Reviews

Swordbird by Nancy Yi Fan

HarperCollins, 2007
(Age 9+) The author was only 13 when she wrote this book and it will be an inspiration to all young writers. She has created a believable world populated by extraordinary birds. Turnatt, a red-brown hawk, has kidnapped countless birds to build Fortress Glooming. Tricking the cardinals and blue jays into believing that the other group was responsible for the disappearance of their friends, he has destabilised the bird groups and made them easy prey for his evil deeds. Only Swordbird, a mythical creature, can save the forest.

Nancy Yi Fan vividly describes the slavery suffered at the hands of the tyrant Turnatt and sends a powerful message of peace and the power of an insignificant individual to bring about change. Her prose is compelling and the action moves along at a smart pace. Each new chapter has a thought provoking saying from the Book of Heresy or Old Scripture which gives an added dimension to the story. Illustrations by Mark Zug give intensity to the characters.

The book should appeal to readers who enjoy animal tales like Redwall, and they could move from here to Clem Martini's Crow Chronicles or Kenneth Oppel's bat series. The book could be a useful tool for teachers when providing role models of young authors and their ability to write.
Pat Pledger

Nighttrap by Tom Becker

Scholastic 2008
Jonathan's friend Mrs Ellwood has been kidnapped by Vendetta the vampire. As ransom Vendetta demands the Crimson Stone, a priceless gem which is in the possession of Xavier, an elderly and fanatical antique collector. Jonathan must secure the help of a crack team of thieves to break into Xavier's impenetrable fortress, but once inside Jonathan's worst nightmares are realised as the true, horrible identity of Xavier is revealed and the Crimson Stone remains just out of reach.

The third in the Darkside series this is a gothic thriller on speed with plenty of whirlwind action that you can almost visualise jumping off the page. Peopled with vampires, a werewolf, magicians, a fire eater and two argumentative trapeze artists there is sufficient drama and humour to appeal to every discerning young reader. The superb cover deserves a special mention and should certainly encourage children to pick up the book.

Darkside is another world that exists parallel to the city of London and in this Becker must surely be borrowing from Neil Gaimon's hugely successful Neverwhere, but that doesn't really matter as Tom Becker has created a well written, cinematic novel that should have boys champing at the bit for more.

One word of warning; the stories build on each other, so it's better to read them in the right order.
Claire Larson

Gideon the Cutpurse by Linda Buckley-Archer

Simon and Shuster
It's such a relief to read something in the third person. No teenage angst here, but solid adventure, set in the past with a time travel milieu, when two teens find themselves transported back to the eighteenth century after an accident in Kate's father's laboratory.
The two go on a search for a way back to the present, but their every effort is thwarted by the lack of modern comforts, travel in particular.

When they wake after the accident in the lab, they are found by Gideon, who helps them to his place of employment where they are given a warm welcome. With the excuse that their clothes were stolen by a highwayman, the lady of the house gives them clothing, although their feet are too big to fit any shoes they have. The body odour, clothing and especially the food they are offered to eat, all come as a huge shock to the pair, but they must put up with it until they find the man who has run off with the machine.

Tying their future with Gideon, they are all after the Tar Man, the scoundrel responsible for the theft of the machine and their journey takes them to London.  The story toggles cleverly between the families searching for their children, and the Police as they try to uncover the mystery, gaining no help from the family that knows what has happened and the children in the eighteenth century. It's all exciting and involved, riveting and so well written, you want to read more when it ends. And luckily there is a sequel.
Fran Knight

Daddies by Catriona Hoy and Mal Webster

Hachette Livre (Lothian Children's Books), 2008
(Age 3+) Recommended. This is a humourous look at fathers and what they do. Everyone in the family thinks they know what daddies are for. Mum thinks they're for washing dishes, grandma thinks they are for putting in light bulbs and Charlotte thinks they are for brushing hair, but Daddies are for WILD THINGS. They chase and scare, throw mud and walk the plank.

This is a delightful book with wonderful illustrations that celebrates the joy that fathers can bring into their children's lives. The pudgy, happy father is full of fun and love and the children have a fantastic time playing with him.

