A Goodreads choice Award nominee for Best Fantasy 2022, A river enchanted in the first in a fantasy duology by Rebecca Ross (Queen's rising and Queen’s resistance). Set on the island of Cadence, where spirits of fire, water, earth and wind rule, live two warring clans, the Tamerlaines in the east and the Breccans in the west. Adaira is the heiress in the east and when three young girls disappear, she summons Jack Tamerlaine home from university where he has been studying and teaching music. She hopes that his music can reach the spirits and help find the missing girls. Jack has never known his father and has been brought up by his mother Mirin, always feeling isolated and unwanted. When he returns, he discovers he has a sister, Frea, and that Adaira wants him to become the Bard of the west, bringing music and song back to the people. Will Adaira and Jack manage to put aside old injuries and work together to solve the mystery of the disappearing children?
Ross has succeeded in building a rich fantasy world where the wind carries gossip across the hills, and where the people wear enchanted plaids and carry strange dirks. The two clans are kept apart by The Clan Line, the Breccans suffering terribly in the cold winters, but having the ability to weave magic plaids, while those in the west have plenty to eat but magic is difficult to come by. Adaira believes that peace could come to the island and that each clan could help each other, but first the children must be found. Will Jack’s music lure the spirits to give the pair information?
The characters are well developed and easy to relate to. Jack’s music as the Bard of the west helps him to accept that he does have a place on Cadence and his growing feelings and trust for Adaira feel authentic. Torin, the captain of the Guard and his wife Sidra, a healer, also are strong people, who must overcome trials and begin to understand each other when Torin’s daughter Maisie is kidnapped.
Ross’ juggling of the two main themes of the story, that of the mystery of the missing children and the hope for peace between the warring clans, kept me rivetted and I immediately ordered the next in the duology, A Fire Endless, after a cliff-hanger ending. Readers who enjoyed the music in the story may like to move onto the Warrior Bards series by Juliet Marillier, beginning with Harp of kings and those who enjoyed the magical aspects may like Spells for forgetting by Adrienne Young.
In a land in Europe that does not really exist, Ludrovia, there is the potential for a great disaster - disguised as a great opportunity. In a small caravan in Australia lives a young girl named Hadley and her widowed father. Hadley’s father is full of whimsy and dad jokes and their pet budgie, Mr Beaks, has significant skills in making decisions. Is he the infamous birdbrain? Hadley herself is a smart, self-educated wonder and perhaps the brains of the caravan dwellers. Their life is not easy, but there is love despite their penury. Unexpectedly, Hadley and her father are whisked away to Ludrovia as the surviving royals. A terrible explosion has wiped out Hadley’s grandmother, the queen, and the entire royal family. In Ludrovia they discover a President who is strangely bizarre and uncover a plot by a Texan billionaire to take over the country. The idiocy of Ludrovia includes an annual Goat Day, fondue and cheese in abundance and strange idioms that are twisted and amusing. Hadley seems to be the only one not besotted by the cheese-loving billionaire’s plans for the future and she convinces her friends to help her prevent the unfolding devious disaster.
This is a fanciful and humorous adventure and is just delightful. I loved every page! The quirks of the characters and the far-fetched land of Ludrovia, plus the multiple dad jokes and wordplay woven through the story make this a funny journey into a non-existent but whimsical land. The main character is the only one with wisdom and this will appeal to children who will recognise that all the adults are far from insightful and clever. This is a book that will appeal to young readers aged 8-11 who enjoy light-hearted adventure. There is nothing offensive in it… but with characters who variously collect back scratchers and mannequins, invent strange useless objects, consider cloning as a way to create a master race, or train goats to dance, or twist common idioms in ridiculous directions, there are certainly many routes to enjoyment in the book. Highly recommended as an entertaining escape.
Festival of shadows: A Japanese ghost story by Atelier Sento
Tuttle, 2022. ISBN: 9784805317242. (Age:Middle school, Young adult) Highly recommended.
Naoko lives in a small village in the Japanese countryside where the locals are caretakers for shadows, spirits who need to find out their identities and come to terms with their death before moving on to the next world. They can be seen and talk to their carer but appear as shadows to the other villagers. Regular meetings are held to try and discover the identities of the spirits before the annual Festival of Shadows when they might be lost. Naoko’s first shadow, a little girl, disappeared before she found out who she was so when another attaches himself to her she is not confident of success. Gradually, with the help of her friend Katsu, the identity of the young man, a handsome, talented artist named Yukito becomes clear but there is something terrible troubling the spirit so Naoko travels to Tokyo where he lived and becomes involved to the point of risking her own life.
