Ill. by Christina Wald. Bloomsbury, 2014. ISBN 9781408842188.
(Age: 7+) Recommended. Animals. In large format with plentiful
illustrations and maps, this atlas will give younger primary readers
a sound overview of the animals listed, their habitat and
attributes. The first two double pages introduce the book to its
readers. The first double page shows the colours used to represent
each habitat, and over the page is a double page map of the world
with those habitats shown clearly.
From then on the book is divided into seven continents, each section
having a map and giving an overview of the animals that live there,
with a picture and informative paragraph about six or so specific
animals from that habitat over the next six double pages.
In this way the younger student will have an overview of the world
of animals, and learn specific information about a few animals.
Other fact boxes pop up to give extra tidbits, and at the end of the
book is a two page glossary followed by a detailed index.
The double page on Europe for example, has a fascinating map, with
three fact boxes to give the reader an insight into the range of
Europe, then over the page is a range of animals that inhabit the
area, from the mountains to the Mediterranean, over the page again
takes the reader to the Scottish moorlands, then over the page again
to the animals of the Arctic. All in all a useful book to share,
have available in the classroom or library, as well as an easy to
use reference book.
Fran Knight
Poison Princess by Kresley Cole
The Arcana Chronicles bk 1. Simon & Schuster, 2012. ISBN
9780857079190.
(Age: 15+) Paranormal. Tarot. YALSA's Teen Top 10
2013. In a post-apocalyptic world, where a Flash has
killed most of the human race, people are trying to survive. 16 year
old Evie Green, who ended up in a mental institution because of the
hallucinations she had been having, is frantic to get back to her
normal life. But that is not to be. Desperate she turns to Jack
Devereau, the boy from the wrong side of the bayou, and they race
off to find the source of her visions. They discover others who have
been called - 22 teens will re-enact an ancient battle to the death.
This was an exciting read that girls who like paranormal stories
would enjoy. The dystopian background provides a lot of tension with
people being turned into blood-suckers, a militia that rapes women
and the threat of cannibalism. The use of tarot cards provided an
original way of setting up the characters, and there was lots of
action with sword play and motor bike rides.
Jack Devereau is a very appealing bad boy, speaking in Cajun patois,
and the budding romance between Evie is handled well. A few side
tracks of jealousy and angst keep the tension going. Evie grows in
strength and character throughout as she learns that she represents
the Empress card in the Tarot pack. She can make plants grow, a
fabulous ability in a blight stricken world but can she save the
world?
This is the first book in the Arcana Chronicles.
Ending on a cliff-hanger, the conclusion is sure to entice readers
into the series. It is followed by book 2, Endless Knight.
Cole is an established author for adults and her flowing prose and
plot make for a light read.
Pat Pledger
Along the road to Gundagai by Jack O'Hagan
Ill. by Andrew McLean. Omnibus Books, 2014. ISBN 9781862919792.
(Age: All) Highly recommended. Folk song. War. War does not finish
when the final whistle blows, men are returning years later, the
effects of what they have been through apparent on their faces and
in the eyes of the grieving families. Jack O'Hagan, an Australian
musician, was 20 when World War One finished, and worked for Allen's
Music, playing sheet music for customers. In his career he wrote
some 600 songs, and one of the earliest was Along the road to
Gundagai, published in 1922, when he was 24.
Dyan Blacklock of Omnibus books gave this well known Australian song
to Andrew McLean, and his re-imagining it as a story of returning
home after the war is simply powerful. His research of Jack O'Hagan
led him to see the song in a different light, and any person reading
it with his evocative illustrations, will succumb to the emotional
pull of the words and illustrations he creates. McLean gives the
familiar words a new layer of meaning, a returning soldier headed
for home.
Historical film, illustrations and paintings, were used by McLean to
develop a series of paintings to illustrate the lines of verse.
Images of war cover double pages, whereas the others, giving an
impression of home, are often framed one to a page, the watercolour
and charcoal images accentuating the difference between war and
home.
