Reviews

Vengeance is mine, all others pay cash by Eka Kurniawan

Trans. by Annie Tucker. Text, 2017. ISBN 9781925498226
(Adult) Though in many ways a remarkable novel, this book is not for the faint-hearted. Eka Kurniawan is a young Indonesian writer who was much praised for Beauty is a Wound, which won the 2016 World Readers' Award, and Man Tiger, awarded the 2016 Financial Times/OppenheimerFunds Emerging Voices Award. The contemporary Indonesia pictured here is no sweet 'Bali Hai' tourist destination. The young learn to survive in a culture that has suffered political unrest, and is at the mercy of organized gangs, petty criminals and corrupt police. There are many scenes of violence, including one of rape, and some sexually explicit action. The main character Ajo Kawir is a village teenager who spies on sexual encounters but is caught doing so one night and is forced to be part of a rape. As a result he becomes impotent and violent. His impotency is discussed very frankly by Ajo and his concerned friends. Despite his problem Ajo and Iteung, a skilled fighter with a gang, fall in love and Ajo learns how to satisfy her without the help of his penis, which is described as 'fast asleep'. When Iteung becomes pregnant to another gang member Ajo seeks out and kills a gang enemy. Iteung in turn kills the father of her child. Both serve time in prison. The reader learns that Iteung has become a fighter to defend herself against a sexually abusive teacher. When released Ajo buys a truck with the blood money he earned and lives a peaceful life although others around him drive ferociously, push each other off the road, and battle out grudges in soldier-backed gambling contests. Ajo is eventually 'cured' by a mysterious woman who is perhaps supernatural, while Iteung, on her release from prison, seeks out and kills the men responsible for the initial unmanning rape. Ajo settles down with her child to wait for her return from a second prison sentence for this crime. While much of the action is very dark, as teeth and blood splatter and bones crack, the tone of the novel is not. There is a degree of humour and light-heartedness about it all. Ajo works through his rage fairly quickly and is happy to talk to and about his 'Sleeping Bird'. Ajo's impotency is presented both sympathetically and humorously, and he is able to survive in a violent male world. The narrative is fast paced, the language simple and direct, but the chronology is challenging as events are not always presented in order of time. This novel could be very enjoyable for the right mature reader but does have some frank sex scenes and violence.
Jenny Hamilton

Watch out, snail by Gay Hay

Ill. by Margaret Tolland. Starfish Bay Children's Books, 2017. ISBN 9780473226442
(Age: 4-7) Highly recommended. Subjects: Snails, New Zealand Animals. The Powelliphanta snail is very rare, a native of New Zealand's moist forests. This large carnivorous snail hunts for earthworms at night.
Author Gay Hay and illustrator Margaret Tolland's Watch Out, Snail explores the nocturnal activities of the snail as it slips and slides through the forest searching for food. Lurking in the background are the hungry predators waiting to pounce. The striking front cover with a glossy overlay on the delicately patterned shell is both a tactile and visual experience. As the snail crawls over and under the leaves, a shiny trail is left behind, for readers to trace the snail's movements. Tolland's visually pleasing paintings bring us close to the action. The deep purple of the night sky, the green hues of the leaves and bushes are a beautiful background for the snail's nocturnal trip.
Hay's alliterative narrative is measured, with each short sentence perfectly chosen. 'Night slips in. The forest stirs.' Carefully camouflaged in the background waiting to be discovered are bird's beaks and claws, the silhouette of a rat and then close-ups of the predators, a hedgehog shuffling and a large pig with menacing tusks ready to eat the snail. A surprise for the readers is the close-up of the Powelliphanta snail using its rows of rasping teeth to slurp up the tasty earthworm. Hay leaves us with an interesting ending, as the Weka bird appears through the foliage. Is the snail safe?
Additional facts are included describing the life cycle, diet, physical features, habitat and predators. In conjunction with Hay's Go, Green Gecko, this informative picture book Watch Out, Snail, is an excellent resource for the Early Years Science curriculum - Biological Sciences. In Year 1, 'learners explore and investigate how living things live in different places where their needs are met'.
Rhyllis Bignell

