Pan Macmillan, 2023. ISBN: 9781761264900. (Age:16+) Recommended.
Eva has musical talent that needs to be recognised. Her one desire is to make the finals of Unearthed the Triple-J music competition for High Schoolers. She is in year 12, so this is her last chance. Cooper, her one time boyfriend, has managed to convince her to give it one more shot …. not to resume their relationship but to add a band to embellish her vocals and keyboards. Lead guitarist Cooper has always been able to twist her heart and inspire her, so they embark on a final wild weekend of creativity with Ant, the drummer and moody Ruby the bassist added to give Eva’s lyrics more gravitas. The song they need to produce has a deadline that tortures them and the weekend has many moments of tension and heartbreak. Through it all Mim records her ‘fly-on-the-wall’ documentary of the process, documenting a drama with notes of romance, teen angst, occasional humour and misunderstanding, and the tension of an impossible pursuit for success and maybe fame. All this cacophony of desire takes place in the studio on the grounds of an absent but famous old rock star, who just happens to be Cooper’s father.
This is a very compelling YA story with the accompanied beat of drums and guitars and ambition. With the occasional interruption of mental illness issues, feminine hygiene concerns, unrequited love and the underlying fear of failure, this story’s deadline to create a song adds a tension that creates a powerful impact for the reader. The ‘lockdown’ in the studio to force the creative project seems more like a teen disaster (alcohol is involved), but musical progress is possible. I am sure that readers, with or without musical connections, aged 16+ will enjoy the journey of creation of One Song. This is a teen story, a roller coaster of discovery with many twists on the romance front, but it is also a coming-to-maturity tale that is entertaining on many levels.
Yassmin Abdel-Magied, a Muslim woman born in Sudan, brought up in Australia, now living in London, social justice advocate and engineer, has written a powerful and important book based on survey questions from UK children on the topic of racism. After a brief introduction from the author, she explains how the chapters are organised with an important guide giving strategies to deal with any heightened emotions that may occur from reading the book. The first section deals with the history of racism. This is followed by the second section which deals with what racism looks like today and the final section provides information about standing up and speaking out against racism. There is a comprehensive glossary and index in the final pages.
The first question, ‘Why does racism exist?’ is explained in detail and talks about colonisation, enslavement, and the desire for some countries to make money and control others. ‘Divide and conquer’ is discussed with an example presented geared towards school-aged readers. The second section begins with the four key ways racism shows itself: internalised (inside us), interpersonal (between people), institutional (rules in school and government), systemic (how it all comes together). Each is explained clearly in accessible language with excellent examples given. The final section has some powerful questions answered. For example, ‘Why should I care about racism when there are so many other things going on?' and ‘All the bad stuff happened so long ago. I didn’t do it. Why should I care? It’s not my fault.’
Throughout this book the author ‘talks’ to her readers gently, and respectfully gives examples of racism from around the world. She shares many wonderful strategies to enable young people to rethink how they can be a person of change. The use of brightly coloured illustrations, speech bubbles, infographics, tables, charts, text boxes with key facts, all aim to provide the reader with visual prompts to emphasise and support the significance of this topic.
With the ‘Indigenous Voice to Parliament’ referendum in Australia imminent, this book would be a valuable resource to share with school students in upper primary and secondary classes, to enable them to grasp the history behind racism and how it has influenced what is happening in 2023.
Rock the Boat, 2023. ISBN: 9780861542963. (Age:10-14) Highly recommended.
During the first day of his family holiday on the Island of Texel in The Netherlands, Sam meets Tess, an imposing 12-year-old girl who immediately involves Sam in her everyday adventures.Sam’s older brother Jasper has broken his ankle and so the family can’t enjoy the normal activities together on the island. Sam’s mother also gets frequent migraines, adding to the restrictions on their family time together. Tess has her own problems; she has never met her father and has hatched a plan to lure him to the island to see if she wants to involve him in the life she has with her very independent, confident mother.She has conflicted feelings about her father because of the way her mother is determined to keep him a secret until she is eighteen. Sam suspects she has befriended him to assist her to bring her plans to fruition.
