University of Queensland Press, 2022. ISBN: 9780702265600. (Age:14+) Highly recommended.
Narrated in alternating chapters, Where you left us combines the stories of two sisters, Cinnamon and Scarlett, once close, but now estranged, brought together in their family home, Halycon House, for the summer break. Theirs is a highly dysfunctional family: their father is an aging and depressed rock star, their mother (separated from their father) a dreamy Tarot reader, Cinnamon is angry, Scarlett is fearful, and they are both haunted by the story of great-grandmother, Sadie, a madwoman and a murderer.
Issues of mental health come to the fore. Ian Prince spends his time in his room, rarely speaking to his daughters. Cinnamon’s anger and resentment at being left to take care of him, combined with her fear of emotional attachment, threatens her relationship with her ex-boyfriend, now best friend Will, as well as her budding interest in the new girl in town, Daisy. And timid Scarlett battles anxiety and panic attacks.
Threaded throughout there is also the historical mystery story of what happened to Sadie. As Will and Scarlett draw closer together following the clues, events lead to the inevitable climax when all the emotions explode.
This is a book that keeps your interest until the end, with its gothic atmosphere in the old house on the cliff, the mystery story, the mix of personalities, and the two romantic threads, one involving a tentative same sex relationship.
Rhiannon Wilde is particularly good at describing the hesitancy and the thrill of developing love between teenagers. The issues recalled for me Finding Jupiter by Kelis Rowe, with its portrayal of young love whilst also dealing with loss and grief, and a family secret. That was a story of young Black Americans. Wilde’s story is a welcome Australian young adult novel, equally powerful, and competently dealing with relevant contemporary issues. Readers who enjoyed Wilde’s first novel Henry Hamlet’s heart will love this book too. Teacher's notes are available.
Little Book Press, 2022. ISBN: 9781922678485. (Age:3-6) Highly recommended.
The one bird band is walking through the jungle playing his music when he comes upon a sad elephant, and the bird shares one of his instruments with the elephant to cheer it up. The bird then continues on his way, encountering more sad animals. Each time he encounters another sad animal he shares another of his instruments until he realizes he has none left. The bird then starts to feel sad. The other animals see this and together they make a friend band.
The illustrations in this book are bright and eye catching without being cluttered.
This book highlights that sharing with others can have a positive outcome for all. Teacher's notes are available.
Luna Chang has a picture perfect life - loving parents, financial freedom, perfect grades. Enter Hunter Yee - financially challenged, struggling student, disgruntled family. The Yees and the Changs are enemies, a seemingly long forgotten wrongdoing has caused the two families to never see or speak of each other, ever since Hunter and Luna were young. But now Hunter attends the same high school as Luna, even rides the same bus as her - their paths are crossing everywhere. They even discover they have the same birthdate... Ever since the night they met and accidentally brushed hands, strange things have been happening in their hometown of Fairbridge. Fireflies flock to Luna, cracks appear in the earth, rivers run wild. Could it have anything to do with the stone the Hunter's father has tucked away for safety? And Hunter's family is running from something, or someone... And even though they know they aren't meant to have anything to do with the other, they can't help being drawn to each other...
Written from multiple character view points (including main characters, parents, siblings, and more), this urban fantasy myth novel jumps seamlessly from one perspective to the next. Essentially a Romeo and Juliet reinterpretation with romance, magic and Chinese mythology, readers will find the book has a unique feel, while still being relatable. Little bits of history are sprinkled into the book as a fun little taster of Chinese history, with many cultural aspects being included, including Chinese medicine. Fans of cultural books such as The Girl Who Fell Beneath The Sea by Axie Oh and Parachutes by Kelly Yang will find this an enjoyable read.
Stunning illustrations adorn this book as rain falls on every page, watering the landscape and the animals and flora that live on it. From the driving rain on the front cover, to pages of rain you can almost feel falling, to softer pitter patter and finally a rainbow, younger children will delight at the presentation of things they have seen and felt but perhaps not known much about. Readers are asked to look at the developing rain clouds, Johnny depicting the differences they can see when they do look. When the rain begins it comes in a pitter patter, falling on the tree tops where birds sing, wetting the dry earth where a lizard runs for shelter, allowing the wildflowers to bloom. The rain drips making puddles, allowing the kangaroos to have fun, filling the creekbeds where animals can drink. But then the sky changes again and a rainbow can be seen. And everyone dances with happiness, thanking the rain. Younger readers may not have thought about what the rain is for and this book allows them to see how rain is an important part of the seasons, filling waterhole for the animals to drink, stimulating seeds to flourish, wetting the dry earth and the trees.
