Penguin, 2013. ISBN 9780143568179
(Age: 13+) Highly recommended. Greek Australia, Immigrants, Humour,
Relationships, Food, Homosexuality. Bill's Greek grandmother is a
larger than life figure, prominent in the day to day routines of
their lives, and he recounts her entanglement with an excruciatingly
real and very funny eye for detail. One of three brothers with a
single mother, Bill goes with Yiayia to church on Easter Sunday,
part of the Greek tradition which neither of his brothers observe.
Here he has arranged to meet a girl he first saw twelve months ago
and they race off to a prearranged date. But returning to church
they find that Yiayia has fainted and so Bill must go to hospital
with her, trying desperately to phone for help but knowing that mum
is at a speed date evening. Yiayia pushes dome money into his hand
and tells him to go to an address in Melbourne and taking Sticks
along for company, he finds it is the house of someone he has not
seen for a long while, his father. They flee.
Back in Sydney the two find solace in a pub where it becomes obvious
to the reader that Sticks has hooked up with another man, but when
he realises that Sticks is disabled, the link evaporates. At their
next meeting Yiayia gives Bill a list of things she wants done. At
first he is dumbfounded, but with the help of his friends finds that
this is a bucket list, things Yiatia wants done before she dies.
Yiayia's bucket list is not your usual bucket lists of flying off
somewhere or eating at a top restaurant, Yiayia's bucket list is all
about family.
The reader is always made aware of the importance Greeks place on
family, and Yiayia's quest to make her family happy once more is
tantamount to all the action that follows. She wants her grandsons
to see their father again and have relationships that make them
happy, her daughter to remarry and find happiness, and her bucket
list tells Bill what he must do for her.
This is a wonderful story of family and tradition, of the Greek
culture that is so much a part of the Melbourne scene, of
multiculturalism and diversity. Humour underlines much of the
action, as Bill finds ways to satisfy all that his beloved
Grandmother wants to achieve and along the way that includes himself
and his friend, Sticks.
I loved this book, and Kostakis displays Yiayia with all her
eccentricities so endearingly, with such love and humour that all
readers will feel wrapped in the warmth of the family life that she
so values.
Fran Knight
Freddie Mole: Lion tamer by Alexander McCall-Smith
Bloomsbury, 2016. ISBN 9781408865859
(Age: 8+) Highly recommended. Humour. Circuses. Adventure. Lions.
Freddie wants to help out his parents. His mum works on ships and is
often away months at a time, and dad works hard but it never makes
quite enough to cover the needs of his family and those of his
injured brother. So when Freddie is offered a holiday job at the
circus he accepts wholeheartedly. Here is the answer to his family's
problems. He is well able to help out around the circus, but when he
realises that the work involves being the understudy for some of
acts, he is dumbfounded. But his 'can-do' attitude overcomes his
fear and he succeeds where those before him have given up. So he
climbs the ladder to reach the platform where he is to be swung
between the trapeze artists and braves the lions in the lion taming
act.
Readers will have their hearts in their mouths as he realises that
the net has not been activated beneath the trapeze artists, or that
he must be the lion tamer in the lion's act when the lion tamer runs
off to Peru. But all works out well in the end, with the lions so
old that they have lost their teeth and their claws worn down with
age, and a proud mum and dad in the audience.
Freddie is an exuberant, positive young lad, and easily engages the
reader with his fears which must be overcome for the good of the
family. The illustrations add to the fun of the tale and a
conservation message lies beneath some of the circus details. A
stress on being positive is a winner in this charming story for
middle primary people.
Fran Knight
Tricky twenty-two by Janet Evanovich
Headline, 2015. ISBN 9781472201652
(Age: 14+) Recommended. Crime fiction. Humour. Biological warfare.
Stephanie Plum is back for the umpteenth time, solving crime while
looking for bail absconders in Trenton, New Jersey, the home of her
birth. She is an amazing character, seriously flawed, unable to make
up her mind between high school sweetheart, Morelli, beloved of her
family, and the outrageously cool Ranger, a security expert.
In this laugh out loud episode, Stephanie is called to take a young
man to court but instead finds him dead. He is one of a college hall
called Zeta, one that some of the powers at the school would like
closed down. But looking further, Stephanie becomes aware of a
locked cellar where experiments with fireworks have been going on,
and breaking in finds aquaria full of fleas.
