Allen and Unwin, 2012. ISBN 9781742375229.
(Age: 15+) Recommended. Evie O'Neill has a secret, a power that has
gotten her into trouble in her boring hometown where she uncovered
the secrets of some powerful party goers. Bundled off to live with
her Uncle Will, curator of The Museum of American Folklore, she is
thrilled to be in New York City, with its shopping, parties, alcohol
and speakeasies. She meets a fabulous Ziegfeld Follies girl and a
handsome pickpocket, but when brutal murders occur, seemingly occult
based, she finds herself investigating with her Uncle.
The glamorous atmosphere of the 1920's New York, with parties,
dancing girls and gambling comes to life in the hands of Printz
Award-winner Bray, who has the well-honed skill to write dialogue
and describe scenes that are indelibly marked on the reader's mind.
This background is absolutely fascinating and beautifully described,
with the research going into making it feel very authentic. The
mysteries of the occult are dark and threatening and seem even worse
when contrasted with the partying, fashions and fun that flapper,
Evie craves.
Evie meets up with a strange group of people in her quest for fun
and her dangerous attempt to uncover the beast, Naughty John, who is
murdering innocent people in a horrendous fashion. There is a large
cast of characters to remember, all interesting with strange
backgrounds and strange powers. Memphis Campbell is a numbers
runner, whose healing ability has failed him. Jericho works for her
uncle and has secrets of his own, and Sam, the pick pocket, is
searching for his family who were involved with Project Buffalo.
Theta dances for the Ziegfeld Follies and lives with Henry, a
talented, gay musician. Together they have to face the evil of the
beast.
Aimed at the mature young adult, (there are references to drinking,
drugs and gambling), this large tome (578 pages), the first book in
a series, is a gripping paranormal thriller full of historical
detail. Libba Bray answers five
questions about the book for The Horn Book
and there is a site
for the series with a trailer and author information.
Pat Pledger
Quiet Queenie by Susannah McFarlane
Ill. by Lachlan Creagh. Little Mates series. Scholastic, 2012. ISBN:
9781742833316.
(Age: 3-6) This Little Mates series is beautifully Australian. Each
one focuses on a different letter and a different Australian animal.
In this case the letter is Q and the animal is Queenie who is quite
possibly the quietest quokka in Queensland. Filled with 'q' words
many of which are quintessentially Australian this book will help to
extend vocabulary, assist with phonemic awareness and help beginning
readers in letter knowledge and identification. The dedication of
each book to a single letter sometimes results in strange choices of
vocabulary and seems to dictate the path of the storyline which in
the case of Quiet Queenie is more of a sequence of vaguely related
information and events rather than a plot. As an alphabet and
vocabulary book however Quiet Queenie is a delightful small picture
book with beautiful Australian and uncommon words such as quartz,
quaint, quoits, quandong, quail, quoll, quarry, quad bike, quince,
quell and quipped.
Depicted in these books is the beautiful Australian landscape amid
gorgeous soft and detailed illustrations which children will love
searching through for other 'q' things and will delight in the cute
Australian animals. These books are a great platform for initial
sounds games with emerging readers and encourage the reader to
relate elements of the story to their own life, thereby making some
of the rich vocabulary meaningful. Each of these titles ends by
posing a question to the reader, in this case 'Are you quiet
sometimes too?'
Nicole Smith-Forrest
The Voyage by Murray Bail
Text, 2012, ISBN 9781921922961.
(Age: Adult - Senior students) The main character of this novel for
adults and senior readers is Frank Delage who manufactures pianos to
his own revolutionary design. Accompanied by a piano he travels to
Vienna from Sydney, where his workshop is based, to publicise his
wares in one of the cultural centres of Europe. What follows is a
Jamesian juxtaposition between the old rich and traditional culture
of Vienna and the gauche clumsiness of the colonial who has
travelled to show them a new way of making 'their' instrument. In
drawing rooms where Strauss played and Schoenberg had visited Delage
tries to awaken the Viennese to his new ideas, but with little
success. The Viennese salesmen do not need more piano designs and
dislike even the colour of the Australian timbers he has used, and
the Viennese aristocracy seem rather amused by the oddity of a new
style of piano. Frank is aware of himself as a man with little
charm, a quality he does not trust, and little business acumen. He
does attract attention from the aristocratic and cultured Amalia
Marie von Schalla who may have had doubts about his piano but liked
him enough to show him her breasts. Unfortunately for her, Frank has
by now also attracted the attentions of her daughter Elizabeth who
decides to accompany Frank on his less than triumphant return home.
