Reviews

Norton took something by John Dickson

Berbay Publishing, 2018. ISBN 9780994384140
(Age: 5-7) Recommended. Theme: Honesty. This is a first chapter book for independent readers with large text and black and white illustrations on most pages. The story starts with Norton secretly taking something special from his sister (we are left in the dark about what it is and why he takes it, which only helps to make it easier for readers to place themselves within the story). His sister April, devastated by the loss of her lucky charm, turns into a 'big pile of sadness'. Norton is sad too 'because he had made a special thing-sized hole in his sister's life and she had filled it with tears and anger'. Norton wants everyone to be happy again but he does not want his sister 'to see him as someone-who-steals-things'. He decides to bury the thing so he is not reminded of what he has done, but this does not work. He still feels bad and doesn't know how to make it stop; it creeps into his mind at the strangest of times, blocking his learning and borrowing his hunger. Finally, after a discussion with his teddy bear, Norton decides he needs to say sorry and give the thing back to April. Yes, April is angry but eventually they hug it out and everybody ends up feeling really good.
The strength of this story is its insightful way of describing emotional behaviour and feelings in a way that is tangible and visual ('She held her breath, let it out, then held it again. Her face looked like it was on fire.') We do not see or know what the thing is; just that it brings joy not just to April but also to everyone else. This means that children can imagine the thing as something that is special to them, placing themselves into both Norton and his sister's shoes. It emphasises that it is OK to make mistakes but that it is better to own up to what we have done or our conscience won't let us move on. Norton's family are so supportive and model to children and parents appropriate, yet realistic behaviours.
Nicole Smith-Forrest

Crash! Boom! a maths tale by Robie H. Harris

Ill. by Chris Chatterton. Walker Books, 2018. ISBN 9781406380514
(Age: 3+) Highly recommended. Themes: Maths. Building. Experimentation. Perseverance. STEM. Resilience. Elephant wants to build something as tall as he. He experiments, calculates, builds and when his efforts fall to the floor, he cries but he tries again. Surrounded by a number of different shaped building blocks, he tries them out, adding one to the other. Younger readers will love to call out which is the next block Elephant should pick up and delight at the shape he is building. They will offer suggestions, make deductions and encourage him to try again as the book is read, noting the numbers and shapes that are offered on each page.
He tries again until his building is finished, and this time he is the one who makes it fall down. After that he uses all the shapes on the floor around him to make a final shape.
The bucket of blocks is used over and over to make different shapes, encouraging the readers to make up their own, so have some ready.
The clear pictures are a treat, Elephant is always energetic, the pictures flowing from one page to the next, showing movement as Elephant attempts his tasks. His disappointment when his first building tumbles will be recognised by all readers, each of them having to cope with small disappointments as they try new things, but like Elephant will try again.
This is a lovely introduction to the ideas of trying things out, of experimenting, of overcoming disappointment and trying again, and is well suited to any classroom or home library where open minds are encouraged.
Fran Knight

Honor code by Kiersi Burkhart

Lerner Publishing Group, 2018. ISBN 9781512429961
(Age: 14+) Sam is excited to be enrolled into Edwards Academy, a prestigious boarding school, as she believes it will be a positive move towards achieving her dream of getting into Harvard Law School. The Academy is everything Sam has not had before, a true sense of belonging amongst high achievers who respect each other and 'look out' for each other according to 'The Honor Code' of Edwards Academy. This Honor Code was written by students for students and it is something they all respect and abide by.
Everything seems to be going well for Sam, she had a great roommate called Gracie and Sam is certain they will be best friends forever; she had joined several clubs and she is slowly starting to feel that she really belongs here. One of the clubs Sam has joined is Art club where the most popular senior boy Scully poses for the budding artists to sketch. To her delight, Sam is paired with Scully for the upcoming school Mixer (dance) and the girls start planning for the much-anticipated event.
The story takes a turn from this point of the story and Sam questions the values and authenticity of the Honor Code and all that Edward's Academy stands for.
This book explores the dark depths of institutions and those who are coveted in these societies vs those who are not. There are power struggles between the popular and the not, the rich and the poor, the fake and the real and highlights the lengths we go to have a voice.
Themes in this book are: school relationships, friendships, values, justice and social status. This story would appeal most to girls who like reading about friendships and struggles faced in a school setting and going after what means the most to you... at all costs.
Gerri Mills

