Reviews

Arrival by Chris Morphew

(The Phoenix Files: Book 1). Hardie Grant Egmont, 2009. ISBN: 978 1921502392.
(Ages 10-15) Highly recommended. When Luke's parents separate, he is taken to live with his mother in Phoenix, a pristine town in the middle of nowhere. They soon discover that there are no cars, telephone signal or internet. On his arrival at the new school, he meets a new group of people and is quickly dragged into trying to solve a mystery relating to the destruction of the entire human race. Together with Jordan and Peter, he aims to investigate a set of clues which appear to have been left by the aptly named 'Crazy Bill'. The group is led to the outskirts of town where they make some terrifying discoveries.
Morphew is a talented young Australian author and part time teacher who displays a sound understanding of teen themes. His website for the series is set out to look like a journal with great character fact files included therein, written in the form of a brief for someone wishing to perhaps find them. The reader is able to discover information far more easily here than in the pages of the book. With themes including family, friendships, divorced parents plus 'super-powered homeless people, conspiracy theories and unrequited love', (to quote the author) this book is aimed at teenage readers but would also appeal to the more capable upper primary readers. It unfolds slowly at first but with a certain air of menace, reminding me of a children's version of the Stepford Wives. As I arrived at the final page of the book I reached immediately for the already released sequel, contact, desperate to see how the story would continue to unfold.
Jo Schenkel, Pilgrim School

Hunger by Michael Grant

Egmont, 2009.
(Ages 12+) In the second book of the Gone series, life is proving to be very tough after the coming of the FAYZ when everyone over the age of 15 disappeared without trace. More and more kids are developing strange powers and weird animals are popping up everywhere. Sam Temple, a boy who longs for his casual surfing days, has been elected Mayor and is finding it very difficult to cope with the demands of all the children. Everyone is hungry. There is no system for harvesting food, and because there are no rewards for helping out, kids refuse to be cooperative about doing jobs. What is worse, ferocious worms with sharp teeth have taken over the last remnants of crops, and it is life threatening to even attempt to pick a cabbage. And some children are being manipulated by the Darkness and are hearing strange calls saying that it is hungry.
This is a complex multi-layered story. It is essential to read Gone, the first book in the series, before tackling this one (all 586 pages of it). It is probably also a good idea to quickly skim through Gone as a reminder of the many characters and events that have preceded this story. Grant does a great job of maintaining the fast pace and action driven plot that was evident in Gone. His characters are multi-dimensional. The reader sees Sam struggling to be a good leader, even though he is just a kid. Astrid used her exceptional intelligence to problem solve while trying to look after Petey, her little brother and Mary struggles with an eating disorder while trying to supervise the nursery with all the babies. There is conflict between the 'normals' and the 'freaks', led by Zel, who hates anyone who has abnormal powers and leads a lynching party against Hunter. Caine struggles about giving in to the Darkness and Lana, the healer faces the worst thing that could happen to someone whose gift it is to heal.
I was fascinated by the portrayal of leadership and power that Grant paints while juggling a big cast of both good and evil characters and lots of fast paced action. Caine is portrayed as a dictator, needing the whiphand of evil Drake to maintain power, while Sam has attempted to be more democratic. Albert, recognising that the structure of capitalism may be necessary for the group's survival, sets up first a bartering system and then introduces gold as purchasing power. The viciousness of the mob, led by
Zel, is quite frightening, as is the inability of the individual to withstand its pressure.
All in all, Hunger is a gripping science fiction/ horror read and sure to please those readers who like their stories packed with action.
Pat Pledger

A Year in Girl Hell - Crushed by Meredith Costain

Hardie Grant Egmont, 2009. ISBN 9781921502286

(Ages 10-13) Recommended. The first in a series of four books set over the first year of high school for a group of friends. Lexi, Mia and Alysha have been 'besties' throughout primary school, united by their love of all things pink. Crushed details Lexi's first term, where she is dismayed to learn Mia is in a different class, and Alysha seems to be undergoing a personality change to fit in with the school's popular group. Add to that an unrequited crush, and the fear that her parents' marriage is ending, and Lexi fears her first year of high school is going to be very lonely. Well written formula fiction, this series should appeal to girls aged 10 to 13.
Donella Reed

A Year in Girl Hell - Dumped by Meredith Costain

A Year in Girl Hell - Burned by Meredith Costain

Hardie Grant Egmont, 2009. ISBN 9781921502309.

