University of Queensland Press, 2013. ISBN 9780702249730.
'Gran used to watch me like a one-legged gull at a picnic' is one of
the brilliant expressions from The keeper. Set in a small
seaside town on the Yorke Peninsula, this marvellous story centres
upon Joel, a young boy without parents who lives with a loving
Grandmother. Having a learning disability and a tendency to respond
to taunting bullies with his fists, Joel is frequently in trouble at
school and is frustrated and angry, except when fishing or playing
with his friend Mei, the daughter of a local fisherman.
Fed up with not having a Dad, Joel places an advert in the newspaper
to offer the position and is impressed when tough looking biker Dev
arrives on a Harley to try out for the job. The pair establish a
friendship with shared experiences, conversation and intuitive
understanding which is developed by the opportunity to compete in
the annual fishing competition, a chance previously denied to the
fatherless Joel.
This is a genuinely enjoyable novel and wholesome but realistic life
lessons are delivered within a captivating story and polished
narrative. Hawke presents a flawed individual with a shady past who
has learned from his mistakes and seeks to teach a youngster to
avoid conflict and violence. The author is to be commended for
including such a character whilst avoiding gushing sentimentality or
diminishing the threatening nature of bikies, drugs and crime.
The basis of the relationship may be implausible to adults,
especially in the context of stranger danger and child protection,
however the story's development feels natural, especially given
Joel's loner behaviour and tendency to keep quiet about what he gets
up to.
The arrival of other significant characters from the past could be
considered too contrived, however the story works satisfactorily
towards an acceptable conclusion.
Written for children of 9 years onwards, Primary school librarians
can be confident that the content and language is age appropriate.
This story also serves the needs of older struggling readers who
require less demanding text but still enjoy well-crafted narrative
with a solid plot.
Rob Welsh
The Perplexing Pineapple by Ursula Dubosarsky
The Cryptic Casebook of Coco Carlomagno and Alberta series. Allen
and Unwin, 2013. ISBN 9781743312575.
(Age: 9+) A strange pineapple floats by at the same time everyday
followed by a scream and then laughing. That's enough to scare
anyone! When the Chief of the Buenos Aires police is scared who does
he call? He calls his very smart cousin, Alberta, because she has a
very big brain.
Alberta and Coco (the Chief of police) are guinea pigs by the way
and their story is a quick paced, easy read for independent readers
aged 9+. It is especially good for those readers who don't like
large novels and as part of a series, children can follow these
guinea pig cousins as they crack more mysteries.
As Alberta and Coco get to the bottom of the strange pineapple, Coco
ends up solving another police issue. Maybe he is not that silly
after all.
The book includes illustrations to help solve the mystery and it
asks the reader questions along the way, helping involve them in the
mystery.
Kylie Kempster
The first third by Will Kostakis
Penguin, 2013. ISBN 9780143568179.
Billy Tsiolkas loves his Yiayia (Grandmother) openly, without
embarrassment and he endures her ethnic idiosyncrasies with good
humour and respect. In his final year at school, with two estranged
brothers and a mother who is saddened by her single status, Billy
becomes fearful when Yiayia is hospitalised by complications from a
kidney stone. The elderly woman clearly has a major influence in
family affairs and Billy dares not decline when she submits to him a
'bucket list' or series of wishes to be granted before she dies.
Accompanied by an amusing best friend 'Sticks' who has cerebral
palsy, Billy sets forth to try to bring about three seemingly
impossible feats which Yiayia considers will fix his family. This
story is all about relationships including friendships, familial
interactions and romantic involvement. Sticks inveigles his way into
Billy's negotiation of all three and shows a curious mix of
compassion and kindness with a merciless attitude to dropping Billy
in embarrassing situations.
This is a realistic portrayal of adolescent life and I liked the
fact that everyday situations encountered commonly in families were
presented in an entertaining manner and were completely adequate in
framing the narrative.
The novel still has quirks however. Items on the bucket list include
'fixing' Peter, the aggressive, truculent younger brother with whom
Billy no longer has any communication beyond grunts, and finding a
girlfriend for the eldest brother Simon who lives interstate. The
rift with Peter troubles Billy greatly and he agonises over its
causes as he seeks to reconcile differences and restore the
relationship, yet the reader never discovers why and how this has
come about. Similarly, the amusing twist in finding Simon a
girlfriend, given that he is gay (known by the family but an alien
concept to Yiayia) becomes secondary in Billy's difficulty to fulfil
this promise when he discovers a facade which is never explored in
any depth.
