St Martins Griffin, 2012. ISBN 9780312656744.
(Age: 15+) Recommended. End of world. Zombies. Dystopian fiction.
Suicide.
YALSA Awards for Best Fiction for Young Adults (2013), an ALA/YALSA
Top Ten Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers (2013). Six teenagers have
taken refuge in Cortege High School as the world around them is
taken over by the dead. One bite will kill and turn a person and
everywhere there is chaos. Sloane is one of the group, but
psychologically and physically damaged by an abusive father, she
finds it difficult to see a reason for living, especially as her
sister Lucy had abandoned her six months before. As the days crawl
by and the undead pound on the doors, the dynamics of the group take
over and Sloane has to decide whether she wants to survive or not.
This is not your usual action packed zombie book. Even though there
are plenty of exciting encounters with zombies, it is the thoughts
and behaviour of Sloane that dominate the book. Summers vividly
describes the pain and emptiness of Sloane's isolation and
helplessness.
She is a damaged girl who constantly thinks of ending her life. Her
father has physically and mentally abused her and her sister Lucy,
on whom she relied utterly, left her alone to cope with her father.
While the rest of the group struggle desperately to survive, Sloane
looks on and feels that this might be her opportunity to end it all.
A lot of the tension in the novel stems from six very different
teenagers trying to understand the enormity of what is happening and
what they will need to do to survive. They are faced with life and
death decisions, trying to decide when it is ethical to kill someone
or to deny them access to a safe building. The other group members
are all vividly brought to life as the crisis situation brings out
both the best and the worst in their characters. Thrust together,
there are leadership struggles between Cary and Trace, partnerships
are made and broken and while Rhys is constantly helpful to Sloane,
he makes her examine her actions in light of what happens to other
people.
This is an exhausting but thought provoking book that is sure to win
fans of the horror genre and will also appeal to reluctant readers.
Pat Pledger
Parachute by Danny Parker and Matt Ottley
Little Hare, 2013. ISBN 9781921894206.
Every morning Toby puts on his parachute. It's the one thing that
helps him get through his day. It helps him get out of bed in the
morning, navigating that long climb from the top bunk. It helps him
get off the breakfast bar stool, and the bathroom stool after he's
brushed his teeth. Wherever he goes, that parachute gives him
strength and courage. Until he lends it to his cat Henry when Henry
gets stuck up a tree and Toby finds himself way up high without it.
This is a sensitive, beautifully illustrated story of a little boy
who takes the first steps from anxiety to independence. It offers
reassurance for those who are straddling the chasm, wanting the
security of the known on one side yet also seeking the adventure of
the unknown on the other. It would have a great place in a
discussion with parents or their children about making the leap to
big school, perhaps encouraging them to think in advance of
strategies that will help them face a situation if it arises, as
well as helping the more confident think about how they deal with
such things and the sorts of encouragement they can offer if a
friend is struggling. Help them know how to fill their friend's
bucket of confidence rather than dipping into it.
This would be a perfect purchase to offer Foundation teachers as a
read-aloud. (Make sure you take the cover off and share it with them
first - great thinking-starter!) Just magical.
Barbara Braxton
An accidental soldier by John Charalambous
UQP, 2013. ISBN 9780702250118.
(Age: 13+) In the spring of 1918, Harry Lambert is working as a
military baker behind the lines in France. He is tired of watching
his friends die around him. After learning he is to be sent to the
front, he makes a decision that will change his life forever. Harry
runs away to the countryside, finding refuge with a French woman
named Colombe who speaks no English. The two form an unlikely bond,
falling in love while waiting out the remainder of the war. An Accidental Soldier (originally released in 2006 as Silent
Parts) is first and foremost a tale of love and hope. Yes, it
is mostly set during the First World War, but the presence of the
war exists mostly for the mere setting of France, and as a catalyst
in bringing Harry and Colombe together. This is not a war novel that
focuses on the close friendships between men fighting on the front
line, nor on the gruesome reality of the battlefield, but on the
tender and unlikely love between two people from very different
parts of the world. Harry Lambert is a quiet, shy man, weary of the
blood and gore of the war, whereas Colombe is a strong, older French
woman living on her own in the countryside and trying to cope with
the death of her son. Their relationship is unlikely, but not
unrealistic.
The writing is gentle-paced, yet captivating. The characters are
well developed and very interesting, and Harry in particular is
excellent. However, this novel truly succeeds because it doesn't
focus on the bloodshed or cruelty of the war, but on a delicate,
unexpected love. An Accidental Soldier is an evocative, touching portrayal of
unlikely love during the cruel days of war.