He does sell one piano, but it has little chance of converting
listeners to its radical design as it has been chosen to be centre
piece of a conceptual work in which the piano is totally destroyed.
Oddly for a maker of pianos Frank likes silence and particularly
dislikes the chatter of the drawing room and his sister, and all
women, it's tempting to conclude. He had hoped for a silent sea
voyage home, but has to engage with Elizabeth and the few other
passengers. His reflections on his experience and his reactions to
that experience are expressed in a stream-of-consciousness style
that jumps from subject to subject, often mid-sentence. Frank is not
a believable character and the style is clumsy. Fortunately this
book is short as it never springs to life.
Jenny Hamilton
The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf by Ambelin Kwaymullina
Walker Books, 2012. ISBN 9781921720086.
(Ages: 14+) Recommended. Ashala Wolf is the leader of a tribe of
illegals hiding in the Firstwood. Now she has been captured by Chief
Administrator Neville Rose. He is intent on destroying all illegals
especially Ashala's tribe. To avoid getting caught she tried to kill
herself and almost succeeded but instead she is now injured and
vulnerable. And with her Sleepwalker ability blocked she has no way
of escaping. Ashala is forced to give up her tribe's secrets to a
machine that can pull the memories from her mind. While her
betrayer, Justin Connor, is right beside he, watching her every
move.
Ashala loves her tribe and the Firstwood, it hurts her to think that
because of this machine she is betraying them. This is a great new
series. With unexpected twists and a continuous sense of suspense it
kept me reading till the end. I would recommend reading this book
and I hope the future books in this series are just as good as this
one.
Tahlia Kennewell (Student)
Every day by David Levithan
Text, 2012. ISBN 9781921922954.
(Age: 15+) Recommended. Named only as A, every day is a
different life in a different body. Sometimes A wakes up in the body
of a boy and sometimes in the body of a girl, but always A applies
the guidelines: Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not
interfere. But then A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets
Justin's girlfriend, Rhiannon and discovers that he wants to be with
her every day.
This is a challenging book that is very difficult to classify and to
describe. I had it on my shelf for a very long time, but when it
starting coming up on best lists for 2012, I knew that I would have
to read it and I am so glad that I did. Levithan has delved into
what love is by using A's experiences in different bodies. He
explores love that is casual and complacent in how Justin treats
Rhiannon; he looks at a very caring, accepting love between two
young women and ultimately we see how A looks at love and what A
does to make sure that Rhiannon is happy.
After the initial period of getting used to the fact that A goes
from one body to another - and it is never explained how or why - I
found that A's voice was so authentic that I felt that I knew and
really liked and respected the character that A maintained even
while in different bodies. It is never clear if A is a boy or a
girl, but is just a caring, thoughtful individual who is trying to
take the best possible course in a terrible predicament.
The ideas in this book will be challenging for many as Levithan
looks at love, sexuality and relationships of all kinds, but
ultimately it made me examine the selflessness of real love, no
matter where it is found. It is a book that is sure to promote much
discussion.
Pat Pledger
Croak by Gina Damico
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012. ISBN 9780547608327.
(Age: 13+) Recommended as a humorous paranormal read. Lex's
behaviour has become violent, so her parents have sent her off to
live with her Uncle Mort to try and get her to calm down. She thinks
she is going to be staying on a farm, but when she gets there she is
shocked to find that her uncle is a Grim Reaper and he is going to
teach her the family business. She discovers that she fits in really
well in the town of Croak, but her sense of justice doesn't allow
her to disregard the action of murderers.
