Reviews

The Fandom by Anna Day

Chicken House, 2018. ISBN 9781910655672
(Age: Older teens - YA) Note on book: Not suitable for younger readers. Anyone in any fandom's greatest dream is to be transported into the canon world of their favourite story and live out the events as the main character. Maybe except for fans of The Hunger Games, Game of Thrones and now The Gallows Dance. The story follows four teens who were transported from Comic-Con to the canon world of The Gallows Dance, where regular humans are looked down upon and discriminated against. Of course, then it all goes wrong; they accidentally kill the main character and Violet, our main character, takes her place in the story. The Fandom is full of tropes and cliches, but is comforting in the sense that you can anticipate what happens next. The comfortably cliched style is reminiscent of novels like The Medoran Chronicles by Lynette Noni and is pleasant to read and follow along to; however, if you like suspense and surprise, you might feel the book falls short. The only problem I had with the tropes and cliches (without giving too much away) was the death-revival trope, as it doesn't allow for emotional payoff.
Although friendship is meant to be a large theme within the story, there doesn't seem to be much true friendship displayed throughout the book, something which disappointed me. The action moves quickly once the world is established, and though you know what's going to happen as the story follows canon, the writing describes it beautifully and of course, nothing ever really goes to plan. The twists and turns keep you on your toes as you read. The teens and the audience get a glimpse at how large and deep a story's universe is and how much effort goes into creating such a detailed, captivating world.
Day gives a satirical look at discrimination and oppression, emphasising everyone's humanity and the futility of social constructs. The main character Violet is a massive fangirl and a brave but reluctant hero, whose sarcasm and wit bring a spark to the book. The story was compelling and complex, with witty twists and turns.
I would recommend this book to people who want something comfortable and easy to read, but captivating nonetheless.
Stephanie Lam

These are animals by Daniel Egneus

Bloomsbury, 2018. ISBN 9781408889909
(Age: 3+) Highly recommended. Animals. Humour. Read aloud. Movement. Sound. What a lovely way to introduce animals to young readers. A vibrant, colourful display of animals around the world is presented with verve and movement, noises and sounds for little kids to enjoy, join in, make the noises and move around copying the the traits of the animals shown.
Neatly divided into areas: woodland animals, polar, grassland, night time, rainforest and ocean, each section shows a range of animals that survive in this particular habitat. Grassland animals depicts, for example, giraffes, elephants, zebras and lions, encouraging children to make the noises of the elephant and lion, copying the expressions on their faces. Some readers may even question why these animals live in this particular part of the world, eliciting all sorts of information from the adults. Night time animals too, depicts bats, owls and wolves and children will laugh with delight trying out the noises that the owl and wolf make, while blinking like the owl or hanging upside down like a bat. Each page is brim full of ideas for younger children to take to heart: moving, making noises, stretching, jumping, howling, squawking and swinging through the trees.
This is a delightfully colour filled book of sound and movement to introduce younger readers to the range of animals that exist around us.
Fran Knight

The case of the missing hippo by Laura James

Ill. by Emily Fox. Fabio: The world's greatest flamingo detective series, book 1. Bloomsbury, 2018. ISBN 9781408889312
(Age: 6-9) Highly recommended. Themes: Detective story. Animal tale. This is a 'classic' detective story involving the great Flamingo Detective, Fabio. He is an intelligent flamingo, with a very tall giraffe co-worker (who is not quite as clever, but he is very tall!) and Fabio is exceptionally good at solving the problem of the missing hippo. Putting together the clues and bringing the case to a satisfactory conclusion (in a Hercule Poirot revelatory and flamboyant style), is detailed very simply for a young reader, but without underestimating their desire for a good story. This is an interesting mystery - it is after all fairly difficult to hide a hippo! Young readers will love the story, and animal characters add a touch of humour.
Illustrations are scattered through the pages, done in a simple, but amusing, cartoon style, and intensely vivid pink and green pages are also randomly included. This colour explosion adds a burst of interest for even the most reluctant reader.
Highly recommended for independent readers aged 6-9, and could still appeal to an older reluctant reader as they will recognise the subtle (or not so subtle) humour.
Carolyn Hull