Johnny’s wonderful illustrations illuminate each page depicting animals and plants that need water to survive in the hearth environment. Children will enjoy looking at the different things he shows on each page and look out for the other two books done by these two, Little bird's day and The river.
When his family moves from California to New Jersey, Harris must start at a new school at age 15, trying to make new friends, meet girls, find classrooms and complete homework. He is also navigating the usual teen-age rites; going to parties, getting drunk, watching sport, preparing for college. Except Harris has spinal muscular atrophy, so uses a wheelchair and has a carer with him constantly, either the attractive young student-nurse Miranda, or his over-worked mother Clare.
This is the sweet story of a teenager acutely aware that others judge him on his disability. His unorthodox opening question, 'What is your favourite colour?' is his way of evening the score and making his own assumptions about others.
He is determined to upend his current image as a lonely wheel-chair-bound boy. This involves working through his relationships with his distant brother Ollie, his one nerdy friend Zander and new romantic interest, classmate Nory whose refusal to divulge her favourite colour is a source of frustration as he becomes more attracted to her. He also needs to weigh up the relative benefits of associating with either the geeks or the football jocks.
The secondary characters are highly engaging. Miranda, alumnus of Harris’ school, makes Harris feel valued, but she is preoccupied by the memory of her best friend’s death and the increasingly controlling behaviour of her boyfriend. Clare does a wonderful job of appearing laid-back when with him at school, but becomes a regular, if flawed mother at home.
As might be expected in a gritty coming-of-age story, there is some profanity, alcohol and drug use and implied coercive control, however this fitted within the characters’ personalities and was not gratuitous.
Hayden writes from experience, having SMA himself, and demonstrates the daily battles that a person with SMA must deal with; health issues, mobility, access to education, harassment, challenges with personal care etc. Some of these issues will be an uncomfortable eye-opener to many readers, but they are an essential part of Harris’ story, often explored in detail, but without feeling didactic.
The First Thing about You, ‘a classic boy-in-a-wheelchair meets girl love story’ is a powerful read, written with humour and insight. Teacher's notes are available.
Themes Disability, Friendship, School-days, Own voice.
Charlie, hot-headed and street-wise, and Nao well-off and university-educated seem an unlikely pair, but they are on the run, bound together in an escalating series of law-breaking escapades.
One evening 17 year-old Charlie comes home to find a distressed young woman, Nao, on her doorstep, pleading for a place to stay. Inside, they find Charlie’s sister Geena’s drop-kick boyfriend Daryl waiting for Charlie, and demanding the return of the gold bar that he accuses her of stealing.
Within the first chapter we have Daryl dead, and Nao desperate to hide a secret. From there, events spiral and the two girls are forced to take extreme measures to try to stay one step ahead of people out to get them, and their duffle-bag of gold. Styles has written a fast-paced crime adventure with two mismatched, but gutsy heroines barrelling in stolen vehicles through the WA outback. Her descriptions of the heat, dust and sheer distances are vivid, and compliment the tensions of the plot, while the references to mining, the stolen generation, land rights and Aboriginal cultural knowledge anchor it as a contemporary Australian story.
The story in told in chapters alternating between Charlie, Nao and Geena’s points of view, and the tension is heightened as the unsavoury connections between them are uncovered. Despite Nao’s privilege, her absent mother and controlling step-father have made life increasingly difficult for her, while Charlie’s strained relationship with her father is mitigated by the fiercely loyal bond she and Geena share.
Not much is missing in this outback adventure; several murders, physical assaults, abduction, a crooked cop and his mates, stolen gold, car chases, a tracking device, and a smattering of sexual tension make for a riveting read, as the girls make decisions born of desperation, and begrudgingly begin to look out for each other.
'Don't forget to focus on what is right in front of you'.
Ryan is obsessed with livestreaming everything. He wants to get as many followers as his idle Grimmf. Ryan becomes so obsessed with his online world and building his number of followers that he overlooks his best friend, Ishaan.
As Ryan’s obsession grows Ishaan tries to remind him that the friends he has in real life who are there to help and support him when he needs it are more important than the number of anonymous online followers who would drop him the second his content is not of interest anymore. Ryan is not listening to his friend and says some mean things to him. He then finds himself drawn more and more into the online world until one day it really happens.