(Ages 10-13) Recommended. The third in a series of four books set over the first year of high school for a group of friends. Mia has always been the dependable friend, the one who sorts out other people's problems and keeps her friends together. Now Mia's beloved grandfather is very ill, and as she visits him in hospital she is flooded with memories of her little brother dying of leukaemia. But her friends are too busy worrying about boys and clothes to notice how upset she is. When she is called home early from school camp, will her friends finally realise Mia needs help? Well written formula fiction, this series should appeal to girls aged 10 to 13.
Donella Reed

A Year in Girl Hell - Trashed by Meredith Costain

Hardie Grant Egmont, 2009. ISBN 9781921502316

(Ages 10 and up) Recommended. The final book in the series begins with Alysha finally being accepted into the shinies. No longer is she the girl standing on the side who gets sent on errands and is tested constantly to see if she is worthy of the popularity. The only problem is, Alysha is starting to question whether she really wants to give up her old, caring friends and join the manipulative, popular group. To remain in the shinies she will need to starve herself, and demonstrate that she can be as controlling and nasty as the 'Chuck Twins' Jayde and Paige. A feel-good ending to the series.
Donella Reed

And Picasso painted Guernica by Alain Serres

Allen and Unwin, 2010. ISBN 978171759945.
Highly recommended. The Spanish Civil War (1936 -1939) is often seen historically as a practice for World War Two as German and Italian forces tried out their armoury and pushed other European powers to see how far they could go. The world watched appalled as Guernica, the Basque town in the province of Biscay and a centre for republican forces fighting against General Franco, was bombed: the first time a civilian population was targetted by opposing forces. On April 26, 1937, market day, Germany's Condor Legion of the Luftwaffe and the Italian Fascist Aviazione Legionaria dropped enough bombs to kill 1,600 people and devastate the town, in a tactic now known as terror or carpet bombing.
Artists responded in the way they knew best, and for Picasso, his unashamed anger resulted in the world famous canvas, Guernica. A level of the hatred he felt for the Fascists, saw his painting Guernica, taken to New York in 1939, only to be returned and hung in Madrid on Franco's death in 1981. This painting along with his other work was branded as degenerate by the Nazis and he was forbidden to exhibit during their occupation of France, 1939-1945.
This astonishing book gives the reader an intrepid close up view of the painting and its imagery and style, the painter and the world in which he lived. Born in 1881, a world so different from the one in which we inhabit, Picasso's father, an art teacher, gave up painting when he became aware of his son's talents at age 13. Serres gives us a peep into the world of this boy born when Edison first produced a light bulb, taking over his father's brushes at a time when the first underground railway was built in Paris, developing his own style during the horrors of World War 1.
But it is April 1937 that galvanizes him into action when terror bombing lays Guernica bare. In his studio in Paris, he reuses ideas first developed for the etchings he made decrying General Franco several years before, he adds the imagery of Spain, the bulls and horses of his past, the legends of old, and draws and tries out ideas until at the end of May, he is ready to start. Using a huge canvas, 7 metres in length, he spends the next two days and nights on his work, sketching in the outline. Using blacks and whites and greys, underlining the horror and brutality of it all, he works until he puts down his brushes in early June.
Serres shows the reader what each symbol means, why Picasso used the images that he did. He points out the dove of peace, almost hidden in one corner, and the women holding a lamp, lighting the horror to the world. A double page in the centre of the book has fold out pages, giving a 4 page spread on which to view Guernica in a larger format, and several times, the painting is shown in a photograph with people, giving a terrific idea of just how big it really is.
The precision with which Serres describes the painting, its style and images makes it memorable. Students will love to look for different things in the painting as the teacher or their group read the book, they will marvel at Picasso's background and the detail which Serres gives, grounding Picasso into a set time and place, and above all they will appreciate the labour he took to show the horror of Guernica to the world.
The last few pages of the book show some of the work Picasso did following 1945, and allude to his impact on the art world. But the focus of the book, Guernica, cannot be overlooked, as this painting is seen as a fearless monument to the cruelty of war, and a beacon for peace. The end papers show how images of the painting are used to promote peace around the world today.
An astute teacher will have a large map of Europe and Spain at the ready to point out where the places mentioned in the text are situated. Whether it is an art class, work about war or peace in the classroom, this book is an invaluable support, one that could be used across the board in all spheres of education, acquainting children with Picasso and this famous painting or whetting their appetites to research further.
Fran Knight