I picked this title up from a best book of 2012 list and really
enjoyed its originality and humour. Damico has the ability to write
not only very funny dialogue but she keeps the reader grinning with
her descriptions and the names of the town of Croak, its streets and
surrounds. Her conversations with Edgar Allan Poe and the games of
US presidents in the Afterlife are also hilarious. However there is
also a dark side to the story and the mystery surrounding the
unexplained deaths is riveting and there is also some heartbreak
that will bring a tear to the eye.
Lex is a fabulous heroine. She is smart and fits in well with the
Reapers, but finds that she cannot subdue her sense of justice. It
becomes imperative that she discovers the killer who leaves victims
with strange eyes but no cause of death. This of course gets her
into trouble in the town of Croak and her adventures with Driggs and
a group of young misfit reapers are a great read. The love interest
with Driggs will keep young readers interested but it is her
character, her forthright manner and her quirky sense of humour that
will remain in the reader's mind.
This is a good book to offer teens who would like a break from the
saccharine paranormal romances that abound at the moment.
Pat Pledger
Racing Car is Roaring by Mandy Archer
Ill. by Martha Lightfoot. Busy Wheels series. Scholastic,
2013. ISBN: 9781742835112
(Ages: 3-6) Recommended. Rabbit loves racing around the track with
Racing Car. The big race is about to take place and as the mechanics
do some final checks on Racing Car Rabbit zips up his overalls and
puts on his helmet. VVRROOOMMM goes Racing Car as Rabbit steers it
onto the track and WHOOSH go the cars as they screech around the
bend. But what's that up ahead? The crowd gasps. There's an oil
spill on the track! Can Rabbit and Racing Car get safely around and
will it be Rabbit standing on the winner's podium?
The great elements of this book are its simplicity of story, the
relaxed way it introduces new and technical language and the fun way
it encourages interaction with its readers. The technical language
or terms associated with cars and car racing such as 'pit stop',
'skids' and 'marshall' are printed in bold print allowing young
readers to pick them out and consider them. The illustrations
themselves are clean and bold with primary colours and are very
accurate in their representation of the machinery and its parts and
the race track itself. The last couple of pages dedicate themselves
to factual information about race cars. There is a labelled diagram
of a racing car and labelled pictures of different types of racing
machines, eg. Motorbike, Formula 1 car, rally car.
This is not only a fun and engaging story but is highly factual and
informative - a perfect story to share with those curious
machine-loving preschoolers and young school-age children. Not only
will children pick up a lot of new language and concepts but it
provides ample opportunities for questions and discussions around
what these concepts mean, examining similar terms eg. 'marshall' and
'umpire' and looking at the discourse and symbols of the car racing
world, eg. 'Lights out' means 'go'.
Nicole Smith-Forrest
Sammy and the skyscraper sandwich by Lorraine Francis and Pieter Gudesaboos
Book Island (NZ), 2012. ISBN 978 0 9876696 0.
(Age: 4+) Board book. Picture book. Endeavour. This unusual board
book expounds the tale of a young boy gathering together a whole
range of food items from the kitchen cupboard and the fridge, to
make a sandwich. He piles stuff on top of each other until it
reaches the second floor of the house, passing dad in the bath. Then
on until it reaches the roof, going through the roof to go ever
upward until he needs a crane to add things to the top. The twist at
the end takes Sammy back to reality.
This board book is unusual as it has a large number of words to read
out to a child wanting it read aloud. As it is a board book, it is
one that a child can hold and be rough with, but its size (about
40cm by 25 cm) takes it out of the range of a very young child. It
will need adult supervision because of its size and the number of
words, and children will need help with the story as it is most
unusual, telling a tale about a child using up all the food to build
a sandwich which he then does not eat.
Younger kids will love it being read to them and they will love
finding all the food mentioned in the text, as well as following
Sammy's adventure and mum's patience. Each page has a variety of
things to look at and talk about.
Fran Knight
October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard by Leslea Newman
Candlewick Press, 2012. ISBN
9780763658076.
