Bloomsbury, 2017. ISBN 9781408888889
(Age: Adult) The subtitle is The world on the streets of
Calcutta and this aptly describes the focus of Choudhury's
book. Although a graduate of Princeton and Yale and thus successful
in the eyes of his proud parents, Indian immigrants who have carved
out a new life in the United States away from the tumultuous world
of Calcutta, it is that life cut off when he was only 12 that draws
Choudhury back again and again - it is there in the streets of
Calcutta that he feels his real self belongs. Nobody can understand
his decision to live and work in Calcuttta, when he has so much
opportunity elsewhere, and it even threatens his relationship with
Durba, the Indian girl who becomes his wife.
The book is a love affair with Calcutta and its street life full of
hawkers, fish-sellers, idol-makers, the whole gamut of livelihoods
lining the alleyways. And most interesting of all is the 'adda', the
spontaneous discussions of life and politics that can keep people
engaged for hours. Choudhury's book becomes like a collection of
adda, he tells us the stories of Calcutta, the intricacies of
flat-hunting, the lovers' retreats behind umbrellas in parks, the
long enduring crafts handed from one generation to the next, the
religious celebrations, and most especially the horrific impact of
the 1947 Partition on the lives of the people, divided into Hindu
and Muslim regions by the departing British colonialists. The epic city is a rich revelation of the life and struggles
of the people of Calcutta, and would vividly re-ignite a
kaleidoscope of memories for any reader who has ever travelled to
India.
Helen Eddy
Birthday Boy by David Baddiel
Ill. by Jim Field. HarperCollins Children's Books, 2017. ISBN
9780008200480
(Age: 8 - 12 years) Sam Green is really looking forward to his
birthday and wishes it was every day. His very sensible seven-year
old sister Ruby disagrees and points out that if birthdays were
every day, they wouldn't be special. When Sam's wish comes true,
however, he starts to regret his wish. Funnily enough he blames his
guinea pig Spock, who looks at him with disdain. Sam takes a long
time to decide he just wants things to go back to normal.
For the first six months of repeated birthdays, for at least a third
of the book, the author entertained readers with a ridiculous amount
of descriptions of parties and presents. Sam's character quickly got
on my nerves, particularly when reading about how his family were
completely broke and going without necessities in order to pay for
his birthday celebrations each day and his nonchalance about this.
'I want I want I want'. However, I'm sure kids will really enjoy the
humour in this book.
The illustrations, by Jim Field, added the comic quality to the
story line, and it did aid in allowing the reader to recognize how
farfetched the Groundhog Day idea was. Unfortunately at points, I
felt like the author was sending the wrong message to the 8-12 age
group instead of focusing on building firm relationships with family
and giving less thought to material things.
Mind you, the first novel by this duo, The Parent Agency won
Best Laugh
out loud award in 2016, so maybe I wasn't in the right frame
of mind when I read it.
Clare Thompson
Malala's magic pencil by Malala Yousafzai
Ill. by Kerascoet. Puffin, 2017. ISBN 9780241322567
(Age: 5+) Highly recommended. Themes: Education. Prejudice. Women's
rights. Taliban. Nobel Peace Prize winner, Malala Yousafzai, has
made her amazing story available to younger readers in this
outstanding picture book, Malala's magic pencil. Malala came
to worldwide attention when a terrorist attempted to kill her in
2012. She had promoted the education of girls in war-torn Pakistan,
writing under an assumed name for BBC Urdu. In this book we see how
girls are imposed upon by the growing threat of the Taliban in her
city.
Malala loves watching a TV show about a boy with a magic pencil, who
when hungry would draw something and eat it. Malala wishes she had
such a pencil, and put a lock on her door, or nullify the terrible
smells from the rubbish dump. But one day taking rubbish to the dump
she sees young children scavenging for rubbish to sell. She talks to
her father and is saddened to hear that some children never go to
school, and girls in particular are kept home to work. She longs for
a magic pencil to make the world a safer place, one in which girls
can all be educated. But then men with guns appear in their streets
and impose more burdens upon women. Malala notices fewer girls
coming to class and so she begins to write. Her voice is heard all
over Pakistan and further, she gives talks around the country,
visiting remote communities and speaking to a television reporter.
She is amazed that people want to hear her story. But some people
are not happy and try to stop her. They fail.
Living now in Birmingham her voice is a constant reminder of what
oppression looks like and how important it is to stand up for
women's education.
She found her magic pencil and is using it for the promotion of
peace in our world.