Nanny Piggins and the runaway lion by R.A. Spratt

Random House, 2010. ISBN: 9781864719710.
Sarah Piggins is the total antithesis of perhaps the best known nanny in literature, Mary Poppins. Where Mary Poppins would have encouraged her charges to abide by the rules and display 'right and proper behavior' in every instance, Nanny Piggins is always ready to bend the rules as long as there is cake or chocolate to resolve the situation. Although the children in her care are occasionally filled with a sense of dread over events, she would be the nanny of every child's dreams as she puts fun and sweets before her sense of duty or obligations. The children's father, the vague and disinterested Mr. Green, proves to be easily fooled and, in one chapter, acts as a staff member in his own household, serving chocolate breakfasts to the guests at 'Nanny Piggins' B&B&S&C&C&MC' (Bed & Breakfast & Show & Cake & Chocolate & More Chocolate) establishment.
This is the third title in the Nanny Piggins series and continues to provide as much humour and amusement as the previous books. The fact that the type is double spaced makes it an easy read for younger children yet it contains sufficient humour at an adult level to make it appeal to virtually any age.
Jo Schenkel, Pilgrim School

Access Road by Maurice Gee

Penguin Australia, 2009. ISBN 9780670074020
(Age 16+) This thriller about five old people has the astonishing ability to immerse you in their lives and memories and builds to a gripping climax.
This is classic Maurice Gee - 'one of New Zealand's finest writers.' He writes about the impact childhood has on adult lives whilst capturing the voice of his protagonist, Rowan Beach, an eighty something woman, recalling her life growing up in Access Road, Loomis, NZ with her two brothers, Lionel and Roly. Neither brother marries and they end up living together, despite taking quite different paths in life. Roly gardens while Lionel seems to have given up and refuses to leave his bed, his memory slipping away. As Rowan visits them, fragmented but vivid memories recur. Woven throughout the story is Clyde Buckley, long time friend of Lionel's but a sinister presence to Rowan, who remembers his childhood act of cruelty. Here are the Gee themes of a distinct sense of place with a lurking sense of hidden violence.
Rowan and Dickie have had their ups and downs but they are still together and caring for each other. Daughter Cheryl is coping with an assault and hopefully finding a good man; Dickie is being tested for troubling pains. Rowan is such a responsible, caring and good woman her inaction and silence make us question what we would do in her situation. That he can make such ordinary people so interesting is testament to Gee's talents.
Gee writes with seemingly effortless imagery: 'She plucked a banana from the bowl and threw it backhanded across the room, where it bounced off the wall and sat grinning on a chair.' p75.
This remarkable book should be read by students but it is unlikely that it will be. Senior students might be recommended it for a connected text but I can't imagine many choosing it off the shelf. Adults will enjoy these characters and their thought-provoking moral ambiguities.
Maurice Gee was among ten of New Zealand's greatest living artists named as Arts Foundation of New Zealand Icon Artists in 2003.
Kevyna Gardner