Blood in the fridge sends Lula into hysterics, and the links between
blood, fleas and a top security biological warfare laboratory now
closed down, becomes clear.
There follows a heart-stopping ride as Stephanie is kidnapped by the
insane professor, seriously upset that his plans were not funded,
and handcuffed and drugged to allow him to take her blood.
What the blood is for will make some readers squeamish, but as
Ranger has a tracking device on all of his cars, he is able to find
her, but only after she has managed to get free.
The relationships between Stephanie and her family as well as
Morelli and Ranger are enough to keep the reader reading and
laughing, while the plot line of the mad professor is an added bonus
to keep the pages going over. Each of the main characters is quite
engrossing, and the background characters, Lula, Vinnie, Stephanie's
parents and grandmother have developed lives of their own in this
escapist series. Grandma always finds some gossip relevant to the
work Stephanie is doing at the time, while at one of her funeral
home viewings, and somehow the streets of Trenton always find their
way into the book. The background setting is always clearly
delineated and Evanovich talks of it with a sound knowledge and
affection which is enthralling.
Fran Knight
The midnight possum by Sally Morgan
Ill. by Jess Racklyeft. Omnibus Books, 2016. ISBN 9781742991047
(Age: 4+) Recommended. Possums. Adventures. Suspense. When possum
climbs across the tree tops, and into the forest red gum tree
covered with blossom, he eagerly anticipates his meal. It is dark,
midnight dark, his favourite time, but he hears a cry from the
rooftop nearby and going off to investigate finds a mother possum
with a young possum on her back. She tells him that her baby is
missing, the twin has disappeared. Possum checks the surrounding
area, and the last place he looks, down the chimney, finds the baby
possum clinging to a ledge. He climbs down imploring the little
fellow to jump onto his back, but in doing so both tumble to the
floor below. Inside the house they must navigate some obstacles until
they find the cat flap and escape. After an enthusiastic thank you
from mother possum, possum can now satisfy the cries from his own
tummy and get to that blossom.
This delightful story, full of suspense will have children eagerly
listening to see how the possums escape the house, and hear how the
baby is reunited with mum. The story is full of Australia's
environment, many animals litter the pages alongside fauna of the
Australian bush. Some hints are given about how man has encroached
upon the animal's habitat, with dangers lurking for the unwary.
The illustrations are done using digital collage, giving an effect
of cut out and mixed media, adding a level of interest to the story.
Some of the double page spreads stand out: the second double page
reprises the trees of the title page, standing starkly against the
white background, and the double page showing the attic of the
house, too is wonderful. The end papers reflect the flowering gum
that the possum eats and encourages readers to look at the flowers
of the trees around them.
Fran Knight
My dog Dash by Nicki Greenberg
Allen and Unwin, 2016. ISBN 9781760110673
(Age: 3+) Highly recommended. Pets. Dogs. Snails. Ownership.
Responsibility. Humour. The irony of the name, Dash, for her pet,
becomes obvious when the first double page is turned to reveal a
snail. Kids will laugh uproariously at the young girl and her pet
snail, taking it off to puppy school, introducing it to her friends
and relatives, taking it for a walk, teaching it to sit and stay.
All the things a child does with a pet dog are portrayed in this
story, teaching younger children about the responsibility of having
a pet but using humour and wit to press home the points being made.
Without being obvious, the humour behind the story will display the
things a child can do with a pet dog and make them aware that there
are times when a pet can cause mayhem, like sliding up a visitor's
nose, or leaving a mess, or stealing food from the table. Or worst
of all, eating through a pile of books!
But one night Dash disappears. The images of the whole
sleep-deprived family out searching for the lost snail will cause
readers to laugh out loud as they sympathise with the family forced
to search through the night with their flashlights for a snail. And
the surprise ending will cause more fun. The illustrations are just
wonderful, with the little snail meandering across most pages,
living its own life, oblivious to the work going on about it as the
young girl tries to keep it as a pet. Kids will engage with this
book, opening up discussions about their pets and pet ownership, the
joys of keeping a pet and perhaps some of the downsides, the keeping
of snails, and the role of parents when there is a pet in the house.
