Miss Peregrine’s Museum of Wonders is billed as an indispensable guide to Riggs’ wildly successful ‘peculiar children’ series. It is written in his unique gothic-like style and continues his tradition of illustrating his text with numerous vintage black and white photos of ‘peculiars’ which together with their droll captions, are a delight in themselves.
This is not a novel, but a series of short entries describing and giving examples of loops, peculiars and ymbrynes, and their enemies the hollowgasts and wights. There are helpful hints for peculiars on how to conduct themselves in the present, a couple of longer stories about peculiars who have appeared in other books, as well as maps, a phrase book, lists of real people who ‘may have been peculiars’ and Miss Peregrine’s handwritten notes to Jacob.
The Museum of Wonders could be read as you progress through the series, to provide backstory and elaboration, or before tackling any of the books, to give an insight into Riggs’ intricately constructed world and characters. As I hadn’t read any of his other books, this was an enjoyable introduction to his style, but I’m sure that I missed the relevance of many of the references to characters and events.
This book is visually engaging, from the handsomely presented faux-bound gold-embossed cover with marbled endpapers, to the decorative flourishes that firmly reflect the 1800s era. It is a work that you could read cover-to-cover, dip into randomly or simply pore over the enthrallingly creepy photos.
A Walk in the Dark by Jane Godwin is a suspenseful and exciting drama filled novel. A fictional story set in Australia’s own Great Otway National Park, near Apollo Bay in Victoria, this story will keep young adult readers, who enjoy a thrilling adventure, enthralled until the very end.
The novel sees students in year nine from Otway Community School heading out on a trip of a lifetime. They have been given the opportunity to take part in the Dutch dropping activity. Johan, their head teacher, has set up this task as a resilience, team bonding and all-round great opportunity for personal growth and endurance. Set in the forest, the students are organised into groups of five and together they must navigate 20km unsupervised back to school with only a compass, torches and emergency phone.
The reader follows five of the students into the woods for their adventure. These five young teens, all with very unique and interesting qualities, are trying to find a way to connect with each other in order to complete this task successfully. But when the weather turns nasty, some local hoons cause mischief and a young girl is lost, will the five get out safely or will the forest be too much for them?
Jane Godwin has created an extremely engaging and interesting storyline. Highly relatable and real, this novel would appeal to those who enjoy excitement, suspense and human interactions. Dealing with personal relationships, adversities, feelings, complexities and more, this novel has everything to keep the audience enthralled. No reader will be able to put the book down until the very end! Teacher's notes are available.
Themes Relationships, Problem solving, Creativity, Bullying.
Michelle O'Connell
Wild card by Simon Rowell
Text Publishing, 2023. ISBN: 9781922458728. (Age:Adult - Senior secondary) Recommended.
Detective Zoe Mayer and her service dog Harry (The long game) return in another compelling Australian rural crime novel. Zoe is sent off to Echuca where a body of a local bikie, Freddie Jones, has been found on the banks of the Murray River. Faced with little information and a cop in Moama across the river who seems to be cooperating with the bikies and local drug dealers, Zoe makes little progress until a second body is found, this time in a pit with a tiger snake. As she and her team slowly uncover what is going on, events begin to become more dangerous.
This was a suspenseful and gripping read that had me reading it in a couple of sittings. Zoe still needs her faithful service dog to keep her upright when she hears helicopters and drones, but she is determined to follow police procedures to work out who is murdering the local crime lords.
The setting of Echuca and Moama and the Murray River will be familiar to many Australian readers who will follow the story of local drug dealers and bikies with interest. And the clues about the card left on a body and the title Wild Card are intriguing too.
Readers who enjoy the setting of the Murray River in Wild Card are sure to want to pick up The tilt by Chris Hammer and fans of rural noir by Jane Harper and Garry Disher will have another author to enjoy.
Themes Rural noir, Crime, Detectives, Service dogs.
Pat Pledger
Red Dirt Road by S.R. White
Detective Dana Russo bk 3. Hodder Headline, 2023. ISBN: 9781472291165. (Age:Adult - Senior secondary) Highly recommended.
Detective Dana Russa (Hermit and Prisoner) returns in a challenging and suspenseful rural noir set in the tiny outback town of Unamurra, population 50. Two men have been murdered in strange circumstances and left arranged like angels on the work of an artist who had been hired to mount a series of sculptures that could bring tourists to the town. Dana is given the almost impossible task of finding who the killer is among the 50 local suspects. Assisted by the local police officer, Able Barillo, Dana has just one week to unravel the baffling case.
