Kip of the Karoo is the sequel novel to Kip of the mountain written by Emma Gourlay. Gourlay is currently working on a prequel to this duology. Gourlay, like the main character Kip, grew up with a black dad and a white mum and a buffel in her head. In Afrikaans, "Buffel" is the word for special, rare creature.
Kip of the Karoo is set in the Karoo which is a semi-desert natural region of South Africa. It is an area defined by its topography (mountains and plains), geology and climate especially its low rainfall, arid air, cloudless skies and extremes of temperature. Into this area, Kip and her friends venture in pursuit of treasure as suggested by an ancient map that they found in a cookie jar. They run into danger in the form of killer leopards, greedy King Double, cowboy ghosts and Hollywood film crew people who are perhaps not trustworthy.
The unusual setting may be of interest to young readers. The characters are somewhat developed. The plot is indeed action-packed and "wildly imaginative" as suggested by Jaclyn Moriarty. However, it is so full of rapid-fire action and constant intensity that the reader becomes fatigued and uncertain about whether there will be a plot climax. This constancy of action and excitement level is at the expense of a satisfying and engaging rising tension which is needed to really hold a young reader's attention.
The tone of the novel is as Jack Heath says -"full of charm". There is a warm-heartedness to this novel. The delightful black and white illustrations by Kate Moon are interspersed throughout the novel. The cover design is by Hazel Lam and adapted by Maya Abraham who are both artists of Harper Collins Design studio.
Themes Facing fears, Friendship.
Wendy Jeffrey
The Mightiest Bite by Howard Calvert and Mike Moran
Andersen Press, 2024. ISBN: 9781839131745.
As a little girl munches on an apple, she thinks she must have the mightiest bite. Suddenly, along comes a parade of animals to compete for the title, including a shark with its 300 teeth in rows, and a t-rex with 60 huge bone-crunchers, each set to show that their bite is even mightier than all the others.
But even the mighty hippopotamus with teeth and a bite that can sever a human body in half is no match for the twist in the end of this absorbing competition, and then the final twist is the best of all.
Young readers love stories about the animal kingdom, particularly those that teach them unusual and unlikely facts that they can drop into the conversation around the dinner table and this one fills the bill. With bright illustrations that give the animals life and personality this is a game of one-upmanship that not only engages but educates, although it is a little disappointing that our own Tasmanian Devil which has the strongest bite of all mammalian carnivores in relation to its body mass, did not get a mention. Nevertheless, I completely agree with the winner of the competition - ask me how I know!!!!
Barbara Braxton
Nobody's fool by Harlan Coben
Century, 2025. ISBN: 9781529906134. (Age:16+ - Adult) Highly recommended.
Is Sami Kierce ‘Nobody’s Fool’? In his youth he was a victim, but was he also a murderer? The uncertainty of this question has haunted Sami, disrupting the trajectory of his life and when a ‘ghost’ from his past re-enters his ’new normal’, he is compelled to investigate. Once a police officer, but now a disgraced former policeman, Sami lives a basic life as an investigator for hire and a night-school lecturer for would-be crime and truth finders. His past keeps coming back to remind him of his fall from grace, and when a convicted man who had apparently killed Sami’s fiancée is released from prison because of Sami’s own failures, he is thrust into a twisted investigation that winds two threads of his life into a knot that needs unraveling. With a new wife and young son to consider he is also keen to see that they are well-supported through all the dangerous twists and turns of his investigation. He is ripe for manipulation, but is he really ‘nobody’s fool’? In an almost comedic way, his idiosyncratic class of amateurs are extra eyes and feet on the ground in this compelling crime drama. This is a story that you won’t want to put down.
I loved this story! Although it is obviously a continuation of a story thread begun in a previous Harlan Coben story (Fool Me Once), the story stands alone as a compelling crime drama, and I could imagine this as a made-for TV series. The flawed central character must untangle stories that have mired his own life. With wealth and corruption, truth and lies, kidnapping and scams, and also redemption and re-writing of history all raising their heads, it is complex but intriguing. Lovers of crime drama will find this an enjoyable reading journey. It is an adult story, but in a pleasing way is light on swearing and grubby detail, but it is in no-way squeaky-clean. The essence of the story is the psychological complexity of carrying guilt. Readers aged 16+ will appreciate this story from an experienced author.