The characters represented in this novel are familiar in an
Australian context and the reader is caught up in Billy's quest to
ease their pain and strengthen the bonds within his own family as
its members negotiate the ups and downs of contemporary life.
Rob Welsh
Let's paint by Alborozo
Allen and Unwin, 2013. ISBN 9781743313695.
(Age: 3+) Picture book. Art. Experimenting. This joyous colour
filled book that will encourage and delight young readers to try
something for themselves will be a hit amongst parents and early
childhood teachers alike.
From the different coloured dog prints on the front endpapers
through all the different experiments with paints and paint brushes
and canvasses through to the endpapers showing coloured human foot
prints, the book encourages children to try their hand at painting.
Faced with a blank canvas and a handful of paint, the question is
what if I make a mistake. The answer that there are no mistakes in art
can be very salutary to the young beginner. Then ideas crowd in as
the reader is told that ideas come from anywhere, they can be big or
small, uninvited or collected. From there the reader is shown a
variety of different methods with some pages hinting at the artist
who used this technique. The author then shows the reader that it
can be scary or embarrassing, but whatever, it is important that the
painter has fun!
The lightly sketched illustrations do not overwhelm, the colour is
filled with fun and interest, inviting the reader to run out and get
some paint and get painting.
Fran Knight
Doomsday by Chris Morphew
Phoenix Files Book 6, Hardie Grant Egmont, 2013. ISBN
9781921502446.
(Age: 12+) Recommended. Doomsday picks up with less than
twenty-four hours until the end of civilisation as we know it. With
Luke and Jordan desperately fighting to rescue humanity from the
dire plans of the Shackleton corporation, it seems they have more
enemies than ever before, with even Peter being out of control and
seemingly about to destroy them. As war rages, they battle against
the clock to put an end to the plans of their enemies. Who or what
is Tobias and will he have the power to put things to rights?
This is one series which seems to appeal to girls and boys alike,
despite its violence, bloodshed and the traumas faced by the
population of Phoenix. Initially, it is only the children who are
aware that something is seriously amiss within the confines of the
town but slowly the adults come to realise that things are not as
they should be. From book one in which the town reminded me of a
children's version of The Stepford Wives to the final resolution,
the action and excitement keep one on the edge of one's seat. The
appeal of having a different narrator for each of the earlier books
adds to the gender balance, helping to make the books accessible to
all readers. Changing the narrator chapter by chapter in the final
title gives one a multitude of different perspectives throughout
Doomsday, thereby keeping the reader informed as to how each group
of characters is feeling and how they are being occupied.
Personally, I felt reasonably satisfied by this final instalment,
despite having had to suspend disbelief totally. Most of the loose
ends were tied up sufficiently and I continued to be intrigued by
the characters that underwent major changes toward the end of the
series. I found the ultimate battle between good and evil to be
powerful and engaging. Not a read for the fainthearted, however!
Jo Schenkel
One day: Around the world in 24 hours by Suma Din
Ill. by Christina Engel. Bloomsbury, 2013. ISBN 9781408180235.
(Age: 6+) Picture book. Time. World travel. In one day, fifteen
different children around the world are shown in their own houses,
schools and towns. Each page reflects their variety and their
similarities as twenty four hours passes. Starting with a double
page map of the world and the faces and places of the fifteen
children, the book map is divided into the time zones of the world,
allowing some discussion before reading about the children. Using
the twentyfour hour clock will also teach the readers a different
way of telling the time.
Each double page thereafter contains one large page of illustrations
alongside four smaller illustrations. Each of the five illustrates
one child in one country and what they are doing. So each is
occurring at the same time around the world, but in different times
zones. So a child at school in the United Kingdom, playing soccer at
11 will be doing this at the same time as a child in the USA is
eating breakfast, but there it is 8 in the morning, while in South
Africa children are just going home from school, and India they are
having dinner and in China, going to bed. Pages are crowded with
images of children doing different things around the world, and can
be a springboard for all sorts of discussion about similarities and
differences, but above all about time. Two pages at the end give
information about time zones, Greenwich Mean Time and Universal
Coordinated Time.
