A semi-definitive list of worst nightmares by Krystal Sutherland
Penguin, 2022. ISBN: 9781761048777. (Age:Adolescent, Young adult) Recommended.
Not usually a fan of magical realism, I was thoroughly engaged by Sutherland’s portrayal of a team of four quirky friends and their seriously dysfunctional families. This is an outrageously over-the-top romp through teenage angst, family dynamics, love and other relationships, while also tackling the seriousness of mental illness, anxiety, suicide, compulsive behaviours and physical abuse and neglect. If this sounds over-whelming, the endearingly eccentric characters of 17 year old twins Esther and Eugene and their friends Jonah and Hephzibah keep the novel uplifting and light.
Esther has long been convinced that her family is cursed by Death, so she has compiled a semi-definitive list of 50 fears that she must avoid, but when her primary-school crush, Jonah, reappears, he forces her to tackle each fear head-on, in a series of wild adventures.
These adventures, involving geese, lobsters, moths, abandoned buildings, graveyards, small spaces and lightening, to name a few, are the backdrop to Esther and Jonah’s rekindled relationship, as well as the tender care that Esther displays towards Eugene as he succumbs to his own demons. They also enable Esther to reflect on the ambivalence that she feels towards her neglectful, gambling mother, and her father who has effectively deserted the family, consumed by his own fear.
Although the conclusion felt a little rushed and contrived, Sutherland has managed the extraordinary feat of delivering a series of rollicking escapades that seamlessly address a variety of mental health issues. In the final chapters, Esther practices a number of techniques to address her fears and anxiety, which Sutherland, in her Notes, says have been invaluable to her personally, and the book could be an effective springboard to discussions about the importance of speaking out about, and seeking help for, mental health issues.
Little Book Press, 2021. ISBN: 9780645027099. (Age:0-12 months) Recommended.
From the platypus on the front cover to the fairy penguin at the end, this little book of Australian animals and their offspring is sure to be a constantly shared experience between babies and their parents and siblings. Seven animals including an emu, koala, ringtail possum and barking gecko are shown in detail and their correct names given, while their young are all represented in a detailed drawing alongside the correct word used to describe the offspring giving readers a range of chicks and joeys, as well as a hatchling and a puggle.
Children will love viewing the black and white illustrations, seeing the detail clearly laid out for them. The contrast makes the features of each animal clear and unequivocal helping younger children to see exactly what thee animals look like.
The last double page presents the seven offspring with their correct names, prompting families to recall the name of the parent of each.
This series of little board books, easy for small hands to accommodate, are sturdy enough for lots of holding, grabbing and sometimes rough treatment. The use of black and white makes it easier for young eyes to assimilate the differences, unheeded by background and clutter. They can concentrate on the shapes presented.
Several other books in black and white have been published by Little Book Press: Sing, My first shapes, My every day shoes and My food shapes.
Raising Literacy Australia is a non profit organisation which promotes literacy and more about the group can be found here.
They encourages people to read, sing, talk and play everyday because literacy in the early years matters.
More about Little Book Press, their aims and range of publications can be found on the website.
Themes Board book, Australian animals, Babies, Baby animals, Literacy.
Fran Knight
A reluctant witch's guide to magic by Shivaun Plozza
Penguin, 2022. ISBN: 9781761043994. (Age:9-12)
Willa is working at a mill in the town of Bad Faith on the Isle of Dreary. She is on her own, since her parents were stolen by a Clouds-away curse which turned them into clouds. Willa believes it was her fault. Bad Faith lies between two covens of warring witches, Irontongue and Silverclaw. Many of their warring spells are landing on Bad Faith and resulting in mayhem for the town’s people. For example, it rains frogs, fisheyes, and snot. Supposedly Bad Faith citizens are not witches, nor do they want anything to do with witches and magic. However, amidst all the mayhem Willa is identified as a witch, although she doesn’t believe this herself. She must go and live in a castle with the royal family and be tutored in magic. Then she needs to decide on which coven to join or else she will explode! Suddenly people start losing their voices and monster Jumbles appear, which are hideous mixtures of various animals. Willa starts realizing that she is a witch but doesn’t fit the Silverclaw or Irontongue mold. Once it is proven that Willa isn’t responsible for some of these disasters, she tries to figure out who is the rogue witch wreaking all this havoc. She also has to learn how to tame her magic.
Readers need to hang on for a wild ride in this story. Shivaun Plozza has devised many creative devices, bizarre characters, and a frenetic plot. There is a theme of being true to yourself which was imparted to Willa by the healer and keeps Willa on track. “If a swan can’t quack like a duck, is it the swan’s fault?” Also, Willa has some trusted good and honest friends who support each other survive the out-of-control magic. It is certainly light and entertaining and no doubt will really appeal to confident middle year readers who love fantasy.
