Reviews

Divide and Conquer by Carrie Ryan

Infinity Ring, book 2. Scholastic, 2012. ISBN 9780545386975.
Recommended. Book two of the Infinity Ring series though written by a different author begins exactly where book one left off. Well the same spot in Paris only in the year 885 not 1792, and after the Infinity Ring had once again saved the main characters Sera, Dak and Riq.
Children, already hooked by the Infinity Ring series and its related internet game, will find this adventure in history hard to resist. Those new to the adventures of the young time travellers will soon be bought up to speed as Sera and Dak reflect on the events which bought them to ancient Paris.
We are immediately involved in the action as the Vikings lay siege to the city with our heroes inside as they attempt to work out what break in history they have been sent to repair. Sera and Riq after are left with the Franks defending the Ile de la Cite whilst Dak, who wanders off caught up in the joy of looking at real Viking ships, is caught while inspecting one of the longboats along the Seine, and become standard bearer for the invaders.
As with the previous story there is an Hystorian, Bill, to help them in their quest and they also need to defeat The Time Warden, Gorm, a member of the SQ, the organisation determined to ensure history favours its quest for power.
The author of this story introduces an element of young love between Sera and the young Hystorian. That and the friendship and between Dak and Rollo, are a relief from all the fighting and politics and enable us to see the main characters developing. The question of how their presence is affecting the ones they meet as they travel through time is raised by Sera.
After inadvertently taking Rollo's dog Vigi with them when they travelled through time, they choose to go back to 911 and the Battle of Chartres and meet again with the Rollo and Bill who has joined with him.
The final paragraph tantalises us with enough information to look forward to the next book. More adventures in the quest to defeat the SQ and change their stream of history as well as finding Dak's parents.
Sue Keane

Words get knotted by Pippa Sweeney

Bloomsbury, 2012. Unpaged. Hardback picture book.
Suitable for ages 6+. The subject of this book is dyslexia, which is defined as 'a difficulty with words'. The author, Pippa Sweeney wrote this book to help children, their families and friends to better understand the condition. She has dyslexia herself, as does her elder daughter, and she tells us about the hereditary links in this condition.
The stage for this tale is set by using the analogy of words and writing being like wool and knitting. When you have dyslexia your words get knotted just like wool can become knotted. The analogy contributes to the lovely quirky feel about this book.
There are naive, colour illustrations predominantly created with wool, which give the illustrations a collage effect. They tie in beautifully with the analogy described above and the 'knotted' title. The design and format have been well thought out and the pages are never crowded.
In the back of the book there is Further information (via websites) and About the author. Also included are Ten tips for parents, which focus on making learning as active as possible eg No. 5 'Make cakes and cookies with your child' (weighing ingredients, placing them in separate containers, providing simple instructions to read together with your child), which sounds like fun.
The author also gives many suggestions to teachers for ways to help children with dyslexia eg colour tints to help reading, computer games, tape record your stories. Children are advised not to worry 'if you write something differntly each time, diferently each time, differently each time.' They are encouraged to ask for help from family members and teachers, who can explain to them what is happening.
M. E. Strickland

Sarah plain and tall by Patricia MacLachlan

HarperTrophy, 2004. ISBN 978 0 06 440205 7.
(Age: 8+) Highly recommended. Early novel. American history. Step parents. One of the useful things about AbeBooks and other such companies, is being able to find and buy a book that was a favourite years ago and reread it. So it is with Sarah plain and tall. Recently reading Norah's chicks by Patricia MacLachlan, I remembered another of her books that I read many years ago and loved. I found it had been reprinted and was able to get a secondhand copy published in 2004 for $5. This wonderful story, so well told, concerns a man and his two young children living on a farm out west, after his wife has died. The background of the farm work that he does is a subtle part of the writing, and we see that he has little spare time. He needs someone to look after the house and the children, and so advertises for a wife. An answer comes from Sarah, who lives near the sea. The correspondence is shared between the small family until she agrees to come and stay with them for a month.
During that month, the plain and tall Sarah endears herself to the man and his children, while overcoming some of her grief at not being near the sea, and she agrees to stay to be married.
This Newbery Award winner is wonderful, the story inviting and enveloping, the feelings of each of the four so well portrayed that we see each of their fears and understand them. That a young woman can travel into an unknown place with the possibility of marriage astounds me and I have a profound admiration of the courage of those who did so. First published in 1985, Sarah plain and tall has lost none of its freshness and appeal.
Fran Knight

