Reviews

Hotaka by John Heffernan

Through my eyes: Disaster zone series. Allen and Unwin, 2017. ISBN 9781760113766
(Age: 11+) Highly recommended. Tsunami. Japan. Hope. Friendship. Grief and loss. Corruption. This is a story of disaster and hope seen through the eyes of the young boy, Hotaka. In March 2011 a massive earthquake generates a devastating tsunami that destroys major coastline districts in Japan. John Heffernan places us with Hotaka to experience this horrific natural disaster with huge impacts; we feel the horror of the shaking ground and see the ocean wave claim huge sections of Hotaka's home community. With indiscriminate fury and unbelievable power this wave consumes buildings and local residents who have no hope against the ferocity of the tsunami's energy. The dramatic retelling of this part of Japan's history has incredible loss and trauma woven into the life and experience of Hotaka, but we also see the impact in his community of the incredible grief, greed and sense of loss that follows in the recovery period. However the central thrust of this story is that there is also incredible strength revealed in the survivors. The Japanese respectful response to those in authority, traditional Bunraku puppetry, Kendo martial arts and traditional Shaman and Buddhist beliefs are also revealed within the context of the story.
The essence of this story is of the power of the youthful voices that speak out against corruption, and also give hope back to their community through the planning of a festival event that will restore a positive spirit to their lives. This is a compelling narrative and revealing of the Japanese people's journey following this enormous disaster and their capacity to recover. It is also a story of friendship and restoration in the lives of individuals.
(Note: Although the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant destruction is part of the story of Hotaka's friend, it does not become the prime focus of this story.)
Carolyn Hull

The Bench Warmers by David Lawrence

Ill. by James Hart. Ball Stars series. Random House, 2017. ISBN 9780143781639
(Age: 7-9) Basketball Australia has collaborated with author David Lawrence to promote this sport in a fun and positive way. This junior novel introduces the Bench Warmers the new basketball team at Robdale Primary School.
When Danny Davis and his family move to their new home, his Dad coaxes him out of his computer gaming world and introduces him to basketball and Danny's life changes. Soon, his Mum and Dad begin to worry that shooting hoops is taking over his life. Luckily, for Danny, he teams up with another new student Crystal and instantly becomes friends. They are both placed in 6W with Miss Wright who is also nervous about her first day of teaching.
Danny, Crystal, Angie, Omyr, Leanne and Cody form the Bench Warmers team and practice hard to win the lunchtime basketball games. Self-centered Greg McGuffin, a basketball hotshot and class member, taunts the new team and makes their lives difficult. Miss Take, the principal, gives poor Miss Wright the job of coaching the basketball team. When things do not go to plan, the principal takes over as coach (she is clueless about the game) and they have to train themselves.
The Bench Warmers is filled with basketball moves, techniques and funny commentary and sportsmanship as the team learn to work together supporting each other's abilities and differences. Miss Take's character is more caricature; she is self-obsessed and does not really reflect any positive qualities.
This is a fun, easy to read novel for basketball fans.
Rhyllis Bignell

Running from the tiger by Aleesah Darlison

Empowering Resources, 2017. ISBN 9780994501066
(Age: Mature readers 11+) Running from the tiger explores the power of friendship, trust and courage as a counterpoint to the darker themes of domestic violence, child abuse and the dynamics of families in crisis.
Eleven-year-old Ebony's lonely life is filled with school, chores, minding her little sisters and treading carefully around her father. Her dad is the tiger, an alcoholic gambler who rules his family through physical and emotional abuse. Ebony's mother is heavily pregnant and she relies on her oldest daughter to help around the house. She makes excuses for her husband as he suffered a difficult childhood as well. Ebony even steps in and takes the punishment instead of her little sisters, and she bears the scars of her dad's rage. Darlison uses strong statements, short clipped phrases and the analogy of the powerful cat to heighten the story's difficult scenes.
Ebony is a loner at school; she does not have any close friends until Teena and her family move into town. The girls become close, sharing a love for dragons and athletics. Teena has secrets as well; her mother has passed away and her Dad moves them from place to place, finding difficulty managing their finances and family life without his wife. Teena's strength helps Ebony to confront her father and finally stand up to him.
Darlison's novel is suitable for a more mature reader. It was written to inform and empower victims, to create an empathetic understanding and contacts for help are included at the end.
Ebony's gripping story is one of triumph over tragedy.
Rhyllis Bignell

