Reviews

Be Cool Be Nice

Templar Publishing, 2018. ISBN 9781787410961
(Age: Teenager/Young Adult) Recommended. I have to be honest when I first saw this book, I thought it was just another activity book but how wrong was I! After doing some googling, I was amazed with the background of this book and the meaning behind it. This is a must read for all boys and girls who have experienced the following:

• Dealt with drama
• Have experienced bullying
• Have experienced selfie addiction
• Have experienced Chronic Bad Attitude Syndrome (CBAS)
• Have goals

Kit meets Covington: Ride by Bobbi JG Weiss

Candlewick Press, 2017. ISBN 9780763698355
(Age: 10-14) "When American teen Kit Bridges moves to England to attend an elite equestrian boarding school, neither she nor her new home will ever be quite the same.
Trying to move on from her mother's death and afraid of riding after a bad fall, plucky fourteen-year-old Kit Bridges doesn't quite know what to expect when her father takes a position at The Covington Academy, a prestigious boarding school in England. Things are looking up when Kit meets her cool, possibly secretly royal new roommate, Anya, and the boys of Covington, like Will, with their charming accents. But she hadn't anticipated such a strict headmistress as Lady Covington. Or the expectation that every student be a rider. Or the wild horse that she seems to have a strange and special bond with. While navigating new friendships, romances, and an alarmingly austere new environment, Kit needs to figure out whether she's ready to get back in the saddle. And at the end of the day, it's hard to tell who will be more changed by her arrival - The Covington Academy or Kit herself." (Publisher)
My sister was always the one who read Trixie Beldon and then my daughter later read The Saddle Club. I can see this book entertaining the next generation of horsey readers. It is based on a Nickelodeon TV show so some readers may be familiar with it. I did love the photos of the characters from the TV show and I did find myself flicking to check them out every now and then. It has an entertaining storyline and I love the old worldly insight into traditional English boarding schools of course with the added bonus of the odd drama thrown in. There are the typical characters of mean girl, popular girl, new girl on the block, popular boy etc etc. By the end of the book you do feel like they are your own friends. It is simple to read and I would recommend it for children aged 10 and up purely for the fact it does touch on young love in a very innocent way. A welcome addition to the horse collection in the library.
Kathryn Schumacher

My girragundji by Meme McDonald and Boori Pryor

Allen and Unwin, 2018. ISBN 9781760297107
(Age: 6+) Highly recommended. Themes: Aboriginal themes. Bullying. Talisman. Growing up. This wonderful little book burst onto the scene in 1998, and a reprint for its twentieth anniversary is most welcome. Semi-autobiographical, it tells the story of a young Aboriginal boy sandwiched between two worlds, and bullied at school because of his colour.
Based on the story of Boori's pet frog, the boy in this story builds confidence with the little frog beside him. It hops through the louvre windows into his room one night and tells him that she will always be there, their spirits will be together and be strong. With the frog's support he repels the bully at school, talks to the girl next door who he is keen on, shakes off the hairyman who terrorises the house and walks through the mangroves unafraid.
A delightful story of growing up, of knowing who you are in an unsettling world, My girragundji speaks volumes about that time between childhood and adolescence, of making sense of who you are, made more poignant when the family has arguments each night, as the boy and his brothers sleep in one room, and their seven sisters sleep in the other. When the boy goes to the lake to fish with his father, he learns to kill a turtle, calling on the strength of the frog to help him, and when walking past Sharyn, he needs the help of the frog to say hello. Meme McDonald filled the story with elements of the life lived by Boori Pryor and his family, the Kunggandji people: their culture, beliefs and lifestyle making this tale an absolute treat. Snippets of a young boy's life being taught the culture of his people, of making his way in the white world, of dealing with racism and learning to stand on his own feet, are seamlessly brought into the story, making the reader aware when they put the book down of how much they have learnt about one boy's Aboriginal childhood.
Short summaries at the end tell us how the book came to be written, and show the covers of other novels written by Boori Pryor. A must for every school library.
Fran Knight

The wonder of us by Kim Culbertson

Walker Books, 2018. ISBN 9781406377170
(Age: 13+) Highly recommended . Friendship on the brink, after spending a school year in different countries? Struggling with your parent's divorce in a little country town while your best friend since kindergarten is swanning around Europe? How do two best friends reconnect when distance would otherwise have them drifting apart? First, Riya invites Abby to Europe, arranging an epic tour through six countries to show Abby, the history nerd, as many sights of interest as they can squeeze in. Not entirely altruistic, Riya intends to tell Abby at the last stop, that she's not coming back to California to graduate and attend college with her.
An overbearing chaperone, Riya's cousin Neel, is the catalyst for most of the misadventures in the story. Neel isn't letting the girls out of his sight but they have other ideas. The early tension is mostly between the two cousins. Neel has relationship problems of his own as Riya and Abby spend much of their time squabbling and making up amidst a wonderfully cosmopolitan backdrop.
This travelogue across Europe, hops predictably between historical locations metaphorically linked to the seven wonders of the ancient world. Kim Culbertson and her research assistants, have styled these cities appealingly into the section divisions of the novel. The theme of shared childhoods being a foundation for a lifelong friendship despite geographical separation is built incrementally by changing narrators in alternating chapters. Fittingly, the girls have contrasting personalities and interests - Riya enrols in a drama course and Abby plans a future based on her passion for history. The light romance thread is suitable for tweens but Culbertson's craft accentuates the key message - that two friends can grow up to follow different destinies without necessarily growing apart. The last 'wonder' might be that the author discusses all manner of relationship break-ups without leaving the 'Clean Literature' category.
Deborah Robins

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