Illus. by James Foley. Toffle Towers 2, Puffin, 2020. ISBN:
9780143795438. 253p.
(Age: 10+) Highly recommended. Toffle Towers is still 'Fully
Booked' (Book One in the Toffle Towers series).
Chegwin Toffle, the world's youngest hotel manager, leads his loyal
staff in improving facilities and services to put the flagging hotel
back on the map. Guests love walking on the ceiling in magnetic
boots to check in at the desk with Lawrence, the hotel butler. With
the Great River Race looming, visitor numbers are climbing - plus
Chegwin's novel ideas are popular with tourists looking for unique
experiences.
Unfortunately, a number of 'reverse muggings' distract most of the
staff from providing their usual competent services. His waitress,
Katie begins reciting bad poetry to the diners. Dean the caretaker,
must cope with oven mitts glued to his hands and the guests are
defecting to Brontesa Braxton's hotel on the other side of Alandale.
Chegwin makes a few mistakes in countering this obvious sabotage and
learns important lessons about the value of consultation, respect
and teamwork as he grapples with a secondary mystery of an elusive
guest squatting in Room 49. The mystery leads Chegwin to discover a
veritable network of tunnels linking the various parts of the hotel.
In one of his daydreams Chegwin unwittingly agrees to sign over
Toffle Towers if the hotel boat loses the Great River Race to the
Braxton Hotel. Whilst the team have pitched in early with a winning
design, it is Chegwin's ability to brainstorm under pressure that
will decide the fate of Toffle Towers.
James Foley's illustrated cartoons, storyboards, tables and memos
compliment Chegwin's imaginings and consolidates unbelievable
possibilities in our minds. There are still mysteries to solve which
means we can anticipate a few more adventures at Toffle Towers.
Deborah Robins
Big lies in a small town by Diane Chamberlain
St Martin's Press, 2020. ISBN: 9781509808625.
(Age: Adult - Mature YA) Recommended for adult readers. The young
woman, Morgan Christopher is unexpectedly rescued from jail through
a bequest and request from a benefactor known for his incredible
artistic talents. Morgan's own incomplete art skills are needed as
she is thrust into the task of restoring a mural created in 1940.
This restoration project comes with time pressures and emotional
pressures from the artist's daughter as she unearths the history of
the original artist, Anna Dale. Anna was the winner of a National
Town Mural competition to paint the mural for the town of Edenton.
As an outsider, she ruffles a few locals and her Northerner ways and
opinions are sometimes at odds with the local North Carolina
residents. The social milieu of the 1940's town reveals the
inter-racial conflicts of Southern USA in the 1940s as well as the
joys and challenges of the small town. What should she include in
her artistic representation of the town? When the contemporary
parolee, Morgan, investigates the history of the mural that was
never displayed, she uncovers a history that has many twists - and
some of them are not pleasant. In her own story she must unravel her
own insecurities related to the event that caused her imprisonment,
and needs to decide whether she is worthy of love and the incredible
honour of becoming an art restorer for the late renowned artist.
This is an impressive adult dramatic saga incorporating the two
separate stories of the original artist - Anna Dale, and the
contemporary restorer - Morgan Christopher. Told with time shifts
back and forth between the two stories, there is a slowly unfolding
revelation of the drama that led to the mural's disappearance. The
process of art restoration is overseen by the interesting gallery
administrator and there are stories of family disharmony and
restoration woven through the saga. Diane Chamberlain is a master of
the romantic and historical narrative, and this is the kind of book
that would be enjoyed as a 'holiday' selection because of the
revelation of the mystery and social drama across the generations
within the 385 page narrative. Although this is an adult story, it
could be read by mature YA readers.
Recommended for adult readers. Themes: Historical drama; Art
restoration; Racial discrimination - USA; Romance; Murder mystery;
Sexual Assault
Carolyn Hull
The Little Grey Girl by Celine Kiernan
ISBN: 9781406373929.
The Wild Magic trilogy Book 2. Walker, 2019. 217 pp.
9781406373929. pbk.
