Illus. by Tom Jellett. ABC Books, 2019. ISBN: 9780733339356.
(Age: 2-5) Highly recommended. Themes: Bedtime, Sleep. The
bestselling creators of Why I
love summer and Why I love footy team up again to
bring us a wonderful bedtime story that will appeal enormously to
all the very active young children who need to settle down and go to
sleep after a very busy day. This is a delightful read aloud that
adults will enjoy reading to their children, and kids will love the
alliteration that forms an engaging part of the narrative:
'The lounging lion tames are lazily lapsing into the land of Nod,'
and 'The cowboys and cowgirls are completely cactus'.
The book shows a multitude of activities that the tough guys of both
genders may have engaged in during the day, starting off with the
'astronauts who are already asleep', resting wrestlers, firefighters
'fitting in forty fabulous winks', soldiers and pooped pirates.
Each activity is illustrated with humourous pictures of the little
tough guys as they gradually go to sleep, all done in glorious
bright colours. Jellett's many details will bring smiles to
everyone's faces as they read about the different characters, both
boys and girls, who are exhausted after busy day. It was fun to see
the little tough girl who was a 'beefy builder' and a soldier and
the loving relationships in the household pervaded all the drawings.
Bedtime routines like having a bath, cleaning teeth and reading a
bedtime story were all shown in the illustrations, and children will
delight in the many ways that imaginative play is portrayed.
This is a delightful book that will promote healthy sleep to even
the most active child. It is a keeper, one that is sure to become a
big favourite.
Pat Pledger
Catwoman: Soulstealer by Sarah J. Maas
Penguin Books, 2018. ISBN: 9780141386898.
(Ages 16+) Recommended. An action-packed and engaging novel based on
the DC comics super heroine of Catwoman. One of the four books in
the DC icons series in which popular Young Adult authors write
origin stories focusing on the teenage years of DC comics heroes.
Caring for her terminally ill sister, Selina Kyle will stop at
nothing to keep her safe. Battling dangerous enemies in the boxing
ring night after night to pay for her medical bills is just the
beginning. When she is finally cornered by the police, with nowhere
to go and the threat of her sister being thrown into a dingy foster
home that wouldn't care for her medical needs, Selina is offered a
deal she can't refuse. Her sister safe in a suitable, upper-class
foster home, Selina is brutally trained as an assassin. Two years
later, she returns to Gotham City as Holly Vanderhees, a wealthy and
mysterious socialite, by day and Catwoman by night. Joining forces
with Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn, the group wreak havoc across the
city and spark the attention of Batwing, who is proving himself as
the protector of Gotham while Batman is away on a vital mission.
While her expertise helps her thrive as Catwoman, as Holly, Selina
finds herself clueless when it comes to her wealthy, handsome
neighbour, Luke Fox, who she discovers may just have some hidden
depths to himself as well; for in Gotham, no one is really as they
seem. However, Selina's desperate game of cat and mouse is only
exacerbated when a dangerous threat from her past looms in the
background; threatening her ability to pull off her most important
heist yet. While the novel is action-packed, and has vibrant and
complex characters, the descriptive language of Maas can be
difficult to follow. Knowledge of the DC Universe is useful and
presumed by the author, with little explained throughout the book.
Exciting and representative of important issues such as LGBTIQ+
relationships and mental health, Maas launches the reader into the
dangerous and fascinating world of Gotham City and brings them along
a journey they won't easily forget.
Daniella Chiarolli
Dread Nation by Justina Ireland
Dread Nation book 1. Titan Books, 2019. ISBN: 9781789092219.
(Age: 14+) Highly recommended. Themes: Horror, Zombies, Alternative
history, Racism. What a roller coaster of a ride - thrilling action
and a complex story that looks at racism and slavery makes this an
engrossing historical adventure about an alternative America. Jane
McKeene is just about to graduate from Miss Preston's School of
Combat in Baltimore, a place where Negro girls are trained to fight
the undead. When families begin to go missing from the area, she and
her colleague, Katherine, are caught up in a deadly conspiracy that
sees her in a deadly struggle not only against the zombies but
against a group of Survivalists who view her and her companions as
fodder for the undead.