Another thrilling episode in the lives of Cyrus Haven and Evie Cormac from twice winning CWA Gold dagger author Michael Robotham is sure to be a favourite with readers of dark mysteries. Cyrus is called to Nottingham to a crime scene, a man is dead and his daughter Maya, is missing. Then another woman is abducted. While this is happening Cyrus is dealing with his brother Elias who murdered their parents. Cyrus has been asked to look after Elias as he is released from a secure psychiatric hospital, and this raises many issues from the past. Evie is trying to behave in a normal way but her past comes back to haunt her.
This is a very exciting book with tense scenes, but it is the psychological aspects of the novel that stayed with me. It is told from the point of view of Cyrus and Evie in alternating chapters giving details about what is happening from two points of view. Cyrus and his struggles to forgive Elias for killing his parents and his fears for the mental well-being of Elias are a focus of the story and left me wondering how he could cope. Evie too has flashbacks to her horrible childhood and must hide her ability to tell whether someone is lying, in an attempt to appear normal.
Supporting characters, including Mitch, a man accused of murder, are well fleshed out and the mysteries surrounding the two missing women are gripping. Robotham always manages to keep the suspense alive, and the final denouement is terrifying but a satisfying conclusion in the last chapter takes the edge off the tension and will leave readers waiting for the next instalment in the lives of Cyrus and Evie.
Winner of the 2021 Banjo Prize for Fiction, The whispering is an Australian rural noir that grabs the reader’s attention right from the beginning. Its plot is original and there are many surprising twists and turns to keep any lover of the mystery genre glued to the page.
Callum Haffenden returns to Granite Creek Far North Queensland when he hears that a local Lachie Briggs has gone missing in the rainforest. He joins in the search, uncovering long buried secrets. Two girls went missing lost seventeen years apart, the body of 2-year-old Amelia never found, and Callum, once an award-winning investigative journalist is determined to uncover the past.
The landscape that Lando describes is dark and foreboding. The rainforest drips with rain and thick vegetation that clutch at anyone who moves away from the paths. There is a strange whisper from the forest that lures people to the treacherous boulders and the threat of a cyclone makes everything worse. Children chant rhymes and wear bracelets with little bells attached to them to drown out the eerie whispers, and Callum is reminded of the belief that many townspeople have that The whispering wild will take your child if you dare to look away ...
Callum has experienced the danger of the boulders for himself, having a leg caught in a crevice and now wears a prosthetic, making it even more difficult for him to face the peril of the rainforest. Lando strews red herrings across the path of the reader in this complex multilayered story, moving from one suspect to another with the culmination of some surprising revelations at the book’s stunning conclusion.
Readers who have enjoyed books by Jane Harper and Christian White or Wake by Shelley Burr and The wrong woman by J.P. Pomare are likely to enjoy The whispering.
Reid prides himself on two key attributes as a detective, his very forgettable face, and his dogged persistence, not giving up until he has all the answers. However, in him, author Pomare has created a fallible detective hero, who makes mistakes, and who does get recognised when he returns to his hometown to investigate an insurance claim, despite his supposedly forgettable face. And despite his years of experience as a private detective and ex-police officer, he gets himself into a fair bit of trouble.
The insurance claim is the result of a car accident; the passenger Oli, a professor, dead, and his wife Eshana, the driver, in a coma in hospital. The sizeable remuneration offered to Reid overcomes his reluctance to return to a place he just wanted to forget, a place holding more than one secret from his past.
The story is told in two voices, the investigation by Reid in the present, and the voice of Eshana recounting past events in her marriage leading up to the fatal crash. For Reid the mystery is complicated by the earlier disappearance of two local girls; only he seems to think there is any connection.
The threads of the story work well together. Pomare knows how to end each chapter with a question or a discovery that keeps the reader engaged, and gradually the two viewpoints combine to to build up a picture of what might have happened. But as with any well written mystery, it is a plot that will keep you guessing, and it is not until the end that the final pieces come together.
This is a winner for readers who enjoy detective stories with interesting characters and an intriguing storyline.
