Text Publishing, 2024. ISBN: 9781922790705. (Age:9+) Highly recommended.
The Paperbark Tree Committee is the gentle story of Art and his younger brother Hilary, who are best friends negotiating growing up, moving house, and a dysfunctional family. Mum and dad are divorced, and dad has a new partner, Sally. When mum accepts a job overseas, Dad decides to move the boys and Sally from their home in Queensland to Melbourne as he feels a change in scenery will help with his writing.
Art starts at a new school and is targeted by the bully. He struggles to fit in and find his place and as dad is in “the writing zone” this means the only adult available is Sally who tries to help and give comfort, but Art worries she won’t stay if Dad doesn’t change his ways. The Paperbark Committee is a secret meeting place for Arty and Hilary to help sort things out but Art thinks he needs to solve his problems on his own, after all both parents are too busy to help him and Hilary has new friends and interests so Art feels that he can only rely on himself.
The story shows Art trying to cope with a range of issues, not least of which is letting other people in and asking for help which isn’t always a bad thing. However, the consequences of trying to solve big problems on your own can be worse than the issue itself.
I really enjoyed this book as it showed the problems that younger children face and the coping mechanisms they use to get through the rough patches. I think that younger readers will relate to Art and Hilary in different ways to an adult reader and feel heard as they relate to Art’s struggles and family life and see how one person’s action can have an impact on others around them.
I would highly recommend this book as a class text, read aloud or independent novel. The characters are all well developed, not all are likeable in some instances, but the author has made them work. The story is gentle but doesn’t avoid some big topics and is written in such a way that children and adults will be able to take something away from it.
It could be a useful conversation starter for readers to open up about problems or issues that they are facing. Teacher's notes are available.
This book sets the reader up as the world’s greatest detective who has been invited to Marigold Manor for the occasion of Captain Marigold’s daughter’s birthday. Unfortunately, the reader doesn’t know either of these people and upon waking in a locked room they are confronted by codes, locked doors, puzzles, hidden clues and cats! The only way to escape is to solve the mystery and prove to Captain Marigold that they are worthy of the title "World's Greatest Detective".
With 32 different possible paths to follow and a Case File list in the back of the book for the reader to track their progress, this is a book that is designed for those readers who love Escape Rooms and puzzles, although be careful because if you fail you might get trapped in the Manor forever.
The author’s experience as an intelligence analyst shines though as the reader engages in both the story and the puzzles as they try to reach a satisfactory conclusion to each storyline. Readers can move through the story without solving puzzles with a bit of back and forth, but it is much more fun to solve the mystery one page at a time.
This was such a fun book to read and one that can be picked up repeatedly as the reader chooses a different path or storyline. I loved Choose Your Own Adventure books as a young reader, but this is on a different level. This is an escape room for one with many different options for stories and endings. I loved all the puzzles, although I had to Google one of them to work it out. Not a book for a class to read together or aloud but certainly one that independent readers will enjoy and embrace.
Themes Mystery, Choose Your Own Adventure, Codes, Puzzles, Detectives.
Mhairi Alcorn
Odder: An otter's story by Katherine Applegate
University of Queensland Press, 2025. ISBN: 9780702269158. (Age:6+) Highly recommended.
Odder is the story of a little sea otter who is swept away from her family and rescued by an aquarium. After many months of rehabilitation and learning how to be an otter she is released near to a group of sea otters. Over time she swims and blends with the sea otters but also interacts with humans. After another incident where she again needs human help to survive it is decided that she cannot be released and so remains at the aquarium helping other baby otters to learn the skills needed to be wild and free.
This beautifully illustrated picture book is based on the verse novel of the same name by Katherine Applegate. It is a beautifully told story that will enchant the reader and draw them into the world of Odder. The reader will rejoice when she is released and joins a wild group of sea otters. They will mourn her loss of freedom and applaud her helping and sharing her knowledge with baby otters so that they may taste the freedom that has been denied to her, due to her link to humans and the injuries inflicted on her.
As someone who loves otters, this is a beautiful story of how humans help and care for injured wildlife, but it also shows the ways that this intervention can impact wild animals in a negative way. I loved the way the verse reflected the novel of the same names style of writing, making this a great read aloud and independent read. The text is easy to follow, and the illustrations link the reader to the text in a meaningful way. Certain to be a favourite in any library.
