Walker Books, 2018. ISBN 9781406378177
(Age: 14+) Recommended. This book is brilliant, gripping and horrifying - all at
once! Right from the start we are gripped by the anxiety of the
narrator, and this does not let up at all. We are positioned to
wonder whom we can trust? Told episodically, this narrative has
chapters named for the thoughts and action that occur. Plunging us
into the lives of some members of one family, who are clearly very
clever people, albeit distracted and secretive, Pollock takes us on
a journey of fear, confusion, and a sense that terrible and
catastrophic events may happen at any time and they do.
Shocking, puzzling, and heartachingly sad, this story of a family
who are brilliant people, a family that does not seem like one,
however. This family of very, very intelligent people who can
explore, explain and expose what is happening to them and the world
around them, but fear the consequences, appear to be in trouble.
Two adolescents, a boy and a girl, we realize very quickly, possess
outstanding abilities to rationalize, explore, explain and
comprehend the situation in which they find themselves, a situation
that portends absolute disaster, that challenges them to trust
no-one, not their mother nor their sibling. His extraordinary
intellect enables seventeen-year old Peter Blankman to grasp the
threat that he faces, and the threat is his life. As the novel
focuses mostly on the way in which his use of mathematical logic and
computer-like reasoning enables him to slowly piece together the
events that have occurred both in the past and in the present, which
is the narrative structure of interwoven chapters, except for the
opening chapter, named ENCRYPT, with these letters encrypted to read
YICMXKQ. Already we are alerted to the model of thought that imbues
this novel with cleverness, fear, betrayal, murder and a seeming
lack of love and loyalty within one family.
Ultimately, this is a story of the failure of a family to be what
families should be, that is, to protect, nurture and guide the
children to live good lives, not selfish lives, but lives that
enable them to be honourable, to help others, to be part of a social
web that protects and nurtures children. The children in this story
are sacrificed for the state, or at least that appears to be so.
The narrative delivers a hard and fear-filled world for one fearful
child, albeit a brilliant one, whose actions reflect his isolation
when things go amiss and his family are not there. He and his twin
sister appear to have been abandoned, the adults in their lives
missing, and they themselves endangered. After a series of murders,
this family is catapaulted into terror. Using their brilliant minds
to decode the events and the messages they perceive, the twins work
to decode the events so that they can survive.
This powerful new novel will disturb, intrigue, fascinate and
unsettle the reader. Tom Pollock's work on the perils of espionage,
and the threat of death for anyone who reveals what is happening, is
situated in the centre of a modern world where fear of exposure and
death looms for those who work in government, and correspondingly
threatens the lives of their children.
Elizabeth Bondar
Good Rosie by Kate DiCamillo
Ill. by Harry Bliss. Walker Books, 2018. ISBN 9781406383577
(Age: 4+) Highly recommended. Themes: Dogs. Responsibility. Family.
Companionship. Divided into nine chapters, this comic styled story
tells of Rosie the dog who lives with George. Each morning, George
cooks himself two eggs and gives Rosie her food in her silver bowl.
But once finished Rosie can see another dog at the bottom of the
bowl, and realises that she is lonely. In chapter two George and
Rosie go for their usual walk in the woods, watching the shapes made
by the clouds. When George points out a dog-like shape, Rosie
becomes excited and George has an idea. The next chapter sees George
take Rosie to a dog park. Here Rosie is somewhat overwhelmed with
the number of dogs and one in particular who comes up to her is much
larger and has a toy in its mouth which it shakes with gusto. In
chapter four a smaller dog drops by, but this dog is a livewire and
jumps rapidly from one spot to another, so putting Rosie off. The
next chapter sees the larger dog shaking the smaller one in its
mouth and in chapter six, Rosie tackles the larger dog, warning it
to drop the little dog, which it does in chapter seven, and the last
two chapters see the problem resolved and the three meet regularly
at the dog park for companionship and play. Even George gets to make
new friends.
A seemingly simple tale of friendship, the story has the trio not
liking each other at first, but when an incident occurs from a
misunderstanding, Rosie stands up for the little dog, resolving the
issue and so making friends. It resonates with the problems of young
children making friends, of being understanding, of resolving issues
with other children and coming to a mutual understanding. The
positive flow of the story will appeal to younger readers who will
see it as a dog story but with overtones of their own attempts to
make friends.