McLean tells the story of his father as a postscript and this
combined with the scant information about O'Hagan,
will enable people to read this Australian folk song anew. It then
is impossible not to believe that O'Hagan wrote it after seeing the
men coming home from war. In a classroom or library the strands of
this evocative picture book can be mulled over, kids thinking and
talking of their ancestors' involvement in war, looking at the
history of war in Australia and how it is commemorated, discussing
the coming 100th anniversary of the start of World War One, and next
year, the 100th anniversary of Gallipoli. Many, many books have been
published recently predicting the rise in interest in this topic
within schools, but this is one that stands alone, taking as its
theme a known song and giving it a stunningly new perspective.
Fran Knight
Goth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse by Chris Riddell
Macmillan, 2013. ISBN 9780230759800.
(Age: 9+) Highly recommended. Picture book for older readers. 2013
Costa Children's Book Awards. Specsavers National Book Awards 2013
shortlist. Ada Goth lives at Ghastly-Gorm Hall with the famous
cycling poet Lord Goth. Since the death of her mother, a daring
trapeze artist, Ada has been forced to wear clumping boots so that
her father can avoid her, as he finds it difficult to face her
because she reminds him of her mother. When Ada meets Ishmael a
ghostly mouse, she discovers that Maltravers, the indoor gamekeeper
has a dastardly plot for the annual indoor hunt and together with
William and Emily Cabbage, they begin to unravel it.
This is a delight of a book! A hard back publication, it is
beautifully presented with a black, purple and silver cover, purple
edged pages and silver end papers. Chris Riddell's black and white
illustrations are lavish, with Ada a Regency heroine garbed in
beautiful dresses and often with a huge feather in her head-dress.
Lord Goth is also fabulously illustrated, looking Bryonesque, with
tight trousers, waterfall cravat, riding boots and sweeping
wind-swept hair. There is much humour to be had in the illustrations
of the other characters and the Metaphorical Bicycle Race has a
double page spread and is riotous. With many literary allusions, it
is amusing for older readers and adults to work out just who Riddell
is alluding to. One of the many examples is the references to
governesses (I could pick out Jane Ear, Nana Darling, Hebe Poppins,
but not the rest). Other literary and historical characters include
Mary Shellfish, Charles Cabbage and Lucy Borgia, and these versions
would certainly add an element of fun for those who enjoy reading.
The adventure in the story is hilarious and will be enjoyed by
younger children, who will cheer when Ada makes friends and with
them goes about the business of foiling Maltravers and rescuing the
creatures that he has imprisoned. The addition of a tiny book in
verse telling the adventures of Ishmael the ghostly mouse will also
entertain readers.
I thoroughly enjoyed this rollicking Gothic adventure with its
eccentric characters, strange contraptions and whimsical humour that
all ages could enjoy.
Pat Pledger
A very singular guild by Catherine Jinks
City of Orphans series, bk 3. Allen & Unwin, 2014. ISBN
978
(Ages: 9+) Highly recommended. Fantasy, London (1870's),
Sewers. Ned and Jem, the two apprentices of bogle hunter,
Alfred Bunce, once more ply their trade beneath London, where sewers
and underground waterways form the perfect hiding place for the
bogles, ready to appear at any time to take, kill and eat children.
In this the third in the series, Alfred Bunce is casually employed
by the Board of Works to eliminate the bogles of underground London.
At a meeting bound by agendas and motions and committees, Ned is
surprised to see Miss Eames and Birdie MacCallum participate. Birdie
had been Alfred Bunce's assistant for many years but is now in the
care of Miss Eames, receiving an education along with voice lessons,
but missing her association with Mr Bunce. Going to the theatre in
Drury Lane sees the group enticing a bogle out of the sewers to be
killed, but this one is unlike the others, so a sinister plot
unfolds.
The background of Jinks' story is enthralling. London at the time
was undergoing major rebuilding, with work being done on
infrastructure such as transport, water and bridges. Ned's
passionate interest in all things mechanical shows him asking
questions of those people he sees using a new wrench, or a hydraulic
lift, or pneumatic tyres. He observes all around him, and his
character is so well delineated that we learn with him, without
being aware of it.
The characters Jinks has created in this series, as in all of her
books, are rounded and interesting, full of layers reflecting their
histories and passions, their foibles and fears. The three children,
Ned, Birdie and Jem are all undergoing changes in their lives, and
when Birdie and Jem begin a career upon the stage, Ned is left with
Mr Bunce, performing a duty which frightens him.