Dog on Log by Tania Ingram and Kat Chadwick

Omnibus Books, 2013. ISBN 9781862919648.
Dog on log is a delightfully simple rhyming picture book. An assortment of characters including a dog, frog, hog, cat and rat are gathered outdoors for a birthday party. The reader finds them in a variety of situations, such as 'Frog on dog and dog on log. Dog and frog near hog in bog.' The dialogue is accompanied by beautiful illustrations containing plenty of interesting details to share with young children. Here is a rat peeping out of a log, there sits a basket of party hats and a frog holding a balloon. Nearby, a hog lies contentedly in the water, a bottle of sunscreen close at hand. The party becomes a little more chaotic as more guests arrive and the rat tries to steal the cat's cake. Ultimately they all end up in the bog.
This book is a pleasurable and entertaining read and worthy addition to any pre schooler's library.
Tina Cain

Destiny Rising by L. J. Smith

The Vampire Diaries: The Hunters Vol. 3. Harper Teen, 2012. ISBN 9780062119605.
Elena has had to face many forces over the years. Now she is learning about her destiny as a Guardian. Elena has chosen Stefan, leaving Damon dark and extremely unpredictable. Elena tries to save Damon's soul while being with Stefan. Even though she is with Stefan she is still trying to figure out where her heart lies. Klaus has been resurrected and will stop at nothing until he destroys Elena - including those around her. While learning about her destiny as a Guardian, a protector of Earth, she uncovers that to defeat Klaus she must sacrifice someone close to her
The title Destiny Rising is well suited for the book and helps the reader picture what the novel may be about. The plot followed the same line but new problems kept arriving. The novel had me hanging onto the pages. The novel is exiting with tons of tension in the pages as I kept reading and I wanted to know how it ended.
Cecilia Richards (Student)

Planet of the Lawn Gnomes by R. L. Stine

Goosebumps Most Wanted. Scholastic, 2013. ISBN 9780545417983.
The Goosebumps series has been popular over a long period of time and I know many boys who have been turned on to reading through the work of R.L. Stine.
The lawn gnomes on the cover are enough to make the faint hearted reader turn away, and the lovers of horror fiction delighted. The opening chapter reinforces the impression that this is for horror lovers only as the author introduces the story.
Jay the main character tells the story from his perspective. He claims he is not bad despite having 'been in some pretty bad trouble'. He and his family have moved from another town recently and we become aware that it is because of the trouble Jay has caused. New neighbour, Mr McClatchy, is now the focus for Jay's pranks, but the presence of several garden gnomes spooks him.
These are not little gnomes, being almost as tall as 12 year old Jay, and seem to move about at will, and are everywhere. There is also the quagmire at the end of the street containing quicksand and enormous, blind, Buzzard Hawks flying about. The Buzzard Hawks are large enough to carry away the family golden Labrador Mr Phineas. With these problems and the fact that no one seems keen to tell Jay what is going on, leads to a very confused main character, and reader.
Unfortunately I wasn't a fan of the series in the 90's and despite the many titles now in circulation, this new Most Wanted title hasn't changed my opinion. I found the main character Jay hard to sympathise with and understand, and even at the end was left feeling bemused.
For true fans it undoubtedly will be a hit, but sadly, I have yet to be converted.
Sue Keane

