Ill. by Nick Price. Bloomsbury, 2012. ISBN 9781408834244
(Age: 3-7) Picture book, Environment, Christmas. Elizabeth Beresford
died in 2010, and her famously inventive and ground breaking stories
about the Wombles are now being reprinted. The Wombles, conceived
initially to clean up Wimbledon Common, first appeared in 1968 when
environmental themes in children's literature were sparse. A
television series followed and the Wombles became very well known in
the United Kingdom with a song that most people can sing or at least
hum. With their theme, 'make good use of bad rubbish' they proved to
be a herald of good behavour.
In this book, The snow Womble, first published in 1975, only a hint
is given of the original intent of the series of books. When the
Wombles emerge from their burrows on a very wintry morning, the
whole of the common is under snow and so very white and very clean.
The young Wombles decide that they do not need to tidy up today so
take some time off. Three decide to build a snow Womble, but
while Bungo builds the model, Orinoco sleeps and Tamsk
snowboards. The finished product is made to look like Great Uncle
Bulgaria so that when Tamsk snowboards down the hills he calls out
to uncle to move, which of course, he does not. The inevitable
happens, and several valuable lessons learnt, especially when Great
Uncle Bulgaria emerges from his burrow to hear the little Wombles
talking about him.
At the end of this fun filled book is a sheet of stickers for kids
to use, showing each of the Wombles.
Fran Knight
Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay
Penguin (Australia) 2012. First published (Australia) Cheshire,
1967. ISBN: 978067007685.
Recommended. 'Whether Picnic at Hanging Rock is fact or
fiction, my readers must decide for themselves.' - Joan Lindsay.
My first impression of the text Picnic at Hanging Rock was
that it would be an English story about well-behaved girls at a
boarding school who went on a picnic; however I soon found that this
classic is much more than this. The children's novel is a hauntingly
atmospheric tale which has wormed its way into the hearts and minds
of Australians providing an unsolved mystery of whether the story
was indeed fictional. Our story starts at Appleyard College for
Young Ladies where students and teachers alike are revelling in the
holiday of St. Valentine's Day. The girls set off (with two
governesses) on a long anticipated picnic to Hanging Rock and spend
a lazy afternoon at the picnic grounds. However, while exploring;
three senior girls disappear without a trace leaving their
companion, Edith delirious with terror. The incident soon sets off a
magnificent series of events.
A dramatic mystery without a conclusion Joan Lindsay shows a
previously unknown devotion to her work. The novel was written over
a period of four weeks and as much mystery surrounds the story as
the publication (the novel was published purposely without the final
chapter). Although the more pressing mystery of this novel is
whether or not this is truly fiction? The author bids the reader to
decide for themselves however I remind the reader that there is a
grain of truth in every work of fiction.
Kayla Gaskell (Student, age sixteen)
Time between us by Tamara Ireland Stone
Doubleday Children's Books, 2012. ISBN 9780857531155. Time between us begins in San Francisco, 2012, and moves
backwards into a main setting, Chicago, 1995. Anna is a 16-year-old
girl who dreams of travel and adventure, but these dreams are
smothered by hum-drum teenage life.
Bennett is 17 (in 2012) and is trying to find his sister Brooke, who
is lost travelling in the past. Destiny pulls the two teenagers
together in their search for Brooke, and their struggle to face
their doomed love affair.
Along the way, the couple are faced with a series of obstacles
preventing them from fulfilling their two goals, and towards the end
Anna is faced with a difficult and potentially like-changing
decision.
The characters have been written before: the relationship in the
center of the book echoes overtones of Stephanie Meyer's Twilight
saga, and Bennett provides a mysterious, brooding Edward-esque
figure. Tamara Ireland Stone weaves an intricate and involving set
of scenarios to test her characters individually and as a unit.
While the relationship between Anna and Bennett can be similarly
found in many already existing novels, there is a sense of freshness
and vibrancy injected into this typical romantic plot. The presence
of time travel creates a quasi-science fiction mood, while the
reality of the characters and their emotions brings it back into
dramatic territory without letting the fantasy get too out of hand.
The situation of the characters remains fixedly unrelatable, but the
protagonists are fairly average and easy to identify with.
Tamara Ireland Stone is clearly a seasoned writer, as she weaves
different locations and time periods cleverly and effectively. Time between us is an unconventional and gripping love story,
bound to challenge existing notions of romantic young adult fiction.
Isobel Davies (Student)
Possessed by Niki Valentine
Sphere, 2012. ISBN 9781847444561.