The blizzard of Blobs: Miles and Jones book 2 by Sam Smith & Cesar Lador
Hachette, 2025. ISBN: 9781869715588. (Age:5-8)
Flying blobs of smelly goo are falling out of the sky and threatening to ruin the Park, another curse put onto the park by the villain of this story Glam-Evil. This is the second book in a Graphic novel series about friends Amelia Miles and Shackleton Jones, aka Miles and Jones. After vanquishing Glam-Evil’s pet anacondas in the first book called The Anaconda Attack, the kids team up with Shackleton’s dad Sam and Amelia’s mum Meg to put a stop to the villain’s evil plans. Avoiding the globs and entering a damp, dark cave they are faced with a river of magma to cross and then Glam-Evil parent-napping the adults as part of her wicked plot.
Dealing with the magma, a giant whirlpool and an exploding volcano adds up to an exciting adventure showing teamwork is the key to saving the day. It is aimed at children over 5 who could enjoy the story by just following the picture clues, to older children who will use the text and enjoy it even more. The black and white cartoon style illustrations are varied and well-drawn to follow the action. A clue to the next adventure is given in the last few pages to keep interest in the series.
Themes Friendship, Parks and reserves, Villains, Graphic novels.
Killer potential, the debut novel by Los Angeles-based Hannah Deitch is a compelling, twisty murder mystery/adventure of the queer crime subgenre where two female main characters (Evie Gordon and Jae) lend LGBTQ+ representation to the story in an arguably surprising type of relationship formation whilst on the run. Deitch, like her chief protagonist Evie Gordon, was a SAT tutor and an academic so she writes from experience of the academic world. The reader learns of the lives of the Los Angeles super-rich through the eyes of Evie as she tutors their children in their homes.
Deitch uses Evie and later Jae as first person narrators. The narrative voice begins with great spunky clarity through Evie's thought-provoking commentaries and internal thoughts coloured by her potty-mouth and ruthless decision making. Evie is funny, sharp, uncouth and rough; not a totally likeable central character. Even though she has graduated from an elite university as a whip-smart, straight A student, she feels socially apart as a scholarship student on the edge of the society of her peers. In order to fit in, she becomes an excellent faker and mimic-a chameleon. Killer potential interrogates the notion of education as a provision or step-ladder to upward social mobility. Her suffering parents are a tragic sidenote in the narrative. The silent Jae emerges as a less successful later narrator. Deitch uses Jae's internal monologue to fill in the gaps about her origins and motivations.
Killer potential is overwhelmingly an escape story. Evie discovers her rich employers brutally murdered in the mansion where she tutors their daughter. The modern-day mansion is an important setting, bookending the narrative. Designed with hidden interior walls, rooms and passages, the interior of the house is central to the plot and reminiscent of stories of concealed rooms in ancient homes in the vein of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte with the secret room on the third floor of Thornfield Hall and J.K Rowling's Harry Potter and the chamber of secrets. Houses with creepy, interior secret rooms have long been a fascination for people.
Through a series of rapid-fire unfortunate events and decisions, Evie becomes a chief suspect on the run, trying to outrun and outsmart a nation-wide manhunt. With her on the run is the silent woman who she found locked up inside the walls of the mansion. The two women become increasingly close as they flee across America as fugitives, living outside the law and surviving through their combined skill-sets, by their wits, cunning and brutality. Once a gifted student, Evie becomes the wanted killer on the cover of every magazine, newspaper and TV news program. Her aim is to find the real killer in order to redeem herself. More and more killings happen and the characters change and harden, becoming more desperate and ruthless. Always there is the impending possibility that the daughter in the coma who witnessed much will awaken...
This reader had trouble with various unbelievable aspects of the plot including Evie's decision to not dial 000 immediately. Being an intelligent girl, stupid decisions led her on the slippery slope of the whole story. And the police must have been totally incompetent and the public must have been blind to allow two women to achieve such a long road trip across America, spanning almost the entire continent. Still this is writer's licence and all in the service of story.
Being an escape story, Killer potential very strongly channels Thelma and Louise by Susan Kollin in terms of the fugitive/violent clashes with the law and The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles in terms of the idea of young people on road trips across America. Few of these characters are particularly troubled by ethics or morals although a sense of fairness emerges at times in decisions made to recompense and/or allow certain hapless potential victims to survive. After a wild ride, the aftermath is probably the most realistic part of the story.
Edgy, racy, raunchy, raw and also very funny, Killer potential asks the question of all of us - do we all, given the right circumstances, have the potential to be a killer? With its very contemporary themes, setting and characterisation, Killer potential could easily be made into an action-packed TV-series. As a book, it is entertaining.