This would be great to read aloud and children would enjoy thinking of other ways that dads can be wild.
Pat Pledger

Sovay by Celia Rees

Bloombury, 2008. ISBN 9780747598084
(Age 13+) It's difficult to resist picking up this book with its beautiful girl on the front cover and the enticing words 'She fought for her life. She robbed for love'. When the blurb describes Sovay hiding her face with a black mask and green silk kerchief, and pronouncing the words 'Stand and Deliver!' the reader knows that there will be adventure and romance galore ahead. The story starts with a traditional ballad about a girl named Sovay who decides to test her lover's feelings for her by posing as a highwayman and trying to steal the ring that she had given him as a token. In the ballad her lover refuses to hand over the ring, but in Celia Rees' story, Sovay's fiance turns out to be a seducer of young maids, and is easily persuaded to turn over the ring when Sovay threatens his life.

Set against a backdrop of the French Revolution, this is a story full of intrigue and adventure. Sovay's father is a free thinker and sympathetic to the ideals of equality. He is suspected of plotting against the Crown, and Sovay finds herself again dressed as a highwayman, this time to thwart the evil intentions of people conspiring against her family. After many adventures and encounters with attractive men, Sovay faces great danger in Paris in the midst of the French Revolution.

This is a very satisfying adventure story with a feisty heroine, dastardly villains and intriguing spies. It is sure to appeal to readers who like their history spiced with a bit of romance.
Pat Pledger

Knife of never letting go by Patrick Ness

Walker, 2008. ISBN 9781406310252
Chaos Walking, Book 1.
(Age 13+) Highly recommended. This is a stunning, unforgettable book with a totally original plot that completely captures the imagination of the reader. Todd Hewitt lives in Prentisstown, where he is constantly battling against the jabber of The Noise. As a result of a virus, everyone in Prentisstown can hear not only each other's thoughts but those of animals. All the women and girls have died so it is a male dominated society. When Todd finds a pool of silence, he discovers to his amazement that it is a girl and he cannot hear her thoughts. Pursued by Aaron, a religious zealot, and the men of Prentisstown, Todd and Viola try to escape and the resulting chase is fraught with danger and adventure.

The Noise is a wonderful ploy that pushes the action packed plot along and brings alive the main characters. One of the most engaging is Manchee, Todd's dog. Ness has managed to give an animal a really credible voice. When Todd and Viola are being pursued, the thrill of the chase is magnified by not only by being able to hear the noise that the men make but their thoughts as well.

The story is much more than an exciting chase. Ness explores a society where women are banned and a fundamentalist religion dominates. Todd faces the moral dilemma of whether or not he can kill a man and the ethics of murdering the Spackle, an indigenous race, are examined.

I can't wait for the next two books in this series.
Pat Pledger

Finding Violet Park by Jenny Valentine

HarperCollins Children's Books
If you saw an urn in a taxi office, what would you do? Most of us would just leave it there, think nothing of it, and get your ride home. However, Lucas can't get the thought of being left on a shelf, all alone, out of his head. Getting his gran to pose as a relative of Violet's family, he takes ownership of her ashes.
Determined to find out just who Violet was and why she was abandoned, Lucas decides to do some investigating. As he begins to uncover her life, he discovers that she is linked extraordinarily closely to his, and to that of his 'missing' father.
This is a strange, but highly entertaining, poignant book, which might just leave you looking at life's little coincidences in a totally different way.
Nikki Heath

Special Kev by Chris McKimmie

Allen and Unwin, 2008 ISBN 9781741755503
(Age 5-8) Highly recommended. Chris McKimmie has produced a whimsical and original picture book about a special little boy named Kev. Kev is so special that his mum 'planted red roses and rolled out the red carpet' when he was born. He is also special because he is the only one of his 'eleventy million cousins' who has curly red hair and freckles. When his favourite cousin Fatty Boombah goes to live in another town, Kev is lonely and hasn't a friend who plays football. However when he joins up with Nicky Bathgate, who wants to play Ned Kelly, things start to go wrong.
This is a heart-warming story about the love that Kev receives from his parents and extended family. Kev doesn't need expensive birthday presents to feel special because of the love that surrounds him. (His dad once made him a scrub turkey out of stuff around the house for his birthday and his mum named a special star after him).
Childlike illustrations bring to life the different characters of the family especially his cousins and Aunty Pav, and the cute talking cockatoo and small animal drawings will delight young children.
This book is a little gem because it will leave everyone who reads it feeling special.
Pat Pledger