Accompanying Mr Bunce to Derbyshire sees the man visit the sister of
his old employer and get the recipe for his spear, ready to make
some more to kill the increasing number of bogles. But things do not
work out as he hopes and more entanglement occurs in which the
dreaded John Gammon reappears ready to strike. The thrilling
conclusion lies at the heart of London in the Monument, built by Sir
Christopher Wren after the Great Fire of London.
Fran Knight
Coming of age : Growing up Muslim in Australia, edited by Amra Pajalic and Demet Divaroren
Allen & Unwin, 2014. ISBN 9781743312926.
(Age: 12+) Recommended. Multicultural Australia. Muslim. Coming of
age. Twelve stories from a diversity of backgrounds, and a wide
range of experiences but with one thing in common, the writers are
all Muslim people growing up in Australia are contained in this book
of short stories.
What a range of stories is here. It was astonishing to read of
Tanseem Chopra, a Kenyan born Indian who is Muslim, trying to
explain his various strands to people in Australia, or of Michael
Mohommed Ahmed, growing up Lebanese in Western Sydney and making a
decision to leave behind his high school friends to go his own way,
or of Sabina Housani in Mishmatch Muslim, entering a beauty
contest and expected to wear a bikini on stage.
Each of the twelve stories brings a different perspective to the
reader, seeing Muslim people from more areas than the Middle East.
In the introduction by the editors they point out that Muslims in
Australia come from seventy different countries, that they make up
nearly half a million of our population, that they occupy vastly
different occupations and are in a variety of living spaces around
the country.
This group of stories will be an eye opener to the readers, at its
basis showing that growing up, whoever you are and wherever you come
from the issues are the same, friends, family, sex, school, what to
do with the rest of your life.
For a class this would be an enthralling set of stories to read,
pointing out that young adult's worries and concerns have little
todo with the stereotypes we see in the media.
Teacher notes can be found at Allen
and Unwin.
Fran Knight
Legend of the three moons by Patricia Bernard
Clan Destine Press, 2013. ISBN 9780987271709.
Recommended for readers 10-12 years old. Themes: Magic, Memory,
Monsters, Adventure stories, Fantasy. Five young royal teenagers are
kept as prisoners in a magical forest limited by their memories
which last only twenty four hours. Their journey begins with Lem's
braving the wild elemental storm that occurs on the three moon
eclipse. In doing so he receives the moons' song, a portent of the
quest they need to undertake to free the five captured kings and
queens' of M'dgassy. Their tasks involve finding an imprisoned
dragon, an caged merwoman, a poisoned tree and a chained eagle.
Chad, Swift, Celeste, Lem and Lyla then discover a jewelled casket
and find the explanation of their spell-protected life by their
royal parents and the reason for their quest.
Each of the children has a special magical quality that aids in
their journey to find the talismans and to fight all manner of evil
creatures along their way. Each decision is fraught with danger and
they suffer hunger and thirst, injury and sleep deprivation. Their
bonds of friendship and loyalty are strengths and they show
compassion and care to those that assist them.
Patricia Bernard's fantasy adventure is fast-paced, her protagonists
relatable and her setting the Kingdom of M'dgassy filled with enough
diabolical villains, from becamed creatures the Goch and Enkidu,
frightening mudmen to poisoned trees. Teacher's
notes are provided on her website.
An overview of the kingdom, a more detailed map and a cast of
characters would have been useful additions.
Rhyllis Bignell
Knightley & son by Rohan Gavin
Bloomsbury, 2014. ISBN 9781408838914.
(Age: 10-12) Themes: Memory loss, Detectives, Crime stories. Darkus
Knightley is an unusually intelligent thirteen year old boy
detective who likes to wear tweed clothes, models himself on
Sherlock Holmes and has an inbuilt 'catastrophiser' an ability to
interpret and analyse difficult situations. Whilst his father Alan
Knightley a former crime expert for Scotland Yard has been in a coma
for the past four years, Darkus has memorized all of his private
father's case files. This proves extremely useful when his dad wakes
up with only a limited memory and is needed to solve a new wave of
crimes.
People across London are being influenced to commit felonies after
reading a popular self-help book The Secret. A criminal
organisation the Combination is responsible for unleashing so much
destruction 'both great and small, in towns and cities across the
country . . . and possibly even the world.'