Sam is grappling with other issues.When he and Tess help an old man bury his pet canary it starts a cycle of thought about death and what he would do if he lost his loved ones. He starts to spend less time with them to see if this would help him in the long run.He is helped to realise the stupidity of this thinking by the endearing elderly gentleman in the story.The characters are well-developed, and the imperfect relationship Sam has with his older brother is realistic and heartwarming. The book was made into an award-winning Dutch film titled My Extraordinary Summer with Tess and the book has been translated into 13 languages.
Themes Friendship, Fathers, Holidays, family.
Gabrielle Anderson
Baby Day by Jane Goodwin and Davina Bell. Illus. by Freya Blackwood
Allen & Unwin, 2023. ISBN: 9781761470080. (Age:1+) Highly recommended.
This inviting board book of the tumultuous events occurring at baby’s first birthday party begs to be shared widely. Sturdy construction and more pages than is usually offered in a board book, kids will gather round to have it read aloud, enjoying the fun of a group of kids celebrating a birthday, laughing at the antics of all the other babies, seeking out the family dog as it appears.
Peering out from his cot, baby is taken to the picnic spot where other parents and babies have gathered. Umbrellas and chairs are put out, picnic baskets unpacked, hats put on, pushers parked. The fun begins as the children interact, one wanting to push the other in a cart, one wanting to tell the others what to do, some using the play equipment, several sitting at the table to try the food. Readers will laugh along with the characters on the pages as the children are shown playing together, eating and taking in all the new experiences.
Some are bossy, some lazy, some busy, but each is doing something in the park. Each of Blackwood’s inviting illustrations shows children interacting, doing something together, engaging in a new experience. Sometimes parents are shown in the background, watchful and shepherding. Two mums give out ice creams on one double page, one lost to the dog when the page is turned.
As the day wears on, the children become fractious, and the tone of the text begins to change as some children are sad or loud, but then it is time for cake and everyone crowds around the birthday cake with one candle, ready to sing happy birthday. A photo of the group is to be taken, and again Blackwood’s wonderfull illustration belies the ability of the children to sit together as one. Now it is definitely time to go home as the children become tired and angry, wriggly and cranky. All say goodbye as our family heads for home, baby has a bath and a story and put to bed.
A lovely afternoon birthday party for baby.
This delightful page turner will intrigue younger readers who will recognise many things in the story. The warmth of the occasion resonates through the tale as the children play together, watched over by the parents. Some intervention is required but in the main the children are left to explore, interact and play together.
Children will take notice of the food and play equipment, while older readers and adults will look more closely at the words used to describe the children as they play. The illustrations and text meld to make a wonderful read aloud for all young children, perfectly encapsulating the fun and mayhem experienced at such events. First published in 2019 as a picture book, this is a welcome reissue.
Readers who enjoyed The sea and us will be delighted to discover that Catherine de Saint Phalle has picked up the story of Harold, Marylou, and Verity again in this latest novel, to explore the next phase of their lives at the fish and chip shop in Melbourne. For readers who have not read the first novel, Saint Phalle quickly brings you up to speed, and it is enough to know that Marylou is a severely traumatised Korean sex worker, Harold is a benign, but self-doubting hero, and Verity is the kind-hearted woman who has taken in the lodgers above her shop.
The narrator is Harold, his insecurities revealed to us: he is a good-intentioned person, but repeatedly in his life he has taken flight when situations have become too complex or confrontational, firstly escaping from his mother to Korea for 18 years, and then in this novel, running from his betrayal of Marylou, and immersing himself in the Czech Republic, the country of his ancestors.
The phrase 'flotsam, jetsam, ligan and derelict' recurs in this book, as in the first, the idea of people adrift, without anchorage, some able to be salvaged, some perhaps not. Harold finds his bearings in Prague with the deceptively coincidental connections that unite the past with his present life. He discovers friends and relatives of his family that lived through the trauma of Nazi occupation and Soviet invasion, and he comes to recognise the trauma that continues still today.
The trigger for all these events is a plea from the dying ex-husband of Verity, a man guilty of heinous crimes against women. The harmonious but fragile lives of The sea and us are disturbed, and in the upheaval, Harold makes a mistake.
In this as in its predecessor, the themes of abuse, deception and disappointment are explored, but once again, it is genuine caring, compassion and kindness that win through. Most especially, the lone brave figure of Petr, the little boy that Harold comes to care for, will win your heart. Call me Marlowe is an absolute pleasure to read, in the refreshing and understated way that it draws in the reader and connects with unusual but truly good-hearted people.