(Age: 16+) Highly recommended. Matthew Shepard was a 21 year old gay
student who was savagely beaten, tied to a fence and left to die;
all at the beginning of Gay Awareness week at his college in 1998.
And the guest speaker for Gay Awareness week was Leslea Newman, the
author of this verse novel which is a moving and powerful response
to a shocking crime of hate.
It is a slim volume of 68 poems which unfold chronologically; the
first part focuses on the night Matthew was attacked, the second
part on the subsequent trial. Surprisingly perhaps, given the
subject matter, this is not a difficult book to read. Indeed there
is a certain beauty and elegance about the volume which makes the
story it tells even more shocking. And this dichotomy is nowhere
more apparent than in the cover: a seemingly peaceful pastoral scene
which takes on new meaning with the prologue poem The Fence
(before).
Cleverly, the author offers us unique perspectives on events: from
the fence which held Matthew to the moon looking down upon him, from
his cat waiting anxiously at home to the shoes he wore on that
fateful night. The one voice we do not hear is Matthew's. Yet the
humanity of his tale is more imaginatively evoked by revealing how
many were touched by his death.
Newman weaves her tale with a variety of poetic forms, some quite
simple (haiku and rhyming couplets) and some more complex (pantoums
and villanelles). Often it is the sheer simplicity of form that will
strike a chord with the reader whilst the variety complements the
varied voices. Newman's 'explanation of poetic form' at the end of
the volume, only adds to the value and depth of the work.
Newman's sympathy clearly lies with Matthew and she openly labels
his attackers as 'monsters'. However, extensive notes at the
end of her collection outline her sources and the context of each
poem and if readers are concerned about her bias, there are also
several pages of resources for further viewing.
If October Mourning is A Song for Matthew Shephard, it is also a
song of hope: that we can learn from his death. This is not just a
lesson in humanity, it is an extraordinary achievement.
Deborah Marshall
Granny Grommet and me by Dianne Wolfer and Karen Blair
Walker Books, 2013. ISBN 978 1 921720 16 1.
(Age: 5+) Highly recommended. Picture book. Overcoming fear.
Grandmothers. The child in this delightful picture book fears the
water. Often going with Granny to the beach with her friends, the
Granny Grommets, she sees them riding the waves, ducking, diving,
twisting and turning as they surf in the bay. The child stays on the
shore with the dog, watching. Sometimes she ventures into the edge
of the water, but jumps back to shore when something touches her
legs. Slowly the grandmothers urge her to take to the water. First
they sit in the shallow rock pool, making sure she feels safe and
comfortable, then the larger pool that is the ocean is braved, when
with goggles and the four women nearby she looks at what the ocean
offers.
The child in the story is not given a name and could be a boy or
girl, so will be accepted by all readers: a child fearing
something and being helped to overcome that fear gently and with
support.
The superb illustrations carry the text beautifully, the use of
water colour with chinagraph pencil, aptly showing the beach and its
movement as the child and the older women tackle the problem. The
four women in their various swimsuits and then wet suits are just
wonderful, their lolly legs striding the sand with confidence, their
belief that the child will come in too, paramount. There are touches
which I really enjoyed: the larger sized print on each page, the
four colours used to differentiate the four women, the observed
animals, the seagulls, the dog and the life beneath the waves. Both
the story and its illustrations are just lovely and will be used by
both parents and teachers to tell of someone else's fears, and how
they were overcome and to showcase a day at the beach. And above all
that, to tell a great story and share the luminous illustrations.
Fran Knight
Birthday bonanza by Aleesah Darlison
Ill. by Serena Geddes. Totally Twins series, Bk 4. New
Frontier Publishing, 2012. ISBN: 9781921928208. 188 pages.