Ryan finds himself in Grimmf’s studio; he believes that his sister has drugged him and is playing a prank on him. As he slowly realizes it is not a prank, Ryan starts to worry about how he is going to get back home. Will his best friend talk to him and help him or has he gone too far? He finds that he is unable to say or type his own name from the online platform. Ryan is finally able to enlist the help of his best friend and sister to get him home and to help all of the others who have been trapped in Grimmf’s online world to also get home.
A well set out easy to read book, I would recommend it to anyone obsessed with gaming.
Set after Kemmerer's Cursebreaker books, this is a cleverly written book, with the chapters written from the perspective of the different characters. As the reader slowly gets to know each of the characters you feel you can relate to their individual stories, and this changes the reader's opinion of the different characters. You start to feel like you know one of the characters and then you get more information from another characters point of view and your opinions change. As you read this book you are constantly changing and reassess the characters, are they good or bad, which side are they really on, are they loyal to the King or Queen or against them? As you start to learn more about the characters from the other character's points of view it you start to questions their motives.
Callyn and Jax are fighting to save their family businesses and get caught up in something that is much bigger than they realise.
Magic plays a big part of this story, as the story progresses Callyn and Jax are left to question is magic really as bad as they have been led to believe growing up or is there a good side to magic.
This book explores some of the character's innermost feelings as they struggle with what is happening around them and what they have always believed to be right. As the characters grow throughout the book and they start to form their own beliefs, not just relying on what they have always been told, the characters start to see what is really happening around them.
Jeevan was not happy about having to move to a new home because of his mum’s work, but he did share her interest in fossils, and he loves dinosaurs. While riding his bike in the forest he came close to several cool creatures and he let his mind run away with him a bit thinking there were dinosaurs in the forest when they were just ordinary animals. He also encountered some hunters and was able to save a deer from them, but this put him in danger. He manages to escape and get back to his mum’s lab. That night there is a accident there which manages to bring some of the fossils that were left on her bench to life.
Jeevan then realizes with the hunters in the forest they would love to get their hands on a trophy like a T-Rex so he needs to ensure that the T-Rex is safe and also that the people around are safe from it. With the help of the Neanderthal girl, dodo and someone who lives in the forest, Jeevan is able to find a safe place for the T-Rex to live where it can't hurt anyone and where the hunters will never find it.
This is an easy to read novel and the illustrations add another element to the story.
I loved this! It is a wonderful adventure in a world that is damaged. Wanderer is a compelling tale, scary and often thought-provoking. Animals have become extra-violent toward humans; humanity has turned on itself and become soulless, unpredictable, tribal and primitive in their behaviour. And in the middle of this world beyond the present time, a young, lone wanderer and kayaker, Dane, travels to regions unknown with his late mother’s treasured book in a waterproof pouch. In his journeys he encounters another book protector and his unsighted granddaughter, Lana. Dane continues his journey with Lana’s company, each bringing their own hardships and grief to their wandering, and the challenge to protect books continues. The struggle involves escaping the rampaging marauders who make the coastline a dangerous place, and seeking out the few remaining humans who express humanity with caring and a desire to share stories and protect knowledge. Lana especially demonstrates exceptional talents to survive in her new role as a wanderer, but her friendship with Dane must first grow through extreme hardships.
This book is powerfully written, there is tension and drama all the way through the wandering, and moments of violence are ever present and pervasive. In some ways I reflected that this book is like a strange mating of the Brotherband series by John Flanagan and Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. It explores the adventure of a quest, with the drama of a world that has lost its connection to literature. Along the way there are references to other ‘stories’ and other books, with a reference to Golding’s Lord of the Flies as a notable connection to the thematic exploration of brutality in society, and The Hobbit as a literature example of a quest to protect something precious. As an example of speculative fiction, it postulates that something awful has happened in the world to lead to the destruction of the ‘Golden years’, this too gives much room to consider the direction of our world and even older readers will find value in reading this book and musing over the ideas that are explored within it. This is an awesome book, but not for the faint-hearted as there is violence at every turn. But the consideration of the idea of the value of literature, even when reading is hard, is worthwhile. This is a book to recommend to mature readers aged 12-adult, they will not want to put it down.
When first faced with the huge tome of 1012 pages, I put it aside, wondering if my arthritic hands would be able to hold it up to read, but once commenced, I had to use every spare moment I had to finish the book. The sixth novel in the Strike series kept me reading on two levels – what was going to happen with the Strike and Robin relationship, and just who is Anomie, the strange moderator of Drek’s Game.