The isolated rural town came alive with White’s descriptive imagery. It was easy to imagine a drought stricken, dying town, with only a small patch of green surrounding a memorial, and closed shops and houses. It is presided over by Annie Ogden the owner of the only pub, wife of one of the murdered men, and owner of the only shop and service station in town, as well as many of the residents’ homes.
Dana is an introverted character, not given to sharing her thoughts with Able, the police officer in charge of the town. She is intelligent and approaches the case from an unconventional point of view focusing on the psychology of the murders. This provides many of the twists that confounded me as I tried to uncover the identity of the killer. The conclusion was stunning and unexpected, bringing all the threads and clues together, and leaving me often thinking of the power structures that the truth unfolded.
Red Dirt Road is the first book that I have read by S.R. White and it was easy to read as a gripping stand-alone. I thoroughly enjoyed it and found it so thought provoking that I intend to go back and read the other two books in the series. Fans of Jane Harper, Chris Hammer and Garry Disher are also likely to enjoy it.
Themes Rural noir, Crime, Detectives.
Pat Pledger
Found in Sydney by Joanne O'Callaghan and Kori Song
Allen & Unwin, 2023. ISBN: 9781760526245. (Age:4+) Highly recommended.
A second in the series about Australian cities, this counting book takes readers on a trip around Sydney Harbour and beyond to acquaint them with places that would interest newcomers and tourists. A very handy map is included at the end of the book, showing an outline of Sydney Harbour and where these places can be found around it. Each double page has a number as its focus with information about that place in the text and illustration. Number one shows a young boy with a map, being offered help from a passerby while a plane comes in to land over Sydney. This first double page places the book fairly in that city with an image of the harbour with the Sydney Opera House, Sydney Harbour Bridge and the ferries taking centre stage.
Number two shows two koalas amongst other animals at Taronga Park Zoo, while three is set at the beach where young children are eating chips, seagulls hovering overhead waiting for one to drop. The beach appears in five, six and seven with five boats on the harbour, and the children walk along the beachfront where six dogs greet each other, and seven surfboards are in the sand ready for action. The counting continues up to sixteen when it abruptly changes to 100, 1,000 and1,000,000.
Each double page shows a different aspect of Sydney with sweeping illustrations of the city, each including a host of detail for readers to spot.
I read a book only last week about the building of the Sydney Opera House, (Jorn’s magnificent imagination, Coral Vass, EK) so this is a great companion read. It is fascinating seeing how often the Opera House figures in the book’s illustrations and reading the books together will enhance both for the reader.
Themes Sydney, NSW, Sydney Opera House, Sydney Harbour Bridge, Cities.
Fran Knight
Super Sidekicks: No adults allowed by Gavin Aung Than
Penguin, 2023. ISBN: 9780143795865. (Age:7-10)
Cartoonist Gavin Aung Than's graphic novel champions the underdog in the super hero world, the sidekicks. When Junior Justice - JJ - decides he wants to be a superhero instead, he calls a special meeting at a secret warehouse location. He's tired of his subordinate role and wants to stop cleaning up after Captain Perfect, washing his costumes and organising his headquarters. It's time to turn things around.
He chooses Flygirl who's tired of being sidekick to Rampaging Rita who loves to destroy everything. Dinomite brings his communication skills - he can speak 47 languages and has a quantum physics degree. Watch him transform into any shape and size dinosaur, a flying pterodactyl or large and menacing T-Rex. Goo's slippery, slimy body allows him to fill spaces, block gaps and help fight crime. He's run away from evil Dr Enok's laboratory and is willing to help JJ and the other child super sidekicks.
After a cheesy photo and chocolate chip cookies, the sidekicks share their fantastic array of skills. When confronted by their angry adult superheroes who want their offsiders back, an all-out battle ensues, while Rampaging Rita bashes everything in her path, Blast Radius shoots lasers into the melee. When Dr Enok captures Goo and takes him back to the lab, Junior Justice, Dinomite and Flygirl, creatively work as a team to rescue the sticky creature.
Than's action-packed cartoons showcase the cast of quirky characters and their special abilities. He's created a world reminiscent of the 1960s' superhero shows, as good and evil battles against each other. JJ and his friends learn to value each other's skills, develop their friendship and utilise their problem-solving skills. No adults allowed is a super-exciting cartoon novel just right for super-hero loving readers.
Ryllis Bignell
Themes Superheroes, Villains, Good and Evil.
Monster! Thirsty! Drink! by Sean Taylor and Fred Benaglia
Monster is very hot and thirsty but Oh No! he drops his drink, and all the water splashes out. He is determined to find another drink and thinks that the Squeeze Me Please cart is just the place to get one, but there is a huge queue, and he knows that he cannot wait. Then he spots a kangaroo handing out bottles of water, but bother and blimmeration, he must run a whole race to get one. He is so thirsty! What can he do?