With Uncle Bill from SO42, father and son set out in a
super-modified London taxi to investigate how foil the criminals
with Darkus's intelligent deductions and brilliant plans assisting
them.
This novel is suited for readers from 10 - 12 years, it does takes
some determination to follow the plot's development and to warm to
Darkus and the cast of characters.
Rhyllis Bignell
The Beatles: The BBC Sound Archives 1962-1970 by Kevin Howlett
BBC Books / Random House 2013. ISBN 9781849906883.
In February 1962, The Beatles arrived at the BBC for a radio
audition. By 1963 they had changed the world forever and even though
their last public performance was just a few years later, fifty
years on they are still regarded as being the one thing that had the
greatest influence in changing not only post-war Britain, but much
of the western world. Four lads from Liverpool - John Lennon, Paul
McCartney, George Harrison and eventually Ringo Starr - changed
music, dress, hairstyles, everything as a new generation called
teenagers emerged from the baby boom around the world following the
ceasing of hostilities.
These teenagers wanted a different world and had the disposable
income to get it, and The Beatles with their remarkable moptop
hairdos, were the impetus. When the BBC brought them from the clubs
of Hamburg in Germany and the infamous Cavern Club in Liverpool to
mainstream media, it gave those teenagers what they were looking
for. With 275 unique musical performances by The Beatles on the BBC,
the core of British entertainment at the time, between March 1962
and June 1965, and the audience exposed to 88 different songs in
this time, their unique sounds, unmistakeable accents and lively
banter literally became the soundtrack of the generation. It was a
time of change and optimism and The Beatles spearheaded that. When
they spoke about political upheaval, radical intolerance and other
confronting issues, a generation listened and acted and the result
was significant social change at a speed and depth never before
seen.
This beautifully presented book is an album of rare and familiar
photos, transcripts of interviews, documents and commentary which
trace the group's relationship with the BBC through those heady days
of Beatlemania and beyond to the notorious introduction of Yoko Ono
into John's life (which Ringo recently confirmed as being a trigger
in the group's breakup) to Paul's announcement that he would not be
returning to the group after his solo was released in April 1970.
The key inquiry questions for the Year 10 history strand of the
Australian Curriculum are:
'How did the nature of global conflict change during the twentieth
century?
What were the consequences of World War II? How did these
consequences shape the modern world?
How was Australian society affected by other significant global
events and changes in this period?'
Within these, there is a specific strand of 'Popular Culture (1945 -
present)' which focuses on the influences of music, film and
television and which, in turn, brings in fashion, technology (the
portability of music through the invention of the transistor radio
was critical), attitudes to sex and drugs, the demand for peace and
a host of other things which are the foundation of the lives our
students lead today. Given The Beatles' critical role in these
changes, this book is an essential part of the support materials
which must accompany this element of the curriculum.
However, it is not limited to the history faculty. Talk to anyone
who was a teenager of the times and they will tell you of the
controversies that surrounded the group, such as the banning of the
track Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds because its title
emphasised LSD, a popular hallucinogenic of the time and you will
open up a range of topics for discussion and debate comparing then
with now. Explore the lyrics of the songs and discover why they have
become anthems for several generations. Examine the influence their
group structure and their music had on other musicians . . . the
possibilities of across-curriculum perspectives are endless.
This is a resource that has to be in your secondary collection.
Barbara Braxton
The coldest girl in Coldtown by Holly Black
Indigo, 2013. ISBN 9781780621319.
(Age: 15+) Recommended. Paranormal. Vampires. Dystopian. Horror.
Tana wakes up after a party to find herself surrounded with corpses.
The only people left alive are her vampire infected ex-boyfriend and
a mysterious boy. Terrified, Tana attempts to save the three of them
and sets out for Coldtown, a walled city where monsters and humans
live together. Partying is the norm and live feeds show what happens
24 hours a day. The only problem for Tana is that once you go
through the gates of Coldtown there is no return.