Is it the way you giggle? by Nicola Connelly

Ill. by Anna White. New Frontier Press, 2018. ISBN 9781925594102
(Age: 4+) Recommended. Themes: Diversity, Play, Humour, Difference, Family, Inclusivity. Enthusiastic and energetic, a young child leaps across the front cover begging younger readers to open the book. Once inside, the endpapers tell of a party with hats, balloons and skipping rope. Intrigued the reader will delve further, wanting now to be involved and in a mood to laugh. From there they read of all the things that make each one of us different from the other. From the way we giggle, to wriggling toes, do cartwheels, or maybe physical things like the size of a nose, or the curl of the hair, or perhaps the way we sing or swim.
Each page zings with activity as the children dress up in the array of clothes and feathers, necklaces, shoes and hats, or play outside, running and jumping, cartwheeling and swimming, or staying inside with a book, or crayons and paper. Each activity is as different as the children, asking the question on nearly every page, 'What makes you special?' Sometimes a child is alone doing something by themselves, most times they are together in a group, playing, but all times they are happy and active, and at the end they come together as a family group, happy and loving.
By this time many of the readers will be calling out the things they do that makes them happy, joining in with the fun and activity of the book, and those reading it to them will be able to guide their enthusiasm to help them see that everyone is different in their own way, special and individual. The range of activities shown will enthuse the readers to try things out for themselves, to experience what the children in the book are doing, to play along with them.
Nicola and Anna had their first book, My Dad is a Bear, shortlisted for the Prime Minister's Award.
Fran Knight

In the dark spaces by Cally Black

Down among the sticks and bones by Seanan McGuire

Wayward Children book 2. Tor, 2017. ISBN 9780765392039
(Age: Senior secondary - Adult) Recommended. Alex Awards for the 10 best adult books 2018. Themes: Horror, Fantasy, Fairy tales, Diversity, Gender stereotypes. Fans of Seanan Mcguire's books will have encountered twin sisters Jack and Jill in the first book in the Wayward Children series, "Every heart a doorway".  "Down Among the Sticks and Bones" tells the story of what happened to them before they were sent to Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children.
This not a story for the faint hearted or for younger teens. It is dark and compelling and the atmosphere is chilling. Jacqueline is the perfect child, who is dressed like a little doll and is always quiet and respectful. Jillian is the opposite - outgoing and risk taking and their father's favourite. The twins don't trust their parents and when they turn twelve they find a staircase that leads them into another land, the mysterious land of the Moors where vampires and werewolves roam and a mad scientist does his experiments.
It is here that Jack finds out what she really wants to be and that she doesn't have to fit into a gender stereotype. She studies with the mad scientist, and falls in love. Jill is left in the castle and becomes increasingly frustrated and angry. To tell more would spoil this beautifully crafted but terrifying story, but it is sufficient to say that there are heart breaking incidents, betrayal, and terrible choices to make.
Pat Pledger

