Reviews

The double axe by Philip Womack

Blood and fire Bk 1. Alma Books, 2016. ISBN 9781846883903
(Age: 11+) Minotaur. Greek mythology. Fantasy. Mythical creatures. Crete - History. Princes and princesses. Philip Womack's The double axe is an adaptation of the famous Greek legend of the Minotaur. His thirteen-year-old protagonist Prince Stephan is caught up in the evil conspiracy that threatens to kill the royal household of Crete. The author's choice to rework the narrative and change the hero is an interesting plot device. Instead of Prince Theseus of Athens defeating the Minotaur and escaping the labyrinth utilising Princess Ariadne's trail of thread, now we explore the coming of age story from Stephan the Prince regent's point of view as the royal family is exposed to the evil forces that surround them. For lovers of the original myth this can be disconcerting.
Womack's narrative shows a depth of understanding about the daily life in the palace, the structure of the royal household, the food and feasts, weapons and hunting and relationships between the masters and servants. The rituals of the priestesses, the reliance on the Mother Goddess, the importance of religious customs, even the sacrifices of six teenagers is told grippingly and brings an insight into the evil machinations of mad priestess Myrrah. The sinister forces at play demand much of Prince Stephan and his older sister, Princess Ari. The way these characters rely upon each is pivotal to the plot, each has complementary strengths the other needs to battle the evil forces.
This is a dark tale more suited to an older reader who enjoys historical fiction.
Rhyllis Bignell

Marvin and Marigold: the big sneeze by Mark Carthew

Ill. by Simon Prescott. New Frontier Publishing, 2016. ISBN 9781925059656
(Age: 4+) Sneezing. Hygiene. When Marigold builds her house next door to Marvin, she builds it with wool, felt and bricks, strong enough to withstand any weather. But she did not count on Marvin.
One day her house begins to crumble as the rumble of the noise next door intrudes upon her peace. Marvin is allergic to cheese and when he smells it his nose begins to twitch and he sneezes very loudly. So Marigold decides to find a way to cure his sneezes. A problem is to be solved.
Told in rhyming lines, the story is easy to read and children will love predicting the next line as the first is read. The mice are cutely drawn and children will love picking out the many details on each page.
The story will lead a class into discussions of sneezing and why it happens, of the etiquette surrounding sneezing and what to do about sneezing. A health lesson could be initiated using this book.
Fran Knight

The special ones by Em Bailey

Hardy Grant Egmont, 2016. ISBN 9781742976280
(Age: 13+) Highly recommended, Thriller, Cults, Imprisonment, Kidnapping, Religious fanaticism, Power. Esther is confined by the verandahs of her house, not allowed to step into the yard outside. That is Harry's space, a place where he tends the crops, chops the wood, kills the animals for meat. The younger Special, Felicity is allowed to go with him to collect the eggs. But when another girl is kidnapped to become the new Lucille, the fourth in their household, then cracks begin to appear. Esther can barely remember her life before, but knows there is no escape from the life she now leads. They are subjected to verification nights when they are measured by the photograph on the wall to see if they all still fit the image the man wants. They have nights where they confess to sins and then are punished, every nights they go into a room with a bank of computers to chat online with their followers. And above all is their book of behaviour, the codes by which they must live.
A seriously creepy read, the isolated farmhouse where they live is basic in the extreme. They are watched and monitored at all times, Esther and Lucille make all their clothes, they live off all that Harry and Felicity can produce. Esther bakes and salts and puts food away in the larder.
Narrated by Esther, she is very protective of the younger Felicity and tries hard to keep her within the image the man wants, but the new Lucille creates problems for her. One day Harry is told that he is to be renewed. He must leave, to be replaced by a new Harry but Esther fears he will be killed.
After reading, Shift, I expected this to be a different read, and was certainly not disappointed. The cult which confines the four is all powerful, dictating every aspect of their spartan lives. The first half is narrated by Esther, but once she is sent out to be renewed, the narration is split between her and the man who controls them allowing us into his crazy mind.
This is an unnerving thriller, revealing the nature of a psychopath who believes the voices he hears in his head and is persuasive enough to get Esther to follow him in the first place. Now that she is out and pursued by the media, she is a problem he must deal with. But she thinks the others sent for renewal must be alive and so keeps looking for them despite her family's inability to understand, the police avoiding her and the media derision. She is a strong character with whom readers will identify, eagerly following her journey to the gripping end.
Fran Knight

