"New York Times bestselling author Jane Green reimagines the glamorous and tragic life of fashion icon and socialite Talitha Getty...When Claire arrives in Marrakesh, she’s swept up in a heady world of music, drugs and communal living. But one magnetic young woman seems to hold sway over the entire scene. Talitha Getty, socialite wife of a famous oil heir, has pulled everyone from Yves Saint Laurent to Marianne Faithfull into her orbit. Yet when she meets Claire, the pair instantly connect. As they grow closer, and the inner circle tightens, the realities of Talitha’s precarious life set off a chain of dangerous events that could alter Claire’s life forever." Publisher.
The story covers the life of Talitha, set in the 60's, married to an oil heir. The story covers sex, drugs and rock and roll and it is slow to get through and the story is nothing special.
The first part of the book is very readable but nothing special. The second half for me just glorified the 60's excessive lifestyle of drugs, sex and eating disorders.
Well know author Sue Whiting has written an absorbing historical novel for older middle grade readers based loosely on a family connection. Set in the early 1900’s and using the city of Adelaide, surrounding suburbs and the Adelaide Hills as the setting, Tilda is a story that will both disturb and delight the reader.
Tilda’s Papa is forced to leave his soon-to-be eleven-year-old daughter in the care of the Sisters at Brushwood Convent and Orphanage and join the South Australian Citizen Bushmen Contingent fighting in South Africa against the Boers. Before separating, Papa gives Tilda a notebook, a twin to his own, so they can both write about their life apart. The notebook entries are crucial to the story as the reader gains great insights into Tilda’s feelings and her vicious treatment at the hands of the Sister in charge.
Sadly for Tilda, her life at the orphanage is one of continual bullying and punishment meted out by Sister Agatha. For unbeknown reasons, Sister Agatha is determined to break Tilda and make her admit that her father is not coming back for her and she is an orphan. Tilda refuses to acknowledge this and is cruelly punished time and time again. Fortunately for Tilda, her best friend Annie is the one bright light in her life with whom she shares everything. Through a series of distressing events, Tilda and Annie are separated and Tilda is sent out to service. What follows for Tilda is a time of devastating news but also a time of hope.
The powerful descriptive language used to describe places such as the Orphanage, the Boot Room, Norwood Parade, the East End and the horse and cart trip to Ashton in the Adelaide Hills transports the reader back to the past. The historical facts presented throughout this engaging novel will be of great interest to readers both young and old. A must-have for all libraries and those readers who enjoy historical fiction.
The author of Whose bones? takes the young reader on another interactive journey of discovery as they look at dinosaur bones, footprints, and favourite food to try and work out what dinosaur it is.
The front cover will immediately intrigue lovers of dinosaurs with its skeleton of a Triceratops facing a paper cut out of the dinosaur, and then looking at the back cover the reader is confronted with the skeleton and picture of an Ankylosaurus. The books follows this format: the question 'Whose dinosaur bones?' is asked on a page with footprints and food, and the opposite page shows the dinosaur bones jumbled up. Then on the next double page is a picture of the skeleton of the dinosaur and its name and illustration. For example, on the first page the reader is asked 'Whose dinosaur bones?' and confronted with footprints, food, and mixed-up skeleton bones, making them use their knowledge of dinosaurs to put together the puzzle. Turning the page, the reader sees the skeleton of Triceratops and facing it is a picture of the Triceratops. Children must guess an Ankylosaurus, Stegosaurus, Velociraptor, Mosasaurus, and Tyrannosaurus. Then at the end are the skeletons of a Spinosaurus, Allosaurus, Brachiosaurus and a Parasaurus. The Fun facts double page spread will provide readers with some interesting and unusual facts.
The design of Whose dinosaur bones? is wonderful. It is a sturdy book with fabulous illustrations. The endpapers are intriguing with tiny dinosaurs popping out of their eggs and will provide a discussion point about how dinosaurs are hatched. The illustrations bring the dinosaurs to life. Bright coloured backgrounds make the cut outs of the skeletons, and the pictures of the dinosaurs stand out.
Even very young children who are obsessed with dinosaurs can name many of them and they certainly will enjoy guessing which bones belong to what dinosaur. The straightforward text, bright colours and interactive nature of this book make it an excellent vehicle to encourage curiosity, problem solving and an interest in nature.
Themes Dinosaurs, Skeletons, Problem solving.