Crocodile tears by Anthony Horowitz

Walker Books, 2009.
(Age 10 -14) Suspended by his arms over snapping crocodiles, standing on a dam wall breaking up, in a car at the bottom of a freezing cold Loch, looking down the barrel of a Mauser gun - the impossible scenarios Alex Rider has to escape from keep coming thick and fast, especially as the novel moves to its climax.
The fourteen year old spycatcher employed by M16 is catapulted into yet another unbelievable adventure in locations ranging from a Scottish castle on New Year's Eve, to the wilds of Kenya. He is fearless, nerveless, ingenious and incredibly lucky. Bullets and spears whiz by him, flames miss him, rescuers arrive in the nick of time, he is taunted rather than shot by his enemy, buying him invaluable time - all the standard ploys of action movies are here. Like James Bond he is equipped with super clever devices which never fail, eg a swipe card which can open any door or a rubber which conceals a USB which can unlock and download any files.
The characters are not real but this doesn't deter readers. Horowitz's writing is well paced, vivid and clear. Frequent scene changes create variety and an excellent sense of place. He does his homework. He knows how to keep the pages turning.  We want to see how Alex gets out of this one. Each scenario seems more dangerous than the last. The plot's the thing. It's a formula boys love and this one will be lapped up too. I was uneasy about the vilification of charity here and I can't say how it compares with the previous seven in the series, but libraries will buy it and boys will read it.
Kevyna Gardner

There was an old sailor by Claire Saxby

Walker Books, 2010. ISBN: 97819215071.
Ages 3 and up. Recommended. This picture book, a re-working of the nursery rhyme song There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly, uses the same patterns of rhyme, rhythm and repetition to engage the reader in this new version. Here, an old sailor swallows a krill which, of course, makes him ill! Children will know the original tale and be keen to predict what the sailor is likely to ingest next. With the end of the original text in the back of my mind as I read, the final pages seemed to provide a change of style and I found the ending to be different to that which was expected. Looking back, however, the rhymes continued and the ending worked. The final double page spread brought the animals together and gave some unexpected facts about the different sea creatures featured in the text.
Saxby's story is supported by Cassandra Allen's stylised gouache and pencil illustrations, portraying the stereotype of the crusty sailor and the movement of the sea. The pictures hold a certain appeal with their simplicity and it is likely children will choose to try and recreate the patterns of the ocean in their own art work.
This would be a good text for children to both contrast with the original and pattern their own stories around as well as providing a good 'hook' for teachers beginning a unit on food chains or studies of the ocean.
Jo Schenkel, Pilgrim School

Contact by Chris Morphew

The Phoenix Files: Book 2. Hardie Grant Egmont, 2010. ISBN: 9781921502408.
(Ages 10-15) Highly recommended. The countdown to the destruction of the human race continues: there are now just 88 days left! Peter takes over as the narrator of this, the second book in the series. Although he had at first been dubious about what he and his friends, Jordan and Luke, had found he can no longer deny the truth of their discoveries. As the three go about decoding the messages which have been left for them by Crazy Bill and investigate the Shackleton Corporation, they realise that they are not dealing with human beings who have social consciences but a group who want only to serve their own ends. In the process, they manage to jeopardise the lives of those who try to help them in their quest to put things right.
Whilst the first book served as a somewhat more gentle introduction to the various characters and plots which have been hatched, Contact begins to expose the true evil and the teenagers make some gruesome discoveries and continue to put the lives of themselves and their families on the line. They discover the lengths to which Shackleton and his team will go in order to achieve their aims. One can only suspect that by the end of the sixth book, descriptions may well become even gorier and possibly not as palatable to the younger readers. I, however, am now going to have to wait patiently for the release of the next title sometime in August!
Jo Schenkel, Pilgrim School