Rebecca Adams (Student)
Baby bedtime by Mem Fox
Ill. by Emma Quay. Penguin, 2013. ISBN 9780670075195.
(Age: 0-3) Recommended. Picture book. Love. Verse. With words
written by Mem Fox at the birth of her grandson, Theo, love for a
newborn baby seeps through every word. Each line begins with 'I
could', giving a sentence about what a parent or carer will do with
the baby, making it snug and secure within that person's circle of
love and protection. All the while the baby is being taken upstairs,
the curtains drawn, the blind pulled down, showing the stages of the
routine in putting a child down to bed for the night. Books appear
on most pages, either as part of the routine of the carer reading a
story to the baby before he goes to bed, or else as part of the
background to the child's room, in a shelf of books.
Produced in a sumptuous softly padded hard cover edition, this book
cries out to be read and re-read as a child goes to bed for the
night, adding another stage in the routine of night time for the
child. Parents too will love to read aloud Mem's text, marvelling at
the soft words used to educe sleepiness and calm.
The illustrations taken from items found in a charity shop, reflect
knitted and crocheted garments along with different textures of
woven material, and used with soft colours, reflect the world of the
baby as he goes to bed at night.
Fran Knight
Dead, actually by Kaz Delaney
Bolinda, 6 CD's, 7 hrs, 36 mins. ISBN 9781743154878.
(Allen and Unwin, 2012.)
(Age: 14+) Highly recommended. Humour, Death. Leaving work at a fast
food joint late one night, Willow, the only daughter of two hapless
but well heeled hippies turned lately to God, happens upon a car
accident, in which JoJo, the top A-lister at school, is killed. At
the funeral Willow receives unwanted overtures of friendship from
JoJo's friends and ex boyfriends, so knows something is very wrong.
Willow and her friend Macey despise JoJo and her friends for their
shallowness and vanity, epitomised by the over the top funeral. But
when Jo-Jo's ghost appears in her room, telling her that she must
find out who murdered her, Willow is floored, and despite her
disinclination to help JoJo she does not want this apparition living
in her bedroom for any longer than is absolutely necessary.
There follows a truly funny modern ghost story, a crime thriller
with a light touch of romance. Willow and Macey seek to find out
just what is behind JoJo's idea that she has been murdered, and when
Macey's brother, Seth, admits he was being blackmailed by JoJo,
their investigations widen.
The three go to JoJo's wake with some misgivings, and carefully
observe and question some of the leading contenders for the role of
murderer. At home Willow is trying to protect her parents from a
conman who is attempting to take their money, a situation fitting
with the wealthy but sleazy Gold Coast community. Seth the boy
Willow lusts after, suggests that they just pretend to be a couple,
to continue their clandestine observations of JoJo's friends. and
things move along to a funny climax combining all the themes.
All told with the tongue firmly in a cheek, the A-list girls'
behaviour is neatly expressed, their wealthy and vacuous lifestyle
presented in a way which will cause listeners to laugh out loud.
This audio edition presented by Bolinda makes easy listening. Dana
Kronental's voice is light, youthful and fresh, giving an empathy to
Willow's dilemma, while adding lustre to the range of people in the
background. Her voice takes on the shallowness of JoJo and her
companions, the almost nerdiness of Willow and her friends, the
longing in Willow's voice when she speaks to Seth, the absolute
loathing Willow has for the man in her parents' lives. Each voice is
recognisably different.
This is an inviting audio production of a wonderfully funny book,
one which could be well used in classrooms where this book or others
like it are to be studied, or a unit on modern images of women in
the media, or just as a series of CD's to listen to at home.
Fran Knight
Don't Look Now series by Paul Jennings and Andrew Weldon
Allen & Unwin, 2013.
Book 3: Haircut, Just A Nibble. ISBN 9781743311417.
Book 4: Hobby Farm, Seeing Red. ISBN 9781743311424.
Recommended for readers from 7-11 years. Themes: Family Life,
Flight, School Life, Humour, Self-Perception, Friendship. The Don't
look Now series continues with Book 3 and concludes with Book
4. Jennings and Weldon follows the highs and lows of Ricky's life as
he develops his friendship with Samantha the girl next door and
greatly improves his flying skills.
In the first story of Book 3 Haircut, Ricky's decision to wear
Dad's old red Afro wig and spy on Samantha and her Girl Guide troop
leads him into more misfortune. Ricky never seems to learn! Whilst
in Just a nibble, Ricky and Dad's practice flying session in
the bush finally helps in the quest for winning Samantha over. Ricky
shows courage and creativity at last.