Fizz and the handbag dognapper by Lesley Gibbes

Ill. by Stephen Michael King. A police dog adventure series. Allen and Unwin, 2016. ISBN 9781760112899
(Age: 7+) Highly recommended. Dogs. Police. Fizz the police dog is back with another adventure - this time he has to go undercover to find out who is kidnapping the hand bag dogs. This time it is even more urgent for him to be successful because his sister Crystal has been taken. Posing as a dog model at the launch of The Shrill Alarm Collar device, Fizz has to use all his skills and team work to find out who is doing the kidnapping.
This is an exciting story that is just perfect for the beginning reader. Fizz is a most appealing character and the whole idea of handbag dogs and tracking collars is one that is sure to appeal to dog lovers, while the mystery will certainly appeal to any child who loves being a detective.
A fabulous series, these books will have much appeal, with their short chapters, humourous illustrations and wonderful characters.
Pat Pledger

Introducing Teddy: A story about being yourself by Jessica Walton

Ill. by Dougal MacPherson. Bloomsbury, 2016. ISBN 9781681192116
(Ages: 4-7) Recommended. Acceptance, Friendship, Gender, Transgender. This is a warm and simple story that deals with the sensitive social issue of gender identification and gender non-conformance. It cleverly uses a teddy as the character whose self-identity doesn't fit with his assigned sex, rather than a person, making it more approachable. However, it importantly uses people as the other characters, who show appropriate ways of responding to the teddy and his feelings and needs. Thomas the teddy and Errol play together every day, but Thomas is hiding a secret and is worried that if Errol knows, he won't want to be his friend anymore. When Errol assures Thomas he will always be his friend, Thomas bravely tells him that he has always felt like a girl teddy, not a boy teddy. Errol replies, 'I don't care if you're a girl teddy or a boy teddy! What matters is that you are my friend'. The book also has other subtle examples of children not conforming to traditional gender stereotypes (behaviour, play, appearance). The story implicitly emphasises, by example, that gender doesn't define who we are and that changing our name or appearance doesn't change who we are or what we like to do. It is not preachy, but encourages being easy-going and open about who we are.
This is written at an appropriate level for its target audience and will be indispensable for use with children who have transgender or gender non-conforming friends, classmates or family members, but also for reminding children that gender is just a label and reinforcing that there is not one way of being a girl or a boy. It might even be effective in getting a positive message across to parents about responding to their own child's self-identity. It is also a great springboard for classroom discussions around being a supportive, unconditional friend.
Nicole Nelson

Two tales of brothers from Ancient Mesopotamia retold by John Heffernan

Ill. by Kate Durack. Christmas Press, 2016. ISBN 9780994234049
(Age: 7+) Warmly recommended. Gilgamesh, Ancient legends, Bravery, Brotherhood, Gods, Middle East. When Gilgamesh became king of Uruk, he quickly forgot himself and became a despot who had no feelings for his subjects. They were now his slaves, to do his bidding. The people appealed to the gods who created an equal to Gilgamesh, a wild man who they left in the forest. Gilgamesh was horrified and sent for him but he would not come to the city, so he sent a woman to deceive him and bring him in. Once there the two had an almighty battle until the gods let the light play upon Enkidu until Gilgamesh realised that this man was truly his brother.
This the first of the two stories about Gilgamesh and Enkidu retold by Heffernan for a young audience. These stories are not well known and deserve a wider audience, offering as they do a group of myths and legends to rival those we usually see rewritten with a softer edge. These two stories tell of rivalry and bitterness, of forgiveness and love, of bravery and allegiance. The second story tells of Gilgamesh and Enkidu going out of the city to destroy a huge monster. This marvellous story full of blood and gore will appeal to primary people.
The illustrations are bright and vivacious, reflecting the images found in the temples and carvings left in the Middle East by civilisations of long ago. Durack uses a variety of layouts to reflect the story, sometimes whole pages of pictures, sometimes a comic style page, but always intriguing and worthy of closer inspection. They will introduce the reader to a different culture that those usually seen from Egypt and Greece.
Christmas Press books are available online.
Fran Knight