Fran Knight
Anyone but Ivy Pocket by Caleb Krisp
Ill. by John Kelly. Bloomsbury, 2016. ISBN 9781408858639
(Age: 9+) Highly recommended. Themes: Orphans and orphanages;
Jewellery; Ghosts; Supernatural stories; Mystery and suspense
stories; Ghosts; England - Social life and customs - 19th century.
Calvin Krisp's debut novel, Anyone But Ivy Pocket is a
marvellous multi-faceted gothic tale set in Victorian England. The
feisty protagonist Ivy is a twelve-year-old orphan whose work as a
lady's maid draws her into mystery and mayhem. She is a force to be
reckoned with, overbearing, opinionated and teller of tall tales,
qualities her previous employer Countess Carbuncle is happy to leave
behind as she takes a sudden trip to South America. Foisted into
service for the dying Duchess of Trinity, Ivy Pocket's new
assignment is to carry the mysterious Clock Diamond to England and
place it around the neck of Matilda Butterfield at her twelfth
birthday party. Her reward of £500 seems to be easily within reach,
enough to buy a carriage and a monkey! Unfortunately, a whole
ensemble of crazy characters, ghosts, mysterious hooded creatures
-Locks, and friends with sinister intentions, pursue her. On board
the ship sailing to England, she is befriended by Miss Always a
writer who takes a very close interest in Ivy and the mysterious
Clock Diamond.
Ivy is an enchanting protagonist, lies trip off her tongue; she is
bold, witty and can think on her feet. Krisp's fast-paced narrative
is engagingly alliterative, deliciously descriptive and attention
grabbing. Once you start, you are compelled to keep on reading,
second-guessing just how Ivy Pocket will deal with the next drama.
John Kelly's comical drawings display some of Ivy's most intense
scenes; Matilda Butterfield's cake disaster is a highlight.
With a promise of more books to come, Calvin Krisp's Ivy Pocket will
delight those readers who love mystery, adventure and feisty female
heroes.
Rhyllis Bignell
Theophilus Grey and the traitor's mask by Catherine Jinks
Theophilius Grey series. Allen and Unwin, 2016. ISBN 9781760113612
(Age: 10+) Highly recommended. London, Eighteenth Century, George
11, Espionage. We first met Theophilus Grey in Theophilus Grey
and the demon thief, a book set in eighteenth century London
at the time of King George the Second. Philo worked as a linkboy and
along with a group of other homeless orphans, used their skills to
gather information for their master, the Fagan like Garnet Hooke. In
this companion novel, Philo and his crew are paid by the government
to gather intelligence about the Jacobites. Nathaniel Paxton his old
friend also involved in the spying business introduces him to
Caroline Cowley, an actress who takes him under her wing to teach
him the art of disguise and how to play someone convincingly, in
order to gain access to the ringleaders of the Jacobites in London.
Some of the subplots are finely detailed, giving the reader an in
depth look at what London was like for people of the lower orders in
the reign of George the Second. Jinks' research gives insight
especially into the plight of children who had to fend for
themselves in these times.
Into Philo's range comes his old and now ill mentor, Garnet Hooke,
who wants to wreak revenge on Philo for leaving him. But he must
also deal with the rival gang of linkboys whose loyalties lie
elsewhere.
As with Theophilus Grey
and the demon thief, the pace of the story is fast with many
subplots taking the reader along with them as Philo must work out
just who he can trust as his work takes him perilously close to
those accused of treason.
Fran Knight
Blockbusters Guinness World Records 2016 - The Records behind the year's Smash Hits!
Guinness, 2016. ISBN 9781910561461
(Age: 8+) Highly recommended. Subjects: Reference; Encyclopaedias;
General Knowledge. Blockbusters is another amazing reference
book from the Guinness World Records team, the authority on all
things trivia. Seven fact-filled sections - Movies, Comics and
Books, Tech, Music, TV, Apps and Online, and Toys, there's something
for everyone who enjoys entertainment, reading, collecting and
Cosplay. Star Wars, Frozen, Jurassic World and The
Avengers are movie franchises that have topped the box office,
inspired millions of fans and led to an amazing array of records.