In this dark and wholly original vampire book, best-selling author
Holly Black has come up with a unique story about vampires and
humans that is very chilling and quite riveting. Her heroine Tana is
forthright and courageous who does all sorts of crazy impossible
things to save her friends and ultimately herself. Gavriel is
suitably mysterious and other characters are all fully realised in
this tale of love, hatred, revenge and fear. As a side issue Black
examines the power that the media has over young people and the
lengths that some people will go to be popular on their blogs and
feeds. The notion of fan girls who are all too ready to swoon over
the Cold Ones, especially the vampire celebrities, is a bleak one,
but Tana is determined to stay human if she can, no matter what the
cost is to her.
In this strange, often blood thirsty and violent road trip, Black
manages a memorable look at vampires and the power of the media. In
her acknowledgments, Holly Black writes 'This book is a love letter
to all the vampire books I read over and over growing up.' She then
gives a list which would be useful for readers who wanted a
different type of vampire book with more depth to read.
Pat Pledger
Newt's Emerald by Garth Nix
Kindle edition, 2013. ASIN B00GLT344I.
(Age: 11+) Recommended. Historical. Magic. 18 year old Lady Truthful
Newington sets out for London after the Newington emerald, a family
heirloom, disappears. On the brink of being brought out into the
fashionable world in her first season, she knows that she can't
search for the emerald as a young woman so in the disguise of a
young man around town, she risks her life in an effort to recover
it.
Nix has written a sparkling Regency novel, with the addition of a
touch of magic, in the tradition of Georgette Heyer and Jane Austen,
both of whom he acknowledges in the author's note at the end of the
story. Add in a dash of adventure in the vein of Patrick O'Brien,
(also acknowledged) and the story is a winner for readers.
This story is a wonderful, feel-good tale that brings the Regency
period to life for younger readers who may then want to go on and
read other stories in this period. There are plenty of adventures, a
slight romance and sparkling conversation.
Truthful is an intrepid young heroine who manages to outwit Charles,
the often obnoxious hero, her cousins are suitably swashbuckling in
their misguided ideas for regaining the emerald and the addition of
a powerful magical stone and a sword-stick wand make for a
deliciously light and amusing read.
Readers may also want to read Nix's wonderful Abhorsen
chronicles after getting a taste of Newt's Emerald.
Pat Pledger
The story machine by Tom McLaughlin
Bloomsbury, 2014. ISBN 9781408839331.
(Age: 4+) Recommended. Story telling, illustrative technique. When
Elliott finds an abandoned machine in his attic, he ponders over its
use for quite a while. It has no power cord, it makes no noises and
it has no on/off switch. But when he accidentally sits on it, the
machine makes letters on a page. He is thrilled; he has found a
story machine, but sometime his spelling is a little awkward, and he
again discovers that the letters can make pictures. And he can do
these pictures in such a way that he can still tell a story.
But one day something goes very wrong with his machine, and it
refuses to work any more. Elliott is distraught, until he trawls
the attic once more, finding pen and paper, brushes and paint, and
finds he can still tell a story with pictures after all.
The illustrator has cleverly used a continuous roll of paper which
loops across the pages, linking one page to the next to tell his
story. His pictures of Elliott experimenting with different ways of
using the machine to create his story containing the seeds of things
that can be done at home or in the classroom, while the stories
Elliott develops will intrigue the younger reader, looking closely
at each page to find the myriad of pictures within the clatter of
letters, and then work out the stories being told.
How wonderful that McLaughlin lauds the use of an old typewriter,
paper, then brushes, paint and pen to extol the virtues of storytelling at its most basic, reflecting the ease of using such things
rather than their hi-tech replacements.
A book to engender much discussion.
Fran Knight
Fire by Jackie French
Ill. by Bruce Whatley. Scholastic, 2014. ISBN 9781742838173.
(Age: 4+) Recommended. Fire, Australian rural life, Volunteers.
The evocative water colour illustrations impel the reader to look
carefully at every page, to steep in the atmosphere created, to
ponder just how anything survives during a fire like this. Whatley
has drawn a fire so intense the heat rises form the pages, the smoke
and ash almost choke the reader, and the haze created, blinds. Any
child reading the words and stepping into the fire will be under no
illusion just how ferocious it can be. Several illustrated pages
stand out, the page with the words, 'Oven's breath swallows the
day', has an image of a shell of a house, its burning structure
exposed and about to fall, and the page which begins with the words,
'Leaves are ash and trees are dust', has a stunning image of a burnt
tree, the embers still glowing. Two amongst an array of shocking
images, seen often on the television news, but rendered here with
subtlety and emotional pull that surprises.