Josephine wants to dance by Jackie French

Ill. by Bruce Whatley. Angus & Robertson, 2016. ISBN 9781460752524
(Age: 3+) Highly recommended. Dancing, Kangaroos, Achievement. A tenth anniversary issue of this delightful story, a CBCA Notable Book in 2007, is very welcome indeed. With Whatley's wonderful illustrations, full of colour and movement, French's spare text tells us all we need to know.
Josephine loves to dance, but everyone tells her that kangaroos do not dance: they hop or they jump. But Josephine, undeterred, sneaks into town where she finds a ballet company in rehearsal. She watches, copying each of their moves, practicing all alone through the night. Even curtseying at the end of her performance. Whatley's illustrations of Josephine rehearsing her steps are wonderful, the animal so well drawn kids will reach out their hands to touch her coat.
When the impossible happens and the lead dancer sprains her ankle, Josephine is the first to leap through the window and offer her services. Dressed in her pink tutu with ballet slippers (Wow!) on her feet she is ready for the evening performance. But even then her friends, Joey and Wombat are still exhorting her to come back to where she belongs.
She is a sensation, leaping across the stage with moves never seen before, and she receives a bouquet of quite delicious roses as she curtsies. So successful is she that the audience joins in, even Joey and Wombat.
This is an encouraging story of being different, of striving to do what you want to do, despite what others think. Josephine wants to dance and try something out of the ordinary despite her friends trying to keep her at home. She longs to dance and through her perseverance achieves a milestone in her life. It is a wonderful story of achievement to be shared with younger children, encouraging discussion about trying your best, of living your dream, of being different. Whatley's illustrations are priceless. I love Josephine trying to be inconspicuous behind a tree, and the wombat with his tutu, and the boab tree and the shocked face of the costume designer. Kids and teacher swill love it all over again, and the sparkly front cover will attract the readers before the teacher gets the book ready for reading out loud.
Fran Knight

The Tale of Elske by Cynthia Voigt

Tales of the Kingdom. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2015. ISBN 9781481421904
(Age: 13+) Highly recommended. Fantasy. Mythopoeic Fantasy Award Nominee for Children's Literature (2000). I was thrilled to pick up a book by Newbery Medalist Cynthia Voigt that I had missed when it was first published as Elske. Although part of a series, the book with a new cover and title can be read as a stand-alone and it has become a favourite for me that is sure to be reread in the future.
Elske is a wonderfully brave young woman whose grandmother has sacrificed herself so that she won't be put to death by the Wolfers. Fate brings her to work as a handmaiden to Princess Beriel, a proud and independent young woman who knows her own mind and steadfastly stands up for her rights. Here her loyalty and honesty shine through as Beriel battles to regain her throne.
Voigt has created a fantasy world that seems real, the slight romance at the end of the book will appeal to readers who enjoy love between independent characters, and many like me will want to read the others in the series, The tale of Gwyn (previously published as Jackaroo), The Tale of Oriel (previously Wings of a Falcon) and The tale of Birle (previously On fortune's wheel).
Pat Pledger