I do not like books anymore by Daisy Hirst

Walker Books, 2018. ISBN 9781406369137
(Age: 4+) Recommended. Themes: Books and reading. Learning to read. Cooperation. Natalie and Alphonse love to read together. Dad reads them picture books, Mum reads them scary stories, Grandma tells them stories about the terrible shrew. And they love all of them, and often make them up, retelling stories that they know.
Natalie is impatient to learn to read and to read a story all by herself, even able to read it to Alphonse. But given a book to read, she finds it unintelligible, and in desperation, throws it away. The writing is a lot of squiggles, looking a lot like birds' feet, with nothing in it that she recognises. Miss Bimble tells her that it will take practice, and Mum and Dad tell her to be patient. She sticks at it all week until she can read her cat book, but when Alphonse offers her another book to read to him, she finds it a lot like before, lots of squiggles. She gives up saying that her toy elephant needs to be cared for. Alphonse asks her to tell him a story and in so doing, encourages her to illustrate it and getting Dad to write the words, she finds that she can retell it after all.
A charming story of trying different methods to help children learn to read, the story will resonate with children who are in that stage where writing is a bit of a jumble. But perseverance and help from others leads to the children learning to read.
Fran Knight

Being Fishkill by Ruth Lehrer

Candlewick Books, 2018. ISBN 9780763684426
(Age: Mature14+) Being Fishkill focusses on 12-year-old Carmel Fishkill who is named after a highway exit sign her mother, Keely, glimpsed while giving birth in the back seat of a car. Her life is complex and she decides that starting seventh grade in a new school is an opportunity to reshape her image, now that her abusive grandfather is dead, and her drug-addicted mother has vanished. Starting with a name reversal, Carmel becomes the tough girl, Fishkill, but her plan is thrown off course when the more precocious but equally tough Duck-Duck Farina befriends her.
The novel is dark, with moments of lightness, as Fishkill quietly 'fights' to establish an identity that is not based on her dysfunctional family. This narrative is about a search for connections and also enters the realm of the first stages of exploring sexual identity.
For me, as a reader, Fishkill and Duck-Duck seemed much older than their 12 years, and that caused a block in the plausibility of their characters.
There are flashbacks to a disrupted and disturbing life with her mother and grandfather. This is countered with Duck-Duck's mother, Molly. who welcomes her into the home.
There are many twists and turns in this novel which would keep the reader engaged. Emotions and experiences are intense and at times confronting.
I would recommend this for more mature readers of 14 years and up.
Maree Samuel

Bannerless by Carrie Vaughn

John Joseph Adams/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017. ISBN 9780544947306
(Age: 15+) Recommended. Philip K. Dick Award (2017). Themes: Dystopian fiction, Science fiction, Murder, Birth control. Years after an environmental disaster has devastated the world, killing millions, the Coast Road in the US has developed a thriving culture, where birth control is mandatory and people must earn a banner if they want to have a child. In Haven, Enid has not only earned a banner but is an Investigator, helping to solve problems and mediate when necessary. When there is a suspected murder in another town she is sent to investigate and uncovers more than she was anticipating.
Bannerless is a sometimes bleak and very different take on a dystopian future, with less emphasis on solving a crime but exploring a society that allowed it to happen. Through a series of flashbacks the reader follows the progress of Enid as she grows from a restless young woman roaming the roads with Dak to a responsible member of her community trusted to obey the laws that allow it to flourish and to enforce them if necessary. People live together in small groups, grow their own food and look after each other, putting the needs of the community before individual needs. Cities no longer exist and much of the technological knowledge that ruled the world before its downfall has disappeared. The Coast Road people managed to salvage what knowledge they thought was most important, birth control being one of the major needs.
Vaughan, better known for her Kitty series, featuring a werewolf, shows off her writing ability in Bannerless, bringing alive a different and unique take on a dystopian future. Its themes of birth control, self sufficiency, sharing and group living, as well as the ethics surrounding the murder of a loner, make it a fascinating and memorable read.
Pat Pledger

