Walker Books, 2020. ISBN: 9781406397482. (Age: 3+) Highly recommended. American author illustrator,Jessica Love won deserved praise for her debut picture book, Julian is a mermaid (2019) and this will be reprised for her sequel, Julian at the wedding (2020). Both books overflow with charm. They are vivacious, colourful and entertaining, warm and funny, dealing with the boy, Julian, who simply loves to dress up. Surrounded by aunties, family and friends who also rise to the occasion of a wedding, dressing in their finery, filling their hair with colour and verve, donning their most colourful and striking outfits, Julian goes to the wedding with his friend, Marisol, but they are in the wedding, not observers. Julian is dressed in an unusual blue suit, and the brides give him their dog to hold, but when the wedding breakfast is in progress, the children decide to explore the garden. Marisol plays with the dog while Julian enfolds himself in the branches of the willow tree imagining it is a fairy house. When the two friends come together again, Marisol's dress has been covered in mud. Julian has an idea and takes Marisol back under the tree. The two children are delightful, their characters standing out to the reader as they attend the wedding, finding an adventure away from the festivities. This lovely book will be a favourite amongst readers as they pour over the detail in the images created by Love, wonder at her technique using brown paper, and look closely at the outfits worn by all the members of the wedding party. The whole oozes with love, friendship and tenderness as the two children dance around the bridal couple. I love the two books, showcasing society in all of its diversity, presenting difference and acceptance with humour, love and subtlety. Teacher's notes are available. Themes: Friendship, Love, Weddings, LGBT. Fran Knight
'Twas the night before Pride by Joanna McClintick. Illus. by Juana Medina
Parodying the well known ‘Twas the night before Christmas, this warmly entertaining book about the gay community and their celebrations at the Pride march, will inform and captivate younger readers who may well know of this celebration but with this offering are given greater awareness of this group within our community and what has happened in the past.
It is Sammy’s first Pride and his older brother is keen for him to know about why it is celebrated. He gives a potted history of the Stonewall march which in 1969 developed from action because of the frustration with the way the gay community was being treated, to an organised event celebrated over the whole world. The hundreds who gathered in New York at the Stonewall Inn grew as more people joined in.
Today the Pride march is a celebration for all, and this is shown in the illustrations, as many people gather to march. A rainbow collection of all sorts of people, couples, singles, parents, children, all as diverse as any world group, line the street to show support and encouragement to those who march. From those who spend hours dressing up to the ones in their shorts and tees, all are welcome on this proud exhibition of solidarity.
Younger readers will enjoy scanning the pages and particularly the end papers with the its range of peoples included in them, while older readers may be able to look at how the illustrator has incorporated images of New York and the Stonewall march in the pages.
Accessing the video will enable readers and parents alike to come to an understanding of why McClintock wrote the book. She like all her family and friends are captivated by the glam and glitter, fun and comraderie, but wanted to show younger children the background and why it started; its more serious side. And this she has done well, children reading this book will understand that once gay people were not tolerated, and they had to take a stand. That stand was echoed around the world, culminating in marches everywhere. An activity kit is available.
Illus. by Faith Erin Hicks. Macmillan, 2019. ISBN: 9781529008630.
(Age: 14+) Recommended. Graphic Novel. Themes: Friendship,
Transitions. This graphic novel's initial impression suffers a
little from its American origins as the concept of a pumpkin patch
as a theme park was confusing at first so it took a few pages to get
a feel for the setting. Hick's use of 'pumpkin-tinted' colours in
the book serves to set the scene and Rowell's reputation of
developing believable characters has been built on her other novels,
Eleanor and Park and Fangirl. She has written an
engaging story about friendship, beginnings, endings and taking
chances. This book should resonate with teens and young adults who
are about to embark on their own life changes. While it is exciting
to be starting something new it also often becomes a time of
uncertainty, reluctance and sadness and this book celebrates both
this and the role of friendship in taking these steps.
Josiah and Deja are good friends and are on their last shift at
their holiday jobs at the Pumpkin Patch before heading off to
college. The story follows Deja's attempts to ensure Josiah resolves
his long unrequited crush on another girl who works in the park
before the nights ends. Set against the backdrop of the theme park
we see the friends savouring their memories and saying goodbye to
this stage of their lives as they mentally prepare themselves for
something new.