Themes Murder, Corruption, Lies and truth, Guilt, Private investigators.
Carolyn Hull
Honey Possum's bush cafe by Kristin Martin & Bianca Richardson
This wonderful book by two South Australian creators, Martin and Richardson, will encourage children to see how important it is for us all to care for the bush. This second story in the series Easter Bilby’s Friends, will be readily adopted by a class looking at Easter, the environment and Australian flora and fauna. By posing a problem that the Easter Billy must solve, readers will be encouraged to think about the solutions for themselves.
Three rhyming stanzas introduce us to the Bilby, the animal who has taken over from the Easter Bunny, after a selection process necessitated by the rabbit’s age. The Easter Bilby only works on one day of the year, at Easter, but he helps others throughout the year, his kindness knowing no bounds. The Bilby delivers eggs all over Australia; city, bush, beach, and finally his friends at the Bush Cafe. At the cafe he gives out the eggs and is invited to stay on for the Grand Opening. But Honey Possum bursts into tears, pointing out that the wild rabbits have eaten all the food between the families’ homes and the Bush Cafe. Easter Bilby has an idea, he will deliver seeds and plants to all the animals in the area. And soon there were bushes and trees dotting the landscape, offering food and shelter for all animals, enabling their trip to the cafe.
In this way, children are encouraged to look more closely at their environment; what did it look like before it was covered with houses? What flora and fauna lived here which is no longer seen? What animals are seen today and are they native animals?
Remnant vegetation supports native animals, including insects and birds, and can be sometimes found in suburbs. Sometimes local councils actively support remnant vegetation and native plants and animals.
This book will support kids' questions and thoughts about their environment, and the cute illustrations will provoke readers to look more closely at the animals, supported by information given at the end of the book. Activities and teacher's notes are available from the publisher.
Themes Environment, Australian flora and fauna, Honey possum, Easter bilby, Easter, Cafe.
Neeka and the Missing Key, by Tina Strachan is an engaging and heart-warming first instalment in the Wilder Zoo series. Perfect for readers who love animals, adventure and a touch of fun and mystery.
Neeka is an energetic and passionate eleven-year-old animal lover and wildlife conservationist who lives at Wilder Zoo, an amazing place filled with fascinating creatures and endless excitement. She loves helping out at the zoo whenever she can, even before school, and she also creates educational videos with her best friends, Rumi and Hudson.
When their video is nominated for an award, with an enticing prize of new camera equipment, Neeka is eager to film another standout clip to get the judges attention. However, finding the perfect idea proves more difficult than expected. Enter Rebel, the mischievous red panda, who quickly becomes both her inspiration and her biggest challenge. Neeka hopes to train him for a new video, but Rebel’s playful nature makes it anything but easy.
The story takes a dramatic turn when Neeka loses her zoo key; a crucial item that grants her access to the animals and something she has been entrusted with to prove her responsibility within the zoo. This loss sends her into a frantic search, as she doesn’t want to lose her zoo privileges. Desperate to find it, Neeka is faced with important questions: How far is she willing to go? What does responsibility really mean? And what is the best action to take when faced with a problem?
Strachan crafts a compelling story that blends adventure, humour and emotion. Interspersed with some cute illustrations by Max Hamilton, Neeka is a relatable protagonist, full of determination, curiosity and the occasional bout of impatience. With elements of strong friendships, a lively zoo setting and Rebel’s amusing antics, this novel is sure to entertain, and provide valuable life lessons with the underlying themes of responsibility and perseverance.
Perfect for animal lovers and young conservationists, Neeka and the Missing Key is a delightful and inspiring read that will leave readers eager for the next adventure in the Wilder Zoo series.