This magical story is beautifully illustrated by Kerascoet, a
pseudonym for French husband and wife team, Sebastien Cosset and
Marie Pommepuy using pen and watercolour to recreate the life of
Malala. In the detailed background readers will espy lots of
information about living in Pakistan, which will both inform and
delight. Information is included at the end of the book about
Malala's life and work, while a letter from Malala to her readers is
included. I found this a moving and personable story and went back
to the first book she wrote of her experiences, Malala:
the girl who stood up for education and changed the world(Indigo,
2014) as I am sure others will. I was blown away by her understated
reference to what happened to her when she was shot, underlining the
insignificance of the Taliban against the global importance of
education and peace. In a classroom this book would make a study of
its own, involving such themes as life in Pakistan, peace and the
Nobel Peace Prize, the role of the United Nations, extremism,
women's education, amongst others.
Fran Knight
One dark throne by Kendare Blake
Macmillan, 2017. ISBN 9781509807734
(Age: 12+) Highly recommended for fantasy lovers. Three queens, one
throne. In Fennbirn only one queen can come to power; the triplets
are pitted against one another and only the strongest will rule.
Poisoner, elemental, or naturalist. With the help of their adopted
families, each queen must take full advantage of her gift to seize
the throne. With Katherine the Undead, Arsinoe the bear ravaged, and
Mirabella the chosen, all competing against one another, which will
win out? Will Katherine's newfound bloodlust be a match for her
sisters' compassion?
Picking up from where Three dark crowns left off, the three
must deal with the aftermath of their disastrous showings at the
Disembarking. Katherine must combat the rumours of her death after
having been thrown into The Breccia Domain. Arsinoe must regain the
people's trust after her bear-familiar (who was bound with low
magic) ravaged several members of the crowd and attacked Mirabella.
Mirabella, it seems, is the chosen queen, yet even she is not
perfect. With the growing conflict between their adopted families,
the need for a quick ascension has never been greater. The queens,
however, will not be cheated of their lives easily and it seems that
this ascension year will be one of the worst yet.
I would highly recommend this novel for fantasy lovers aged twelve
and up. Kendare Blake presents characters struggling to be
recognised and coming to terms with the brevity of their lives. The
girls learn to recognise that what is important is not the custom of
killing their sisters, but the relationships they have forged in
their lives, and acting for the good of the people rather than the
good of themselves.
Kayla Gaskell, 21
The awesome book of animals by Adam Frost
Bloomsbury, 2017. ISBN 9781408885130
(Age: 6-12) Recommended. Themes: Animals. Information book. This
small format book with full-page colour and infographics relates
well-researched facts and anecdotes that will fascinate most people
who open it. All the information is given within a context or as
part of a comparison so each fact is meaningful and relevant. There
are facts of every kind: disgusting, funny, little known and
unbelievable, many related as a short anecdote. There are animal
comparisons (how much water do animals need to drink each day?),
facts related to interaction between humans and animals (examples of
people being eaten alive and surviving) and strange but true facts
(there is a fish that climbs trees and breathes air). The snippets
might even get children curious to research further (as I felt the
need to find out about more about it raining raw meat in Kentucky,
USA!).
This will especially appeal to lovers of The Guinness book of world
records and Ripley's Believe it or not as well as
being great for visual learners and high interest, low ability
readers. Children will love exploring the book alone or as a group,
exclaiming in disbelief and then sharing these (mostly useless)
titbits with all their friends and family. A clever way to get
children excited about reading and learning.
Nicole Nelson
Bitch doctrine: Essays for dissenting adults by Laurie Penny
Bloomsbury, 2017. ISBN 9781408881613
(Age: 16 - Adult) Recommended. Themes: Feminism. Sexism. Identity.
Gender issues. There are a couple of references to 'bitch' among the
quotes that introduce each section of this book, one from Bette
Davis - "When a man gives his opinion, he's a man, When a woman
gives her opinion, she's a bitch" and one from Madonna - "Sometimes
you have to be a bitch to get things done". Author Laurie Penny is
being a bitch in this sense, she is putting her opinion out there,
she is telling it how it is, and she is demanding change. Bitch doctrine begins with a diary of reflections on the rise
of Donald Trump on a wave of racism and violent popularism, and
declares that "toxic masculinity is killing the world." She goes on
to attack the patriarchal and sexist basis of Western society. Women
are still chasing the illusion of 'work-life balance' whilst finding
they are actually responsible for both work and home life. Penny
actually promotes singledom as the best option for young women -
marriage is not the happy ever after, why not take time to explore
interests, career, life? She writes that women need to get on with
saving the world and "we can't do it one man at a time".
