Angus & Robertson, 2014. ISBN 9780732297138
(Age: Yrs 8-10) Themes include: Black Death plague, girls and
education, the class system, government secrets, early Australian
history. Set in 1900 this story details the little known events of
the Black Plague outbreak in Brisbane. It follows the McKelvie
family through the voice of Issy (the second daughter). Issy, as is
expected during these times, is forced to leave school and find
employment. Her mother finds her a job at the home of the local
Funeral Director. She is not happy about leaving school as she has
been offered extra tuition by the teacher and believes that she
could be very successful if she could continue her education. Their
life is turned upside down with the death of a young man next door.
The family is thrust into quarantined for several weeks to ensure
that they also had not contracted the disease. Issy's father has a
pack of rat catching terriers and when he falls ill the job of
catching rats falls to Issy who is repulsed by the process.
The story explores in minor detail the life of a young girl during
this time, the outbreak of the plague and how the authorities deal
with the situation and relationships between the various class
structures during the early 1900's.
Wendy Rutten
Zeroes by Scott Westerfeld, Margo Lanagan and Deborah Biancotti
Zeroes bk 1. Allen and Unwin, 2015. ISBN 9781925266955
(Age: 12+) Highly recommended. Thriller. Super heroes. Six teenagers
have awesome super powers and when one of them gets into trouble,
the Zeroes pull together as a team to sort out some dangerous
criminals. Ethan aka Scam has a voice inside him that blurts out
things people often don't want to heart. The Voice has gotten him
into trouble when it divulged things about his four friends, and
they are not very keen on being his friend. However when Ethan comes
to grief during a bank robbery, they decide to come to his aid, and
in the process find Kelsie who can manipulate a crowd and who is
desperate to help her father who was involved in the robbery. Led by
Nate, aka Bellwether, the group's 'glorious leader' and ably helped
by Anonymous, the handsome boy that everyone forgets, Crash who can
wreck anything electrical and Flicker who can see through other
people's eyes, the Zeroes team face danger and adventure as they
chase the mob in an attempt to rescue Kelsie's father.
Written by three outstanding authors, Zeroes will
immediately grab the reader with its fast paced action and great
characters. Each of the six is so well described that it is easy to
become engaged with them, to see how they use their fabulous powers
but also to see their fears and weaknesses as well. Each chapter is
narrated by a different character who gives a description of the
action that is going on and the reader gains insight into how the
differing teens operate and feel.
This is a powerful combination of fantasy as the teens use their
superpowers and crime thriller as they chase the dangerous gang.
There are some explosive moments and thrills galore.
I really enjoyed this story - the rollercoaster action and the
characters' superpowers were gripping. Zeroes is a stand
alone novel in a trilogy and this makes it a winner for me. I will
be sure to pick up others in the series and look forward to more
adventures and fun.
Pat Pledger
Mister Cassowary by Samantha Wheeler
UQP, 2015. ISBN 9780702253881
(Age: 8+) Recommended. Cassowaries are unusual creatures and I admit
my understanding of them was very limited until I read this novel.
Samantha Wheeler weaves her knowledge of cassowaries throughout the
book and the reader learns about this strange creature along with
the main protagonist, Flynn.
Flynn has journeyed back to his deceased grandfather's banana farm
with his Dad in an attempt to clean up the property ready for sale.
From the beginning of the story it is evident that Flynn's dad is
apprehensive about the farm and scared of the cassowary bird.
Flynn discovers his grandfather's interest in the birds from books
and articles he finds in the house and becomes more and more worried
about a cassowary that his father struck with a car when they
approached the farm.
He also meets a local girl Abby who helps Flynn when he discovers
two seemingly unprotected baby cassowaries.
There are many mysteries and unanswered questions that Flynn wants
solved. How did his grandfather die? Why won't his father talk about
it? Why is his father so scared of the birds?
The story is well constructed and has a satisfying conclusion when
all the answers are provided and misinformation corrected. It is a
learning journey for both Flynn and his dad.
Facts about cassowaries and links to more information are provided
at the end of the book.
