned.
A fascinating insight into the methods used by the Red Guard and their
supporters, the story is involving as the reader gets to know just what
happened during the Cultural Revolution through one family. Yang's easy
style is effortless to read, and gives a great deal of background
information which readers will absorb painlessly. Students of China
will eagerly read this book.
Fran Knight
Two by two and a half by David Melling
Hodder Children's Books, 2008.
(Age 3-8) 'Follow the leader, follow the path, Two by two and a half'
sang Miss Moo Hoo' as she led her class out for a walk in the woods.
Everyone had a partner except Little Bat Jack who bravely walked at the
end of the line while the others hold onto Miss Moo Hoo's tail. Rabbit
heard a strange sound. Could it be a rumbling tummy or could it be a
lion? No, it was Little Bat Jack and he didn't count. More strange
noises were felt and seen and although the children imagined a
troubling dragon
and rampaging ragamuffins, each time it was Little Bat Jack who had
collected mud and leaves in his struggle to keep up with the party.
Then a fierce bear appears and it is Little Bat Jack who saves the day.
David Melling's illustrations are wonderful. The zany animal characters
of the nursery party contrast with the huge and frightening pictures of
the lion, dragon and ragamuffins. The bear is truly awesome and Melling
has perfectly captured its fear of the strange leaf-covered Little Bat
Jack. The refrain in the story is very catchy and children will have
fun singing along with the animals.
A great book to read aloud and to listen to time and again, with a
subtle message that small people can be heroes.
Pat Pledger
The Stone Crown by Malcolm Walker
Walker Books, 2008. ISBN
9781921150197
(Age 13+) The Stone Crown takes a very different look at the Arthurian
legends and the time travel genre. The narrative takes place on two
levels; one set at the time of Merlin and Arthur and the other in the
present. However the Arthur that we meet is not the traditional one
that inspired the round table and chivalrous behaviour. This Arthur is
a king of Merlin's making and is entirely more earthy and rough around
the edges.
In the village of Yeaveburgh, Emlyn and Maxine (Max) discover something
weird about Sleeper's Spinney and the McCrossan family: Emlyn finds a
figurine of a horse and rider and by so doing releases an ancient
warrior from his prison. It becomes Emlyn and Max's mission to restore
the figurine and find out what the role of the McCrossan family is in
the mystery of the warrior and his companions.
The task is not an easy one. The McCrossan family has been keepers of
the Spinney and the warrior for countless generations and must ensure
the continual maintenance of the stone crown which ensures the warriors
stay quietly imprisoned.
This is an engaging piece of fantasy writing that is thoroughly
absorbing and worryingly believable. This book is a blend of mythology
and sinister forces struggling to come alive again to plunge the world
into a new Dark Age. Refreshingly different.
Reviewed by Mark Knight.
Destroying Avalon by Kate McCaffrey
At her new top notch Perth school, Avalon is aware that there are undercurrents of jealousy and bullying. In a series of emails and text messages the book reveals the length to which some students go to manipulate and destroy the lives of others. Through Avalon and her friends, Marshall, Sukey, Jemima and Tamara, the reader is drawn into this secretive and unimagined world, where damage is done both in and out of school.
Right from the start, Avalon receives emails and text messages directing her to blogs where discussion about her, the new girl, is played out. She makes friends with a group of students who are also treated in this way, and for one, the bullying is overwhelming. This book is a timely reminder of the harm some students do to others and has a list of websites where victims can receive help.
The story slides along effortlessly as the narration takes on the impatience, fear and powerlessness of Avalon as she is pulled into the world of cyber bullying, a young woman just entering senior high school, full of the promise of moving home and a new school, full of the dismay when she realises what is happening to her. Fran Knight
Kisses are yuk by Julia Jarman
Ill. by Erica-Jane Waters. Hodder
Children's Books, 2008.
(Age 5-8) Jack really hates being kissed. He loves getting a pat on the
back for his sporting prowess and bravery but kisses are not the thing
for him. He can't get away from them in his big family. He is appalled
with Auntie Poppy's sloppy kisses while Uncle Mickey's kisses are
sticky and Cousin Lily's are licky. So he makes up a rule:
'Absolutely no kisses at all, or stoking my hair, or poking my tum, or
squeezing my knees, or patting my bum.'
