Reviews

Trell by Dick Lehr

The turnkey by Allison Rushby

Walker Books, 2017. ISBN 9781925126921
(Age: middle school) Recommended. Themes: Cemeteries, Death, World War Two, Adventure, Churchill, Supernatural, Bravery. Flossie Birdwhistle died twelve years ago and is now the turnkey at Highgate Cemetery in London. It is her job to ensure the dead are truly resting, that their souls are contentedly asleep. But it is World War Two and nightly bomb raids cause damage, unsettling some of those souls within her jurisdiction. When she spies a mysterious German Officer carrying a strange object she must investigate, fearful of what he is about. She enlists the help of Ada, the turnkey from Tower Hamlets Cemetery, dead a hundred years, but now her friend.
This highly original story intrigued me from the start, offering a dead girl as the hero, set against the upheaval of World War Two, showing the results of bomb damage rarely shown.
In keeping the departed resting Flossie goes to some lengths to make sure they are happy and content but the mysterious man in an SS uniform worries her. When the Turnkey from Brompton Cemetery turns up with nearly one hundred recently departed Chelsea Pensioners woken by the sound of war overhead she puts them to work. They are sent to places all over London to watch and report back.
They find him in the War Rooms beneath London, actually listening to the war maneuvers being planned by Churchill and his entourage. Flossie goes to the Invalid Cemetery in Berlin and there meets the curator, a young frightened girl who eventually gives her information about the SS officer.
Flossie is deeply concerned, it is the same man who captained the German warship which bombed her father's ship in 1915, leaving her fatherless, a man to be feared. His crystal ball holds his soul and that of others, a relic from the Mayan civilisation, and as feared today as then, allowing him to instruct the living.
With escapades through the Magnificent Seven, the seven great inner city cemeteries of London, travels to Berlin, the War Rooms, British Library reading rooms and helped by a pod of Chelsea Pensioners, courageous Flossie is able to piece together the machinations of the German Officer and thwart his plans to take over London and use the cemeteries as building spaces for the new Nazi headquarters.
This is an exciting and very different read, one which held me to the end. Not a ghost story as such, the supernatural elements form the background against which a very determined young woman fights for her country.
Fran Knight

Miss Match: The truth about destiny by Crystal Cestari

Quercus Children's Books 2018. ISBN 9781784299149
(Age: 10-14) The Truth About Destiny is a haphazard collection of mythology and teenage drama drawn together though the main character's ability to see a person's soul-mate. In a word where magic is commonly accepted, Amber's matchmaking ability adds another layer of complexity to her already complicated adolescent life. I would recommend for girls between the ages of ten and fourteen.
When Amber's arch enemy Ivy arrives at her house asking for help Amber doesn't know what to do. Ivy has never looked so desperate before in her life. She's worried about her sister, Iris, who intends to renounce her legs and join her girlfriend in the sea. Amber uses her gift to see that Iris has found her match, but things are only just starting to get complicated as Iris reveals the witch who will turn her from siren to mermaid, Victoria, a corrupt witch who tried and failed to kill Amber. With the new danger realised, Amber must enlist the help of her mother to ensure that Iris's transformation goes as planned.
Finding your place in the word is always difficult. But more so when you have one foot in the supernatural and another in the mortal world. Amber's ability as a match-maker sets her apart from the crowd, but still it's not enough to fully be part of the supernatural world either. She walks a fine line working in her mother's wiccan shop, a supernatural restaurant catering to all kinds of beings, and a plain old mortal bakery. Going between must be hard, but Amber isn't the only one. Her best friend, Amani, gets visions of the future and they deal with the school siren on a regular basis.
Kayla Gaskell, 22

A lion is a lion by Polly Dunbar

Walker Books, 2018, ISBN 978140637153
(Ages: 2-5) Recommended. Themes: Identity, Lions, Child Protection. Polly Dunbar's fun picture book immediately starts to question the readers' perception about the large male lion as he fiercely stares at you. 'Fierce, isn't he? Too fierce for you?' Stop reading and ask the audience to predict what will happen next, where will he go and what will he do? The following pages are humorous. With questioning text, the author paints funny scenarios as the lion dresses up in a trilby hat, matching blue jacket and dances down the street twirling a red umbrella. His antics are watched by a young brother and sister safe behind the window pane.
Ding dong and the door is opened to welcome the large polite lion who even asks about Auntie Sue's health. There's 'hoobie-doobie' dancing and twirling to music from a wind-up gramophone, and a delicious lunch where the plate is also eaten! A little frisson of danger occurs as he opens his mouth wide, showing all his pearly-white teeth, will the children become dessert? With a giant roar, the youngsters quickly hide under the table cloth and make their decision. Boldly they declare hand in hand, strong assertions that it is time for the huge lion to leave with his hat and his umbrella.
Dunbar's easy to read story includes changes of text size, interesting word placements, and emphatic statements, and she uses a questioning style in the narrative. Her ink-and-wash artwork is spirited, and included are large two-page spreads where the action is focussed on the large lion set against white space, then moves to bright scenes filled with movement. The high-contrast red backgrounds underpin capture the change in mood.
A Lion is a Lion carries the keep safe message, highlighting the rights of the child to say no to intimidating behaviour. A perfect picture book to share as a family and in a learning environment as part of the Child Protective Behaviours curriculum and as an introduction in English to punctuation and questioning in dialogue.
Rhyllis Bignell