By the way don't confront a cassowary as they can kill you!
This book is recommended for children who enjoy animal stories and
students from 8 years and older.
Jane Moore
Historium by Richard Wilkinson and Joy Nelson
Five Mile Press, 2015. ISBN 9781760068202
(Age: 8+) History, Museums, Civilisations. This large and imposing
(and heavy) book directs 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 reflecting that
group of people.
After a double page time line of the various great civilisations,
the curators (cute!) present the civilasations 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.
Included are sections on America, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and
Oceania before a detailed index and list of museums where the
artifacts can be seen.
I found this book fascinating to dip in and out of, but of necessity
its broad scope makes some of the information only a taste, leaving
me to search for more. Some civilisations are again only briefly
dealt with, whereas others more well known are given a greater chunk
of space. But as an introduction to the span of civilisations which
have preceded us, many of which do not get much cover in books about
ancient history, the book makes a wonderful appetiser, leading
children to think about what they are looking at and hopefully want
more.
Fran Knight
Dinosaur dump by Tim Miller and Matt Stanton
ABC Books, 2015. ISBN 9780733334634
(Age: 4-7) Recommended for those who like funny books about body
functions! A story about dinosaurs from the authors of The fart
monster, Dinosaur dump is another humorous book that
is sure to appeal to young children who will love the funny verses
and wide-eyed dinosaur characters that all use a giant loo with
disastrous consequences.
The story is written in funny verse, in bold black type that is easy
to read and will stay in children's minds as they re-read the book: It was a simple life,
But they had a GIANT loo.
It was way up on the hilltop
And today it had a queue. . .
Miller and Stanton are on a winning formula with this book. The
verse is great for adults to read aloud and for children to chant
along with them, predicting the text, and of course the toilet
humour is just what this age group, especially boys, love.
The illustrations are a great accompaniment to the story making the
different dinosaurs quite distinct, but also very amusing. I loved
the illustration of Tash the pterodactyl who dive-bombed the
mountain loo with a disastrous splashback!
Pat Pledger
Chance of a lifetime by David Harding with Izzy Folau
Random House Australia, 2015. ISBN 978857986610
(Age: 8-12) Recommended. I need to confess that I have a minimal
knowledge of Rugby Union, so small that I had no idea who Izzy Folau
was or how famous he is.
I approached this novel with trepidation. I had bought the book for
school after conversations with students who were Rugby Union fans
but I had no intention of reading it myself. That was until fate
(Pat, the ReadPlus editor) sent me a copy to review.
I thought the book would be all about rugby skills and there are
hints and comments from Izzy about the best way to play but the
focus is more about relationships and personal belief systems.
The two protagonists of the story have very different backgrounds.
Daniel has no doubts about his skills but has a lot to learn about
teamwork, while Sione is skilled but plagued with self-doubts.
They are both selected to play on The Valley Rep Team, coached by
Izzy Folau. With other boys, they leave their homes to train and
learn to work together.
At first all does not go well as both boys have lots to discover
about themselves and each other.
At the back of the book is a breakdown of each Valley Rep player and
hints from Izzy about playing Rugby Union. Line drawings are
scattered throughout the novel.
This book will be enjoyed by Rugby Union loving children from age 8
to 12 years.
I recommend this book for purchase.
Jane Moore
The incredible adventures of Cinnamon Girl by Melissa Keil
Hardie Grant Egmont, 2014. ISBN 9781742978307
(Age: Yr 10-11) Themes: Art, relationships, End of High School,
death of a parent, family separation, end of the world. A feel good
novel about the coming of age and the rights of passage that comes
with the finishing of high school. Sarah Jane, the voice for the
novel, has just completed year 12 along with her tight knit group of
friends. Sarah Jane is an outstanding artist whose particular skill
is drawing cartoons. Over many years she has been collecting her
drawings with the goal of attending an arts college after school.
Her father was also a comic collector, who has died in a tragic
accident, and has left behind a treasure trove of magazines. The
novel traces the adventures of Eden Valley, a small country NSW
town, as it becomes in undated with weird and wonderful people who
have heard that the end of the world is going to occur on New Years
Eve and the only place that will survive is Eden Valley.