Angel Boy by Bernard Ashley

The tomb of treasure: An awful Egyptian adventure by Terry Deary

(Horrible Histories Gory Stories)
Scholastic, 2008.
(Age 8+) This is one of a new collection of stories based on historical times and a welcome spin-off of the ever popular Horrible Histories. Others in the series are set in the Tower of London in Tudor times, Hadrian's Wall during Roman times and Victorian London.

The Tomb of Treasure bowls along cheerfully in a kind of Scooby Doo fashion with enough cliff-hangers and slapstick comedy to tempt even reluctant readers. Five unlikely characters are plotting the ultimate heist, the theft of treasure from Tutankhamun's tomb. Children will learn some history, and yes there are one or two satisfyingly gory bits. The Epilogue describes the facts on which the story is based, which makes you think, 'Wow, this could have really happened'.

A definite boy pleaser, but it will be interesting to see just how successful the series is. The children I talk to (especially boys) love Horrible Histories because of their bite size nuggets of information. A foray into the world of fiction may not be a popular move with all fans.
Claire Larson

Abela : the girl who saw lions by Berlie Doherty

Andersen Press 2008
(Age 11+) Berlie Doherty hits the jackpot with this compelling story of Abela's journey from Tanzania to Sheffield. It pulls no punches. We follow Abela as she tries to care for her sick mother in a filthy bed in a hospital devoid of medicine and doctors. After her mother's death Abela is smuggled to England by her conniving uncle who is planning to pass her off as his own daughter in the hope that this will give him the right to return to England and join his English wife. But the plan goes wrong and Abela finds herself alone in a strange country with her uncle's cruel and mentally unstable wife. Her escape and journey through the social services system is traumatic and offers no easy answers or cosy solutions.

This is rightfully Abela's story and the other main character, Rosa, plays a supporting role. Both girls are well portrayed. Rosa is a typical teenager, growing up in Sheffield and interested in fashion and ice skating and this makes the sharp contrasts between the lives of the girls particularly effective. Abela and Rosa don't meet until the final part of the book but when they do I felt a huge sense of relief that Abela had found love and stability again.

Doherty does not avoid difficult issues such as the AIDs crisis in Africa, the challenges of being a foster parent and the cruelty of other children. However I have one serious reservation about this book. Abela undergoes the ordeal of female circumcision and although this is described fleetingly I feel it is a step too far in a book that will be read primarily by eleven to fourteen year old girls. In fact the veiled language and vague description will only confuse and frighten young readers and make them demand to know what has actually happened to Abela. Perhaps I am old fashioned, but I think children should be protected from knowledge of this barbaric practice for as long as possible.
Claire Larson

The Buddha's Diamonds by Carolyn Marsden and Thay Phap Niem

Candlewick Press, 2008.ISBN 9780763633806
(Ages 9-13) The Buddha's Diamonds is a simply written but beautiful coming-of-age story set in a Vietnamese fishing village. 10-year-old Tinh is intrigued by the bright red remote controlled car that a rich uncle has sent a friend, and instead of securing the family's fishing boat when a storm strikes the village he takes and hides the car. In the days that follow he learns about the strength of his Buddhist traditions as he helps his family re-establish. The values of commercialism are contrasted with the traditional Vietnamese values that prove to be more satisfying and more useful. The car's batteries are of course dead, but Tinh is able to have the boat's propeller fixed and to restore the ancestors' graves. He has started the journey into adulthood. The characters are simply delineated but believable and reading the novel is a rich experience.
Jenny Hamilton

Missing girl by Norma Fox Mazer

Allen & Unwin, 2008. ISBN: 9781741752793
(Age 14+) A psychological thriller, Missing girl kept me reading, on the edge of my seat, waiting to see which girl would go missing and what would happen. The book opens with the words:
'If the man is lucky, in the morning on his way to work, he sees the girls. A flock of them, like birds.'
There are five Herbert girls: 17 year old Beauty can't wait to escape the poverty and the responsibility she has to shoulder; Autumn the youngest feels overlooked, Fancy has special needs; and then there is volatile Stevie and quiet Mim. When the girls' parents decide that they will lend Stevie to a relative to try and ease the financial pressures, Beauty is faced with carrying the bad news to the girls and then easing their worries.