In the first book in The Wild Magic trilogy, Begone
the raggedy witches, Mup realises that she has magical powers.
The Queen from across the border, her grandmother, uses her magic to
keep control over her subjects and when she flees with the raggedy
witches, Mup's mother is the obvious replacement, but she does not
want the power nor does she want to be queen. She is persuaded to
leave her own home and move to the Glittering Lands guiding her
daughter, Mup, and her husband and their son, Tipper, now a dog,
over the strange waterway which marks the entrance to this
mysterious place.
The second in the series, The Little Grey Girl, takes up the
story as Mam is declared queen, protesting all the while. She is
besieged by petitioners, and heads back into her mother's castle to
think about what to do next. But during the night, Mup sees a
mysterious little grey girl in the courtyard, and calling Crow they
go to investigate. It has been snowing fiercely, and Mam's adviser,
Firinne, has warned her that this is the old queen's curse and to be
watchful.
The castle is still full of memories of the tyrannical past, and Mup
grapples with the question of free will, as her mother encourages
the people to make up their minds for themselves; she will not tell
them what to do.
The characters in this beautifully written book are exceptional: Mup
with her strong moral centre is brave and disarming, able to throw
lightning from her fingers to keep herself protected from the forces
of the evil she feels all around, while Crow the bird that can
change into a boy speaks in rhyme.
But the little grey girl intrigues; is she a threat, either a a
raggedy witch or someone who needs help. With the long dead Dr
Emberly and Crow, Mup descends to the dungeons beneath the castle
following the little grey girl, to find out about the drawings she
leaves on the walls, which cause such distress. But to find the core
of the problem they must fight the dog which holds all the sadness
the little grey girl takes from people, a fight which could lead to
their deaths.
Kiernan's voice is unique, taking its readers along brave new paths,
involving them with a strong, independent young girl hesitantly
using her magical powers, but always aware of how it will affect
those around her.
Fran Knight
My book with no pictures by B.J. Novak
Puffin Press, 2019. ISBN: 9780241444177. 40pp. pbk.
(Age: All) Recommended. The
book with no pictures is a fun story and this book makes
that story even more fun by letting people fill-in-the-blanks and
write their own words.
Kids of all ages can have fun putting different words into the story
to make it as funny as they like. It would appeal to all ages, as
anyone can add words into the story.
Kids can have fun filling in the blanks and then getting their
parents or teacher to read it.
This book can be used to encourage reluctant writers to create a fun
story using the scaffolding of the book with no pictures.
I enjoyed reading this book and recommend it to anyone with a sense
of humor.
Karen Colliver
Slay by Brittney Morris
Hodder Children's Books, 2019. 330pp. ISBN: 9781444951721. pbk.
Massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) are a
combination of role playing video games and online games in which a
very large number of people interact with one another within a
virtual world. As an older reviewer I found I had to immerse myself
in the terminology in the book, using the internet to find answers,
then jumping into the gaming word portrayed. Most readers of this
book will find a more comfortable affinity with the world created by
Morris to tell her story about racial inequality in the USA. This
multi layered and complex issue is displayed by a range of
characters: Kiera, one of four Black students at Jefferson High is
peculiarly asked for her opinion as if she is the spokesperson for
all Back people, Steph, Kiera's sister is a promoter of African
American Vernacular English, Malcolm Kiera's boyfriend is desperate
for them both to be accepted into Spelman College, one of the
foremost HBCU places (Historically Black College) where he feels he
will not have to compete with white students, while Kiera's white
friends ask her if it is OK to wear their hair in dreads, or wear an
Indian headdress to a fancy dress party. Kiera retreats into the
digital world she has created, Slay, where all of the players are
black and in playing, understand the rules of the game. And here she
can be herself.
Morris very cleverly places all the characters into positions where
they are able to reveal the racial tension that underlines their
lives. But the game is above all this, or so Kiera believes.