Hero by Jennifer Li Shotz

HarperCollins, 2016. ISBN 9780062652218
Hero, a retired search-and-rescue dog, is not prepared for a stray puppy to come into his life. But when he and twelve-year-old Ben find Scout injured and afraid, the new addition leads them down an unexpected and dangerous path. When Scout goes missing, it's up to Hero to use his search-and-rescue skills to find Scout and bring him home.
This is a compelling story about the bond between a boy and his dogs and the lessons Ben has to learn about sorting out priorities as he promises that he will keep up his schoolwork and grades if he is allowed to keep the puppy, Scout. But it's hard when you have friends and baseball also vying for your time.
More for the independent reader, nevertheless it would make a great read-aloud to a class or younger person who loves dogs, with just the right amount of tension and a happy ending.
Barbara Braxton

Henrietta the greatest go-getter by Martine Murray

Allen and Unwin, 2017. ISBN 9781760112417
Childhood. Imagination. I wouldn't be surprised if Martine Murray has used Whimsy and Miss Chief to help her in this bizarrely creative romp through the childhood excursions of imaginative play. With word permutations and positional wizardry, text floats in and out of reason in the world of Henrietta. This is actually a rebinding of three of Henrietta's tales, each as odd as the other, and deliberately quirky. Henrietta presents as a three or four year old, who is not bound by reasonable or logical interpretations of the world, and her excursions to places such as the Wide Wide Long Cool Coast of the Lost Socks demonstrate that there is no reason why we have to be bound by rules of normality. Were it not for the fact that I remember my daughter telling me equally bizarre stories in her early years of 'creative bedtime narratives', I might have discarded this book as a nonsense. It does have an odd quirkiness for an adult reader. I wonder though will young children understand the vagaries of someone else's odd imaginative expeditions and flights of fancy, or is this an adult interpretation of where a young child might travel in the dreamy half-light of imagination?
It is difficult to know what the target audience is for this book. Although the central character is quite young (pre-school age probably), the format and presentation with deliberately odd line drawings in a naive style and with floating and varied text formatting would be more suited to an older more independent reader. One hopes they would still remember their own eccentricities as their imagination took flight.
Recommend this to a child with the oddest of imaginations!
Carolyn Hull

Highest mountain deepest ocean: a pictorial compendium of natural wonders ill. by Page Tsou

Five Mile Press, 2017. ISBN 9781760406387
(Age: 6+) Recommended. Lists, Comparisons, natural world. Akin to a Guinness Book of Records or books of lists (which I love) this book will encourage avid readers of facts to delve deeper into the book, as they are assailed with information about the largest animals or the tallest trees, the highest mountains and the longest animal migration. Each double page has a range of illustrations with information about each thing represented. I was fascinated by the page of biggest storms. The sepia style of illustrations gives the page an old fashioned, woodblock look which reflects the time scale of storms represented. So we have a range of storms given: ice storms, hurricanes, typhoons, cyclones, hailstorms, lightning storms and sonic storms. Details are given about each type of storm with information about one of the most severe storm in that category. I can imagines lots of readers being drawn into each page, relishing the information given and poring over the pictures.
The old fashioned style is used throughout the book by illustrator, Page Tsou, to wonderful effect.
The endpapers are visually exciting showing the flight of a bird over the double page, a thrilling introduction and ending to the large format book. So to find out which is the fastest animals, or the longest living, the highest mountain, the deepest burrowing animal or the distance from the earth to the moon, this is the dip in book to read.
Like many of these sorts of books, it will be hidden on the non fiction shelves, so needs promoting to readers.
Fran Knight

