This coming of age story centres around four teenagers who have finished high school and are off to schoolies – though two of the group are unaware of the fourth person attending. Grace needs a break from her judgemental circle and asks her brother if she can join him and his friends for schoolies – far away from her group. Casper agrees, but neglects to let his friends, Noah and Elsie, know the change of plans. Now out of Melbourne and in the full swing of being out of school, the group awkwardly starts out their schoolies week, and find themselves swept up by a mysterious stranger, Sierra, and her plans to camp on the uninhabited island. They join her in camping on the island and the group starts to realise they each have something they are struggling with, and that Sierra isn’t being completely open with them.
It’s great to see an Australian coming of age story, especially one so complex. The characters are relatable and are experiencing real struggles ranging from self identity issues, relationships and anxiety to life goals and direction. The story flows from one character’s perspective to another, with occasional definitions or news articles, giving the book a similar vibe to the Truly Devious series by Maureen Johnson and One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus. Well written with descriptive tones, the story is a lovely example of how great Australian YA books are for contemporary readers.
Themes Coming of age, Anxiety, Relationships, LGBTQIA+, Contemporary.
Melanie Pages
Beyond the stage by Anna Goldsworthy and Mark Carroll (Editors)
Subtitled Creative Australian stories from the Great War this book brings together essays with the common thread of the impact of World War 1, both on music and performing arts at the time, and also afterwards in how we remember or memorialise the war. The book is a result of a project bringing together four of South Australia’s performing arts organisations, the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, State Theatre Company of South Australia, State Opera of South Australia, and the Adelaide Festival Theatre. The essays vary in their themes and are accompanied by images and archival records, making for a very attractive glossy hardcover book.
Subjects range from the fundraising performances by women on the homefront, to the work of composer Edgar Tattersall, to the incredible meeting of British acting icon Sir Laurence Olivier and Australian comedian Roy ‘Mo’ Rene. There is also the confronting story of the persecution of Elder Conservatorium conductor Hermann Heinicke in a wave of anti-German xenophobia.
The last essay ‘Aftermaths’ by Bruce Scales examines how we mythologise the Diggers in our Anzac memorials, and how the Villers-Bretonneux memorial, for example, has become almost a computer game immersive experience. Whilst we glorify the soldiers who met their deaths on the battlefield, neglected are the memories of the many soldiers who did not die but suffered afterwards from horrific injuries both physical and mental. The Great War was supposed to be the war to end wars. Perhaps our memorials too easily lead in to a glorification of war rather than learning from the past to never repeat the same mistake again.
Our arts have a role to play in how we interpret human experience. This collection of essays presents a fascinating range of thoughts and ideas about that role.
Themes Non-fiction, History, Performing arts, World War I.
Helen Eddy
The Duchess and the captain's wife by Ulla-Lena Lundberg
A beautiful hardback book with historical black and white photographs of the Herzogin Cecilie a sailing ship more familiarly known as the Duchess, this is the story of a ship at the turn of an era just before the second world war; but even more than that, it is the story of a truly intrepid young woman, who defied her aristocratic family and set sail with the captain who won her heart, and stayed with him as the ship finally sank off the coast from Plymouth, England.
The Herzogin Cecilie won the 1936 ‘grain race’ sailing from Port Lincoln, South Australia, to Cornwall, England, but then floundered in bad weather at Starehole Bay. Newspaper headlines declared ‘Honeymoon ship ashore’ and ‘Bride refuses to quit ship on rocks’.
The book is a treasured historical record of the ship and the people who sailed on it and includes the original photographs by Pamela Eriksson, the young woman who set out on her adventures aboard it. Most poignant is the inclusion of the letters of Pamela’s mother, desperately unhappy, warning her daughter against uniting with the foreign captain. But photographs of Pamela show a determined and confident young woman, completely in her element, pitching in with the sailors at sea.
Lundberg’s book is a different way of telling a very romantic story, the historical record is presented along with the photographs, the book provides the evidence, and we are left to imagine.
This riveting narrative opens to the lilting sound of poetry, the words of a song evoking a world of people who think, feel, and experience life at a visceral level. Dalton’s poetic prose lifts the spirits, giving the reader a sense of soaring above the natural world into an imaginary one that exalts human beings above the level of the tedium of daily life. His repetition is like a refrain, telling us of this world that Australians recognize, focusing, in the opening pages, on the life led by gravediggers in the Northern Territory. He deftly plunges us into the brief experience of this world, when Australia was targeted by enemy aircraft, positioning us to feel the people’s dread of the bombs dropping so unexpectedly, the event that plunged Australia into the war with Japan. His description of Australia’s brief experience of the catastrophic outcome of the bombing evokes an emotional response to this unique and terrifying experience.
