Mystery of the golden card by Garth Nix and Sean Williams
Trouble twisters series. Allen & Unwin, 2013. ISBN
9781742374000.
(Age: 8-12) Highly recommended. The third title in the Trouble
Twister series sees our dynamic duo, Jack and Jaide keen to pursue
another adventure.As trouble twisters and trainee wardens they have
special gifts that help protect the world from evil. The death of
eccentric young Master Rourke reveals unusual and intriguing signs
that set Jack and Jaide on a mission of danger and challenge. They
receive instructions from their father to go to the Rourke estate to
track down the lost Golden Card of Translocation.Tension rises as
The Evil are also on a mission to be the first to obtain the card
and gain rights to an awesome gift.
This is a well written adventure that takes the reader on an
exciting journey of discovery with the protagonists who must
negotiate secret passages, animated armour and a perky parrot.
Themes of fantasy, friendship, family, trust and responsibility make
this story a popular choice for 8-12 year olds. The story can stand
alone or be read as part of the wider series.
Barbara O'Connor
Star Wars: Jedi Academy by Jeffrey Brown
Scholastic, 2013. ISBN 9780545505178.
Recommended. Themes of learning, middle school, humour and
resilience. Jeff Brown reveals the fun, frivolity and
frustration in the mayhem of middle school. Eager to follow in
his family's footsteps Roan is eager to enter the prestigious Pilot
Academy. However he is rejected at first and must attend the
Jedi Academy to earn his right of passage. Humorous comic
style illustrations capture Roan's first year at the Academy as he
learns to lift objects using his mind powers, fence with a light
sabre, create erupting volcanoes, improve his dancing techniques and
generally master the force. Roan discovers he has more ability
and determination than he had imagined and under the instruction of
the wise Master Yoda begins to thrive.
Interesting visual language is explored in a variety of forms;
journal entries, family letters and newspaper cuttings. This
book will have high appeal for reluctant readers.
Barbara O'Connor
Fiction Themes K-7 Vol. 2 by Fran Knight and Pat Pledger
Pledger Consulting, 2013. ISBN: 9781876678364.
Recommended. Both prolific readers with a passion for high quality
children's literature, Fran and Pat have created another 'must have'
for every library, time poor teacher and librarian. Their annotated
bibliographies have been created with us in mind. Librarians are
regularly approached to offer insights into the titles in the
collection. Sadly, because they don't in fact spend their whole days
quietly reading at their desks, despite popular belief, very few
would have read a high proportion of their collections or be able to
immediately reel off numerous titles on a theme. Therefore, thanks
to Fran and Pat (who probably bear in mind the recommendations of
other reviewers for ReadPlus as well) the collection of titles
listed in this book is one which we can trust as we make the
selections of texts for our libraries and gather bulk loans for
classroom teachers or for display purposes.
The themes in this title are listed alphabetically and cover various
areas found in the Australian Curriculum such as History of the
world and Australia, as well as popular themes which children are
always asking for. They cover a broad cross section from Aboriginal
peoples to specific titles best suited to boys or girls as well as
themes such as dinosaurs, fantasy, ghosts, refugees and war. Each
section is then broken down into picture books and titles for middle
primary and upper primary. Generally, titles are those which have
been published in recent years plus some deemed more to fit the
'classic' category.
Having had this title and Literature to support General
Capabilities to review for some months, I admit to having been
slow to do so, not because they have been ignored but instead
because they have been at school where they have already proved
themselves to be invaluable resources!
Jo Schenkel
Ava Anne Appleton : Accidental Adventurer by Wendy Harmer
Ill. by Andrea Edmonds. Scholastic; Australia: 2013. ISBN:
9781742838755.
(Age: Newly independent readers) Recommended. Wendy Harmer needs no
introduction to younger readers familiar with the Pearlie
series. Welcome to her latest series starring Ava Anne Appleton
which is sure to become just as popular with the newly independent
reader.
All is well in Ava's world. She is a most particular and careful
girl who lives in Australia Avenue with her parents, Anne and Alan
and dog Angus. Yes, A is her favourite letter and she strives to get
an A for all her school work.
Ava loves her ordered and safe life so when her father arrives home
one Saturday in a mobile home named The Adventurer and
announces they are all heading off in it for a year, she is not so
sure it is a good idea especially as there seems to be no plan or
itinerary.
Their first stop in a clearing near a lake surrounded by bushland
has Ava worried, especially when her parents encourage her to
explore and Angus disappears into the bush. When she tries to follow
him and becomes lost Ava is distraught. That's when Zander comes to
the rescue.