I picked this up as it kept appearing on literary awards for young
adult books in the fantasy and science fiction genres (Hugo Award
Nominee (2019), Nebula Award Nominee (Andre Norton Award) (2018),
Locus Award nominee (2019), and Goodreads Choice Award Nominee
(2018)), and I was not disappointed. Ireland's very skilful
narration brings the characters to life while maintaining a very
fast pace. Jane is a feisty and intelligent girl who has outstanding
leadership skills which she uses often while fighting the Shamblers.
But she also has some flaws - she is impetuous and often says things
that get her into trouble. Katherine is her opposite, determined to
remain ladylike in all situations. When trouble strikes them both,
they manage to put aside their differences to fight the evil around
them.
Fans of the zombie genre will want to read this, while fans of
historical fiction will become engrossed in a story that has its
combat school system based on the real Native American boarding
schools, as the author's note explains. And readers who like a good
action story, well written with likeable characters, and which also
explores slavery and racism, will find this difficult to put down
and will be impatient for the sequel that is to come. The complexity
of its themes could also make it a literature circle text, promoting
lively discussion.
Pat Pledger
The boy in the big blue glasses by Susanne Gervay
Illus. by Marjorie Crosby-Fairall. EK Books, 2019. ISBN:
9781925335996.
(Age: 5+) Recommended. Themes: Sight, Glasses, Difference. EK Books
has a tagline 'Books with heart' on issues that matter, and
thankfully Susanne Gervay is one of their authors. Gervay is able to
write about issues that matter with an understated ease allowing
students to read the story as any other story not one that sets out
to make a point. So it is with The Boy in the big blue glasses.
Encouraging children to wear their glasses when a problem with their
sight has been diagnosed can be awkward, and for Sammy, he is loathe
to make himself different from the rest of his class.
Adults do the 'right thing' in trying to be supportive, but they
miss the point altogether. His parents and Gran all talk of the
handsome boy in his glasses, making him a little tense. His aunt and
teacher follow the same line, asking about the handsome boy, the
superhero. But Sammy does not want to be a superhero, he does not
want to be different. His best friend, George is the only one who
points out his new glasses, and Sammy feels that no-one else can see
past the glasses to see him, the same boy, not different at all. He
leaves his glasses behind when the goes to the doctor, he loses them
in the house, Mum finding them under his bed, he takes them off at
school when the others tease him when his friend George is away. But
in doing this everything becomes blurry, and he makes faces at the
funny things he sees and he begins to laugh. The rest of the class
laugh with him, his teacher as well, telling him how funny he is.
When George returns they play the same game, the cardboard box being
the pirate ship, only this time the whole class joins in, seeing him
not as a boy with glasses, but as himself.
A satisfying story about difference, readers will offer all sorts of
tales about difference and the way people are seen by others. The
book lends itself to discussion within the classroom, without being
overly didactic.
Fran Knight
The spongy void by Andrew Hansen and Jessica Roberts
Bab Sharkey and the Animal Mummies book 3. Walker Books,
2019. ISBN: 9781760651183.
(Age: 8-10) Themes: Ancient Egypt, Mummies, Good and Evil. Husband
and wife team Andrew Hansen and Jessica Roberts continue their
humorous Bab Sharkey and the Animal Mummies series in The
Spongy Void. Fast-paced, filled with crazy settings, humour,
jokes, songs and secrets revealed, this a thrilling junior novel.
Bab's best friends the animal mummies Prong and Scaler join him in
his bedroom, encouraging him to create a rollercoaster and volcano
in his bedroom, all by the magic of his pharaoh beard. Meanwhile
back in ancient Egypt, the evil Unpharoah and her offsider Cainus
the jackal are conjuring up another evil plan. She wants to rule the
kingdom with the power of Bab's magic beard and has just the right
place to imprison Bab and his animal mummy friends Prong and Scaler.
She recalls childhood memories of a special prison, 'a chamber of
terrible purple magic,' the spongy void hidden deep inside the Great
Pyramid. Cainus cunningly captures Scaler and lures Babs and Prong
the ibis mummy here.
The eerie chamber's walls are painted with hundreds of hieroglyphs
from both ancient and modern times. Bab turns into a stone boy
during a set of mishaps and spends the rest of his time as a living
statue. Things quickly escalate as Bab, his father and Prong and
Scaler use a hairy beard travelator to escape from the pyramid. What
an exciting and unexpected ending for Bab and his family!