Elsa's CGI hair braid in Frozen was created from 420,00
strands. Candy Crush is the most downloaded app up to the
present day. Peruse facts, records and general knowledge related to
The Simpsons the longest running television sitcom and Doctor
Who the longest running Science-Fiction series.
Throughout the book there are suggestions for setting your own
record, rules, time-limits, recording is all clearly explained.
Individual and group challenges include book dominoes, setting the
fastest time to build a Lego Millenium Falcon Microfighter or
organising the largest crowd of Minions in one location. At the 2012
Hulkathon in Castleblayney Ireland, 574 fans set a new record
dressed up in green costumes, purple pants and black wigs. Blockbusters' use of bold graphics adds to the broad audience
appeal of the book. Bright, layered 2D boxes of facts are splashed
across the colourful backgrounds with cartoon characters playfully
placed amongst the photos of record holders and their memorabilia
collections. A great present or addition to a class or school
library.
Rhyllis Bignell
Beyond magenta: transgender kids speak out by Susan Kuklin
Candlewick Press, 2014. ISBN 9780763673680
(Age: 12+) Recommended. LGBT, Transgender, Bullying, Coming out,
Families. Interviews with six transgender and gender neutral teens
are presented in this handsomely produced, well illustrated book. I
found it most enlightening about some kids in our world who do not
feel comfortable with the role given them at birth and so do
something about it. Their bravery shines through as they go through
the steps of changing or at least adapting themselves, some through
surgery, others through drugs. Their bravery in taking these steps
is doubly impressive in allowing their stories to be told, along
with series of photographs which show their transformations. These
will create interest but it is the stories of these young people
that will captivate the reader.
All felt from an early age that they were not like others, and this
often meant they were different at school, leading to exclusion and
bullying from the rest of their cohort. Christina, in the second
story tells of how she was always picked last for a team, how at her
Catholic boy's school, she was teased and as a result told others
that she was gay, not transgender. Even as an adult she has been
picked out for derision by people who question her looks. She is
saving for a vagina.
Mariah in the third story, the child of an Italian migrant whom she
has never seen and a Black woman, was raised by her grandmother.
Going to kindergarten and school raised people's ire from the start,
as she only dressed as a girl. This resulted in unwelcome attention
from government agencies and she was taken from her family and
placed in care. Several placements later she developed problems
which required medication but after her mother died she tried to
stop. A placement in Philadelphia saw her being able to talk to a
supportive therapist and for the first time was able to write down
what she felt. With hormone therapy she was able to stop the male
growth spurt when she turned sixteen and is now working out how to
tell people about what she is.
Cameron the boy on the front cover tells his story next. He is
transgender and takes testosterone, but revels in his male and
femaleness. He discusses the whole issue of sexuality and gender
from his perspective, concluding that life is an adventure that he
is part of.
Each story is different and yet has similar characteristics. Each
teen feels different from a young age and struggles to cope with how
society sees them, including their parents. Each takes medication to
help, but each story is also quite different in how people and
family have reacted and certainly in how they feel in themselves.
Cameron is cool abut his sexuality from the start, whereas Christina
still goes through anxiety, and Mariah feels that she is at the
beginning of her transition, and wants to help out other people in
the same situation by telling her story.
A range of labels: trans, nonbinary, intersexual, transsexual, pan
sexual, gender neutral, gay and queer used help underline the need
some have for a label, but above all else, these kids need to be
labelled brave, and treated just as everyone else, kids coming to
terms with their sexuality.
Fran Knight
Iris and the tiger by Leanne Hall
Text, 2016. ISBN 97819252240795
(Age: 12+) Highly recommended. Mystery, Spain, Surrealism, Art.
Arriving in Spain to stay with her great aunt, a person she has
never seen before, Iris is surprised when a man in uniform picks her
up from the airport. She tries to question him on the long drive
home, but concludes he doesn't understand English. She has been
given instructions from her parents, eager to have some of the vast
wealth from Aunt Ursula, and sees herself as a spy with a list of
questions to answer.
But the drive into the mansion grounds is unsettling. The forest
seems dark and mysterious and full of secrets, and meeting Aunt
Ursula does nothing to allay her misgivings. There follows a day of
eventful happenings, she seems trapped in a surreal painting, with
things not really what they seem, and things happening which should
not be happening. The sunflowers around the tennis court play
tennis, the statue in the park points in the direction she needs to
go, she finds boots which impel her to put them on, all is
mysterious and reminded me of Dali. I half expected Aunt Ursula to
have a chop on her shoulder.