Tilly's first day twist by Kylie Covark and Robin Tatlow-Lord
Little Book Press, 2022. ISBN: 9780645027044. (Age:3+)
Tilly is most excited about her first day at school. She and Mum have their breakfast and get dressed, Tilly hopping excitedly from one foot to the other. Tilly runs to the classroom but on getting to the door, her legs turn to jelly and her tummy twists up. Mum reassures her, and she counts back from five to calm her nerves. On opening the door the classroom looms big and busy and Tilly turn to her mother asking to return home. Mum who always knows the important things to do, finds a quiet space in the room for Tilly to sit. She blows kisses into her backpack.Tilly looks aound and sees boy reading a book, a girl building a block tower with her dad, a boy sitting by himself playing with the play dough. Tilly likes play dough and mum gives her a big nod of encouragement as she walks over and joins the boy at the table. She has overcome the twists in her tummy at the initial contact and mum can leave.
A warm tale of one girl’s concern at starting school is developed as her mother supports her as she finds a place where she feels confident enough to join in with someone else, mum able to leave. Tilly, like many children, is very excited at starting school, but the reality of the size and composition of the classroom are overwhelming. Mum comes to the rescue, knowing exactly what to do: in reassuring her, calming her and allowing her time to see what she feels happy with, the story provides a template of how adults should behave when a child feels concerned. Young readers will recognise the butterflies in the stomach feeling of facing something new, and be reassured that there are ways to overcome this concern. They will recognise the school situation and see from the illustrations just how daunting walking into an unknown place could be. Children will offer ways around the concerns and see ways of making a place feel more comfortable for newcomers. This story will engender all sorts of discussions touching on mental health issues of confidence and self image.
Simon & Schuster, 2022. ISBN: 9781761107559. (Age:Adult)
Gay Uncle Patrick, aka the Guncle or GUP, has been asked to look after his niece and nephew, Maisie and Grant, after the sad death of their mother (GUP’s best friend from his College days). His brother, the father of Maisie and Grant, has wisely (or possibly unwisely) decided that Patrick is the best option to care for his children while he seeks rehab for an addiction. Patrick is an out-of-work actor whose career on a much-loved series made him famous a number of years ago; he even won a Golden Globe award. His own grief in the loss of his partner after a car accident has left him hollow and he lives an isolated life in Palm Springs – a gay man, with a quirky view of life and an unconventional perspective on many things. The arrival of the children throws a left-field twist to his life. They are grieving (but so is he), and GUP must protect them and support them, but he does it with Oscar Wilde truisms and Gay Uncle Patrick rules that are eccentric, yet filled with an amazing tender wisdom. His almost accidental success at being ‘in loco parentis’ leads Maisie and Grant through the difficulties of grief.
This is a charming story filled with compassion and LGBTIQ flavour, with insights into the life of a caftan-wearing TV star battling his own personal griefs. The eccentric humour of the gay man totally out of his depth as a ‘replacement’ parent is charming and sometimes laugh-out-loud funny. All the decisions he makes in caring for the winsome Maisie and lisping Grant would never be recommended by parenting or grief experts, but the children receive his care and wisdom at just the right time. Ultimately, the children and Patrick are given time to rediscover a healthy way to grieve and remember. Along the route of this story there are numerous examples of portmanteau wordplay – beyond brunch, there is lupper; his LGBTIQ neighbours are in a throuple; and alongside Patrick’s quotations from numerous films or plays there is a theatrical treatment of language that is entertaining. This book is an adult book with heart, but not really recommended for a school library.
Subbie and his mate by Corinne Fenton & Mark Wilson
Ford Street Publishing, 2022. ISBN: 9781925804980. (Age:5+) Highly recommended.
Readers who love a heart-warming story and those who love a story about horses are in for a treat with Subbie and his mate. Subzero was the grey horse that won the Melbourne Cup in 1992 and Fenton has written a moving story about his life, first as a winner of the Melbourne Cup and then as the horse that Graham Salisbury, the Clerk of the Course, rode to conduct horses on the racecourse and to help train apprentice jockeys. Later Graham and Subbie went to schools, hospitals and aged care homes bringing cheer to everyone they met as well as raising money for charity.
In the extensive teacher’s notes, Corinne Fenton tells how she was inspired to write the story and met Graham and Subby, getting to know both well. She wants readers to know their story, about how they influenced horse racing and how they brought smiles to the faces of all they met. Her narrative certainly is successful. It was heart-warming to read the story of how an outstanding racer became a horse who with his beloved Graham, raised over $12 million for charity.
The illustrations by Mark Wilson are outstanding. His pictures of Subby and his surroundings stand out. On the front cover Subby looks like a cute old grey horse with a whiskered nose, while other illustrations show him galloping to the winning post in the Melbourne Cup, chasing after a runaway colt at the races and standing calmly with a young apprentice on his back. Wilson has used a variety of mediums, including doing sketches with lead pencils, watercolours, and acrylic paint, all making the horse come alive on the page. In the teacher’s notes he tells of his use of photographs and films to get a realistic picture of Subby.