(Age: 15+) Possessed is the story of Emma Russell, a young woman
from a simple working class environment who is a talented musician.
Her abilities have resulted in the opportunity to study music at a
prestigious university and it is here she meets identical twins
Sophie and Matilde. For some reason they befriend Emma and introduce
her to a life of champagne, parties and social status. Emma is
naturally drawn to the quieter twin, Matilde and is devastated when
she unexpectedly commits suicide. Bewilderingly, Sophie seems
to thrive after the death of her twin but her relationship with Emma
becomes increasingly bizarre.
Things begin to happen to Emma that border on the supernatural. She
wakes up in strange places, loses great chunks of time and appears
to have participated in events that she has no recall of. Sophie
also begins to behave erratically, at times warm and loving and on
other occasions cruel and spiteful. How much of these strange
happenings can be attributed to grief? Emma becomes more and more
fragile as the story progresses to the dark climax.
This book has been described as a psychological thriller,
reminiscent of Black Swan and this description is probably the most
apt. The reader has to grapple with many questions such as why the
popular, affluent twins are attracted to wallflower Emma in the
first instance and why Emma becomes so heavily invested in them so
early in the story, particularly when the price of the friendship
seems so high. However, like shifting sands nothing is quite
what it seems and reality is continually distorted. The reader must
draw their own conclusions as to where the truth lies.
Tina Cain
The Enormouse Pearl Heist by Geronimo Stilton
Geronimo Stilton Series, bk 51. Scholastic, 2012. ISBN
9780545341035.
(Ages: 7-10) Highly recommended. This series is the most popular in
our library; the novels hardly spend any time on the shelf! Each
book is a fabumouse, fast-paced adventure featuring Geronimo Stilton
the editor of The Rodents' Gazette. The readers love the colourful
word-art, bright illustrations and cheesy puns.
This book stays true to type as Geronimo and his friends embark on
another exciting escapade. Petunia Pretty Paws an environmentalist
and TV reporter (who is Geronimo's crush), invites him to go scuba
diving in the South Mousific Ocean, staying on Shell Island.
Whilst diving for the first time, Geronimo discovers a giant blue
oyster with a huge glowing pearl inside. This leads to a rollicking
adventure with plenty of problems from the Provolone family. When
Geronimo publishes a special feature about the pearl in The Rodent's
Gazette more difficulties occur. Luckily Aunt Sweetfur, Benjamin and
Bugsy Wugsy help to save the day.
This series is a great for boosting the independent readers'
confidence. They are written in the first person making it easy to
empathise with Geronimo and his quirky character traits. He
sometimes lacks in self-belief and has a great support network of
friends and family. This book starts with a colourful illustration
of all of Geronimo Stilton's colleagues, family and friends in his
office at the Gazette and ends with a detailed map of Mouse Island.
I would highly recommend this book as a great addition to the
series. Reading them with a class can lead into some cheesetastic
learning activities: rebus stories, writing a new adventure for the
characters, mapping skills, develop class newsletters adding
different font styles and types as embellishment.
Rhyllis Bignell
Kicking and dreaming; a story of heart, soul, and rock and roll by A. and N. Wilson (with Charles R. Cross)
Harper Collins, New York. 2012. 279p.
(Senior secondary - adult) Autobiography. I have to confess that I
have no predilection for biography, where selected omissions can
invent an entirely different portrait. The travelogue of the two
sisters fronting American rock band Heart is penned by
Charles R. Cross but written as if alternating the voices of Ann and
Nancy Wilson. Kicking and Dreaming proves to be a typical name dropping
memoir and as such will appeal. A lifestyle of free love and drugs
seems glossed over and the girls surprisingly conservative, all
things considered. Whether any seamy events remain unselected or
not, these women share a strong sense of family - a lifelong
devotion to parents, siblings, childhood friends and to each other.
Yet both sisters despite their recurring insecurities about body
image, infertility and relationships; share a passion for music and
a dedication to the band they joined in Canada in 1972.
The most striking theme of the autobiography of the Wilson sisters,
is their exploration of sexism in their industry. Fame provides a
vehicle for Nancy, and Ann in particular, to confirm firsthand the
insidious male domination of Rock music both on-stage and off. Fully
aware that their performing and recording careers, though purporting
to be unconventional, directly reflected society in this respect;
the sisters nevertheless earned considerable respect as musicians,
lead vocalists, song writers and as co-authors. And on cue, almost
in affirmation, Heart will finally be inducted into the Rock
and Roll Hall of Fame in April 2013. Only three bands fronted by
women have received the honour - Jefferson Airplane, Fleetwood Mac
and the Pretenders. Frequently lauded as an inspiration for more
well-known musicians, featured often in Rolling Stone magazine and
with 40 years of good record sales, this acknowledgement is
certainly overdue.