Interview with Angela Sunde by Fran Knight

Adelaide, February 18, 2013.
Teacher's College in New Zealand in the 70's, like Australia, had a bond system.Those who were the recipients of education department bursaries for university degrees meant that once you completed your studies you were bound to the education facility for a number of years. Fortunately when Angela Sunde completed her training, teaching jobs in New Zealand were scarce, and so her bond was revoked, giving her the opportunity to apply for work in Australia. Another happy emigre was welcomed to our shores adding to our cultural achievements.
First work was in Melbourne, where temperatures range from 14C to 34C just in one day, as a secondary teacher of German. Angela was heavily involved in the Goethe Institute, winning a scholarship to Germany to work and study. Back in Australia, she and her husband decided to move to the Gold Coast after her mother and siblings moved there from New Zealand. Here she worked for several years, but having children meant reducing her time in schools, so she worked in primary schools for some years, developing an empathy and understanding of younger children and their reading needs.
But changes here, meant that she no longer felt happy, having to teach in two schools with reduced time given to languages, so she took a TAFE course in writing for children and has never looked back. Finding something you are passionate about is most gratifying and within this genre of children's literature, she was able to tap into her inner self and write.
Pond Magic, her first novel for upper primary students was published in 2010, and another in the same series, Aussie Chomps, was written but unfortunately missed the boat, that wonderful series having been shelved by Penguin.
In Pond Magic, 12 year old Lily notices that her face is changing colour. Later she notices that her feet are becoming webbed and now and again a croak emanates from her mouth and she wins the breast stroke race at the school swimming carnival by miles. What to do? When her family, the Padds, take on an exchange student from France, Lily finds a neat solution to her problem and all is resolved.
The light touch of Lily's story is part of its charm. The continuing puns on all things green, webby and French are pitched at just the right level of humour for this age group and I for one, reread the story hoping there would be a sequel.
Moving to the Gold Coast meant that Angela was also able to access the events aimed at helping emerging writers. She has been to the CYA Conferences in Brisbane each year since its inception six years ago, listening to the authors and publishers speak about their work, while having access to publishers and being able to pitch her own work. At these conferences many budding authors are able to get a publisher interested in their work, and see how their work sounds while talking to others. Through these conferences too, Angela has made some wonderful friends in the writing and illustrating world.
Awarded one of the 2013 May Gibbs Fellowships, Angela has been able to stay at the apartment in Norwood, meet fellow authors and illustrators in Adelaide, and meet some of the publishing world here. Working on her next book, The Blue Tutu, Angela was grateful to have spoken to Dyan Blacklock, allowing her to see her story from a different perspective and with renewed vigour.
Angela spends some of her time volunteering for organisations using illustrating as a forum. The event, One Word - One Day sees a group of illustrators given one word to use as the basis for an illustration during the day. The illustrations are taken to Sydney where they are auctioned and the money so raised goes to the Indigenous Literacy Foundation. This is backed by the Australian Society of Authors. She and the writers' group in the Gold Coast to which she belongs, Prana Writers, entered the 'Write a Book in a Day' competition recently. A hellish task, but Angela and her group won the day! (won National First Place in the open section and raised $980 for the Royal Children's Hospital in Brisbane)
I asked Angela about her blog, which can be found here, as it seems to me that many authors spend a lot of time on their blogs, possibly taking time away from writing. She agreed, but admitted that lately while in Adelaide, she had been posting a short piece each day on her blog, while she usually limits it to one post a month.
For more information about Angela Sunde see here and on the Puffin website.
Fran Knight

Pond Magic by Angela Sunde

Puffin, 2010. ISBN 978 014330525.
(Ages: 10-12) Recommended. Another in the highly successful series, Aussie Chomps, this very funny story has poor Lily watching herself turn into a frog. At first she notices her skin is going green, then she embarrasses herself highly in the school bus with the most enormous burps, when changing for swimming, she suddenly notices the webbing between her feet, and to top it all off, she wins the race easily, using the fastest breaststroke anyone has ever seen. Combine all this with eruption on her face and a proclivity for flies, Lily's life is a mess.
Her mother, Mrs Padd, surprises her with a French exchange student, coming to stay and Lily is determined not to like him. But he speaks French. So when Mrs Swan next door confesses that is it her doing that is causing these momentous changes, Lily finds something on the web in French, needing his discretion to translate it and so get her life back to some sort of normalcy.
A great read with lots of puns and jokes around frogs and green things, this deceptively uncomplicated writing will engage the Aussie Chomps audience, looking for something with bite, a sound plot and amiable characters and yet still not too complex or overlong.
Fran Knight