Pat Pledger
Moonlight riders: Storm stallion by Linda Chapman
Hachette, 2022. ISBN: 9781408366790. (Age:8+)
Linda Chapman is an English author; a prolific writer with books published internationally. Her series including the well-known My secret unicorn books and the Stardust series can be found in most school libraries. Chapman loves to write animal stories that appeal to younger primary age students. Storm Stallion is part of the Moonlight Riders series.
Books about horses have always attracted readership especially pre-teenage girls. The power and the muscularity of the horse, the one horse who can not be tamed by any other than the one special gir,l is a common trope that works time and again. There is something elemental about it. In Storm Stallion, the team of children at Moonlight Stables, all being matched to magical elemental horses, solve the problem of magical storms that have been damaging their stables.
The viccissitudes of friendship at the pre-teen stage of life, the keeping of secrets, the intense falling-outs and reunions are all reflected in the Storm Stallion. The main character, Amara, has to keep secret the fact that she is a True Rider chosen by an elemental horse called Ember, from Kalini, a girl whose friendship she really desires. Keeping this magical secret creates misunderstandings when Kalini suspects that the Moonlight Stable riders are keeping things from her.
All is resolved when the Storm Stallion appears "... he became stronger and more muscular. his mane and tail turned to white wisps and his eyes were an ebony black. He reared up, shaking his mane proudly.' p. 123. Images of the beauty and power of these horses and the ability of one young person to master and communicate with them are central to the enthralling attraction of these books.
The dialogue between the young people is simple but authentic and reflects preteen concerns. Each character is 10 or 11 years old with riding and competing in mounted games competitions in common. The magic is in the connection to the elemental horses: earth, fire, water etc. Simple black and white illustrations are interspersed throughout the text.
Storm Stallion, part of the Moonlight Riders series is a readable text for those interested in the horse book genre.
It's summer, it's hot and Clarice Bean has NOTHING to do. Even Robert Grainger has a borrowed rabbit to care for. And why does she keep seeing this dog everywhere? Is it meant to be?
Subtitled The story of how we got our dog, this is an addition to the Clarice Bean series that can sit anywhere within the order. It tells the story of how the family dog Cement, who appears in many of the other books, joined their household. Interestingly, Lauren Child meant to name the dog Clement but missed the 'l' in typing. A similar fate befalls the dog within the story. Written and released at various intervals since 1999 the series is just as appealing and accessible to young children today. Child's signature voice shines through as Clarice Bean shares her chaotic but loving family life with us. Her life is full of the independence and sneaky schemes of childhood: she chats to her neighbour across the fence, she walks to the corner shop by herself and she secretly smuggles a dog into the house. Sibling relationships are depicted as messy but ultimately loving. There are arguments, there are indiscretions, there is anger but it is always amusing rather than serious, and towards the end the four children work together to keep the dog a secret from Grandpa. This is all wrapped up within a humorous narrative with superb characterisation. Getting that child voice to sound authentic and writing witty dialogue that is a joy to read and listen to is what Child does so brilliantly. The flow is also fantastic, events organically follow on from one another and there is a great sense of suspense and anticipation even though nothing outlandish really happens. This, along with her usual font variation, means that although it is a rather long text it is easy to get through. Fans of Lauren Child and particularly of Clarice Bean, young and old, will be delighted with this new story.
The Dominion is cursed. Years ago, the Emperor and his Necromancer stole all the colour from the world. Now they keep it for themselves, enjoying its life-giving power while everyone else must exist in shades of grey, until a miracle baby is born, in colour. But her life is at risk from the start - the Emperor's ripper dogs and black coats come hunting - colour has a telling scent and the ripper dogs can always find it. Her parents die protecting her, assisted by a wandering mage. Left with the baby full of colour in his care, Sandy Burns raises her, continuing to protect and hide her colour as she grows. Named Hope, she learns that life is lived colourless for all but the Emperor, and as the only one with colour, she embarks on a journey to bring change to the world.
This adventurous fantasy has so many twists and turns, readers will lose themselves quite quickly in the thrill of the escape and the thrill of colour as a hunted commodity. With well developed characters, the novel switches between view points throughout the book seamlessly, all the while building a story of inspiration and courage. Readers may find it difficult to imagine the world as it is depicted in the book, as colour is automatic in most imaginations of stories, so switching to a 'black and white' narrative is intriguing. MacKenzie has created a lovely novel for readers in upper primary through to high school, with plenty of action, humour and heart.
Gross factopia! by Paige Towler. Illus. by Andy Smith
Britannica Books, 2022. ISBN: 9781913750671. (Age:7+) Highly recommended.