Sarah Jane's friend from primary school (Daniel) comes back to town
which causes some angst amongst her friends, in particular Grady who
has been her best friend since she was a toddler. Daniel is now a
big TV star who is a bit full of himself but underneath just wants
some of the simple life that Eden Valley has to offer.
A great novel that weaves the lives of many of the town's people
with a mix of humour, seriousness and history.
Wendy Rutten
Sian by D Luckett
A New Australian series. Scholastic, 2015. ISBN 9781742990392
(Age: 10+) Highly recommended. Wales, Migrants, Port Darwin,
Historical novel. The latest book in this series from Scholastic
about children who come to Australia as immigrants, introduces Sian,
a nine year old girl from a coal mining town in Wales. Her widowed
father has thirteen children to raise, and when the eldest girl,
Olive, marries Ellis she takes Sian with her, and determining to
start afresh in Australia, Sian goes too.
There is no getting away from the dearth of opportunity in the coal
mining town, where Sian picks pieces of coal form the leftover heap
to keep the household going, her father having had a pit accident
and unable to work.
In Australia Ellis can only get piece work ad seeing the
opportunities available in Port Darwin, heads there, leaving the two
behind in Sydney. Tragedy strikes when Olive dies giving birth and
Sian is sent north to be with her brother in law. In Darwin she
learns how different life can be. She befriends a Chinese girl, Mae,
who lives nearby working in her father's market garden, and learns
of the prejudice shown towards the Chinese, even when born in
Australia. With the help of her teacher, Miss Roberts, the Chinese
grown vegetables get sold in the store, and Mae comes to school. A
push by some parents to disallow Mae's attendance is foiled and life
goes on.
This charming story shows the reader the breadth of problems
awaiting the early settlers in Port Darwin. Having to navigate
people's beliefs about the Chinese and the Aborigines, learning to
cope with the weather and the cyclones, learning to build their own
homes and coping with the local wildlife are only some of the events
in this colourful story. The building of Port Darwin is an
interesting backdrop to the story of Sian's introduction to her new
home, as is her bravery in standing up to bullies.
This series is an outstanding contribution to stories about
immigrants and the lives they left behind, the difficulties in
adapting to a new land and their reason for doing so.
Teacher notes are available on the Scholastic website, and I think
this series would make a wonderful set to use in the classroom both
as individual texts, a class text or in a reading circle.
Fran Knight
Santa Baby by Smriti Prasadam-Halls
Ill. by Ada Grey. Bloomsbury, 2015. ISBN 9781408849484
(Ages: 4-8) Recommended. Children cannot get enough of Christmas
themed books, and despite it being outside of their reality,
Australian children seem to love reading stories about white, wintry
Christmases. Bloomsbury is good at these heart-warming, feel-good
tales and this one is no exception. A glittery front cover and fun,
bold illustrations will draw children in and the warmth and magical
quality of the narrative will keep them engaged. Christmas books can
often be predictable or lack originality but this one gives us
something a little unique - Santa has a son! The effortless rhyming
text tells the story of Santa Baby and his baby reindeer friend Roo.
They are too small to ride in the sleigh on Christmas Eve, but when
Santa leaves some gifts behind they embark on a mission to save the
day and deliver them. A few distractions and a sleigh mishap later,
Santa Baby realises he isn't quite big enough to help his dad with
delivering presents yet.
There are plenty of fun moments with magical sleigh rides, snowball
fights, slippy sliding with the penguins and Christmas morning joy.
Children will love escaping into this joyful world; a simple problem
is easily solved and then everyone returns home to a warm house
filled with love and presents. It truly evokes the warm feeling of
being a child at Christmas time.
Nicole Nelson
Monster Max's shark spaghetti by Claire Freedman
Ill. by Sue Hendra. Bloomsbury, 2015. ISBN 9781408851555
(Age: 5+) Warmly recommended, Monsters, Holidays, Poetry.