Meeting Jordi, the son of the caretaker changes her perspective on
things. He takes her into the woods to show her some of the magical
aspects of the forest, and they notice people with surveying
equipment close to the property.
A magical series of events sees Iris change her mind about her
parent's involvement with the future of the property and she becomes
much closer to her aunt, with the prospect of returning each year.
Along the way Iris learns to take more control of her own life,
making friends with Jordi and the unusual girl from the next estate,
and shrugging off the bullying behaviour of some whom she meets. I
loved the story and its anti development perspective, while the
magic of the forests and the mansion where Aunt Ursula lives is
simply beguiling.
Fran Knight
Teresa: A new Australian by Deborah Abela
New Australian series. Scholastic, 2016. ISBN 9781742990941
(Age: 9+) Highly recommended. Teresa is part of the New
Australian series, a collection of books about immigrants to
Australia and the issues they face. In this novel, we meet Teresa, a
young girl from war-torn Malta, who in 1949, after suffering through
three years of German bombings, migrates to Australia with her family.
Leaving behind everything they know for a better life is both
stressful and exciting but Teresa is brave (and a whiz at
remembering her multiplication table).
On the boat for Australia, Teresa becomes friends with an English
orphan named Anna. They help each other through the experiences of a
long ocean crossing but are soon separated in Australia. Life in a
new country is not what Teresa expected. There are wonderful and
abundant new foods to try but also racist comments from people they
don't even know. Teresa hears words she has never heard before and
is scared by the attitudes of some people. Thankfully, she does meet
some lovely people and it is her friendship with Albert, an
Australian soldier, who saves her from the bullying of boys from
school. Another change sees her hardworking parents leave Teresa at
a convent while they work hard and build a new house for them all.
It is at the convent that Anna comes back into Teresa's life and
another chapter begins. Teresa is an excellent novel for exposing children to the lives of
an immigrant family and the hardships they faced because of war. It
explains the negative experiences in a light manner while describing
the hurt and confusion they also cause. The story also shows the
strength, determination and sacrifices families had to make for
their survival. This is highly recommended for independent readers
aged 9+. It was also interesting to read the information about the
author and her mention of her Nanna Teresa. This hints at a personal
link to the story and makes the events more possible, believable and
real.
Kylie Kempster
Inherit midnight by Kate Kae Myers
Bloomsbury, 2015. ISBN 9781619639362
(Age: 12+) Highly recommended. Myers brings to life a wonderful
lesson in the importance of family history. Describing a set of
challenges created to find the most worthy heir to the VanDemere
fortune, Avery's grandmother shows her cunning as her challenges
about family history not only show her who is the most worthy, but
act to draw the family together through a gruelling set of
challenges which reveal more and more about her heir's
characteristics.
After escaping from St. Frederick's, a prison-like boarding school,
Avery becomes an unwilling participant in her grandmother's heritage
and inheritance game. Being an only child and the result of a family
scandal, all Avery ever wanted was to escape the VanDemere's
constant degradation of her. With the help of Riley Tate, the
lawyer's son who came to fetch her, Avery discovers that to avoid
returning to the school she must participate in the competition. Mr.
Tate gives her the added motivation she needs by revealing that her
mother, the Croatian nanny, is alive and well. In order to get the
letters that her mother had been sending, Avery must win the
competition and retain Mr. Tate's law firm. With Riley as chaperone
Avery travels across three continents to complete seven challenges.
Together they explore diamond mines and re-enact family history to
prove she has all the treasured traits associated with the VanDemere
name. Avery has both advantages and disadvantages in the
competition; she lives in the family mansion, but she is the most
despised of all her cousins. With each determined to inherit the
fortune and knock her out if they can, the game is, for Avery, also
a test of survival.
I would highly recommend for lovers of the adventure-quest tale,
twelve and up. More than anything this is about a struggle against
the odds, will Avery come out on top, proving herself better than
her uncles and cousins? Or will she fail on the very first test and
be sent back to the horrors of St. Frederick's? The novel is well
written and completely engrossing from start to finish.