The alternating voices of Ann and Nancy Wilson keep the perspectives
fresh and the impression of autobiography credible. No 1 hits such
as Crazy on You, Barracuda and Magic Man are
impressive enough but anecdotes involving most of the great folk,
pop and rock musicians of our time maintain our interest, most
notably Elton John, Lynyrd Skynard, Pearl Jam and Paul McCartney. I
know one die-hard Led Zepplin fan on campus will be checking out
this one!
Deborah Robins
The Glass Forest by Andrew Peters
Chicken House, 2012. ISBN 9781906427474.
(Age: 12+) Arborium is a kingdom that exists in the towering
canopies of ancient trees, presided over by King Quercus and
protected from afar by Corwenna, Queen of the Ravens. Steeped in
ritual and tradition it is home to Ark, who despite being only
fourteen years old, has been bestowed with special powers which make
him the principal defender of Arborium. The kingdom is under threat
from Maw, an artificial, technology driven civilization
characterized by towering structures of glass and steel. Maw wants
Arborium because wood is a scarce and valuable commodity and whoever
controls the forests wields enormous financial and political power.
Ark and his friends become aware that Maw has developed highly
sophisticated weaponry which it plans to use to destroy the tree
dwellers. Ark and his trusty ally, Mucum decide to enter Maw as
spies to collect information which will enable them to thwart their
enemy. It is a highly dangerous mission and time is against them.
The envoy of Maw, Fenestra, is orchestrating the invasion and
invites senior officials for a briefing. Mucum is able to trick her
daughter, Randall, to plant a spying device but when they are
uncovered all three are in immediate danger. Will they make it back
to Arborium alive and how can they find a way to match the mighty
resources of Maw?
This book is a sequel to Ravenwood and will delight fans and
those who enjoy dystopian or alternate world fiction, such as Lord
of The Rings. It is exciting, fast paced and sophisticated.
Mucum provides tension relief with his comical banter and hints of a
special connection between Ark and Randall add another dimension to
the story which perhaps the author intends to explore in a further
book. Although the book stands alone, it would be worthwhile reading
the first one for greater background knowledge.
Tina Cain
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Third Wheel by Jeff Kinney
Puffin, 2012. ISBN 9780143307334.
The life of Greg Heffley becomes complicated when a Valentine's Day
dance is organized for the middle school. He doesn't want to be the
only one without a partner because that would look really uncool.
Greg becomes preoccupied with ways to make himself seem more
attractive, but there are more boys than girls in his class and the
competition is fierce. Uncle Gary tries to dispense some helpful
advice but Mum seems intent on humiliating him in front of
classmates. Greg and his best mate Rowley decide to accompany
Abigail to the dance as a group date but Greg is secretly confident
she will be his partner before the night is out. This is
one of a popular series for upper primary children, written in a
warm, easy to read
style. Every page has entertaining illustrations that break up the
text making reading a less daunting experience for the reluctant
reader. Children will be able to relate to the dilemmas Greg finds
himself in but best of all, they will laugh out loud at his witty
asides and observations.
Tina Cain
Troggle the troll by Nick Falk and Tony Lowe
Random House Australia, 2012. ISBN 9781742756011.
(Age: 4-6) Picture book. Troggle the troll is unhappy. He lives with
his family under the bridge in a hole in the ground, and each night
when dinner is about to commence, he finds something to dislike.
Postman Pie and Teacher Tart just do not appeal, and so he goes
hungry. His siblings and parents however tuck in. When it is his
turn to catch dinner, Troggle leaves the house in some despair.
Waiting under the bridge he waits for someone to venture along. When
Tom is that person, he cannot capture him to take him home for tea,
and the two come to a mutually harmonious solution.
This is a very cute story, full of laughs about poor old Troggle's
dilemma, but equally funny when the meals are served up at his
house. The luminous illustrations carry each page beautifully,
reflecting what is happening in the easy to read text. And when
Troggle and Tom find a happy common ground with vegetables, then the
tables are turned for the meals to be served at Troggle's house.
For classes looking at meals and vegetables in particular, this will
be an easy lead in to the discussion.