Fran Knight
The whole of my world by Nicole Hayes
Woolshed Press, 2013. ISBN 9781742758602.
(Age: 15+) Highly recommended. Shelley Brown is hoping for a fresh
start; a new school brings the possibility of new friends and new
interests, the possibility of a new life. Since the loss of her
mother, Shelley and her dad are drawing a line between the past and
the present, so Shelley jumps at the chance to attend footy training
with her new friend, Tara. After all, football has always been
Shelley's passion especially her beloved Glenthorn Football Club.
Attending Thursday night training also gives Shelley a chance to
befriend the new player, Mick Edwards. They have a lot in common: he
is new to the club and is trying to put together a good season to
keep his future in football alive. Shelley is the newbie in the
Cheer Squad, trying to put together a new future
Shelley and Tara are obsessed by their footy team and this novel is
cleverly structured to reflect this passion: every chapter and
section references the game, from 'The Draft' to the 'Pre-Season' to
'The end-of-season Trip'. Author Nicole Hayes has also cleverly
structured the plot development. Whilst most readers will accept
Shelley's lingering grief at losing her mother, midway through the
novel the full story behind Shelley's loss is revealed in a manner
which will make readers empathise with the deep pain behind her
journey of rebirth.
In a sports mad country like Australia it is always intriguing to
shine a light on that obsession and Nicole Hayes does this
thoughtfully, as her novel explores the importance of football in so
many fans' lives: the euphoria when their team wins, the despair
when they lose and the relationship they have with the players
themselves.
However, this is more than just a football yarn; set against the
football background is a bigger story about grief and loss, about
family ties and family breakdown, of burgeoning love and the
resilience needed not only to face another football season but also
to face life's many ups and downs. Even those who don't love
football will find a lot to enjoy in Shelley Brown's world.
Deborah Marshall
The Cloud Road by Isobelle Carmody
Penguin Books, 2013. ISBN 9780075188. 289p
Well recommended for young readers. The Cloud Road is the
second in The Kingdom of the Lost series. Written for
younger readers, this fantasy-adventure takes Bily and Zluty and
Redwing their navigating bird away from their home after the
'arosh', a storm of red stones destroyed their home and all around
them. That strange storm had brought Monster into their cellar. It
was half dead, an 'enormous beast (with) long, deadly, claw-tipped
paws and a red maw full of teeth as long and sharp as daggers' p6.
They placed the Monster in the wagon and set off to find water,
which the Monster said would be beyond the desert they needed to
cross.
Carmody entices the young reader to wonder what the 'arosh',
'whiteout', 'the Makers', the 'Monks' and the 'diggers' might really
be. Perhaps there's a lesson for everyone when Bily says, 'Now I
think we must live by the rules of the places we come to' p143.
It's an intriguing tale of brotherly love, friendship and trust with
good triumphing almost over evil. That's left to book three. Her use
of descriptive and unusual language formations enriches the fantasy.
Carmody encourages her readers to think about the visual images and
to use the language that inspires. As adults we might use snow but
here they are 'coldwhites'. Readers will be keen to read The
Velvet City.
Sue Nosworthy
Life after theft by Aprilynne Pike
HarperCollins, 2013. ISBN 9780007515561.
(Age: 14+) Recommended as an easy to read, light story. Ghosts.
Theft. Romance. How would you feel if you came face to face with a
ghost? That's the dilemma that faces, Jeff, who is confronted by
Kimberlee Schaffer, who dropped dead the previous year. She has come
back to haunt him because she needs his help with her unfinished
business. In real life Kimberlee may have been gorgeous and popular,
but she was a kleptomaniac and she wants Jeff to help her return all
the things that she stole.
I enjoyed this story that was told from the point of view of Jeff,
who was a positive male voice. He doesn't want to be haunted by
Kimberlee so he agrees to help her, especially when she tells him
that the things that she stole had real value for the people
concerned. Faced with the huge hoard of stolen goods that Kimberlee
has secreted in a cave on her parent's property, Jeff has to come up
with some innovative ways of getting stuff back to its original
owners and this propels the plot forward in often amusing ways.