MunMun by Jesse Andrews

Allen and Unwin, 2018. ISBN 9781760523596
(Age: 12+) Highly recommended. From the opening chapter, in its enigmatically entitled 'LifeandDeathWorld, Prayer', Jesse Andrews plunges the reader into a strangely dystopian world. Andrews plunges into a reality that is actually full of terrible iniquities and compromising levels of power, where a large amount of money and power brings riches and enables people to undergo a change to increasingly larger size, and with a loss of power reduced to its opposite, utter powerlessness, brings the tiniest creatures of all, the 'littlepoor'. Shape and size reflect wealth and poverty, categorized for us clearly on the inside cover of the novel. Plato, Geoffrey Chaucer, George Orwell, Dr Seuss, Joseph Keller, and Ray Bradbury wrote with a similar purpose, warning us of what they found amiss in their own times.
When Jonathan Swift wrote, "Nothing is great or little otherwise than by comparison" in Gulliver's Travels, we were introduced to his notion of a world at risk in his strangely peopled world. Andrews has chosen Swift's words to preface his work, MunMun, and his depiction of a notion of size and scale, that relate directly to power, is clearly at the heart of his construction of story, place and time. We discover immediately that characters in this novel can be almost as small as an acorn and can grow in importance, that is, having the money and power to 'upscale', to being as large as doublescale, or as 'Bigrich", even enabling a transformation to almost absolute power - where a character might be 'transformed' - to be as tall as a skyscraper. Of course, they can be scaled down or even be forced to return to minute size under certain conditions. In fact they can be any shape or size or colour, such as Prayer, who has "ruby wine skin" with a head "narrow and shaped like a bean".
Characters might live in different places, yet both place and character appear to float in time and space, and characters might take themselves to places where they feel comfortable or visit unsettling places. We understand that in 'dreamworld', characters might create dreams that can be shared or tap into the dreamworlds of others, but in this particular world everyone is 'exactly middlescale' and everyone is safe. Here people are free to create anything that they desire, such as making a 'pool out of cloud'. In "lifeanddeathworld" characters are fearful of the dangers. Irony is at play here, as surely these worlds reflect our own world just as it is, even undiscovered: a series of planets, moons and suns all floating in space.
At the heart of all his worlds "Mun mun" dominates people's lives and his warning, through analogy, is clear. His chilling stories, the harsh worlds of his characters, and their fate, are a clarion call to us to be aware of some of the worst aspects of our world. Words and phrases are frequently suggestive of our world, reflected in its enigmatic nature. The seductive lyricism of this novel, and its powerful suggestions deeply underlie its political intent: as we read of people who are 'middlepoor", we are surely expected to consider what Andrews is suggesting.
There is a hint of a thread of kindness and goodness that is depicted strongly in the central character and his family, particularly in the religious beliefs and loving kindness of the mother, who believes in the "Lord King God" and old-fashioned religion, and whose gentle soul does not tap into the terrifying world that is at the heart of this novel. Whom can you trust? There are good people, there is loving and there is kindness, but mostly there is fear and rivalry and powerlessness that threaten all who try to survive their 'little lives'.
Satirical, fast-paced, and at times terribly violent, with many people showing almost no concern for the wellbeing of anyone outside of their own body type, the characters of Andrews' novel are distorted to reflect his purpose. The biting humour, deep sarcasm and pervasive fear would seem also to reflect our modern world. Exposing his characters' dread of the power of 'the other', he creates those 'huge' people who must be respected and obeyed, and the reference is clear. We are led gently but firmly to consider power that controls and often that destroys others, and to be aware of the ever-present threat of a world of dark and terrible violence.
Elizabeth Bondar

The Price Guide To The Occult by Leslye Walton

Candlewick Press, 2018. ISBN 9780763791103
(Age: 15+) Themes: Supernatural, Fantasy, Rivalry, Black Magic, Dark arts, Self harm. Seventeen year old Nor is the eighth generation of Blackburn women on Anathema Island off north west Canada. The first Blackburn woman, Rona, an extraordinary witch, had an affair with one of the original eight settlers, and he and his friends try to burn her out. But she escapes, bringing into the world her daughter, the second in the line of witches. Each generation has weakened powers and Nor, not wanting any part of it, is aware that her Burden when it comes in her pre teens is more powerful than she expected. But she is torn, and this is manifested in her self harm. Scars ravage her arms and chest and all knives are secured in the house where she lives with her grandmother. One day she discovers a book "The Price Guide to the Occult", written by her mother, Fern, delineating how much people can pay for her spells, some spurious but others part of the heritage of the family. Fern abandoned her daughter after using her blood for her own ends resulting in Nor's first scars.
But the self serving woman has returned, and the animals and plants that Nor can understand warn her, the island feels different and Nor knows that the spells her mother sells can only mean one thing, that the price is not money but blood and death. Fern is now a Black Witch accessing the darker side, negligent of the results. Nor must stop her.
Back home after a run, she feels apprehensive and finds her mother in the kitchen. A power struggle ensues, Fern testing just how much power her daughter now has, Nor trying vainly to curb the damage the woman is doing to others in the house.
A cat and mouse game to the death ensues, with enough supernatural touches to keep an intrepid reader hooked to the end. It is dark and bloody, and some readers may find it hard to read, especially those parts where Nor talks about her self harm.
The author includes an afterword about self harm, offering help from organisations which readers can contact.
This is a book for the older reader.
Fran Knight

The things that I love about trees by Chris Butterworth

Ill. by Charlotte Voake. Walker Books, 2018. ISBN 9781406349405
(Age: 5+) Recommended. This book looks at the seasons of the year and how trees change with the different seasons.
This book is a combination of story and some facts, which are written in the book in a way that makes them seem part of the story.
At the end of the book there is a page of ideas of activities you could do with trees like building a den, collecting things that come from trees to compare, make a picture using leaves, or sticks, see what animals you can find living in the tree and the most fun of all climbing.
This book could be used for science looking at either living things or seasons.
It includes an index at the end of the book.
I recommend this book for 5+
Karen Colliver