When she finds that one of the players, Anubis has been killed over
the paper money used in the game, she is appalled. Not knowing that
she is the developer, her friends and family discuss the issues that
this Black game creates: is it anti white, discriminatory, is it
racist, what happens when the developer is discovered, will he or
she be sued for the boy's death? Kiera must solve the crime and the
last half of this engrossing tale hangs on crime detection as she
and Steph and her friend in Paris untangle the web of clues hidden
within the game, leading to a neat resolution with a twist in the
tale.
Fran Knight
Near extinction by R.A. Spratt
The Peski Kids book 4. Puffin Books, 2020. ISBN:
9780143796367.
(Age: Upper primary+) Highly recommended. Near extinction is
the third book in The Peski Kids series. This time the Peski
(pesky) kids literally face their own extinction in a dinosaur park
on a class geography/paleontology excursion. The Peski Kids series is full of exciting, page-turning
adventure. Spratt exposes the reader to current
social/cultural/political concerns, language and vocabulary whilst
somehow managing an authentic tween/teen voice.
The characters are clever and outrageous young people who stun the
reader with their sharp banter and antics. You can't identify with
them (they're too wild) but the teenage reader would be impressed
with them, following their activities (from a safe place) and never
admitting openly (rather surreptitiously investigating) if they don't
understand some of the witty allusions. The Pesky Kids are
countercultural with some of their comments and actions. Being well
rounded characters, they all have flaws and strengths which happen
to be somewhat complementary.
Hilarious, current, politically incorrect terms and idioms by the
dozen fly in the rapid fire dialogue between the characters. The
smart play with language and meaning is perfect for the upper
primary child. We want our readers to be exposed to rich vocabulary.
The book demands active thinking too. The motivation is there
because this is rude, insolent, smart kid talk and as a kid yourself
you would not want to appear out of it. The author tantalizes the
reader with connections like " . . . my brother will bear a striking
resemblance to Anne Boleyn . . . " Many terms and concepts such as
man spread, misogyny, roadkill and human smoothies are thrown about
and hilariously dealt with by these characters. The Peski Kids: Near extinction conjures up a fantastic
visual adventure. Imagine a pink school bus with a theme park
dinosaur speared into the roof with a child caught in its jaws being
driven by jewel thieves at break-neck speed down a country road
chased by a rural policeman and international spies.
Even though The Peski Kids: Near extinction seems to be
about tough, naughty kids who go against the grain, it is also about
love, family, right and wrong and shades of grey. Adoption,
migration, international espionage, teenage relationships and
unusual family structures are embedded themes.
R.A. Spratt does not disappoint with The Peski Kids series
for older children. Highly recommended.
Wendy Jeffery
Hot Dog: Show time by Anh Do
Illus. by Dan McGuiness. Hot Dog 7. Scholastic, 2019. ISBN:
9781742997889. 128pp.
(Age: 6-8) Recommmended. In Hot Dog Book 7, the three main
characters, Hot Dog, Kev and Lizzie are once again ready for a new
and exciting adventure. Toy Town is holding a Talent Show and the
three friends are desperate to win - the prize being a voucher to
the best toy shop in town. They spend quite some time deciding on
what to do, with most of their trials not being successful. However
they decide on a song and set about writing the lyrics and making
the costumes, all with lots of fun and humour. The big day arrives
and the entertainment is awesome! The three friends are a hit with
the crowd and have everyone in the audience singing along. They
ultimately come a gracious second to the Daredevil Hamsters and win
a huge tray of cupcakes.
After the Talent Show they have to prepare for Emma and Ribbit's
wedding in the Big Top at the circus. The day does not go according
to plan due to rainy weather and Hot dog, Kev and Lizzie have to
pitch in and support the wedding couple with all the help they can -
from making bridal outfits, for the circus animals, finding flowers,
providing the entertainment and sharing their cupcakes.
The illustrations of Dan McGuiness complement the story perfectly
and keep the reader engaged in the simple yet engaging text. The use
of different sized fonts draws the reader's attention and maintains
interest in the story. The Hot Dog series is perfect for
emergent readers as well as those children who struggle with reading
as the use of the same characters and familiar words allows these
children to successfully read independently. Themes: Humour,
Friends, Talent show, Wedding ceremony, Family.