Illusions of Fate by Kiersten White

Historium activity book by Richard Wilkinson and Joy Nelson

Five Mile Press, 2015. ISBN 9781760403706
(Age: 8+) History, Museums, Civilisations. This book is an activity book designed to be a companion to the Historium book published in 2015. The original large and imposing (and heavy) book directed the reader to use it like a museum, opening pages to the great civilisations of the world, using each section to gain an overview of what is held in various museums about that civilisation. The curators (cute!) present the civilisations of Africa beginning with a group of Stone Age tools from one million years ago. The book moves on to several civilisations within the last two thousand years leaving their mark with a glorious gold leaf rhinoceros and ivory mask, before settling into the Egyptian period, better known to the audience. Each page has wonderful illustrations drawn from original photographs taken in various museums around the world, and several paragraphs of information about the artifact, its date, its importance and where it was found and is now housed. This activity book is similarly confined in what it deals with.
It offers puzzles and games, fill in the box activities, more bits of information, colouring in pages and so on. It feels like something from history lessons of the past but may have a place as a teacher reference for photocopying.
Fran Knight

Chasing asylum, a filmmaker's story by Eva Orner

Harper Collins Australia, 2016. ISBN 9781460751930
(Age: Senior secondary to adult) Highly recommended. As the blurb on the back cover says this is a personal story of what drives a filmmaker to pursue their vision; the doubts, the mental and physical costs of undertaking the challenge of making a film on a subject that nobody seems to want to know about, and which the Australian government wants to make sure that nobody knows about.
Eva Orner travelled to Indonesia, Cambodia, Lebanon, Afghanistan and Iran at great cost to her own physical health and safety, to seek out interviews with refugees who had fled their country and taken the risky journey by boat to seek refuge in Australia only to be incarcerated in prison-like camps on desolate islands in the Pacific. She also interviewed the camp workers who became whistleblowers about the inhumane treatment they witnessed.
Bravely she even explores the question of what is a genuine refugee, are asylum seekers truly trying to escape persecution and death or just wanting a better life? The response she got from one interviewee is that he was suffering, his soul was suffering. People were trying to escape danger, war, hardship and persecution, all were seeking freedom and the chance to make a better life for their families.
It is interesting to see the film Chasing asylum and to then read the book. In the book there are so many more interesting personal stories and friendships created in other parts of the world, stories that were cut from the film because, as Eva says, 90 minutes is long enough for a documentary and it was important that the film focussed on the main message about Australia's response to refugees. We as a nation could be doing so much better in caring for people who are simply asking us for help, people who are driven by desperate circumstances to take their chances in a hazardous journey in the hope of a better future. Australia has contributed to people's displacement by dropping bombs on countries like Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria but is not willing to help them when they flee the devastation those bombs cause. Eva Orner's book is a plea for greater empathy, for Australia to become a more generous more compassionate nation. She says 'We are so lucky to live in this country - surely we can share some of this luck?'
Helen Eddy

Here where we live by Cassie Flanagan Willanski

Wakefield Press, 2016. ISBN 9781743054031
(Age: 16+) Recommended. The nine short stories in Here where we live are set in South Australia but their themes are universal. Cassie Flanagan Willanski's characters deal with those turning points in life when complexity is unavoidable and choices are difficult. Readers can recognise and be moved by the unintended consequences of a child's impulsive behaviour, the passage from adolescence to adulthood, the challenge of combining parenthood with long-held dreams, divorce and the death of a partner. Intertwined with these lives are the characters' relationships with Indigenous people and the landscape. Attempts to reconcile conflicted feelings in personal lives are mirrored in the search by Australians for reconciliation with their history.
The author's use of language is economical but vivid. Whether writing in the first or third person, as an adult or as a child, her skill as a short story writer is evident in her ability to create convincing characters and their worlds in a few pages. She also ensures that her readers are constantly aware of the environment, the physical sensations it evokes and its emotional impact. Interactions between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people are thought-provoking and capture the feelings of the participants - the sadness and confusion caused by cultural misunderstanding, and the peace of mind derived from shared experience and acceptance. Issues such as the Hindmarsh Island Bridge controversy and atomic testing in South Australia and Nevada are handled with sensitivity.
Here where we live is challenging, occasionally confronting, multifaceted and satisfying literature for mature readers.
Elizabeth Bor