Seven-year-old Angus Copelin-Walters is like so many little lads that we all know - he would much rather be outside doing the boy-things that he loves than inside the classroom struggling with reading and maths, especially when the numbers jumble and the letters twist and tumble.
But that could be where the similarity ends because for Angus, who lives in Australia's Top End, his favourite thing is interacting with the many crocodiles at his local fun park, preferring to wrestle with them that the marks and squiggles on a page that seem to make no sense. As his self-esteem and belief in himself goes into a downward spiral, despite his mother's wise words to do things his own way, Angus sees a television doco about homeless people and suddenly his life is changed for ever...
Inspired by a desire to do something, he finds both a purpose and a product, and even though the numbers still jumble and the letters twist and tumble, he perseveres because now he has a need and a reason to tame them.
This is the most uplifting true story of yet another child hero who sees a problem and tries to fix it - in this case, by creating special croc-shaped lollipops that are based on traditional First Nations bush tucker. Now, at 14, an ambassador for global charity Made by Dyslexia, and acknowledged by dignitaries such as the late HM Queen Elizabeth II and Sir Richard Branson, his story is told and his name known so that he can stand alongside peers like Campbell Remess who is continuing to change the world "one teddy bear at a time" and other Australian child heroes who continue to prove that not only not all superheroes wear capes, but that success can be defined by so much more that a mark on an assignment or a score on a test.
As the Australian school year gets underway and some students are embracing it while others are dreading it, this is a must-share. Not only does it demonstrate that success takes many forms, that doing things in your own way and wanting to make a difference and believing that you can can have great rewards and "numbers that jumble and letters that twist and tumble" or any other learning challenges can be overcome, it encourages children to identify their own hopes and dreams, set their goals and pathways to them, and understand that trial and error, practice and patience are all part of the journey. They can learn to harness their personal superpower that, as Sir Richard Branson says, "helps us to see the world differently and come up with new and exciting ideas."
How many green ant lollipops will they have to taste-test until they find the combination that is just right?
Watch 11-yr-old Angus Copelin-Walters meet his mentor – Richard Branson!
Themes Biographies, Dyslexia, Companies.
Barbara Braxton
A mouse called Julian by Joe Todd Stanton
Flying Eye Books, 2024. ISBN: 9781838742140.
Julian had lived on his own in his little underground house for as long as he could remember, and being a mouse, it meant he kept himself safe from all the above-ground animals like Fox and Owl who wanted to eat him, and the underground animals like the rabbits, moles and badgers who just got in his way. He led a peaceful, trouble-free life and that was just the way he liked it. Until... one day Fox smashed himself through Julian's window, determined to make a meal of him! Except Fox got stuck and instead of having a meal of Julian, he had a meal with him!
How the story unfolds from there is a little reminiscent of both the Greek legend of Androcles and the Lion, and Aesop's fable of The Lion and the Mouse in which unlikely creatures become friends through helping each other out.
A charming story to share with young readers which may lead them on to those two classics and into the world of legends, fables and fairytales.
Themes Mice, Foxes, Friendship.
Barbara Braxton
Mavis: The little plane spotter by Angela Toniolo. Illus. by Shannon Melville
Wombat Books, 2025. ISBN: 9781761111938.
It's World War Two and Darwin has been bombed. Families have built trenches for air raid shelters and the tension is high. Mavis wants to help the war effort, but what can a ten-year-old girl do? She has her answer when a soldier comes to her school looking for volunteers to be plane spotters.
And so, along with her older sister Doreen. as members of the Volunteer Air Observers Corps, every Saturday they climb the stairs of the town clock tower armed with binoculars and pictures of enemy bombers to record the times they are spotted and the direction they are flying. On one Saturday, when Mavis is working by herself she spots one of the planes in her pictures... Does she have what it takes to save the town?