Themes Escape, Hiding, The fugitive, Murder, Queer crime, University debt, Social mobility, Lesbian romance.
Wendy Jeffrey
Lamingtons and dumplings by Pho Yann. Illus. by Annelies Billeter
Little Steps, 2024. ISBN: 9781922678898. (Age:5+) Recommended.
Connor an Australian boy who lives in the Alice Springs and Jianyu who lives in Beijing are pen pals who live in different parts of the world. The book shows how they learn about each other through the incredible world of technology, social media and the internet.
Lamingtons and Dumplings is a great description for this book as the boys learn about each other’s lives through the food they eat and the activities they do. The books perfectly contrast the difference between the boys’ lives through showing similarities.
Both boys get up and have breakfast, although they eat different foods, they both go to school, have lunch and do afternoon activities. The illustrations certainly help to show the differences in the boys lives.
This story allows children to see that while there are so many differences there are similarities that link us all. However, I found it to be too simplistic and at times it fails to show the true experience of a child living so far out of town on a farm.
I found this book to be a frustrating read as it was very short sentences that didn’t flow. The information is very basic, the characters are much older than the audience who would be reading this and I feel that this would have an impact on its popularity. I would recommend having this in the library but not as a class text or read aloud, rather as one to show children for comparison if they show an interest.
Themes Friendship, city vs country life, Comparing experiences.
Mhairi Alcorn
Rival darling by Alexandra Moody
Electric Monkey, 2025. ISBN: 9780008762247. (Age:13+)
Violet has always had one rule: never date a jock. That rule shatters when she’s forced to leave California and finish her last year of high school in Sunshine Hill, Minnesota - a town obsessed with ice hockey. Suddenly, she’s caught in a relationship with the local hockey team captain... until it crashes and burns. To prove she’s over it, Violet hatches a bold plan: fake-date his rival, Reed Darling, captain of the opposing team, known for his bad reputation and swoon-worthy charm.
Reed is used to being talked about, and not always the good kind. Rumors follow him like shadows, but underneath the confidence is someone determined to show Violet the truth. Despite the rivalry between teams, and his reputation as a heartbreaker, Reed agrees to Violet’s rules and plays along, until fake feelings start to get a little too real. Violet is smart, guarded, and beautifully flawed. She tries to keep her walls high, but how long can she keep them up with Reed slowly chipping away at them.
Rival Darling is an exploration of identity, trust, and how love can bloom in the most unexpected places, and from the most unexpected people. The characters are authentic, their fears, hopes, and emotional growth make them feel like real teens navigating the real messiness of first-time relationships, heartbreak, and love. Violet’s internal battle with vulnerability is particularly relatable, and Reed is more than just the classic bad boy trope, he’s layered, loyal, and low-key romantic.
The book is written in a relatable setting: the cold, tight-knit town where everyone knows everyone’s business. The plot is more character-driven than action-packed; it moves with satisfying tension between the characters, the kind that make you squeal into a pillow, or kick your feet, giggling. It’s about first heartbreaks, taking chances, and growing to become your own person outside of other’s expectations.
It shows clear themes of emotional growth, stereotypes, and the fear of vulnerability, and while it’s a clean romance, it doesn’t stop the author from showing the complicated feelings of love, heartbreak, and healing that everyone goes through at least once.
For fans books such as To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, or Better Than the Movies, Rival Darling is strong on the feels and swoon-worthy.
Themes: Trust, Identity, Stereotypes, First love
Hamsini Chandrasekar (Student)
The marvellous submarine by Clayton Zane Comber and Conor McCammon
A couple of ordinary kids, a super smart gorilla and a crew of animals in a submarine reminiscent of the 13 Storey treehouse, are on a mission to save a clever inventor from kidnappers on Volcano Island. Twins, Poppy and Billy, live on Monkey Island with their mum (the inventor) and her assistant Harold (super smart Gorilla). When their mother is kidnapped by the Fugitives (an incredibly unsuccessful former rock band) they phone their father who is in outer space doing important research tracking down extra-terrestrial lifeforms. He directs them to Mum's inventing shed where they find the most incredible submarine they have ever seen. They recruit the local animals to help crew the ship – Jemima the giraffe, a sloth, a penguin, flamingo, bat, cat, chameleon, octopus and 10 monkeys. With their assistance and the help of various inventions they find in their mum's shed, the children overcome a wacky selection of obstacles and manage to thwart the villains who plan to drain the oceans and take over the world.