(Age: 7-11) Recommended. This is the fourth 'fabulous diary of
Persephone Pinchgut' and strange names, witty musings and humorous
family drama are what you will find hidden within. This is one of
those books that you feel like you've read a hundred times before
but is nevertheless indulgently fun to read. Young girls will love
'sensible' Persephone and her love-hate relationship with her
identical twin sister Portia. Bossy, self-obsessed Portia is
completely different to Perse who is kind and sensitive. Just back
from a fabulous holiday in Fiji Perse and Portia are busy planning
for their 11th birthday party. Well Persephone is planning - Portia
is scheming how to have a birthday extravaganza complete with disco
ball and hundreds of guests. It seems that the birthday party is all
the twins have to worry about or look forward to . . . until
numerous bombshells are dropped and all pandemonium breaks lose.
Engagements, surprise house guests, lots of babies and one princess
party ensues. In between all this there is Portia attacking baby
possums, yoga classes in the house, cake obsession, wet undies being
thrown around, happy dances over white bread sandwiches and many
un-received 'secret signals'.
This is a lovely book which deep down is about two sisters who may
be different but love each other dearly. It also deals very lightly
with issues of divorce, step-parents and coping with family
change. Full of wit and humour and funny family happenings and
conversations this diary story flows easily, is well written and has
some fantastically amusing black and white illustrations scattered
throughout. A classic pre-teen read that girls will simply love.
Nicole Smith-Forrest
The Burning Library by Geordie Williamson
Text Publishing, 2012. ISBN 9781921922985.
(Age: Mid secondary - Adult) Recommended. Is 'greatness an attribute
that we value in authors anymore'? In The Burning Library: Our
Great Novelists Lost and Found, Geordie Williamson takes the
provocative stance, particularly against Australian academia, that
students are not exposed to enough of our greatest writers. Of
course, 'greatness' can be subjective but Williamson believe that
the Australian literary canon has been dismantled by academics 'in
the name of greater inclusiveness and democracy' - hence the
perceived equal value of a bus ticket and Moby Dick, for example.
Williamson is knowledgeable and erudite and his book will hopefully
generate, if not 'Literature Wars', but a powerful petition for
study of Australian classics.
About fourteen authors and their works are analysed in dedicated
chapters, although there is overlap between these writers and also
those not featured, such as Thea Astley. Williamson focuses on his
chosen authors' most important works, or those that advance his own
thesis. Even though Williamson explains why he has selected these
authors, it would be interesting for readers to add to his list.
Thomas Shapcott and David Foster come to mind. And conversely, how
can Williamson justify including Thomas Keneally and Patrick White
as overlooked writers, even if White may not be read as much as
expected? Female writers form about fifty percent of the content - a
laudable but unforced effort by Williamson. They include Elizabeth
Harrower, Christina Stead and Amy Witting (who, incidentally, worked
at Sydney's Cheltenham Girls' High School). The Burning Library is a useful resource to scaffold close
study of the chosen authors and their texts in secondary and
tertiary institutions. Quotes from great writing are also analysed.
But will this book tempt young readers to read any of the featured
literature? I think it could be the catalyst for a fascination with
Australian literature but, of course, nothing beats reading the
books themselves.
Joy Lawn
A New Year's reunion by Yu Li-Qiong
Ill. by Zhu Cheng-Liang. Walker Books, 2012. ISBN 9781 4063 3857 7.
(Age: 5+) Highly recommended. Picture book. New Year. Taiwan.
Family. Multiculturalism. First published in Taiwan in 2008, this
absolutely charming story offers much more than a tale of father's
homecoming for the New Year. We are simply told that he works away,
helping to build houses in faraway places, as the family prepares
for his return. In the notes at the end of the book, we read that he
is one of the 100 million migrant workers employed in China each
year, given a few days off at New Year to return to his family. When
he comes home the family is happy and joyous, He gives them presents
and then has his beard shaved off to become the father the little
girl, Maomao, remembers. Together the trio make sticky rice balls
for New Year, with Daddy inserting a lucky coin into one. Whoever
retrieves the fortune coin receives good luck. Maomao is the lucky
one, but during the day while visiting friends for New Year, she
loses the coin. A resolution of her loss is paralleled with the loss
of her father as he returns to work in the new year.