Young readers will laugh out loud at the antics of Monster as he tries to get a drink, all the while sympathising with him as he is so thirsty on such a hot day. The refrain Monster! Thirsty! will have them shouting out along with the text. The narrative is scattered with different fonts and font sizes, the words all emphasizing the anguish that Monster feels as his thirst gets worse. Readers will roar with laughter when they see him desperate for a drink, approaching a toilet ‘where billions of bottoms have sat!', and there will be giggles galore as he needs a wee after drinking all the water in a pool.
Benaglia’s vivid and very funny illustrations make Monster a very memorable character. I loved the picture of him so thirsty that his tongue was dragging along the ground. There are many humorous details that grab the eye and add to the fun.
Monster! Thirsty! Drink! is very funny book that is sure to be a favourite with young children, who will want to have it read again and again.
Themes Monsters, Thirst, Humour.
Pat Pledger
Zero o'clock by C.J. Farley
Black Sheep, 2021. ISBN: 9781636140476. (Age:13-17) Highly recommended.
For Geth, zero o’clock, Blursday, March 2020, marks the commencement of the Covid crisis, with the president saying that it was all airtight. But New Rochelle, where Geth lives, becomes one of the first Covid-19 containment zones in the U.S. Her diary tells the story of the increasing restrictions, the paranoia and the burgeoning conspiracy theories.
Geth is a Black American teenager, in her final year of high school, awaiting news of university acceptance, and at the same time having to cope with the shooting death of her father, her mother’s new cohabiting white boyfriend, and then, to top it all off, she is expected to share her room with the boyfriend’s stepson. Geth also has OCD, which means compulsive tapping of her face, checking on taps and locks, and washing her hands, the latter not so unusual in the time of Covid. She is also an enthusiastic follower of the South Korean boy band BTS, and likes to create playlists of hit songs to reflect her moods.
The breakdown of society with the Covid pandemic is chronicled in Geth’s diary along with her thoughts and musings about many aspects of life. In many ways, the story becomes a consideration of various philosophical ideas, but presented in the language of a teenager trying to juggle her fears and anxieties.
Larger themes of political manipulation and Black Lives Matter are entwined with themes of identity and coming of age. The thing that makes this novel so readable is the teenage voice so brilliantly captured by the author C.J. Farley.
Themes Covid-19, Pandemic, Black Lives Matter, K-pop, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Coming of age.
Helen Eddy
Diary of a rescued wombat by Jackie French & Bruce Whatley
Twenty years after the first story by French and Whatley about wombats appeared, (The diary of a wombat, 2002) comes this behind the scenes look at Mothball and how she trained her humans.
All the familiar features are reprised happily for wombat lovers. All hearts will melt when seeing an orphaned wombat on the first page, or see how she single-mindedly eats through her cage to demand carrots, or dig holes, or sleep.
A year’s worth of training follows her rescue, as she tries out the grass, finding it quite to her liking, but at various months in the year, the grass is either too short, too dry, too long or not there at all. Then she searches for carrots, even eating those left for Santa’s reindeer at Christmas. Between searching for carrots and sleeping comes scratching.
Mothball was made famous in Jackie French’s first book and this charming tale delivers another dose of fun to her dedicated readers. We see the wombat snuggled in her hole, alone and afraid before a human rescues her. She learns about her environment, snuggling into a new hole she has dug, one that over the year becomes too small, we see her acquaint herself with the neighbours, trying out various new food sources, and eating a lot of grass and sleeping. But over all she must train her humans to deliver carrots and this she does with success, eventually.
This engaging and witty tale about a baby wombat and her development will be eagerly looked for by children, already familiar with the seven other wombat stories published over the last twenty years. Each encompasses positive reactions to Australian animals, promoting conservation, environment and protection.
Supported by Bruce Wheatley’s beautiful acrylic illustrations, the book is a must have, taking its place on a shelf of wonderful wombat books.
Whatley gives a cheeky grin to his Mothball, an animal that almost knows what she is about: wide eyed innocence on one page to sleepy half closed eyes when talking to the neighbours, or startled eyes when covered with ice in winter, or very sad eyes when alone in her burrow. Each page is full of humour as Whatley draws the now familiar wombat outline, entrancing a new following. And the front cover will draw many sighs of appreciation as we see Mothball, asleep in her basket, surrounded by the detritus she has created while she settles into her new home.
In focussing our attention in Mothball and her beginnings, French draws our attention to all rescue animals, wanting a new home, waiting to be cared for by a new batch of humans.
