As a thirty something knock about Scottish bloke, Dean had a comfortable life, living at home with lots of mates and few responsibilities but he felt there was a lack of direction in his life and decided to ‘hit the road to find the road' p19. He set out in September 2018 with a mate, Ricky, and started an Instagram account called @1bike1world to document the trip for family and friends back home. The travelling companions soon decided to go their separate ways and soon after they parted Dean picked up an abandoned kitten in rural Bosnia, smuggled it over the border into Montenegro where he found a vet to treat the malnourished kitten. The kitten provided the companionship and purpose Dean had been looking for and the pictures of the cat went viral online. 'Part of the point of travelling the world was to meet people and learn what made them tick' p68. and this certainly was helped by having a kitten riding the bike with Dean. It also meant he learned a lot about himself and what was important in his life. Through the online fame he was able to fundraise for animal welfare causes and made a difference in many small animal rescue centres along his journey.
The maps, cartoons and photographs of the trip add to the heart-warming story and the use of a co-author Garry Jenkins, ensures the story flows well. Like Anthony Sharwood's journey From Snow to Ash , Dean's trip is curtailed, not by bushfires but by COVID but in both cases they had discovered more about themselves than about the world.
Themes Bikes, Travel, Pets, Adventure.
Sue Speck
The angel of the crows by Katherine Addison
Tor, 2020. ISBN: 9780765387394. Recommended for fans of Sherlock Holmes.
Anyone who would enjoy a retelling of Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories is sure to enjoy this book which originated as Sherlock wingfic, according to the author’s note at the end of the book. Thus, the reader will find that here Sherlock is an angel named Crow, who is often called upon by the police to help solve crimes. Meanwhile Dr Doyle (Watson), who has arrived in London with an injury caused by an Afghani fallen angel, is introduced to Crow and shares an apartment with him in Baker Street. There are fallen angels, werewolves and vampires scattered throughout the book as Crow and Doyle go about the business of solving crime. Interspersed between the chapters of familiar retellings, the most famous of course, being The Hound of the Baskervilles, are the murders committed by Jack the Ripper as the popular press has named the person who is mutilating prostitutes.
I had not read the Sherlock Holmes books since my youth and for me many of the stories were fresh. I enjoyed the supernatural spin on them as well as the updating of some of the gender stereotypes. Addison's Victorian England abounds with vampire nests and werewolf packs and this background is so well written that the reader easily accepts this world.
The BBC TV series starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman has created much interest in the detectives, and readers who enjoy angels and hell hounds as well as mysteries could well find this an enjoyable read.
Themes Mysteries, Angels, Hell hounds, Supernatural, Sherlock Holmes.
Teenagers active on social media should read this book. In fact, many of their parents should read this book. Influence is an eye-opening, and at times disturbing, look into the world of teenage “influencers”, people who market both themselves and products online.
Influence follows four social media stars: Delilah who went viral last year and is still innocent enough to be awed by her new fame, child star Jasmine who is tired of pretending to still be someone she has outgrown, obsessive compulsive Fiona who is hiding a dangerous secret and Scarlet, ambitious and laser-focused but with a life that seems to be collapsing around her. The story delves into bullying, toxic relationships, cyber stalking, mental health and self-esteem and body issues, just to name a few. The authors begin the book with an anonymous chapter the day after something has gone very wrong. From there, the story alternates between each of the characters as the reader tries to work out what has happened, and to whom.
In a trend that is becoming more common, an established author has teamed up with an internet personality, in other words, an “influencer”, to write a novel that appeals to the latest batch of young and digitally connected teenagers. Influence is the brainchild of Sara Shepard, author of the wildly successful Pretty Little Liars series which spawned the even more successful television series of the same name and seventeen-year-old Lilia Buckingham, an actor and Instagram star. While it is unclear how much of the novel was written by each author the collaboration is, at the very least, a clever marketing move. In an instance of fiction mimicking life, Buckingham brings with her almost two million followers on Instagram alone. Vlogger megastar Zoe Suggs aka Zoella has shown before what can be done when an influencer turns to publishing – her first novel Girl Online broke multiple selling records in 2014 and was a New York Times Best Seller. It remains to be seen what will happen in this situation but with Shepard’s literary reputation and Buckingham’s Gen-Z following, Influence is likely to be similarly as successful.