A very funny story about size is presented within the tale of a balloon showing how a girl and her elephant see how big the balloon can be inflated. Elly asks the girl if she wants a balloon. Eagerly she accepts but then asks how big it can be. Elly then tries different sizes with his balloon. Is it to be as big as the goldfish bowl, or as big as the bike, or block tower of the moon? Worried that this will be too big, and make the balloon pop, they then make is smaller, the girl suggests it may be as small as her cat, or a piece of toast or a half moon.
But the ball begins to lose its air and raves around the room angrily.
Now it is the balloon's time to speak up.
He is not pleased, and produces a balloon owner’s contract which will make the owner think twice about owning a balloon. A list of words is given which describe ‘big’ which will amuse the readers, and following are several pages of things that will not be good for a balloon. Prickly things like cacti and garden implements, or cutty things like scissors and saws, bitey things like crocodiles and bear traps.
And the last promise is to care for the balloon when it is old and shrunk.
Readers will be laughing out loud at the idea of a balloon making demands, but all are designed to encourage children to treat their balloons with care.
Kids will love the size comparisons adding their own as the story is read, and learn about the best ways to treat a balloon. The girl’s decision making skills are demonstrated as she makes up her mind about what to do. How big should her balloon be is the question uppermost in her mind and to roam over all the possibilities will amuse and intrigue readers.
The yellow of the balloon is reflected throughout the story and the softness of each page underscores the care of a child for her possessions. Overlapping images using yellow, greys and touches of black and copious areas of white point to the strength of the design process. I loved looking for the balloon on each pager, the expressions on the elephant’s face, reading the girl’s feelings and loved being surprised by the change of the pages from bedroom to the moon, then the balloon’s contract. Each page was a delight, informing the readers about the complex plight of the humble balloon. Teacher's notes are available.
Themes Balloons, Caring, Discussion.
Fran Knight
Did I ever tell you how lucky you are? by Dr Seuss
A fifty year anniversary edition of Dr Seuss’ Did I ever tell you how lucky you are? will have children roaring with laughter today just as much as they did half a century ago. The impetus to help children learn to read through humour was behind the Dr Seuss books. And this book of poems offers more than meets the eye.
An old man is giving advice to a younger person, called Duckie by the older man, who now tells us what he said. When you think things are bad and terribly sad then think of others who are far worse off. And so begins a hilarious list of people in predicaments that are ridiculous, magical and fantastic. Think of poor Ali who must mow his uncle’s backyard where the lawn grows back as soon as he mows it, or what about the person riding a camel on a wamel. What happens when the wamel becomes loose. You might be an abandoned left sock, or the Schlottz with an unenviable tail up in knots, or professor De Breeze whose life’s work has been to teach ducks how to read, an impossible task everyone must agree. There are so many far worse off. A new poem is offered on each page, a funny, fantastic poem that begs to be read aloud and read along with the audience. Some poems use incredible made up words, some are tongue twisters, some have names that will play havoc with pronunciation. Try saying the bee watcher poem out loud! Or the Borfin that shlumps, or the puffing poogleborn players going down the stairs.
All of these characters are much more unlucky than the reader.
So thank goodness they are not in their shoes. Seuss reiterates how lucky the reader is, promoting from fifty years ago an interest in mental health, in well being, and equanimity. This is a very funny, light hearted book of poems that will entertain, offering beneath the guise of silliness a whole gamut of understandings that will be discussed and considered by all who read them.
A very funny reading by John Cleeses can be found here. And the illustrations are incredible, bringing the fantastic creatures to the fore, a visual image to hang the poem on, a laugh out loud offering that will be closely observed, perused and absorbed through gales of laughter.
Intriguingly we are told before the story starts in earnest that Otilla has run away, which will have readers asking questions: where has she come from, why is she leaving and where is she going. But none of these are answered in this mesmerising ghost story with a difference. Otilla runs through the dark and creepy forest, the trees coming closer together, until she spies a seemingly abandoned house in the clearing.