Pan Macmillan, 2022. ISBN: 9781838992965. (Age:1+) Recommended.
A lift the flap book introduces young children to the animals on a farm. Each of the five double pages presents a strong, durable book for younger people and adult presenters. The board book will last a long time as young fingers try to open the flap themselves, hearing the clues read out to them and predicting what might be beneath the flap. The first page opens with the question “Who is Molly Moo?” On the same page are several clues: she has spots, a wet nose and noisy hooves. The stable door opposite lifts to reveal a photograph of a cow and her calf, and children will be able to talk about the other things inside the barn as they scan the illustration.
Four more double pages follow, each asking a question, offering clues and asking children to lift the flap to reveal the answer. Bright colour filled illustrations add to the humour of the book, teaching toddlers about farms and animals, colour, prediction and having fun. Each stable or animal house is different, again asking the child to notice, think about what might lie beneath and ponder just why this house is unique for that animal. And on each page too is a frog that offers an incorrect answer to the clues adding another level of thought.
The first in a series, publisher Roger Priddy aims to educate young children through informative, engaging and fun filled non fiction books designed to intrigue and delight.
At seventeen, Sam Knox is still reeling from the death of his beloved father-figure Grandpa, when he has to spend eight days on a gruelling school endurance camp, spurred on by an unsympathetic teacher and an attractive female instructor. Confronting extreme weathers and hazardous terrain, he and his class-mates’ stamina and character are tested as they hike, belay and abseil, canoe and cave through rain, hail and heat, carrying all their equipment and food rations.
Billed as a teen must-read about consent and control, the novel also included Sam’s flashbacks to a violent gang rape he witnessed at a rave party and regretted not reporting.
Gervay’s plot moves quickly, with plenty of out-doors action and youthful horse-play, but I felt the characters were somewhat stereotyped; we have Fat George, whiny Spano, sex-obsessed Andrew, golden boy Jones and Watts the bully. Sam continually misses his girlfriend Laura, professing to love her, but wishing she was up for sex. Jones apparently had a girlfriend but treated her with disdain, and the others constantly fantasise about sex and rough-house amongst themselves, jostling for power. Some grow and redeem themselves over the course of the novel, others don’t, and the writing style of ‘telling’ rather than ‘showing’ limits the opportunity for the reader to draw their own conclusions.
While I understand that Gervay wanted to call out this unsavoury behaviour, I don’t feel that the book achieves this, as neither Sam or any of his mates seriously challenge his peers’ toxic thoughts and actions. Gervay also hopes that young women will use the novel as a catalyst to call out bad behaviour, but again, I’m not sure how much the all-male survival-camp plot and constant jokes about girls and sex would appeal to this audience. The book is however, an easy, fast-paced read that includes many of the extreme activities that readers might aspire to, and a cast of distinct, sometimes amusing characters.
A well-intentioned effort from an award-winning author on a much-needed topic, that provides a full-on adventure, if not a vehicle to encourage critical conversation.
Imagine
finding out that you are living with a monster. That is what happened to Beth
Hardcastle who believed that she had the perfect family. When the police came
knocking on their door, she discovers that there are many things that she did
not know about Tom, her husband.
Narrated
from the viewpoints of Beth and Tom the reader is quickly swept into their
lives, wondering whether their stories are reliable. Beth’s main concern is her
daughter Poppy and saving the shop that is her livelihood. She is determined to
stop the gossip that could hurt her child, but Tom, accused of murdering his
ex-girlfriend needs her support. What does she really know and what ends will
she go to in order to protect her child?
There are many dark twists and turns in this psychological thriller that
are sure to surprise, including some blood thirsty moments in the mind of a sadistic
killer.
Nick Hall and best friend Coby are obsessed with soccer, the 12 year olds play it online and Nick spends time daydreaming about soccer at school but they are also talented players on rival teams and very competitive; both get invited to play at an event in Dallas. Nick’s father, a linguistics professor, thinks that academic excellence and a large vocabulary will provide a competitive edge in life so insists on Nick reading and learning words from his dictionary, as a consequence Nick has come to hate books but manages to slip interesting words into his thoughts and conversations. Nick and Coby have made a pact “Ninth grade is five months from now when you and Coby have vowed to have a girlfriend or die” p. 29. But other things intrude into their soccer and girlfriend dreams including schoolwork, being dobbed in by teacher’s pet and bullying. Dealing with mean twin bullies is one thing but what floors Nick is the unexpected separation of his parents and when illness strikes, preventing him playing soccer, it seems his whole life is an irredeemable mess.