Fantastically great women who made History by Kate Pankhurst

Bloomsbury, 2018, ISBN 9781408878897
(Age: 8-12) Recommended. Subjects: Women - History, Women - Biography. Fantastically Great Women Who Made History looks at the lives, discoveries and achievements of many important women from Hatshepsut in Ancient Egypt to Russian astronaut Valentin Tereshkova. Kate Pankhurst's has an engaging and unique presentation design, interweaving fun and interesting factual information with stylish cartoon characters, bold coloured text boxes and visually engaging fonts and sizes.
'To make history you need to be brave, bold and believe in yourself - just like the women in this book.' The book begins with Harriet Tubman who helped many runaway slaves escape through the Underground Railroad between 1850 and 1860 in Maryland. Flora Drummond fought for women's equality and for the right to vote in Edwardian England, as did the author's relative Emmeline Pankhurst. Chinese Qiu Jin wrote poems, articles and gave speeches about the unfair treatment of Chinese women, in the late 1800's. She was passionate about the cruel practice of feet binding and encouraged her students to secretly rebel against the old-fashioned government rulers. English inventor Ada Lovelace designed a flying machine in 1828 when she was just twelve, and later worked with Charles Babbage on his Difference Engine.
Pankhurst travels through history, focussing on inspirational women, some famous and others who have made important contributions to women's rights, people's lives and living conditions across the arts, literature, music and world issues. Pankhurst concludes with a challenge 'How will you make history?' Fantastically Great Women who made History is an excellent resource suited to Humanities and Social Sciences from Year 2-Year 9 reflecting on women's influences in the shaping of Australia and the world.
Rhyllis Bignell

Wildcat Run by Sonya Spreen Bates

Ill. by Kasia Charko. Orca Book Publishers, 2018. ISBN 9781554698301
(Age: 6+) Tommy, Jake and Lexie are on the slopes. The cousins have been skiing for a week, but Jake's Dad twisted his knee on the last run and had agreed they could do one more run, provided they stick to the easy levels. Tommy is Jake's little brother, though he's improved a lot, he is less confident than Jake and Lexie. Once they're on the chair lift, it doesn't take much for Lexie to convince her the boys to try Wildcat Run.
The ski trail itself was an old logger's run, unlike its namesake, there haven't been wild cats on the mountain for years . . . until now. What are those tracks? What can they hear near the stream? Jake, Lexie and Tommy are suddenly in a race for their life down the hill, except Lexie has an accident and the trio has to think a bit more laterally.
In this easy read novel, with Jake as the narrator, the reader experiences Jake's ability to lead his cousins to safety, showing survival skills and all the while has a low literacy need. Readers as young as six will easily follow the storyline, so it would also be good as an introduction to narratives or as a read-aloud at bedtime for younger readers. I especially enjoyed the interspersed thought commentary Jake uses to help him problem-solve. For example, " I am a downhill racer, going for another practice run . . . this time I'll get a personal best".
At times the book is similar to Secret Seven or Famous Five where the children have to use logic and smarts to survive a situation. It is also part of a series, where the characters refer back to other adventures they've shared. Those who enjoy adventure will love this quick read.
Clare Thompson

Can I touch your hair? by Irene Latham and Charles Waters

Carolrhoda Books, 2018. ISBN 9781512404425
(Age: 10+) Highly recommended. This book is a collection of poems written by Irene who is white and Charles who is black. These poems delve into the differences related to race, mistakes, friendship even hair.
Can I touch your hair? is written like a school project with two students who don't know each other having to work together on a poem project. By the end of the book they start to look beyond their differences and look at what they have in common.
It could be used as a teaching tool for a poetry project helping people to get to know each other, to encourage people to look at others' points of view on everyday things like hair, shoes, beach and church.
I really enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it for 10+.
Karen Colliver

My trip to the supermarket: Activity and sticker book by Samantha Meredith

Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2018. ISBN 9781408883686
(Age: 4+) Recommended. "Work your way around the supermarket and discover all the amazing things you can buy! Find your way through the maze of aisles to the checkout counter, count how many loaves of bread are in the baker 's basket, help the shop assistant stack the empty shelves and much more." (Publisher)
This activity book has a selection of activities to maintain interest. The stickers are bright and of a variety of sizes to match the page they are designed for.
It could be used to talk about shopping and the sorts of things you get when you go to the supermarket.
I recommend this book for 4+.
Karen Colliver

