Berry Hill: Stories and recipes from Beerenberg Farm by Grant Paech with Sally Paech
Wakefield Press, 2013. ISBN 9781743050934.
(Age: All) Recommended. Non fiction. Australian agriculture and produce. Who can resist driving past Beerenberg Farm in the Adelaide Hills and not calling in to pick your own or buy some of the produce from the business that holds a place in all things South Australian? Here is a book which tells the history of this place, detailing the business itself along with a memorable family history.
The tales of the first members of the Paech family, coming here from Germany in 1838, along with the original 52 families of settlers, naming their town Hahndorf, after the captain of the ship which brought them, takes the reader back to a time when life revolved around a few families within walking distance of your home.
Beginning as subsistence farmers on their acreage, the family grew all they needed to eat, the women making jams, preserves and chutneys for the larder, with any spare being sold or traded.The history of the Paech family, paralleling the development of the strawberry farm, is also the history of the town of Hahndorf. The stories of many of the people involved are a treat to read, and the recipes and stories of using the berries fascinated my husband, a jam maker from way back.
Forty years ago, Grant Paech began the strawberry business that we know so well today and this book reflects its success. From humble beginnings selling their wares at markets, to experiments with fruit wines and Worcestershire sauce, to the development of the little jars now seen everywhere, the history of Beerenberg is laced with a range of photographs underlining the family nature of the business.
The book has a range of information to suit all tastes. A history, a loving account of the Paech family, a portfolio of recipes and a homage to the Adelaide Hills; all are a treat.
The recipes given are those from restaurants in the Adelaide Hills, where the fruit is used. All are mouth watering and beautifully photographed, with a recipe index at the end of the book.
Fran Knight
Marlo can fly by Robert Vescio
Ill. by Sandra Temple. Wombat Books, 2013. ISBN 9781921632419.
(Age: 4+) Warmly recommended. Picture book. Being different. Marlo
the magpie would rather stay on he ground than fly. She tries out
slithering like a snake, and hopping like a kangaroo, while the
other birds and animals question her decision. She remains as she
is, trying different things and not wanting to fly until one day she
decides that she wants to see her mother, but as she is in the sky,
Marlo must fly to meet her.
A story about daring to be different, but also needing to conform,
the book will be the start of many conversations in the classroom
and at home about what it means to be different and why sometimes
you need to do as others expect you to. And of course, striving to
gain a skill that you might not have been able to do before.
The illustrations of Australian animals are inviting, and will serve
to encourage younger readers to watch out for these animals and
recognise them when they come across them in other spheres. The
strong black and white of the magpie dominates many of the pages,
contrasting with the softer shades of the other animals illustrated,
crocodile, kookaburra, koala, kangaroo and snake.
Fran Knight
Steal my sunshine by Emily Gale
Woolshed Press, 2013. ISBN 9781742758497.
(Age 13+) Recommended. Adolescent. Family relations. Historical.
Hannah's family is coming apart. There are so many arguments and her
brother is being obnoxious. Her mother seems to hate her and even
her eccentric grandmother, Essie, has played a silly trick on her.
As the weather heats up in Melbourne, Hannah clings to her wild best
friend Chloe for answers and gradually gets to know the appalling
secret that Essie hides and which explains so much of the angst in
her family.
Nestled together in this exceptional book are two stories, that of
Hannah and her coming of age and Essie and the horrifying past that
she carries with her. Both are handled beautifully, but it is
Essie's story that grabbed me by the heart strings and had me
reading on for more. The period of history after World War 2 and
into the 1960s, when young single pregnant women were treated
shamefully, is explored. I won't go into too many details as this
would spoil it for the reader, but this book will open eyes about a
terrible time for women in Australia's history and how its effects
have echoed right to this day. Gale's subtle treatment has Essie's
secret gradually unfolding like a mystery that kept me glued to the
page to find out what had happened to her. The treatment of young
pregnant girls is an aspect of Australian history that everyone
should be aware of and the author does this without it seeming like
a history lesson. An article from the Sydney Morning Herald using
the search term, Bad
girls do the best sheets, gives a description of what it was
like to be unwanted and pregnant in the 50's.
Hannah's growth as a young woman, her relationships with her family
and her best friend Chloe are described sensitively. I particularly
liked the descriptions of the jealousy between Hannah and her
brother Sam. Sibling competition and jealousy, which is very real,
is not often part of books for teens, and I relished this aspect of
family relationships. Best of all is Hannah's maturing and being
able to come up with a solid and workable solution to the family
problems.