The series ends with Book 4's stories Hobby Farm and Seeing
Red. Ricky's flying skills are developing and he uses them to
save Samantha and her class's stuffed toy chickens from the Hobby
Farm. Scaring Mandy Wong with the giant chicken suit on is a classic
moment. Ricky's stinky doona even helps to save the situation. In Seeing
Red Ricky and Samantha's friendship is growing, they even
discuss what colours feel like including red for love. When Ricky
and Samantha take a bushwalk together they face a raging bushfire
and Ricky shows he truly is a hero when he saves Samantha and her
guide dog Jack.
Andrew Weldon's cartoon pictures bring a depth of interest and much
humour to these amusing tales. Paul Jennings once again proves he
really understands the needs of his readers. These novels are
recommended for readers from 7-11 years of age and are suited to
students with a high interest and a low reading age.
Rhyllis Bignell
Reboot by Amy Tintera
Allen & Unwin, 2013. ISBN 978743315507.
Subtitled, '5 years ago, I died, 178 minutes later, I woke up,' here
we are immersed in a post killer virus world where a proportion of
fatalities come back to life physically superior and immediately
self-healing. Fearful humans have managed to subjugate them and use
them as enforcers for HARC, keeping the populace under control.
Reboots are barcoded and referred to by the number of minutes it
took them to reboot, the longer the time, the less human emotion
experienced, the better they can be trained. At 178 Wren is one of
the highest and best, when she chooses to train cute, sensitive
newbie Callum, just a 22 and bursting with emotions, romance
blossoms and this supposedly emotionless killing machine blushes and
stumbles like an infatuated teenager.
I had some trouble accepting the main character's obvious emotional
traits; insecurity, embarrassment, friendship and sexual attraction
after having been assured that she had none and if you accept that
she has a choice about expressing emotion how does that explain all
the killing? I found the narration fairly flat and lacking in a
sense of place, the self interested motivation for joining the
rebels unsatisfying, and the ending too easily achieved. However
this will appeal to the middle school Vampire/Zombie romance
readers; even if you are bullet riddled and dead there is a Mr Right
out there for you!
Sue Speck
Saurus Street series by Nick Falk & Tony Flowers
Random House Australia, 2013. A plesiosaur broke my bathtub. ISBN 9780857981820. A diplodocus trampled my teepee. ISBN 9780857981844.
Highly recommended for 7 years up in particular. These are terrific
little books for those newly independent readers and probably mostly
boys . . . although one little granddaughter is going to be
very pleased to have these copies!
Text of larger size, neatly broken up with amusing illustrations and
a particularly attractive use of creative fonts combine to make
these very easily accessible to those whose reading confidence may
need some building. There is a generous smattering of fun lettering
to highlight selected words - a really useful device to add meaning
to some words which may be unfamiliar and deepening understanding of
meaning of some.
The stories are great fun with a range of characters, those already
known from previous books and those being introduced, along with a
variety of dinosaurs which many young palaeontologists will be able
to identify. With enough silliness to make each plot highly amusing
for the age group, these are quick reads and it would be easy to
imagine enthusiasts racing through the series and wanting more.
There are six altogether in this series and excitingly we have a
heads up about a new release for March 2014 - Billy is a Dragon
- so it sounds like there will continue be a supply for the kids who
will clamour for another.
Sue Warren
Literature to Support General Capabilities by Fran Knight and Pat Pledger
Pledger Consulting, 2013. ISBN: 9781876678395.
Recommended. Subtitled 'Personal and social capability, Ethical
behaviour, Intercultural understanding, Numeracy'. This title
contains annotated lists of novels to support the General
capabilities strand of the Australian Curriculum. In addition to the
topics listed in the title, literacy and ICT are also included.
Lists cater for students from Reception or Foundation right through
to those in Year 10. Materials listed are predominantly those which
can be deemed more recent releases as well as some which libraries
probably hold as part of their collections already.
Personally, I much prefer lists such as this collection to those I
find online. Invariably, a large proportion of the titles which I
find in digital lists either contain predominantly American voices
or out-dated titles which can no longer even be sourced except from
overseas. Given that we are teaching the 'Australian curriculum', I
appreciate having access to literature with a genuine Australian
voice, direct from Australian publishers and therefore of greater
relevance to our students. I would recommend this title as an
essential for every library due to the time it saves in gathering
together titles on a particular capability and the quality of the
literature listed in this resource. Thanks again for assisting all
teachers and librarians through the content of this book!