The illustrations are simply adorable and highly appealing to any
reader who picks up the book, while the expressions on the dogs'
faces are wonderful.
Fran Knight
War is over by David Almond
Ill. by David Litchfield. Hodder, 2018. ISBN 9781444946574
(Age: 8+) Highly recommended. Themes: War, Peace, Conscientious
objectors. As one would expect from an author of the calibre of
David Almond, War is over is a lyrical and confronting story set in
1918. On the back cover it states 'This beautifully illustrated,
moving story commemorates the hundred-year anniversary of the end of
the First World War.' Although the reader might expect a story
glorifying war, Almond has instead melded together many complex
issues about the nature of war, with the dream of peace being the
over-riding theme.
'I am just a child,' says John. 'How can I be at war?' John's mother
works in a munitions factory putting shrapnel into shells; his
father is fighting in the trenches in France and his teacher, a most
unpleasant character, insists that the children too are fighting a
war. But there is a man, Dorothy's Uncle Gordon, who has been forced
to live in the woods and who doesn't believe in the war and insists
that the children in Germany are just like the children where John
lives. John has a strange moment when he glimpses a German boy, Jan,
from Dusseldorf and begins to realise that the German children are
not his enemy.
Beautifully illustrated in black and white and tones of grey, the
munitions factory rears out against a stark background, shells stand
in dangerous rows and then are exploded sending soldiers skywards
with the blast. The white feather from Uncle Gordon stands out,
white against a black page, and in the final pages the reader is
given a sense of hope with a light grey background as seeds of peace
are scattered by John across the German earth.
Although at first glance this short (117 pages) illustrated book may
appear to be for a young audience, the complexity of the themes and
message make it a book that a teacher or caregiver may need to read
with children. It will certainly engender much conversation about
the nature of war, nationalism and hate.
Pat Pledger
The distance between me and the cherry tree by Paola Peretti
Hot Key Books, 2018. ISBN 9781471407550
(Age: 10+) Highly recommended. Themes: Macular Degeneration,
Blindness, Family, Friendship. This poignant tale has Mafalda
charting her loss of sight as her eyes deteriorate. She begins with
her beloved cherry tree, counting the steps as she comes to school,
noting how close she needs to be before she can really see it. She
loves this tree and often climbs into its comforting branches. One
day her glasses fall and she cannot see her way down, but the new
caretaker, Estelle, retrieves her glasses and helps her come back
down. After that Estelle waits for her every day.
Juvenile Macular Degeneration leads to blindness as the macular
develops spots which impairs vision. Initially told she may have
some time before the black spots cover most of her sight, she is
told that it is imminent. She resolves to go and live in the tree
where she feels close to her late Grandmother and Cosimo, a
character from one of her father's favourite novels, to whom she
speaks, using him as a sounding board for her ideas.
But she is beset by problems. Her parents want to move closer to the
school, into an apartment with no stairs, but in doing she will lose
the one thing that Mafalda loves, the view from her window to her
Grandmother's old house across the way.
And Fillipi, a boy in her school wants to be friends, but she cannot
work him out. Mafalda pens a list of things she deems important, and
along the way learns to cross out the ones she finds less so, making
sure that her list is up to date. When she has had enough she
retreats to her tree, determined to live there with her cat, safe in
the arms of her gran and Cosimo, but Estelle's voice helps her
realise what is important, helping her out of the tree and to her
new life.
A most unusual book about losing your sight Mafalda is an engaging
character, full of grit and determination, learning that family and
friends are the best things to have around
you.
Fran Knight
The Raven's Children by Yulia Yakovleva
Puffin, 2018. ISBN 9780241330777
(Age: 11-15+) Recommended. Stalin's Russia is a dark and foreboding
place, where the walls literally have ears and eyes. The imagery is
all about the secret police and the threat of the 'Ravens' taking
the 'enemy' away is always present. People are watching, no one can
be trusted.
Shura lives blissfully unaware in this world with his parents, older
sister Tanya and baby brother Bobka until both his father, mother
and brother are taken away.
Shura decides to find his missing family with his sister and
confront the 'Raven'.