This wacky, fast-paced story contains everything from pirates to blue whales, invincible spray and exploding basketballs which combine to create a great adventure in this first book of the series. The novel is a combination of text, highlighted words, large illustrations and comic style pages that will appeal to most middle primary readers, especially reluctant readers.
Set in the small town of Geraldton, Western Australia, Invisible Boys by Holden Sheppard is an emotionally charged YA novel that follows three teenage boys, Charlie, Hammer, and Zeke, as they each grapple with their sexuality. Through not one, but three rare, masculine queer voices, brutally honest and vulnerable, Sheppard lays bare the trauma queer teens can face growing up in conservative backgrounds.
Authentic and flawed, the characters in this book seem like real teens one could easily pass in a high school corridor. The emotional arcs of Charlie, Hammer, and Zeke are very convincing, as each of them go through denial, trauma, rage, and finally, self-acceptance. The novel jumps between the perspectives of the three boys and the narrative is raw and confessional, making readers feel like they’ve been dropped inside their heads. The slangy dialogue reflects the characters’ inner turmoil, at times intense, but invariably genuine. The plot is emotionally intense but well-paced, keeping readers invested even when it’s uncomfortable.
The story revolves around themes of sexual identity, masculinity, and mental health. The characters’ denial, confusion, and hesitation to ‘come out’ highlight how toxic masculinity and homophobia in society warp individuals, especially teenagers, who are made to feel ashamed to own their identities. With the book’s firm grounding in Geraldton, Sheppard makes the small-town claustrophobia and the fear of being outed palpable throughout. Invisible Boys, with its powerful, sometimes ugly but always real illustration of rural queer experiences, forces the reader to confront the consequences of societal judgment and shows that being oneself can be the most powerful, yet terrifying, thing of all.
It is not just a coming-of-age story. It’s a call for compassion and empathy. This is a book that will stay with readers long after the final page, especially those struggling with navigating their own identities in silence.
Themes: Sexual identity, Masculinity, Mental health
Woodlane Press produces field guides and books for travellers, books about facets of our environment, books for cyclists and family adventures, all produced with stunning photos and illustrations. All of their books empower families, groups and individuals to explore, understand and value the land on which they travel.
This one explains what a reptile is, then divides the species into three distinct groups: lizards and snakes, turtles, and crocodiles, each having its own signature background colour.
For those people who love to cycle, hike or walk our bush, then reading this is sure to alert adventurers to the type of reptiles they may come across. Skinks and geckos and blue tongued lizards would be delightful, but readers will know or be wary of the snakes they may see.
And it is handy to know what it is you are looking at.
Each page has a map showing where theses animals live and has a number of fact boxes giving snippets of information guaranteed to intrigue younger readers.
Several use a double page, as there are a number of different kinds within the group; skinks, and blue tongue lizards for example, while others like the Eastern Brown snake has two pages devoted to it. Snakes and lizards take up the majority of the book, turtles has just six pages, and crocodiles, two.
All the information is most appealing to younger readers; the illustrations enough to intrigue and delight.
As with the other three in this series, the books are smaller in size, easy to hold, and easy to pick up and read. Despite the lack of an index, younger readers will love perusing the books to find a favourite and something known.
Themes Australian reptiles, Snakes, Lizards, Crocodiles, Turtles.
Fran Knight
What’s that: Australian frogs, toads and newts by Myke Mollard
Woodlane Press produces field guides and books for travellers, books about facets of our environment, books for cyclists and family adventures, all produced with stunning photos and illustrations. All of their books empower families, groups and individuals to explore, understand and value the land on which they travel.
As with the other three in the series, the introductory pages outline the definition of an amphibian and then divides these creatures into three categories, each having a signature colour. The three are: Australian frogs, Critically endangered and extinct frogs, and Introduced species. A page is devoted to each of many frogs; Rock hole frogs, Quaking froglets, Sandhill frogs, Pobblebonks, Green tree frogs and Striped Marsh frogs, amongst others. Each page has a map to show where the frog lives, many fact boxes and an introductory paragraph giving information about the frog and its attributes.
Five double pages follow with information about endangered species, and the last section about introduced species, gives information about the Cane toad and Smooth newts.
The book is fascinating, giving information about frogs that can mainly be heard and not as often seen. The illustrations give an image of the animals, and readers can deduce some information about its environment, from the picture in front of them. That there are 240 different species of amphibian, is enough for all readers to want to find out more.