Zander not only prefers to be from the opposite end of the alphabet
she is the complete opposite of Ava. Untidy, grubby, barefoot and as
super confident in her environment as Ava was in hers. Zander shows
Ava how to read the signposts in her neighbourhood, and returns her
to her parents by sailing on the lake in her boat Zephyr.
This series has the potential to introduce readers to the wonders of
travelling around Australia as Ava learns to appreciate life outside
of the confines of Australia Avenue and enjoys new experiences. The
larger print and illustrations are ideal for readers just exploring
chapter books.
I look forward to finding out if the focus on alliteration continues
to be a theme and if the next character Ava meets begins with a Y.
Sue Keane
Ruby of Kettle Farm by Penny Matthews
Ill. by Lucia Masciullo. Our Australian Girl series, bk 4.
Penguin Australia, 2013.ISBN: 9780143307457.
Highly recommended for 8-11 year olds. Themes: Farm Life, Family
Life, Historical Fiction, Great Depression - Australia. The Our
Australian Girl series are extremely popular with students
from eight to eleven years of age. Penny Matthews' novels follow the
ups and downs of twelve year old Ruby Quinlan's life. This final
novel is set in rural South Australia in 1931. Ruby has settled in
to life on Kettle Farm, helping her cousin May with the chores,
looking after the chickens and weeding the vegetable patch. Her
faithful dog Baxter is a constant friend. Unfortunately Ruby
discovers the truth behind her father's long absence and lack of
response to her letters. She also finds out the real reason her
family had to leave behind their big Adelaide house and comfortable
lifestyle. Ruby shows resilience throughout her family's difficult
times. She outfoxes the chicken thief, shows friendliness and
acceptance to the poorer West children and supports her mother as
well.
Interwoven through this story are wonderful pictures of real life in
the 1930's, food, schooling, daily chores, different classes of
society, clothing, right down to boiling rags for handkerchiefs and
using eucalyptus oil when the family are sick with a cold. Ruby and
May's adventure into Adelaide to search for Ruby's father highlights
the impact of the times with the homeless men unable to find work
camping in humpies by the River Torrens.
As the story concludes resolution and reconciliation occur and Ruby
remembers her year as both strange and marvellous. Lucia Mascuillo's
delightful pencil sketches add interest throughout the story.
Additional facts are included about real life in the 1930s.
Rhyllis Bignell
Baby elephant walk by Hal David & Henry Mancini
Scholastic, 2013. ISBN 9781742834184.
Highly recommended for young children. Baby elephant walk is
a gorgeous picture book and a cute song turned into a story. Junior
primary children will enjoy singing along, looking at the colourful
pictures and creating dance moves for each part of the story. Baby
elephant walk also has a whole host of different jungle
animals involved in the song which would be good to use when
teaching lower primary children how to write to describe. Highly
recommended for young children.
Kylie Kempster
Underground Road by Sharon Kernot
Wakefield Press, 2013. ISBN: 9781743051922.
(Age: 15+) Underground Road is the first novel by Adelaide
author Sharon Kernot. The novel tells the story of a group of people
who share the same street in a underprivileged socio-economic
suburban community. Whilst the stories of each of the main
protagonists are told in separate chapters, each of the events and
actions steadily become intertwined over the whole novel. Mary is
forced to do community work at the local community soup kitchen in
order to receive Centrelink benefits much to her recently
retired husband's disapproval. Meanwhile, Mary's good friend
struggles with an addiction to gambling on poker machines. At the
same time, a young boy Damien struggles to deal with his violent
step-father, Marcus, and a neighborhood bully. Incidentally, Tyson,
the neighbourhood bully, has been moved to live with his mother as
he is the product of a drug affected mother. This is all happening,
whilst a paranoid schizophrenic man, Kenneth, raids the letter boxes
of the people on the street stealing their mail, and overdue utility
bills. Underground Road is a gripping yet saddening novel, as it
describes in detail the way in which problems, such as mental
illness, gambling, domestic violence, bullying, as well as drug and
alcohol addiction, associated with poverty can manifest and interact
within the one local community. Whilst many worthwhile statements
are made in this novel about the lack of justice and equity in these
poorer socio-economic communities, it really struggles to propose
any real solutions. The language and violence themes in this novel
would suggest that this book would be most suited to older students
(15 years plus), however this is somewhat contradicted by one of the
main character being of primary school age.
Adam Fitzgerald
Battle Magic by Tamora Pierce
Circle reforged series, bk 3. Scholastic, 2013. ISBN:
9780439842976.
(Age: 12+) Recommended. War, friendship, fantasy, magic, courage,
loyalty, resilience.
While there is endless speculation about the world building of J. K
Rowling, Robert Jordan and even George R. R Martin, Tamora Pierce
quietly just keeps expanding hers. She writes spin-offs, switches
back and forth in time and has evolved one of the strongest canons
there is.