Penny's essays target Barbie doll and James Bond films, and also the
Western fascination with the concept of the oppressed burqa-clad
Muslim woman. The oppression of women is a global phenonema,
"mysogeny knows no colour or creed", and the anger and violence
directed by western society towards the veiled woman is another
hypocrisy. To read more on this last topic, Amal Awad's Beyond
veiled cliches is an enlightenment.
But for me, the most poignant are the chapters on gender. Here,
Penny changes from strident feminist flag-bearer to revealing her
own personal teenage experience trying to understand where she
fitted in the male/female divide. This section of the book provides
an opportunity for empathy and understanding of the personal turmoil
of young people who struggle to find where they belong in a world
that insists on the identifying labels of male or female. This is
particularly relevant in the current context of Australia's vote on
recognition of gay marriage.
Penny's voice is loud and provocative, tough, forthright and also often humorous. She is launching a bitch doctrine. It's worth
reading.
Helen Eddy
Stink-o-saurus by Deano Yipadee
Ill. by Paul Beavis. (Book+CD). Scholastic, 2017. ISBN 9781775434733
(Age: 3-6) Themes: Sing-along Book. Dinosaurs. Rhyme. Unlike most
dinosaurs who roar from their front, Stan's roar comes from his
behind. This tiny little dinosaur's farts, illustrated as a starry
green trail of stink, mean that none of the other dinosaurs want to
play with him. When Tommy the bully T-Rex comes to town and starts
picking on Stan he is so frightened he lets out a very funky fart
that brings Tommy to his knees. The other dinosaurs are impressed
that Stan has driven Tommy out of town.
Unlike many other sing-along books of this sort, this one actually
works both as a standalone read aloud and as a song. It is also easy
to sing-along with the music and there is a catchy chorus of sorts
that young children will be able to join in with.
The story is ridiculous but there is a nice message in it about
valuing diverse skills and character traits (even stinky ones!). It
would have been a nice ending if the other dinosaurs welcomed Stan
into their group rather than just celebrating the banishment of the
T-Rex but as it is he still appears to be an outsider.
Nicole Nelson
Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu
Hachette, 2017. ISBN 9781444940633
(Age: 13+) Highly recommended. What a wonderful book for young women
- one that validates being a woman, takes joy in women's friendships
and speaks strongly of a woman's capacity to thrive in the modern
world.
Jennifer Mathieu has written a story that outlines how girls are
treated as second class to boys in a modern west coast United States
high school. This is a story about bravery in the face of
mistreatment, of girls facing daily damning condemnation and
feelings of isolation. Here we have a young woman in high school who
is exasperated by the constant denigration the girls receive from
the boys, and sick of the licence their society allows boys to
consider themselves superior to girls. This licence, supported by
the school, that will do nothing to redress the hierarchical
structure of boys as heroic, high-achieving sport stars, seems to
give them the right to verbally abuse girls, to demand favours from
girls and to make offensive and derogatory sexual innuendos in
class, in the schoolyard and in the outside world.
Yet this is modern America and we would think that this couldn't
happen. But it does, Poehler clearly tells us, and Vivian is
absolutely fed up with the constant abuse, verbal slights, and
denigration of girls. So she makes a 'moxie', paper slips of words
and images spread throughout the school, and the outcome is
explosive. We are so drawn in to her anger that we can't help but
hope that she can sustain the rage and build it in the other girls,
and stay safe. Good men are in evidence, and decent boys, so this is
not a man-hating novel.
What a wonderful achievement for Mathieu, in composing a
well-written modern novel that faces reality, that depicts
adolescence as school teachers know what it is like, and fearlessly
tackles that which is not only unrecognised, but ignored. Highly
recommended for high school students of all year levels, and
particularly of interest in its informative capacity for parents and
school teachers. Brilliant!
Liz Bondar
Spooky Weird by Anh Do
Ill. by Jules Faber. Weirdo series book 9. Scholastic, 2017.
ISBN 9781760276775
(Age: 7-9) Recommended. Themes: Halloween, Moving house, Friendship,
Humour. Spooky Weird! is the ninth humourous addition to
comedian Anh Do's WeirDo series. With the bold green, black
and white cartoon illustrations, the lenticular cover and the
creative and colourful text styles, this is a visually appealing
book. Anh Do understands the quirks, the unique problems faced by
this Asian family in an Australian situation.
With a Halloween focus, there are so many funny ideas for costumes,
toilet paper mummy, vending machine or a rocket ship. Of course,
Henry his friend has had some problems with previous outfits - he
has been a tree and a target with interesting consequences. Weir's
classmates are paired up and asked to create new costumes. Bella his
friend is bursting with ideas that are impractical; they spend time
in the Do garage looking for inspiration. Bella and Weir's green
balloon costumes are certainly different,
they both dress up as bunches of grapes.