Finding Kerra by Rosanne Hawke

Rhiza Press, 2018. ISBN 9781925563474
(Age: Teenager/Young Adult) Recommended. While this novel is aimed at an adolescent audience, it is also appropriate for adults in that it is a significant story showcasing both the advantages and disadvantages of living on a remote station in the Australian outback. Having met Blake Townsend at school in Adelaide, Jaime accepts his offer to visit his home during the school holiday break. We are immediately plunged into outback life when she is confronted by the snarling dogs that, she learns, 'are not pets' but working dogs - that is, not friendly. This touch of irony may well alert us to others being similarly unwelcoming, or at least initially unfriendly.
This smoothly told narrative is well-structured, tapping into the adolescent world and its potential to alienate those who may not fit in. Trying hard to match what she sees with what she has experienced growing up in Pakistan, Jaime is determined to embrace this chance to spend a few weeks in an emotionally safe place, after a terrible incident almost destroyed her on a recent visit to Afghanistan.
This is a 'good read' for adolescents and certainly an interesting read for adults. The world of the text is aptly drawn, the complications minor, but needing to be solved, and the outback as a 'character' is beautifully portrayed. The experience of 'being there' in the hot, dry, huge open spaces of Australia, that different world that so few of us actually experience, is for the protagonist, and indeed the reader, significant.
Elizabeth Bondar

The King of Birds by Alexander Utkin

Translated by Lada Morozova. Gamayun Tales 1. Nobrow, 2018. ISBN 9781910620380
(Age: 12+) Recommended. Themes: War, Loyalty, Magic, Folk tales, Russia. Based on Russian folk tales and vividly illustrated in a graphic novel form this beautifully designed book is engaging on many levels. We are introduced to Gamayun, the all-knowing narrator, a human faced bird who warns us the stories might be scary. The first story involves a tree, in the garden of a warrior princess, which produced magic golden apples. Apples are stolen and a pursuit ensues but that is another story. An apple is dropped and found by a mouse who keeps it for himself. His friend, a sparrow finds out and complains to the King of Animals about the greedy mouse. The Lion King (and there is a remarkable resemblance!) dismisses the sparrow who goes and complains to the King of the Birds (a very scary Imperial Eagle) about his treatment. Soon the two kingdoms are at war and after three brutal days of fighting the birds win. The next episodes involve the eagle being restored to strength by a merchant, who, when bitten by a snake can understand birds and animals. Later the recovered eagle turns into the blue skinned brother of a strange, Queen of the Cooper Realm who they visit on her island. Then they go to island of the Silver Realm, whose Queen is another sister and finally the youngest sister's island, the Golden Realm. The merchant is rewarded with a golden chest which he is forbidden to open until he reaches his home. But that is another story. There is a lot of unjustified violence and testing of loyalty, not a sanitised fairytale, more like some of the original Brothers Grimm and Aesop's Fables. The powerful leaders don"t seem to have many redeeming qualities and the merchant is happy to follow instructions in exchange for a reward. Some of the characters look a bit "Disney" but that is where the similarity ends. Recommended for lovers of graphic storytelling of any age, plus it will be a good primary school library book which will stand many readings.
Sue Speck

Eve of Man by Giovanna and Tom Fletcher

Penguin, 2018. ISBN 9780718184131
(Age: 12+) Recommended. Themes: Dystopian fiction. Eve is the last girl on earth, she is humanity's only hope, and she has a mind of her own.
Imagine Rapunzel crossed with The Handmaid's Tale and something more farfetched than pigs flying. You've pretty much got Eve of Man. There's very little chance that in our future women will stop being born without a scientific explanation, which is good for us, and I guess makes Eve of Man a lot less scary than it otherwise could be.
Eve is the first female born for fifty years, which means there is finally hope for a new generation. For her safety Eve is confined in a hi-tech tower, educated and kept company by a group of women who chose to leave their lives to raise her. They are her mothers. But life isn't so simple. Eve has a best friend, Holly, a holographic girl who is controlled by men somewhere on the levels below, and being extraordinarily perceptive Eve is aware that Holly only has three pilots and she has her favourite. Now she is old enough to start considering her reproductive future, Eve is meeting her potentials. Three young men each tested and chosen for the optimal offspring. However, things aren't actually as simple as girl meets boy. Particularly not when boy tries to kill girl. In the chaos Eve is swept away by one of her guards, who, like "all men" succumbs to his desires, trapping them in an elevator. Alone. But not for long. Bram, Eve's favourite Holly, rushes to her rescue, his devotion knowing no bounds and endangering them both. It isn't long before Bram is put on suspension, his life threatened, and his escape from the tower made. His real task is set to begin. Can he rescue Eve in time?
The novel deals with the discovery that the world isn't just black and white but a spectrum of shades of grey. Bram must decide between his family and humanity in order to do what is right. I would recommend to lovers of dystopian fiction twelve and up.
Kayla Gaskell