Fran Knight
Ketchup clouds by A. Pitcher
Orion Publishing Group, 2012. 296p. ISBN 9781780620305.
(Age: 14+) Highly Recommended. Realistic. In My Sister Lives on the
Mantelpiece, Annabel Pitcher described the breakdown of a family
after a child's death. This subject matter is sustained in her last
book, Ketchup Clouds. However, the narrator's role in the tragedy is
pivotal even if less circumstantial than in McEwan's Atonement. In
both, the confusion of young love evokes a palpable absolution in
readers despite calamitous consequences.
Retold from Zoe's perspective, we can understand how she
unintentionally came to be playing two brothers at once by seeing
Aaron behind Max's back. We see how she struggled with both her
kindness and her true feelings, to change the spiralling tragedy.
Why didn't she simply invent a gross habit and get herself
conveniently dumped? But Zoe's guilt, exacerbated by the boys'
grieving mother, leads her to enter into a correspondence with a
murderer on Death Row in Texas, who was convicted of a crime of
passion. The letter format works well for a slow reveal confession
and the exercise of unburdening, not to a psychologist or priest but
to a kindred spirit, is believable. Whether she actually sent the
letters to Stuart Harris or not is unclear but she certainly never
received a response or never wanted one given her fictitious return
address.
The double tragedy is that our decisions sometimes mean that there
is no going back, condemning the penitent to a half-life of
compromise and suppressed memories. Pitcher has written another
engaging cautionary tale - this time in the epistolary tradition.
Young adults will not easily forget it.
Deborah Robins
Seven Little Australians by Ethel Turner
Penguin group 2012. First published by Ward Lock, 1894. ISBN 9780670076871.
It was my first time reading this Australian classic and I soon
found myself engrossed in the story of these unruly children as they
got up to all kinds of mischief. At first the numerous children were
confusing but as each personality became more defined the characters
took on a life of their own as they shared a story from the past.
This distinctly Australian story tells us about the mischief of the
seven Woolcot children at their home of Misrule. After leaving The
General at the barracks with their father, Judy Woolcot, the
ringleader and instigator of the seven's mischievous enterprises is
sent away to boarding school. While she is gone her brothers and
sisters become somewhat tamer and less mischievous however when Judy
returns from boarding school she is in ill health and makes her
siblings promise to keep her return a secret from their father and
inexperienced step-mother. However it isn't long before The Captain
discovers Judy in a disused loft in a state of utter vulnerability,
the doctor is called and a holiday is suggested. However this
is a holiday which is to have disastrous results for the Woolcot
family.
Throughout the novel a number of issues are observed including the
implications of irresponsibility, vanity and selfishness, and while
the author states that Australian children are never good she wrote
in the hope that they might become aware of the consequences which
accompany them. I would recommend this book for children and
families as it is full of life lessons and cautions as well as being
one of those uniquely Australian novels.
Kayla Gaskell (age 16)
Brave squish rabbit by Katherine Battersby
Brave squish rabbit by Katherine Battersby
UQP, 2012. ISBN 9780702249433.
(Age: 3-5) Picture book. Bravery. With an enticingly tactile soft
cover and piercing blue background to the little picture of brave
rabbit and his soft toy, children will love to pick up this book and
have it read to them. Inside they read of the rabbit, called Squish
and the list of things he is frightened of: storms and lightning,
chickens, and especially the dark. Each page shows Squish as a small
drawing in the bottom corner of the page, cowering with fear. But as
he develops more strength to overcome his fears, his image increases
in size. Looking for his friend Twitch, he is bereft when she has
gone, so he searches in the dark for her, gradually gaining more
confidence.
While this book reprises the cute character of Squish, it may not
win the recognition received by the first book, Squish rabbit, which
won an award from CBCA in 2012. The story will capture the attention
of younger readers, and help them think about some of their fears,
while providing a book both at home and in the classroom for fears
to be discussed. The illustrations are a mixture of found objects,
collage, line drawing and digital collage thus further exciting
interest in the way the book is presented.
Fran Knight
Unforgotten by Tohby Riddle
Allen and Unwin, 2012. ISBN 9781742379722.
(Ages: 10+) Picture book. Memories. Caring for others. With the
plethora of novels written with angels as the main characters, it is
not surprising to see a picture book for older readers reprising
that theme. Many novels contain fallen angels, and in this one,
fallen is physical not a state of mind. Divided into three sections,
the bare bones of this picture book can be outlined as follows: the
first reveals what angels do for humanity, the second shows an angel
which has been overwhelmed by the work it must do, while the third
exposes a group of children and animals reviving the angel enough
for it to return home. All done in spare prose, the illustrations
entreat and seduce the reader to dwell, to admire, and to muse.