Fly on the wall by E. Lockhart

Hot Key Books, 2016. ISBN 9781471406041
(Age: 14+) Recommended. Fly on the wall promises all the workings of a cheesy disaster of a teen read. The old Freaky Friday trick as a means to self-revelation seems trite and incredible. But thankfully, E. Lockhart proves us wrong. Gretchen, who is the quirky, insecure but equally hilarious voice of the novel; matures quite credibly after a throw away comment to her best friend traps her in the body of the creature she wished to be.
Gretchen Yee is an outsider for being comparatively normal in a public school designated as a centre for excellence in fine art. Boys baffle her and she is constantly overthinking their behaviour and motivations. Her parents are headed for divorce and her drawing teacher does not respect her signature comic book style - she isn't in a good place.
The half of the novel spent as an insect trapped inside the boys' locker room, is revelatory for Gretchen. To lower secondary students, the frequent focus on male anatomy may be too confronting albeit comical. In her wantonness, it is almost as if Gretchen jumps gender as well as species! The lads behave quite differently behind closed doors whether naked or not, and we witness bullying, insecurity, homophobia and mateship. What she learns during her metamorphosed week, gives Gretchen the confidence to understand that boys are equally clueless about the world, girls or themselves. Titus teaches Gretchen that communication and risk of self-exposure is key if we are ever going to see the good and bad that must co-exist in every person. Fly on the wall doesn't take a lot of unpacking - but it doesn't take a lot of effort either. A light read is sometimes just the ticket. Girls will love reading more yarns from Gretchen Yee's perspective.
Deborah Robins

Hit the road by Tony Wilson and Troy, Adam, Joel, Scott Selwood

Ill. by Mike Jacobsen. The Selwood Boys series. ABC Books, 2017. ISBN 9780733335471
(Age: 8+) Recommended. School holidays, December 1997 and the Selwood family are off to the Gold Coast in their Falcon six-seater. Four football mad brothers and a very patient Mum and Dad set out from Bendigo for a very long car trip to Queensland. What did kids do before mobile phones, IPods and digital entertainment? The brothers played corners, sliding along the bench seats and squashing each other and long games of spot the yellow vehicle - Banana Car. Sibling rivalry and ribbing each other is all part of the Selwood family dynamic. Of course, they discuss Joel's uncanny abilities as a great sportsman, bowling, football; he's good at them all. Troy, Adam and Scott decide they find their brother's one weakness like Batman's kryptonite.
With stops along the way for food, footy and photo opportunities and a supposed sighting of Billy Brownless the Cats player, their road trip is exciting. The Selwood's have a great family spirit, they love to laugh and have fun. They see the humour when Dad's foam boogie boards fall apart on their first attempt at surfing, and when they try to outdo each other at the all you can eat Chinese restaurant. There is time for footy at the nearby park, playing against the tough NRL young guys and Joel seems to excel at everything. The rollercoaster at SeaWorld finally proves to be his kryptonite.
Tony Wilson has captured a slice of family life in the late nineties; his humorous style of writing highlights the brother's sporting skills and personalities. The Selwood Boys books are great novels to share with a Middle Primary class, as we participate in and can enjoy both Women's and Men's AFL competitions.
Rhyllis Bignell

The thousandth floor by Katharine McGee

HarperCollins, 2016. ISBN 9780008179977
(Age: 15+) Romance/Speculative. In every sense, this futuristic birds-eye view of entitled adolescence seems plausibly speculative. We can imagine that in the twenty-second century most of New York's population could inhabit a single, mile-high building complex, traversed by hovercraft. The futuristic hierarchy is not only structural but financial - bottom dwellers are outclassed by McGee's genetically engineered teenagers and their families on the uppermost floors. However, sex, drugs, rivalry and school are still very much on the menu for all social classes. Little has changed.
McGee follows the cycling fortunes of romantic couples who are acquainted mostly through school or friendships. Eris and Mariel, Rylin and Cord, Leda and Atlas, Avery and Watt transcend social media by simply 'eye flicking' to chat or meet up at school, parties and bars. They each have separate problems: divorcing parents, being orphaned, drugs, poverty, cybercrime, identity issues and not least a taboo attraction; the last of which may warrant an M15+ rating. Thankfully there is no homophobia a hundred years from now - that doesn't appear to be a problem unless you count the irony of the fateful climax.
The entire romance/sci fi mash-up is retold as a flashback after a girl falls from the Tower on the first page. The interweaving of events surrounding a group of empowered and affluent teenagers is skilful but the addictive page-turning claim of Cecily von Ziegesar (author of Gossip Girl) has more to do with Leda's plans to unveil everyone's secrets in order to exact revenge on Avery and Atlas, her step-brother. With so much unresolved, we are in store for a sequel.
Deborah Robins