Just One Day by Gayle Forman

Definitions, 2013. ISBN: 978-1-849-41566-8.
(Age: Teens) Recommended. In just one day anything could happen.
Allyson has lived a sheltered life for as long as she can remember; she has never done anything dangerous or rebellious. That is until she travels to Paris with a strange boy for just one day. Allyson rebels, loves and losses all in one day. Exhausted both emotionally and physically she returns to America in a state of severe depression not knowing whether she had made the biggest mistake of her life or not. She is not the happy collage student her parents had expected her to be and despite this she pushes herself to live up to their high expectations and forget about her day in Paris. It is nearly impossible to do so. She soon decides to return to Paris during the summer break. Her parents are horrified to learn that their obedient daughter had gone to Paris without their knowledge and refuse to sponsor her trip. Allyson is forced to work her way for the first time in her life. She feels drained but alive. But finding a boy with only a description and a common name is much harder than she expects.
Just One Day is an enlightening novel about taking chances and growing up. Set across continents in Europe and America and centering around two of Shakespeare's plays As You Like It and The Twelfth Night the novel is both informative and engaging. With multiple sub-plots and codas this well written novel is a heartbreakingly compelling read which I would recommend to fans of romance fiction.
Kayla Gaskell (Student).

Snap! by Janet A Holmes and Daniela Germain

Little Hare Books, (Feb) 2013. ISBN 9781 921714 99 3
(Age: 4+) Warmly recommended. Picture book. Fear. Overcoming adversity. Going to school for the first time can be very daunting, and the hero of this book decides that if there are monsters, then he will be one too, and scare them away. He dons his jeans, t-shirt, socks and shoes, and puts his crocodile face on. He is left at the place and snaps at everything he sees. He snaps at the other monsters, the toys, the cake. He snaps when a story is read, and even when he runs outside, the monsters are still there. Sitting on a log he finds a smaller monster sits near him, drawing. Eventually they move closer to each other, and he finds she has drawn a monkey face which she allows him to put on his face. And so the two play together for the rest of the day, until it is time to go home.
Children will love following the seemingly simple tale of the boy finding his feet in a new place, of finding a companion, a friend in this unknown place, of overcoming his fear of the strange and unusual. They will follow his story with interest as they find the monsters in the background, hiding in the grey forest, watching the forest thin out to a few green, leafy trees as his fears lessen. Many children will be able to relate stories of times they have been scared of a new encounter or a new place and so share in the boy's dilemma, adding another level of response. Many children will be able to relate to the idea of hiding behind a mask, and so will pull out, Sendak's Where the wild things are, to add to the reading. Teachers and parents will extend the story of the book into a craft session, where masks are made and worn.
The illustrations are an integral part of the story, again adding another level of interest and intrigue. Many children will take up the challenge of recreating a collage picture of their own, emulating the style used in the book.
Fran Knight

Nerdy Ninjas vs The Really Scary Guys by Shogun Whamhower (John Larkin) and Heath McKenzie

Nerdy Ninjas series. Scholastic Australia, 2013. ISBN: 9781742830261. RRP: $9.99
Recommended for boys 8-10. Themes: Friendship. Humour. School life. Wise words of wisdom from The Ninja Warrior's Handbook, Volume 27 begin each chapter 'A ninja should never egg an adversary, no matter how tempting'. Jake, Ben, Pongo and Veejay are four nerdy school friends who are members of SNOT the Secret Ninja Operational Team. They are given a new assignment to help hunt down beastly intruders lurking in Forest Forest.
Ben's creativity in writing his English essay is stopped by his Mum demanding that he take Fang their dog for walk. The adventure starts when Fang returns with a troll's cape in his mouth. Veejay's story writing comes to an abrupt halt when he hears a blood curdling scream coming from the forest. Pongo Twistleton spends his life boinging on a pogo stick and not doing his home-work. Jake the science nerd is also busy planning to hit the moon with a laser beam. He is the only one who responds to the night noises and finds a troll in the forest.
The action is fast-paced and humorous as the Ninja Nerds face problem after problem at school the next day. They have to battle the evil Principal Kinkoffen, help Ben with his Easter/Celebration hat dilemma and face the troll in the basement. This is just an average school day for the Ninja Warriors who use their special powers to conquer the enemy. Jake's wheelchair plays a special part in the rescue.
Boys from 8-10 would thoroughly enjoy reading this book, that is the second in the series. They would enjoy the humour and empathise with the 'nerdiness' of the protagonists.
Rhyllis Bignell