The angels oversee the human population in Europe, soaring overhead,
watching, being there, comforting, warming and mending. Their coverage
is enormous: there are wars to contend with, poverty, homelessness,
hunger, loneliness. But the angels keep on, until one day, one angel
can no longer go on. It falls to the ground, exhausted. And there it
stays, unnoticed and unloved, forgotten and alone. It is found by
workers who surround it with safety markers and then carry it away
to make a plinth for it to stand on.
With the plinth and the statue installed in a public place, it
lingers for years, unloved and dying, until a group of
children and animals take notice of it. They take it back to their
dwelling, and there nurse it back to health until, noticed and
loved, revived, it travels back to where it came from. The kindness
of strangers has overcome its forgotten state.
With acres of black space, the illustrations, made up of collage and
filled in pictorial work, draw the eye in to notice the detail. And
what detail! Photos from the turn of the century European cities are
juxtaposed with photos of New York, warehouses and lifts; pictures
of people in Victorian dress stand alongside those in more modern
clothing, or those of the 1930's; cars from the early part of the
twentieth century stream along the roads, bridges and buildings
highlighting the ever passing traffic, both of people and cars,
ignoring the angel. People have statue heads, bodies are part statue
and human, emphasising their indifference, watching as a statue
might, with unseeing eyes. Metaphor abounds in this richly layered
book, and will be looked at with awe by someone intrigued with the
symbolism of the illustrations. Not for everyone, this sumptuously
produced book will find a willing home amongst more discerning
middle school readers.
Fran Knight
Exposure by Mal Peet
Walker, 2012. Pbk. ISBN 9781406340914.
For decades, writers and teachers alike have tried to find
accessible ways of teaching Shakespeare to high school students.
Over the years, the Bard's work has been translated into graphic
novels, prose and short story form, and of course deconstructed with
York's Notes.
Here we find an approach which manages to explore the themes and
ideas within Shakespeare's plays, but retain a modernistic approach.
Mal Peet's Exposure takes one of Shakespeare's lesser known plays,
Othello, to a modern setting, and in doing so creates a fathomable
and more accessible guide to the play.
Peet is clever in utilizing theatrical writing and elements of play
format to establish characters and situations for the reader. This
approach may also ease students into the form of playwriting.
While this traditional style can be found in the novel (for another
example, each part of the book is labelled as ACT 1, 2, 3... ), the
story-telling oozes with a gritty, urban mood and a lingo to match.
The prose is hard-hitting, powerful and frequently moving, delving
into mature territory which many YA authors leave untouched.
The dialogue is dramatic and the social commentary scathing -
Exposure is a book crackling with intensity, wit and drama, which
finds a voice speaking the truth of Shakespeare's work and the truth
of our own times.
Henry Vaughan (Student)
Burning Blue by Paul Griffin
Text Publishing, 2012. ISBN 9781922079145.
What's not to like about Nicole Castro? She's smart, popular and
dates the best looking guy at school. She rides horses in her spare
time and drives a flash car because her daddy is rich. Did I also
mention she is drop dead gorgeous? Sometimes you just want to hate
that kind of girl and somebody does! One day at school in a quiet
corridor, someone throws acid at Nicole's face, scarring that
perfect face forever.
Nicole is forced to take a break from school while she undergoes
treatment but she returns regularly to meet the school counselor.
In the waiting room she befriends fellow student and computer geek,
Jay Nazarro. He has problems enough of his own. It's hard to recover
from the humiliation of suffering an epilectic seizure complete with
soiled pants in front of the whole school assembly, particularly
when it's uploaded on YouTube. His mother has died and when his dad
is not at work he escapes from grief with heavy drinking. However
Jay decides to find out who is responsible for the attack on Nicole
which sets him on a dangerous path where suspicion falls in the most
unlikeliest of places.
This book is a satisfying thriller that haunts the reader to the
very end. Griffin ensures that our loyalties are constantly shifting
as the characters are manipulated to reveal more of their true
selves. As a computer hacker, solitary and wary, Jay is reminiscent
of Lisbeth Salander in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, with his
ability to uncover relevant data to move the investigation forward.
This book will appeal to anyone fascinated by understanding the
motivations of those that commit crime.
Tina Cain