Infused with wonderful watercolour artwork the Japanese countryside and way of life is beautifully realised in the subtle and engaging images. Shadows are rendered in soft shades without outline, the black abandoned souls, scarily nightmarish and the living characters have wide ranging emotional expressions. The story, while about death and spirits, also has warmth and some humour; Naoko gets her spirit to carry her up the nearly 1000 steps to the shrine. At the beginning of each season the full page illustration is of the Japanese character with a symbol of the season like cherry blossom for spring and there are cut away illustrations of Naoko’s house and Yukito’s apartment in Tokyo.
This is a complex story, subtly told, beautifully illustrated and infused with Japanese culture that can be enjoyed by a wide range of readers. There is an animated excerpt from the book online and a sequel not yet translated.
Themes Japanese culture, Ghosts, Relationships, Folklore.
An area the size of Belgium is covered by the lone police officer at Tiverton in South Australia’s mid north with an eye that records every detail. Hirsch sees things at Dryden Station that just don’t seem right, he spies a ute coming over a blind corner then hightailing it the other way spotting the police vehicle, he is aware that Steph the cultural officer at the Ngadjuri cultural centre at Redruth feels anxious about the wedge tail eagle graded into the earth over the ranges on Fanning’s station where he has noticed the antagonism between Ross and his son after the death of his wife. And then there is the hard waste scam, the house of blowins, the theft of the detonators at the Redruth Motel. Each is filed away and becomes connected in this tightly plotted story of the things that go on in the deeply hidden parts of the bush, where prying eyes might be shot from the sky.
When footage of Aunty Steph falling down in an epileptic fit emerges he knows that an investigation team from Adelaide will be sent to gauge the level of racism which may infest the police unit at Redruth. He has seen it all before, is scarred by an investigation several years ago that saw him posted in this single officer police station as far from Adelaide as could be managed.
Finding a body in a suitcase sees the involvement of the Federal Police. Hirsch’s interest is piqued. But when he calls on a house of newcomers to ask questions about their part in the hard waste scam, the scene before him shocks him to his core. With flashbacks, concern over the families, worries about Aunty Steph and his partner’s daughter, the subset of on line bullying, he is seized by panic attacks. But he cannot stop himself continuing his investigations of the crashed ultralight sent to photograph the wedge tail eagle. Despite being warned off, his investigation takes him into the goings on at remote Dryden Station, piecing together the body, the newcomers to town, the increasing racism and the disappearance of a young backpacker, whose mother is doing her own investigating.
A spell binding story of seemingly unconnected events tunnels towards a tight conclusion out in the bush where Hirsch makes life and death decisions trying to protect the lives of the backpacker’s mother and the undercover federal police officer he finds there.
The sense of place is intoxicating. Disher has recreated the small hamlets of the mid north, those windswept places on the Barrier Highway that are no more than whistle-stops, with few services and a receding population. And overlaid with this is the stolid doggedness of Paul Hirschhausen, made a scapegoat for his team’s incompetence he is forever under suspicion, seeing wariness in others who deal with him, mulling over their reticence with him.
I loved Aunty Steph, blunt, sensing a like mind in Hirsch, a world weariness that she can empathise with. And Wendy and her daughter too make a credible backdrop to Hirsch’s life, with their own problems partly growing out of their relationship with Hirsch, but also from things that have happened at school, Redruth High.
Disher packs many issues of rural life into this book: rural poverty, lack of rental accommodation, loneliness, distance, few amenities and of course Covid and its allied problem, anti vaxers, to name a few. All are part of the atmosphere created by Disher, a tantalising and sometimes confronting panorama of life outside the city.
Colonial Settlement: France vs Britain by Craig Cormick and Cheri Hughes
Big Sky, 2022. ISBN: 9781922615763.
While the dust begins to settle on the media coverage of the controversy over the date, events and perceptions of Australia Day, as the debate and vote on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice referendum gathers momentum, it will flare up again and again.
But had Captain Cook not landed here in 1770 and claimed this land for the British, would it have been left untouched by all except the First Nations people until now? What if Captain Cook's ship sank when it hit the Great Barrier Reef in 1770? And what if the French settled Australia first? And what if King Louis 16th and Napoleon both ended up here, fighting over who was the rightful ruler in exile? And then the British arrived.