Another in the series including Dragon jelly and Spider sandwiches,
this will tickle to he funny bones of young children obsessed with
monsters and grisly words describing their habits, particularly
about food and eating.
Max and his friends decide to go on a holiday, travelling with
Queasy Air, of course. On board they are served moth mash and
tapeworm sausages, while at the hotel festooned with spiders, they
are served caterpillar croissants. Each four line rhyming stanza
will entreat the young to say yuck and erk and other words
describing the gross food served up. But it is not only the food
that deserves the response. Max dons sunscreen so smelly that bugs
come from miles away, and when they get on the Loop the Loop, now
called Gloop the Loop, the oddest things happen with gloop engulfing
them all. On their final night they are served shark spaghetti, and
the animal bites Max on the bottom leaving his tooth embedded.
The laugh out loud words are accompanied by bright breezy
illustrations sure to please the younger audience and their passion
for slime and slugs, and deliciously sounding words describing the
not so pleasant aspects of food.
Fran Knight
The Copper Gauntlet by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare
Magisterium series, bk 2. Corgi Books, 2015. ISBN
9780552567718
(Age: 10+) Recommended. Fantasy. Coming of age. This is the second
book in the series, following The Iron Trial and the reader
is re-introduced to Callum Hunt, who is on his summer break from The
Magisterium. His father doesn't like his Chaos-ridden wolf, Havoc
and when both are threatened with destruction, Cal runs away to
Tamara's house where he discovers his friend Aaron being feted as
the Makar. But Cal has secrets to hide and things become very
difficult for him back at the Magisterium when his father is
suspected of the theft of a copper gauntlet called the Alkhahest,
which could destroy the power of the Magisterium. Cal and his
friends set out to find his father, having many exciting adventures
on the way, encountering dangerous enemies and uncovering some of
the truth about Cal and his origins.
This is an exciting sequel to The Iron Trial, and builds on
the reader's knowledge of the world of the Magisterium, and the way
Chaos operates. There is plenty of action as Cal and his friends
follow the trail his father has left and the final showdown is
action packed and thrilling, with an unexpected twist that will
delight readers.
Cal is a very conflicted young man. He is desperately trying not to
be an Evil Overlord and contain his chaos tendencies, while trying
to hide his nature from his teachers and his friends. He is loyal to
his friends and determined to do the right thing as well as use his
native intelligence to come up with workable solutions to very
desperate situations.
Black and Clare, two best-selling authors, have created a thrilling
fantasy series, with very likeable characters and lots of action.
The conclusion to The copper Gauntlet sets more obstacles to
be faced by the friends and will encourage kids to read the next in
the series.
Pat Pledger
The boy with two lives by Abbas Kazerooni
Allen & Unwin, 2015. ISBN: 9781743314838
Highly recommended. A moving memoir, The Boy With Two Lives
is a tale of struggle and overcoming even the most dire of
circumstances. A sequel to On two feet and wings, it follows
Abbas through his English education after escaping conscription into
the Iranian army. He travelled alone through Istanbul and to England
where his immigration status would be dependent on his having a
legal guardian. Unfortunately his new life is not anything that he
could have expected.
The story starts on Abbas' first day at boarding school where
everything is unfamiliar and strange. Abbas learns quickly to do as
he's told else he'll quickly fall behind. While excelling at school,
Abbas' time away from Aymestrey is spent in misery and isolation.
While his English improves rapidly, he is forced to work in Mehdi's
kitchen illegally to pay Mehdi back for his education.
As Abbas gets older it seems that the whole world is set against
him. He loses his mother and soon after, Kate's mother, Nancy, the
next best thing. Abbas finds himself again, completely alone, in a
foreign country. With nothing to his name, he finds himself
spiralling deeper and deeper into depression. But the hardest times
are yet to come as he finishes with Aymestrey and gains an assisted
place at King's School as a day student. He soon ends up broke,
broken and living on the streets, the ever-present threat of
deportation looming overhead like his own personal rain-cloud.