Go, green gecko! by Gay Hay

Ill. by Margaret Tolland. Starfish Bay, 2017. ISBN 9781760360337
(Ages: 2-5) Geckos. This is a New Zealand publication and a similar title, Watch Out, Snail!, is also available. The text, which follows a repetitive and predictable pattern, is lyrical and has some great imagery ('Slithering over rotten logs, gulping down a spider') but it doesn't always flow well ('Scurrying along a riverbank, sneaking up on dragonflies.'). The refrain ('Watching out for danger, looking . . . '), however, is great as it encourages young children to join in the reading and provides a predictable anchor for the reader which assists in setting a rhythm. The Illustrations are textured and show the gecko up close as he moves through the long grass, along branches and over rocks. They are quite good at showing how the gecko's body bends and moves and young children will enjoy pointing out the numerous other insects featured in the pages. At the end of his adventuring the lizard encounters something large and blue. Scared, he scuttles and scampers back the way he came (shown through a story map). Then we see the predator (a bird) with a gecko tail in its mouth and our gecko short of a tail. Confusingly though the gecko has an intact tail on its return journey. The last two pages include information about geckos; however, these facts are in quite big chunks and seem a little dense and lifeless for the target audience. Some of the information will be interesting to young children (a gecko's mouth is bright blue inside) while other inclusions will not be as fascinating (they used to be common in New Zealand, but now they are not so easy to find). On the title page, there is a dedication to Ruaumoko, the Maori earthquake god, which will not be understandable to most Australian children (or adults for that matter). There are also some other New Zealand specific references (rata trees). Children who love finding and following insects in their environment will enjoy following the gecko's journey but some minor details have been overlooked and overall this may be more suited to a New Zealand audience.
Nicole Nelson

Exchange of heart by Darren Groth

Penguin Random House Australia, 2017. ISBN 9780143781578
(Age: 14+) Highly recommended. Themes: Student exchanges. Mental disorders. Assisted living. Munro Maddux has been having problems ever since the death of his sister Evie. He constantly hears a voice that he calls the Coyote, which is always negative and nasty and he is so affected by grief that he refuses to go to school. However when a student exchange to Australia is offered he decides to go and finds a welcoming family in Brisbane. His new school has a compulsory volunteer program and at Fair Go, an assisted living residence, Munro finds that the voice is silenced.
There are many heart breaking moments and flashes of humour as Munro settles into a new school, helped by Rowan his new Australian friend and son of his exchange family, and his friend back in Canada. Munro has to constantly struggle against the voice of Coyote, his chest pains and his anger and the only place he finds peace is at Fair Go.
This is a wonderful story that delves deeply into the effects of grief as well as giving a warm insight into an assisted living program. The team of residents at Fair Go, Bernie, Florence, Blake and Dale, refugee Shah and Iggy, design a Straya Tour to show Munro the sights and the reader is taken on a journey around Brisbane as well as gaining insights into the characters and strengths of the team. Munro too, begins to discover that he has things to offer as a volunteer and his aim to become better seems possible. A glimpse of Perry from Are you seeing me? will also please readers who enjoyed that book and there is an unexpected twist towards the conclusion of the book that draws together many threads of the book.
Groth has given the reader a warm and memorable story that will stay in the memory for a long time. The themes of coming of age, assisted living and mental health make this an excellent book for a class novel or literature circle book.
Pat Pledger