Themes of teenage pregnancy, divorce, young love and growing up make
this an ideal class set or literature circle novel. Fans of Melina
Marchetta and Maureen McCarthy will devour this book.
Pat Pledger
Bea by Christine Sharp
UQP, 2013. ISBN 978 0 7022 4961 7.
(Age: 4+) Warmly recommended. Picture book. Being different. Bea the
bird with long eyelashes and brightly coloured scarf around her
neck, stands out from the flock. No digging for worms or pecking at
ants, she'd prefer to be in the kitchen baking. While the other
birds roost together and fluff their feathers, she'd prefer to dress
up and go out to the disco: when the rest are wallowing in the rain,
she melts into a bubble bath and when others are doing what birds
do, she is up high in a hot air balloon exploring.
A neatly written story of being different, of following your own
path, of being true to yourself, this handsome picture book will be
a favourite amongst kids in the classroom and at home. A range
of illustrating techniques and styles is sued to reflect the tale of
Bea, while the differing pages will give all the readers a treat
deciphering the technique used. I loved the mixture of photographs
and coloured pencil, the collage effects and the pages set in the
night with swirls of white showing the path of the stars like an map
of the night sky.
Fran Knight
Tessa Masterson will go to prom by Emily Franklin & Brendan Halpin
Walker Books, 2013. ISBN 9780802723598. 256p.
(Age: 13+) Tessa Masterson Will Go to Prom is
quintessentially American because the guiding assumption is that
senior prom is the pinnacle of adolescence. The small town reaction
to 'coming out' would be predictable except that it really happened
and made the headlines. The authors each adopt the perspective of
Tessa and her best friend Lucas as he struggles to understand
Tessa's emerging sexuality.
The story begins just as Lucas believes his lifelong friendship has
turned into love. He employs a very public grand gesture to ask
Tessa to Prom. Lucas doesn't expect to learn that his best friend is
gay at this juncture and is understandably humiliated. After the
rumour circulates that Tess is taking a girl to the dance and
planning to wear a tuxedo, Lucas in his humiliation, exacerbates the
small town backlash to the point where the Masterson family business
is threatened. It's up to Lucas to make it right and prove to his
friend that he regrets making Tessa's life more difficult.
Despite being a YA book dealing with a sensitive issue, there are
far too few adults supporting the beleaguered teen. No bullying or
vandalism is rebuked and only Team Tessa supporters are suspended.
The lack of caring adults contributes to our disbelief, when the
school board cancels the Prom.
Both the fundamentalist Christian students and a good number of Lady
Gaga's 'little monsters' decide that there will be a prom but does
this really solve the problem? You'll have to submit to dual
authorship to find out through the alternating perspectives of the
central characters. This is an engaging enough school drama for
lower secondary students.
Deborah Robins
Witch by Fiona Horne
Allen & Unwin, 2013. ISBN 9781742378695. Witch by Fiona Horne is the story of Vania, a 15 year old,
bright and funny girl from Australia. When she and her family moves
to Sumerland, California, Vania feels like she has a special
connection with the place. Upon arriving at her new school, Vania
instantly becomes enemies with the pretty, popular girl Cassidy.
Cassidy's boyfriend Bryce however, befriends Vania and as a result,
a little way into the book, Cassidy and Bryce break up and Bryce
turns to Vania and her unpopular friends. Besides Bryce and Vania,
there are three other members of their group. Amelia and Alyssa are
identical twins who both happen to be psychic and Dean, who is
descendant from the ancient Native Americans of Sumerland. Together
the five of them all have an interest in witchcraft, and with the
help of Brenda, a spiritualist, the group form a coven.
Not everything is however, sugar coated in the coven, Vania has
feelings for Bryce and to make him jealous she casts a love spell on
popular kid Matt. Things backfire and the spell has to be reversed,
which is very humiliating for Vania. Vania gets her tea leaves read
and it is reveals that she is in grave danger. As the five work
together to unmask the secrets of Sumerland their lives will never
be the same.
The first thing I discovered when I started to read the book was the
predictability of the story line. Although the idea of the
witchcraft and the coven is not something I have encountered much of
the overall plot was not very exciting and took me a while to get
into. From reading the first few chapters I already had a basic idea
of what was going to happen; the new girl moves to a new town and
falls for the popular boy but he has a mean girlfriend who makes him
chose with the classic line 'it's either me or her'. In the end
there is some great danger, in this case, there is someone plotting
to kill Vania because she is the only remaining pure witch. After
the danger has passed the nice girl gets the boy and the mean girl
is left with nothing, a very basic story line with no twists.