She knocks at the door and a skull answers offering her a place of rest if she agrees to carry him. She agrees and the skull show her the mansion. She sees the fireplace in the room where he sits in the evening. In the garden room a pear tree is growing, much of the fruit fallen to the floor. He tells her he can only eat those because he cannot reach the others. She picks one from the tree and he chews it, the pear falling through him and onto the ground. He takes her to the dungeon and shows her the bottomless pit, then up the stairs to the tower, on to the ballroom, where they don their masks and dance. Later over a cup of tea he suggests she stay the night but warns her of the skeleton which visits every night. As he is not as fit as he once was he is worried that he will be caught. They go to sleep but it the middle of th night, the skeleton appears, saying, ‘Give me that skull, I want that skull’ over and over again. Otilla grabs the skull and leads the skeleton up the stairs to the tower where she pushes him over the edge. Later in the night when the skull is asleep she retrieves every one of the skeleton’s bones. She pounds the bones, builds a fire and burns the bones to ash. She carries the ash to the dungeon and throws them into the bottomless pit. Going for a walk the next day, Otilla assures him that the skeleton has gone and he asks her to stay.
An irresistible folk tale, the story has lots of elements which are familiar but take the readers along quite unexpected pathways. Klassen’s wry sense of humour comes to the fore with the detours he takes, keeping the readers on their toes. Otilla is a strong individual, firstly leaving a place she did not like, then hiding out in the wood, taking a skull for a benefactor. She deals with his secret tormentor with dispatch, finding a place to call home.
The wonderful illustrations using very few colours, give an air of gloom and mystery. Minimalist in scope, the ink and water colours creates a grainy texture to his images, the lighter touches, Ottila’s night attire and the pear tree, reinforcing the gloom that surrounds them.
Based on a Tyrollean folk tale which Klassen read in Iceland the story he presents is quite different from the folk tale that he read. His afterword explains the differences and offers thoughts about how the brain works.
Themes Folk tale, Loneliness, Supernatural, Skull, Skeleton.
Selby is a 15-year-old who hates homework and has seriously avoided it for some time. Unfortunately, she can’t keep going this way forever. Studying Hamlet without reading the play will definitely be a problem. Her parents have academic backgrounds but now run a bookshop, so Selby is something of a disappointment. When a tutor becomes necessary, Selby cannot avoid Hamlet any longer. Strangely, when she overcomes her reading struggles with the tutor’s help, she also awakens a fantasy time-slip into Hamlet’s life and is thrust right into the action of Hamlet’s dramatic story. Selby may not be a great reader, but she does have a sensitive heart and is immediately wanting something more for Hamlet than misery, death and sadness. Will her meddling change the face of literature forever or can she solve her own struggles and understand Hamlet at the same time.
I absolutely loved this Shakespeare-inspired story! It is not a difficult or complex read, but it will give insights into Hamlet for YA readers. It is written by a trusted author who normally writes impressively for younger readers, but this tale has many layers that give it maturity and accessibility for older readers. The topic of Hamlet and Shakesperean drama in general lifts this story into the YA literary world. With quotations directly from Hamlet and insights into Shakespeare’s own backstory there is so much to appreciate about this fantastic time-slip drama. Selby’s understanding of the melancholy of Hamlet’s story and her concern for his choices helps to reveal much of the original story’s depths. (Ophelia also gets ‘rescued’ from her place in Hamlet and is given another impossible literary destination that has a lightly humorous quality.) Readers aged13-16 will appreciate this insight into Hamlet that is not hard work. English teachers too will want their struggling readers to read this book if they have become stubbornly resistant to Shakespeare. There is the possibility of joy for those who struggle with reading, but still love a good story.
Themes Hamlet, Shakespeare, Reading, Depression, Family expectation.
Each time Mother Duck goes to call her wandering duckling back home, she uses a different barnyard call, resulting in an array of farm animals sitting at her table. When she forgets her quack, she calls out a moo and the duckling returns with a cow. The next night she calls out bow wow and a dog is added to the group. A cluck cluck next time results in a chicken sitting at the table.
A nod to the well known Five little ducks, We’re going on a bear hunt and I went walking, sees the duckling building up a friendship group consisting of a cow, dog, chook, donkey, lamb and piglet to go walking with, each time getting a little further away from home. One day they go off together and stay out all night, Mother Duck eventually finding her quack and calling the duckling home.
