Foundational fictions in South Australian history edited by Carolyn Collins and Paul Sendziuk
Wakefield Press, 2018. ISBN 9781743056066
(Age: Senior secondary - Adult) Recommended. Foundational
fictions investigates the myths that South Australians hold
dear about their state. Is it really true that South Australia was a
more enlightened settlement free of the 'convict stain'? Were the SA
settlers kinder to the Aboriginal inhabitants? Did the settlement
live up to the ideals of the Letters Patent and the Proclamation at
the old gum tree? Was SA established according to principles that
set it apart from the other states? Or is it all just beautiful
lies?
As the famous quote goes, 'history is written by the victors'. This
collection of essays examines many of the commonly held beliefs
about the history of South Australia. All South Australians would
like to believe the good stories about their ancestors, the myths
that have been passed on. Some do draw on original facts, but many
have been embellished or even completely reworked to cover over the
things we would prefer not to examine too closely.
Most interesting reading is author Lucy Treloar's response to Inge
Clendinnen's 2006 critique of Kate Grenville's novel 'The secret
river'. Treloar posits that history is greater than just the facts.
Historical fiction may offer an emotional truth that allows people
to enter into the experience of others, ponder what they felt, and
consider how they may have acted in their place. There is a place
for both - the historian allows us to examine the records of past
events, the facts, the snippets in newspapers and diaries; the
historical fiction writer allows us to enter that world and
reimagine it for ourselves.
Another writer, Jane Lydon, researching the record of bushman George
Hamilton, examines how even writers of the past era may change their
world view over time and reinvent or embellish their own records of
the past.
These are all very interesting questions for the student of history
to ponder. Foundational fictions brings together some key
(mis)conceptions about South Australia and allows the reader to
reinvestigate the past record and query just who makes history, and
how history is passed down to successive generations. This book
would be a really useful resource for developing students'
understanding of the historical concepts proposed by the Australian
history curriculum: 'evidence, continuity and change, cause and
effect, significance, perspectives, empathy and contestability'.
Helen Eddy
The Bad Guys: Episode 8: Superbad by Aaron Blabey
Scholastic, 2018. ISBN 9781760279509
(Age: 6+) Highly recommended. Themes: Humour. Adventure.
Superheroes. The Bad Guys return with superpowers that will delight
their fans as they chuckle their way through another hilarious
adventure. Yes, the Bad Guys have acquired super powers but they
appear to have defects that make for a most amusing read.
Although Superbad follows on from Episode 7, readers will
have no problem identifying the different main characters and newly
independent readers will love the sparse text and graphic novel
format. Older readers don't miss out either - the over-the-top
illustrations have enormous appeal for young and old. Imagine the
drawing of Agent Hogwild, atop a motorcycle, being chased by two
police cars, depicted with all the humour and ability of an artist
of Blabey's calibre!
Books from The Bad Guys series consistently appear on
Children's Choice awards like YABBA, and this is a testimony to
their appeal for the targeted audience.
Pat Pledger
Circus hearts series by Ellie Marney
Bearded Lady Press, 2018. All the Little Bones. ISBN 9780648088530 All fall downISBN 9780648088554 All Aces. ISBN 9780648088578
(Age: 16+) Recommended. Themes: Circus. Romance. Ellie Marney has
written another exciting set of books that will appeal to readers
who like romance with a dash of mystery and excitement. It is
unusual to find YA books set in the circus, but this series shows
what circus life is like. The young people who are the main
characters all display different talents that show off the amazing
skills that circus performers bring to the big top as well as the
dedication and hard work that goes into keeping fit for a
performance. It also looks at the many people who are needed to
maintain the mechanics of the circus ring.
In the first in the series, All the little bones, Marney
brings all the excitement and glamour of the trapeze artists. Seventeen
year old Sorsha arrives at Klatschs Karnival with strongman Colm
after fleeing from a terrible crime at their last circus. It is just
a matter of time before the police catch up with them.
In All fall down, Fleur the daughter of the ringmaster, and
Marco, the son of the bearded lady, are faced with a saboteur who is
determined to finish the circus off. As they try to find who is
behind the accidents, their attraction to one another flares up.