Based on real people and true events, this is a story that not only exposes a little-known piece of Australia's civil defence, but introduces today's readers to the lives of children in the past, those who are perhaps their own relatives - as Doreen and Mavis are for the author. Imagine living with the fear of being bombed every day - although sensitive teachers will need to be aware of any triggers this may pose for those who have escaped just that, while at the same time helping children have a better understanding of what some of their classmates might have lived through. However, rather than dwelling on that fear, this is more a story of how a community came together at a time of need - as it so often does - and determination, resilience, and the power of little acts, even those done by children, can make such a difference. The illustrations capture this moment in time perfectly, offering the modern reader a glimpse of what their life might have been like had they been born into that era when there were no phones and screens to entertain. What did the children do?
With ANZAC Day on the horizon, this is an opportunity to explore a little-known part of Australia's wartime history that will span all age groups.
As a non-Indigenous Australian, well aware of Australia’s shameful history, Kate Grenville asks what should she do, knowing that she has benefited from a violent past. How does she come to terms with that? She says that the failure of the Voice referendum, giving people permission to look away and retreat from truth telling, prompted her instead to burrow into the hard questions. She undertook a personal pilgrimage, not so much digging up the historical record, as venturing with an open mind and an open heart, to listen, to feel, and to reflect.
Her previous novels have explored Australia’s colonial history; this time she chooses simply to follow in the paths of her ancestors and stand in the places where land was taken from the original inhabitants and understand what that meant.
In her journey she observes the sheep paddocks that have replaced the Indigenous midyini yam daisy plantings, the roads built along original Aboriginal tracks, the ‘heritage’ pubs that ignore older heritage, the fenced properties sectioning up the bigger landscape of another people’s Country.
She observes the ubiquitous war memorials in country towns, ‘Lest we forget’, and the absence of memorials for the fallen warriors of the Aboriginal resistance.
She considers the meaning of places with names like Gins Leap and Poison Swamp, and also of properties that have usurped Aboriginal names for ‘My home’, or ‘meeting place’. She traces the location of the lost Myall water holes and eventually approaches the site of the Myall Creek massacre. The trial of seven white men for the murder of around thirty people at that site was the start of the Great Australian Silence about what happened across the country.
Finally at Myall Creek there are plaques in memory of the murdered Wirrayaraay people, as an act of ‘acknowledgement of the truth of our shared history’, an act of reconciliation. It is a place to stop, be still, to be aware of the history. Grenville writes that the truth of what took place in this country is there; we just have to look.
Grenville’s book is a personal pilgrimage, but her observations and words of inquiry and reflection raise many questions for readers to grapple with. Her past research of her family’s history has been presented as historical fiction: The secret river (2005), Restless Dolly Maunder (2023), and others. This latest book is non-fiction but is compelling and easy to read, a very accessible way to raise important issues that deserve the attention of all Australians. Highly recommended for secondary schools.
Themes Australian history, Dispossession, First Nations, Truth-telling, Reconciliation.
Josephine (nicknamed JET/Jet) has just relocated to France from her home in Australia. Her father and stepmother are in the process of renovating an amazing French chateau and Josephine will be going to school in the same school that her late mother attended. In one of the rooms to be transformed by lots of hard work Jet discovers a hidden old locket, which contains the ghost of the famous Dauphin Louis XVII. She is in control of his appearance and reappearance, and apart from her dog Daisy, she seems to be the only person who can see him. It isn’t long before a firm friendship develops across the ages and the ether. The adventure becomes more intense when she connects with a local boy Gabriel (a very dreamy French teen) and hunts out a team of art thieves in the chateau next door. Will Jet’s life be in jeopardy or can a ghost save her from danger?
This is another of Jacqueline Harvey’s delightful adventure stories. Ironically she even has her characters reference her Kensy and Max and Alice-Miranda books. What I love about this book is that it respects young readers and their issues and concerns. Jet is a ‘just-teen’ with the beginnings of interest in the opposite sex and the standard insecurities about how she is changing. Family life for Jet is safe and secure, and her stepmother relationship is warm and loving. Some of the story detail is told to Jet’s former school friend, now living in Singapore, in their email correspondence. Although the mysterious ghost has a real and sad history, there is nothing frightening about his role in the story. If anything there is a smattering of humour as he tries to understand the contemporary world. I loved this story and readers aged 9-14 will be excited by the Chateau renovation story and will be eager for more adventures in Jet’s life, with the ghost alongside.