Molly Hook, ‘the graveyard girl’, is the fascinating central character of this narrative. Dedicated to her work on the graves, she refuses to be cowed by circumstances, and we are immediately captivated by her character. Molly’s mother asked her to promise to make her life graceful, and to live well, and it is her determination to do so that is at the heart of the narrative. Deeply emotionally connected to her world, yet alone and pragmatic, she is forced to make decisions about her life at a very early age, and Molly considers deeply how she will live. In this narrative we are positioned to understand both the isolation of this part of the country and the challenge it offers to people living in the far northern areas. Described so beautifully, we envisage the countryside of lush growth, of hilly areas, of lush jungles, and of dry, desert areas. When the bombs drop on Darwin, it is such an extraordinary experience that the people struggle to come to terms with the outcome. He focuses on the girl and her choice to flee to a safer place, and it is this place that is so magically evoked in the story.
Trent Dalton has created a world that would be unfamiliar to so many Australians, and it is this world, one of wonderful forests, of water to be found underground, of hills and dry sand dunes, that is explored by the gravedigger girl as she struggles to find her way back to the place that she knew, complex and challenging that this becomes. This is a glorious novel that reveals so much that most of us might well not have known, and Dalton’s vivid description and poetic prose entrances us. It would be suitable for adolescent and adult reading.
Elizabeth Bondar
The Magpie Society : One for sorrow by Zoe Sugg and Amy McCulloch
Penguin, 2020. ISBN: 9780241402481. (Age:13+)
One for Sorrow is the first volume in a new YA series set at Illumen Hall – a UK boarding school. Audrey Wagner’s just arrived from Georgia, USA, to complete her senior year - but her roommate Ivy Moore-Zhang is a popular school leader having started there back in Yr 7. The girls clash in the beginning but soon become unlikely friends when Theodore tries to hook up with them separately but at the same time. Teaching Teddy a lesson is an amusing bonding experience.
Audrey alludes to leaving her country to escape one tragedy, only to move into a room of a recently deceased student. On her first day, an anonymous podcaster dramatically broadcasts claims regarding how and why Lola was killed. Ivy & Audrey each have good reasons for staying at school over the mid-term break, and both are keen to investigate further. The magpie tattoo found on the dead girl leads them to delve into the school’s mythical secret society.
The two authors’ perspectives are almost seamless, and most readers wouldn’t realize there was more than one author. This technique is particularly good for telling the reader exactly how each main character is feeling in response to all the twists and turns. During the research phase, we’re mindful that libraries are sometimes superior to a web browser! Clover, Araminta, Patrick and Mr Willis provide plenty of complications before the narrators clarify, if not complete the mystery….
The book ends on the mandatory cliff-hanger but there is plenitude when Audrey finally remembers to show Ivy the letter Lola had hidden in the secret compartment of their room – this oversight and the initial description of the letter as being very old, detracts from the plausibility of the plot. Nevertheless, fans of YA gothic crime fiction should enjoy cutting their teeth on this crime series.
Themes Gothic thriller.
Deborah Robins
The very hungry caterpillar's first 100 words by Eric Carle
Sure to entice any young child, this beautiful board book will be a boon for any parent. Not only does it introduce many words around the themes of Home, the Sea, The Zoo, the City, the Park and the Picnic, it has lift-the-flaps that will keep children engaged and interested as they guess what is under them.
Commencing with At Home, eager fingers will lift the flap of a brightly coloured tree and find a bird’s nest, then there is a dog behind the kennel, and granddad sitting in a chair behind the walls of the house. All the objects are labelled clearly, and a young child will learn the words, car, cat, bird, tree, kennel, boy, girl window, house, garden, chair and clock just on the first double spread. And to add to the fun, the very hungry caterpillar must be found as well.
This format is followed through out the rest of the book, and as always, the illustrations are delightful, brightly coloured and enticing. The book is very sturdy, and the flaps hold up to much tough treatment by eager hands.
A superb way to teach and reinforce familiar words, while keeping a toddler entertained, The Very Hungry Caterpillar's First 100 Words is sure to become a household favourite.
Professor Tim Flannery’s latest publication is a wake-up call to all Australians by a scientist who demonstrates a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the Climate emergency. The Climate Cure examines the past mistakes and consequences of inaction but more importantly offers clear actions that can be taken to cure the problem.
Flannery demands a new approach, based on the nation’s response to COVID-19:
First, stemming the spread of its cause by cutting the use of fossil fuel, developing the use of alternative fuels such as hydrogen, electric vehicle transport, and biofuels, cooperating with and leading other nations in the ‘win-win’ world created by cheap renewables.