In the 3rd in the series, All aces, Ren Putri, a teenage
contortionist is determined to help Zep Deal the young cardsharp who
has been suspected of being behind the sabotage. Ren is great at
problem solving and working out mysteries and she is determined to
prove Zep's innocence.
This an easy to read group of romantic suspense books, with strong,
intelligent young women and delightful, caring young men. As all the
characters are older teens, and romance is key to the stories, there
are some sexual encounters, but not ones that are too graphic - the
series is probably aimed at a New Adult audience rather than younger
teens. The books are easy to read, and would make a wonderful summer
holiday read.
Pat Pledger
Hotdog: Camping time by Anh Do
Ill. by Dan McGuiness. Hotdog! : Book 5. Scholastic, 2018.
ISBN 9781742993768
(Age: 7+) Recommended. Themes: Humour. Camping. Animals. Fans will
be hooting with laughter as Hotdog, Lizzie and Kev return in their
fifth adventure, this time on a camping trip. On a trip to Rainbow
Island to visit Kev's mum who is a vet, the trio decide to go
camping to get a good view of the island and for Kev to work out if
he would like to stay with his mum.
The trio have great fun, wood-chopping, making campfires, kayaking
and swimming. Along the way they learn new skills, each discovering
that they are really good at some things and not so good at others.
However as a team they combine all their skills to help others and
to get out of danger.
The jokes come thick and fast and will really appeal to the young
audience. Each page has limited text; some words are highlighted in
blue and it is just right for the newly emerging independent reader,
who will be supported by the very humorous illustrations by Dan
McGuiness. The book is divided into eight chapters and this will be
appealing to readers just moving from picture books.
The friendship between the three animals is great and the teamwork
and resilience of the group will be an inspiration for readers.
Readers new to the series will be able to easily pick up the
characteristics of Hotdog, Lizzie and Kev and will want to find
others in the series.
Pat Pledger
The fragments by Toni Jordan
Text, 2018. ISBN 9781925773132
(Age: Adolescent - Adult) Highly recommended. This is a most
interesting book, captivatingly told by two narrators and set in
different eras and indeed in different countries. The link is drawn
by the narrative of the life and work of a famous American writer,
Inge Karlson, and the exhibition of a few fragments of her last
novel that was largely destroyed in a fire in which she perished in
the late 1930s in New York. In this well-constructed narrative, as
we move between eras, we are privileged to understand the worlds of
the two women.
The narrative begins in 1986 where the scraps of paper that were
collected after a terrible fire destroyed the apartment and the life
of Karlson in New York, are in a very special exhibition in
Brisbane. It is the enthusiasm of Caddie, a bookseller in modern
Brisbane, for the work of Karlson, that precipitates her quest to
discover more about the writer after a comment made by a visitor to
the exhibition. As she was leaving the exhibition, an older woman
quoted the lines that were on one scrap, but added an extra phrase
that intrigued Caddie. How this woman knew more words than were in
'the fragments' on exhibit, Caddie wonders, shocked by hearing a
quotation that she has never heard before. Caddie decides to seek
more information on Karlson, if it is possible, but her main quest
is to find the visitor and to seek an answer to the enigma that is
puzzling her.
We discover much about the strength of the young woman, and,
similarly, about the writer herself. We know more than Caddie does
in the end, as her quest does not give her the answer, but she is
honoured by the new friendship with the American woman. This
intriguing story is constructed well, taking us easily between the
two eras and revealing much about the two women and their lives in
such disparate time and countries. I would recommend it highly for
adolescent and adult reading. Book Club notes
are available.
Elizabeth Bondar
We are all equal by P Crumble and Jonathan Bentley
Scholastic, 2018. ISBN 9781742999838
(Age: 4+) Recommended. Themes: Equality. Animals. Difference. LGBT.
Diversity. Using a range of animals to shout out about difference
and being the same, this richly illustrated little book will evoke
interest and discussion amongst its readers. Teachers and parents
could use it to introduce the theme of equality, reinforcing the
structures which underpin our society. Diversity is shown in all of
its richness: the different things we eat, the different places we
live, the offspring we have, what we live in, our physical
limitations, our size and strength, our partners, our beauty, how we
get along.
