Orchard Books, 2007.
(Age 6-10) The third in the Max series of letters, Relax Max is
fun and easy to read. In his letters to author, D.J. Lucas, Max pours
out his troubles. His mother is infatuated with her boyfriend James and
they are going to move in together. He has to leave his familiar
bedroom to go to a new house and the prospect of a new brother or
sister looms. D.J. Lucas has problems too, writer's block is holding up
her new novel and Max tries to help her out.
Through a series of compelling and often funny and moving letters, Max
gradually comes to grips with the changes in his life. At school he is
learning all about poetry, and he expresses his feelings about what is
happening to him through a number of sometimes funny, sometimes sad
poems. These attempts at acrostics and haiku are a wonderful addition
to his letters. Sally Grindley has
written a great story that will appeal to newly independent readers and
would also be a humourous read aloud.
Pat Pledger
To the boy in Berlin by Elizabeth Honey and Heike Brandt
Allen and Unwin, 2007. ISBN: 9781741750041. (Age:11-14) Highly recommended.
A brilliantly involving story, this sequel to The Ballad of Cauldron Bay, takes a totally different tack to its predecessor. Henni is intrigued when she finds several boxes of books in German underneath their holiday house, and leaves a note in them when they leave. When she receives an email from a boy in Berlin with a similar name to that of the house owner, she is thrilled. And so begins a friendship that spans the world. Leo is able to translate her finds as well as research the shipping lists in Germany.
The strong willed Henni returns to Cauldron Bay to stay with the shop owner to try and find out more about the Schmidt family. She is disturbed by the prejudice she encounters, but her efforts at tracing the family come to fruition and she is able to put some stories to rest. The Schmidts migrated to Australia prior to World War One and encountered prejudice which made them leave. It is a sad story reflecting the extent to which nationalism can create monsters out of ordinary people. In the same way Leo is finding it unfair that his friend, Felix, born in Germany, is being told to return to Namibia, a country he does not know. Leo hides his friend, and in the emails to Henni the reader can see that events are overwhelming the boys. Henni advises him to tell his uncle, and so gain help, bringing the story to an exciting climax.
The range of themes in this wonderful book will be a boon in classrooms where migration, refugees, war and prejudice are being studied. But along with the serious issues, the story is funny, the translations often miss out the meanings, the riddles the two send each other give a nicely timed laugh in the midst of a serious issue, and their relationships in the two schools give a neat contrasting backdrop to what is actually going on in their lives. Told in emails, the story has immediacy, and the emails make it easily accessible to today's students. Highly recommended.
Solo by Alyssa Brugman
Allen and Unwin, 2007 (13+) Uncontrollable, destructive and at odds with the world, Mackenzie is sent on an outback camp, where she must suffer counseling and activities designed to build trust and communication. She decides that she will undergo the final activity, but has no idea about how she will cope by herself for 24 hours.
Driven to the designated area, she is told she must erect her own tent, build her own fire and fill in the time alone. Disdainful of any help or suggestions, she strikes out, ready for anything, but is unprepared for the revelations of her own thought processes. As the time passes, her words and actions reveal layers of meaning and destruction within her family. She talks about her father being a chemist, but questioned by people about this, told she is a liar. There is a death of someone close to her, but just who it is, is not revealed. She remembers playing hopscotch when the thief breaks in, but then cannot connect the thief with any other event. Delving into her past causes anxiety attacks.
The minutiae of her childhood life build along with the tension of her survival in the wilderness, until she reveals to the reader and herself what has happened to her. Until that moment we are all in awe of the strength of the girl, Mackenzie as she repels all attempts to help her. Mackenzie is a finely drawn character. We feel we know her through and through, but just as questions seem to be coming to a conclusion, she brings up other events, other thoughts, which unravel the web we have pieced together.