Danny Snell’s lovely illustrations provoke lots of laughter as the animals sit together at the kitchen table, watching Mother Duck cook them a meal in her little house. Each additional mouth to feed sees an increase in her bag of groceries while the cooking pot grows, and the number of plates and cups escalates. The cow and donkey sitting like humans will cause lots of smiles, as will the slope of the bench when the cow sits down. Their wanderings during the day, to the fields, through the hay, over the bridge, ignoring the rain, to the beach, to the fields of flowers and finally staying out all night camping in their tent, will entreat the readers as they peruse all the details of rambling far from home, enjoying the companionship of the group of animals as they wander together, knowing that Mother Duck is there waiting for the duckling to return.
Readers will love counting along with the text, ticking off each of the animals encountered on each page, predicting the new line and what the animal might be when Mother Duck calls. One little duck is a wonderfully interactive read, begging to be read aloud and acted out.
Cross bones: The dog with two tails by Jack Henseleit and Chris Kennett
Hardie Grant, 2023. ISBN: 9781760509262. (Age:5+)
A treasure map guides the reader past "The Shrine of the Golden Dog", along "The River of Lost Souls", around "The Abandoned Alphabet Soup Factory" and towards "The Cavern of Bad Memories" where X marks the spot. Then five pirates are seen setting off on a secret mission, starting in the Shrine of the Golden Dog, looking out for booby traps in the dark and dangerous tunnels. We are introduced to the five via a series of newspaper articles reporting their embarrassing incidents and spectacular losses, before they narrowly avoid a huge boulder and various missiles, bringing them to the tomb of Noah Silverniff, the Dog with Two Tails. Inside is the treasure map and as the cavern starts to collapse they narrowly escape and Captain Magnus Thunderump grasps the map declaring the sea dogs are about to set off on an even grander adventure. Not having read the previous book, A Dog’s Breakfast, it took a while to identify the characters and their traits but it is a rollicking adventure with lots of puns, fart jokes and misapprehensions with a cat in disguise, multiplying rabbits and an evil goldfish, what’s not to like? The black and white format (which should make it quite affordable) and action graphics move the story along well and the clear narrative panels will suit a young reader or a read aloud bedtime book where the visual gags can be enjoyed together.
Kay Scarpetta is the Chief Medical Examiner and finds herself a witness in a murder trial when shocking news breaks - the judge's sister has been found dead. While everything initially points to it being a home invasion, questions emerge when it becomes clear that nothing was stolen, and areas of the garden have died, along with numerous bugs. Scarpetta is no stranger to the unusual, and with her team beside her, sets about to find out what they can before time runs out.
Cornwell's 26th Scarpetta novel, Livid must follow a certain formula to keep readers craving another book. While the general appeal is clear, some of the writing lacks nuance, instead the author repeats herself regularly, especially when clarifying what a character just said or did. Heavily researched on all things based in America, anything outside of this scope lacks research - noted early on in the book when the author refers to Dame Edna as a British comedian. This aside, readers can find interesting characters with relevant back stories as well as characters that will infuriate and set their teeth on edge. The book is current, referencing Covid, surveillance technology and weaponry that is being used or potentially developed. Would suit readers of similar crime novels, and suitable for upper high school, year 11 and 12, if interested.
The 'Southern Aurora' is a really special fancy train that can take you from Mittagunda to the amazing cities of Melbourne or Sydney. But Jimmy isn’t going anywhere. He’s in Year 5, living on the poor street in a rural town with his mother whose best friend is the Kaiser wine cask, his younger brother Sam in Special School, and his older brother Mick in jail most of the time. Even his school friend Danny is someone he feels he has to keep on the right side.
Jimmy tries to hold everything together, keeping an eye on the Kaiser, and an eye on Mum’s unpredictable boyfriend Charlie, and looking out for Sam. It’s like treading on eggshells, never knowing when Charlie’s nasty mood will take over, and everything will turn wrong. Jimmy feels that if he is not ever vigilant, bad things will happen and he will be to blame. It’s always his fault.
If you have read Brandi’s other excellent novels, Wimmera, The Rip, and The Others, you will be prepared for a trip into the darker side of life, of people living on the edge. Brandi is a master of telling a story from a selected viewpoint, so you live that person’s life but at the same time, as a reader, you experience the tension and the dread of sensing things aren’t going to go well. In this case, it is the voice of Jimmy, desperately wanting things to be happy, assuming a responsibility that is beyond his capacity. Simple things like nice cooked food, or even a sandwich with ham and relish, rather than the usual Vegemite or peanut butter, are savoured with delight. His big brother’s hand on his shoulder, or the kindness of teacher are all special moments. But they also are moments that can well up with suppressed emotion.