I found myself reading and rereading this story as I found more and
more about the lifestyles and customs of Taiwanese people about whom
I knew little. Not only is there a range of things presented in the
text, but the illustrations reflect the lives of these people as
well. The background to each page draws the eye to the abundance of
customs, festivities, clothing, food, housing and activities. I was
totally fascinated by the colour and life of the drawings, and the
book is now by my bed as I reread it. The Chinese dragon snakes its
way across two pages as the family visits their friends, rugged up
in their new padded coats against the very cold weather. The family
makes sticky rice balls to eat, and later walk through the streets
with distinctive housing. The whole will not only add considerably
to any child's understanding of how families celebrate New Year
elsewhere, but also how families operate and work together. Few
children here would only see their fathers once a year, and yet in
this story, both children do just that. It is not only a salutary
read but one that adds considerably to our knowledge of a country
within our region.
Fran Knight
Rocket into space! by Ragbir Bhathal & Johanna Davids
National Library of Australia, Canberra, 2012. Unpaged. Hardback.
(Age: 3-10) Recommended. This book is a pleasant surprise and much
more than I expected from the title. I enjoyed the creativity
generated through the collaboration of Ragbir Bhathal, an
astrophysicist; Johanna Davids, an early childhood educator; and the
National Library of Australia, as a National Year of Reading 2012
project. They challenge children's curiosity about the universe, in
which they live. This publication is well-written, thoughtful and
never patronising.
The adventure begins with Maddy and Jack as they set off on a rocket
journey through space. There are plenty of fascinating facts eg for
the 4 gas giant planets of our solar system we are given the
distance from the sun, time to go around the sun, average
temperature at cloud tops and atmospheric composition. As one would
expect from a 2012 publication the planetary astronomy is up-to-date
and poor Pluto is missing from the featured planets.
Quality production and design have been paramount. The predominantly
blue and silver cover is inviting, attractive... even glamorous. The
illustrations are colourful with rich, natural colours being used to
create the ambience of the world beyond our earth.
There are wheels, tabs and flaps to physically engage the young
child in the journey with Maddy, Jack and their red rocket ship. It
is not a board book, but the pages and movable parts are made from
strong card for little hands to manipulate. Fun projects include
Make a solar system mobile; Make a crater; and Day and night.
Activities include Name a comet and E. T.
There are extras, too, including information about Astronomy
resources in the NLA. At this point it would have been useful to
have clear directions to the NLA website for research purposes.
There is a comprehensive list acknowledging images used in the book,
but at times it is difficult to ascertain which image belongs to
which acknowledgement. Page numbers in this section are not helpful,
as the book is unpaged.
It is suitable for children aged 3-10 years, as a gift or as a
special Library resource.
Margaret Strickland
Because Amelia smiled by David Ezra Stein
Candlewick Press, 2012. ISBN 978 0 7636 4169 6.
(Age: 5+) Warmly recommended. Picture book. Interconnectedness. When
Amelia smiled, Mrs Higgins smiles as well, thinking of her son far
away. She cooks him some biscuits and sends them on. In Mexico
Lionel and his class eat the biscuits, then Sensacia decides that
she too will be teacher like Lionel and so shows her kickboxing
technique to her cousin who videos it, placing it on the internet.
Far away in England a group of dancers see her technique and emulate
it for their dance, which leads them to Israel where they are in a
recital. Each positive thing is carried from one person to another
until the smile eventually reaches back to where it came form,
enriching people's lives along the way, making people connect with
each other.
A simple premise, the tale of just one smile will help bring smiles
to those who read the story, adding their own versions of
interconnectedness and togetherness.
The spectacular use of multi media, crayon, water colour and pencil,
brings each city to life, drawing on varied styles to capture the
essences of those places. I love the pages set in Paris, with its
journey along the Seine, and the high wire act at Positanao. Each
brought smiles of recognition to my face and will delight the range
of readers this admirable book attracts. If a little obvious in its
plea for togetherness, it matters not a jot, as children everywhere
will agree wholeheartedly.
Fran Knight