Kathryn Beilby
Silly, messy, amazing, magnificent ME by Kylee Cooke
Little Steps Publishing, 2019. ISBN: 9781925839630. pbk. 28pp.
Highly recommended. Sometimes Em is told she can't do things like
wear certain clothes or be a dragon, but she does not listen and is
determined to do what she wants. With her family's support, her mum
tells her to 'wear what you feel good in and be confident!',
Her dad tells her 'anyone can play any sport.'
Em tries her best with both things she enjoys and things she is not
so crazy about.
Em knows she is not good at everything but Em loves everything about
herself, especially her name because backwards it spells ME.
This is a very positive book about the importance of loving
yourself, it doesn't matter how good or bad you are at something, it
doesn't matter if people say you won't be able to do that, if you
give it your best shot and enjoy what you are doing you can do
anything you want.
I highly recommend this book for its positivity.
Karen Colliver
Going the distance by Beth Reekles
The Kissing Booth 2. Penguin, 2020. ISBN: 9780241413227.
368pp.
(Age: 15+) Noah has left for college while his girlfriend Elle and
brother Lee navigate senior year in his shadow. Lee made the
football team, but he's not quite the player Noah was, meaning Elle
doesn't get much sympathy from Lee as she yearns for Noah. Lee is
consolidating his romance with Rachel more and more, which means
Elle becomes more and more friendly with the new boy to the group.
Levi is cute if not a tad maudlin having been dumped by his
girlfriend, since moving interstate.
Tension builds as Noah is pictured on social media, enjoying frat
parties and meeting pretty college girls. High School rumours
precipitate a showdown between Noah and Elle. Will their
relationship survive or are new love interests the natural outcome
of trying to sustain a long distance relationship?
Acclaimed adolescent author, Beth Reekles is on a winning YA formula
with the success of her Kissing Booth series. Both
manuscripts so far have been adapted for Netflix. The cliched
romantic plot shies away from any number of modern, familial or
social themes. Interesting that this volume in depicting the
obligatory obsession of adolescents with romance is, according to
the author, somewhat improved in the television manuscript. The
comparison just may be a boost to both readership and views but
certainly won't condemn the reality of peer pressure in the manner
of the best of jarring and jolting YA literature.
Deborah Robins
The reef rescue by Delphine Davis
Mermaid holidays series. Illus: Adele K. Thomas. Penguin
Random House, 2019. ISBN: 9780143796473.
(Age: 5-7) The Mermaids are going to Sea Star Reef Summer Camp
together, a holiday that Olivia Ocean is really looking forward to
sharing with her friends. She plans to have as much fun as possible
and do some exploring of the reef while she is there. Finding the
elusive 'Dumbo Octopus' becomes the driving motivation for Olivia
and her mermates. They do however break some rules and put
themselves into a risky situation which might have some
consequences.
This is a story that is like a cartoon episode with animated
characters and slightly lame humour and sea-themed terminology. The
essence of the story is just about friends getting together, but the
cartoon-like illustrations reveal the underwater fantasy and the
slightly odd characters in the mermaids' holiday world. Text within
the book has coloured capitalised words scattered throughout to add
interest, and many of the expressions and idiom have a marine theme.
This is just a light-hearted story to engage early readers.
Suited to readers aged 5-7 who have graduated to easy chapter books.
Themes: Mermaids, Friendship.
Carolyn Hull
Saga by Nikki McWatters
University of Queensland Press, 2019. ISBN: 9780702262517.
(Age: 13+) Recommended. Three eras, three random women in a long
matriarchal line beginning in the 11th Century with Astrid, a
priestess of the Temple of the Goddess Nerthus, fighting to save her
doctrine and community from destruction by the Roman Church. Even
the mighty Vikings convert and threaten everything Astrid holds
dear. Her second sight and her role as the Skaldmaer, in learning to
write the King's epic poems, prompts her to record the tenants of
her religion for posterity. Unfortunately, she is distracted by King
Olav, her childhood sweetheart, proposing marriage and making her an
enemy of the state.