Themes France, French History, Restoration, Ghosts, Art theft.
Alan, a grumpy cat with a huge brain, wants to take over the world. Fido, his sidekick dog, has been reading Science Today magazine and suggests that to help him to do this they clone Alan like the scientists have done with the sheep. Claiming to be from the 'Cloning Machine Inspection Agency' they infiltrate the lab, clone the cloning machine and distract the scientists with free calculators to get the machine out. Of course, the exercise is a disaster, 100 clones instead of 1 and the clones clone themselves. Luckily cats are easily distracted by a feather dangled on fishing line and they are eventually lured back into the machine in reverse. Alan’s next bright idea is to form his own country, the Independent Republic of Alanland and they get a ‘new country’ form from the local post office. The certificate arrives the next day along with an invitation for Alanland to participate in the Olympics. Fido makes a flag and Alan writes an anthem, the only other preparation is that Alan squeezes into some lycra shorts with disastrous consequences when they get to the Olympics. The two have some other crazy adventures including the invention of a new number, Onety Tweven Sillion which they register at the General Board of Numbers, and meeting aliens looking for the leader of the world to prosecute for various crimes; including space litter and ham and cheese pizza. There is a lovely frame where two spacemen are drifting around a pile of poo in space with one reporting 'Houston, we have a floater…’.
Tom McLaughlin has crafted all the text and illustrations and the restricted colour palette, black, white and ginger adds to the hand-crafted feel of the book, with standard, five or six frames to the page, occasionally spilling over the margins to great effect. The fast-paced plot with plenty of bum, poo and fart jokes will appeal to younger readers and the surreal situations and clever storytelling will appeal to all.
Themes Graphic novel, Adventure, Cartoon humour.
Sue Speck
Dreaming Soldiers by Catherine Bauer. Illus. by Shane McGrath
Big Sky, 2025. ISBN: 9781923300255. (Age:7-13) Highly recommended.
Jimmy Watson and Johnno Hogan were the best of friends - swimming-in-waterholes, camping-under-the-stars, sharing-water-bottles kind of friends. Throughout their lives they did everything together and even when their paths diverged because there were different rules and expectations for "white" and indigenous children then, they still came back together as close as they had ever been. And then one day they went into town for supplies, heeded the call for men to fight in a war far away and enlisted.
This could be the story of any number of friendships of the early 20th century when 'white' and indigenous kids on farms formed friendships that were blind to colour, cultural differences or any other racial prejudices and its strong focus on that friendship is its positive. While the treatment of indigenous soldiers during the conflicts that Australia has been involved in since the Boer War in 1899 could have been its focus, its power lies in that spotlight on the friendship, the shared adventures and stories, the fears and hopes that are common regardless of skin colour.
This is a new release of this book, and is particularly timely. While the Trump regime tries to reshape US military history including removing thousands of records of Black, Hispanic and female war veterans from official websites, including that of the Arlington National Cemetery (where those of the ilk of John. F. Kennedy are buried), this book is one of not many that acknowledge First Nation Service Men and Women.
Within the Australian Curriculum, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures cross-curriculum priority is designed for all students to engage in reconciliation, respect and recognition of the world's oldest continuous living cultures, and so this book offers the opportunity to help our younger students understand that despite rules against their enrolment (those not of "substantially European origin" were excluded from enlisting by the Defence Act 1903) and not being recognised as citizens until 1967, their neglect and exclusion on their return, indigenous people have fought for Australia in many overseas conflicts and their contribution has been vital. Now, each year following the Dawn Service at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, there is a special ceremony acknowledging their service.
This edition includes some pertinent questions to pose to encourage students to reflect and remember, teachers' notes extend the experience and the learning. and further information, including some of the stories of the estimated 1000 who managed to enlist can be found on the Australian War Memorial site while an internet search will provide links to further valuable resources.