Sam and Ilsa's last hurrah by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

Allen and Unwin, 2018. ISBN 9781760293857
(Age: Senior secondary) Themes: Anxiety, friendships, Relationships, twins, change, sexuality. It is a time of change for twins, Sam and Ilsa, not only are they about to leave school but their grandmother, who they call Czarina, and whose New York luxury apartment has been their playground, is selling up and moving to France. As a "Last Hurrah" they plan a dinner party in the apartment, each secretly choosing three people to invite. Sam and Ilsa are very different, Sam, a high achiever, conservative and anxious, is musically ambitious. Ilsa is the extrovert, wild and challenging, her poor academic record making it hard for her to imagine a satisfying future, she is more concerned about Sam's future after his anxiety caused him to perform badly in an audition and the subsequent emotional crisis left him very fragile. The tension mounts as the guests arrive, a mix of old friends, ex boyfriends, and new acquaintances, including one who communicates through a sock puppet. Old wounds are opened and new possibilities canvassed then a storm brings things to a head and a power cut breaks the tension allowing everyone to move on. Along the way anxiety in its many forms is discussed and the various ways they all experience it and deal with it, whether by therapy, medication, bottling it up or acting it out. Relationships are explored and plans for the future. At one point Sam asks "how do you leave?" and there is a serious discussion about change and destinations that make this a meaningful coming of age story leavened with humour and absurdity. The first person interleaved account allows us to see each twin's perspective and the rich dialogue keeps the story moving fast. At times it was hard to keep track of all of the eight characters and the precocious, rich kids are rather unappealing. The ending is a bit unnecessary and awkward but year 11 and 12 students will recognise and relate to, this group's insecurities and the issues they face.
Sue Speck

Square by Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen

Walker Books, 2018. ISBN 9781406378658
(Age: 6+) Highly recommended. Themes: Perception, Shapes, Building, Perfection, Genius. The two large eyes which stare out of the cover, a brown square within the square shape of the book, replete with two small brown legs to stand on, will encourage the reader to open the pages.
Within they will find that Square lives secretly, within a cave, and each day he takes a block from his cave and pushes it to the top of a group of blocks that he has assembled on the hill. Circle wanders by and sees his blocks, exclaiming how wonderful a sculptor he is: a genius. Square is nonplussed, unsure of what Circle means. And when Circle leaves, she asks him to make a statue of her, meaning to return tomorrow. Square is distraught, he has no idea of how to make a circle, and is equally unsure of what Circle means, but he takes out a hammer and chisel and begins to sculpt.
This subtle story of perception, of seeing things differently will enthrall younger readers as they watch Square at work, concerned with him that he will not get it right. But then what is right?
Square chisels away through the night and its driving rain, to wake next morning surrounded by a group of stones, filled with water, and Circle is enraptured by something quite different than the readers may expect.
Again, perceptions are turned upside down and the question the book finishes with will evoke much discussion.
The stunning images in the book use basic browns, blacks and white shading to more grey as Square becomes troubled by the work he is doing for Circle, but paring back to more white space as his gloom disappears with the new day.
This is a wonderful story about life's challenges, sure to evoke much discussion amongst readers.
Fran Knight

Rescue and Jessica: A life-changing friendship by Jessica Kensky and Patrick Downes

Ill. by Scott Magoon. Candlewick Press, 2018. ISBN 9780763696047
(Age: 7+) Highly recommended. Themes: Service dogs, Disability. This book is the story of Rescue a pup who was learning to help people and Jessica who was an amputee. They were both worried about what life would be like and neither of them wanted to let anyone down.
While Rescue learned the skills to be able to help someone, Jessica was learning new ways to do things. They both have fears to overcome.
When Rescue and Jessica finally met Rescue showed Jessica all the things he was able to do, and they were together all of the time.
Rescue had a profoundly positive influence on Jessica's life and she was able to live a relatively normal life.
The illustrations in this book are clear and help to tell the very moving story.
This book is based on a true story.
I highly recommend this book.
Karen Colliver