Origami heart by Binny

Lothian Children's Books, 2016. ISBN 9780734416971
(Ages: 5-8) Recommended. Friendship. Loneliness. Love. Kabuki is a rabbit living in the middle of a big, busy city who likes everything to be neat and organised. He wears his heart on his sleeve (he literally wears a heart badge on his chest) and puts love into everything he does. He has only one friend, named Yoko, and today she is coming to visit. Kabuki dresses carefully, finds the perfect food and flowers for his guest, prepares all the vegetables into exact heart shapes, organises the house just so, and waits... When he gets a note from Yoko saying she is sorry, his eyes fill with tears; he takes his heart patch from his chest, folds it into a paper plane and throws it into the city. Yoko catches Kabuki's heart, and understanding his need for her, goes to him.
The illustrations have a distinctly Japanese feel and use a limited colour palette, with red (love) being the main colour. You really feel Kabuki's excitement as he prepares for Yoko's arrival and his sheer dejection when he receives her note. Yoko shows what it means to be a true friend - to come when you are needed most, and the Kabuki gives the reader a true understanding of what it means to be lonely. The illustrations help in this sense, as his world without Yoko is lifeless and colourless. It is not until she arrives that the colour returns. The front and back inside covers have instructions for making the origami heart (difficult but achievable for the top tier of the target audience) that comes with the book and for transforming it into a paper plane.
Nicole Nelson

Princess Betony and the unicorn by Pamela Freeman

Walker, 2012. ISBN 9781925381023
When Princess Betony's mother disappears into the Dark Forest, a place humans are forbidden to enter, she cannot obey the rules and attempts to follow her mother, the dryad, to ensure that she returns to her family. To add to the challenge, the Princess must first catch a unicorn. Will she be successful in her quest?
Pamela Freeman has proven herself to be a competent and engaging author, able to attract the attention of her younger readers and the format of this delightful gift book, styled after Beatrix Potter's original titles, is bound to delight. With the addition of some simple illustrations by Tamsin Ainslie, this holds much appeal and intrigues the reader with the promise of further stories to follow.
Having searched for her online, I was quite taken by the author's website and the Princess Betony website on which she includes some of the beautiful illustrations from Princess Betony, a book trailer and games and puzzles which are bound to appeal to young girls as well. This clever aspect to the marketing of books is bound to lead a few more readers to investigate Freeman's books.
Jo Schenkel

The Dark Artifices: Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare

Simon and Schuster, 2016. ISBN 9781471116612
(Age: 14+) Recommended. Emma Carstairs is a shadowhunter, a half angel warrior sworn to fight demons. She has a parabatai Jullian Blackthorn. They are best friends and can be everything to each other as long as they never fall in love. When Julian returns from England he is distant towards Emma and just when she needs him to be himself more than ever Emma uncovers bodies that have been murdered the same way her parents were when she was a child and an uneasy alliance is formed with the faeries.
After reading the first two books of Cassandara Clare's Mortal Instruments I thought this book was going to be the same style but surprisingly it wasn't. It took a while to get used to the new characters in a new world but knowing many of the older characters made it easier.
Once I started the book I couldn't put it down. It was fast paced and never left you feeling you wanted more and since finishing this book I have gone back and read The Infernal Devices series. I loved how she made you feel the characters and they weren't stereotypical. It has been a long time since a book has made me laugh out loud and cry from the same story.
I would recommend this book for readers 14 years and above and have loved her other series Mortal Instruments and Infernal Devices. I look forward to reading Lord of Shadows due to be released in April 2017 and followed by The Queen of Air and Darkness.
Jody Holmes