She does something quite interesting with Battle Magic. We
are taken back two years before Melting Stones, and catch up
with Evvy when she is only 12 and first meets Luvo. I wouldn't be
surprised if reading Battle Magic sends readers back to Melting
Stones to re-connect with an older and wiser Evvy. Because in
Battle Magic, she is young, contemptuous and impatient with
everything.
Readers are thrown right into the middle of an unfamiliar land,
Yanjing. The customs are strange, the shamans make magic
inexplicably, and all is not as peaceful as it seems. The evil
Emperor, Weishu, is truly wicked, although in outward appearance, he
is hospitable and generous. I sometimes felt in previous Pierce
books that the main characters have a pretty easy time of getting
out of trouble. But here, our little band of heroes really have to
struggle to defeat him.
When war threatens the tiny province of Gyongxi, our three mages
become entangled with political and social machinations. The
narrative is dense and complicated, and there are lots of deaths,
mostly minor characters, thankfully. Readers are shown quite clearly
how horrible war is, and how greedy people can be. Briar and
Rosethorn are wonderful, and we meet a warrior called Parahan who is
excellent, as is the young God-King and of course, Luvo.
This is an action-packed story, filled with insight and compassion.
Many of us have been reading Pierce books for many years, and it's
good to see that she continues to write quality fantasy that depicts
strong female characters. Her first books about Alanna are still one
of the best ways to introduce younger readers to fantasy, and as the
children grow, so too do the newer series, allowing them to
consistently find something that suits their maturity level. Battle Magic will please fans.
Trisha Buckley
Dragon loves Penguin by Debi Gliori
Bloomsbury, 2013. ISBN 9781408839492.
(Age: 0-5) Highly recommended. Picture book. Family. Offspring.
Parenting. What a delightful story. I was almost in tears when the
end came, bringing the whole tale to a completion rather like a
circle, the bold crayon illustrations sweeping me along with the
text. Like the glorious, Again!, the baby penguin is
exhorting his mother at the beginning of this book to read him the
tale in his own book, Dragon loves Penguin, his favourite
story.
When the dragons arrive near the penguin colony, they all huddled
around their eggs, except for one dragon who is eggless. He goes off
alone and finds an abandoned egg which he raises as his own. When it
hatches into a baby penguin, Dragon does everything with his chick,
ignoring the derision of the other dragons about his lack of ability
to fly or his lack of scales. When the nearby mountain begins to
roar, shooting out lava and hot ash, the other dragons fly away
leaving Little One by himself, and in the snow he finds an egg.
And so the story comes around full circle, with the one penguin, the
one raised by the dragon, and the other the egg found by the
penguin. It is a delight. The warmth and comfort of the penguin
snuggling into its mother for a bedtime story at the start is
replicated at the end when three generations are together reading
their story.
Fran Knight
Russian Roulette by Anthony Horowitz
Walker Books, 2013. ISBN 9781406350869.
(Ages: 11+). Highly recommended. Realistic fiction. This book starts
at about Chapter 17 of the first Alex Rider book (Stormbreaker). It
tells the story of the mysterious Yassen Gregorovich's past and what
made him who he is.
This begins with Yassen receiving a three word message from Scorpia;
'Kill Alex Rider'. Yassen is then struck by the similarities between
himself and Alex and starts reading his diary to find out why.
From Estrov to Moscow to Venice, this is Yassen's story of how he
came from a non-existent village to his family's killers' slave to
the assassin he is in the Alex Rider series. There are some violent
and somewhat grisly scenes, but all in all I recommend it highly.
Jos Alcorn (Student)
Starring Jules (in Drama-rama) by Beth Ain
Ill. by Anne Keenan Higgins. Allen and Unwin, 2013. ISBN:
9781743314555.
This series is aimed at 7-10 year old girls with dreams of being a
star. Jules Bloom is a 7 year old and potential movie star. Think a
younger Judy Moody, with acting ability, who mixes the dramas of
school with the vagaries of the professional acting world. Drama-rama follows on from Starring Jules (as Herself).
Jules is expecting to start filming her first film when the leading
man breaks a leg causing it to be postponed. Jules is back to school
with her new best friend Elinor and ex best friend Charlotte who
Jules is sure wants her to fail as a star.
When her teacher, Ms Leon, announces that the class is to put on a
little show for the moving up ceremony, Jules decides that she
should not be the star but the director which will satisfy her two
latest desires, to help Elinor be more outgoing and to boss
Charlotte around. Then she is offered a role as the youngest child
in a pilot for a family sitcom for television, the filming of which
clashes with the school show.
Jules needs to overcome her nerves about being able to play her
role, find a way to fit in with her new television family and accept
the fact that relations at school are not going as well as she
expects. She can only do her best, with a little pizzazz, and let
her friends be themselves.