For those looking for a light read with not much thinking involved
then I would recommend Witch. The writing is very easy to
read and it is interesting enough to enjoy. The font is also quite
large and the book is not very long so for something simple, this is
probably ideal.
Isobel Davies (Student)
They hosed them out by John Bede Cusack
Wakefield Press, 2012. 359pgs, (pbk.) ISBN:9781743051054
(Ages: 15 and up). Recommended. They Hosed Them Out is an
Australian war novel based on the author's own experiences as an air
gunner, flying for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) during the
Second World War. Air gunners were considered a lowly position and
they had a shockingly low life expectancy. As the title suggests,
there are some confronting scenes in this novel. Hosing gunners out
of their turrets was the only way to remove the blood and guts
splattered in the confined space. Survival rates were distressing,
resulting in the unwritten RAAF rule that after a friend or flying
companion was lost you drank to his memory once only and never
mentioned his name again. The well documented horrors of the brutal
reality of war based on Cusack's logbook are well balanced with some
highly entertaining stories about Cusack's time on leave. Cusack was
a bit of a larrikin who was always getting into trouble for not
following rules and protocols and when not on aerial operations,
Cusack and his mates play up, drinking and gambling. This
fictionalised memoir is a newly revised and expanded edition
featuring chapters never published before; a fascinating biography
by Cusack's daughter Kerry McCourt and a new introduction by the
editor, war historian Robert Brokenmouth. This is an outstanding
book about the air war and even if you are not that interested in
Australia's military history, you will find this powerful story
engaging. There's adventure, empathy, humour, emotion, fear and
plenty of adrenalin rushes.
Michelle Thomson
Scarlet in the snow by Sophie Masson
Random House, 2013. ISBN 97681742758152.
(Age 11+) Recommended. Fantasy. Fairy tale retold. A terrible storm
forces Natasha to take shelter in a strange mansion. Inside it is
beautiful but eerie - the picture frames are empty and no one seems
to be around. In the garden she finds a stunning red rose but when
she touches it a fearsome creature appears and demands retribution
for her spoiling the only bit of beauty that he had. Natasha is
thrown into a huge adventure, as she realises that there has been a
wicked spell cast on the Beast and with her deep compassion guiding
her, knows that she must rescue him.
The accompanying blurb relates that this story has been 'inspired by
two beautiful Russian fairytales - The Scarlet Flower (the Russian
version of Beauty and the Beast) and Fenist the Falcon' and while it
starts with the traditional themes that I was very familiar with, by
the end of the tale, I was astounded about where the story led. It
is beautifully told in rich, complex language and lovers of the
fairy tale retold genre, as I am, will happily read the story of
Natasha and her Beast.
Natasha is a combination of an intelligent, strong personality,
overlaid with a goodness that I sometimes found a little difficult
to take. However she is an intrepid adventurer, seeking the truth
about the Beast, researching old newspapers and travelling to
distant lands hoping for an answer that will break the spell that
enchants the Beast. Natasha overcame many obstacles to true love,
some of which were strange and quite compelling.
Masson has been able to bring alive aspects of the fairy tale
setting and her descriptions of Natasha's stay with the witch of the
forest was really vivid and memorable as were the sleigh rides and
the Beast's mansion.
This is an enjoyable addition to a growing genre of retellings of
fairy tales.
Pat Pledger
A really super hero by Charlotte Lance
Allen and Unwin, 2013. ISBN 9781 74331 302 2
(Age: 4+) Warmly recommended. Picture book. Heroism. Trying vainly
to get her spot in the limelight, her photo in the paper, and people
to talk about her, the hero of this charming tale tries all sorts of
ways to become heroic. She has her Mum sew an 'S' on her pants, but
when Mum sews it on a little oddly, she must move sideways so that
people can see the sign. She tries to help the postman but ends up
squashing his bike, she mixes up a potion, only to burnout the smoke
alarm. All sorts of funny things happen as she tries in vain to be
noticed: her invisible cloak will not work, her ability to move
things just by thought does not work. All through the story Mum is
behind her, helping, cleaning up, getting more and more exasperated
with the daughter. She is a delight to watch.
The bright breezy stanzas of verse are lovely to read aloud
and will delight the audience as well as the reader. The seemingly
simple illustrations with pencil and water colour are full of
interest and little jokes. Readers will really enjoy closely looking
at them and gain another level of understanding about the tale.