Small spaces by Sarah Epstein

Walker Books, 2018. ISBN 9781921977381
(Age: 14+) Highly recommended. Themes: Thriller, Confinement, Kidnapping, Drug use. When the Fisher family returns to their rural community along the mid north coast of New South Wales, Tash's fears reappear. The Fishers have come back to the place where their daughter Mallory was kidnapped but found alive a week later, her abduction unseen by anyone except Tash, or so she believes. Nine years later, Tash is still not trusted but she cannot push her memory of the events of that day out of her mind. She told the police that she had seen a man take the girl from the toilet block, but no one believed her, dismissing her words as attention seeking behaviour after the birth of her brother.
This tale of Tash's inability to dodge her mother's disapproval, her psychiatrist's ongoing reasoning and her own doubts suffuse this thriller. From the start, the reader is unsure just who is telling the truth and suspect each of the protagonists in turn of not being honest.
A strained relationship with her parents makes her life even harder so when her estranged aunt asks her to look after her dog for the weekend Tash goes, wanting to be away from her family and wanting to prove she can cope by herself. But it means going back to the place where Mallory was kidnapped.
Mallory's brother, Morgan has teamed with Tash for an art project and has promised that he will call and they can work on their project. But things happen at the house, a source of constant dispute between Tash's aunt and her father, and her fears resurface after her aunt's dog is targeted.
Meanwhile a bully at school keeps undermining Tash while her relationship with her best friend, Sadie, is tottering because of her her inability to put things out of her mind.
But when the bully is mugged and Tash returns to her aunt's house for Easter, events come to a head, ensuring everyone will keep reading to find out the truth.
This is a stunner of a read, drawing the reader into having to decipher truth and lies. Readers will eagerly read, marveling at the strength of Tash in keeping herself together, despite all the suspicions and doubts that hang about her, urging her to unlock the mystery that has kept her constrained for nine years.
For those who are not happy about confined spaces then this book needs to be read with caution, as it is true to its title and the passages where several of the characters are confined in small spaces are seriously creepy.
Fran Knight

Jehan and the quest of the lost dog by Rosanne Hawke

UQP, 2017. ISBN 9780702259609
Recommended. When the monsoon hits Pakistan earlier than usual, its devastation is particularly ferocious, causing villages to be swept away, crops and towns annihilated. Rosanne Hawke lived in Pakistan for ten years as an aid worker, often returning to the place she loves, and writing stories brimful of understanding and empathy. In Jehan and the Quest of the Lost Dog, a companion story to Kelsey and the Quest of the Porcelain Doll (2014), Jehan is a young boy who survives the flooding of his village, finding a tree to shelter in, pulling his string bed up behind him as a platform to lie on. When he can beat the monkeys to the mangoes in the tree, he can eat, but life is lonely especially remembering his family and where they might be. Into his world comes a small dog, and they salvage stuff from the water rushing by, the dog disappearing to tend to her pups. From his tree Jehan can see what is left, and amongst the rubbish that passes by is a man offering to take him with him to the city, telling him that no one has survived the flood. But when the dog returns he has a green ribbon tied to his collar, giving him hope. Another man takes him to a refugee camp, where Jehan finds the dog's owner, and together they search for their families.
Throughout the story we hear of Jehan's village, his life with his family, his mother's stories, his school life, what he wears and what he eats. Hawke delivers a background uncompromisingly authentic, as she tells of the effect the 2010 flood had on the whole state, the worst in living memory cutting a swathe thirty miles wide, destroying all in its path.
Jehan clings onto his life in the tree, determined to find his family, because that is what is most important and all readers will understand this as they read of this boy.
Throughout the story Hawke uses Urdu for some of the often used words, bed, dog and family names for example, and a glossary at the back of the book explains what they mean. Included too is a brief outline of the devastation of the 2010 flood to the country, a place already impoverished by years of terrorism.
Fran Knight