Racing Ruby by Susannah McFarlane

Level 2 by Lenore Appelhans

Allen and Unwin, 2013.
(Age 14+) Paranormal. Angels. Romance. Felicia Ward is trapped in Level 2, a waiting room between Heaven and Earth. She spends her time in her pod in the Hive, downloading memories of what happened before she died, her friends and Neil, the boyfriend that she yearns for. Then Julian appears from her past and she learns about a rebellion that is happening in the Hive. It seems that she has an important part to play.
Felicia's past actions and feelings come through as memories as she accesses what has happened in the past. The reader learns of her involvement with Julian, even though her best friend is going out with him. We learn about the searches that her father makes for strange tribal music and wonder why she no longer plays music. She spends a lot of time going over her feelings for Neil, the charismatic Christian boy and how she behaved with Julian who is not portrayed in a very sympathetic light. What emerges is a picture of a Felicia as a very selfish teenager. As the story progresses the reader sees her character growing but it is a little difficult to see her as being strong enough to save the Hive.
What makes this book memorable is the original setting, which is quite different from much of the paranormal romance that abounds. The Hive is a fascinating place and the way people are treated there is engrossing. The combination of high tech memory access and drone like behaviour is handled well and keeps the action and motivations of the main characters alive. Touches of Greek mythology and Christian beliefs add to the complexity of the situation that Felicia finds herself in.
There are some action packed chases through the Hive, with Julian and Felicia on the run from the rebels and the inevitable love triangle between Felicia, Neil and Julian is sure to thrill teen readers who enjoy romance. This is a debut novel and more books are to follow in the series.
Pat Pledger

Rattled! by Michael Wagner

Maxx Rumble Cricket series. Ill. by Terry Denton. Black Dog Books, 2012. ISBN 978-1-742032-52-8.
(Age: 7-10) Recommended. Maxx is back! I remember the Maxx Rumble footy books that were huge hit with the grade 3 & 4 boys but I must have missed this cricket series first released in 2004.
Maxx has to survive the pressure of playing against the Princely Pigdogs especially their bowler Happy. It's a tough game and the final result relies on the batting power of Maxx himself.
The book is full of jokes and puns. Thegroup photo, at the beginning of the book shows all the Stone Valley Saints including players called 'I. Drew Nuffin' and 'Lynn C. Doyle'.
The humorous illustrations by Terry Denton are just as important as the text and make the book an entertaining read.
This will appeal to all the younger cricket fans but even I enjoyed it ( cricket is a form of torture to me! )
The book is only 38 pages long and contains official club records and a cricket ladder to compere scores after round 1. There are 8 books in the series, all with a powerful catchy one word title.
Recommended for 7 to 10 year olds or should I just say 'Recommended!', in the spirit of the books themselves.
Jane Moore

Freia Lockhart's summer of awful by Aimee Said

Walker Books, 2013. ISBN 9781 921977 80 0.
(age: 12+) Highly recommended. Growing up. Cancer. Don't you love it when you pick up a sequel and are immediately drawn into the book you read a year or so ago, and without thinking are aware through the wonderful writing of the events and characters of that first book. Freia is the most appealing character, full of life and doubts, loving her family with a passion, but also aware of their faults, detailing for the reader just how this family works, and in this story, how they all cope with mother's cancer, the summer of awful.
Freia and her boyfriend Dan are kissing in her bedroom, which in this house is against the rules, when her parents call her down to a family talk. She thinks its about her infringement, but the parents have bad news, and the routine of hospital and specialists visits begin. Aimee Said is able to detail mother's medical procedures with interest and compassion, enabling the reader to know what is happening without a wash of medical jargon but with enough information to make it quite involving, using a touch of humour to alleviate the tension and emotional involvement.
All the while the relationship between Freia and Dan seems, at least to Freia's eyes, to be dissolving especially when he takes off for the New Year to visit his estranged mother. Gran helps in her own inimitable way to repair the breach between them, suddenly taking off herself when a friend dies. This is a marvellous read, full of the highs and lows of family life, Dad sitting in his study while his mother in law is in the house, Ziggy acting oddly, eventually being chatted by the Police for anti social behaviour, and all through it Mum with her visits and stays in hospital shines through: no one is unbelievable, each is a rounded character, and lower secondary people will feel welcomed to this family.
Fran Knight