This book combines both historical events and fantasy to tell
Shura's story. It is a harsh and uncaring world seven-year-old Shura
tries to survive and the adults are only there to punish and
incarcerate him.
This is a dark story based on the family experiences of the author.
At times there seems to be no kindness or love in the world and the
reader despairs for Shura and his family. The use of fantasy softens
the story and birds are a constant imagery, often talking to Shura.
At times I found this a difficult book to read and needed breaks
from Shura's world. I feel children will understand that Shura is on
a quest and that he experiences a dark and unfriendly world but they
will not have a historical perspective of this time. The real world
is mixed with fantasy giving the story a dreamlike quality. The
ending offers hope for the future but does not answer all the
questions the book poses.
I recommend this book to 11 to 15+ year olds, especially to students
who have read The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.
Jane Moore
Get Coding 2! by David Whitney
Walker, 2018. ISBN 9781406382495
(Age: 9+) Recommended. Subjects: Computer programming, Computer
games. Cover subtitle: Build five computer games using HTML and
JavaScript. Get Coding 2 is an exciting and informative how to guide for
young computer programmers. In the introduction we have the
definition of computer software and hardware and take a look back at
the history of computer games. Parents, older siblings and
grandparents will enjoy sharing their memories of gaming from the
classics like Pac-Man and Mario through to Candy Crush Saga and
Angry Birds.
With colour-coded missions, clear instructions, step-by-step guides,
colourful diagrams and key code skills this is a comprehensive guide
to using HTML5, CSS and JavaScript. Join scientist Professor Ruby
Day and her friends Rusty, Grace and Markus and learn how to develop
games of Noughts and Crosses, Snake, Table Tennis, Endless Runner
and Side-Scrolling Platformer. Each section begins with The
Developer's Dictionary that includes the game's history and skills
for playing. Creatively organised into bite-size boxes, following
the arrows to develop each level, this is a rewarding approach to
learning these skills. After working through a game build, there's a
challenge to change the design of the board or work on developing
other more difficult games.
Duncan Beedie's bold graphics, with lively characters and cute cat
Scratch add excitement to this comprehensive information book.
Colour blocking, hints and tips in speech bubbles and the attention
to detail make David Whitney's second computer programming book a
great tool for young coders keen to increase their skills and
knowledge. In the United Kingdom, Whitney wrote this for the Young
Rewired State global community, children and youth up to 18 to learn
coding and programming, preparing them to become digital citizens.
This is an excellent introductory guide to teach computing skills
for both young and older users.
Rhyllis Bignell
Paddington at St Paul's by Michael Bond
Ill. by R. W. Alley. HarperCollins, 2018. ISBN 9780008272043
Sixty years ago, on October 13, 1958 a small bear with a blue duffle
coat, a red hat, a suitcase and a note pinned to his coat which read
'Please look after this bear' was found by the Brown family at
Paddington Station London. Sent from darkest Peru by his Aunt Lucy
who has gone into a retirement home, the little bear was a stowaway
on a lifeboat where he survived on marmalade until the Browns
renamed him Paddington and took him to their home at 32 Windsor
Gardens near Notting Hill.
And so began a great series of adventures culminating in this final
addition, completed before Bond's death in June 2017 and issued to
celebrate the 60th anniversary of Paddington's arrival.
Also being released are anniversary editions of the main Paddington
Bear series, each of which has a number of chapters which work
either as a continuing story or a stand-alone episode, making them
perfect as read-alouds to get the child used to the concept of the
continuing characters in novels or read-alones for the newly
independent reader.
With more than 35 million copies sold worldwide, translated into 40
languages, television and features movies, Paddington Bear is
arguably one of the most favourite bears in the world. To have the
stories republished, an exquisite gift
edition of the first story with the original illustrations by
Peggy Fortnum, and this final chapter is indeed a fitting
anniversary gift to introduce a new generation to this series
inspired by a lone teddy that Bond saw on a shelf in a London toy
store and the children who were evacuated from English cities during
World War II.
Barbara Braxton
Wildcard by Marie Lu
Penguin Books, 2018. ISBN 9780241342435
(Age: Teens) Recommended. Sci-fi. Fantasy. Emika Chen
barely made it out of the Warcross Championships alive. Now she can
no longer trust the one person she's always looked up to, the one
person she thought was on her side - Hideo Tanaka.