Fast forward to the 19th Century to an orphaned girl purchased from
the Glasgow Poorhouse by a ruthless undertaker. Mercy escapes to
London where her bold nature opens another door, indentured to
novelist and feminist, Anne Radcliffe. Mercy is self-taught but Anne
completes her education as a social experiment. Though thriving,
Mercy longs to discover her true identity returning to Glasgow to
use her skills to help educate poor children.
McWatters must imagine a modern counterpart and this time it is Mia,
living in present day Australia, who inherits the ancient book
Systir Saga. Ostensibly a valuable family record, written in an
ancient language, she and her bestie travel from the Blue Mountains
to an island in Scotland to learn about her mysterious heritage. Saga completes the trilogy, which began with Hexanhaus,
then Liberty. Like these earlier novels, Saga may
stand alone but the rule of three still applies - three strong
women, three periods in human history, weaving intergenerational new
characters to highlight all nine heroines in a long matriarchal
line, championing the meek and changing the course of history. One
for both feminists and fans of historical fiction. Teacher's
notes are available.
Deborah Robins
Haunted Warriors by Lian Tanner
The Rogues book 3. Allen and Unwin, 2019. ISBN:
9781760293543. 315pp.
(Age: 9-13) Highly recommended. Six warriors - Duckling, Pummel,
Otte, Sooli, an enchanted chook and a cat along with Alms - mistress
Krieg and Grandpa (Lord Rump) travel by magic tarpaulin blown along
by Grandfather Wind. Their dangerous mission is to go back to a
massive castle known as the Strong-hold in the cursed city of Berren
in the country of Neuhalt. Their quest is to get to the Strong-hold,
find out who raised the evil Harshman from the grave and send him
back to the grave. They aim to restore the rightful heir, Otte, to
the Faithful Throne and remove the curse from the city.
This fantasy has all the medieval trappings - the castle, baileys,
keeps, towers and chambers together with the people - the cooks,
chambermaids, nobles, simpering courtiers and soldiers. Other
characters are from Tanner's imaginary fantasy world - the Margraves
and Margravines, the Bayams, Harshman and the warriors themselves
with their magic powers. The warriors are haunted - each in a
different way and they are not without their own flaws and difficult
pasts. The haunting is part of their special identity and gives
individual (and complementary) magic powers which come in handy for
their survival.
The strong-hold court rituals, the formal protocols of respect and
address, the structure of life are reminiscent of military, royal,
religious and other institutional organizations where an
understanding of the way things work is vital. There is a real sense
of power and manipulation. Our heroes have to work smart using their
wits and special skills to win back control from their foes. Haunted Warriors is a classic tale of the fight between good
and evil in the fantasy genre. Sacrifice, togetherness,
protectiveness, courage and most of all the power of the bonds of
love overwhelm evil in the end. The reader is exposed to the
concepts of " . . . love and friendship and
comfort-in-times-of-trouble . . . " versus ". . .graves and rotten
fruit, and murder and loss and dispossession . . . " and are granted
a window into what the misuse of power can look like.
Action-packed and magical, this book (and the highly acclaimed
series) is highly recommended for 9-13 year olds.
Wendy Jeffery
The new kid : Very popular me by James O'Loughlin
Pan Macmillan Australia, 2019. ISBN: 9781760554835. 224pp.
(Ages: 6+) Highly recommended. In the second book in the New kid
series Sam is adjusting to life in Canberra, his new school,
friendships and is preparing to become a big brother to a new baby
sister. The story starts with Sam still trying to make friends and
learn the intricacies of the school classroom and student dynamics.