Each double page opens with the refrain 'We are all equal', then
elaborates upon that in a particular way, reinforced by the
illustration on the page. Each rhyming four line stanza presents a
truism for readers to contemplate, reflecting the diversity in our
society and asking them to transfer the idea from the animals
illustrated to their peopled world. With a promotional line from
Magda Szubanski, 'a resounding yes!', written across the top of the
cover, adults will be in no doubt about the thrust of the book, and
read it with background that will reinforce the inclusiveness of our
society.
A page about bullying, impels readers to look out for each other,
while another about testing, tells the readers that they are not
judged by tests alone, while the last page sums up the message of
the book, 'We share hopes and dreams, we're equal and proud'. A
wonderful read aloud where children are invited to predict the
rhyming word, the theme of the book supports all the inclusive work
being done in schools.
Fran Knight
Butt out! by Heath Mckenzie
Scholastic, 2018. ISBN 9781742997902
(Age: 4+) Themes: Bottoms. Animals. Conventions. All the well
dressed animals are taken aback when the baboon decides to go
pantless. The giraffe pushing a market trolley in her natty green
frock, grasps her front paws in anguish when she spies him, but
baboon tells her, 'sun's out, bums out'. The suited turtle drops his
walking stick in surprise and tells the baboon that he has forgotten
his pants. 'No', replies baboon, 'I never put any on'. Mother goat
unsuccessfully hides her kids' faces from the spectacle, but baboon
can only respond that he likes the air between 'my cheeks'. All of
the animals take it in turn to remind him to put his pants on, and
finally they all come together to try and enforce their way. And
they seem to have succeeded until baboon turns around. And the
readers will laugh out loud.
A funny tale in which all the words for bottom are included,
encouraging younger children to see what each word means, and laugh
at the different meanings of the word but/t. I can imagine this as a
wonderful read aloud, with children joining in trying to get baboon
to change his ways, while others may like to take the role of the
baboon in rebuffing their attempts.
Fran Knight
The bee book Charlotte Milner
DK, 2018. ISBN 9780241305188
Recommended. Bees have been an essential and integral part of life on the planet
for over 100 million years - even pre-dating the dinosaurs - and
about 20 000 different species can be found all around the world.
While some bees are large, others small, some can cook and the
original name of the much-loved bumblebee was 'dumbledore', the most
famous is the honey bee and this amazing new book focuses on this
species as it explores all aspects of its life and why it is so
important to the survival of humans.
Packed with easily accessible information and eye-catching
illustrations, this is the ideal book to show young children how
critical bees are within the environment as they, along with other
insects, are responsible for about a third of everything we eat! As
well as emphasising their importance, there is also a warning about
their decline in numbers and the potential for catastrophe if that
happens. There are suggestions for how we can assist their
longevity, including building a simple bee motel (although I cheated
and bought one) with more detailed instructions available here.
With Christmas approaching, and Miss 12 and Miss 7 growing beyond
toys and stuff, this book, and a copy of this year's winner of the
CBCA Book of the Year for Younger Readers, How
to bee because they seem like natural companions, as
well as the bee motel will make a somewhat different gift, but one
which will inspire them!
A must for school libraries and fascinating and informative for
those with an interest in the environment.
Barbara Braxton
Rainbow bear by Stephen Michael King
Scholastic, 2018. ISBN 9781742997698
(Age: 3+) Highly recommended. Themes: Bears, Fathers, Children,
Families, Humour. A wonderfully funny and engaging book about
families and the way they interact will appeal to readers as they
watch the antics of the children playing with their father. The cubs
greet their father, home from the long journey back from the city
with glee. They know he will have brought them presents, and they
frolic with him for the rest of the day, running, playing and
tickling. But as soon as the shadows blow in, the bear is fast
asleep. When he wakes he has a different coat, a sparkly, colour
filled coat that looks bright against the snow and ice. Each morning
he wakes to a different coat, one day swirls and lines, another
circles and dots, and each day when he goes for a swim, it washes
off.