Kid Normal by Greg James and Chris Smith

Bloomsbury, 2017. ISBN 9781408884539
(Age: 10+) Kid normal is the first book in a series by Greg James and Chris Smith. The story follows lead character Murph Cooper through the frightening task of moving house, leaving friends and changing schools part way through the term. When all the closest schools are full, Murph ends up in the unlikely situation of being a regular kid in a school for super heroes!
Every child who has gone through this will be able to sympathise with him and I think this will help them to believe in the character and in the story.
Murph joins a gang of kids called 'The Super Zeroes' who are those without superpowers and therefore unlike everyone else. Unfortunately they get picked on by the kids with superpowers - but this gives them the desire to fight back and use what they know to fight the bad guy Nektar.
This is a really funny book with quirky, silly illustrations that will appeal to most people who have a sense of humour. The book is however too long in my opinion. At 384 pages long, there are parts of the story that are too drawn out and this makes it inaccessible for readers who are not particularly confident or intimidated by the look of a very thick novel. It is not difficult to read but I think younger readers will potentially drift away half way through the book due to its length. In saying that - this book is written to be read out loud! A class of children will giggle and laugh all the way through if the teacher (or parent) read this book with voices, movement and flair.
I really enjoyed the messages that came with this story, and think they are a great conversation starter for children around 8 years old and above. There are undertones of school hierarchy, and of course good versus evil, but also that everyone is special in their own way and that superpowers are not necessary to win the fight against evil villains!
Suitable for children from 8 years old but more so for 10+ due to the book length.
Lauren Fountain

Soda Pop by Barbro Lindgren

Gecko Press, 2017. ISBN 9781776570119
(Age: 9+) A faint hum begins and a cloud of smoke slowly advances from the horizon. The hum turns to howling and growling as it comes closer. Then a huge swarm of tigers arrives - through the garden, squeezing into the barn, diving into the swimming pool.
Soda Pop loves bright orange clothes and wears a tea cosy on his head. He has brought up his son Mazarin on sweet buns and love. Grandfather Dartanyong emerges from his woodshed every morning with a new identity, and Great-grandfather thinks he is a cuckoo. Their peaceful existence is shattered when the group of hot dog eating tigers decides to move into the barn and owls that live in the barn start sleeping in the mail box causing Dartanjong problems.
The story is set in a very unusual world. The characters lead a carefree life in a non-judgemental world where anything can happen. The usual rules do not apply in this story full of nonsense. The illustrations by Lisen Adbage add another dimension to the characters.
This is a classic Swedish tale that was first written in 1970 and has only recently been translated to English. It has been so popular in Sweden that it has been made into a stop-motion animation series, a cartoon, a play, an opera and a comic. Suitable for children 9 and up.
Kathryn Schumacher

DK Find Out! series

DK Publishing, 2017.
Decades ago DK Publishing revolutionised the presentation of non fiction to young readers with bright photographs, information in manageable, well-labelled chunks and the clever use of white space so that the reader was not overwhelmed. Their  Eyewitness series became a staple of primary school library collections. Now they have a launched a new series, DK Find Out! for the younger reader, using their familiar format but adding many more features so the newly independent reader can access information at their level.
Beginning with a durable paperback cover which folds out to be a quiz with answers and essential information relevant to the topic such as areas of study, a timeline or a phylogenetic tree, it then offers a page where the reader can jot down the things they have already identified that they want to find out thus supporting the inquiry method of investigation from the get-go. Then, as is customary with DK books, there is the usual contents, glossary and index pages which encourage and enable young readers to use the clues to get to what they want and in between are double-page spreads of basic information and glossy photographs and diagrams, all clearly labelled. So as well as being an ideal way of exploring print to find information they also serve as a model for students to present their findings if their searches have been assignment based rather than just curiosity.
To top it there is an easy-to-navigate website that offers more information and activities as well as support for teachers and parents. Like the books it is also a teaching tool for helping young children learn to use a website for information, one designed for their level and more authoritative and targeted than Wikipedia.
Despite the misguided opinion of some, there is a lot of research and reasons that primary school libraries, particularly, need to have a robust, attractive, up-to-date non fiction collection and this new series demonstrates the value of not only catering to those who prefer to read non fiction but also those wanting to find out more NOW! As well, the series is attractively priced so that parents can purchase individual volumes to accompany particular interests or investigations that their child is pursuing.
Miss 6 is fascinated with the human body and snaffled my review copy as soon as she saw it, not only asking and answering questions for herself but also learning vital lessons about using such resources. Now she is exploring those for information as often as those for her imagination. It won't be hard to fill her Christmas stocking!
Barbara Braxton

