Hachette, 2020. ISBN: 9781473693050.
(Age: Adolescent - Adult) This is a story about ordinary people who
can sometimes be extraordinary, inhabiting a world that, for them,
is different. They have powers of observation, movement,
understanding and power that enable them to move in space, to
create situations in which different things can happen. They can be
outside of the world that we normally inhabit, and act in a capacity
that may save people from disaster. While focusing on adolescence,
this narrative is very much about the real world of today, a world
that is somewhat fraught with anxiety, and one in which it is still
important to love and find love, to spend time with family and
friends, and to seek to understand those close to us, as well as the
outside world.
Essentially this story has an 'added reality' that reflects that
which used to be called 'science fiction'. The powers possessed by
the Extraordinaries are much envied by their peers, while actually
often causing the Extraordinaries to experience emotional angst that
causes them to suffer. The narrative takes place in a country that
reflects much of the modern world, that raises issues pertinent to
this current world and that highlights the emotional world of
adolescence, particularly that of the 'queer' world of the text,
that controversial issue of sexual preference for one's own gender.
The protagonist is yearning for love, and is lonely because of his
situation, the loss of his mother, and living with a father who is
yearning for his wife, and desperate to love and care for his son.
Yet the father's job often keeps him at work late and the boy is
left alone, at home.
At its heart, this narrative reflects the issues of adolescents in
the world of today, that of planning a future in a world that often
appears to be unstable to the young, and of a world in which they
are hoping to find a place or a group to which they belong, and to find
a pathway that will be fulfilling. This is essentially a story about
love, particularly in families where it is sometimes forgotten. It
is about the compassion felt for those who struggle for whatever
reason. Klune subtly suggests that we consider 'difference' as
something that exists, that we strive to continue to love and
support those people in our own worlds, offering loving and
compassionate understanding. The novel is suitable for both adult
and adolescent readers.
Elizabeth Bondar
The teeny weeny genie by Julia Donaldson
Illus. by Anna Currey. Macmillan, 2020. ISBN: 9781509843602.
(Age: 4+) Highly recommended. When Old MacDonald on his farm finds a
genie in his teapot, things happen. He wishes for a new tractor and
it appears, then a wife to help with the farm, and she comes along.
She wishes for tools and wood to make a cupboard to store her
clothes, then has some left over to make a cradle and wishes for a
baby. But he is crying so a rattle is needed to quell him, then he
wants a dog, the dog wants a cat and on and on it goes, getting more
and more complicated and very funny as the wishes come along thick
and fast.
This beautiful read aloud will be a treat for a young audience as
they can call out the noises each of the wishes makes: the noise of
the tractor, the howl of the baby, the woof of the dog and so on.
Each page is a delight of fun and noise.
And the wonderfully lively and colourful illustrations, will have
the readers recognising the animals they see and spotting known
things in the farmyard, asking a myriad of questions about what they
do not know.
The blue genie gets a little annoyed with the wishes on the farm,
and wants it all to go away, but he cannot make his wish come true,
only those for other people. He attempts to get back into the
teapot, but finds a green genie there instead. The two wish for each
other, the teapot grows wings and the two are whisked away to a
lonely beach where all they can hear are the waves while they drink
their tea. Then they climb into the teapot and rest happily.
Be careful what you wish for is the basis of this funny tale,
cautioning readers not to take wishes lightly because the results of
this may be more than they bargained for.
This is a wonderfully funny, noisy tale which will have readers
jumping with joy.
Themes: Farmyard, Cautionary tale, Humour, Animals, Parody, Read
aloud.
Fran Knight
The Martian by Andy Weir
Crown, 2014. ISBN: 9780091956141.
(Age: Secondary/Adult) Highly recommended. Astronaut Mark Watney, one
of the team sent to Mars, is abandoned when a storm forces the leader
to make an instant decision. They see Mark being swept away by the
storm and their data shows he is no longer alive.
But, he is alive and busting to keep alive until he can be rescued
in four years time when the next Mars landing occurs. Trouble is
that there is only so much food and water in the Hab, the tent-like
construction built for the team of six. He assesses his chances
objectively, deciding to eat part meals to conserve food, designing
a way to reuse all the water he can and make some more using parts
from the abandoned module. He devises a way to grow potatoes using
those sent with them for Thanksgiving, using his own waste as soil.
He sets himself up well, and because he is such a likeable narrator,
the reader accepts all the science. This wonderful read, science
fiction at its best, a survival story that defies the imagination
will keep everyone reading to the last page. Full of NASA speak,
acronyms abound, but we learn a little of the minutiae of the life
of an astronaut and marvel at Watney's adaptability.