One day he wakes and spots small footprints near where he has slept,
and following the steps, comes to his bear cubs and their pots of
paint. The problem is solved, but not before everyone is covered in
paint, all the colours of the rainbow decorating their coats.
Full of the wonder of the relationship between families,
particularly dad and the children, this story radiates warmth and
togetherness as many facets of family life are shown. Readers cannot
help but respond to the father's joy in his children or their
happiness in being with him, able to include him within their games,
and trick him with the paint. A wonderful read aloud, this book
underscores the part of each person within the family, particularly
the father.
Fran Knight
Guinness World Records: Wild Things ed. by Craig Glenday
Guinness World Records, 2018. ISBN 9781912286485
(Age: 8+) Recommended. Subjects: Animals, Records, Zoology, Mammals,
Reptiles, Insects. Wild Things is jam-packed with an array
of amazing animal facts, records, achievements, oddities and
dangerous creatures. Split into 9 chapters, the book includes
information about Odd Bods, The Cute Factor, Creepy Crawlies and
Zootopia. Catchy titles, fun facts and figures, close-up photos,
bold visually appealing double page spreads make this a fun book to
share with animal lovers from eight to eighty!
Beginning with Booty and the Beast, it is filled with fun facts and
photos. Discover the female mandrill who displays her
rainbow-coloured butt as a sign of status, the trapdoor spider's
manhole butt and the manatees that use their digestive gas as a
flotation device! Compare mammal statistics, while the blue whale
weighs in around 190 tonnes, the tiny bumblebee bat from Burma and
Myanmar weighs up to two grams. In Little and Large a life-size
Indian rusty-potted cat leaps out, growling with pointed teeth. A
new wild cat species, the southern Brazilian oncilla, was only
recognised in 2013.
Australasia is On the Map; test your knowledge with thirty-three
unusual animals to identify and fun facts to discover. Did you know
the New Zealand tuatara is the fastest-evolving animal in the world?
Conservationists, including Dr Jane Goodall, Bindi and Rob Irwin and
Nisha Owen, provide interesting insights into their passions, work
and environmental messages.
Trading cards filled with animal facts, charts for animal height and
weight and short quiz questions across the bottom of some pages
capture interest and make for interesting conversations. An
augmented reality app in Creepy Crawlies adds an animated insect
screen to a phone. Guinness World Records: Wild Things is an
excellent resource for STEM classes, a fabulous addition to a
classroom or school library and for a scientifically minded reader
from eight to eighty.
Rhyllis Bignell
Of blood and bone by Nora Roberts
Chronicles of The One book 2. Piatkus, 2018. ISBN
9780349414980
(Age: Adult - 16+) Dystopian fiction. Pandemics. Coming of age.
Roberts continues with her compulsive series, writing as always in a
very readable style with great characters. The first book Year
One introduced many characters and the second in the series
carries on with the story of Lana's daughter, Fallon Swift, who has
reached the age of 13 on the farm where her mother had taken refuge
with Simon, an ex-soldier turned farmer. With her gifts beginning to
mature it is time to learn how to fight for good. She is taken away
from the family farm by Mallick to be trained as a warrior and
gifted healer as she has been identified as The One, the girl of
Light who would fight against the forces of the Dark and lead her
peoples to victory.
Fallon is an engaging character, showing all the signs of a young
adolescent, but under the guidance of Mallick, she takes up the
heavy burden that has been given to her and trains very hard and
studies intensively, to be worthy of the gifts that she has been
given.
Readers will follow her coming of age with interest and will be
happy to return to the community of New Hope and find out what
happened to characters first introduced in Year One. Roberts always
has strong family ties and relationships underpinning her stories
and Fallon's feelings for her family and her dead family are handled
deftly and sympathetically. There is a hint of romance to come with
growing feelings between her and Duncan, who has appeared to her in
dreams as a grown man, and the love between Lana and Simon is a
highlight of the story.