Readers will be able to predict the rhyming words in each stanza,
learning some new words as they read. Using the opening lines,
'I want to be a hero
A really super one'
would make an energetic lesson with students attempting another two
lines to follow the first two, reprising their skills at rhyme and
rhythm, scanning and poetry.
Fran Knight
Nameless: A tale of beauty and madness by Lili St. Crow
Penguin, 2013. ISBN 9781921880193.
(Age 14+) Recommended. Fantasy. Fairy tale retold. Enrico Vultusino,
godfather of the Seven, the most powerful families in the land a
magical alternative universe, discovers a 6 year old girl all alone
in the snow. Camille is mute and scarred and Enrico takes her home
to be raised with his own son, Nico. Now 16, Cami is no longer a
mute but is distrustful of all except her close friends Ruby and
Ellie and Nico who she loves. When she meets Tor, who is also
scarred, the secrets of her birth begin to appear.
Lili St Crow writes dense, complex stories that draw the reader in
with their complicated plots and strange characters. Cami is a
wonderful heroine, who struggles with a stutter, nightmares and
irrational fears, but who is prepared to take risks and who has an
underlying strength. St Crow builds up an atmosphere where the
reader is always uncertain and questioning about the motives of the
people around her. Does Enrico love her and will she be able to stay
as a Family member when he dies? Is Nico interested in her? And who
is the strange boy Tor and why is she so drawn to him, even though
she knows it is dangerous to be with him?
This is a dark and Gothic like story of Snow White, with
vampire godfathers, powerful families, and strange and terrifying
things living underground. It is not a story for the faint hearted
who are looking for a light romance with vampires. The suspense
around Cami's birth and what could happen to her is taut and
exciting and I couldn't put this book down. I look forward to the
next in the series.
Fans who enjoyed the paranormal series, Strange Angels or
who like paranormal tales will be thrilled with this unique story
with its themes of magic, love, friendship and betrayal.
Pat Pledger
Scarlet by Marissa Meyer
The Lunar chronicles, bk. 2. Penguin, 2013. ISBN 9780141340234.
(Age 14+) Recommended. Science fiction. Fairy story retold. The
second in The Lunar Chronicles returns the reader to Cinder,
the cyborg mechanic, who is trying to escape from prison. In France,
Scarlet Benoit's grandmother has disappeared and she is frantically
trying to find her. Scarlet, who wears a red hoodie; meets Wolf a
stranger to whom she is drawn, although she knows that she shouldn't
trust this stranger. Wolf agrees to help her find her grandmother,
who turns out to have many secrets that Scarlet was unaware of.
During their search they encounter Cinder and find themselves
rushing to stay away from the vicious Lunar queen.
After reading good reports of Cinder, and thoroughly
enjoying its combination of science fiction and fairy story, I
happily read Scarlet, and liked it just as much. I particularly
enjoyed the introduction of two new major characters, Scarlet and
Wolf, and loved the retelling of Little Red Riding Hood.
Scarlet is not a timid girl afraid of the big bad wolf, instead she
is strong and feisty and determined to do something about her
grandmother's disappearance. Wolf's background which is gradually
revealed throughout the book makes him an interesting and vulnerable
character.
Cinder's story is not ignored and Meyer manages to combine the two
storylines into one huge, entertaining story. The introduction of
Carswell Thorne, a womaniser and fugitive thief, as Cinder's
companion in her escape from goal provides many light moments of
humour as he wisecracks his way to freedom. Prince Kai finds himself
facing huge dilemmas as he wrestles with what the wicked Lunar Queen
wants - him as her husband.
There is plenty of action and adventure in this story and it is sure
to be popular with readers who like strong women main characters,
science fiction and the clever retelling of fairy tales.
Pat Pledger
The Yalda Crossing by Noel Beddoe
University of Queensland Press, 2012. ISBN 978 0 7022 49396
(Age: Senior secondary) The purpose of Noel Beddoe's novel is to
revisit the massacre of members of the Wiradjuri people by white
settlers on the Murrumbidgee River near what is now Narrandera in
the early 1840s. He does this through the eyes of Young James the
adolescent son of one of the settlers Captain James Beckett. Brought
up in England by a loving grandfather on whose death he is
mistreated by uncles, James is whisked away to Australia by his
father who he always refers to as The Captain and who he regards
with a mixture of fear and awe 'I could not look in his face and
speak of myself'. They land in Sydney and use the profits from
selling their cargo to buy provisions for a journey over the
mountains to settle Yalda Crossing, land, outside those designated
open to settlement by the government. The group endure hardships
while establishing themselves but things really start to go wrong
when they expand onto the local people's sacred lands.