Jessica Roberts' black-and-white cartoons add fun and drama,
different text styles engage the readers. Little snippets of
Egyptian history also make The Spongy Void an exciting,
slightly madcap novel for fans of history and humour.
Rhyllis Bignell
You're crushing it: Positivity for living your REAL life by Lex Croucher
Bloomsbury, 2019. ISBN: 9781408892473.
(Age:15+) Recommended. Lex Croucher is an English vlogger whose
videos cover a range of topics including feminism and animal rights.
She uses her influence to advocate for empowering women and girls.
In this book Lex makes use of her extensive experience with
technology and social media to explore the nexus with real life for
teenagers. Immediately relevant to young people are topics such as:
family and friends and creating that team of supporters;
relationships (familial, platonic, romantic, jealousy), body
confidence (acceptance, self-care) and mental health (dealing with
negativity, goals and asking for help). The writing avoids
preachiness and provides a healthy insight into the pitfalls and
pleasures of living in or through an online world. There is hope in
this book. Lex reminds us all that the offshoots from the path we
had mapped out can become the new map. These offshoots can lead to
opportunities that were not dreamed of and yet are just right for
you.
As a common sense guide to being comfortable in your own skin this
book excels. The formatting, anecdotes and the humour will appeal to
the teenage reader but it is the hope and positive examples of ways
a young person might engage with real life that make this book an
unexpected joy to read.
Linda Guthrie
One careless night by Christina Booth
Black Dog Books, 2019. ISBN: 9781925381856.
(Age: 5+) Highly recommended. Themes: Thylacine, Extinction,
Environment, Tasmania. The image of the last thylacine in its cage
in Hobert is monumental in encouraging people to understand that
extinction means that these incredible animals are no longer on this
planet.
This emotionally draining picture book showing the plight of these
animals, unique to Australia and last seen in Tasmania in the early
years of the twentieth century, will force readers to ask questions
about how this was allowed to happen, and help them take steps to
prevent it happening again.
The stunning cover sets the scene with its dark shades camouflaging
the rear of a thylacine walking in its forest. The arresting cover
forces readers to pause and look before opening the book, gleaning
information about the animal before they proceed. Readers will be
ale to see why it was called 'tiger', its doglike features, its
habitat, while in awe at the skill of the illustrator in referencing
the animals's demise as it walks off the cover.
Each page will draw gasps of wonder as the journey of one thylacine
is followed from her home in the Tasmania bush to her capture and
incarceration in the Hobart Zoo, where, one careless night the
keeper forgets to lock her away and she dies of the cold.
Her days in the forest are spent hunting, teaching her cub how to
survive, running from the shapes that come into the ancient woods to
kill, encouraged by the government bounty on the tigers's head. But
the hunters capture her and she is taken to the city where she is
surrounded by a forest of metal, where she must rely on a keeper to
bring her food and lock her up at night against the cold.
Booth's skill at using digital techniques are nowhere as perfectly
realised as with the illustrations in this book. They are simply
breathtaking, making the reader stop on each page, drinking in the
image presented, looking for the tiger and absorbing clues about its
life. The sparse text accentuates the stunning illustrations, the
words placed on the page contrasting with the images, the font used
impelling the reader to read and think about the words presented.
The author's note at the end followed by the government advice about
the bounty round off an emotionally stunning book, forcing readers
to think more carefully at how easily things are lost forever. Teacher's
notes are available.
Fran Knight
Jaclyn Hyde by Annabeth Bondor-Stone and Connor White
HarperCollins, 2019. ISBN: 9780062954626.
(Age: 10+) Recommended. Themes: Science; Perfectionism; Jekyll and
Hyde; Mystery; Personality. Jaclyn Hyde is a girl whose desire in
all of life is to be as perfect as she can be. Mostly she is quite
successful at being perfect, but as is the way with some
high-achievers, she always dreams of more success. The discovery of
a science recipe for a Perfection Potion in the rather scary
abandoned Enfield Manor leads to a series of transforming moments.
With more than a passing nod to the Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde story,
Jaclyn Hyde transforms into her 'bad' alter-ego, Jackie. Jaclyn's
best friends, Paige and Fatima, work alongside her in trying to
resolve the disaster that is unleashed at school by the
Jaclyn-Jackie confusion.