His plan: to wipe out all crime on earth by ending the free will of
its citizens.
Emika is determined to put a stop to him, but she soon finds a new
threat lurking on the neon-lit streets of Tokyo. Someone's put a
bounty on her head, and her sole chance for survival lies with the
ruthless Zero.
But his protection comes at a price.
Caught in a web of betrayal, just how far will Emika go to take down
the man she loves? Wildcard takes place immediately after the events of Warcross,
so it is crucial to read Warcross first to become familiar
with the world Emika inhabits and her predicament as she discovered
Hideo's betrayal. Lu uses the futuristic setting to skilfully
criticize love in all its forms, familial, romantic, and friendship,
revealing the lengths people go to for the people they love through
the actions of Hideo, Emika, and various other characters. Not only
does Lu analyse love, she also explores ethical issues such as
mankind's right to free will and the consequences of removing this
ability, as well as 'the greater good'. She highlights the way
society perceives people as definitively good or bad and suggests
that 'evil' people tend to operate in morally grey areas, while a
single evil or good act does not define a person. While the
supporting characters' personalities and motives were better
expounded upon in Wildcard, there was a disconnect from
Emika, the main character. Emika's actions did not drive the plot;
rather, her role was a reactionary one as secrets were revealed and
events happened around her despite her best efforts to prevent them,
which slowed the overall pacing of the story, despite the whirlwind
action sequences. However, the complexity of the characters and the
layers of deceit Emika faced created an engrossing story which
allowed the exploration of the aforementioned themes. Lu's writing
style and descriptions shine in writing the connections between
people and this book truly showcases her abilities. Wildcard is a well-written novel critiquing the ethical
issues present and emerging in society, providing great food for
thought as well as a good read.
Stephanie Lam (Student)
Elbow Grease by John Cena
Ill. by Howard McWilliam. Penguin Random House, 2018. ISBN
9781524773502
(Age: 4-8) Themes: Monster trucks. Persistence. Determination.
Wrestler and actor John Cena wants this new book series to inspire
children to persevere and believe in themselves. The series features
five monster truck brothers, with this first book focussing on Elbow
Grease, the littlest of the pack. We are introduced to the five
monster trucks on the opening pages and their appearance and
dialogue help to define their unique characteristics. It is nice to
see their mechanic is a young woman, a welcome departure from the
usual image of car sports being a male-only zone. Flash is all about
speed, Pinball is intelligent and strategic, Tank is big and tough
and Crash is courageous. Elbow Grease doesn't have any of these
obvious characteristics but he remains optimistic and cheery because
he has gumption and never, ever gives up. What also makes him
different from his brothers is that he is an electric, rather than a
petrol truck. When Elbow Grease shares his dream, of one day being a
monster truck star his brothers laugh and jeer: 'You're too slow';
'You're too small'; 'Your technique and experience are insufficient
...' Determined to prove them wrong Elbow Grease zooms off to the
Grand Prix by himself. He is 'bashed and smashed and even caught on
fire a little bit, but still - HE KEPT ON GOING!' He doesn't come in
first place but he does finish and all his brothers are there to see
him cross the finish line. The other trucks then realise that they
can only learn new skills if they stick at it; 'a little Elbow
Grease goes a long way!'
There are many speech bubbles showing the dialogue of the trucks,
which help children to understand their individual personalities,
but these are sometimes disjointed from the main text and make the
pages very busy. In addition, some people may be uncomfortable with
how Elbow Grease calls the other trucks 'jalopies', a word which
many children may be unfamiliar with, but is clearly meant as an
insult. There is a nice message here, albeit much too overt, and
young kids who like monster trucks will love the illustrations.
However, it is hard to preach not to stereotype and to broaden your
skills when you have stereotyped your characters by name and given
them a fairly one=dimensional existence. The story and the
production lack a little finesse.
Nicole Nelson
Wisp by Zana Fraillon
Ill. by Grahame Baker-Smith. Lothian, 2018. ISBN 9780734418043
(Age: all) Recommended. Themes: Hope, Courage. Subtitled A story
of hope, this tale of finding hope within the soulless
confines of a refugee camp will melt the hardest of hearts. Idris is
a young boy who has spent his entire life in such a camp, where hope
has been eaten away by the years spent behind wire fences.