When Edie Ledwell, the creator of a popular cartoon The Ink Black Heart, appears in the office desperate to find out the identity of Anomie who is persecuting her online Robin turns down the case because of too many work commitments. But when she discovers that Edie has been murdered in Highgate Cemetery, the setting for the cartoon she and Strike are drawn into a search for the identity of Anomie. This leads them into unknown and dangerous territory, as they try to work out who are the online players in Drek’s Game and on social media, and who has the most to gain from the death of Edie. Meanwhile, there is some movement in the relationship between Strike and Robin, as both come to a deeper understanding of their own emotions.
Not only is the novel very long, but it is also a challenge to read. The chat transcripts are often in two or 3 different columns on the page and can go over a few pages, and with a multiple of characters with difficult online names to remember, it can be a challenge to sort out what is happening. But of course, that is what makes this novel stand out – it is different, clever and every chat and tweet can be a potential red herring or real clue to bamboozle the reader.
With current themes of cyberbullying, politics, and social media drawn together with the tantalising relationship between Strike and Robin and a complex murder plot, The Ink Black Heart is sure to be enjoyed by fans of the Strike novels including Career of evil , Lethal White and Troubled blood.
Themes Mystery, Crime, Thriller, Social media, Detectives.
This is a fresh new novel combining Indigenous culture and fantasy adventure, in a way not seen before. Lystra Bisschop, winner of the black&write! fellowship for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers, 2018, for her YA fiction manuscript ‘The upwelling’ has now published as Lystra Rose, what seems likely to be the first in a series. Book 2 promises to be ‘The upwarping’.
Lystra Rose brings her knowledge as a surf writer to her fictional creation Kirra, a young surfing enthusiast. Kirra has been having dreams that predict the future, but nobody takes her seriously. So even though she senses that the world is going to come to an end at Jellurgal Point, she has no option but to follow through on participating in the surfing competition to be held there.
In the barrowing waves, her world does come to an end, and she finds herself in another time and space, with Indigenous groups, before the advent of white people. Her life becomes enmeshed with two other young people, Tarni, and Narn, also holders of special powers, N’gian gifts. The three of them have to face the evil Malung, intent on destroying them all.
The story, told from the three perspectives, is interspersed with words in Yugambeh language. Lystra Rose, descendant of the Guugu Yimidhirr people and Birri Gubba people, includes a note on her ties to community and her research with tradition custodians, knowledge-holders and cultural consultants. That is what gives her novel its greatest strength, in its depiction of traditional customs and beliefs.
However, in the process of reading the book, I admit to finding the mix of authenticity and fantasy rather disconcerting, never really sure when to trust what I was reading, not wanting to confuse concepts of Aboriginal Dreaming and magical mysticism. Other readers may thoroughly enjoy this original approach to fantasy adventure writing, combining an understanding of Aboriginal culture with the world of imagination. It’s a new venture in Young Adult fiction that is certain to have its followers.
Little Book Press, 2021. ISBN: 9780645027051. (Age:3+) Recommended.
A story of acceptance and friendship will be well received by younger readers as they explore the realm of fitting in. Bev a giraffe hears the same from everybody, they all comment about her size, not giving any thought to how she might feel about it. The words which describe someone’s size come thick and fast as the monkeys ask her about the weather up there, the meerkats gasp at her hugeness, the penguins think she is gigantic, so she wanders off looking for a friend. She travels through the desert and along the coast until exhausted she needs to find a waterhole. Feeling a soft peck on her shoulder she is surprised to see a little bird. Kev tells her that he likes her long neck and she stands up a little taller. Kev wants to rest with Bev and suggests they find the waterhole, together. Bev’s legs were very tired and she was thirsty but the way to the waterhole does not seem as arduous when she has someone with her to talk to and share stories. They are now firm friends and settle in for the night with a host of other big and little animals.
The value of friendship is paramount to this tale of Bev and Kev. The two are opposites but the lonely giraffe is heartened by the little bird, Kev who sees the positives about Bec’s size. Friends do that for you, heightening self esteem, sharing stories and adventures and none of this will be lost on the readers as they too will be enraptured by the unlikely friendship.
Mandy Foot’s illustrations present the reader with an array of African animals and environments. I loved spying all the different animals and was pleased to see the ingenious list of those in the book in the last endpaper. Readers will love working out what animals are at the waterhole, their eyes resting on the distinctive trees in the background.