Rowell's story rejoices in the bonds of friendship while Hick's
charming and expressive panels draw the reader in, building the main
characters and their surroundings. Deja's strength contrasts with
Josiah's uncertainty and this is obvious in the words as well as the
drawings.
In all, the book is non-judgemental and matter of fact with love and
relationships the underlying important theme.
Gaye Howe
Queer heroes by Arabelle Sicardi
Illus. by Sarah Tanat-Jones. Quarto Publishing, 2019. ISBN:
9781786034861.
(Ages: 10+) Highly recommended. Themes: LGBTQ, Difference, Heroes
and heroines. Subtitled, Meet 52 LGBTQ heroes from past and
present, this brightly inviting book does just that. Each page
is devoted to one person who has advocated the LGBTQ cause. From
Sappho in Ancient Greece to Krsten Stewart, from Da Vince to Harvey
Milk, from Tchaikovsky to Khalid Abdle-Hadi, the coverage is
amazing, including people from all continents, ethnic backgrounds
and positions in society.
Many will be well known to younger readers, but equally, many will
be unknown, informing the reader about people new to them. Readers
will love reading about people like Freddie Mercury and David Bowie,
Sia and Tim Cook, but will be equally fascinated by stories of
people like Virginia Wolfe, Vikram Seth, Nobuko Yoshiya and
Josephine Baker.
Each of the stories gives an outline of their lives, where and when
they were born (and died) and the journey they took in being
accepted. Sometimes the article is ended with a quote which for some
encapsulates their life's work.
Subhi Nahas for example has a page devoted to him, his portrait
surrounded by many flags and we see that he was born in 1988 in
Idlib in Syria. Pursued by the military for being gay he fled Syria
to Turkey where he became an activist, but as things changed there,
he fled again to the USA. Here he set up a group called Spectra
Project an organisation promoting the cause of LGBTQ refugees around
the world.
Several people like Frida Khalo, for example have two pages devoted
to their story. Frida was an artist born in Mexico in 1907 and her
work as one of the twentieth century's best artists as well as her
work promoting feminism and civil rights have been widely
recognised.
Another person, Lili Elbe, born in 1992 in Denmark has had her story
recognised through the film, The Danish Girl. She was born a
male and fought hard to have her transgender status recognised and
to have gender reassignment surgery. Her story is all the more
astounding when she was having this ground breaking surgery in the
first years of the twentieth century.
A wonderful read, presenting both known and little known activists
in this field, the book will be a hit on the library shelves. I read
it as a dip in, lamenting the publisher's decision not to include
either a contents page or index, limiting its ease of use, but the
content easily outweighs this consideration.
Fran Knight
Frizzle and me by Ellie Royce and Andrew McLean
Ford Street Publishing, 2021. ISBN: 9781925804744. (Age:4+) Highly recommended.
A charming story of an extended family will resonate with all children in our schools particularly those who are part of a melded family. The narrator and her mother live alone until Mummy falls in love with Jani. Eventually Jani moves in with them, and so the family became three with Jani good at reading stories at night. When the girl is three her father comes to stay. The family is now four, Mummy, Jani, David and the young girl. Each time she asks a number of questions about how things might change, and readers will love the answers, happy that the best things in her life will stay the same.
The family continues to grow as David marries Elizabeth. Again the questions about hugs and bedtime reading, along with David’s cooking and Elizabeth’s singing are asked, reassuring the girl that these will not change. Then when Elizabeth becomes pregnant the baby’s development is followed avidly by the narrator, eager to show the child she calls Frizzle, how to climb the tree.
This wonderful story gently underlines the things that are important to a young child; hugs, singing, cooking and reading. Each is shown with a disarming warmth by award winning illustrator, Andrew McLean who offers an extended family in all of its many guises. Readers will love seeing the things the family does together, sharing what they have, laughing and loving, taking the changes in their stride, but always making sure the child knows what is happening and is included and loved.