Themes Social Media, Influencers, Technology, Bullying, Relationships, Friendship, Scandal.
Rose Tabeni
Tiger daughter by Rebecca Lim
Allen & Unwin, 2021. ISBN: 9781760877644. (Age:13+) Highly recommended.
Wen and Henry have a plan. They are going to study hard and together sit the entrance exam to an amazing selective school where they’ll be able to follow their dreams and escape the poverty and the fear of their homes. Both families are Chinese migrants, struggling in their new country: Wen’s father has repeatedly failed the exams to practise as a surgeon in Australia, and is reduced to waiting tables in a Chinese restaurant. His rage and bitterness keeps his wife and daughter living in fear, afraid of igniting his temper. Henry’s father labours in a fruit and vegetable market, as his wife sinks into depression in front of the tv. But both Wen and Henry are determined to soar like comets and burn their way out of the trap they are in.
Then something really terrible happens, and it looks like everything is too hard.
The overwhelming tension that runs through this story, the fear of anger and abuse that makes Wen keep her eyes down, the difficulty in treading a line between two cultures, is so powerfully described that I could not put this book down and had to read it all in one sitting. But Wen holds on to what she knows is right and the story becomes one of staying true to oneself, having courage, and persevering. The two children are able to support each other, and even share moments of humour. And there are also caring teachers and community members who step in at the right time.
In the author’s note Lim encourages young readers to stay strong, and step out of the boundaries that others put around them. They are not invisible, they can challenge limitations, and be what they want to be. It is an uplifting story that draws our empathy for the marginalised other, and hopefully build greater understanding and kindness. It is good to see books like this and the Layla books by Yassmin Abdel-Magied providing insight into a diverse Australia. Teacher's notes are available.
Themes Friendship, Courage, Fear, Perseverance, Chinese migrants, Systemic bias.
Helen Eddy
Gone to the woods by Gary Paulsen
Pan Macmillan, 2021. ISBN: 9781529047721. (Age:Young adult, 14+) Highly recommended.
Gone to the Woods is a unique journey of a life – a tale of survival and resilience. Paulsen has written an autobiography which reads as a compelling narrative of the life of a person who has learned to survive, despite hardship and adversity. Written as a third-person narrative, the reader joins the author looking ‘from the outside’ into his difficult life and we are caused to admire Paulsen, the author of the well-known book series which includes the coming-of-age and survival story, Hatchet. Paulsen’s life was never easy. He was born at the beginning of World War II and his emotionally-detached mother was an alcoholic and his purported father was distant - metaphorically and physically. Even as a young child, ‘the boy’ was forced to be independent, seeking his own food and avoiding danger. The book reveals so many examples of Paulsen’s necessary and hard-fought independence and survival, but also of the occasional unexpected eruptions of love and care expressed by others … but not his immediate family. There is even the nod of affection for the librarian in his hometown who wove her gentle magic upon his life. With a focus on his younger years, and the pathos of the neglect he experiences, there is limited opportunity to explore Paulsen’s adult life and we leave him before he has become an author, but with a profound respect for the rough road he has journeyed to get there.
This is a sad story and yet it is uplifting. The third-person view gives Paulsen an opportunity to separate himself from his own life and to give a fictional quality to his memories. This may allow for some inaccuracies in the remembering, but also gives the story the excitement and drama of fiction. Young readers of Hatchet will perhaps be too young to appreciate the clever approach to an autobiography, and the awful horrors of abuse and neglect revealed are confronting, but this is a book worthy of recommendation to a Young Adult audience.
Marie Curie’s story as a female pioneer in Science and her important discoveries led to her becoming a well-known and much revered figure in history. However the story of her two daughters, Irene and Eve, is less known. The three Curie women were all extraordinary in their own right and travelled the world. Marie and Irene shared their scientific research, knowledge and discoveries as well as saving lives in both world wars and wining a number of Nobel Peace Prizes. Eve, the youngest daughter, became a well-known writer, journalist and UNICEF employee.