University of Queensland Press, 2022. ISBN: 9780702265631. (Age:10+) Highly recommended.
The Wintrish girl offers high interest level and literary value to Middle School readers. It represents the best of fantasy adventure writing. Move over Harry Potter! We have our own Australian fantasy writer now, Melanie La’Brooy, with The Wintrish girl being her first novel for children.
In La’Brooy we are treated to a writer who draws from a depth of worldly and otherworldly knowledge gained from parents who gave her “a childhood overflowing with books…” and from experience drawn from living in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Evidence is in the allusions to creatures that may have been inspired by the myths, folk and fairy tales of multiple cultures. There is a plethora of mysterious talismans, unexpected realms, loopholes, “Eminent Marvels,” royalty, Night Hags, princesses and much more in The Wintrish girl.
In addition to the magical strangeness of the characters, settings and events is an obvious joy in the use of language. La’Brooy is a self-confessed word nerd and editor. Her writing plays out, in its energy and vitality, as a vital demonstration of good literature and a celebration of things that count for something - like libraries, librarians, clever kids, sharp thinking, courage in the face of fear and precision in the use of language. Clever word play dances through every description and piece of dialogue. We have “Malevolence” and “Malevolents” and “Marvelance” and “Marvellous”. We have the panthera (altogether much scarier than a panther). “When will people learn that precision in language counts for something?” (Portentia p. 328).
The core of the book could be when Arthur explains why he and his friends are a threat to the Arylians (p. 343) … “Because we’re different. And if there’s another way of being, then their way isn’t the only way. If there even is such a thing.” A commentary on our times may be within Portentia’s statement… that “The Sword of Destiny is no guarantee that boy will become mighty warrior… both Warriors and Kings must make their own destiny… time passed, and illiteracy and ignorance came into fashion…” (p.329)
The Empire of Arylia is divided into distinctively different realms each severed from the other by impenetrable barriers. Loopholes are found by accident and through magical means. Evil has to be overcome. Our heroes, each different and outcast, form a crew as they face dangerous enemies and discover their separate abilities. The settings and action sequences are cinematic and freshly imaginative. Could a film-maker recreate the escape in dragon’s eggshells down molten rivers of lava, smacked on the way by a Laviathon’s tail or the slow-moving maze of teetering books, precisely “organized according to the Hypatian system, which is based on the mathematical system that all knowledge leads back to the One” in the Librarynth?
Penn, Arthur and Juniper are our thoroughly likeable and courageous heroes. They are, in this book, only just beginning to find that they have talismans and learning about their individual powers. La’Brooy has the reader hanging on the edge of their seat throughout the action-packed The Wintrish girl (Talismans of fate book one)
Readers will impatiently await The Wintrish Girl (Talismans of fate Book Two). Teacher's notes are available.
Fire Reads, 2022. ISBN: 9781728222325. (Age:Young Adult) Recommended.
After a high-school prank goes wrong, leaving her vilified on social media, 18 year-old Riley Ozment decides that the best way to redeem her reputation is to sign up for a reality TV show that she hopes will portray her in a more positive light.
Transported to the TV set on a small island off the coast of Brazil, she and nineteen other teenage contestants must divide into two teams to complete challenges, and avoid eviction. They also learn that the island may harbour a deadly curse, as well as a hidden cache of Spanish gold that they can search for using an old map and cryptic clues. In this, Riley is ahead of the game, as she had previously visited the island with her treasure-hunting father and mysteriously murdered godfather, and has access to an internet-based treasure-hunter chat group.
Written from Riley’s point of view, she is soon as concerned about how she will appear to the other contestants and the TV viewers, as she was about her social media profile. She is constantly worried about making and being abandoned by friends, misplacing trust, and being judged. In this, she and several of the other characters are drawn realistically and sympathetically, mirroring what many of today’s teens experience.
The plot itself is convoluted, with a large cast of characters and a number of surprising twists as their schemes and motives are slowly revealed. The descriptions of behind-the-scenes conditions and machinations are a sobering insight into reality TV. The daily challenges and clandestine dashes around the island following the treasure clues keep the plot moving, and as alliances are formed and romances develop, manipulation, deception and rejection follow.
Originally published as Reality Gold in 2018, the book was promoted as Survivor meets Lord of the Flies. Readers expecting something as edgy as either of these, may be a little underwhelmed, but it is a well-paced adventure with enough action to keep you turning the pages.