McLean’s illustrations show a wonderful mixed family, two couples and a baby and the young girl, living happily together. The background shows a warm happy environment with fruit trees, vegetables growing in the raised beds, a warm kitchen well used by cook, David and lots of toys and books. It reflects all that is the best of a warm inviting family home and will be instantly recognised by the readers. The detailed illustrations, a mix of watercolour, pencil and gouache, will ensure the readers take in everything on each page as they read the gently humorous text. Teacher's notes are available.
At the start of 8th grade in Washington Middle School in Tampa Florida, Jay, who had previously been teased for his ‘porcelain’ skin, has broken out in quite severe acne. The year doesn’t start well as art, his favourite subject, doesn’t fit easily into his schedule. The necessary changes mean he is no longer in the same classes as his friends. The easy social groups he is used to are no longer available and when he sits with the ‘popular jerk boys” at lunch he earns himself a new nickname “Rudolf”. Art class is his happy place, helping him get through the school day, but even there he is confused by a girl who seems to want to be more than friends and Mark, his teaching assistant buddy who seems to be friendly but is a bit stand offish. Devastatingly, his best friend who he gets to see on the bus home, abandons him for his new musical friends. Acne just seems to compound his problems and his first visits to a dermatologist have little effect. A second specialist recommends isoretinoin, known as Accutane, an effective six month treatment but one which can have a lot of side effects. After some setbacks Jay starts to take some control of his life, a clothes and hair makeover not only distracts attention from his acne but helps to build his confidence. He makes new friends and builds some bridges with his old ones learning more about himself on the way. The author’s note tells us that the story is heavily based on his own experiences with acne. He also says that the book is about asexuality as two of Jay’s friends, a girl and a boy both seem to have romantic feelings for him that he does not recognise in himself, a labelling that I found a little premature and forced at this stage in the character’s life. The colourful graphic style similar to Raina Telgemeir’s novels will appeal to the primary to middle school age group especially those experiencing acne, this is one of few books to highlight this subject. Jay is a likeable, relatable character but his story seems a little long and slow paced at times.
Themes Acne, Friendship, Bullying, Asexuality.
Sue Speck
The lovely and the lost by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2020. ISBN: 9781484782415. (Age:12+) Recommended.
As a fan of The inheritance games series, I eagerly picked up The lovely and the lost, a psychological thriller featuring Kira, a teen who had been rescued as a child from the wild by Cady Bennett. Adopted by Cady, she and Cady’s son Jude, and neighbour Free, are all being trained to handle search-and-rescue dogs. When Cady is called by her estranged father, Bales Bennett, to locate a missing child in the Sierra glades National Park, the three teens accompany her in the search for Bella, the little girl. Kira becomes increasingly obsessed with finding her as flashbacks to her own survival in the forest become more frequent.
The story is told in Kira’s voice and it is easy to become totally immersed in this tense story as Kira begins to remember haunting scenes from her desperate fight to stay alive as a child in the forest. She knows what Bella could be experiencing but is frustrated when the search turns from seeking a missing child to trying to find the person who has kidnapped her and the teens are prohibited from searching because of their age. Together with Gabriel, a troubled teenager living with Cady’s father, they begin to research the people who have disappeared in the forest, and Kira is dismayed to uncover family secrets that have been hidden by Cady.
Dog lovers will be thrilled with the descriptions of how search and rescue dogs behave and how important they are in finding missing people. The dogs all have personalities of their own and help to manage Kira’s behaviour when she is overcome by memories of her childhood trauma.
This is a compelling story with Barnes unpeeling the secrets of Kira’s past, uncovering family secrets, while at the same time maintaining the reader’s fear for the little lost child. The conclusion has a surprising and unexpected twist. Lovers of psychological thrillers and dogs will be sure to enjoy The lovely and the lost and may enjoy The woods are always watching by Stephanie Perkins, Be not far from me by Mindy McGinnis and Nowhere on earth by Nick Lake.
Mafiosa: The bloody and compelling history of the Mafia by Colin McLaren
Hachette, 2022. ISBN: 9780733648106.