This is a wonderful, funny story with some endearing, subtle (and
sometimes more obvious) humour and some explosive moments! Set
within a USA Middle School context in fictional Fog Island, there
are moments of insight into psychological issues for the young
characters, but mostly this is just a fun reconstruction of the
Jekyll and Hyde story. A performance of a school musical has some
positively ridiculous moments involving a Moose costume! Male and
female readers will enjoy the hilarious journey.
Carolyn Hull
Girl running, boy falling by Kate Gordon
Rhiza Edge, 2018. ISBN: 9781925563528.
(Age: 15+) Recommended. Themes: Suicide, friends, family,
depression. CBCA Book of the Year: Older Readers notable 2019.
Academic, talented, with the lead in the school musical, good
friends and a part time job at Woolworths, it would seem that Tiger
has everything a 16 year old girl from a small Tasmanian town could
want. However, with absent parents, she feels fragmented, hiding the
broken part of herself by filling her days, running from one thing
to another, proving herself. Raised by a loving aunt and
grandparents, Tiger has been in a tight group of friends since
primary school. Best friend Nick Wallace, Wally, a star football
player, son of a star football player tragically killed when Wally
was three, is expected to be selected to play AFL and leave to play
on the mainland. He shares a more sensitive side with Tiger, quoting
poetry, making her feel special and she starts to wonder if he will
ask her to go with him or if he too will go away. The chapters are
interspersed with letters to 'Dear Dad' and later 'Dear Mum'
revealing the writer's innermost thoughts, when Wally suicides, the
ultimate abandonment, her friends try to help but she pushes them
away. With the help of a friend outside her closest circle she
gradually comes to terms with her losses and gets help with her
grief. The stand out character is her Aunt who is always there for
Tiger, sensitively supporting her with unconditional love, willing
to wait until Tiger is ready to do what no one else can do for her.
The story has a strong sense of place and Aussie flavour with a lot
of recognisable references and I like that Grandma's chook shed is a
special place. I found friend Melody a bit over the top, 'Sometimes
people don't want to live inside a feminist echo chamber' p. 12.
also some of the food stereotypes, vegemite sandwiches and steamed
buns. There were some characters who seemed as if they would have a
role to play but were left behind. A quick read which will be
devoured by middle school girls. There are many like books
which could be read with this, I enjoyed I
had Such Friends by Meg Gatland-Veness.
Teacher's notes are available.
Sue Speck
Cheeky dogs: to Lake Nash and back by Dion Beasley and Johanna Bell
Allen and Unwin, 2019. ISBN: 9781760528119.
(Age: 5 to adult) Highly recommended. Themes: Aboriginal themes,
Aboriginal stories, Autobiography, Outback Australia, Communities,
The Lands. A wonderfully inventive chronicle of one man's life
unfolds as pages full of those well known cheeky dogs punctuate his
journey from Lake Nash to Alice Springs, Tennant Creek and Elliott,
and all places between in the eastern part of the Northern Territory
abutting Sandover Highway. Here Dion was born in 1991, his mother
going to Alice Springs, but returning to Lake Nash after his birth.
From there he travelled all over the area, Soapy Bore, Elliott,
Ampilatwatja, Canteen Creek, with his mother, finally living with
his grandfather at Mulga Camp after her death. Each place has a mix
of cheeky dogs coming in all shapes and colours. Once when Dion went
to the shop several big angry dogs surrounded him and scared him.
But now he loves riding his mobility scooter around the town of
Tennant Creek where he lives with Joy and her husband, Tony, feeding
the dogs and collecting rocks and images of dogs for his artwork.
Joy, an old white woman, took Dion in when his grandfather died and
is now his carer. Being profoundly deaf and contracting muscular
dystrophy has not stopped this young man taking life as it comes,
greeting every new day with purpose as he feeds and watches the
dogs. His memoir is full fo life and humour and is intoxicating in
its portrayal of a life lived so far from the cities where most of
us live.
His lively illustrations are full of the dogs he sees in all the
places he has lived and on each page readers will spot the dogs - on
the roads, travelling in packs, fighting, surrounding the edges of
the page. Beasley's marvellously naive style documents the many
places he has lived, with his flat maps of the communities and
camps, drawings of the houses, swimming pool, shops, images of the
environment as well as drawings and photos of his journey through
the footpaths and laneways of Tennant Creek. Readers will learn of
the remote townships where he has lived and the life he lives now in
Tennant Creek, of the events which fill his day. This is an
absorbing look at one man's life in remote Australia, his affinity
with his environment, his love of family and the place called Lake
Nash.