Jo Schenkel
The four seasons of Lucy McKenzie by Kirsty Murray
Allen and Unwin, 2013. ISBN 9781743317020.
(Age: (9-12) Highly recommended. When her sister falls ill and her
mother has to go to Paris, Lucy McKenzie is sent to the country to
stay with her Great Aunt Big, who lives in Avendale, an old house in
a hidden valley. She is very unhappy about being there but then she
discovers that the old house is full of mysteries. One night she
hears a voice calling from inside a painting on the wall and
entering the scene becomes friends with three children on the other
side of the painting. There she has many adventures, fighting a
bushfire, battling a flood and riding horses through the bush. But
why has Lucy been taken to the 1930's and why does she need to
befriend April, Tom and Jimmy Tiger?
This is a very engaging time-slip novel, bringing to life what it
was like to live in the country in the 1930's and contrasting it
with life today. Murray keeps up the suspense about what is
happening and who the children are as Lucy gradually becomes friends
with them and learns that she has abilities to help in times of
danger. It is the knowledge that Lucy brings from the 21st century
that helps to put out a bushfire and save the family's house. The
mystery surrounding the children is beautifully realised as Lucy
begins to grow and mature.
Murray also subtly looks at the role of women in the 1930's. As Lucy
gradually begins to appreciate her aunt's eccentric personality and
stops hating being at Avendale, she finds Big has had to sacrifice
her own career to look after father. However she is not a bitter
person, but one who appreciates the beauty of the countryside and
her paintings of it. Lucy discovers from her friendship with Lucy
that regardless of age, you are still the same person inside.
Lucy also has to think about what would happen if she changed the
future through her actions in the past. Even though she tries to
warn Tom not to go to war she realises the consequences of her
actions.
True to life characters, a beautiful bush setting, and a look at
life in the 1930s make this a fascinating and worthwhile read.
Pat Pledger
A swim in the sea by Sue Whiting and Meredith Thomas
Walker Books, Australia, 2013. ISBN 9781921150494.
(Age: 4+) Recommended. Picture book. Sea. Fear. Family. Bruno is
eager to get to the sea with his family and see it for the first
time. They pack the car, drive there and see the sea peeping over
the horizon. Bruno is ecstatic. He and his dog run along the sand,
jumping and splashing in the water's edge, until a big wave comes
rolling in, pounding the beach and following closely behind as he
runs away from the water's edge. He is terrified. His day at the
beach ruined, so he sits under his beach towel and refuses all
attempts to entice him out.
Little by little his family encourage him to appear. They build a
castle near by with a moat, encouraging him to be part of the
activity. They build a wall around the castle, filling it with
seaweed and shells, and he takes a tentative step inside and sees it
is not much different from his wading pool at home, and so feels
safe. All ends happily.
A charming story of feeling safe, or overcoming a fear of the sea,
this will have wide appeal to young children, particularly when going
to the beach. The overcoming of fears, the strength of the family
unit, the family on holiday, are all themes which could be explored using
this book with illustrations that immediately appeal with their
strong colours and flowing images of the sea.
Fran Knight
Starting school by Jane Godwin and Anna Walker
Penguin, 2013. ISBN 9780670076765.
Tim, Hannah, Sunita, Joe and Polly are starting school and while
each of them is having a unique experience, each experience is that
of every other child who makes that big step to independence.
Each double spread focuses on a different aspect - getting ready,
meeting the teacher, making friends, finding their way around the
school - all those things that loom large in the minds of littlies
and which can be really daunting. But putting a personal face
on them somehow makes them more manageable and not such a big deal.
From being strangers at the start of the day, each has a new friend
and plenty to tell their parents at the end of the day.
Anna Walker's gentle illustrations, especially those which run along
the bottom of the pages, are the perfect accompaniment to a book
that every child should experience before they start school.
Apart from anything else, it will help them understand that the BIG
problem that they are wrestling with is one that is shared by others
and that there is a solution for it. Even if they follow a
beetle at lunchtime and don't hear the bell, someone will miss them
and find them and show them the way to where they should be.
As this school year winds down and transition visits from preschools
begin, this is a perfect book to help the children prepare for this
next step in their lives. Perhaps it could even be a model for
the class to start its own book, documenting the adventures and
emotions of those first few days. The children will look back
on it twelve months from now and see how far they have come, and
perhaps even share it with the new class!