Battle scenes and devastated countryside bring the dystopian world
to life and Roberts manages to combine a world devastated by a virus
with elves, fairies and people who have extraordinary paranormal
gifts in an unusual and believable way. There is a surprise twist at
the end and the reader is left hoping for the next book in the
series to find out how Fallon and her compatriots deal with the
forces of evil.
Pat Pledger
Mince spies by Mark Sperring
Ill. by Sophie Corrigan. Bloomsbury, 2018. ISBN 9781408893463
(Age: 3+) Highly recommended. Themes: Christmas, Competition. When
all the Christmas goodies: gingerbread men, Christmas sticks,
puddings, yule logs and so on, fall to the floor in the supermarket,
something must be done. The super spies, Mince Spies come jetting in
to unravel the mystery.
Told in verses, children will love predicting the next word in each
line, as the Mince Spies do some sleuthing around the supermarket to
find the culprit. With their flaky pastry jetpacks they hide within
the shelves, waiting. But time moves slowly until their walkie
talkies come to life, and they fall to the floor with their cheesy
breadsticks and whipped cream cans at the ready. Imagine their
surprise when they find that the Brussel Sprouts are working
together to rid the shelves of all the Christmas goodies, throwing
them to the floor with abandon. Readers will laugh out loud at the
antics of the Sprouts and sympathise with their reasoning. But
someone else must come and help with a solution, and Santa himself
appears. All is neatly resolved, and the readers will be happy at
the way the sprouts are appeased.
Told in verse form, supported with funny, detailed illustrations the
story will have readers laughing out loud at the antics of the Mince
Spies and Sprouts, as they almost come to blows over what is eaten
at Christmas. Children will love reprising the sorts of goodies they
have at this time of the year, and wonder at a winter Christmas
where Sprouts are served.
Fran Knight
The angel's mark by S. W. Perry
Atlantic Books, 2018. ISBN 9781786494955
(Age: senior secondary to adult) Crime, Elizabethan England,
Medicine, Superstition, Childbirth, Women, London. Steeped in the
life and times of the later years of Elizabethan England, this story
of the investigation into bodies found with an upside crucifix
carved into them will have the readers enthralled. Nicholas Shelby,
an aspiring physician at a time when doctors used medicinal herbs to
deal with the most advanced of diseases, and where surgery was
undertaken by the local butcher, loses his faith when his wife dies
in childbirth. Unable to cope with a god that allows this to happen,
and made very aware of the limits of his knowledge, he falls into a
stunning decline, to the point where he throws himself into the
Thames. Saved by a young woman, a tavern owner called Bianca, he
realises after a few weeks that she has been using medicines that he
has only read about. Eventually the two are able to share
information, Bianca having a vast knowledge from her time spent as a
child in Padua, where both men and women practise medicine. But here
in London she must take care, women such as she are burnt as
witches, any fool wanting to cause trouble able to make an
accusation.
But Nicholas saw the body of a child dragged from the river,
emblazoned with the carving and he knows that it was not a drowning,
as certified by the coroner.
When he sees another with the same disfigurement, he and Bianca set
out to find an answer. But their lives are interrupted by Robert
Cecil, a master spy, doing the Queen's business rooting out Catholic
conspiracies, and when Shelby plans a visit to the house of John
Lumley, Cecil forces him to spy.
With Spain meddling in England's affairs, and the queen not as
strong as she once was, plots abound as people vie for power, making
this is a riveting historical read. Descriptions of London's streets
form an amazing backdrop, the descriptions of palaces and luxury
just as beguiling, while the two main characters set against these
impossible times evoke our sympathies as they rail against injustice
and coercion. The stunning conclusion brings all of these themes
together in a most intriguing way, making sure the second in the
series, The serpent's mark to be released in June 2019, is
watched for.
Fran Knight
Pens and bayonets : letters from the front by soldiers of Yorke Peninsula, South Australia during the Great War by Don Longo
Wakefield Press, 2018. ISBN 9781743056103
(Age: 16+) Recommended for history enthusiasts and students. If I
had to sum up this great book in one word, it would be 'poignant'.