This would be an exceptional book to use in a classroom if the Melbourne Cup was being discussed, and an ideal one when talking about human-animal interaction.
The setting of a 1987 coastal community unveils life for teens who love the surf and training for Ironman competitions. But within the idyllic setting there is a disaster waiting to happen. Sam lives in a caring family as the eldest of five sons. His mother is inspired by her Catholic faith to be benevolent and generous to people in need, and his father is hard-working but exhausted due to his long commute. Some of Sam’s friends from school are also involved in surf training, but it is Emily who is his oldest friend, even though they have been estranged for some years. When Emily seeks him out because of her need to escape her dysfunctional family circumstances he is thrust back into her life, but it seems she only wants limited help and on her own terms. School life becomes interesting when new girl, Rei, sets Sam’s head spinning. Her social justice focus challenges his status quo thinking. Sam and Rei’s friendship becomes more intense, and later Sam discovers that there are more issues in his friendship circle than first thought. His own problems at home are minor in comparison to the difficulties that others in his social circle are facing. These difficulties explode in unexpected ways and are confronting.
This story does not hide that there is trauma coming, as it foreshadows the final moments of a horrific event with each chapter giving a timeline countdown to this event.Quotes from onlookers and participants are included at the beginning of each chapter and these are an almost light and ill-informed signpost to the coming trauma. Slowly we travel with the lead characters as the circumstances of their lives progress inexorably towards the distressing event. The story is sad, and yet there are lighter moments scattered through the teen drama. Exploration of sexual experience, examining faith issues, and the challenges of school success and working to save for a car as a symbol of independence are also woven through the story. This story reminds me of Nova Weetman’s Everything is Changed in that we are never unaware that the story will end sadly. Only readers who can cope with the difficult violence of the story should read this book, it is not for the naive. But if it stirs the reader to think compassionately about the struggles some teens face and of life in the era before mobile phones. It is worth recommending, but the gritty details of social distress are quite confronting.
Themes Grief, Poverty, School-based drama, Mental illness, Family dysfunction, Family life - 1987, Violence, Abuse, Murder-suicide.
Carolyn Hull
Warna-Manda baby: Earth walk by Susan Betts and Mandy Foot
Little Book Press, 2021. ISBN: 9780645027020. (Age:3+) Recommended.
An Earth Walk in which Allurra becomes connected to her home and instilled with knowledge of the environment and that of country will enhance young children’s appreciation of the multi layered aspects of the land around them. Not only a place to explore or walk over, but a place to see with different eyes, to come to see it as a place we need to protect, a place with history and presence. Just as Mother Earth fulfils all our needs, so too she needs looking after, and from the land and sea and sky above, she is watching over us all. Allurra walks on, following footprints which guide her, watches the birds in the sky, the animals on the ground, seeing the shiny star up above her head, reminding her that all is family, all is there to guide and protect. And she is part of it all.
The soft, brightly coloured illustrations use a range of Aboriginal motifs, stars, footprints, bird prints, circles and dots to engage the reader. The journey Allurra takes is well shown as she walks over land and near the sea, a continuous flow along the bottom of most pages. Children will enjoy looking out for known objects. And will enjoy practising the words given a the end of the book.
Published by Little Book Press, as part of the Raising Literacy Australia organisation which aims to enrich children’s lives through literacy, this book is one of several reviewed in Readplus. Check them out: Shoo you crocodile!, Look Baby! and My first baby Australian animals. Raising Literacy Australia can be found here.
Their books are published by Little Book Press which has an extensive catalogue to be downloaded, with facts about the books, how to use them as well as information about the authors and illustrators.
Mischievous and witty, Beedle the Bard's stories are a deeply satisfying read in the tradition of all great fables and fairytales. Kindnesses are rewarded and selfishness shown to be the ruin of many a wizard. Burping cauldrons, hairy hearts and cackling stumps are met along the way. Each tale is brought vividly to life with Riddell's trademark wry humour and elegance. (Publisher)
Verdict: The tales of Beedle the Bard really help to flesh out Harry Potter's story, especially the last few books.
The illustrations are really good. They are masterly drawn. I feel that those people who enjoyed the Harry Potter books would really like this book.
Tommy K. (Age 11)
Themes Magic, Wizards, Sorcery.
The rising tide by Ann Cleeves
Pan Macmillan, 2022. ISBN: 9781509889624. (Age:15+) Highly recommended.