This is a new series (the second focuses on the gold rush) that looks at Australia's history through a different lens, posing those alternative questions that we encourage students to ask as they delve deeper into common topics and start to form their own opinions. As well as posing the questions, it also explores the possible answers such as what if John Batman's treaty with the indigenous peoples of what is now Melbourne was legitimate and other treaties were initiated because of it. What if La Perouse had beaten the First Fleet into Port Jackson, would the aristocrats fleeing the French Revolution have settled here, including King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.
While it is intended as a humorous look at times past, nevertheless it provides a lot of information not usually found in more traditional historical texts, and its value in encouraging our students to pose alternative questions and consider what might occur if there were a different outcome has value across all branches of the curriculum. If we are to encourage them to be creative and critical learners then they must have access to model texts that do this. While it is more for those who are mentally mature enough to put themselves in the shoes of others and consider different points of view, it definitely has a place in both the primary and secondary school libraries.
Themes Australia - History, Land settlement - Australia, Explorers, Captain Cook.
Barbara Braxton
My monkeys my circus: A collection of mindful stories by Toni Adams
Little Steps, 2022. ISBN: 9781922678812. Highly recommended.
This book has a selection of characters that each have their own negative inner voice that they need to overcome. Princess Perfect learns that she doesn’t have to be perfect; she is still liked anyway. Colonel Conrad learns that it is ok to ask for help, everything does not have to be done his way. There are other ways to get things done and that is ok. Alex the Amazing feels invisible and learns to be seen by your friends; you just need to be heard. Nimble Nikki learns to overcome her fears. You have got this; you just have to start. Madam Gina I’m not good enough, nice enough, brave bold or fun is what the voice in her head keeps telling her, you're just a big fake. True friends see through the disguises and remind her that her brilliance just shines. Red-Nosed Robbie feels that saying no to friends is hard to do, he fears, what if they don’t like you no more. But he realises that it is ok to say no, the sky won't fall, the earth won't shake. True friends will always understand. JB the Juggler learns that sharing your feelings can help with the problems and fears and help draw strength to stand up tall.
Remember when the voice in your head is chitter-chattering and making you feel quite drained you also have the choice to stand up tall, to be real strong and find a brand new voice.
This is a great book that is simple to read with a powerful message for any age.
Sticking out by Terri Owlbridge. Illus. by Emma Stuart
Little Steps, 2022. ISBN: 9781922358356. (Age:3-6) Highly recommended.
This is a beautifully written book. The text is uncluttered and the illustrations add an extra element that supports the story well.
Simon the stick insect is really very shy, but when he ends up pink he learns to overcome his fears as he learns that his fears are nowhere near as bad as he imagines. He learns that often what we are scared of rarely ends up happening, but it can stop us doing what we love.
This story has a powerful message delivered in a lovely story. Just as we are kind to others, we must be kind to ourselves too.
Magali has a loving family, parents who are both psychologists and a clever, confident big sister Ames. The start of middle school was to be an exciting new start but Magali is soon overwhelmed by the expectations, noise and pressure of the new school and develops crippling anxiety, cleverly represented by the oversize school bag she feels she is carrying. Increasingly she develops magical thinking and compulsive habits to compensate for her anxiety at school and she can’t wait to escape into the safety of home. When Magali hears The Beatles’ music for the first time, she is transported to a colourful, happy place and spends the term break immersed. When school starts again her anxiety is worse and she develops some psychosomatic illnesses. Eventually she is diagnosed with school phobia and home schooling is recommended. Staying at home helps Magali with her school anxiety but her obsession with the Beatles grows. She escapes into vibrant imaginary worlds inspired by the music and learns tiny details about their lives, taking every opportunity to regale her friends with Beatle trivia. As she reaches puberty her anxiety transfers to her body changes. Gradually, with the help of her supportive sister, therapy and activities such as dance, art and acting, where she can escape into performance, Magali learns to cope and eventually re-join mainstream life but she never lets go of her passion for the Beatles.
This graphic memoir explores the challenges of leaving childhood behind in the 1990’s and the overwhelming changes that can be experienced at puberty. The largely monochrome daily life scenes are contrasted by the energetic vibrant colours when Magali escapes into her magical imaginary world of the Beatles, including famous album covers and the whimsical lyrics of songs like Yellow Submarine. The text is very small, cursive in often quite crammed space, possibly a result of the translation from French, and makes for difficult reading but the story is engaging and might give those suffering from similar anxieties affirmation that some coping mechanisms can be comforting and there is a path forward with help. There are activity sheets and a blog on the Nobrow publishers' website.