Fran Knight
My name is NOT Peaseblossom by Jackie French
Angus and Robertson, 2019. ISBN: 9781460754788.
(Age: 13+) Recommended. Themes: Shakespeare; Love and power;
Fairies; Midsummer Night's Dream. Jackie French has written over 100
books, and each one contains its own magic. This book though
contains a healthy measure of fairy magic and the essence of
Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream - a potent and
enchanted mixture to entrance the reader. Told from the perspective
of Peaseblossom, a servant of the Fairy Queen Titania, with his
fairy relative Puck as his guide and mentor, we discover the
fairies' perspective of the love stories and lives that are woven in
the Shakespearean tale. The characters of Lysander, Demetrius,
Helena, Hermia, Hippolyta and Theseus appear, with the rule and
authority of Oberon and Titania; but we are also introduced to other
participants in the fairy kingdom and the fantasy powers of fairies
(including the tooth fairy), selkies, vampires, banshees and other
assorted magical creatures that inhabit the world. (Note: even Elvis
Presley makes an appearance in this world in the lead-up to
Midsummer night! Are you lonesome tonight? and Love me
Tender are crooned in the background!)
The essential story of love and power, and freedom and
responsibility, is told through the dramatic tale of love when
Peaseblossom, posing as Pete, discovers the entrancing Gaela (a
selkie) who makes the best pizza in the world. Will the discovery of
love create chaos in the controlled fairy world? And should
Pete/Peaseblossom defy the rule of the Fairy Queen to pursue the
love that he has found for himself?
Even without a prior knowledge of Midsummer night's dream,
this book is accessible for young readers, but the occasional
inclusion of a direct quote from the play may confuse some. This
book has its own joys and delights, and the inimitable Jackie French
has explored and untangled some of the threads of the Shakespearean
play in a way that will be enjoyed by both Shakespeare-focused
readers and those who have only a passing knowledge of his work. And
the world of fairies has a wonderful charisma with time-travel
adventures and magical potions, as well as the ability to paint the
world with colour!
(The author's notes at the end of the book imply that this is the
last of the Shakespearean literary excursions . . . unless of course
some fairy dust settles and compels another!)
Carolyn Hull
Anna of Kleve, Queen of Secrets by Alison Weir
Six Tudor Queens. Hachette, 2019. ISBN: 9781472227737.
(Age: Adult - Adolescent) This compelling work vividly recreates the
rule of the iconic King Henry VIII. Anna is forced by her brother,
Wilhelm, ruler of the duchy of Kleve, to marry the English King
Henry, in order to align their countries. Henry had liked her
portrait and finds that he likes her, but cannot make love to her to
produce the important extra heir to the English throne. In this new
historical novel, part of her series Six Tudor Queens,
Alison Weir has vividly recreated Anna's story from the surviving
historical documents. This was a time when alliances were being made
by those who supported the growing Protestant movement, a time of
great upheaval in Europe where Catholicism had been dominant for so
many years.
Weir's narrative is richly detailed and deeply thought-provoking.
She raises the issue of planned alliances, with the 'right' marriage
considered as useful in healing rifts and cementing support among
the many countries of that world. Yet we are aware of the fear of
those who are involved in withholding truth and of those who do not
do what Henry wants, that they may be jailed, beheaded or hanged for
their perceived crime. Anna's secrets make her fear for her life.
While Henry cannot understand his inability to love Anna as he had
planned, her intelligence gives her an advantage that is outside the
realm of her questionable sexual attraction. When Henry decides that
she is a good friend to him as a dear 'sister', her fear begins to
lessen, although the secret that she keeps from him is never far
from her mind, as is her fear that the truths that she conceals will
be her undoing.
This is a compelling story, one that is indeed hard to put down.
Written for those who love history, particularly when the writer
recreates the world of the text so brilliantly, this novel is
powerful, its characters and issues staying in the mind long after
the book is finished. It is appropriate for adolescent and adult
reading, particularly for readers who enjoy the vivid recreation of
the life and times of such an iconic king as Henry Tudor.
Elizabeth Bondar
Nits! by Stephanie Blake
Gecko Press, 2019. ISBN: 9781776572243.
(Age: 3-7) Highly recommended. Themes: Nits, Friendship, Kindness.