Gaolbird: the true story of William Swallow, convict and pirate by Simon Barnard

Text Publishing, 2017. ISBN 9781925498172
Highly recommended. Australian history, Convicts, Van Diemen's Land, Mutiny, Transportation. William Swallow's escapes are breathtaking as he lurches from one prison to another always managing to elude his captors, but in the end dying an unheralded death at the prison at Port Arthur after serving time at the notorious Sarah Island. Simon Barnard has chronicled his life and times in this book, Gaolbird, in which Swallow's life and that of his fellow convicts is drawn with humour and panache, reminiscent of Hogarth.
Swallow, born William Walker in 1792 came back from the Napoleonic Wars with no option but to thieve to keep his family alive. Sent to Van Diemen's Land he escaped and returned to England, but then was sent out again, only to escape in Hobart. Sent to Sarah Island he managed to take over the ship, the Cypress and incredibly he and his fellow convicts made it to Japan and then China, fooling many about who they really were.
Popjoy, another of the convicts aboard the Cypress, escaped and eventually returned to England where he was able to undermine what Swallow had said about their adventures. A spectacular trial at the Old Bailley saw several of the group hanged and incredibly again, Swallow was set free. This mercurial man was eventually sent back to Hobart and there died in the 1830's.
This absorbing read, an amalgam of comic, graphic novel and history book will keep readers highly entertained. The funny illustrations, the snippets of information, the rollicking story line are all designed to entrance the reader, as they absorb the history of the convict era in Australia. Barnard's eclectic illustrations reveal the lives of the convicts and their escapades with rollicking humour and many readers will delve into the illustrations with glee, winkling out the smallest of detail.
The convict records in Australia and England are there for all to peruse and I am sure readers will take the opportunity offered to look further, and incredibly a picture of Swallow was very recently found in Japan.
Fran Knight

Grandma is precious by Laine Mitchell

Ill. by Alison Edgson. Scholastic Australia, 2018. ISBN 9781743812006
(Age: 4+) Highly recommended. This book is simply written and talks about the ways that grandmas are different and special in their own unique way.
The illustrations in this book are bright and colorful and draw you into the story.
It is a lovely book for any child to share with their special grandma.
I highly recommend it for 4+.
Karen Colliver

Hide and seek with Mum by Ed Allen

Ill. by Laura Wood. Scholastic Australia, 2018. ISBN 9781743819746
(Age: 3+) Recommended. This is a fun book about a baby penguin playing hide and seek with its mum.
This book has lot of good descriptive words when baby penguin is looking for mum.
The illustrations in this book help with the telling of the story. Mum is hiding in some interesting places, some very obvious, but still baby penguin does not find her.
There is also a yellow bird on most pages who is helping baby penguin to find its mum.
I would recommend this book for 3+
Karen Colliver

Face by Benjamin Zephaniah

Bloomsbury Publishing, 2018. ISBN 9781408894989
(Age: 12+) Recommended. Martin Turner is good looking, funny, and the leader of his Gang of Three, which also includes his mates Matthew and Mark. He also has a girlfriend, Natalie, who he has even kissed. The four kids make up the main characters in the story, who are all aged about 15. The author writes the characters' speech using a lot of colloquial language that was popular at the time, circa 1985, including homie, guy, man, as terms of endearment and poxy, geezer as insults. This aspect of the novel felt a little stereotypical and didn't add a lot to the storyline.
Martin and his friends are out late one night at a dance party. Here, the reader will learn a little about the under-age drug problems of East London in the 1980s. When offered drugs from over-age sellers, the three lads decide to leave and are offered a lift by an ex-school friend. Unbeknownst to them, the driver is high and out of his mind on heroin; the vehicle is stolen and soon they are pursued by the police. Martin and his friends are all involved in a high-speed crash and he wakes two days later in hospital, suffering deep partial thickness (3rd degree) burns to his face.
The novel then takes on a different aspect. The author, having done a lot of research, writes about burns recovery and Martin's experiences with facial reconstructive and skin grafting surgeries. The language used here is descriptive and well-written, particularly Martin waking up after the accident and eventually looking in a mirror.
Martin's return to everyday life is well documented by the author. Martin works through his feelings of aggression with the help of a clinical psychologist, Alan. Martin begins to understand the idea of everyone managing grief and loss differently, despite the unfailing support of his family. His former friends withdraw; Mark leaves the gang to form a new one where he is the leader; Natalie, now seems vain and self-obsessed.
Most refreshingly, the author has found a way to write about discrimination that is outside of the norms. Martin learns to respond to tormentors and bullies by being honest - I'm still me / I'm not disabled / I can still do everything I did before. He rekindles his passions and interests and makes new friends who don't see him for the facial disfigurement. Readers will enjoy and celebrate as Martin finds his confidence and identity post-accident.
While I would recommend this novel for readers in secondary school, the content is appropriate for capable readers who are younger - 12/13 years.
Clare Thompson