Flamingo boy by Michael Morpurgo

HarperCollins, 2018. ISBN 9780008134648
(Age: 8+) Highly recommended. Themes: World War Two, Gypsies, Nazis, Bullying, Flamingoes, Animals, Trust, Vincent van Gogh. At the end of his final year at school, Vincent dons a backpack and walks though the Camargue in Southern France, once the home of Vincent the name on the painting which has always been in his bedroom. Suddenly ill, he is befriended by a woman and man who share a house: Lorenzo is a seemingly simple man, devoted to his animals, and the woman, Zia, once a gypsy, cares for him as a lifelong friend would.
One night Zia begins her story, allowing Vincent to see what lies beneath their friendship, how they came to share a house, and the tale of how they survived the war.
Morpurgo layers story upon story in this mesmerising account, as he rounds out each of the main characters, filling in their backgrounds as we read. Each story is intimate and revealing, reflecting the way we should all behave in the face of tyranny and injustice.
Zia's family owns a carousel which they play each year in the local town. Lorenzo loves to ride the horse on the carousel and the two families grow closer. Zia hates school where she is bullied for being a gypeo, and Lorenzo's mother offers to teach her at the farm. When the Nazis take over the area, the gypsy family moves to the farm, a place of safety away from prying eyes, as gypsies are one of the groups sent to prison camps.
Here Lorenzo shows Zia his hospital shed where he cares for injured animals, especially the flamingo a familiar sight in the Camargue as they nest there every year. But people stealing the flamingo eggs are stopped by Lorenzo and his father, and in retaliation tell the authorities where the gypsy family is hiding.
This is yet another masterful story from Morpurgo, giving the readers a revealing tale of World War Two, making it more intimate by placing it within a small community, wrapping it with environmental concerns, reflecting the schemes of the Nazi invaders, but tempering it with sympathy shown by the man in charge.
Readers will recognise the bullying which occurs on many levels: the children as they taunt the 'flamingo boy', and Zia, the gypsy girl, the Jewish teacher removed from the school, the townspeople informing on the family hiding at the farm and the Nazi thugs who take the family from the farm, showing readers how easy it is to denigrate others.
Zia and Lorenzo are still friends and Morpurgo ties the story together with Vincent van Gogh, the name he started with, who killed himself because he was so alone. Morpurgo makes his point with composure in this highly readable book.
This novel is most suitable for middle school readers, and teachers wanting a novel to initiate discussion around the idea of bullying in all of its forms, from Nazism to that found in the community and classroom.
Fran Knight

Trell by Dick Lehr

Miss Match: The truth about destiny by Crystal Cestari

Quercus Children's Books 2018. ISBN 9781784299149
(Age: 10-14) The Truth About Destiny is a haphazard collection of mythology and teenage drama drawn together though the main character's ability to see a person's soul-mate. In a word where magic is commonly accepted, Amber's matchmaking ability adds another layer of complexity to her already complicated adolescent life. I would recommend for girls between the ages of ten and fourteen.
When Amber's arch enemy Ivy arrives at her house asking for help Amber doesn't know what to do. Ivy has never looked so desperate before in her life. She's worried about her sister, Iris, who intends to renounce her legs and join her girlfriend in the sea. Amber uses her gift to see that Iris has found her match, but things are only just starting to get complicated as Iris reveals the witch who will turn her from siren to mermaid, Victoria, a corrupt witch who tried and failed to kill Amber. With the new danger realised, Amber must enlist the help of her mother to ensure that Iris's transformation goes as planned.
Finding your place in the word is always difficult. But more so when you have one foot in the supernatural and another in the mortal world. Amber's ability as a match-maker sets her apart from the crowd, but still it's not enough to fully be part of the supernatural world either. She walks a fine line working in her mother's wiccan shop, a supernatural restaurant catering to all kinds of beings, and a plain old mortal bakery. Going between must be hard, but Amber isn't the only one. Her best friend, Amani, gets visions of the future and they deal with the school siren on a regular basis.
Kayla Gaskell, 22