Kayla Gaskell
Are you sitting comfortably? by Leigh Hodgkinson
Bloomsbury, 2016. ISBN 9781408864821
(Ages: 3-6) Reading. Books. Leigh Hogkinson's distinctive patterned
illustrations take centre stage in this story about a young book
lover searching for the perfect place to sit and read. On each page
he is sitting on a chair, but the chair itself and the page
background changes. The colour palette on each page also changes,
with the background and the chair showing similar patterns and
tones. The boy wants somewhere not too buzzy or too fuzzy, without
hoots or giant stomping boots, not too grimey or slimey and not too
hot or cold. Eventually he decides that it doesn't matter where he
sits, any chair is fine, because 'A book is best anywhere...
A book is best when you SHARE'
Varied fonts and font size add emphasis to the reading and makes the
words look interesting and appealing to young readers.
Overall, this is short and simple, the rhyme is pleasing to the ear
and the illustrations, featuring a cast of beautifully coloured
animals, are quite striking. Book lovers will enjoy sharing this
book about the joy of sharing a book! A perfect bedtime story.
Nicole Nelson
There is a tribe of kids by Lane Smith
Two Hoots (Pan Macmillan), 2016. ISBN 9781509812882
(Age: 4+) Recommended. Wordplay. Curiosity. Belonging. Adventure.
Readers will be introduced to the words which signify a group of
things through this imaginative and joyous book about finding where
you belong. From the title page, readers will see the plural for a
group of kid goats, tribe, and be encouraged to think about why this
word suits the animal so well, although it also suggests another
group which children may understand. As the young girl leaves the
kids, she sees a penguin and this small motif at the bottom of the
page heralds the animal that is overleaf. And sure enough, a group
of penguins is called a colony. This delightful way of introducing
the group word for many things in our plant and animal world will
encourage thought and discussion amongst the readers. So we see a
smack of jellyfish, an unkindness of ravens, a bed of clams, a turn
of turtles amongst the twenty or so phrases, coming in full circle
to a tribe of kids at the end, with not a goat in sight. Readers
will ponder too, the use of past tense on all pages except the last.
An enigma to get their teeth into.
Children will delight in seeing the words and what makes up these
groups and see for themselves where they belong. The wonderful
illustrations keep pace with the writing as each scene is depicted
using mixed media: coloured pencil, oil and acrylic paint as well as
digital imaging creating a mottled appearance to the pages. Each
page will cause sighs and wonder from the audience as the images
appear before their eyes. I can imagine a class trying out some of
the methods themselves, using different group words after reading
the book.
Fran Knight
The Special Ones by Em Bailey
Hardie Grant Egmont, 2016. ISBN 9781742976280
(Age: 13+) Highly recommended. Cults. Abduction. Coming of age.
Thriller. Esther is one of the Special Ones, four teens who live in
an isolated farmhouse and who aren't allowed to leave. They are
watched by an unseen man, who knows their every movement and who
punishes them for the slightest transgression from their allotted
roles. He broadcasts their lives to an eager following on the
outside and they are forced to give advice that fits in with the
personalities that have been given them. Will there ever be a chance
for Esther to escape, or will she be renewed as others have before
her?
This is a highly addictive read that will keep the readers glued to
the page as they follow the fortunes of the four teens, the Special
Ones. The story is narrated first in Esther's voice and the reader
will find that a compelling one as she paints a horrific picture of
how she and the other Special Ones have to behave in their non-toxic
life. At the same time the reader is kept in suspense about what has
happened to the children who have been sent away to be renewed and
there is always the question mark hanging over Harry - why is he
free to bring back new victims to replace those sent away? In the
latter part of the book, the narration is in the voice of the man
who holds them in the farmhouse, and it is a frightening portrayal
of someone who appears to be very normal but who really is insane.
The portrayal of Esther's character was a highlight. The reader is
taken through her life as a young teen who is forbidden to leave the
house - the verandah is as far as she is allowed to go - to the
formidable young woman who is determined to find the other children
who have been sent away for renewal. Bailey clearly brings to life
what it could be like for a victim to return home and face the
endless media and questioning, but Esther manages to stay true to
what she believes in.
This was a very clever, scary and challenging book that is sure to
be popular with teen readers.
Pat Pledger