Themes Frogs, Introduced species.
Fran Knight
Smarty Pup: Time to fly by Anh Do
Allen & Unwin, 2025. ISBN: 9781761069932. (Age:6-9) Highly recommended.
The Smarty Pup is a wonderful series feature exciting story lines, minimal text and bright, colourful illustrations perfect for younger newly independent readers. Time to fly is the fifth book in the series which started with Friends fur-ever, and continued with JJ and the giant panther, To the rescue and Talent quest.
When Lily and JJ (the talking super dog) arrive at school their teacher announces that because they did so well at the Talent quest (in the previous book) they should represent their school in the National Awesome Schools Concert. Everyone is excited and comes up with a myriad of suggestions for what they could do, but eventually they settle on a fantastic dance routine that finishes with a human pyramid. Having JJ in their class gives them the perfect top for the pyramid, but JJ is fearful that the class may drop him and is so nervous about flying in an aeroplane that he decides he doesn’t want to come to the competition at all. Will he conquer his fears in time to join his friends on this amazing adventure?
Overcoming fears is the predominant theme for this story and although JJ is fearful of many of the things he must face he, his family and friends manage to find a way to include him and help him to show his talents and save the day.
In this compelling mystery, Greta Gatsby returns to the home of her brother Jay and to his life of new-money wealth and his friendships with Nick Carraway and the Buchanans - Daisy and Tom. In this heady world of excess, Greta is trying to discover her own path beyond finishing schools and dipping her toe into a world where women are so regularly underestimated. But Tom’s death opens up the path to a mystery that Greta follows, utilising her wits to solve the puzzle of an unexpected death, and putting herself in danger in the process.
I absolutely loved this story as it wove the classic characters and back story of The Great Gatsby with an intriguing mystery. Greta Gatsby is a character imbued with intelligent insights, pre-feminist leanings and her telling of the story reveals her evaluation of her brother (and his passion for Daisy Buchanan) and his glittering wealth-soaked social world. She also becomes the only one who explores options in the investigation of Tom Buchanan’s death. The mystery becomes increasingly interesting and even those who have not read (or watched The Great Gatsby) will find the dramatic build-up, and even the hint of romance, a pleasure to read. This is a well-written story for readers aged 16+ to adult, and it can be highly recommended. Anyone who is intrigued by the 1920s excesses or The Great Gatsby will be enamoured.
Themes The Great Gatsby, Wealth and privilege, Mystery, USA - 1920s social life, Justice and injustice, Murder, Romance.
Carolyn Hull
The other girl by Emily Barr
Penguin Random House, 2025. ISBN: 9780241643440. (Age:13+) Highly recommended.
Two girls meet on a train. They couldn’t be more different from each other. Tabbi is the elegantly groomed rich girl on her way to an exclusive Swiss rehab centre whilst Ruby looks like a scruffy freewheeling backpacker wearing a purple wig. But between them they hatch a wild scheme to switch identities.
The first part of the novel is told from Tabbi’s point of view. She is being sent to rehab to redeem herself following an alcohol-fuelled incident she is reluctant to talk about. Becoming Ruby is her chance to escape all the strictures of her life, and roam freely on an InterRail pass. For Ruby it is the chance to enjoy a glamorous life of luxury in a Swiss ‘hotel’. The deal is that they will meet up and switch back again after 6 weeks. Tabbi is exhilarated at getting away with such an easy con trick. However, the second part of the novel provides us with Ruby’s account of events, and we discover that there is much more to the story.
I really liked the way Barr provides the two sides to the story in separate blocks, rather than constantly switching between viewpoints. The reader is lulled into Tabbi’s account of things, and shares her gradual awakening to the complications of what she has done. When we enter Ruby’s story, the drama becomes much more twisty and scary. It’s a brilliant YA thriller which will have readers eagerly turning the pages to read on.
While the novel is an enthralling thriller, it also manages to explore complex issues of identity, responsibility and ethics. Although each of the girls seizes on a chance to escape, in the end they have to face the consequences of their actions, even if it is not in the way the reader expects. This is a thoroughly enjoyable novel, and will have readers looking for more books from Emily Barr.