A place like this by Steven Herrick

Hooray for birds! by Lucy Cousins

Candlewick Press, 2017. ISBN 9780763692650
(Age: 3-7) Highly recommended. Can you imagine just for one day you're a busy bird? Lucy Cousins invites her young audience to visualise themselves as beautiful birds in this wonderfully bold and engaging picture book. She begins at dawn with the rooster's cry and ends at night with the brightly coloured owl's 'Tuwit tuwoo!' Set against solid bright backgrounds, each painted bird displays vibrant plumage inside strong black outlines. Cousins understands the use of contrasting and complimentary colours and the use of simple shapes and design.
Her rhyming text is easy to read to little ones, the bold letters flow across the page, moving up and down with the swimming swan and swooping up, down and around like the starlings. The gorgeous pink flamingo, invites us to 'Stand very tall on just one leg' as the text stretches to emphasize his stance. In a read aloud story circle, a kindergarten or library setting, young listeners can actively participate, predicting the rhyming text and waddling like a penguin, running like an ostrich or cuddling like a parrot in the nest.
From the popular author of the Maisy series, Cousins' Hooray for Birds is a wonderfully engaging picture book that can lead into extension activities in art, dramatic play and science - the basic needs of living things.
Rhyllis Bignell

Scavengers by Marcus Emerson

Ill. by David Lee. Diary of a 6th Grade Ninja bk 7. Allen and Unwin, 2017. ISBN 9781760295615
(Age: 9-11) Marcus Emerson's ten book series follows the chaotic life of 6th grader Chase Cooper, each follows the action-packed school life at Buchanan School. Schoolwork takes a secondary role in this series, the focus is on secret societies, friendships and bully busting.
Cousin Zoe Chase is running for student president owing to the unfortunate chewing gum saga that occurred in Career's Week. Chase is her Campaign Manager in charge of publicity, in charge of baby kissing, her schedules and a free pizza lunch. In the middle of helping Zoe, another secret club The Scavengers invite him to join. By refusing this offer, an avalanche of revenge attacks occur and Chase has the whole school disliking him; even his friends desert him and an old school reporter follows his every move trying to expose his secret ninja clan.
This fun series needs to be read in order, as the characters refer to previous events and incidents. David Lee's dark comic illustrations bring the difficult and dramatic events to life: Chase's ninja clan friends, the moment of truth with the Scavengers in the Dungeon and the secret group hidden behind their vulture masks.
Rhyllis Bignell

Me and you by Deborah Kelly and Karen Blair

Viking, 2017. ISBN 9780670079247
There are many people in a child's life - parents, siblings, grandparents, aunties, uncles, cousins, neighbours, best friends, parents' friends, pets . . . and that's before they even venture into the world of preschool and big school! And the shape of the relationship with each one is different. In this new book by Deborah Kelly, as softly illustrated as its focus, the connections are explored and enjoyed - the arty-crafty days; the yummy-scrummy days; the pedal-pushing days; the silly-billy days; the sandy-sandwich days; the footy-playing days; the slippery-sliding days; the grubby-garden days; the woofy-wagging days; the handy-helper days; the sausage-sizzling days; the stretchy-yawning days - all mixing, matching and melding together to enrich the child's life and cocoon them in love. Apart from the variety of adventures that the child has and the reader will resonate with, the richness of the language and its rhyme, rhythm and repetition will engage and perhaps even encourage the young reader/listener to start thinking about the relationships they have and starting to describe them using similar language. Primarily aimed at the preschooler, this book could also have traction with older students as an extension of learning about friendships so they move from thinking about what makes a friend and how to be one but also the types of relationships they have with those in their lives. For example, the relationship with their parents will be different from that with their teacher, and that with other children can be shaped by age, expertise and even power. Discussing why we are friends with particular people (or aspire to be), how friends should make us feel and where we fit in others' lives brings confidence and builds empathy and resilience when things don't work out.
Many parents seem to be deeply concerned about the friendships their children make particularly when the meetings are beyond parental control - as evidenced by this request to an international email group where a parent was looking for books about "choosing the "right" friends. She has requested that there be African American characters and she is concerned that he [bright son] seems to be choosing friends who are in the lower academic classes." By sharing Me and You older children might examine the friendships they have and what holds them together; debate the notion of "right friends"; discuss how a variety of friends who bring different circumstances, skills and attitudes can enrich our lives; and begin to understand the role and influence that friends have in their lives as well as their position in the lives of their friends. Such understanding may well offer valuable insight into their connections with other people now and in the future, helping them to make the sorts of choices their parents would be happy with or defending those that they wouldn't.
Perhaps author and illustrator just wanted to share the joy of being a child with all its fun and activity, but for me the best picture books work across a number of levels and delve deeper than the immediate storyline and pictures and therefore this one works very well.
Barbara Braxton