Messages of confidence, resilience and individuality are woven
through the story as well as the value of friendship.
Sue Keane
Dance divas by Sheryl Berk
Bloomsbury Children's Books, 2013. ISBN 9781619631816.
Recommended for Upper Primary girls. A novel for younger readers,
mainly girls, centring around an American dance school. There's lots
of sparkle, both with the front cover and the glitzy descriptions of
the costumes. Miss Toni, a tough no nonsense teacher is the director
and the girls vie for leading positions. The action is seen through
Scarlett's eyes and she is caring and supportive of her friends,
Rochelle and Bria, both who share with the reader thoughts,
sometimes unkind and hurtful about Miss Toni and
Liberty, who is a talented but egocentric dancer aspiring to be the
main star. Scarlett's little sister Gracie, who is annoying in the
beginning becomes a star in her own right. Sisterly concern shows
through when Gracie gets stage struck and Scarlett supports
her.The mothers behave in varying supportive roles.
Themes of friendship, jealousy, kindness, dedicated practice time
and team work are strongly evident so besides a good story line
which young readers may dream about, there are many interesting
relationship issues about getting on with peers.The 'Glossary
of Dance Terms' is explanatory. A sequel is following.
Sue Nosworthy
Literature to support general capabilities by Fran Knight and Pat Pledger
Pledger
Consulting, 2013. ISBN 9781876678395.
(Teacher reference) Highly recommended. Another amazing, complete
and exciting compendium of novels. How exciting for a
teacher-librarian and teacher to find exactly what is wanted for a
particular strand in the very busy and time short teacher's life. To
have books of known quality and time tested to books in the very
current time is quite magical and so practical. It should be
in every classroom and library to support the curriculum. If only it
was available in earlier times! The book has quality and appropriate
literature from known and loved novels to new and respected titles.
Areas covered include: Literacy, Numeracy, Critical and creative
thinking, personal and social capability including: self awareness,
self management, social awareness, social management, ethical
understanding and Intercultural understanding. There is a long
and detailed Index.
It's a striking and amazing compendium.
Sue Nosworthy
We wish you a ripper Christmas by Colin Buchanan and Greg Champion
Ill. by Roland Harvey. Scholastic, 2013. ISBN 9781742837239.
(Age: 4+)Warmly recommended. Picture book. Christmas. Singing.
Australian animals. With a CD in the cover with which to sing along,
the rollicking stanzas of this beautifully illustrated book will
garner many fans. Customised to an Australian setting with plenty of
Australian animals taking part, the story about Santa Wombat losing
his naughty and nice list will draw readers and listeners
alike to find out how he retrieves his list. He searches everywhere,
in billabong and eucalypt, in the koala hung tinsel, and over the
windmill. But when the goanna steps forward with his music, the list
is found.
Using the framework of the carol, We wish you a merry Christmas,
children will easily recognise the feel of the carol, and sing along
with it, learning the words as they go. The rhyming words will make
it easy for them to do this and they will find much humour in some
of the rhymes ('thong' and 'billabong', for example)
All the fun of the search is remarkably illustrated by Harvey, as he
depicts many Australian animals in his drawings, filling the pages
with minute detail, which children (and older people), will love to
hunt down and pick out. Watch for the hiding place for the spare key
for example. His well known water colour illustrations are always
deftly done, evoking a range of characters, and nodding to some well
known Australian artists. The colours are evocative of the
Australian outback, and the whole is a beautifully presented
nostalgic look at Christmas in rural Australia.
Fran Knight
The naughtiest reindeer by Nicki Greenberg
Allen and Unwin, 2013. ISBN 9781743313046.
(Age: 3+) Picture book. Christmas. Humour. Verse. When Rudolph is
unable to lead Santa's sleigh on Christmas Eve, delivering presents
all over the world, it is his sister Ruby, who is offered as his
replacement. In rhyming stanzas of four lines each, fun develops as
the other reindeers learn who is to lead them.
'Ruby?!
cries Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and
Blitze.
Not Ruby!'
And I can imagine the listeners and the readers of this book
shouting that out, exclaiming all the frustration that the other
reindeers feel. Over the pages we see the mayhem that Ruby causes,
as she goes into and out of the houses and leaves them in a mess.
When Santa arrives home, he realises that he has missed one house,
and so sets off to get the presents there as quickly as possible.
The children on waking, find a sleeping Ruby in their house, and she
becomes their present. Santa is quite happy to leave Ruby with the
children and call back next year to see how she is.
A fun story about Christmas, readers will eagerly turn the pages
seeing what mayhem Ruby causes and how the story is resolved.
Fran Knight