Brugman has developed an incredible story of a child whose family has disappeared beneath her. Events beyond her control have shaped her life for the worse, and she must recognize this and attempt to rebuild it. I followed her with my heart in my mouth and then immediately reread the book to make sure that Mackenzie will succeed, so engrossed was I with this girl's life. Girls particularly in secondary school will find this book gripping. Fran Knight
Pool by Justin D'Ath
Ford Street Publishing, 2007. ISBN: 9781876462512. (Age:12+)
When Wolfgang finds a butterfly wing on his father's car grill, he is so excited he emails a butterfly expert, Dr Karalis, anxious for a response. Each day he works at the local swimming pool, now almost a shrine where people come to be cured of their ills. Here he meets Audrey, a blind woman. Her father, worried that she is so alone, hires Wolfgang to take her out for the week, but he starts to become more interested in her. Her behaviour, to say the least, is odd, but Wolfgang begins to feel protective and responsible for her.
One night at a party, Wolfgang and several friends drink his father's whiskey, and drunk, get Wolfgang to open the swimming pool for them. Here he almost drowns, and one of his companions calls the ambulance. The group hides, and later Audrey visits Wolfgang to enquire after him, taking the pool key from his pocket. Next morning she is found, drowned.
In its bare bones, it sounds like a story about suicide, but it is so much more. D'Arth has created a modern fantasy story, where Audrey's experiences are wrapped up with the Lourdes like pool. When her blindness is not cured by the water, she takes the next logical step. Beethoven said near death that he would be able to hear in heaven, and so it seems for Audrey. But lurking under the logical explanations are the intriguing similarities between butterflies and Audrey, the near death experiences which people share, the possibility of angels. A well written tale, Pool will engender many discussions and debates, readers pondering the line between life and death, and at a grass roots level, talking about how people manage with a disability. An inspiring read for middle school students.
Fran Knight
The bear in the cave by Michael Rosen and Adrian Reynolds
Bloomsbury, 2007. (Age:Junior primary)
Having just had a Teddy Bears' Picnic in my library I am surprised at the vast number of bear books that are around for the young, so I was intrigued when a new one turned up for review. The cover is lovely, warm and inviting with its yellow, orangey cuddly bear snuggling 4 children, all on a brightly coloured patchwork pillow. Inside we meet a bear who lives all alone. He hears the sound of the city and so goes there, but is dismayed at the call to buy at the market, the height of the tall buildings and the cars that go whooshing by. When people laugh at him, he runs to the park where he sits on a bench until some children, deciding he looks lost, take him back to his home by the sea. He retraces his steps, now with the children, and they sing all day.
A lovely repetitive story, this would be well suited to children in their early years at school, and the CD which accompanies it adds another dimension to using the book in the classroom.
Fran Knight
Class two at the zoo by Julia Jarman. Illus. by Lynne Chapman
What a delight to follow Class Two around the zoo as they see all kinds of animals! No one notices an anaconda slithering along behind them or the children who go missing. However, Molly is the heroine of the day and comes to the rescue.
Children will delight in the Julia Jarman's wonderful rhyming language and alliteration and are sure to want to hear the story several times. The illustrations by Lynne Chapman are a joy and the drawings of each situation and character are unique and original. Readers will find new and funny things each time they look at the pictures and revel in the humour of the story.
This picture book is a really worthwhile addition to the library or classroom collection.
Pat Pledger
Throwaway daughter, Ting-Xing Ye
(11+) Grace, adopted by a Canadian couple, resents her Chinese name, used by her parents at home, Dong-Mei. She wants nothing to do with her past, particularly the woman who left her on the steps of an orphanage years before. Her family is insistent that she at least know something, sending her to learn Chinese, but when they watch the happenings of the Tiananmen Square in 1989, she is shocked into finding out about her heritage. A wonderful retelling of the events in China leading to the one child policy, readers will learn so much about why this policy was introduced and what effect it had on the population. Told from different points of view, her Chinese parents and their families, the Canadian family and that of Grace, the whole story is infused with a realism that is hard to ignore. Dong-Mei's mother’s voice tells us about her fears in marrying Loyal, the only son in a successful family, where his father is desperate for a grandson to carry on the family name. Even the village foreteller tells him what he wants to know, that she is carrying a son. The arrival of a girl destroys the family, sending Chun-Mei to the orphanage, causing her to breakdown, resulting in divorce and a new wife and son for her husband.