The character development is great and we see Kimberlee grow from a
selfish teen, albeit a ghost, to a girl who can see other points of
view. Jeff is believable as the boy who helps her out and his
growing romance with Sera, who is the girl Kimberlee has really
hurt, adds some tension to the plot.
This is a fun read that will appeal to girls in particular and will
have the added bonus of some dark moments as the reader ponders why
Kimberlee has stolen so much and whether she will be able to
understand her actions enough to stop haunting Jeff.
Pat Pledger
A bear and a tree by Stephen Michael King
Penguin, 2012. ISBN 9780670075829.
(Age: 4+) Warmly recommended. Picture book. Friendship. Change. When
Ren is upset that her loved tree has lost all of its leaves, Bear
stops collecting the leaves for his den for the winter, and sits
with her until she is calmer. They then spend the day together, Bear
answering Ren's questions about the snow as best as he can. They
play together in the snow, looking at the patterns in the snow, the
icicles and simply dancing. They meet Mouse who is waiting for the
night so that he can catch the first winter stars. They spend the
night watching the stars, and when morning comes, Bear realises that
he must sleep. He attaches some of the leaves he has collected to
the tree, adding some of the things they have made together and goes
to his den to sleep.
A tale of friendship and change, this story is seemingly simple, but
has many layers to reveal as it is read and reread. The idea of
change permeates the book, from the leafless tree, to Bear needing
to sleep, so leaving his friend, to the change in the patterning of
the sky, to the increasingly cold landscape. The blue and white of
the pages, the lack of leaves on all the trees, the change from
rainy landscape to one covered in snow, all point to the fact that
Bear must soon retire to bed.
For parents and teachers simply looking at weather patterns and
seasonal changes then this is a wonderful introduction, and for
those wanting to look at friendship and change, then this book will
provide a masterful springboard.
Fran Knight
Bakir and Bi by Jillian Boyd
Ill. by Tori-Jay Mordey. Magabala Books, 2013. ISBN 9781921248863.
I read this
book from a teaching point of view, and found it useful for
comparing Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal cultures. For example:
attitudes towards conservation and drought, interpretation of
dreams, beliefs. It could be used for some topics in Aboriginal
studies in the middle primary, such as the traditional use of
resources and the naming of children and places. I think it
would also be good for use in discussions about relationships, such
as what causes good friends/family to become estranged and sometime
enemies.
Rhoda Jenkin
A Royal Fairytale: Kate and William by Ink Robin and Adam Larkum
Egmont, 2013. ISBN 9781405268431. pbk.
While the world waits and the souvenir factories go into overdrive,
Ink Robin brings us this
picture book for littlies that tells the true story of a prince and
his princess, how they met, fell in love, had a wedding that the
whole world watched and then kept waiting for THAT announcement.
Written really well with the traditional 'once upon a time' start
and the 'happily ever after' ending in a style that echoes 'handsome
prince meets and marries beautiful commoner girl' stories of a
bygone era, this tale not only tells the story of he who will be
king when our little people are old enough to understand what that
means (even though he might not be king of Australia then) but it
also keep every little girl's dreams of becoming a princess
alive. Two Miss 7's who shared it with me had very satisfied
smiles on their faces at the end.
Apart from its connections to the events in London that have the
media in a frenzy (and the bookies making a mint), this
book could also be used as an introduction to biography genre and a
creative teacher librarian could construct a curriculum of rich
investigations ranging from exploring the nature of biographies and
their essential elements; seeking ideas for collection development
through identifying who the students would like to know more about
and writing these stories; delving into the history of the monarchy
and its relationship to and impact on Australian lives; to
considering and debating whether Australia should become a
republic. Rich pickings indeed which begin with 'Once upon a
time' for the reader and lead to 'happily ever after' for the
teacher and teacher librarian wanting something a little different.
Barbara Braxton
The disgrace of Kitty Grey by Mary Hooper
Bloomsbury, 2013. ISBN 978 1 4088 2761 1
(Age: 12+) Recommended. Historical novel.Convicts. Set in the time
of Jane Austen and Regency England, Hooper has her main character,
Kitty Gray, one of the servants in a wealthy household, go to London
to buy a book for her mistress. Kitty is a milkmaid, running the
kitchen dairy which supplies the milk for the household, and so in a
trusted position within the servant community. She is friendly with
the local ferrryman, and he has been left with the charge of his
younger sister, Betsy, following the deaths of his parents. But he
has plans to improve himself, and so sets off to London to gain
employment on the ferries on the Thames River, leaving Betsy with the
distraught Kitty.