This book made me laugh at times, but mostly cry. That this is a
memoir is only more hard-hitting. I would highly recommend this
novel to anyone as it demonstrates the hard-ships that some refugees
have to face and the struggle of coming into a completely foreign
world. It is both eye opening and heartbreaking to see both Abbas'
pride and courage at work as he tries to make the most of his new
life.
Kayla Gaskell (age 19)
The Double Cross (and other skills I learned as a Superspy) by Jackson Pearce
Bloomsbury, 2015. ISBN 9781619634145
(Age: 9+) Highly recommended. Themes: Espionage; Children's
abilities; Adventure. This is the book I would have wanted to read
as a young reader - it is a spy novel with young spies that manage
to outsmart older spies, while coping with the normal problems of
life. The main character, Hale Jordan, is an overweight and
un-athletic Spy School trainee. His training involves dangerous and
clever skills that would prepare him for his life of espionage -
telling lies without detection, costumery and camouflage disguises,
and many more intense skills. However his inability to pass the
physical training component of his schooling proves to be a constant
problem and the teasing that he suffers as a result acts as a
constant thorn in his side. His parents are senior agents who live
dangerous lives, but then disappear in a cloud of mystery. Hale uses
his espionage training to give hope to his acrobatic younger sister,
Kennedy, and himself of the return of their parents. Their attempt
to uncover truths leads them to become Double agents and rescue
other young people from a tangle of lies. Along the way they meet
twins, Ben and Beatrix, who work for the 'other side' and are
self-taught as a hacker and an inventor (in the style of 'Q' from
James Bond feature movies from the past). The adult characters are
humorously portrayed and their quirky traits are revealed with a
light touch.
This is a book I will highly recommend to young male and female
readers aged 9+. It is targeted well at this age group, and is
exciting and written well. There are no dry or slow moments - it
moves along at a good pace for a younger reader. International
espionage with young spies - an accomplished author has made this
work.
[Note: Jackson Pearce is a young American, female author who has
obviously left room for a sequel to this endearing book.]
Carolyn Hull
Fright Club by Ethan Long
Bloomsbury, 2015. ISBN 9781408867549
(Age: 4-7) Recommended. Halloween. Monsters. In the midnight hour,
Vlad has called a meeting of all the scariest creatures including
Frank K. Stein, Sandy Witch, Virginia Wolf and Mumford the Mummy. It
is the night before Halloween and they need to practise their
ghoulish faces, scary moves and chilling sounds. Unfortunately,
their faces wouldn't even scare a daddy long legs spider and Vlad is
extremely disappointed. Just as Mumford's eyes are popping out of
his head, there's a knock at the door and a cute white rabbit and
her lawyer Frances Foxx appears. Vlad shuts the door in their faces
and tries to get his monster friends to focus. When all of the
rabbit's critter friends pound on the door and show their amazing,
scary steps and frightening screams, Operation Kiddy Scare is set to
be the best Halloween yet.
A delightfully, dark and spooky picture book, Fright Club is
an exciting story to share, seen from a different point of view.
This is a scarily good Halloween read-aloud story.
Rhyllis Bignell
The Creatures of Dryden Gully by Aunty Ruth Hegarty
Ill. by Sandi Harrold. Scholastic, 2015. ISBN 9781760151997
Recommended as a contemporary Aboriginal story. Themes: Differences;
Self-acceptance. Aunty Ruth Hegarty is an Aboriginal elder and
storyteller to the younger generation, and although this isn't a
Dreaming story it reflects the style of telling a tale with a lesson
that can be learned from the animal characters in the tale. The
young Joey in the story, who is still not a proficient jumper, wants
to explore the world of Dryden Gully. A deer family visits the home
valley and Joey notices the skill they share in walking on all four
legs. A little bit of 'movement envy' ensues and Joey ends up
wandering away from home and into potential danger. Eventually he
learns that being different is not better, it is just different.
Interestingly Aunty Ruth defines the Australian animals as 'Natives'
and the introduced deer as royal gifts to the country and hence they
are named - 'Royals'. No environmental statements are made about
their introduction, and their status appears to stem from their
stature and the impressive antlers on the Male stag's head.
Carolyn Hull