It was a cold December day in London "where the days end early and forget to start on time" when the Stewart family decided to spend the afternoon at London Zoo and six-year-old Arthur and nine-year-old first connected with Einstein and Arthur tells him, "And you, Mr Penguin, must come and stay with us whenever you like. Penguins are always very welcome at our house." So they are very surprised when Mr Penguin actually turns up on their doorstep that evening, with a rucksack labelled 'Einstein' on its back.
But what is a fairy penguin from Sydney, Australia doing in London in the first place?
In the first adventure in this series, Arthur and Imogen reluctantly send Einstein back to Australia, even though it means they may never see him again, but in the second, he returns to London and once again connects with the children. Now in the third, and perhaps the final, there is another mystery to solve as penguins start disappearing from the South Sandwich Islands, and the children are convinced that there is foul play involved, rather than natural forces. Even though Imogen believes that now she is in Year 7 playing detective is too babyish for her, nevertheless she decides that this is an important issue and decides to help Arthur uncover what is really behind the disappearances -and discovers a lot more than she bargained for.
Best read in order because of the reappearance of previous characters whose backgrounds are assumed to be known, and references to those previous mysteries, this is a series for independent readers who like to solve mysteries and see themselves in the role of the main characters.
As with the original, it also offers opportunities to think about the ethics of keeping animals in captivity, the huge illegal wildlife trade and why it is so profitable, estimated to be worth billions of dollars, as well as its impact on the future of some species.
We frequently view movies and stage shows and rarely question the back story of the characters. In Gregory Maquire's latest book Elphie we have the imagined childhood and coming-of-age story of Elphaba (Elphie), the most iconic witch of Oz who we know so well from Wicked, Maguire's internationally bestselling novel that inspired the hit stage show phenomenon. Wicked, as with many of Magire's young adult and adult novels, is inspired by a classic children's story; in this case Frank Baum's The wizard of Oz written in 1900.
The cleverness and wit of the author, the subtle and not-so-subtle undercurrents of religiosity when different cultures and belief systems collide, the gut-wrenchingly powerful portrayal of disability(or otherness) and the growth of a child's (Elphie's) awareness of the world (of how people operate and of personal identity) are the hallmarks of this novel. Throughout Maguire perceptively depicts the interiority of Elphie as she processes the world around her.
Other characters are well developed. Readers will enjoy Elphie's beautiful, spirited mother, her pious, hopeless, dreamer missionary father, her saintly sister Nessarose and the hilarious droll Nanny. Maguire, when conjecturing directly to the reader, places the characters in their role in history and memory and muses about how they will be seen by later descendants, historians and readers. Perhaps Melena, (Elphie's mum) will be viewed as solipsistic and arrogant, Nanny may be seen as oppressed, Severin and Snapper may be seen as opportunistic and venal, the chieftain and his tribe as noble defenders of their land but "...the moth in the tapestry"..."Pacing out of the reeds on her own two green feet, hardly three green feet high..." is Elphie - perhaps she will not be changed throughout time...
The novel is divided into four parts- the first three of which finish with a "Passim" that serves the authorial purpose of grounding Elphie's life (future, present and past) into a continuum. It gives the author, who has adopted the third person point of view, the opportunity to point to how the present has sprung from the past and what the future might bring. This results in a gratifying unfolding of story line for the reader where time, memory and ancestry matter. Much of what Maguire concludes in these "Passims" is profound eg. "Some memories disappear around the bend and die while others link arms and make movements into episodes so firm it feels you could...walk upon them across time itself." (p. 58) Maguire talks about shuffling through memories, beginning to have a history, impressions of the past and how from a certain age memories slot ..." more or less chronologically in the library of her mind." Elphie realises on her mother's death that she is no longer immortal.