Given the task of going to London to buy a book for her mistress,
the innocent Kitty sets off, with Betsy in tow, hoping to find Will.
We see her traveling to the city on a coach, but once there she is
tricked out of the money given her to buy the book, and is alone,
penniless and with a sick child to care for.
She takes lodgings where she can, avoiding the suggestions that she
can earn money in other ways, and eventually, using an old chair to
light a fire for the sick child, is taken to Newgate and sentenced
to seven years' transportation. But she is able to escape. Hooper
can certainly recreate the times well. The reader will be in no
doubt about the gravity of her situation in London, where a girl in
her situation can be easily persuaded into a life of prostitution.
The cruelty of other poor around her adds to the feeling of the
decay of the place, the scavengers in the street, the poor houses,
the unwanted attention of men, the prison and finally the ship where
she is held prior to leaving for the colonies. All are described in
such detail, that readers can be in no doubt about the gravity of
people in her situation.
While some of the plot is perhaps a bit of a stretch to believe, it
is an exciting and involving read, strongly evocative of the times,
and girls particularly will read this book with pleasure.
Fran Knight
Not for turning: The life of Margaret Thatcher by Robin Harris
Transworld Publishers, 2013. ISBN 9780593072868.
(Age: 18+) Margaret Thatcher broke through the glass ceiling of
British politics to become the first woman to lead the Conservative
Party and the country's first female Prime Minister. When she
resigned in 1990, she had held the office for longer than any other
British Prime Minister of the twentieth century. Readers wanting to
find out how one person could achieve so much will find many answers
to their questions in Not for turning: The life of Margaret Thatcher
by Robin Harris.
The author was Margaret Thatcher's speechwriter and advisor but
although he agreed with many of her policies, he has carefully
weighed her weaknesses as a political leader against her strengths.
The result is a sympathetic but not uncritical account of the former
Prime Minister's rise and fall. It explains how Margaret Thatcher's
steely determination took her from a modest home to 10 Downing
Street, sustained her as she confronted opposition to her policies
and survived a terrorist attack, then contributed to her downfall
when she refused to withdraw the Community Charge, also known as the
Poll Tax. Although readers will learn much about her personal life,
Not for turning is essentially a detailed political biography which
assumes that its audience has a sophisticated knowledge of British
society and politics. A chronology, an extensive bibliography and
photographs are provided, but there is no glossary. Meticulous
source notes and a challenging vocabulary mark this title as the
work of an academically trained author, who anticipates that his
book will be selected by university and public libraries. Not for turning is one person's interpretation of a remarkable if
controversial career. It will be of interest to students of politics
and economics, as well as those who want to learn more about the
life of a leader whose name became synonymous with the ideology she
endorsed: Thatcherism.
Elizabeth Bor
Truly Tan Jinxed by Jen Storer
Ill. by Claire Robertson. ABC Books, 2013. ISBN 9780733331220.
(Age: 8+) Chapter book. The second in the series, Truly Tan,
this funny, lighthearted look at rural life will engage middle
primary readers with ease.
Tan and her sister swimming in their dam, cannot help but talk about
their father's latest sale purchase, an old tram. It sits forlornly
near the dam, and the children have strict instructions not to go
anywhere near it. Of course, a rule like that is red rag to a bull,
so they are beset with stories about what could possibly be so bad
that they are not allowed to go inside. They enlist the help of
classmates who tell them it came from a deceased estate, and it even
has a name, Miss Havisham. The children then take stock of other
things in their house, most of which came to them from other sales
in the neighbourhood, many from deceased estates.
Through Tan's diary, pages of which break up the storyline and give
us a different perspective, we see how the children react when one
sees the curtain flutter on the old tram.
Tan has plans to be a girl detective and armed with the accoutrement
of a detective, a tape recorder, pens and pencils, she and the
others plot their course of action. They camp one night near the
dam, and encounter a ghost, and this is enough to keep readers
hooked in this highly entertaining tale. Fun ensues with all coming
out right in the end.
Fran Knight