Second, in the same manner as COVID, the world needs to develop the equivalent of ‘emergency rooms’ to shelter the worst effected of Earth’s ecosystems and worst affected human populations e.g. bushfire and heatwave preparedness.
Third, drawdown, or CO2 removal, acting as a vaccine for the fossil fuel pandemic. Drawdown being what trees, seaweed and other photosynthesis organisms do.
The author, chief councillor of the Climate Council and former Australian of the Year, presents his information and analysis clearly and logically, supported by interesting and relevant facts and extensive footnotes.
This book is short but it packs a powerful punch.
Students may be interested in 13 year old Izzy Raj-Seppings interview with the author.
Paul Pledger
The secret explorers series by S.J. King. Illus. by Ellie O'Shea
The Secret Explorers and the Lost Whales bk. 1. ISBN: 9780241440643. The Secret Explorers and the Comet Collision bk. 2. ISBN: 9780241442258. The Secret Explorers and the Tomb Robbers bk. 3. ISBN: 9780241442265. The Secret Explorers and the Jurassic Rescue bk. 4. ISBN: 9780241442272.
The first four books in The Secret Explorers series by S.J. King are a perfect introduction for younger readers to different environments, both past and present. Each of the eight children from different places on Earth are highly gifted and talented in a particular area:
When a glowing shape matching the badge on their shirts appears on a door then the explorers are able to step through to the Exploration Station and receive their next mission. Not all of the eight explorers go on each mission - they are carefully chosen so that their specialist skills best match the problem needing to be solved.
In the first book, The Secret Explorers and the Lost Whales, Connor must use his skills and understandings of the marine world to try to turn around a pod of Humpback Whales who heading in the wrong direction. He is accompanied by Roshni whose expertise is in the field of space and who wonders why she has been chosen. However without her knowledge of navigation by the stars the whales may not be saved. The two explorers have to problem solve and use their amazing skills to succeed in their first mission.
In the second book, The Secret Explorers and the Comet Collision, Roshni and Ollie travel to space to attempt to fix a space probe near Jupiter but are unaware a comet is heading towards them. There is danger both in the space craft while dodging asteroids and outside for Roshni when trying to fix the probe but Ollie's cool head and skills learnt in the rainforest enable her to return safely to the space craft.
In the third book, The Secret Explorers and the Tomb Raiders, Gustavo and Kiki travel back in time to Ancient Egypt as they discover the Cairo museum by the River Nile is to close down due to theft. The two Secret Explorers must outwit tomb robbers as well as learn Egyptian hieroglyphics and stop Pharaoh Khufu's tomb being raided. A long the way they enlist the aid of a young Egyptian boy, Bek, who helps them to succeed in their mission and safely escape.
In the fourth book, The Secret Explorers and the Jurassic Rescue, Tamiko who is the dinosaur specialist and Cheng the Geology specialist are transported back one hundred and fifty million years in time to save a precious dinosaur egg. Throughout their journey they come across familiar creatures from this Jurassic period: a pterosaur, Compsognathuses, a plesiosaur and Cetiosauruses to name just a few. They even find a baby Stegosaurus with a thorn stuck in its foot and help to pull it out. They are chased by the Allosauruses who are after the egg and hide in caves. They manage to rescue the egg and a baby Archaeopteryx hatches before its mother returns. Eventually the mother and baby are reunited and Tamiko and Cheng realised they have saved this species from extinction.
In each of the stories, the Explorers have a craft in which they travel. The craft is able to transform into a vehicle to suit the time and environment. It is known as the Beagle and was named after the ship that carried the famous scientist Charles Darwin. While the two chosen Explorers are fulfilling their mission, the remaining Explorers are able to watch and listen to their adventures and support them when needed. While these books are considered fiction, they are filled with interesting information throughout and keep the reader highly engaged. There are detailed facts relating to the story at the end of each book as well as a quiz (with answers) and glossary. The illustrations by Ellie O'Shea are perfectly pitched at the 7-9 years age group and add complementary visuals to these excellent early novels.
There are more books in the series, The Secret Explorers and the Rainforest Rangers, The Secret Explorers and the Smoking Volcano and The Secret Explorers and the Missing Scientist which will be valuable additions to this fascinating series.
Themes Friends, Climate Change, Environmental Issues, Gifted Children, Marine Life, Space, Dinosaurs, Ancient Egypt, Mysteries, Problem Solving.
Death Sets Sail is the final novel in the best- selling, award winning series: Murder Most Unladylike Mysteries.