If it sounds bleak, be reassured there are kind, supportive people nearby – especially Don, the elderly bus driver, but also Auntie Pam, the teacher Mr Battista, and the memory of Nan. Even Mick has good words of advice. Jimmy has to come to understand that he is not responsible for other people, and that he can let his feelings out.
Brandi’s novel draws you into another world, and keep you held with the brooding tension. Whilst violence may occur, he spares you the graphic details – there are just the hints of what may have occurred, and the aftereffects that impact the characters. Both adults and teenage readers alike will find this a compelling read. I wouldn’t be surprised if it is another award winner.
This is a quirky, fast-paced recount of a child's recollection of the day their father's hair up and left his head. Short chunks of text in almost poetry-like verses accompany full-colour, comical illustrations that work just as hard as the text and visually show the journey of Dad's hair across the town. 'Dad's hair was sick of being brushed and combed. It was tired of hanging around on his head. It wanted a life of its own. It wanted to see the world. One day, it coiled itself and sprang'. As seen on the cover, which is brilliantly eye-catching, each hair jumps clear off his head. He tries to get it back, pleading, begging and grabbing at it, but out the window it goes. He stalks his own hair, over the hills and into town, humorously armed with a net and wearing a dressing gown.
It touches on his attachment to his hair, all their shared experiences and what he needs it for: 'If he was scared it stood on end. It went to the dentist with him'. The hair makes it into everyone's soup at the cafe, into the barber shop, a pond, the pet shop. Eventually at the zoo, the hair is washed down a drain into the sewerage system. 'From that day on, Dad was bald. His beard still grew. And all the other hair that nobody needs - in his ears, and nose, for example'. His hair sends him postcards and selfies from Hairizona and Mount Hairverest, then one day it unexpectedly returns in a hair shower. Simple sentences recount the action without emotion and the child narration works really well, adding this spectacular sense of this event being a thing of family mythology: 'I don't know the details. He doesn't like to talk about it'. Written by a German author and translated into English, this is a spectacularly funny read for sharing or a quick, enjoyable read for independent readers of all ages.
Themes Humorous stories.
Nicole Nelson
The lucky shack by Apsara Baldovino and Jennifer Falkner
Working Title Press, 2023. ISBN: 9781922033154. (Age:5+) Recommended.
The trials and tribulations, highs and lows of life are reflected in the fortunes of a fisherman’s shack, tucked away on a small promontory, where it watches the small craft bobbing on the waves. Built by a fisherman who comes and goes, the two get along well, the fisherman seeing to the house’s joints, keeping it warm and snug through the night while the house is a refuge for the fisherman who scales his fish and studies his maps. Two shades of colour are shown, the green of the hills, and the blue of the sea. But one day the colours dissipate and all is black. The fisherman is not returning. The paint peels and the house misses the sound of boots on the floor, and the smell of fish and the wood fire.
The house deteriorates even more; a window shutter falls into the sea, and the house seems to give up. But the very next day someone appears and starts to renovate the old house using a bucket of paint, a tin of oil and saw and hammer. The house is taken back to what it was, loving the sound of boots in the floor, the warmth of the wood fire, the smell of fish and the sea. And it can see more than the two colours of before, now there is a range of colours for this lucky shack to absorb.
A delightful hymn to our lives, where the cycle of the seasons mingles with loss and abandonment and rebirth as the cycle begins again. It is fitting that the new owner has small children, the cycle of life is assured.
Beautiful painterly illustrations cover each page, watercolour used with Printshop create visual stunners. The hills slope down to the sea, where keen eyes will find a myriad of things associated with that lifestyle, and be heartened by the images of life and the continuity of the seasons. I love the different images of the little bay and the lighthouse, each quite different but of the same place. Hope for the future is engendered in the image of the bay shrouded in mists as a new boat makes its way to the shack. And then later the boat goes out to sea, fishing as the shack sits comfortably waiting. Indeed a lucky shack. Teacher's notes are available.