Welcome back to the third book in the FACTopia! series, Gross FACTopia. This time the reader is taken on a journey through 400 of the most 'ickiest, stickiest, creepiest, crawliest, disgustingly marvellous and mind-blowing facts.' Children of all ages will love this book as it contains humourous and quite unpleasant facts! For example, stomach spasms can cause a person to spew vomit farther than the length of a small car, or a hospital-themed restaurant in Latvia served food shaped like body parts – including tongues, eyeballs and ears or this particularly gross one, a woman from Ohio, USA, holds a world record for foot-sniffing. She sniffed about 5,600 feet while testing foot products. There is no topic off limit in this book.
Throughout the book readers are able to follow the dotted lines to work their way through each section. There is the opportunity for those readers who wish to deviate to follow the broken lines to different page numbers to other related topics. The Table of Contents at the beginning of the book contains the topics investigated but also has ‘Fact Frenzy’ sections where the reader can follow a double page spread of segmented information all interconnected by arrowed boxes. There is a detailed index at the end plus information about the FACTtopians as well as a sources page and picture credits.
With visually appealing and cleverly presented illustrations using bright colours and at times modified photographs, this book has so much to entertain and engage readers, both young and old. A must have book for lovers of all things gross!
Themes Gross Facts, Knowledge.
Kathryn Beilby
Her time to shine by Fiona McCallum
HarperCollins, 2022. ISBN: 9781867207887. (Age:Adult - Young adult) Highly recommended.
While very pretty, the tiny town of Melrose isn't where Erica thought she'd be at almost fifty. And working in a funeral home and suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, while navigating her grief as a recent widow, is not how she thought her life would look either. But she's committed to her lovely new boss, Walter, who gave her a chance when she so desperately needed it. Publisher.
Based in SA, it makes it easy to imagine the town and the characters. The story covers the life of Erica who moves to the small town following the death of her husband.
The characters are engaging and really come to life with the writing. It's a feel good story, where all the characters seem to be genuinely caring and nice people.
The journey of self discovery and starting anew is warming and makes for an enjoyable read.
Years after the Cursebreaker series finishes, follow Tycho and meet new characters, Jax and Callyn, who live in a little village in Syhl Shallow, called Briarlock. Tycho works as the King's Courier, while Callyn runs her family bakery and Jax works at his father's forge. Callyn and Jax have been best friends for years, and support each other in their attempts to keep afloat - Callyn supporting her younger sister now that both their parents are gone, and Jax trying to survive his father, having lost his mother when he was born. Jax gets the two tangled in a strange postal role - accepting money from 'Lady Karyl' to hold a message which will be collected by another party. When Lord Tycho appears on the same day, they almost mistake him as the intended recipient of the letter - which they've discovered is sealed with the seal of the Truthbringers, the anti-magic resistance that is working in secret against the King. Suddenly, their lives are embroiled in a world of shifting alliances, dangerous flirtations and age-old magic, where deep loyalties will be tested.
This evenly paced, rich fantasy novel starts out years after Brigid Kemmerer's original Cursebreaker series. Readers met Tycho in the Cursebreaker series but now get the chance to know him, along with two new characters who become invovled in his life. The intrigue in this novel is so well written, with treachery afoot as well as potential romance, and threats to the throne. Old favourites are back, along with new enemies and Tycho must prove his loyalty as well as trust his instincts. Kemmerer has written such depth to these characters that readers will feel connected to many of them. Even if readers are new to the world of Emberfall and Syhl Shallow, they will quickly imagine it through the descriptive and immersive writing. Recommended for fans of the original series, but also fans of Lynette Noni, author of numerous fantasy series including The Prison Healer and The Medoran Chronicles.
Dad and his child are depicted together doing the day to day activities that all families do in this gently rhyming tale of bonding and togetherness from British author, Gareth Peter. Looking at his websitereveals his interest in the activities of the home, with young children always in the mix. And the aptly named, Every day shows clearly where his interests lie.
Two pages preceding the title page reveal a range of activities in which the child is involved. These set the scene for the book and the natty illustrations will encourage children to read on. From looking at the stars at night before the child goes to bed, to all the things he does during the day: playing with teddy, drawing his height on a chart, going to the toilet (not quite what you think!), washing the cat, choosing something to wear, racing Dad down the path, telling stories, going to the beach, each has a child focus with Dad or friends in the background. And the basis for the whole is the premise of love, love that emanates between the two, love that overcomes all, love that radiates everyday, no matter what happens or what the child does. The warmth of each situation is neatly captured by Jane Massey, underpinning the text with a comfortable togetherness. A huge range of things is depicted, allowing children to recognise what they do with their Dad and their friends, perhaps storing something away to suggest it when they get home, but recognising that each is a plank in the wonderful family relationship shown. Building this relationship depends on the love of the man for his child, unconditional love, love that is there whatever happens.