For anyone who cut their teeth on Agatha Christie murder mysteries, it is pleasing to see that the Murder Mystery genre might be reemerging for young readers. Fingers crossed! It can segue into a lifelong love of fiction.
Death Sets Sail is a very upper class English, preppy romp-spiffing! The main protagonists are three teen-age girls who are experienced sleuths. Together they have formed The Wells and Wong Detective Agency. The narrator is Hazel Wong, aged 15. The setting for the murder is a cruise-boat on the Nile in the 1930s. Knowledge of Egyptology, History and Geography are enriched as readers are immersed in locations like the Karnak and Edfu temples, the lives of ancient pharaohs and the activities of a religious society of reincarnation believers.
The plot unfolds reminiscently of a game of Cluedo. Maps, to-do lists, plans, notes, letters, clues, and re-enactments abound, representing logical solution finding through the process of elimination. What great organisational thinking strategies this book supplies for the Tween/YA reader!
The detective schoolgirls, who are boarding school friends, are of Chinese, English and Egyptian heritage. Being a coming of age story to boot, Stevens manages to naturally include multiculturalism and budding diverse sexual identities. These are comforting things to read about when one is a tween or young adult.
This book and series is a most satisfying introduction to the murder mystery genre which has been somewhat underdone for tweens. Capitalizing on individual strengths, the young detectives solve the crime. There is (of course) an unexpected twist.
The packaging of the book (the bright gold cover and the purple edged pages) is unusual and attractive.
A riveting, addictive page turner - highly recommended for upper primary and YA readers.
Wendy Jeffrey
The inheritors by Hannelore Cayre. Translated by Stephanie Smee
Black Inc., 2020. ISBN: 9781760642662. (Age:16+) Highly recommended.
Revenge is a dish best served cold in this story set in France in two different eras, that of 1870 and the modern day. Following on from her earlier book, The Godmother, Hannelore Cayre again introduces us to a strong female character who is definitely out of the mainstream . . . Blanche de Rigny is a difficult and prickly person - disabled, furious with the world she sees around her, and fiercely loyal to those closest to her. She refuses to settle with the expectations that the world has of her, instead using the few means at her disposal to take it on.
The author juxtaposes 21st century Paris and Brittany with their social issues and criminal underworld against that of the 19th century and the backdrop of the Franco-Prussian War and Paris Commune to comment on the cycle of power and inequity. She explores the family relationships of the main characters and their outsider status within their own social milieus focussing on the contrasts of idealism and pragmatism and the impact on both character's self-esteem and estimation in their families and wider communities.
The book also contains a strong thread of feminism in a modern and an historical context. It suffers at times from an awkwardness of language (which may be a result of translation) and unevenness of pace but this does not impede the storyline.
Recommended for both an observation of French politics, society and culture, as well as a wider global view, and as a book with a strong female protagonist.
This book is a delightful, warm and thought provoking story about an alien who comes to Earth as a cat! That just sounds just stupid. However . . . Leonard is the narrator and a thoroughly likeable alien/cat. The story unfolds from his point of view. Aliens from his galaxy live in an efficient manner within "hives". Every three hundred years they can travel to Earth to live as a human. They train for this, choose what type of human existence they would like to experience and most importantly they must be at a certain place on Earth at a precise time in order to return safely to their galaxy. The consequence for not being at the meeting point is to lose immortality and remain forever on Earth.
Leonard was intrigued by the lifestyle of Park Rangers in Yellowstone National Park but he made a mistake on his journey to Earth. Instead of arriving in the form of a Park Ranger, he arrived in a cat's body, stuck in a tree, in a flood, in Florida. He was rescued by a friendless young girl called Olive, who because of difficulties with her mother's new boyfriend, was staying with her grandmother.
A strong relationship develops between Olive and Leonard. The reader is held in suspense as Leonard thinks his way through problematic situations as he tries to maintain the pretense of being a cat. He needs to find a human who he can trust with his life.
The story is about the nature and qualities of trust and friendship, choices and what is important in life. Other topics include family breakdown, mental illness, loneliness, individuality, friendship and the human relationship with animals.
My Life as a Cat is a beautiful and unusual book which would be enjoyed by Primary and Middle year students. I will never look at cats the same way again! Possibly they are all aliens!
Wendy Jeffrey
One lone swallow by Corinne Fenton. Illus. by Owen Swan
New Frontier, 2020. ISBN: 9781922326195. (Age:4+) Highly recommended.