The rhythm in this story makes it wonderful to read aloud. Young
children will giggle at the zany humour and adults will have a grin on
their faces as they read. The entertaining illustrations will keep the
reader engrossed while examining the amusing portraits of all Jack's
family - and Jack's secret habit is enchanting.
Pat Pledger
Pix and me by Carolyn Ching
Hachette (Lothian), 2008. ISBN97873441058 0
When the Japanese planes bomb Singapore, and their army swarms in, Andy
knows that what has happened before is only minor compared with
now. His father, a botanist employed to catalogue the plants in
the small colony, is taken away with his wife and Andrew runs off
taking his monkey, a macaque called Pix with him. As they wander
through the jungle looking for food and water, Andrew recalls the time
leading up to the invasion, and how the Japanese, called Kempeitai,
infiltrated the island long before the invasion.
In the jungle he happens across a young girl called Emmeline, a girl
used to getting her own way and only dealing with servants. They clash
as the girl begins to tell Andy what to do, but soon they come to rely
on each other to survive.
A fascinating look at the plight of the inhabitants of Singapore at the
start of the Pacific War, Pix and me has all the ingredients to
make it
an eagerly absorbed story. Slow to get going, and overly long
(310pages), with extensive descriptive passages, the book will need to
be sold to students who want to read an historical novel, especially
those who are intrigued with our involvement with war in countries
close to Australia.
Fran Knight
Screwed by Joanna Kenrick
Allen & Unwin, 2008.
(15+) The words 'Warning explicit content' on the back cover give a
clue to the controversial contents of this absorbing novel. 14 year old
Marsha and her friend Faith are having a competition about who can
screw the most boys. For Marsha it is all casual, she believes that
boys are only out for one thing and she doesn't want a relationship.
But when Faith bets Marsha that she can't get Rich, a naive school
mate, Marsha finds that it is possible to be friends with a boy.
This is a honest gritty book that comes to grips with underage
promiscuity but never forgets the emotions and fears of the girls. The
difficulties of friendships are explored when Beth, a new girl comes to
school, as well as the jealousy and pain that occurs when Faith gets a
boyfriend and leaves her friend behind. The lack of communication and
poor relationship Marsha has with her father is vividly depicted. The
developing friendship that Marsha has with shy Rich is a welcome
contrast to the casual encounters that she has previously had. Within
the context of the story the author gives some solid information about
sexually transmitted diseases in a non preaching way and offers some
helpful sex education for those who may not get it from home. She also
explores the effects of single families, peer pressure and poor self
esteem.
The author has honestly examined in a gripping story a topic that most
adults, especially parents of teenagers, won't want to think about. One
of the reviews on the first page of the book was from a 14 year old who
said she would definitely recommend the book, 'just don't let your dad
read it!'
Pat Pledger
The falconer's knot by Mary Hoffman
Allen and Unwin. 2008
(Age 11+) An exciting medieval mystery story set in 14th century
Italy, Falconer's knot is sure to gain an audience with readers who
like whodunits and those who enjoy a historical setting. 16-year-old
nobleman, Silvano, infatuated with beautiful Angelica, is forced to
flee to a monastery when he is accused of murdering her husband. While
there he meets a lovely novice, Chiara, at the adjoining convent. When
Chiara's father died, her brother decides to send her away to join a
religious order. The peace of monastic life is shattered when another
murder occurs. Silvano and Chiaro discover themselves in the midst of a
puzzling mystery and fall in love as they strive to solve the crime.
The author gives the reader a real sense of place and time with vivid
descriptions of monastic life and the wonderful art that was being
created at the time. Descriptions of the way the colours were made for
the frescoes and the paintings of the artists Simone Martini and Pietro
Lorenzetti are fascinating and provide an extra dimension to the book.
Add to this two engaging characters, Silvano and Chiaro, an interesting
sub plot with the star crossed lovers, Aureliana and Anselmo, poison,
falcons and betrayals and it all adds up to an engrossing read.
Recommended for its fast pace, romance and fabulous setting.
Pat Pledger
The naked penguin by Kym Lardner
ABC Books, 2008.