Themes Anxiety, Mental health, The Beatles.
Sue Speck
If I were the world by Mark Sperring and Natelle Quek
In strong rhyming text Sperring asks questions about the planet we all live on. 'If I were the world', is stated on every page begging the reader to think about what the world should be like. Each time a child turns the page they will see another darker space on our planet, a vista to question and discuss. Initially bright and cheerful, the pages become littered with the plastics clogging the seas, wheezing children, smoking factory chimneys, extinction of flora and fauna, homeless animals, fish caught by the ton in trawlers, a sun which has become a killer, rising oceans and flooded lands. It is all very concerning until one page is turned and there is a call to action. People are called to take a stand and clean up the oceans, stop deforestation, plant some seeds and trees in the cities and stop pollution.
A celebration of our environment and an expose of what it has become, this book calls children to take action. And there are many things they can do which will be discussed and worked on in class or at home.
This book is a stark reminder of just who is responsible for taking care of the world, reinforced by the last pair of lines:
If I were the world Would YOU look after ME?
The illustrator Natelle Quek, Malaysian born now living in England, reveals a connection with the environment as she contrasts the parlous state of our planet in the first dozen pages with what it could be like in the last dozen pages of the book. She shows in detail some of the problems of our planet and its ill health, similarly showing a rejuvenated planet in the past pages, a world full of colour and growth, trees and flowers, happy dancing children. Readers will be actively voting for the latter as they wrestle with how to save the day.
The illustration of the planet with children and adults linking hands completes this book with a joyful view of the future.
Alix St Pierre Was a young woman during the war. She was recruited into the OSS, secret service and spent a great deal of time during the war passing messages and supporting the partisan movement against the Nazi army by getting them resources and information to support their cause.
After the war she moves to Paris to make a life for herself and finds a job working for Christian Dior. She is enjoying her new life until a nightmare from the past surfaces and she feels she needs to try and right a wrong from the war.
Alix is a fiercely independent woman and finds it hard to trust others and ask for help, but she finally realises that she needs to let someone into her life to help her put her nightmare to rest. With the help of Anthony March, also a previous member of the OSS, they manage to get to the bottom of the nightmare, but the answer they find is not what either of them expected.
Dior tells Alix when she is having a particularly hard time that ‘We know what we are, but know not what we may’. Alix resolves to make changes in her life and take a risk and see what happens.
The author notes at the end of the novel really tie the whole story together and to know that this story is lightly based on fact makes the novel even more appealing.
I highly recommend this book.
Themes Paris, Christian Dior, Spies, Justice, Women, World War 2.
Karen Colliver
The zebra's great escape by Katherine Rundell. Illus. by Sara Ogilvie
The Zebra's Great Escape is a beautiful, long adventure story with outstanding full-colour illustrations. Separated into 3 parts, it's text heavy but ideal for reading over a few bedtime sessions or for independent readers who love a great illustrated story. The main character, Mink, seems to be a nod to Pippi Longstocking, complete with stiff plaits and one sock down and one pulled up to the knee. She doesn't believe in bedtimes and is wild, adventurous and determined. When a baby zebra approaches her and endows her with the ability to communicate with animals she quickly learns that the zebra needs her help. What follows is a warm and funny story told with irresistable charm and rich imagery. The evil villain (who has kidnapped the baby zebra's parents) is a Cruella DeVil type, complete with handlebar moustache and dark cloak, but Mink has the animal world on her side. Can they work together to save the day?
Sarah Ogilvie's illustrations are wonderfully vivid, particularly her rendering of the wide array of animals that pass messages along to each other and highlight the power of communication and friendship. Rainbow the dog even says at one point, 'Your plan won't work, it relies on other people, and only fools rely on other people'. By the end of the story he is proven incorrect as people (or animal) power wins out in the end. This reminded me of What the Ladybird Heard, with the animals coming together as a team and with communication being a crucial factor in foiling the plans of the wrongdoers. It's an absolute joy to read.
*Please note that sensitive children may find this story confronting as it does talk about Mr Spit collecting the animals with the intention to kill and then stuff them. He is also quite a scary character and calls Mink an 'idiot child'.