This graphic version of Kwame Alexander’s verse novel explodes with energy and the reader soon slips into the rhythm of the verse. Dawud Anyabwile’s simple, strong, monochrome cartoon characters and varied layout move the story on at a fast pace keeping up with the varying size of the text in black on white, white on black, bold and outline, anything to enhance the dynamics of each page. The characters are well developed with some great supporting roles like the ex-rapper librarian and a mum who likes ping pong. They really are supporting roles, friends, family, teachers and a counsellor support Nick. The story is told entirely from Nick’s perspective and it is good to see how he learns to wield the power of language in expressing himself, including a lot of interesting words; usefully definitions are included. Nick’s challenges, many of which will be familiar to middle school students, feel real and there are no simple solutions offered but strategies to help deal with them. This funny, accessible book is sure to be picked up by soccer fans who want to see why Nick was “booked” but they risk getting caught up in a love of books and inadvertently increase their vocabulary. This would be a great book to read out loud, (some examples of the author reading can be found on Youtube) and it would be sure to prompt some interesting discussion.
Themes Soccer, Friendship, Family breakdown, Reading, Verse.
Sue Speck
I'll take care of you by Maria Loretta Giraldo and Nicoletta Bertelle
Blue Dot Kids Press, 2022. ISBN: 9781737603238. (Age:4+) Highly recommended.
The title, I’ll take care of you underlines the theme of harmony within our world as we all have a share in this place we call home. As a little seed hits the ground, small and alone, the Sky, the Water and the Earth console it saying they will take care of it. The Water drops rain upon it, the Sky warms it as it takes root in the soft Earth. Here it grows into an apple tree, blooming and magnificent. One day a small lonely bird sits on its branch and the tree tells it not to worry as the tree will look after the bird. And so it does offering shelter to the bird which builds a nest and raises a hatchling, which in turn the bird keeps warm and looks after until it is big enough to leave the nest. Apples drop to the ground and split open, leaving apple seeds upon the Earth. One seed falls in the rocks and the bird picks it up to carry it back to the Earth, where is is planted and eventually produces a shoot.
The cycle of life continues, each part in the cycle supported and nourished by another, each one aware of its place within the cycle and sharing the responsibility that being part of the cycle brings.
This wonderful book echoes the aim of Blue Dot Kids Press, to ‘inspires curiosity with beautifully crafted stories that connect us to each other and the planet we share’. A world of possibilities is open before the reader, encouraging an empathy for the global community we call Earth. The interconnectedness shines through the acts of the Earth, Sly, Rain, Tree and Bird, each repaying the kindness shown to it by replicating that kindness to an other. We are all stewards of the world we occupy, and nowhere it is this more apparent than when we look at our environment, and this book will encourage a deeper understanding of what we owe to it. Nicoletta Bertelle’s distinctive style encompass bright colourful illustrations which make use of acrylic paint and forms of collage, and cover the larger than usual pages with drawings that direct the eye to themes of kindness, compassion, helpfulness and so on, as we watch each take its turn in helping something that is lost or alone.
Find out more about Blue Dot Kids Pressan independent publisher based in San Francisco and Wellington.
Themes Compassion, Kindness, Interconnectedness, Caring, Environment, Cycle of life, Earth.
Fran Knight
Little Ash: Lost luck! by Ashleigh Barty, Jasmin McGaughey and Jade Goodwin
A sixth book in the series written by Jasmin McGaughy with Ash Barty providing the technical support and her name, will prove just as popular as the previous five. Concentrating on friendship, family, school and sport, the series presents minor hiccups in the lives of the children, Ash and her friend James. From losing a tennis racquet, or trying out for a competition, the stories in each book are highly recognisable, and will appeal to a wide range of children who have just mastered chapter books.
A change of sport in number six, sees Ask playing in a hockey game. But she is simply not happy about it. Everything seems to go awry. From the time she wakes in the morning, nothing seems to go right. She splashes milk all over her hockey top and must change into hr tennis gear. She cannot find her hockey socks, and she and James spend a lot of time searching the room and then the op shop boxes for them. On the way things seem to go wrong again when she walks through a puddle and gets her socks soaking wet. They find the hockey socks behind one of her incredible range of trophies, so all is right again. Ash tells James that earlier she felt quite dispirited but now, after rolling down the hill and eating a muesli bar, things seem to be much improved. The hockey match goes well, with darker font used to stress the words particular to that sport and the description of Ash playing hockey gives a neat overview of the game, its rules and how it is played.
Another eminently readable book within this engrossing series will have readers seeking out the whole series, as well as reading about Ash Barty on the inside back cover.