Colin McLaren presented an interesting case for an alternate explanation for the ‘assassination’ of John F Kennedy in his book JFK: the Smoking Gun, published in 2013. He is considered a fine Australian detective, and respected for his investigative journalism. He has written about many puzzling cases the world over. With this book, Mafioso, he went undercover and became an actual Mafia member for 3 years. His book is considered a definitive history of the criminal organisation, and reads as a well-researched and scholarly summary, supported by an index, photos and comprehensive endnotes (source material). This is a most accessible summary of the Mafia’s beginnings in Sicily, the movements to America and the remnants of the criminal groups across the world. A map in the opening pages details the location of the Mafioso families including those many of us have heard of from movies and television series. The author’s powers of observation are evident; he is honest and realistic. He acknowledges how much he likes the Sicilian people, having been treated with great kindness and warmth, but, he says that ‘they also carry a tribal burden, and it is written all over their faces’. This is a fascinating coverage of how the Mafia have, and continue to have, a hold over world crime. Obviously the subject matter is for a mature reader but the book would be a good addition to any history section of an upper school library, particularly when considering the Australian crime scene and the continued influence of the Mafia here.
Julie Wells
The rising tide by Ann Cleeves
Pan Macmillan, 2022. ISBN: 9781509889624. (Age:15+) Highly recommended.
The amazing tidal patterns of Holy Island north of Newcastle in northern England is a focus for this setting rich novel, DCI Vera Stanhope’s tenth outing.
Called to investigate the suicide of a well known but lately dishonoured TV personality, Vera sees reasons to suspect a murder has been committed. With the victim is a small cast of friends all holidaying together on the island, staying at Pilgrim House, a retreat on the island, once peopled by nuns. Their movement is bound by the tide, and secrets lay deeply hidden. The group has been meeting together every five years, celebrating their time at school. Their first stay at Lindisfarne was at a school camp, organised by a with-it young teacher. But their first reunion saw the drowning death of their most attractive member, Isobel, and the acknowledgment of this incident is a topic to be avoided. The five, married couple, Louise and Ken, the latter suffering from dementia, Phillip, now a priest, the dead man Rick, and Annie now running a bakery at Newcastle. All have baggage which Vera’s team unravels for our delight. Other people skirt the edges of the five, Annie was married to Daniel divorced after their baby died some forty years ago, but he is now married to DCC Katherine Whillmore. It is her daughter who initiated the claim of sexual assault against Rick resulting in his sacking. The teacher, Judith is also nearby, while Rick’s ex wife Charlotte enters the scene.
Vera and her team uncover the layers beneath the group’s closeness, finding links between them which point to a greater knowledge about Rick and his interests. Forced to resign after improper advances towards a young girl at the TV station, Rick is now writing a novel, and when Vera finally gets the synopsis and chapter outlines finds it is about Isobel’s death, the veneer of fiction barely obscuring the truth.
With all three of the investigative team sometimes going back to the mainland, sometimes staying overnight on the island, the importance of the tide becomes paramount to their comings and goings. The towers that dot the causeway metres above the roadway are testament to the height and speed at which the tide advances, often trapping people unawares.
Behind the old simmering resentments the present day is set in motion when Rick tells them about his book. Daniel sidelined at his high end holiday resort, Annie struggling to make ends meet at her bakery, Charlotte needing money to bolster up her massage business, Rick’s accuser seeing that she was led on by an ambitious journalist, Judith coming to the island to reenter the group but thinking better of it: all have motives aplenty to be investigated and rejected. When a second murder occurs, Charlotte found dead in he massage room, the investigation becomes urgent, that urgency culminating in the team taking risks with heart in the mouth results.
Themes Murder, Lindisfarne, Northumbria, Vera Stanhope, Cold case.
This is a book that should be read, despite its sadness and melancholy. There is nothing nice or comfortable about hearing of the traumatic experiences of Jews from Germany, Austria and other European countries during the Second World War, but this story is also the story of real people, the Kleinmanns of Vienna who were devastated by the horrors of war, but for a few members it is also their story of survival and the miraculous resilience and love that they demonstrated. Consequently, this is an amazingly uplifting story despite the Holocaust circumstances, and it is a reminder that this part of our world history should never be forgotten in honour of their suffering. Fritz and his father, Gustav, suffer within concentration camp horrors; Kurt is miraculously saved by being sent to America to live with strangers; one sister is able to emigrate to England; and the Kleinmann’s mother and another sister are transported into a certain death. Despite the terrible history that this book relates, the story of Fritz and his father and their resilience in awful circumstances is profoundly moving.