This new non-fiction release, Marie Curie and Her Daughters written by Imogen Greenburg, is a wonderful record of the achievements of the family. It is told in an easy to read and follow manner which will engage younger fans of autobiographies. The graphic-style images by Isabel Greenburg are present throughout the book and encourage the reader to explore the speech bubbles to find out more personal information about the journey of scientific discovery the family embarked on and their daily life as a family. There are hand-written additions to the text which provide another dimension in maintaining the reader’s interest.
This book is both informative and inspiring and would be a welcome addition to any classroom, school or public library.
Themes Science, History, Women, Nobel Peace Prize.
Kathryn Beilby
The world made a rainbow by Michelle Robinson. Illus. by Emily Hamilton
The World Made a Rainbow was written in response to the amazing array of rainbows being displayed in windows across the world after millions of families were forced to stay at home during the first stage of the 2020 COVID 19 lockdown.
Let’s paint a big rainbow to put on display When people pass by it and see it, they’ll say ‘All Rainstorms must end, and this rainstorm will too’ And they’ll feel a bit happier, all thanks to you.
This book is a beautifully written rhyming story which tells the journey of one child who feels cut adrift from all that has been familiar. She misses her friends and her Grandma and has to deal with parents working at home as well as the family being together day in and day out. The lockdown was likened to a rainstorm that would eventually pass and then out would come a rainbow so the young child starts to create a rainbow out of paint and collage. With help from her family she spreads the message of hope that things will get better and the future holds many new adventures. The appealing illustrations are bright and colour and will catch the young reader’s eye.
This is a perfect story to read aloud with Early Years students although older readers will relate to its important message of hope in a difficult time.
Dr Philip Taiwo has been asked to delve into the killings that have become known as the “Okriki Three”. His studies into racial crimes in the US earned him his Masters and a Doctorate. Now back in his native Nigeria a rich, influential and bereaved father wants answers and perhaps revenge.
When flying to begin his mission he meets his first and by no means last warning that his job will be fraught with difficulties and antagonism. He is met at the airport by Chika, who will be his driver, mentor and sounding board.
The “Okriki Three” were three students from the nearby university who were suspected of theft by the locals of Okriki, were set upon beaten and then “necklaced”. All of which was recorded on phones by bystanders. Philip Taiwo is at a disadvantage because he has been away in the States and is unaware of many of the developments in Nigeria particularly in rural areas.
The case is now three years old and the police, the university and the populace of Okriki have no desire to reopen old wounds. Philip and Chika are looked on with suspicion. They are foreigners. When their investigation becomes clear that suspicion turns to anger, aggression and puts them in grave danger.
Light Seekers is Femi Kayode’s first novel and his settings give the plot a new dimension. The tensions he reveals, political, racial, religious and social give an insight into a country we know very little about. As his narrative unfolds so do the complexities of life for ordinary Nigerians alongside their search for their rightful place in society. This in the end also leads to their propensity to be used by those who can manipulate. Unfortunately this has become so much easier with social media being accessible to all.
Kayode has written a crime thriller which keeps the reader thinking and wanting to know more right to the end. I thoroughly recommend this book.
Themes Nigeria, Crime fiction, Murder.
Fran Knight
Maxwell's demon by Steven Hall
Text Publishing, 2021. ISBN: 9781921922718. (Age:Adult - Senior secondary)
Thomas Quinn’s life is not all it could be. His father was a famous man of letters, poet, journalist and war correspondent. Thomas is noted only for being Dr Stanley Quinn’s son. His wife is away on Easter Island on a long term research project and they connect via video link. He watches her sleep along with thousands of others via the web.
Thomas wrote a book six years ago, but nothing significant since. Life is frustrating! When his father’s old assistant Andrew Black, the author of a very famous novel Cupid’s Engine, contacts him, his life begins to spin out of control. Since publishing Cupid’s Engine, Black has been reclusive. He gives no interviews and has vowed never to publish again if his work is published electronically.
Steven Hall has written a novel which is intriguing - the initial story of Thomas Quinn draws the reader into his thoughts and problems. However when Hall delves into the philosophical, theological and scientific world it left me frustrated. The references to entropy, angels, the Second Law of Thermodynamics and Biblical theories were not where I wanted to be led by a narrative that was on the surface a mystery.