The first part of the book is "The Encounter". The reader encounters Elphie's missionary family, the missionionaries encounter the Quadling tribe (..."the last stand of doomed animism") and we encounter a strange power in Elphie, the four-year-old green-skinned girl. Gut wrenchingly sad, brutal and telling is the encounter with the crocodrilos variously described as a "vile creature", "familiar and deformed at once", "waterlogged hedgehog", "defective specimen", "editorial objection", "biological bravado", "...so it smells bad and looks fierce. So it's a bizarre instance of its own kind. Does that justify judging it a mortal threat?" The crocodrilos can be read as a metaphorical example of disability and otherness and the cruelty and sadness that can often be experienced by people with disabilities when encountering others. Elphie is shunned and scorned because of her green skin; her sister Nessarose has no arms. The book continues, charting Elphie's childhood, with Maguire, the omniscient and at times chatty author, drawing the reader in as a confidante, speaking in asides and scattering hints about the future. Elphie grows to "... adolescence, spare us all."
Setting the story mostly in the dismal marshlands and neighboring wild countries that border Munchkinland or Oz with its yellow brick road, Maguire depicts the imperial nature of Oz versus the primitive state of the lands outside. His description of setting are powerfully evocative and engage all of the reader's senses. "War in the air, and yet the air is soft. Rotting jasmine and ripe skunk cabbage, Frogs in the sawgrass marsh..." Over and against the physical settings, scattered through the text are many organic allusions to Biblical and other sources eg, baby Nessa found floating in a burnished shield amongst the cat-tails (ref. Moses in the bullrushes) and "There was a snake in Lurline's garden, no doubt..."(ref. Genesis, the snake in the garden of Eden) making for a rich cross-referenced work.
This book contains a wealth of highly powerful quotes. This reader could share many more quotes but urges others to read this book... However, this reader begs indulgence to include just one more - Maguire on disability, "...a hobbled swan on the water may not be able to wheel aloft with her sisters. But she is no less beautiful, and she is doubled by her reflection in a way she can never be doubled in the air."
Reader, take your time with this book. For a powerful, unputdownable read with a plot that tracks the growth of character, for important themes, interesting characters, evocative settings and very clever, thought-provoking writing, Elphie is highly recommended.
Themes Otherness, Disability, Magic, The outcast, Ancestor worship, Christian missionary life.
White writes that his latest book is inspired by ‘Victorian England’s sordid history of labelling certain people ‘ill’ or ‘other’ to justify cruelty against them’. And he claims that his novel does not reflect the full extent of medical experimentation on minority peoples. Be warned, this novel is full of gore, graphic surgical procedures and violence. It is a horror story, set in a fantasy world within 1880’s London. If you read the prologue, typed in white text on black paper, you know what you are in for, and it’s up to each reader whether they read further or not.
It is the story of a 16 year-old violet-eyed girl, at a time when the Speaker Society values violet-eyed girls, as highly desirable wives in order to produce male progeny with spiritual powers. However Gloria, despite her eyes, abhors this future, regardless of the status and wealth it might bring her, because at heart she feels she is a boy. ‘She’ is in fact ‘he’, and Silas is his preferred name. His heart thumps like a rabbit, full of fear for his future because ‘It will hurt it will hurt it will hurt’.
White immerses the reader in Silas’s world. We feel his fear, the tension that manifests in stumbling words and flapping hands, his tears, his anxiety and suppressed anger. He is desperate to escape his future, but his plans go awry and he finds himself imprisoned in the monstrous Braxton’s Sanitorium and Finishing School. And that is where the real horror begins.
White is a brilliant writer, he clutches at our hearts, and the pace keeps us glued to the page. We become immersed in the inner world of the trans person hiding in a society that will not accept them. I have read reviews that have thanked him and welcomed his portrayal of this world. The fantasy becomes a metaphor for the fear and anxiety that they endure, and at the same time shines a light on historical barbaric attempts to force them to conform to ‘normality’.
I was drawn into this novel and read it to the end, but not being a fan of the horror genre, I found the gore a bit too much at times, and for that reason would recommend it for an older readership than his previous YA book Compound fracture. Compound Fracture is highly recommended as an introduction to this genre. I think that perhaps The spirit that bares its teeth became an unrestrained outpouring that could have benefited from some sympathetic editing. That said, I am sure that any White novel will be a confrontational but necessary revelation of a viewpoint that has been long neglected in YA literature.