Frogkisser by Garth Nix

Allen and Unwin, 2017. ISBN 9781760293512
(Age: 9+) Highly recommended. Fantasy, Classic tales, Sorcery. This novel spins a tongue in cheek fantasy/fairytale which will entertain readers of any age. Nix includes all the elements necessary for the genre, a reluctant heroine, an evil sorcerer, magic, royalty, forests, castles and talking animals.
Princess Anya is second in line to the throne of a tiny kingdom, her sister Princess Morven is self absorbed, interested only in her latest beau and throwing tantrums. Anya seeks refuge in the castle library where she reads about magic. Her step-father Duke Rikard has become obsessed with magic and sorcery and wants the kingdom for himself.
He has plans to send Anya off to a remote school from which she may never return. Rikard has been refining his transformation spells and has turned Morven's suitor into a frog. Anya has to leave and find the ingredients for a magic salve which she must spread on her lips before she kisses the frog to turn him back to a prince.
With help of the Royal Dogs she slips out of the castle knowing that Duke Rikard will be hot on her heals. Thus begins her quest. But as she travels through the fractured kingdoms she finds that the expectations of others complicate matters and her quest becomes one to return justice and rule of law to the old kingdom which has been divided by the ill use of sorcery.
I recommend you join with Garth Nix and his wonderful cast of characters in this magical fantastic journey. Of course you know that good will triumph over evil as it always finally does, but the road travelled is amusing, gripping and enthralling.
Mark Knight

The things we promise by J. C. Burke

Allen and Unwin, 2017. ISBN 9781760290405
(Age: 13+) Highly recommended. AIDS, Australian history, 1990's, Prejudice. The focus of Gemma's life in year eleven is the formal at the end of the year. She and her friends, Linda and Andrea talk about it incessantly, Gemma relying on her brother's return to do their hair and make up. He is a stylist in New York, where he has lived for five years with his boyfriend, Saul.
But tensions are mounting in her household. Mum is distraught when Billy's first boyfriend, Matt dies, she is evasive when Gemma talks about her brother's return, and Gemma is cross when the swatches for the material for her dress are sent by Billy's friend, Claude.
It is the early 1990's and the setting is recreated by Burke with absolute clarity. No one could be unaware of the climate in Australia when AIDS first became known. Community attitudes are clearly delineated, posters of male-female love appear, accepting no other possibility, gay men are called a range of offensive names, some like Gemma's father simply leave the family, avoiding the issue altogether.
Gemma finds a photo of Saul and Billy at a party in New York, in her mother's drawer. Billy has used his talents to make Saul look like a zebra, and the line on the back alludes to something being well covered. The reader is alerted, and eventually Gemma finds that Saul has AIDS.
A fascinating set of decisions need to be made as she gets on with her life. Who to tell? She is hesitant to tell her best friend, Andrea because of her homophobic attitudes, and with her knowledge, other people's ignorances seem to stand out. Through her growing knowledge of the disease, the reader is also given information with which they can judge the reactions of the school and the community in which Gemma lives. In following Billy's decline and visits to the hospital, Gemma is in no doubt about the seriousness of the illness, and the reader is privy to the range of prejudices and reactions of other people when confronted by the disease. In the background, Gemma is becoming closer to Ralph, a boy she likes and his involvement with her lands him in some trouble. The year rolls to an end and the formal is close at hand but other more important events take hold of the family and their friends.
For information about AIDS in Australia today,  an article about the decline in the number of HIV/AIDS cases. HIV/AIDS is no longer a death sentence and the number of deaths is insignificant, whereas in the 1990's about 1000 people died each year.
This is a beautifully told gripping story with some hard issues to follow. Burke makes the times ring with clarity.
Fran Knight