Fritz and Kurt is a child-friendly retelling of the book The Boy who followed his father into Auschwitz. ‘Child-friendly’ means that some of the horrors have been minimised in detail, but a child reader will still feel the burdens and the weight of the Jewish sufferers who were treated so appallingly in Hitler’s regime. The two young brothers give a human face to the history and this account is written in a narrative non-fiction style based on the first hand accounts of the two brothers, and the recorded notes smuggled by their father out of his concentration camp life. That anyone survived to tell their story is a miracle. For readers who have read The Boy in Striped Pyjamas or have been intrigued by World War II history this is a book to recommend. It is very accessible for young readers aged 11-15, but not easy to read because of the distressing story it shares. Older readers will still appreciate the historical revelations.
Themes World War II, Holocaust, Jews, Survival, Resilience, Hope.
Carolyn Hull
Super Sidekicks: Ocean's revenge by Gavin Aung Than
Junior Justice, Flygirl, Dinomite and Goo, return in their second Super Sidekicks adventure. The Prologue page reacquaints us with these resourceful assistants and Captain Perfect, one of their former bosses. Fittingly, all nine celebrity superheroes are sidelined in chapter one - kidnapped one by one, by an ancient Babylonian sea goddess, Tiamata.
By chapter two, we see the Super Sidekicks step up as a destructive ocean monster approaches Sydney unchallenged. The Mother of the Seas, sick of humans using the oceans as a junkyard, has animated the Trash Titan, but has Tiamata underestimated the Sidekicks' powers? Will the Sidekicks be capable of wisdom and compromise, unlike their obnoxious superhero mentors and the various international leaders? Does the politicians' reluctance to give and take in order to save humankind from the Trash Titan menace, draws clear parallels to the real-world struggles of climate activists against the current world order?
Taking young readers beyond perceived comic book entertainment, this black and white graphic novel alludes to our collective assault on the environment and science, with a timely message. The lovely thing is that the meek appear to have the answers, not the entitled demigods of culture or politics. The endpapers contain a drawing lesson as Than, a talented cartoonist responsible for the syndicated Zen Pencils creations, shares his creative process with his fans. Download free posters and more @ aungthan.com
No Adults Allowedis the first adventure in the Super SideKicks series and Book Three, Trial of Heroes is due in 2023. Collect all Super SideKicks if you're a fan of classic comic books. Teacher's notes are available.
Australian actor, writer, illustrator and animator Sam Cotton has taken his chippy thief seagull from TikTok and written him into a wonderful graphic novel that will be adored by fans of Real Pigeons and Bad Guys. Bluey fans may also recognise Sam's work from the episode Tradies, in which he voiced the character 'Chippy'.
While putting the grandgulls to bed one night, Steven Seagull is urged to tell them a bedtime story and what a great story he has. It all revolves around Brock's Chips, the best hot chips in the world. Stacey and Stanley are desperate to get their hands on some but to be successful they'll need the help of the legendary chippy thief Steve-O. But Steve-O's gone underground after a terrible incident in which he chose chips over his best mate. Can they find Steve-O, help him redeem himself and get some of Brock's delicious chippies?
This is a super fun book with simple but effective illustrations and short blocks of text narration and dialogue. Young fans of graphic novels will devour this quickly and with a permanent grin. Those already familiar with some of Sam Cotton's other work will be particularly pleased.
Themes Graphic Novel, Humorous Stories, Seagulls.
Nicole Nelson
Six days in Rome by Francesca Giacco
Hachette, 2022. ISBN: 9781472295842. (Age:16+)
This story follows in the footsteps of many before it; those tales of setting off for a time in another city or country to forget past disappointments and spend time rediscovering oneself. This time we read about Emilia, who has left the United States to holiday alone, after her planned trip with her partner has fallen apart, when he decides to give his marriage another chance. She is in Rome for six days, and she promptly begins exploring the city sights, indulging in food, wine and music. A chance meeting in a park with another American, John, brings her delight as there is an instant connection between them. As the two become more absorbed in each other’s lives, Emilia comes to terms with her former relationships with family and partner. John understands why she has left her home to reconsider life’s choices; he has done the same.