Lines from Dad such as ‘you always make me proud’ and ‘saying sorry helps’, gives ideas for further discussion with younger readers, and will point them in a positive direction.
This, the second in the Cranky Chicken series, is perfect for fans of The Super Adventures of Ollie and Bea and Duck, Duck, Porcupine. The layouts are fluid and varied and the book is split into three short, illustrated chapters: Hungry, Hangry Chicken; The Unsurprising Party; and Best Beach Buds. Between the chapters and interspersed within are fun 'brain break' sections, e.g., 'Things That Make Chicken Cranky' and 'Why Buses Make Chicken Cranky'. The story consists mostly of the witty dialogue between the two friends, Chicken and Worm. In the first chapter, Chicken is hungry and Worm wants to help. But Chicken is incredibly fussy. Could it be because it is his birthday but he doesn't want to say? The second chapter is about Worm figuring out the perfect unsuprising party for Chicken and the final chapter sees Worm take Chicken on a beach outing despite Chicken's reservations. Worm is a wonderfully loyal friend and Chicken, while grumpy, is an appreciative friend and a good communicator. He knows what he likes and what he doesn't and isn't afraid to speak up. Worm is relentless and cheery but has gentle ways to coax Chicken out of his comfort zone and uses humour to help him in tricky situations.
This is a beautiful, warm series with subtle undertones about empathy, what it means to be a friend and how people with differing worldviews to your own can be the best friends. The illustrations are simple, funny and complementary to the text. This is a wonderful series for early readers but will be enjoyed by all.
Simon & Schuster, 2022. ISBN: 9781761106811. (Age:16+) Recommended.
Award-winning short story writer Katerina Gibson has put together a mixed collection of intriguing stories about women, women dealing with modern life, interacting with technology and facing climate change. Less stories, and more snapshots of life, many will leave you pondering unsettling ideas and situations: a woman perfecting her social media algorithm, vegan arguments, an assembly-line worker inserting eyes into dolls, a woman juggling the tight schedule of her life and her daughter’s anorexia, a woman losing her identity to another self, another woman unbottling overwhelming anger.
Gibson uses a variety of short story formats, from the stream of consciousness monologue, to a rather one-sided conversation, a social media blog with its ‘likes’, to a flowing stream of text, to diary pages. ‘Intermission I’ is a collection of beginning sentences for many story ideas, the beginnings of many recognisable plotlines with twisted variations.
Some stories are easier to read than others; the variety means that there will always be something that will capture attention. Each reader will find their favourites. For me the final story ‘As the nation mourns’ was a stand-out, about an ecologist who gradually comes to the realisation that her sponsor has motives that undermine all that she has worked for. It raises questions about the best response to conservation in the time of climate change, but also presents issues of identity and self-assertion.
Although Gibson has had stories and articles published before, Women I know is the first published collection. Hopefully, there will be many more.
Themes Short stories, Women, Modern life.
Helen Eddy
Attack of the giant baby by David Lucas. Illus. by Bruce Ingman
Laughing from start to finish, readers will read the story again and again after reaching the twist in the tale that subverts the premise of a huge baby tearing up the kingdom. The king and queen are desperate at the news of the approach of a monster. Everyone is in uproar, trying to work out how to control the devastation caused by the intruder. The canny princess, always in the background, ignored, wants to remind them that the monster is only a baby. After sitting on the railway station, the baby rips up the railway line, turns the double decker bus on its head, shaking out all the passengers, flattens houses, kicks aside a bridge, while the king and queen and their unusual assortment of advisers work out what to do. After crashing through the castle walls, the king and queen send out their best knight and then the air force, all to no avail. They bring out their surprise defence, the monster bear, but after a hugging, the bear is tossed aside. Finally the king resorts to the dungeon where a dragon skeleton lives. Even he has no success. But sitting amongst all the devastation he has caused he seems somewhat desolate and when the canny princess asks him where his mummy is, all is resolved in an unexpected and delightful way.
Children will love seeing the devastation caused by the baby, recalling mayhem they may have caused in the past. They will try and help the beseiged kingdom, offering cries of support and suggestions about what to do about the monster in their midst. And when all is resolved, breathe a sign of relief among the laughs and turn to the front page to read it again.