Adult memories have been erased by time, eroded by the lack of hope.
They are alone. One day a wisp flies in at Idris' feet. He picks it
up and wipes the dust from it, holding it in his hands. He takes it
to an old man who in holding the wisp, recalls things from his past.
The simple word, once, recalling for him memories that had been lost
within the confines of the refugee camp. The following night he
takes the wisp to a woman whose memories come flooding back, and in
this way, Idris releases memories throughout the camp, becoming
aware of his own sense of wanting to know. Born in the camp, he has
nothing to remember, but in holding the wisp he learns the promise
of a future, he learns to hope.
This poignant story will tug at readers' emotions as they see a
young child, one amongst many, confined in a camp without hope. The
wisp he picks up creates a need within him in hoping that his future
will hold something more.
The darkly overwhelming illustrations depict the bleak campsite: the
rows of tents and makeshift shelters a stark contrast to Idris'
hopes at the end of the book, the shadowy people becoming lighter
with hope, the cupped hands speaking for the child and his hope for
the future.
This is indeed a story of hope, one that will resonate with all
readers who stop to remember the twenty million refugees around the
world.
Fran Knight
Open road summer by Emery Lord
Bloomsbury, 2018. ISBN 9781408898703
(Age: 13+) Recommended. Romance fans will appreciate this summer
road trip with three seemingly privileged teenagers. Country music
and fame is the backdrop to exploring more than one kind of
relationship - Emery Lord combines every girl's fantasy.
Reagan O'Neill's first bad-boy relationship was an act of rebellion.
A survivor, she seeks healing by accompanying her best friend on her
concert tour of the USA, for the summer break. Lilah Montgomery (Dee
to her friends) is a rising Country and Western performer, who
according to the media, is the girlfriend of her support act, Matt
Finch - still only nineteen himself.
Reagan is slowly but surely attracted to Matt. Not only is Matt
Finch attractive but he is equally as famous and talented as Dee.
While Reagan takes incisive photographs of their exciting summer bus
tour, Dee and Matt write their feelings into their song lyrics - an
interesting device but a source of angst for Reagan. Despite
focusing on Dee, who is grieving her own break-up and the price of
her fame, the predictable love-hate banter between Reagan and Matt
builds slowly to a sweet surrender to his charms. Almost
immediately, Matt is set-up to fail, but he is determined to win
Reagan back.
After Lord's more recent, The
Names they Gave Us, we could be disappointed that Open
Road Summer is a formulaic romance by comparison, but Open
Road Summer actually predates The Names they Gave Us
as a new edition of Emery Lord's debut novel. To be fair, Lord
weaves in a few meaty realities - losing one's parents, valuing
life-long friendships over casual hook-ups, not making bad choices,
giving step-parents a chance, the price of fame and even the more
topical problem of fake news. This won't be your favourite Emily
Lord read, but it is more than just a beguiling daydream of love and
fame.
Deborah Robins
World War 1 : The story behind the war that shook the world by Nick Hunter
Bloomsbury Children's Books, 2018. ISBN 9781526600882
(Age: Younger readers) Recommended. Themes: World War 1. Produced in
conjunction with the UK National Archives, this Bloomsbury
publication creates a simple overview of the First World War for
younger readers. Giving a simple explanation of the reasons for the
war, and the events and places that are now part of our
consciousness from this terrible time in history, this is a book for
young readers to explain the detail of the Great War. Each double
page includes pictures from the Archives and also images of relics
from the era, with a particular focus on the British experience.
(There is a small mention of Australia's involvement at Gallipoli.)
This book is written in an easy-to-read magazine style, with short
excerpts of information and multiple pictures with clear captions
and is easily consumed from cover to cover, or as a quick reference
book. The index would enable young readers to search for information
as required for school tasks.
Carolyn Hull
Me and my fear by Francesca Sanna
Flying Eye Books, 2018. ISBN 9781911171539
(Age: 6+) Highly recommended. Themes: Anxiety; Living with fear;
Overcoming fear; Migrants. Me and My Fear is a delightful
picture book, particularly for children who struggle with anxiety.