Another book featuring Simon, the cheeky rabbit from I
can't sleep, Poo Bum, Super Rabbit and
others, sees Simon falling in love. He loves Lou but Lou loves
Mamadou and he is very jealous and doesn't know what he can do about
it. But then Lou gets nits and even Mamadou teases her. Simon is
steadfast in his love for her, and the reader can guess what will
happen when she kisses him for being so kind.
The bold colours, bright pinks, blues and yellows of the
illustrations are just gorgeous. Each individual rabbits has a
unique personality while Simon stands out from the rest of the
group, because he is a wearing a blue mask. The little hearts that
hover above the head Lou of the rabbits are really cute and make her
stand out as well.
The text is printed in a bold black and its sparseness makes for a
great read aloud, but it is also a book that newly independent
readers might like to tackle for themselves.
The story is a lot of fun to read and children will have plenty to
think about as they watch the growing relationship between Simon and
Lou. Nits are a common problem in schools and Blake will calm
readers' fears about catching them when she has Simon reassure Lou
that her mother will fix it. The humorous illustration of Lou
kissing Simon will also demonstrate just how easy it is to get nits,
regardless of how clean one's hair is. The kindness of Simon,
staying true to Lou and not joining in teasing or isolating Lou, is
a message that comes across strongly in the book.
Pat Pledger
Nullaboo Hullabaloo by Fleur Ferris
Puffin, 2019. ISBN: 9780143787143.
(Age: 8-12) Recommended. Themes: Fantasy; Fairies; School; Country
and farming communities. Gemma's science project is to research an
insect, but her initial field research on the school grounds leads
to a chance encounter with the hidden fairy community that lives
there. Living under the threat of the local silver spiders, the
fairies are desperate to survive. The revelation to the world of the
reality of fairies happens without Gemma's approval, and before long
the fairy community and Gemma and her family face another menace
from a bigger threat. Gemma's concern for the fairies and her
resolve to save them leads to a country community rising to
demonstrate their caring nature. The environmental concern of the
local rice growers is a parallel story that has its own stresses and
strains.
This is a different fantasy story, and the revelation of the fairy
world, their traumas and their limited magical attributes is handled
with a light touch and in an intriguing way. Young readers will be
delighted by the possibilities of having fairies at the bottom of
the 'school garden'. The pressures of the Government department that
is dedicated to eliminate the fairy world will add interest and
tension as the story unfolds. Sparely illustrated by Briony Stewart,
the line drawings add interest throughout the book.
Carolyn Hull
Sick Bay by Nova Weetman
UQP, 2019. ISBN: 9780702260322.
(Age: 10-14) Highly recommended. Themes: Friendship; Sickness;
Diabetes; Fitting in; Grief and Depression. Nova Weetman has written
another delightful friendship story that weaves a saga in and around
the difficulties of Year 6; struggling with grief and depression in
a family; and coping with the constant diligence of Diabetes Type 1.
The Sick Bay is the location where Meg finds solace from the world,
but also the place that feels more home than home since the death of
her father and the slide into deep depression for her mother. Meg is
constantly hungry and needs to cope with far more than just school.
Her only friend is her brown paper bag - ready to be used in case of
a panic attack. School is mercilessly unkind to her, but Lina - the
'queen bee' of the 'cool' girls seems to be the unkindest of all.
Dash is a regular visitor to Sick Bay because of his asthma, but it
is new girl Riley who creates waves for Meg. Riley is coping with
her own dilemmas as she is trying hard to be independent and yet fit
in, but her diabetes means that she is either misunderstood by her
peers or smothered by her mother's concern. The connection between
these two girls seems unlikely at first as Riley has become one of
Lina's sidekicks, but slowly Riley finds more in the Sick Bay than
just a place to take her blood sugar readings. The girls become more
than just Sick Bay refugees and understanding grows.
School based drama and friendship difficulties are part of the life
of most year 6 students, but the success of this book is that there
are layers of difficulties for the central characters that most kids
would never even consider. Creating empathy and understanding will
be the result for readers of this book. The book is written from the
perspectives of Meg and Riley in alternating chapters, and so we
hear their inner dialogue and concerns. There were moments when I
was almost brought to tears as I considered how difficult their
lives had become, and although adult intervention seemed distant (it
was there, but understated) this is probably reflective of how the
young see their lives.
Carolyn Hull