Meanwhile the family is busy packing, they have to leave their
expensive rental property and move far away to a new affordable
suburb. Weir is devastated, he loves his friends and his classmates,
and it is the worst news ever.
Ahn Do loves to create student names that are funny puns. When
Granddad drops him off at his new school, he pretends to be named
Hans Some not Weirdo. His classmates also have some silly names,
Charles Nott and Goode Looking! Poor guy he cannot win, especially
when he trips over in front of the class because he's wearing his
dad's old shoes.
They celebrate Halloween with their friends collecting lollies and a
toothbrush and toothpaste from Mr. Do the dentist. With the help of
a missing parrot, the challenge presented by a nearby spooky house
and some creative thinking, the Do family celebrates Halloween and a
successful relocation.
This is another winner for Ahn Do, fans of the Weirdo series
will find Spooky Weird entertaining.
Rhyllis Bignell
Bring it on! by Jo Stanley
Play Like a Girl, book 1. Five Mile Press, 2017. ISBN
9781760409470
(Age: 7-9) Recommended. Themes: AFL, Girls' fiction, School life,
Friendship. Play like a girl is a new series celebrating
Australian Rules Women's Football, inspiring young girls to have a
go, join a team and share in the fun of playing footy. Radio
presenter, comedian and author Jo Stanley's novels are easy to read
exploring the girls' family life, their school days, team practices
and match day fun. Each book focuses on a different team member of
the Milsborough West Flyers.
In Bring it On! Sarah is starting at a new school far from
her friends and the surfing beaches she loves. When she enters her
new class, Sarah realises just how hard these changes will be; her
new classmates are football fans, last year their team was runner-up
in the grand finals. How is she going to fit when she can't even
handle a football? With the help of new friends Hahn and Maddie and
the encouragement of her parents, Sarah begins football training.
Their coach Shawna has been at Milly West for a long time and she is
supportive of Sarah's skill development. "Skills are easily learned
. . . but ya have to start to love what ya doing!" says Shawna as
she talks about having passion for football.
Jo Stanley's characters are very relatable; she adds touches of
humour, understands the difficulties of making new friends, the
emotional struggles of moving house and attending a new school. This
celebration of girls playing Australian Rules is very timely and is
released in partnership with the AFLW.
Rhyllis Bignell
War child by Annette Janic with Catherine McCullagh
Big Sky Publishing, 2016. ISBN 9781925275599
(Age: Senior secondary 15+) War child is the intensely personal
story by Annette Janic which holds historical information uncovered
digging into her family history after the death of her mother,
Magdalena. Annette is a first generation Australian, her parents and
older brother arrived as refugees after World War 1.
The story focuses on Magdalena, Leni, is an illegitimate child born
pre-World War II in a small town in Germany. As a child, Leni and
her mother live in poverty, after being shunned by the townsfolk.
There is a lot of detail about her childhood that only the subject
could reveal. The novel has several focus areas, Leni's childhood,
joining the Hitler youth, shocking sexual abuse by an employer,
fleeing the Red Army and then migrating to Australia as a German
ex-pat in the 1950s and is written in three main parts. It is
important to note here that the sexual abuse is very graphic. While
the novel touches on many relevant topics of a senior school
Australian History curriculum, the way this biography is written
would frankly turn a lot of students off.
For the lover of true non-fiction prose, this novel went into
details which kept the reader interested and keen to find out more.
Although for others, the author's expressive prose would overwhelm,
particularly at the beginning. Part 3, The ending, promising
intrigue, seemed rushed. The story of Leni was interesting and would
appeal to those who enjoy personal stories and wartime history.
However, after being promised the thrill of unravelling secrets, I
found the ending a little bizarre.
Clare Thompson
Swan Lake by Anne Spudvilas
Allen and Unwin, 2017. ISBN 9781743318454
(Age: all) Highly recommended. Themes: Fairy tale, Love, Sorcery,
Murray Darling. When the prince returns from hunting, he stops by a
lake and there sees a flight of swans land, emerging from the lake
as beautiful young women. They have been cursed by an evil sorcerer
to live out their lives as swans by day and human by night. The
prince is enchanted by the Swan Queen and professes his undying
love. But she can only appear in human form at midnight. The next
night is a ball in his honour where he must choose a bride. He
resolves to choose her at midnight, but the sorcerer presents his
daughter as the Swan Queen and mistakenly the prince is betrothed to
her.
The real Swan Queen goes back to her lake distraught, but the prince
realising his mistake, kills the sorcerer and finds her and together
they choose to be in the lake for all time.