The wonderfully witty images by Ingman show a delightfully self serving baby, indulging in the sorts of things babies do, without a care in the world for the things about them. His wry smile is infectious and winning, the small changes in his mouth eyebrows and eyes giving a fascinating insight into what he is feeling. The mayhem he has caused will elicit gales of laughter, as the soldiers run around not knowing what to do, the king and queen scratch their heads, while the princess looks bemused. Each page has a plethora of things to look at and take in, laugh at and recognise, and when the resolution occurs, laugh even more uproariously.
Themes Babies, Kings and queens, Toys, Humour.
Fran Knight
The garden on Red Gum Road by Phil Cummings and Danny Snell
Little Book Press, 2022. ISBN: 9780645027082. (Age:3+) Highly recommended.
A delightful story about a grandma and her grandson going to the local community garden to work on their patch, where meeting friends, enjoying each other’s company, sharing ideas and produce is just as important as the work they do in the garden.
In rhyming couplets, Phil Cummings gently leads his readers through the range of activities undertaken by the lad and his Nonna. Readers will love joining in with the seemingly uncomplicated rhyming phrases, predicting the rhyming word and learning the lines for themselves to join in on the second and third readings.
At the community garden the boy helps Maya water the garden, watches the birds in the bird bath with Rishi, picks fruit with Samir, copies the chickens dancing with Eduardo, picks tomatoes with Zara and creeps around the sleeping dog with Maria until it is time for the culmination of the day’s activities - a picnic for everyone. As the sun begins to set, Nonna nd her grandson walk back home with produce to share with their family.
This charming story of a community garden where people in the neighbourhood share the work load, plant, dig, weed and pick the fruit of their labours, will delight and amuse younger readers, seeing opportunities in their own backyard or community space. Here they will have the chance to meet others, to share and play, to communicate and learn from others all within the safe confines of a neighbourhood project. The nod to older times is seen through the grandmother while newer generations revitalise the garden reflecting the changing neighbourhood. This warm story of friendship, of generations and of working together will create many opportunities in the classroom for discussion.
Danny Snell captures Phil’s intent with his beautiful unfussy illustrations. The relationship between the family is lovingly drawn from the couple drinking coffee by the sink watching their son and gran leave the house for the garden, to the array of families shown in the garden. Each has particular characteristics which will entice the reader to look more closely. I loved looking at the profusion of footwear, from slippers in the kitchen to a mass of boots in the garden, showcasing Wellingtons, R M Williams and scuffs. I loved the garden itself, a neat slice of raised vegetable beds and trees, the chooks surrounded by a wonderful makeshift enclosure using all sorts of recycled fencing. And I loved the humour of the children playing in the garden, promoting a whole range of outdoor activities for our younger readers to emulate.
Little Book Press publishes books for Raising Literacy Australia, a non profit organisation which promotes literacy. More about the group can be found here.
Midnight Sun Publishing, 2022. ISBN: 9780987380975. (Age:14+) Highly recommended.
Something about Alaska is a raw and gritty debut novel by South Australian author J. A. Cooper. Set in the Alaskan wilderness during a wild and unpredictable winter, this novel will draw you in and leave you spellbound by the challenging plot, the descriptiveness of the harsh landscape, and the three complex and struggling characters.
Teenager Zac Greene has made the decision to travel to Alaska to spend the Christmas break with his estranged father. Right from the beginning of the father/son interaction at the airport, the reader can feel the tension, mistrust and disconnectedness between Zac and Jim. Zac is seeking his father’s approval from the very first instance, but Jim is tough, withdrawn and surly. Nothing Zac does is right; from the clothes he wears, his life with his mum, to the way he handles the dogs and sleds.
Jim’s job is to provide a ‘real Alaska experience’ for tourists whom he takes out mushing into remote areas surrounding his home. Sadly though, he has a problem with alcohol and becomes a mean drunk. After a particularly trying experience for Zac, he is on the receiving end of Jim’s rage, and this sets the wheels in motion for a dangerous and life-threatening journey. Zac decides to somehow get to Anchorage to catch a flight home and sets off on foot in the wildest winter experienced for some time in Alaska. Along the way he reluctantly hitches a lift with gun-toting Stanley, a deeply flawed yet likeable character, and learns some valuable life lessons.
This new release is a powerful read. Full of depth and drama, the story of Zac and his life-changing journey will stay with the reader long after it is finished.