Mazer's technique of having short chapters, each telling the story in a different voice, is very effective as the reader hears what is happening from different points of view. The voice of the middle aged watcher is particularly frightening and adds to the tension of the book as the girls go about their everyday business totally unaware of him. The characters of all the protagonists are finely drawn and each of the girls grows in strength through the trials that they face. It is a moving story about courage and family.

This story is not graphic, but the suspense is gripping. What is most memorable and haunting for me is how Mazer explores the aftermath of the situation.
Pat Pledger

Extraordinary Ernie and Marvellous Maude by Frances Watts

ABC Books, 2008. ISBN 9780733321924 $12.05 65p.
(Ages: 7-10) This delightful little chapter book, aimed squarely at middle primary kids, will raise a laugh or two, amid lots of chuckles, as Ernie, a less than athletic boy, applies to be a superhero. The Superhero Society has been told to attract new members, and Ernie is their only candidate. As an apprentice, he must find a sidekick and go out and do heroic things. And his sidekick, Maud, a sheep, along with Ernie manages just that. Their overwhelming the bullies in the school, saving Emma and her book, makes wonderful reading, and will attract the most reluctant of readers.

I thoroughly enjoyed this little tome, it has lots of ingredients beloved by kids, a reluctant hero, a hero who is ordinary, a boy standing up to the bullies in his school, characters who are believable and likeable, and a touch of the impossible. Both main characters are engaging and appealing, and I look forward to the next books in this series, Ernie and Maud.
Fran Knight

Message in a bottle by Valerie Zenatti

Bloomsbury, 2008. ISBN 9780747590446
Unless you have recently arrived from Mars or even further afield, you would know that the Middle East presented one of the more intractable problems of the 20th Century, and still no resolution in sight. Message in a bottle is an attempt to personalize the conflict and connect the reader to the essential humanity of the ordinary person caught on either side of the divide.

The novel is a two-hander, the protagonists being a 17-year old Israeli girl and a 20-year old Palestinian male living in Gaza. Initial contact was made through Tal Levine, the Israeli girl, putting a note with her email address in a bottle, and getting her soldier brother to drop it in Gaza. The narrative then progresses through 'direct-to-camera' thoughts and email correspondence of Naim, aka 'Gazaman', and Tal. Although the novel doesn't provide a magic formula, in fact remarks that 'history is relentless, it doesn't think about people who want a quiet life, it just grinds on, sometimes breaking everything in its way', there is an up-beat conclusion.

Recent studies discussed on Radio National's The Book Show have claimed that readers of fiction experience a deeper empathy and understanding of our shared humanity compared to non-readers or even readers of non-fiction, and I think the novel is quite successful in this. Here is Tal explaining to her boyfriend the realities of what it's like to witness a suicide bombing:
'the TV doesn't let you smell the smell, or hear the silence, that second of silence straight after the explosion, the second when everyone's dazed, petrified. And then the screams, the moans, the sobbing, the groaning, they all cry like little children, the injured, even if they're fifty years old.'

This is very powerful, although the writing of Tal's inner thoughts at times is a bit clunky and cringe-making, possibly a result of the translation (from French). The novel Broken Bridge (by Lynne Reid Banks, 1994 re-issued 20007) deals with similar subject matter, but with far more nuanced characters and developed narrative. However it is a much longer book: if your students require a shorter read, I would certainly recommend Message in a bottle. (Would also recommend a lovely recent movie, The band's visit, about an Egyptian Police Orchestra visiting Israel, but accidentally stuck overnight in a small-town backwater.)
Peter Helman