Owen Swan’s line and colour wash illustration of Florence in the early part of the nineteenth century greets readers picking up this book and questions will jump into their minds seeing the swallow high above the buildings. Opening the pages we find that the swallow has left her nestlings to search for her mate. A tense evening’s search begins. The lone swallow flies over the ancient walls and towers, over the chimneys and roofs, under the bridges, through the arches searching all the time, aware that her nestlings will be calling out to be fed.
She rests on a high point allowing her a view over the whole city: surveying the bell towers, the Tuscan Hills and the roads.
At last she spies him, entangled by a shoemaker’s twine, draped across the toe of Michelangelo’s David.
Taking the end of the twine in her beak, she pulls until he is almost freed, but a rat crawls onto the statue ready to pounce. With her last pull, she frees him and they fly back to their nest.
This beautiful story of fidelity, of the swallow’s commitment to finding her mate will be read and read again by children. The words reveal her constancy in her search, pushing her nestlings to the back fo her mind, flying over the whole city in her quest. Fenton began thinking of the idea while watching the swallows in the piazza outside her bedroom window in Florence in 2010, and it has been simmering away ever since. Her words describe this beautiful city at twilight and these are given substance with the illustrations of Florence two hundred years ago. Swan travelled to Florence, sitting amongst other artists to sketch the city. His extensive use of soft blues and browns give the readers a bird’s eye view of this World Heritage site, and will encourage questions about the city, the statue of David and many fo the buildings depicted.
Fenton and Swan have created a stunning book, pushing readers to think beyond the ordinary, to admire the commitment in adversity shown by birds that mate for life.
Lili Reinhart's debut poetry collection, Swimming Lessons is an exploration of love and heartbreak; chronicling the beginnings to the end of a relationship, as well as the battles associated with anxiety and depression. Moving, raw, and eloquent, this poetry collection reaches out to the reader; reassuring them that they are not alone.
This anthology will resonate with high school students and hold their hand as they navigate the formative experiences explored within the pages. Reinhart's poetry opens her heart to the reader; sharing her experiences in a way that enables the reader to feel seen and understood and providing them kinship and validation as they navigate their own situations.
The themes of Swimming Lessons will most strongly resonate with high school students; however, the content would be suitable to be read by younger readers.
The Natural History Museum, the BBC and Warner Bros. have partnered to present the amazing animals and the magical creatures of Harry Potter and Fantastic beasts in a visually creative exhibition. This combination of science, film and literature in both a striking factual and fictional display was opening in the Northern Hemisphere Spring of 2020. Unfortunately due to the world-wide Corona Virus, this exhibition has closed indefinitely. Fortunately this superb coffee table–sized book Fantastic Beasts: The Wonder of Nature has been inspired by this exhibition and offers an opportunity to view the exhibits plus learn about behind-the-scenes roles from the safety of home.
Using aspects from the films and intertwined with some of the oddest and strangest creatures both past and present, the exhibition is a fantasy and nature lover’s delight. From the beautiful cover showcasing the chameleon (hint: remove the dust jacket) to the final double-page photo of the curators at work, this book will provide readers of all ages with images and information to pore over time and time again. The Contents page highlights the area of natural environments or creatures under discussion beginning with Fantastic Beasts and ending with Saving our Natural World. Each chapter begins with a lengthy esasy from a well-known writer, environmental expert or natural history scientist who discusses their interpretation of the exhibition. Beautiful photos, illustrations, notes and maps entice the reader to explore new horizons.
This is a book waiting to be perused by an adult and child where they can absorb and share the wonderful images and information presented.
Themes Harry Potter, Fantastic Beasts, Exhibition, Magical Creatures, Wizarding World, Natural History Museum.
The third book in the Animal Allies series, Star centres around Sky’s life in rural Australia with her family – her aunt and uncle who are expecting their first baby, and her recently reunited father. Sky is feeling lost between the changes in her family, her boyfriend seeming more interested in their new YouTube channel and her best friend’s new relationship. Sky is desperate to connect with fellow animal activists, and to continue fighting for the rights of animals. But when asked to partake in seemingly effortless activism, something doesn’t feel right. Sky needs to find where she stands, and what she feels is right.
Not having read the first two of this series, it was remarkably easy to catch up with the content of the previous books thanks to the way the author incorporated the story throughout the book. While the main character is 16, the feelings of being lost, alone and wanting to find 'your people' are universal feelings, very relatable for teens. The book is extremely informative in matters of animal rights, to the point it could make readers queasy. Well researched, set in outback/rural Australia, the story highlights many animal rights issues, with a particular focus on kangaroos and the debate of national icon vs pest. Also discussed throughout the book are dietary choices, including vegetarian and vegan – with the main character participating in veganism and the challenges this brings in a rural setting. The story is easy to submerge yourself in, and highlights animal issues worldwide.