The clinking is Tasmanian Richell Prize (2016) prize-winner Susie Greenhill's debut novel. This book feels like a heart-felt cry. It feels like the author is intimately aware of the natural world as one who has lived close, camped and hiked often in the wilderness and perhaps worked alongside or known well, people whose lived experience is the environmental sciences. Author Susie Greenhill lives on the mouth of the Huon River in southern Tasmania. This probably explains the understanding of that environment that spans years and geographic locations. The clinking is a harrowing read with social, economic and political structures and their impact on the environment and the people who work trying to preserve the environment bleeding through the story. Through the character of Tom, an ecologist working on extinctions, we see the battles for funding and recognition of the seriousness of findings and the lack of action on part of government.
The clinking is a story of a young family. Tom, his wife Elena and their daughter Orla are decent people. We see Tom and Elena falling in love, dreaming, struggling and doomed. Elena is full of life and hope for the future. Tom can't see a future in which to raise children. As a scientist he has seen the differing processes that have been tried to save species (both plant and animal) including adaptation, mitigation and prevention but daily he sees the unravelling. Although he is seeing a counsellor he is sinking into clinical depression. Despite his love for his little family, Tom becomes increasingly consumed by the hopelessness of trying to fight to maintain species and the tipping towards complete destruction of the Earth. Temperamentally not suited to this work, he becomes consumed and emotionally, psychologically and finally literally lost. Against an imploding societal breakdown and on the brink of a dystopian future Tasmania, Elena, Orla and their friend Kit search for Tom in the remote south-western wilderness. Leaving a nightmarish imagined future - a collapsing and dangerous Hobart where the thin veneer of human civilisation is collapsing, they set out on a quest to find answers in an old yacht in a nearly frozen lake. Government schemes that have destroyed the Tasmanian environment are a constant meta-narrative throughout and Lake Pedder, submerged in 1972 by the Hydro Electric Commissions, despite having National Park protection status figures large and is probably the destination for the search.
Italicised sections at the beginning of each chapter are actually "Endlings" (surely the saddest and loneliest word) because it describes the moment when the last of each species dies alone. Different worldwide scenarios are described beginning with the lost "clinking" of the abalone, the loss of the pelagic fish and shark species in the Andaman Sea, of Takayna river myrtle, of moths, of groundwater, of glaciers, of cranes near the Bering Sea, of whales, of human homes due to rising sea levels in the Pacific, of Boreal forests and permafrost, of the thylacine and etc. At first the "endlings" prefacing each chapter seem disconnected but they start to become a type of tolling bell and underlying witness to the unfolding narrative.
The clinking is a novel about loss - of the environment and humanity aswell. Elena is herself a human refugee. People are becoming refugees looking for rehoming like the Tasmanian devils being repatriated on offshore islands. Rich people and doomsday preppers are building bunkers - escape homes in the wilderness (with arsenals of guns) while the poor are swallowed up in violence and hunger. There is so much loss and grief in Tom and Elena's life.
Amongst the loss though there is beauty and decency. The description of Kit, the family friend, is one example of Greenhill's ability to evoke decency of behaviour between human beings. Her respect for nature is apparent in the detailed descriptions of small objects such as birds, feathers and eggs and in the sensory nature of her writing. Take any page and the lyrical descriptions appear eg. "...a pair of tiny fire-tailed finches sifted for seeds and insects...hopping lightly back and forth... their scarlet beaks rustling softly in the curled brown leaves of the blackwood... a high clear call...of spring afternoons in their forest...Orla twisting the tyre swing from a limb of the horse-chestnut..." A powerful metaphor and symbol is the lily - fragile but surviving and representing hope. Orla is told that if they go back to the lake again it may still be there.
The Clinking is lyrical and luminescent. The clinking is an appropriate title which goes to the heart and bookends the narrative. It's a calling for life from heart wrenching sadness to fragile hope. Much of the wisdom is encapsulated by Tom when he tells Orla that humans are alright, that governments and companies have been doing things that are "messed up", that some humans are so rich and powerful and others have nothing, that there's a way that sustains life and a way that doesn't..."In general you should choose the way that does, if you can."
The clinking is a worthwhile eco-fiction read. The world that it depicts is not full-on dystopian but scarier as it depicts a world on the brink.The escape/search aspect of the clinking is reminiscent of Dog Runner by Bren MacDibble. A thoroughly depressing but also desperately hopeful book; a battle between hope and despair is presented. It is uncertain which wins. The reader's response will be a mixture of fear, hope and bafflement as we wonder whether beautiful, creative and good intentions are just naive and whether corruption will win out.
This reader chooses to see The clinking as a warning and an offering of beautiful but fragile hope.
Themes Environment, Eco-dystopia, Grief, Loss, Suicide, Depression, Still-birth, Species decline.