Anonymity Jones by James Roy

Random House, 2010. ISBN 9781741664539.
(Ages 13+) Recommended. 16 year old Anonymity Jones is having a hard time. Her father has left home, kicked out by his wife when she found that he had been lying about the conferences he has attended. And she should know, as she was his secretary when he was first married and went on just such a conference, causing his first divorce. When Anonymity visits him, she is very aware that he has become depressed and morose, to a point where his boss gives him some extended leave so that he can 'find himself'.
Anonymity's three friends are sympathetic, but two of them have begun relationships and turn all their attention elsewhere. Tania, the last of her friends to support her also begins to move away; leaving Anonymity alone. When mum has her new boyfriend, John, move in, Anonymity's sister, Raven, moves out, bringing to fruition her dream of living in Europe for 12 months, during her gap year. Anonymity is bereft. She turns for sympathy from her art teacher, Chris Moffatt and has some daydreams about him.
John gives her a new lap top for her art work and one night sits on her bed to talk to her, coming closer than need be. When he caresses her, she kicks him out and tries to let her mother know what is going on, but she takes John's side. Appalled and alone, Anonymity rings her art teacher, and they sit in his car so that she can pour out her worries. Later at school, he asks her to attend an art show and going there, she finds all of her class is there, not just her. Going home, Anonymity takes action. She breaks into John's computer and downloads some of the pictures he has taken of her and her sister, and other girls they have had at their place, as well as some of the photos he has stored. These she places on his NetBook home page.
Next she gathers her passport from her father's desk and goes to the airport after hearing her mother kick John out of the house. As an episode in a girl's life, the story is engrossing and chilling as the two men take advantage of her situation: one through moving in with the girl's mother putting himself in an ideal position to prey upon the girl, and the other, using his position as teacher to aggrandize himself in her eyes, bolstering the girl's naive idea that she is being singled out for his attentions.
Tackling a difficult topic such as child abuse requires a resolution of the problem, so the reader can see that there is a legal and moral consequence of the abuse. I'm sure that in a classroom, discussions will range widely over how to avoid situations such as these as well as the legal consequences of such events, and the places that can be called upon for help if a child finds themselves in the situation portrayed.
Fran Knight

Alice-Miranda at school by Jacqueline Harvey

Random House Australia, 2010. ISBN 9781741664515.
(Ages 8 and up) Highly recommended. Alice-Miranda Highton-Kennington-Jones decides, at the age of seven and one-quarter years, that it's time to go to boarding school. Her doting parents know there is no point trying to stop her, so tearfully drop her off at Winchesterfield-Downsfordvale Academy for Proper Young Ladies. Alice-Miranda, who one would call precocious were she not so likeable, immediately makes her mark on the school to the horror of the mysterious headmistress Miss Grimm, whom nobody has laid eyes on for ten years. Miss Grimm sets a series of seemingly impossible challenges for Alice-Miranda to face if she is to be allowed to remain at the school. With determination and endless optimism, Alice-Miranda sets out to prove she is just the sort of student Winchesterfield-Downsfordvale needs. Full of humour and with very likeable characters, this book sets a benchmark for a fantastic new series about this entertaining young lady.
Donella Reed

Everybody was a baby once, and other poems by Allan Ahlberg and Bruce Ingman

Walker Books, 2010. ISBN 9781406321562.
(Ages 6-10) This little volume of poems by Ahlberg will be a fitting addition to a primary library. Kids will love to pick it up and laugh out loud at the short, funny poems written by Ahlberg. Many involve a reworking of old poems and those by Anonymous, as he writes in his dedication, 'With thanks to our old pals, Trad and Anon'. Thus many are familiar to old hands, although will be very new to the younger set for whom they have been published. Dirty Bill will be at once familiar, but the following poem, Nativity gives a funny slant on that time honoured tradition in British schools. Small hairy mouse, containing the story of a man complaining about the mouse in his stew is well known to my age group but will be new and shiny bright to the early readers. Read out loud or just in a group, these little poems will create enjoyment amongst its readers, who will take delight in the clever line drawings of Bruce Ingman.
Fran Knight