(Age 5-7) The little penguin has no white front, he is all black. He
tries to
make friends, but he is spurned for being different. Trying to be the
same, he makes a white front for himself but is laughed at. He asks the
skiing kangaroo for help and the blue whale, but gets nowhere. Finally
he decides to leave, but then he sees the pink dolphin, swimming
happily with the grey ones, and the bird with the tufty curl, happily
bobbing on top of the water with the other birds. He remembers what his
father said, 'though you are different, you are not less', and armed
with that piece of information, he rejoins the other penguins.
Beautifully illustrated, the story of the penguin is a treat. The
simple landscapes with the bluey green colours make the reader feel
cold, but kids will laugh out loud at the antics of the penguins on
their bikes. Each page has a difference to be searched for, be it the
animals in unusual circumstances, the cold of the deep blue sea, the
storm clouds overhead or the trail of an airplane. For those kids who
do feel different, the story shows them that being different is fine,
for those who feel that difference singles people out, the story shows
them that difference is part of being in a group. The story will make
any reader feel a sense of belonging, of togetherness, as the little
penguin finds his feet amongst the other penguins.
Fran Knight
The Black Dog Gang by Robert Newton
Penguin, 2007. Louis Braille Audio (5 CDs, 5 hours). Melbourne, 2007.
Read by Christopher Brown
When Maggie is taken to the Quarantine Station with plague, Frankie and
his gang come to regret their money making scheme, catching and selling
rats to the health inspector. The time is early twentieth century and
the setting is the Rocks in Sydney, a haven for poverty and rats,
culminating in the outbreak of the plague in those early years.
Frankie and his friends attend the Ragged School, set up for the
children of the poor workers who live there. Some are well off with
loving families, but others suffer brutal treatment at the hand of
alcoholic fathers and cruel men. It is a time of death and cruelty,
dealt out not only by fathers, but also the principal of the school.
A terrific and at times, harrowing, read about a time hardly heard
about, The Black Dog Gang realistically captures the times and the fear
with which some children lived. At times I found it hard to read or
listen to (tears) and I am sure middle school readers will lap it up.
Read by Christopher Brown, the story recalls the early days of Sydney,
where living in The Rocks meant many Irish settlers, poor health,
malnutrition and lack of food. The Irish accent takes a few minutes to
get used to but as the story progresses, then the listener will be
lulled into its sound. Christopher Brown effortlessly moves between the
voices of the youths, Mickey and Frankie, with their eagerness and
hope, to the nasty deranged voice of Mickey's father, full of spite,
alcohol and loathing.
Fran Knight
Comment: I found this audio to be compelling listening. The story is
unforgettable and highlights the brutality and poverty of the 1900's.
Pat Pledger
Possessing Rayne by Kate Cann
Scholastic, 2008
(Age 12+) Rayne is a streetwise teenager living on a sink estate in
London. Fed up with city life and desperate to escape her controlling
boyfriend and feckless mother, she takes a job at a stately home tucked
away in the countryside. However, cream teas and guided tours are not
all that's on offer at the local mansion. Half told stories and
peculiar happenings prove that there is a sinister side to Morton's
Keep which Rayne is determined to investigate. She hooks up with the
hypnotically handsome St John and his enigmatic friends, but soon finds
herself sucked into a vortex of ancient crimes and new dangers as she
struggles to discover the mystery behind Sir Edwin Lingwall, an
eighteenth century owner of the house.
The sense of release Rayne feels on escaping the suffocating chaos of
London is skilfully portrayed and the power of nature and beauty are
recurring themes in this gothic horror story. The tension builds
steadily towards a frightening climax played out in the dungeons of
Morton's Keep. Plenty of tantalising clues are offered - a door without
a handle, a pair of gloves embroidered with grotesque faces, a local
mad woman burbling about fire and flood, and every plot strand is
neatly resolved in a satisfying conclusion.
On the downside the quality of writing jarred at times. 'She was
beginning to feel creeped out' may be 'teen speak', but struck me as
literary laziness. But overall this is an exciting, well paced and
satisfying read with bags of teen appeal which will no doubt have
Cann's loyal fan base demanding more.
Claire Larson