The rising tide, the 10th book featuring the wonderful D.I. Vera Stanhope, is a stunning thriller that left me breathless. It is set on Holy Island, Lindisfarne, the birthplace of British Christianity, where a group of friends meet every five years, celebrating the time when a young teacher took them on a school trip. Five years after the first trip, the beautiful Isobel, one of their members, was drowned in tidal water over the causeway and now Rick, a well-known TV personality, has been found hanged in his room. Vera is called in and begins to uncover secrets from the past.
The landscape of Holy Island makes this a stand-out novel. The island is isolated and windswept, and the tidal causeway can be very dangerous. Vera has no qualms driving through water in her jeep, and I found myself holding my breath in case she was swept away. Pilgrim House, where the school reunion is held, was once a home for nuns and visiting the nearby chapel is a requisite for staying in the house.
Vera is indomitable, mistaken for a cleaner at one time, but determined and clever. She is very persistent and follows her instincts believing that the death of Rick relates to the past and the death of the young woman on the causeway. All the members of the group are vividly described, making it difficult to work out who is the murderer. Is it one of the group or someone living on the mainland who knew them in the past?
Cleeves touches on the theme of sexual harassment and assault and the power men wield over young women in their employment as well as divorce and cot death, all adding depth and background to the story.
Readers familiar with the TV series will have no trouble reading this as a stand-alone, while those like me who have loved the books will be thrilled to have another mystery to devour.
Themes Mystery, Crime, Suspense,Thriller, Murder.
Pat Pledger
Take me with you when you go by David Levithan and Jennifer Niven
An epistolary novel told in the dual perspectives of Ezra and his sister Bea, Take Me With You When You Go chronicles the aftermath of Bea’s sudden disappearance from their family home and small town, including the discovery of family secrets and hard truths neither sibling was prepared for.
Bea leaves with no trace other than an email address hidden where only Ezra would find it, abandoning her brother to face the wrath of their neglectful mother and abusive stepfather. As Ezra learns to navigate the loose ends that Bea has left in her wake, he discovers what it means to be truly vulnerable with those that love you, that love should always be unconditional, and that sometimes it’s up to us to face our own battles - however ugly they may be. Meanwhile, Bea learns that abandoning everything that she has ever known looks very different than she imagined, and that hope can come from the strangest of places.
With twists and turns scattered throughout the novel, Levithan and Niven depict a captivating and heart wrenching chapter of Bea and Ezra’s lives. The dual perspectives juxtapose each other, with each new challenge providing extreme but important messages to the reader, culminating in the mutual understanding that you are worthy of love and acceptance regardless of the hardships that you’ve faced and the ways that you have coped with them. Your story truly is yours to write. At its heart, this is a story of found family and of unshakeable sibling love in the face of adversity. Recommended for readers aged 15 years and older due to the vivid descriptions of abusive family dynamics, and extreme acting out behaviours.
Themes Coming of Age, Sibling Relationships, LGBTQIA+, Romance, Abuse (Family Violence), Family Secrets, Missing Persons.
Daniella Chiarolli
My dad thinks he's a pirate by Katrina Germein. Illus. by Tom Jellett
The endpapers will set kids laughing as they spy the image of Dad from the previous Germein/Jellett My Dad series of books dressed up with an eyepatch and crossed bones. A most recognisable piratical image!
Pirate Dads will be just as popular as children laugh at the humour inherent in a Dad trying hard to be funny. Puns galore along with riddles and knock knock jokes will have the target audience and many older readers laughing out loud. Puns on the word aye, wave, sail, sandwich, sure and so on abound as the family heads for the ocean to spend a day at the beach and fish. More gags are found on the jetty where dad is having trouble landing a catch but digging for buried treasure after having a windy time, sees a chest discovered.
Very funny, involving a wonderful look at family life, in sync with the others in the series, Dad is full of lame jokes, and is endearing and central to the family unit. Children will love seeing him take the family to the beach, one child on his shoulders, fishing with the other while Mum sits of the beach reading.
His continuous run of jokes, riddles and puns make for a very funny read aloud, and kids will pick the book up eagerly for themselves to learn the jokes to share them with their friends and family.
Children will enjoy seeing all the accoutrements of being a pirate, with Dad sporting an earring, an eye patch, a funny hat and left unshaven, while teaching a parrot to talk, carrying a sword and looking for treasure.
Jellett’s illustrations set the scene perfectly, inviting readers into the family, seeing how they interact, looking for clues which underlies their closeness. A wonderfully warm and positive image of family is spread over every page, highlighting the things families do together, modelling a happy involved family group.