Wreck by Fleur Ferris

Random House Australia, 2017. ISBN 9780143784319
(Age: 12+) Highly recommended, Shipwrecks, Sibling rivalry, Crime, Survival. When eighteen year old Tamara leaves her holiday work at the local paper, ready for uni the next day, she finds her house torn apart by someone's manic search. But grabbed and threatened by a man asking about a note, she escapes and runs for her life, only to be grabbed by another who kidnaps her. Returning to the office for the note, they stumble onto the bodies of the two men she worked with, and her kidnapper Zel, steals her away in his car. There she hears a story about the note she found, a note in a bottle from Zel's cousin, Christian, stranded on a beach after the family's yacht sank five years ago. His step brother, Knox, is after them, and will stop at nothing to remain head of the family business and married to Christian's ex fiancee, Portia.
Wreck is a page turner of a thriller, a crime story which forces the reader to be suspicious about everything anyone says, deciding for themselves who is speaking the truth and who is lying.
The opening sequence of the storm is breathtaking and will ensure readers keep going with this fast paced story.
When Tamara meets Knox at the police station where she has told her story, she becomes convinced of his duplicity, but his words create lingering doubts over Zel's sanity. The police and the Chisel family are all convinced that Knox is the sane one, with Zel a dangerous killer on the run. Tamara gets to Sydney to try and speak to Christian's parents, aware of the power that Knox has, having some police in his sway.
The readers like her will be constantly looking over their shoulders, not sure of where the next attack on her credibility will come from, aware that people in the past have been killed to keep the notes from Christian being made public.
A climactic scene on the island ends with more deaths and Zel having to fly a helicopter back to Australia after only four trips on a simulator, only one of which was successful.
The author of two other crime thrillers for young adults, Risk and Black, Fleur Ferris is an ex police officer, using her expertise to ground her novels with a concrete base founded on knowledge and experience.
Wreck is a great escapist read for a wintry afternoon by the fire, and I also loved Risk, detailing the ease with which girls can be seduced over the internet, and look forward to more by this author.
Fran Knight

My life as a hashtag by Gabrielle Williams

The traitor and the thief by Gareth Ward

Walker Books, 2017. ISBN 9781925381504
(Ages: 11+) Highly recommended. Steampunk genre. Spies. Friendship. Steampunk isn't for everyone, but this wonderful book is worth reading as a first foray into this inventive and curious genre. It is a genre worth exploring as a world of mechanical parts, devices and steam propulsion replaces things we know well and creates an historical twist of ingenuity and imagination, with a layer of grime, grease and steam.
Amongst this ingenious backdrop, Gareth Ward has created a spy novel involving young teen participants who are selected for their unusual talents, with the addition of treachery and villainy that rivals the magical world of Harry Potter (although in a much shorter book!). This counter-espionage training is set within the steam and mechanical driven world that exists prior to a major war, but with an innovative overdrive. Everything about the setting is not real, and yet it is draws heavily on the world of espionage and circumstances leading up to a real major conflict set in Europe. The fun of this book is that many real events are referenced in a veiled and twisted way, names are perverted and warped with meaning dripping from the choices, and there is excitement, secrecy and manoeuvring befitting a good spy novel. The central character, Sin, comes from an Oliver Twist, Dickensian-street urchin and thieving background, but he bears a mysterious history that makes him a suitable candidate for the Covert Operations Group (COG). His fellow candidates in the COG training school, Zonda and Velvet, are at odds, and trust is difficult to place confidently. In addition, which of the directors of the establishment is hiding secrets and who is to be feared? With word play and inventiveness dripping in 'spendiferosity' from the pages there is a sense of fun woven into this book, as well as the tension of a good spy novel. I loved every moment of this book, and will be sure to recommend it to both male and female readers. With predominantly spy drama, military-style training and impossible 'special-effects', it will appeal to action-lovers, but there is also a hint of the teen-relationship and coming-of-age personal discovery that will endear the characters to readers.
NB: A sequel is being written!
Carolyn Hull