The central character is a small girl who has a small companion
called Fear, who stays close to her. This is normally a comfortable
relationship, almost a friendship, when Fear is small. However, when
she moves to a new country and a new school where she understands
very little, Fear grows enormously and really disrupts her life. A
small boy's overtures of friendship arrests the disharmony in her
life and sets her on a more normal companionship with Fear again.
She also discovers that the boy has his own 'Fear' companion, as do
all her classmates.
With a simple colour palette and naive illustrations, with Fear
represented as a white blob-like creature, the overall presentation
is immediately accessible for all children. Fear is not conveyed
with any fear-inducing qualities, a clever representation
considering the topic. The power of the story is in the
representation of the psychological struggle with fear and how its
influence can grow and overtake a life. The author confesses to her
own struggles with anxiety in the Author's Note at the end of the
book. The great feature of this book is its reassurance that most
people carry fears, and they can even be a recognised and
comfortable companion, but also that there is hope for those who
need to deal with this sometimes-disruptive and intrusive influence.
This would make a good book to keep in a Counsellor's office.
Highly recommended, to begin a discussion about coping with Anxiety.
Carolyn Hull
Let sleeping dragons lie by Garth Nix and Sean Williams
Have Sword, Will Travel book 2. Allen and Unwin, 2018. ISBN
9781743439937
(Age: 8+) Highly recommended. Themes: Fantasy, Swords, Good versus
evil, Dragons. Odo and Eleanor are off on another exciting adventure
with their magical swords Biter and Runnel. When they help a blind
man and an aging knight fight off a bilewolf attack, they discover
that Egda is the king who abdicated when he became blind and the
warrior Hundred is his protector. They are off to try and stop his
sister, the regent from taking over the throne. Joining the pair,
Odo and Eleanor travel across the land meeting dangerous obstacles
and fighting off evil in the hope that they can reach the castle
before Prince Kendryk loses every chance of becoming king.
Written with very humorous dialogue, especially from the magical
swords, Let Sleeping Dragons Lie is a delight from start to finish.
Under the supervision of Hundred, Odo and Eleanor hone their
fighting skills, and learn how to become knights. Their ability to
fight and to plan is put to the test as they face strange
inventions, travel dark underground passages, and cross dangerous
waters. There is a little mystery to solve - why is Prince Kendryk
trying to finish a mural and why is it so important?
One of the outstanding characters in the book is the little bat,
Tip, who spells out messages from the prince to Odo and gives
warning of danger ahead. He joins an array of well developed
characters, including the magical swords that make this book a joy
to read.
With Biter, Odo's talking sword, determined to chase the evil
Falconstone sword that is killing people in the kingdom, readers
know that they are in for another treat in the next episode of the Have
sword, will travel series.
Pat Pledger
Noni the pony rescues a joey by Alison Lester
Allen and Unwin, 2018. ISBN 9781760293123
(Age: 3+) Highly recommended. Themes: Horses, Australian animals,
Environment, Habitat. Noni the pony rescues a joey will
captivate its audience, already thrilled at the first book about Noni
the pony (2010) and Noni the pony goes to the beach
(2014). All the right ingredients are brought together, Noni, of
course, with her two friends, Coco and Dave, and an array of
Australian animals for young children to recognise and name while
they have this rhyming story read to them. They will thrill at
predicting the word to end each line, and work with Noni and her
friends as they try to find the joey's parents.
Lester entrances her readers with a story of loss, but as Noni asks
each animal she meets, the joey finds her mob, and along the way
small pieces of information are given teaching the audience some of
the habits of these animals. So many of the animals are asleep,
being nocturnal, the koala and her joey asleep because of their poor
diet, the echidna is digging, the father emu is looking after his
chicks, and finally as evening falls the other wallabies come out to
graze, and the joey is reunited with the family.
Lester's recognisable illustrative technique will delight younger
readers as they will be able to find other books by this prolific
Australian author in the library.
The range of animals that live in Waratah Bay will intrigue readers
as they note the echidna, possum, quoll, koala, wallaby, goanna,
emu, wombat and platypus, and feel impelled to find out more about
these Australian animals and their habitat and habits, perhaps
looking for them in their own neighbourhood or seeking them out at
the zoo.
Fran Knight