A lion is a lion by Polly Dunbar

Walker Books, 2018, ISBN 978140637153
(Ages: 2-5) Recommended. Themes: Identity, Lions, Child Protection. Polly Dunbar's fun picture book immediately starts to question the readers' perception about the large male lion as he fiercely stares at you. 'Fierce, isn't he? Too fierce for you?' Stop reading and ask the audience to predict what will happen next, where will he go and what will he do? The following pages are humorous. With questioning text, the author paints funny scenarios as the lion dresses up in a trilby hat, matching blue jacket and dances down the street twirling a red umbrella. His antics are watched by a young brother and sister safe behind the window pane.
Ding dong and the door is opened to welcome the large polite lion who even asks about Auntie Sue's health. There's 'hoobie-doobie' dancing and twirling to music from a wind-up gramophone, and a delicious lunch where the plate is also eaten! A little frisson of danger occurs as he opens his mouth wide, showing all his pearly-white teeth, will the children become dessert? With a giant roar, the youngsters quickly hide under the table cloth and make their decision. Boldly they declare hand in hand, strong assertions that it is time for the huge lion to leave with his hat and his umbrella.
Dunbar's easy to read story includes changes of text size, interesting word placements, and emphatic statements, and she uses a questioning style in the narrative. Her ink-and-wash artwork is spirited, and included are large two-page spreads where the action is focussed on the large lion set against white space, then moves to bright scenes filled with movement. The high-contrast red backgrounds underpin capture the change in mood.
A Lion is a Lion carries the keep safe message, highlighting the rights of the child to say no to intimidating behaviour. A perfect picture book to share as a family and in a learning environment as part of the Child Protective Behaviours curriculum and as an introduction in English to punctuation and questioning in dialogue.
Rhyllis Bignell

Face by Benjamin Zephaniah

Bloomsbury Publishing, 2018. ISBN 9781408894989
(Age: 12+) Recommended. Martin Turner is good looking, funny, and the leader of his Gang of Three, which also includes his mates Matthew and Mark. He also has a girlfriend, Natalie, who he has even kissed. The four kids make up the main characters in the story, who are all aged about 15. The author writes the characters' speech using a lot of colloquial language that was popular at the time, circa 1985, including homie, guy, man, as terms of endearment and poxy, geezer as insults. This aspect of the novel felt a little stereotypical and didn't add a lot to the storyline.
Martin and his friends are out late one night at a dance party. Here, the reader will learn a little about the under-age drug problems of East London in the 1980s. When offered drugs from over-age sellers, the three lads decide to leave and are offered a lift by an ex-school friend. Unbeknownst to them, the driver is high and out of his mind on heroin; the vehicle is stolen and soon they are pursued by the police. Martin and his friends are all involved in a high-speed crash and he wakes two days later in hospital, suffering deep partial thickness (3rd degree) burns to his face.
The novel then takes on a different aspect. The author, having done a lot of research, writes about burns recovery and Martin's experiences with facial reconstructive and skin grafting surgeries. The language used here is descriptive and well-written, particularly Martin waking up after the accident and eventually looking in a mirror.
Martin's return to everyday life is well documented by the author. Martin works through his feelings of aggression with the help of a clinical psychologist, Alan. Martin begins to understand the idea of everyone managing grief and loss differently, despite the unfailing support of his family. His former friends withdraw; Mark leaves the gang to form a new one where he is the leader; Natalie, now seems vain and self-obsessed.
Most refreshingly, the author has found a way to write about discrimination that is outside of the norms. Martin learns to respond to tormentors and bullies by being honest - I'm still me / I'm not disabled / I can still do everything I did before. He rekindles his passions and interests and makes new friends who don't see him for the facial disfigurement. Readers will enjoy and celebrate as Martin finds his confidence and identity post-accident.
While I would recommend this novel for readers in secondary school, the content is appropriate for capable readers who are younger - 12/13 years.
Clare Thompson