Infused with Chinese stories, sayings and teachings,Ting-Xing Ye's, Throwaway daughter is wonderful to read, but have your hanky ready. Fran Knight
The fugitive from Corinth by Caroline Lawrence
(10+) The four friends, met in numerous other tales, Flavia, Jonathon, Nubia and Lupus, are appalled when they discover their tutor, Aristo, bending over Flavia's father's body, covered with blood. Everyone assumes the young man is guilty and he is taken away by the authorities while the children send for help with Pater, who seems to be still breathing. By the time the doctor comes and pronounces him alive but with amnesia, Aristo has escaped and so the four are after him. Their adventures take them along the road to Corinth where they meet a variety of people, most of whom are willing to help them find the murderer.
One in the The Roman Mysteries series, these stories have broad appeal to the upper primary, lower secondary student with a penchant for crime and ancient times. The amount of information about Ancient Greece and Rome that the author fits into the pages is astonishing, and the maps at the front of the book serve the reader well. Exciting and absorbing, the four main characters are most attractive, the author presenting them not as historical figures from the past, but flesh and blood children with fears and foibles, as they travel along an unknown road. Fran Knight
Wombat and fox: summer in the city by Terry Denton
Allen and Unwin, 2007 (Age 6-9) With Fox's fur falling out in clumps, and Wombat so hot he feels he is melting, the friends decide that something must be done. Wombat takes the bull by the horns and books them a seaside holiday. They must catch the bus, and being novices, let many busses go by before they realise that any one of them would take them to the beach. But when they get on the bus they find that another of their friends, Crocodile is headed in the same direction. Trusting Wombat's stomach solves many of their problems, but they find that one thing is there to ruin their holiday, the Five Monkeys.
The running battle between the friends and the monkeys ends harmoniously when all at sea, the penguins come to their aid. This amusing and well illustrated little tale will please the newly reading kids of lower primary age. Fran Knight
The Plague by Clem Martini
Bloomsbury,
2006
(11+)In this remarkably imaginative tale, Kyp has been left
alone after a devastating plague has overtaken the bird population. He
wakes to find the Chooser murdered by another crow, Kym kidnapped by
humans and his family decimated. Determined to find Kym, he sets out on
a perilous journey, picking up strays, orphans and outcasts on the way.
After marvelling at the author's ability to invent a multitude of names
starting with K, it wasn't too difficult to sort out characters as
Martini drew a convincing portrait of each different bird, giving the
reader in-depth insights into different personalities. Kyp faces the
challenges of being a leader and the daunting task of protecting his
ragged flock against humans and a renegade crow who has spread a
Messianic message to convince other crows to join him.
This is not just a fascinating story about crows but a convincing
portrait of a plague overtaking the bird population. A look at the
human population from the viewpoint of the crows is remarkable. There
is plenty of fast paced action in this book, but underpinning it are
themes of responsibility, redemption and family to give the reader much
food for thought.
The second book in The Crow
Chronicles, it can be happily read as a stand-alone. I found it
very hard to put down, and look forward to reading others in the series.
Pat Pledger
Troll Blood by Katherine Langrish
(11+) The third in the Troll series, Troll Blood can be read alone. The story is one of adventure, cold blooded murder and justice. Norse mythology and Native American mythology play an important part in the tale as Katherine Langrish tries to get into the minds of both groups of people and see life through their eyes. The story emerges from the belief that Norsemen sailed to North America, or Vinland, and settled there. The voyage across the Atlantic must have taken great courage and strong leadership to undertake and survive (I would have like to have known more about this … how did they keep their food dry in an open boat, and where did the water come from?) The characters are well drawn. There is Gunnar, the leader, his son, the handsome smiling Harald, Peer the self doubting inexperienced lad and Hilde, who seeks adventure and a life away form the drudgery of a northern winter. There are problems however; Gunnar, Harald and some of the crew have a dreadful secret that threatens them all. This is a story that can be read at several levels. An adventure story, it can also be a starting point for looking at the mythologies of the Norse and Native American, as well as looking at the sociological aspects of how we treat others (eg bullying, indigenous peoples, understanding of those different from ourselves) It is an interesting read, made more so because it is not Anglo-Celtic in its mythology, nor in its fantasy, although I wouldn't class the book as fantasy. Mark Knight
Being by Kevin Brooks
Penguin, 2008. (13+) In hospital for a routine operation for a suspected ulcer, Robert wakes up during the procedure, and alarmingly finds that he is in the basement, and the opening in his stomach has revealed not flesh and blood, but different coloured strands of wire, mechanical things where his organs should be. Men in the room are not hospital attendants but people with guns, giving orders, and he grabs one of the guns and escapes. Later in a hotel room, he cuts into himself to check what he saw. He cannot explain to himself what has happened, but simply and instinctively knows he must flee.