Pip and Houdini by J. C. Jones

Allen and Unwin, 2017. ISBN 9781760296056
(Age: 8-11) Highly recommended. Missing persons. Runaways. Dogs. Adventure stories. Resilience. J. C. Jones' popular Run, Pip, run introduced us to the feisty young Pip Sullivan whose search for her birth mother Cass motivates her every move. She only has one clue to her past life, an old postcard from Byron Bay. Pip's moved into a new foster home with the Brownings who are planning to adopt her, but trouble seems to follow her at every turn. She has a short fuse and does not tolerate classmates who blab her past secrets at school. After hitting Spiro on the nose, Pip is banned from the class trip to see the African dinosaur at the museum. With her faithful dog Houdini and a little luck, Pip's decisions land her in more trouble. How can one ten-year-old girl who is 'as skinny as a piece of string' become a runaway again and set off on a lengthy journey to northern New South Wales? Escape artist Houdini joins her for this difficult and challenging trip, filled with danger and excitement.
Happenstance plays a major role in Pip and Houdini's trip. First they fall asleep in the back of an old van that is heading in the right direction, north on the motorway. After a fiery accident and a daring rescue of the trapped driver, the two travellers walk, catch buses and meet up with a cast of interesting characters along the way. Money is scarce and so is food and shelter, but Pip's bravery, resilience and dogged determination drive her forward.
When she meets Frankie a homeless busker, the pace picks up and they stay just ahead of the authorities who are searching for the runaway girl. Pip stands up for her new friend, even washing the dishes at a cafe as payment for Frankie's stolen hamburger. The adventure continues with lucky escapes, train rides, a journey on an old bicycle left on the footpath and Houdini's capture by the dogcatcher.
With a shark sighting, a surfer with a tattoo of an octopus wearing a top hat and a strangely recognisable old house, Pip's emotional journey draws to a close. J C Jones Pip and Houdini is a heart-warming story of one girl's courage and determination to find her own family.
Rhyllis Bignell

This savage song by Victoria Schwab

Monsters of Verity book 1. Titan Books, 2016. ISBN 9781785652745
(Age: 14+) Recommended. 2017 Locus Awards nominee. Dystopian fiction. In a world that has been invaded by monsters, Kate Harker and August Flynn find themselves together on the run. There are three types of monsters: Malchai who drink blood and are made when there is a murder, Corsai who eat flesh and bones and are formed from violence and Sunai who feed on the souls of sinners and are formed from a major catastrophe like a school bombing. August Flynn is a Sunai, but longs to be less of a monster. His adopted father, Henry Flynn, runs one side of Verity, while Kate Harker's father runs the other side. However the truce that Flynn and Harker had made is beginning to come apart at the seams and August is sent to spy on Kate in an effort to find out what is going on.
The setting of Verity and the formation of monsters from evil acts is quite original and made reading This savage song quite different. Kate's feisty nature and need to please her crime boss father contrasted with August's attempts to be less monster-like. When they both are attacked at their school, they have to rely on each other to work out what is happening and to escape the attempts to kill them. Although there are slight hints at a Romeo and Juliet type of relationship, this is minor to the plot, which is action driven, while posing questions about morality and ethics.
There are some very thrilling and frightening scenes as the monsters chase Kate and August through the underground tunnels and Schwab manages to surprise with some unexpected twists and turns. The conclusion is satisfying but leaves plenty of opportunity for expansion in Our dark duet, the second in the series, which is on my to-read list.
This was a compulsive read with unique characters and magic. Readers who enjoy Holly Black's books will want to read this one.
Pat Pledger

Bitter enemies by R. A. Spratt

Friday Barnes series, book 7. Penguin Random House, 2017. ISBN 9780143784197
(Age: 8+) Highly recommended. Beginning of term at Highcrest Academy has never been so dreary and desolate. Melanie and Ian are both depressed and missing their quirky best friend, Friday, who has been whisked off to Switzerland to be with her family and attend Europe's most elite school. Adding to their misery, the start of term assembly sees the announcement of the school's anniversary celebrations and the return of four previous headmasters. Good grief! Surely one headmaster is enough for any mortal?
However, they have not reckoned on the surprise return of the school's most dedicated nerdy sleuth who appears dramatically at the doors of the assembly hall ready to deal with anything that might just foul up the anniversary celebrations. And just as well, the students have been warned to be on their best behaviour but apparently no one told the former headmasters the same thing. You have no idea how much havoc can be created by embittered former educators - wait, perhaps you do! As usual, Friday is on hand to solve the mysteries, explain the inexplicable and generally get everyone out of trouble although not without finding herself in a pickle at the same time.
Old and new characters make their appearances and really you have to love Mrs Cannon, the world's laziest English teacher - I wonder what might happen if I tried that approach? These are such fun to read and Friday's idiosyncrasies are so goofy as to be endearing. The solid friendships are a great feature of this series, proving you don't need to be pattern made to fit in. There is also the pathos as we find out more about Friday's ghastly family and oh oh, the shocker at the end - what will happen to Friday when... Oops, never mind, you'll find out.
These are always high in demand in my library and I know the readers are waiting on this new one impatiently.
Highly recommended for readers from around 8 years upwards.
Sue Warren