Soldiers who grew up on farms and in towns on the Yorke Peninsula
(and those who moved there for work) wrote letters from the First
World War battlefields, from hospitals and rest areas. These letters
were most commonly written to close family members but many were
sent to newspapers, sporting clubs and social groups - as a means of
informing the district about the exploits of local men but also to
rally support for the cause.
I often struggle with epistolary works which lack the formal
structure of standard non-fiction. These letters however have been
carefully selected to provide a soldier's perspective to the
campaigns and battles in which these local identities were involved.
I'm certain that the editor would have been tormented at having to
limit himself to including only two or three letters per battle or
theatre but in doing so, he has created a highly readable and very
interesting book.
The letters are introduced by short explanations of the historical
background in terms of the First World War's momentous events,
geography, and notable facts. The text from the soldiers'
communications is followed by summaries of the individual's service
experience and details of their lives following the war.
I found this touching and sometimes very sad. Considering that most
of these young men were farmers, miners and manual labourers with
education probably limited to lower secondary level, I was impressed
at their usually high level of literacy. Given the circumstances
under which the letters were written, the spelling and grammar are
superior to contemporary communications. Above all, most writers
were incredibly articulate and this is certainly not limited to
those from the relative minority of officers who were presumably
educated to a higher standard.
It is moving to read the words from men who were exhausted and
traumatised, who clearly needed to confide in their loved ones but
were simultaneously trying to withhold gruesome and frightening
elements whilst attempting to reassure that they would be safe. It
tears at the heart to read in the summaries immediately after the
letter that they were killed a few weeks after writing. In contrast,
I found myself breathing a sigh of relief to learn that laconic
diggers, dodging shot, shrapnel and gas on the Somme or other,
equally dreadful hellhole, returned to farm at Curramulka or open a
shop in Moonta and died at the age of 87.
Sadly, these examples are in the minority and a frightening number
of soldiers who survived the war and returned to South Australia
died in their forties and fifties. Another confronting aspect which
I didn't expect was that so many of these soldiers appeared to spend
significant lengths of time in hospital, not from wounds but from
influenza and presumably water borne diseases.
It was difficult to read this work without picturing the familiar
towns such as Moonta, Ardrossan, Maitland, Minlaton, Port Victoria
and the like. One hundred years later, these are still small, tight
knit communities where individuals are valued and their achievements
celebrated. I felt a profound sympathy for the families and friends
of these soldiers who were so proud of their boys but must have been
sick with trepidation. Sadly, all too often their worst fears came
to pass when instead of receiving a longed for personal letter from
their son or husband, a clinical telegram from the Army or Navy was
delivered to inform them of the death of their loved one.
Rob Welsh
Burpzilla by Tim Miller and Matt Stanton
ABC Books, 2018. ISBN 9780733339028
(Age: 3+) Recommended. Themes: Burps, Monsters, Humour, Verse. After There's
a monster under my bed who farts (2012) and Dinosaur dump
(2015), amongst many others by the team of Stanton and Miller, comes
a new tale about burps. Each of their books presents a story about
something not usually spoken of, bringing the problem to the
surface, making it acceptable to talk about in an open and very
funny way.
With Burpzilla, the subject of burps is tackled. A group of
mean monsters live at Behemoth Bay, and the worst of these is Frank,
a large green monster with an enormous appetite. Our narrator is a
small red bird whose comments on each page are a neat foil to how
Frank sees himself. When two explorers land on the island with
telescopes and maps, Frank eats them up, and is immediately wracked
with indigestion and belches and burps. He is at a loss, and looks
to his friends to help him out. Mark tries to scare him, Rob tells
him to hold his breath underwater, Sam tells him to drink the lake
dry, all to no avail, and when they decide to call Frank, Burpzilla,
he loses his cool and eats them as well.
Now he sits and waits on the shore of the bay waiting for more food
to drop by, burping all the while.
In easily read rhyming stanzas, the fun is infectious and readers
will love it read out loud to them predicting the rhyming words at
the ends of the lines. I can see groups of children learning parts
of it to call out with the teacher, and learning that burping and
belching are part of the process of eating and digesting food,
although there are ways to be polite about it.
Fran Knight