The eventual solution found by Quinn after painful self doubt and questioning of his own sanity was as unsatisfactory, to this reader, as the concepts suggested by the author throughout the book. Maxwell’s Demon may be innovative but I would have enjoyed it far more without the innovations.
Mark Knight
Themes Mystery.
Footprints on the moon by Lorraine Marwood
University of Queensland Press, 2021. ISBN: 9780702262838. (Age:11+) Highly recommended.
In 1969 there is a lot happening – the Vietnam War and conscription are hot issues, and travel to the Moon has become a possibility. But in this environment growing up is still hard and friendships can be lost and gained. For Sharnie, her relationship with older sister Cas has started to fray, and becoming a high-schooler has exposed some difficulties with her old friend from Primary school. Fortunately, Grandma can be trusted as a listening ear and support, but even she is changing . . . and she won’t always be around. The political environment of the Vietnam conflict infiltrates into family dynamics and Sharnie has to work out her place in the world and how to exercise the power of her own voice and work out what mark she is going to leave in her world. This gentle coming-of-age verse novel, set in a time of change, is a testament to the power of this genre to address issues and to use language poetically and powerfully.
Addressing serious issues involving family dynamics, death and grief, school intimidation and war conflict, but doing so in a way that has a light touch and occasional dashes of humour, this book is worthy of attention. Marwood is a master of this genre. I could also see this as a text for Middle School English classes. This is a story to be recommended highly for readers aged 11+. Teacher's notes are available.
Themes Family, Death and grief, Vietnam war, Protests, Moon landing, Coming-of-age, Verse novel/Prose poetry.
Layla is back! That funny headstrong and impetuous girl that captured our attention in You must be Layla has now got her sights set on the global Grand Designs Tourismo, and the chance to travel the world to meet great inventors. Things look like they are going her way until, out of the blue, her family gets news that Habooba, her beloved grandmother, is ill in hospital and they need to fly back to Sudan to take care of her.
Layla is distraught because she loves inventing things, and the competition is something she has worked so hard towards. At the same time, she loves her grandmother, and her Sudanese family is very important to her.
This second novel by Abdel-Magied is more subdued than the first, Layla is a little older, and the first chapters fill in a lot of the events of the previous book for the reader coming fresh to this story. It includes serious issues such as the Sudanese protests calling for a new government, and problems in Sudan with lack of water, unreliable electricity and accumulating rubbish. There is also Layla’s struggle to work out where she belongs, torn between the very different worlds of Sudan and Australia.
Abdel-Magied’s second novel for adolescents has strong moral lessons about listening, respecting elders, consideration for others and working as a team. Along the way, we learn more about life within the Sudanese-Australian Muslim family, the values, the prayer time, and the adjustments between country of origin and their new home in Australia.
A fast moving story of coming out to difficult and traditional families/communities in the deep south of Kentucky. To Phil Stamper’s credit, 17 yr old Marty defines himself predominantly as an Oboe virtuoso and someone affected by lifelong anxiety, rather than solely a frustrated young homosexual coming out in tandem with his English cousin - with very different repercussions.
Both musicians are ambitious and even though Marty’s failed entrance audition to the Knightsbridge Academy of Music in London, caused by his anxiety and his parents’ reaction to his coming out, he quickly escapes to London after he graduates, where he can be fully accepted. His Aunt and his cousin Shane’s mother, welcome him with open arms under the pretext of attending a 3 month program at the Academy. But only Marty and his close circle of friends know his term in London is a ruse to emigrate for good, and secure a job as a musician.
Problems arise as he becomes attracted to the Academy bad boy, Pierce. Astutely, Pierce is not entirely self-interested but critical of the dependence Marty had developed for his former American bestie, Megan, who seems to continue to manipulate him from afar.
This is a very detailed memoir, alternating back to Marty’s diary of the turbulent trip to London with his parents, a year prior. The narrator is mindful of his thoughts and triggers and we are privy to his decisions - mostly healthy but for a burgeoning eating disorder. First love is unpacked and not too graphically. Teens may be shepherded by Marty, who is managing his weaknesses and both aware and proactive about the balancing act between opportunity and vulnerability - always tricky in adolescence.
Navel gazing narrators are cathartic but Stamper touched on one or two expansive issues to make this funny antihero even more edifying. High praise comes from Caleb Roehrig…”A heartfelt and unvarnished portrait of the growth queer people experience when they finally set themselves free.”