The Poppa platoon in World War Chew by Danny Katz

Ill. by Mitch Vane. Omnibus (Scholastic) 2018. ISBN 9781742769189
(Age: 7+) Recommended. Themes: Humour. Illustrated novel. War. Brave Major Poppa takes his granddaughter, Abbie, and grandson, Flynn, to the Royal Show. One hilarious day transpires as Major Poppa and his platoon weave their way around all the exhibits, attack Hamburger Hill only to find their lunch a greasy bit of meat stuck in a stale roll and navigate the House of Horror Ride. As time goes by the clock must be watched because they have a bus to catch at 4.59. But they still have one place to negotiate before they leave - the Showbag Pavilion to get a particular showbag, the Chunky Choc CherryChew bag. Major Poppa plans their attack with precision, but does not take into account the fierce opposition. Their foray into this place of hell allows Mitch Vane to use his hilarious cartoon style deliciously ensuring the audience will laugh out loud at the scenes portrayed before them, linking it to memories the readers have of their trips to the show.
Major Poppa gives Abbie a rendezvous point in case they loose each other in the throng of large bums, and off they go, hell bent on their target.
A very funny tale replete with equally funny illustrations will ensure kids pick this up in a school library or on the bookshelf. The whole sings with memories of show visits in the past, using battleground words to describe this trip to hell, and warns of some of the pitfalls of going to the show. But the excitement and fun of going to the show is all there, enticing readers to read the story.
Fran Knight

Bobo and Co. : Shapes by Nicola Killen

Bloomsbury Publishing, 2018. ISBN 9781408880517
(Age: 2+) Recommended. Board book. This is the fun story of Bobo the panda and his friends as he explores the things around him and what shapes they are in a lift the flap book.
Bobo is celebrating his birthday, and his new tent is a triangle, his pass the parcel is squares; what other shapes does he find during his party?
This book can be used to encourage the reader to look at what other shapes they can see in their immediate surroundings as well as looking at everyday items and identifying the shapes that are there.
The flaps in this book are large so that little fingers can help turn them.
I recommend this book for 2+
Karen Colliver

Bobo and Co. : Opposites by Nicola Killen

Bloomsbury Publishing, 2018. ISBN 9781408880500
(Age: 2+) Recommended. Board book. Bobo the Panda and all of his friends are exploring the concept of opposites in this lift the flap book. This is a simple story about opposites with great illustrations. It explores the concepts of in and out, small and big, down and up, slow and fast and loud and soft.
This book is a fun way to explore with Bobo and his friend's opposites and see what they get up to.
The flaps in this book are a good size for small children to be able to help with opening them.
I recommend this book to 2+.
Karen Colliver

A school day smile by Zanni Louise

Ill. by Gillian Flint. Tiggy and the magic paintbrush series. Five Mile, 2018. ISBN 9781760680404
(Age: 5-6) Themes: First day at school. Friendship. It is Tiggy's first day at school, and although she is very independent, she uses her secret, magic paintbrush to paint on a confident smile. Unfortunately it also means she is silent! Making friends and communicating with your teacher is very hard with a 'painted' smile. Eventually she works out how to solve this problem.
It is written simply, for early independent readers, with simple cartoon style illustrations by Gillian Flint. This is not a chapter book (more like a miniature picture book), but it has a fun and appealing personality that will appeal to readers aged 5-6.
Carolyn Hull

Monash's masterpiece: The Battle of Le Hamel and the 93 minutes that changed the world by Peter FitzSimons

Hachette, 2018. ISBN 9780733640087
(Age: Senior secondary) Recommended. The name, Monash, is common in parts of Australia, linked to a University, suburb and street names. However, for the reader of this book, the importance of Sir John Monash is brought to life by Peter FitzSimmons.
Almost 100 years ago, the World War I, Battle of Le Hamel, encapsulated the imaginative thinking, meticulous planning and outstanding leadership of the Australian commander, in what has been described as the first modern battle. Infantry, tanks, artillery and aircraft operated together as a coordinated force. Unlike other battles of the war, for the first time each infantry battalion was accompanied into battle with a tank, preceded by a careful artillery barrage and supported with supplies by air drop. The results of the 93 minute battle were devastating for the enemy and Australian (and American) losses were relatively low. Monash said: 'A perfected modern battle plan is like nothing so much as a score for an orchestral composition, where various arms and units are instruments, and the tasks they perform are their respective musical phrases'.
FitzSimmons writes with verve and passion about Monash and his men. He scorns the commander's detractors and highlights the momentous importance of the victory of the battle for ending the war, the introduction of American soldiers, use of technology, importance of planning, organisation and communication. The stories of ordinary soldiers and their incredible bravery are also embedded in the account.
The book is researched from a wide variety of sources and is accompanied by excellent maps and photographs.
Paul Pledger