Barbara Braxton
The rig by Joe Ducie
Hot Key Books, 2013. ISBN 978147140219.
(Age: 13+) Highly recommended. Science fiction. Dystopian. Thriller.
Reluctant readers. Guardian/HotKey Books Young Writers Prize 2012.
Will Drake is the ultimate Houdini. He has been able to escape from
every high-security prison that he has been detained in, until he is
sent to The Rig, a specialist juvenile detention centre in the
middle of the Arctic Ocean. As he scopes out the prison, trying to
work out how he can escape, he begins to realise that things are not
what they seem to be. Some of the detainees seem to have weird
powers and disappear off to 'Advanced' classes.
This is a fast paced thriller that locks you into reading right from
the first page. As the story progress the reader comes to understand
Will and the blind determination that drives him to escape his
prison. He is cool, strong and self-sufficient but finds that he
needs Tristan, his nerdy cell mate and Irene, a feisty girl, to join
with him in his exploration of The Rig. Filled with breath-taking
moments as the trio creep through tunnels and scale down elevator
holes, the action is non-stop and kept me reading this story in one
sitting. Even the games the prisoners play are full of thrills. Rig
ball is one scary game. The scenes are easy to imagine and the book
would make a great TV series or movie.
The evil Warden, the guard Brand and the bully Gray and his cronies
provide a satisfying contrast to Will, Tristan and Irene as they go
about their deadly business with no conscience at all. The
difference between their lack of morality and that of big business
and the reason that Will has been sent to prison is thought
provoking. Ducie subtly questions the ethics of imprisoning
violent young offenders with teens on lesser charges.
Both boys and girls will enjoy this action packed book and it should
appeal to reluctant readers, especially boys. Although the novel
reads as a stand-alone there is scope for a sequel, so it will be
interesting to see what happens next.
Pat Pledger
The Kensington Reptilarium by N.J. Gemmell
Random House Australia Children's, 2013. ISBN 9780857980502.
(Age: 10+) Nikki Gemmell has published five adult novels and two
works of non-fiction with great success under her full name. Now she
has turned her hand to a children's novel which, according to a
letter introducing the book, she wrote to hook her own sons into
reading.
The madcap adventure which is The Kensington Reptilarium
incorporates some elements of fact into a crazy scenario of feral
bush kids transplanted to post WWII London and a very unwelcoming
uncle, who prefers his reptiles to humans of any description, but
particularly children.
The Caddy children - Kick, Scruff, Bert and Pin (officially
Thomasina, Ralph, Albertina and Phineas) - have been fending for
themselves on their outback property since their father took off on
one of his regular expeditions. The trouble is that this time, he
hasn't returned. The arrival of police and a very elegant London
lawyer, Horatio, spells the end of their wild existence and within
hours they are whisked off to London and deposited in the creepy
house of their uncle Basti (Sebastian). Basti's plan had been for
the children to go to an orphanage and certainly not into the midst
of his eccentric and solitary life surrounded by reptiles of all
varieties, so from the very moment the colonial Caddy kids arrive,
pandemonium erupts!
As kids and uncle slowly begin to create a familial relationship,
other characters come into play to help the process. A Christmas
like no other is in store for this bunch - and after much strife all
is resolved in a happy ending for a very unusual family.
The larger than life characters, the fast moving plot and the
addition of special attractions such as Perdita the hooded cobra
will engage readers, both boys and girls, from 10 years up.
Sue Warren
The bouncing ball by Deborah Kelly
Ill. by Georgia Perry. Random House, 2013. ISBN 9780857980045.
(Age: 4+) Recommended. Picture book. Humour. A boy finds a small red
ball. He plays with it, bouncing it, hitting it against a wall, and
throwing it up into the air. But it bounces away between two cars,
into the gutter and through the pipes and into the sea. There it
washes up onto the sand where a girl picks it up, and the same thing
happens all over again. And then again, and at the end of the book,
the reader is asked to predict what may happen next.
This is a charming tale of finding something then losing it. But the
loss means someone will find the item and then lose it as well, the
tale becoming circular. Children will love reading the story,
watching the ball come to different owners, reflecting on their own
possessions and how they have lost objects, and pondering about what
may have happened to them. The end invites the reader to predict
what may happen and describe their own scenarios for the lost ball.
I could imagine a teacher or parent making up a template similar to
the book's outline which is repeated, having the children drawing up
their own storyboard for the ball's next adventure and using their
imaginations to describe the most outlandish of possibilities. These
could be displayed in the classroom adding another layer to the
wonderful text.
Fran Knight