Bright, fun illustrations and a humorous, nonsensical rhyming story about sneezing make this a clear winner for the young target audience. They will find the fact that Sid forgets to cover his nose when he sneezes relatable and grin widely at all the ridiculous things he sneezes: 'an elephant in a canoe', 'a totally tropical scene', 'some princesses fighting with peas' and many more absurd items. The illustrations are detailed and absolutely exquisite, with off-white paper and a matte finish giving a slight vintage feel. The concept of the story may be simple but the execution is of a high quality and the text and illustrations are in perfect synergy.
This book is set in Fishtail, Montana. Peter Pollock lives with his parents on their ranch. Matt Brown lives on the neighbouring property and Tim Taylor is the third musketeer which makes up a group of inseparable friends. These boys have grown up together.
Juliet Marshall lives in New Yorke with her mother; her father had a midlife crisis and decided to move to Fishtail. When Juliet goes to stay with him for 6 weeks from mid-July to the end of August, she meets Peter and he invites her to spend some time with him and his friends at his ranch. Juliet and Peter's friendship slowly grows and Juliet becomes the fourth member of the group and spends as much time as possible with the boys.
One fateful day the four along with Matt and Tim’s brothers, head up into the mountains on horseback for a picnic and a day of fun, when things take a turn for the worse. The children become trapped on the mountain and have to work together to survive until the adults can get them out.
This book shows the courage and teamwork that the group go through to survive their ordeal.
The adults at the bottom of the mountain waiting for their children to be rescued go through their own struggles, but together they get through it and Beth, Juliet’s mum, realises that destiny is strange, and we meet people for a reason at the right time. Life is like the mountain. Ever challenging, frightening at times, dangerous, exciting, deceptive, alluring, with hidden crevasses and ravines. And then you go home with the memories and the victory that you had survived it.
This is a well written novel that will appeal to a wide range of audiences.
Ellen Sutton is close with her family, her younger sister Carrie, and her brother Bodhi. Everything in their lives appears to be going to plan until a one-night stand changes everything. Carrie has this great new boyfriend, Bodie has Ingi, who does Ellen have? Ellen meets the best guy in the world at a concert and has the best night but soon she realises that it can't be anything more that a one night stand.
Ellen chooses to keep secrets from her family and best friend Ingi. These secrets eat away at Ellen until she decides to move away and work on a friend's cattle station, helping with mustering, as she believes this will be the best for her family, unaware that by trying to protect them she is hurting all of them including herself.
Ellen runs into a backpacker, Hans who reminds her that a life well lived is one full of memories. This makes Ellen think more about her family and the secrets she is keeping. When the three siblings meet up for a special occasion the secrets start to come out into the open and this has a huge impact upon everyone. They each need to work through and process what has happened and find the best way for each of them to process the events and move on. Ellen learns that tomorrow is unknown and right now is what matters so make the most of what you have.
This is a very beautifully written book with snippets from each of the characters also with the background story woven into the story. By the end of the book you feel like you know each of the characters personally.
I highly recommend this book.
Themes Romance, Families, Sisters.
Karen Colliver
The high notes by Danielle Steel
Macmillan, 2022. ISBN: 9781529022124. (Age:Adult - Young adult)
Iris Cooper’s father, Chip, moves around a lot, finding casual work and drinking the money he makes. Iris’s mother, Violet left when Iris was two and rumour has it that she has died. At 12 years old Iris has a sweet voice and loves to sing, finding she can usually join church choirs in the small towns they visit. While Chip is drinking in bars Iris is left in the car listening to the radio singing along and making up songs, accompanying herself on a guitar. In Lake City Texas, Chip persuades the proprietor of Harry’s Bar to allow the talented youngster to perform at their live music nights and she is an instant success, hitting the high notes and signing off with “see y’all soon” p. 13. Her youthful looks, simple clothes and beautiful voice ensure her popularity, singing ballads and original songs in bars around Texas for the next 6 years, her father always keeping a close eye on her and the money she earns. Eventually Iris wins a performing contract but it turns out to be far from the lucky break and stardom she deserves.
The story will appeal to fans of Danielle Steele and heartfelt women’s fiction but the characters are stereotypes; Iris "a good woman with a heart of gold” p. 33, an exploitive alcoholic father, mean managers, supportive friend and older love interest. There is a lot of telling and repetitive re-telling with little dialogue to develop the characters. I expected a lightweight holiday read but this was disappointing on many levels.