Grandma forgets by Paul Russell

Ill. by Nicky Johnston. EK, 2017. ISBN 9781925335477
Picture book. 'My grandmother forgets who I am. Every time we meet, it likes meeting someone new...
Even though Grandma can't remember us, we have so many memories of her.'
There are the sausages as big as elephant's legs that she served for Sunday lunch; going to the beach; snuggled in together with a hot-water bottle and a blanket watching the nighttime storms split the sky... The little girl and her dad have memories galore that they share with her in her new home with the painted garden and people who remember for her.
Young children encountering older relatives who are succumbing to the challenges of the ageing process are becoming more common as generations live longer than ever, and so stories that help them deal with what can be a confronting situation are always welcome. This is a gentle comforting story about the enduring love between the generations, although if Grandma is 80 as her birthday cake shows there seems to be a skipped generation in the chain. My own grandchildren would appear to be about the age of the children in the story and they faced this situation with their great-grandmothers, not their grandmas. We are only in our 60s!
Nevertheless, this is an uplifting story that shows how children embrace the changing circumstances, accepting the changes and the challenges and working with them, rather than taking them as a personal rejection. There are adults who could learn from this unconditional love that children display and how they adapt so they almost become the adult themselves. And while there are old memories to recall, there are always new ones to make.
The soft palette and lines chosen by the illustrator portray the beautiful memories perfectly and the love between them all just oozes from the page setting up the perfect opportunity to let the children tell and draw their own stories of their own special moments with their grandparents, perhaps cementing them even more firmly.
A family story that provides lots of comfort.
Barbara Braxton

A cardboard palace by Allayne L. Webster

Midnight Sun Publishing, 2017. ISBN 9781925227253
(Age: 10-14) Highly recommended. Themes: Poverty, Refugees, Child Labour, Survival. Allayne Webster's A Cardboard Palace is a powerful story giving a voice to the plight of Romany children taken from their parents and forced to work as pickpockets and thieves in Paris. Jorge lives in No Man's Land a shantytown with ramshackle huts made from scavenged materials. It is a life of desperation and poverty. His controller Bill forces his gang of six girls and four boys to steal from the tourists and locals, at ATMs, in the Louvre, and on the Metro Stations. The children are quick-witted, cunning and fast, taught the tricks of the trade by the villainous Bill.
Jorge is torn between obeying this man and trying to protect his friends. There is a moral dilemma and he wants his voice to be heard. While Abel keeps some of the money he steals to buy food, Jorge keeps nothing for himself. Camp life is confronting, a sick child disappears, trafficked children are locked up and twelve-year-old girls sold as child brides to older men. Their parents keen to receive the dowry money.
When Jorge scavenges in a dumpster behind a cafe, he meets Sticky Ricky an Australian chef who befriends him, feeds him leftovers and takes up the fight to free these children from the gang. There are tense scenes as the special taskforce moves in to evacuate the children and the Catacombs setting where friends save the day.
A Cardboard Palace is a modern Oliver Twist story, where one boy's courage, resilience and determination shine through. Allayne Webster's Parisienne setting shows a different reality, one of poverty and hardship. The light and shade of the narrative, the emotional resonance of Jorge's voice and her honesty in portraying these deeper issues, make this a novel suited to more mature readers. In Year 7 and 8 students engaging with this literary text, can discuss the ethical dilemmas presented and the interpersonal relationships of the characters. (ACARA)
Rhyllis Bignell