French's spare rhyming words tell of the passion of the fire,
sweeping across all in its path, its unstoppable nature tempered by
volunteers, and in the end, 'Good things will grow again'.
As with Flood, the French/Whatley combination that drew
people's attentions to the work of the volunteers after the mammoth
Brisbane floods in 2010, this book too, draws its strength from the
sense of community, of family and volunteers, working together to
contain this natural disaster which is part of Australia's summers.
Fran Knight
The ghost bride by Yangsze Choo
Hot Key Books, 2013. ISBN 9781471401411.
(Age: 15+) Highly recommended. Ghosts. Goodreads Choice Nominee for
Fantasy 2013. It is Malacca, Malay in 1893 and some of the Chinese
still cling to ancient superstitions. When Li Lan is asked by her
father to be the ghost bride of the newly diseased only son of the
very rich Lim family, it would be to soothe his restless spirit. Her
father has lost his money and believes that it would help him and
give her a comfortable home for the rest of her life. But it also
means giving up any prospect of marrying a real live man and after a
visit to the Lim mansion she meets Tian Bai to whom she is very
attracted. However the ghost of her would be groom begins to haunt
her and she is drawn into the world of ghosts and the strange Er
Lang.
This is a unique story, quite different to anything that I have read
before. In the notes at the back of the book the author explains the
notion of ghost brides and the after world in Chinese beliefs and it
is this authentic setting that makes this story so fascinating and
superior to the many books about the afterlife that seem to be
available. The daily world that Li Lan inhabits is beautifully
described as are the Plains of the Dead that she treads trying to
find out the secrets of the Lim family and their hold on her.
Li Lan is a young girl on the cusp of womanhood, almost betrayed by
her opium addicted father, but she is resilient and curious and
determined not to let the ghosts that she can see dominate her life.
Told in the first person, her voice and character come across
vividly and the reader can't help but want her to find someone to
love.
Written in well-crafted language, it contains the language, manners
and customs of its Malaysian period and combined with ghosts, fully
fleshed out characters and suspenseful action, it is a memorable
and very worthwhile read.
Pat Pledger
Collins Read On series by various authors
The passenger by Dan Tunstall. ISBN 9780007464784. Point danger by Catherine McPhail. ISBN 9780007464845. This boy by Pippa Goodhart. ISBN 9780007464708. The trick by Keith Gary. ISBN 9780007464906. Here come the girls by Helen Pielichaty. ISBN 9780007464913. Tunnel of terror by Barry Hutchison. ISBN 9780007464760.
(Age: 11+) Recommended. This series produced for middle school kids
looking for a short, easier read is welcome. The 6 books in this
series I read are all up to date, show kids in situations not
dissimilar to those which affect modern kids, bullying, gangs,
school rules etc and are short easy to read format with
illustrations, clear larger print, usually of about 40 pages divided
into four chapters. The passenger has a young boy going home on the bus. His
town is a half hour's drive away from the city and he is relieved
when he finds a seat, but less so when a black boy with cornrow hair
and cut eyebrows sits next to him and introduces himself. While
sitting in the bus, Matt's mother texts him that a murder has
occurred at the station where he got on. As the story develops the
reader will read to the end to see what happens. The characters are
drawn well in a few short lines and readers will sympathise with
both boys. Point danger by Catherine McPhail has a school trip to an
island with a lighthouse which is the centre of some strange
stories. McDuff is on his last warning, but his room mates Tom and
Alex bully Gary mercilessly, daring him to go to the lighthouse.
MacDuff follows with unexpected results. This boy by Pippa Goodhart has Kerry meeting a boy in their
new house. The trick by Keith Gray has Eric taking the challenge of the
magician, Mathew Masters to go into the box on the stage. Here come the girls by Helen Pielichaty is a fascinating non
fiction account of the rise of women playing football. Some 29
million play worldwide in many countries, but the beginnings was
fraught with difficulties, not least of which was being banned by
FIF in 1921, while Tunnel of terror by Barry Hutchison is a
scary ghost train ride that ends in disaster.
Fran Knight