This story has been well known for over a century, made famous by
the powerful ballet composed by Tchaikovsky, and presented in 1876
to a less than favourable reception. The story is said to be based
on Russian folk tales, particularly the tale of Odette the swan
queen held prisoner under the curse of a sorcerer.
In this book, the beautiful illustrations by Spudvilas will remain
with the reader. Printmaking in all its guises are used to create
graceful, elegant depictions of the swans, with contrasting
powerful, overwhelming images of the sorcerer and his daughter.
Looking closely at the pages, readers will be able to see how
Spudvilas has used various print techniques: collagraphs,
monoprints and etchings to create this magnificent book of images.
Each is distinctive and visually enticing, grabbing the reader as
the eye passes over each page, impelling the reader to look more
closely at each illustration. The contrast on many pages is between
the black and the white, the colours of the Swan Queen and the
sorcerer's daughter. Within the black are touches of red,
reinforcing the treachery of the sorcerer and his daughter, while
other small subtle colouring appears. Spudvilas has recently moved
to the Murray Darling, and it becomes obvious to the reader that the
story is framed by the foggy imagery of trees along the Murray, of
small islets, of tiny waterways, while the prince and his love are
taken by the swirling waters of the lake.
I spent a lot of time mesmerised by every page and I am sure all
readers will do the same, breathing in the atmospheric
illustrations, while in awe of the artistry involved.
Fran Knight
500 minutes of danger by Jack Heath
Scholastic, 2017. ISBN 9781743816493
(Age: 11+) Themes: Adventure, Danger, Science Fiction, Survival.
This action-packed book initially starts as a collection of short
stories all with an extreme adventure plot. But then it slowly
connects all of the 10 stories involving 10 intrepid teens in
situations of extreme danger into an ambitious disaster story
involving a scenario of epic proportions. Adrenalin rushes are
extreme for the protagonists and the reader, but the author's aim of
limiting the time action to just a 50 minute window for each
character, to create a total of 500 minutes of danger is extremely
inventive. It does also mean that the reader gets a chance to
breathe between chapters! I loved the tension in this book, and the
clarity that nothing could ever last longer than 50 minutes was also
exhilarating. 500 Minutes of Danger will definitely appeal to readers aged
11+ who love an adrenalin rush. The teen characters are able to use
their understanding of science and technology to solve problems
under pressure, so this will also appeal to those who enjoy
investigating the practical implications of their science learning.
Now I wish I had discovered this series sooner!
Carolyn Hull
Busy builders: Airport, awesome airport action by Timothy Knapman
Walker Books, 2017. ISBN 9781925381443
(Age: 4+) Recommended. Themes: Airports, Building and construction,
STEM. A sturdy box containing a plastic bag of pieces to put
together to build an airplane, a book which explains all the facets
of life in an airport, and a group of jigsaw pieces to make the
runway, will fill in a wet afternoon for kids indoors or a small
group in a classroom. I enjoyed reading the book, which gives
information about what passengers need to do when they arrive at an
airport, then going on to security, baggage handling and getting
onto the plane through the air bridge. The book shows readers behind
the scenes, what happens to the luggage, how the plane is readied,
take off and flying then landing. It makes for an informative
read and will add to the group's knowledge about what happens in an
airport. A glossary at the end of the information pages recounts
some of the more unusual and specialised words with their meanings.
When the book is finished, instructions cover the next four pages
detail how the box and the pieces in the plastic bag can be used to
construct an airport and a helicopter and several planes.
I love the way the box becomes the airport building and the pieces
extend the runway in front of and behind the box. The sturdy pieces
in the box certainly spoke to me and I itched to take it all out and
give it a go, but will be equally delighted helping someone much
younger than me have fun with it.
Fran Knight
Unicorn princesses: Sunbeam's shine by Emily Bliss
Bloomsbury Children's books, 2017. ISBN 9781681193267
(Age: 5-10) Recommended. Cressida Jenkins' favourite thing is
unicorns. Cressida's dreams come true when she finds a real live
unicorn. Can she do as the unicorn princesses ask?
The characters in the story are the unicorn princesses, Cressida and
wizard-lizard. The characters in this book are interesting and some
of them are funny.
I think the plot makes sense and it is very interesting. The big
idea of this book is finding a human girl who believes in unicorns
to find the missing gem.
The settings of this book are in the woods behind Cressida house and
rainbow realm. The settings are creative and are described well in
the story as well as the pictures.
The style of the story in imaginary, the text is big and easy to
read. I like the style of this book.
I recommend this book for 5 to 10 year olds. If you like the series
of Rainbow magic by Daisy Meadows you will enjoy these
books.
Grace, Year 6