The novel admirably leads us to consider the pressures experienced
by both the native people and the inexperienced settlers which led
to disputes, misunderstandings and in this case a massacre. The
settlement prospered but for Young James the cost was too high and
he spent the rest of his life haunted by it. Much as I admired the
work I found it difficult to accommodate the structure of the book
where the 'present' (Sydney 40 years later presented in italics) is
interleaved with what are purportedly journals written at the time.
I also found little character development, even accepting the
emotional stunting their backgrounds might suggest, which made it
difficult to relate to the moral dilemmas they faced. That said this
is still a valuable reflection on a rarely examined aspect of
Australian history suitable for all senior secondary students.
Sue Speck
Whiskey Beach by Nora Roberts
Piaktus, 2013. ISBN 9780749958138.
(Adult) Eli Landon returns to his grandmother's house at Whiskey
Beach after a year that has been terrible. Accused of murdering his
wife, but not convicted, Eli has dealt with intense media pressure
and police investigations. His friends have faded away and he is
seeking sanctuary. Abra, the woman who acts as housekeeper for his
grandmother (as well as being a yoga instructor and much more), is
determined to help Eli defend his name. Then there are unseen evil
forces at work at Bluff House, with house break-ins and a huge hole
that has been dug in the cellar.
I am a fan of Nora Roberts and always enjoy her romantic suspense
stories. She is a prolific author (she also writes under J.D. Robb)
and usually puts out 2 or 3 books a year. Whiskey Beach is
written from the male viewpoint, which is fairly unusual for
Roberts, and I think that this may be the reason that this story
didn't resonate as much with me as many of her other novels. Abra is
a strong feisty woman but didn't really connect either. The buried
treasure theme was a familiar one and made for easy reading.
This is an easy to read, but not riveting, romantic suspense story
and Nora Roberts' fans are sure to enjoy it.
Pat Pledger
Riley and the jumpy kangaroo: a journey around Canberra by Tania McCartney
Ill. by Kieron Pratt. Ford St., 2013. ISBN 978 1 92500 02 3.
(Age: 6+) Warmly recommended. Picture book. Cities. Canberra. The
fifth in the series of Riley and his zany bunch of animals traveling
around major cities will fill a niche in school libraries. With few
books about cities on offer to a younger audience this series of
books will have appeal for use in the classroom when discussing the
city in question or library where younger readers are looking for a
picture book about that place. The large pages of photographs
showing significant places in the cities mentioned have broad
appeal. With the Canberra book, many students will have heard of
Parliament House, and seen images of it on television, so to be able
to look at it more closely and in a sequence with other significant
places in the city, the City Walk, Black Mountain Tower, and the
National Botanic Gardens, to name just a few, will intrigue and
delight.
That there is a jumpy kangaroo hopping its way around the city will
add a further level of interest as they ponder where it might jump
next. The students could use a map of the city to trace the
kangaroo's way around, or pin point its positions as it hops through
Canberra, but whatever is done in the classroom or at home, students
will have a better understanding of what makes up a city like
Canberra. And what better book for younger readers when they are off
to Canberra for their next family holiday.
Fran Knight
The watcher in the shadows by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Text, 2013. ISBN 9781921922527
(Age 11+) Recommended. After the death of her father, Irene's
family which had been well off, fall into poverty and when Irene's
mother accepts a job as a housekeeper for a strange toymaker, they
all believe that things will improve. However, Lazarus, the owner of
the crumbling mansion by the sea, creates strange and dangerous
mechanical beings. Fearful lights come from an old lighthouse and
there are strange stories about a woman's disappearance. Irene meets
Ismael, a young sailor and together they battle the angels of the
dark in this gothic thriller.
From the opening letter, which is addressed to Irene, and which
laments the fact that the writer has sent her 100 letters and
received no replies, Ruiz Zafon sets up an atmosphere of suspense
that is unrelenting from beginning to end. The mechanical robots
that Lazarus builds are indeed very frightening, and Lazarus himself
appears to have risen from the dead. There are indications that
awful secrets are hidden behind locked doors and a fearsome angel is
seen in the dark woods surrounding the house.
The old fashioned tone perfectly suits this gothic novel. Even
though Irene is only 15 and Ismael not much older, they both feel
like adults who have to take on an adult role and solve the mystery
surrounding Lazarus and his awful toys.
Readers who want to be scared and who like a good horror mystery in
the tradition of Edgar Allen Poe or Mary Shelly will revel in this
riveting story. Teacher's
notes are available at the publisher's website.
Pat Pledger