Topical, given a law to ban conversion therapy in Victoria has recently been proposed.
Themes Bildungsroman, LGBTQ.
Deborah Robins
Wow in the world : The how and wow of the human body by Mindy Thomas and Guy Raz
Pan Macmillan Australia, 2021. ISBN: 9781760559991. (Age:8+) Recommended.
WOW in the World: The How and Wow of the Human Body presents a factual and amusing investigation of the human body. The book offers a detailed contents page with clearly set out titles with minor headings listed under each main body part. The personal introduction encourages the reader to read the parts that are of interest rather than reading it from front to back, as well as discussing it with family and friends. The graphic images and colourful pages draw the reader’s attention to the facts covered. The Puberty and Poop sections will be of great interest to many readers as well as the coverage of the Butt!
The authors have cleverly used different types of font as well as coloured text boxes highlighting important or interesting facts. These facts are also broken up into Fact Snacks, Record-breaking WOW, WOW tips and Share the WOW. The Thank you Letter to your Body is an entertaining activity to be done in pairs. At the end of the book there is an extensive glossary and index as well as source notes and photo credits. There is a bibliography and recommended reading page and a recommended listening page with QR codes.
This book would be a welcome and valuable addition to school or home library. It provides children with an enjoyable and humorous easy to read factual account of their body.
Themes Biological Science, Human Body, Humour.
Kathryn Beilby
The boy from the Mish by Gary Lonesborough
Allen & Unwin, 2021. ISBN: 9781760525880. (Age:15+) Highly recommended.
Beautifully written, this is a gentle romantic story about Jackson, a young Aboriginal boy gradually coming to terms with his sexuality and his attraction to the new guy just out from juvenile detention, taken under the wing of his Aunty Pam. Jackson and Tomas are thrown together, when Pam's family comes to stay over Christmas, but the wariness slowly gives way to a tentative friendship and collaboration on Tomas's writing project, and then the beginnings of a deeper relationship.
There are plenty of tough issues brought up in the novel: racism, bullying, homophobia, victimisation by police, and alcohol abuse, but the strengths of the Aboriginal community, the family, camaraderie of friends, and the care and spiritual guidance offered by elders shines through it all.
But most moving of all is the love story – there are moments that will bring tears to your eyes. Lonesborough has said that he wanted to write a book that didn’t exist for him when he was young – a YA story featuring an Aboriginal LGBQTI+ character. You can hear him discuss the genesis of the novel in a Booktopia podcast and his hope that it will offer comfort and reassurance for some young readers. But I think any reader could not fail to be moved by this story.
After rereading The girl of fire and thorns series and The empire of dreams, I decided to try the first in The gold seer trilogy, which I had missed when it was first published in 2016. Once again, I had found a book that I could not put down, with a young woman whose courage and determination made it a stand-out read for me, and I rushed to the public library to put a hold on the next two books in the series.
Walk on Earth a Stranger is essentially an historical adventure set in the days of the gold rush to California in 1849 with a small taste of fantasy thrown in. When Leah Westfall’s parents are murdered by a man who wants to control her ability to sense gold, she disguises herself as a boy and sets off west following the trail to California, where gold has been discovered. She experiences adventure after adventure on her perilous journey. She is attacked by bandits on the road, and manages to escape them, but her biggest adventures occur on the trail to California, after she meets up again with her friend Jefferson. She must maintain her disguise, working as hard as the young men on the trail and it is her skills that give her the ability to help the young trainee doctor when the trail master’s leg must be amputated. Her ability to sense gold helps her track a missing child to whom she has given her gold locket to help him be brave, and she is fearless in her efforts to look after other people in the wagon train.
I found the descriptions of the hardships of life in a wagon train on the road to California engrossing and all the characters, both major and minor, came alive for me. Carson also draws a picture of the diversity of the gold seekers, and the prejudice that faced the confirmed bachelors, African Americans and Native Americans.
Readers who enjoyed this may also like the mixture of Western and fantasy in the Frontier magicseries by Patricia C. Wrede, Dead reckoning by Mercedes Lackey and Rosemary Edghill and Dread Nation by Justina Ireland.