This is Giacco’s debut novel; it reads well and includes a perceptive look at this ancient city with numerous references to its historical characters, especially its strong women. Emilia is self-absorbed, as would be expected, and the novel style is not groundbreaking, but it makes for an interesting read as we follow her time in Rome, read of the memories she has of her time in New York, and anticipate the choices that she is going to make.
Julie Wells
Satin by Sophie Masson
Midnight Sun Publishing, 2023. ISBN: 9781922858016. Highly recommended.
With all the atmosphere of a modern fairy tale or fable, Satin will entrance readers with its overwhelming sense of longing as Satin searches for things that are blue. Every morning before people are awake he slips out of the forest and scours the streets for things that are blue. With his coat pockets full he slips back to his home to put these pieces together.
His loneliness is palpable, the blue theme reinforcing the overwhelming feeling readers will get on absorbing the text. And the blue illustrations reiterates the force of sadness and depression Satin feels as he collects his pieces of blue for the thing he is making. But he still feels something is missing. Readers will sympathise with Satin as he searches the streets, slipping back into the forest as the sun rises, hoping that something will happen to change his routine.
And as with any good story, it does.
One night he hears the word blue and spies a child telling her teddy that mum is blue. Satin knows that she needs blue, so he selects his best piece and leaves it on their windowsill. The girl is delighted. When Satin returns to his bower, he thinks about his collection.
And next morning he fills his coat pockets with his pieces of blue and walks through the town, leaving pieces on windowsills, doorsteps and letterboxes.
At one house where he left his first piece the door opens and a woman is standing there with blue in her hair and she asks him to come in. Now they collect blue together, although Satin still does not know that feeling blue means being sad. And it doesn’t matter.
With the bird figuring prominently on some pages and spotted on others, readers will cast their minds to the Bower Bird, a collector of shiny things, particularly blue. The bird does this to attract a mate, and this unknowingly is what Satin does.
That the man has now found a mate though his blue collection is a neat parallel with the animal world. Find out more about the bower bird by searching for ‘satin bower bird’. Readers will be intrigued with the images of the blue collection of this particular bower bird and see parallels to the story.
The illustrations are wonderful, full of layers of different blues, on some pages in broken crockery, and marvellously pieced together on the endpapers. Kids will love collecting their own pieces of blue to see how they can be fitted together and try mosaics for themselves. I love the impression of Satin’s home in the forest, with overreaching branches, the hint of a chair and a hanging picture and mosaic pieces on the floor. And the word, Satin will create another level of interest amongst inquiring children.
The Cockatoo Wars is the fourth book in the beautifully presented Tales from the Bush Mob series. First Nations author Helen Milroy has captured the essence of collaboration and resolution in a story about two warring cockatoo clans.
The two cockatoo clans, one black and one white, are at loggerheads over who is responsible for looking after the ancient forest. The continual bickering of the boss cockatoos leads to stress for the young chicks whose health suffers; nor do they hear the traditional stories of looking after the forest. After a particularly heated argument, two chicks fall from their nests and the mothers are not sure which baby is their own. They all flee to the other side of the forest and the babies are raised in harmony and grow strong. A fire threatens the ancient forest, and the cockatoo clans must join together with the other bush animals to save their home. The warring bosses realise the error of their ways and peace finally reigns.
This book is cleverly set out in narrative style with three separate sections: The Cockatoo Clans, Fire Warning, How the Bush Mob Saved the Forest. The striking full-page illustrations with white or black text are engaging and add so much to the story. The endpapers show a map of where each of the bush mob live.
The Cockatoo Wars is a delightful read to share with children of all ages with a valuable lesson about conflict with its possibility of devasting implications, as well as the joy and harmony a resolution can bring.
Themes First Nation’s Stories, Australian Animals, Collaboration, Conflict, Problem Solving, Harmony, Listening, Family, Resolution.