An exciting, fast paced action thriller, Being will have a ready audience. Robert is a smart character, taking all sorts of risks to get out of London to a place of safety. Boys particularly will thrill with his near miss adventures as he keeps one step ahead of the unknown Ryan, the commanding man with the gun in the hospital basement.
I found some of the introspection a little wearing, but the readers will love it as they identify with Robert, alone and having to piece together what he knows to work out what he is. I was eagerly looking forward to answers at the end of the book, but there wasn't one. An interesting slant on the amazing number of series books now being written, and which I assumed this would be. Fran Knight
Freaks ahoy by Leigh Hobbs
Allen & Unwin, 2007. ISBN: 9781741149838. (Age:6-10)
In his own inimitable fashion, Leigh Hobbs has penned a sequel to the very funny 4F for Freaks. In this novel for younger readers, Miss Schnorkel takes the class on a sea trip, and when she has a nap, One-Eyed Eileen, now realizing that she is Miss Corker in disguise, tries to get the mask off her face. The class goes on a rampage, undermining the poor group of teachers on long service leave, but when order is restored, Miss Schnorkel organizes the class to play games which emphasise the value of sharing and caring.
Classes will love to read about the antics of this fabled class, and have fun thinking up further adventures for them. The book, containing the most entertaining drawings to illustrate the text, has wide appeal to the newly effective reader.
Fran Knight
Surviving Antarctica: Reality TV 2083 by Andrea White
Recommended.
(11+) A compulsive thriller set in 2083, this historical science fiction book will sure to be a winner with readers who like their adventure spiced with a bit of history. In this future world, nobody goes to school – instead they watch EduTV. When they turn 14, only the rich can afford to go on to high school and university, and the poor scrabble for any type of work from the few jobs available. Five teenagers, Andrew, Polly, Robert, Billy, and Grace, hope to have their fortunes reversed when they are selected to be contestants on a reality TV show, Antarctic Survivor, where they will enact Scott's ill-fated trip to the South Pole in 1912. White has written a nail biting, exciting story. The suspense of whether the 14-year-olds will be able to survive as they face blizzards, crevasses, frostbite and lack of food is quite rivetting. She cleverly intertwines information about Scott's expedition taken from diaries and letters with the reality TV adventures that face her five protagonists. At the same time she depicts a chilling future, where TV has become an obsession and the evil Secretary of Entertainment has the power to implant digital cameras in her contestants' eyes and insist that they face extreme danger to ensure that the ratings are good. The teen characters are well developed and readers will warm to them as they sympathise with their weaknesses and cheer on their strengths and courage. Members of the production crew are also well portrayed and the author explores how difficult it is for them to be brave and help the contestants when threatened by the authorities. This is a compelling read, exciting and well researched. Pat Pledger
Pirates drive buses by Christopher Morgan and Neil Curtis
Allen & Unwin, 2007. ISBN: 9781741751468. (Age:6-10)
A sequel to Pirates eat Porridge, Pirates drives Buses has the same kids in another strangely funny situation, that of being picked up by a pirate who takes them on a bus ride. The other passengers are an assortment of fishy animals and together the occupants of the bus get up to an array of strange and wonderful things. Searching for his ship, the SS You Beauty, the pirate, who is never named, drives the bus straight into the sea.
Full of life and humour, this book, so beautifully illustrated by Neil Curtis, will have kids laughing out loud. Aimed at the newly arrived chapter book reader, kids will revel in the word concoctions and play on words that litter every page. Fran Knight