As the story progresses, Sam is faced with many dilemmas as he deals
with his sudden popularity and later with the devastation of
becoming the teacher's pet. All this occurs due to Sam finding an
interesting and sort after marble in the garage of his house and
this leads to his popularity as every student tries to win the
marble during playtime when marble games are strongly contested. Sam
struggles to hold onto both the marble and his popularity as he at
first refuses to partake in matches and then realises that the
marble has taken over his life and he eventually loses it. He also
deals with his first girlfriend who has lots of rules about their
relationship and finally the loss of everything when a new teacher
arrives and makes him the teacher's pet.
The story focuses on Sam's attempts to un-pet himself and regain his
popularity or at least his average kid status. Sam struggles with
life and friendship and the story is written in such a way that the
reader at times feels sorry for him and at other times wishes that
he would just see what is right in front of him. Like many primary
aged children, Sam is struggling to find his place amongst the
unfamiliar environment of a new school and a new home, and as life
changes for the main character the reader will sympathise with these
changes and reflect on their own school experiences.
The book will appeal to a wide range of readers as it is full of
laughs, real situations that the reader will recognise from their
own school experiences. Because of this the book will captivate the
classroom audience as a read-aloud and will engage the reader.
I would recommend this book to primary school aged readers as they
are the ones who are most likely to identify with the storyline,
however, younger readers would enjoy these books too. Themes:
School, friendship, family, peer pressure, humour.
Mhairi Alcorn
DK Life Stories
Dorling Kindersley, 2019. Albert Einstein by Will Mara. ISBN: 9780241322918. hbk.,
128pp. Gandhi by Diane Ailey, illus. by Charlotte Age. ISBN:
9781465474636. hbk., 128pp.
Wil Mara has made Einstein's life story an engaging and fascinating
look at this very complex human being, one whose ideas have shaken
up the foundation of modern physics. As a patent clerk in Bern
Albert had time to think about and discuss his ideas, publishing his
four ground shaking papers in 1905, which made the academic world
take notice. Teaching at Berlin he saw the rise of Fascism in the
1930's a direct result of the punishing Treaty Of Versailles which
ended World War One. A committed pacifist he took the position at
Princeton in the USA and there he was able to advise people on the
road Hitler and his scientists were taking. The Manhattan Project
grew out of his advice, paradoxically doing the very thing he
thought countries should not do. Considered one of the greatest
minds of the twentieth century, Einstein died in 1955.
The book on Gandhi has the same format, presenting to younger
readers a leader of the twentieth century known over the world. It
begins with his family and childhood in India where he became aware
of the oppression of British rule. Moving to South Africa to work as
a lawyer, their system of keeping black and white separate
infuriated him, and he did all he could to support the
underrepresented. He successfully developed the idea of satyagraha,
a way of dealing with the British through non-violence and civil
disobedience which was instrumental in winning India's freedom from
British rule in 1947. This potted biography presents a flawed man
who in developing ideas of peace and non violence influenced others
who came after him such as Martin Luther King. Born in 1869, he was
assassinated in 1948 by a fanatic who disagreed with his peaceful
approach to non Hindus.
Divided into ten (Einstein) and 12 (Gandhi) chapters, the sentences
are short and pithy, illustrations dot the pages and the whole is
complimented with fact boxes, asides and photographs, designed to
entrance the younger reader. A detailed glossary, most useful index,
family trees, who's who and timeline of their lives are rounded off
with a quiz that readers will love to try.
The books are part a series, DK Life Stories, and while the
format may not immediately attract some readers, a teacher will be
able to point them out to students as a valuable and involving
source of information.
Fran Knight
Amazing Animal Earth by Alessandra Yap and Anastasia Popp
Little Steps Publishing, 2019. ISBN: 9781925839425. pbk. 28pp.
Recommended. This is a fun story that visits the continents of the
world Africa, Europe, Asia, North America, South America, Australia
and Antarctica looking at the iconic animals from each of these
areas.
Each of the animals listed on a page are somewhere in the
illustrations on that page. This adds to the story as you try and
locate the animals you have just read about.
This book can be used as a starting point for teaching about animals
from different continents.
This book shows the reader that there are many amazing animals
around the world.
I recommend this book for young children to enjoy and teachers to
use it to introduce the topic of different animals around the world.
Karen Colliver