The book is divided into 26 chapters, most of which are the log
written by Watney as he charts his days, telling whoever finds his
body exactly what he has done to survive, but hopeful, of course,
that he will be rescued. Between these chapters are those set in
NASA as one of the technicians notices that tents have moved on
Mars' surface. She alerts those in charge and this unleashes a crowd
of experts all vying for their voice to be heard. The questions
asked within this room are mesmerising: should they tell the press,
should they tell his parents, or tell the other five now returning
to Earth, all the while having all of their expertise concentrated
on finding a way to bring him home. It is a riveting read, we listen
to the arguments made by those at NASA, and their attempts at
communicating with him, while working with Watney on the planet Mars
in his efforts to survive. A stunning science fiction novel in the
tradition of the Robinson Crusoe novels, (Robinsonade)
where someone is marooned and must survive, this book is a stunner,
made into a film in 2015 starring Matt Damon.
I listened to this as an audio book. Themes: STEM, Science fiction,
Survival, Robinsonade, Communication.
Fran Knight
Fierce, fearless and free: Girls in myths and legends from around the world by Lari Don
Illus. by Eilidh Muldoon. Bloomsbury, 2020. ISBN: 9781472967138.
158pp.
(Ages: 8-10) Recommended. This enjoyable, diverse anthology of
thirteen myths and folktales, stars young women from different times
and across different continents. There is a 4000 year old Sumerian
myth about the Goddess Innana who outwitted a mountain god intent on
destroying the world. In another folk tale, with a Chinese origin,
Sister Lace is able to make lace creatures and bring them to life in
order to escape marriage to an evil emperor. We are introduced to
the notion of feetwater in an Irish folk tale about getting rid of
witches from your cottage and in a Nigerian legend Nana Miriam
successfully uses her magic to defeat a monster hippo.
These stories are very concise and simply told with touches of
humour. The author, Lari Don, makes them very approachable for
young, newly independent readers but they will also work well read
aloud. The collection is a good resource for teachers to use with
their students to study myths and folktales and the common links
that folk tales around the world have. For example the Italian story
of Petrosinella could be compared to the more well-known Rapunzel.
In addition Lari Don provides interesting notes on the derivation of
each of the stories and lets us know that such tales of strong and
smart girls are genuinely old and important. The cover is modern and
inviting and each story has a one page black and white illustration.
Jo Marshall
Partition voices by Kavita Puri
Bloomsbury, 2019. ISBN: 9781408899083.
(Age: secondary/adult) Highly recommended. The partition of India
along religious lines in 1947 will be remembered as a monumental
disaster as 10 million people tried to get to the country of their
religious majority with about 2 million losing their lives. Many
fled the place they were born, and of these, thousands came to
England where they buried what had happened and made a new life for
themselves. Until recently their voices had not been heard. Two
years ago award-winning journalist and broadcaster Kavita Puri
produced a three-part series, Partition Voices for BBC Radio
4, winning the Royal Historical Society's Radio and Podcast Award
and its overall Public History Prize. This has now been made into a
book, "to remember the time before separation, so future generations
understand that there were Hindus in Lahore, and Muslims in
Amritsar".
Puri has divided the book into three sections, End of Empire in
which she summarises the British Raj and its place in India along
with the growing resentment of British rule, Partition, and Legacy.
Each story is unique, from Muslim, Hindu, Sikh and Christian, all
keeping silent for seventy years about what they had been involved
in or had witnessed, many wanting to forget.
Ken from an English family which owned a jute mill, now living in
Dundee, recalls seeing body parts blocking the waterways, and twelve
year old Ramen, a Hindu living in Dhaka calling out 'hunt the
British' with others in the streets, Muslim Bashir having to leave
his house in the Punjab, knowing it would be looted as soon as they
left, but after seeing the train carriages full of dead bodies in
Lahore Railway Station, he knew he could not stay.
Story after story crowd around the reader, and anger about partition
increases, but I was surprised to find that some of the interviewees
thought it a good thing.
Some girls were killed by their male relatives saving them from rape
and murder but also forced marriage. It was estimated that some
30,0000 women and girls were removed by Hindu and Muslim men, many
ending up in the Ashrams set up across Northern India for destitute
women, those whose families would not longer accept them, and those
orphaned by the violence.
In the midst of the violence and mayhem some acts stand out as
beacons of humanity. A Muslim family, the Begums, took weeks to get
to the refugee camp at Behram there to be helped by a friend, a
Hindu teacher, to get across to Pakistan.
Mohindra Dhall recalls his father rushing in to get them packed and
away. He had opted to stay in Pakistan but seeing violence escalate,
they headed for the railway station. There the train was crowded so
they waited for the next, realising in a few days that they would
all be dead if they had taken that first train.
Getting to the basics of why these people chose to emigrate to
Britain after Partition is difficult; some hate Britain for what it
did, dividing the country, but still chose to live there, some
thought Partition a bad idea, some a good idea, some want to return,
while others have returned often to the place of their birth. The
book is enthralling in showing such a range of stories and
experiences, a range of opinions and points of view about an event
put into effect with little planning and unforeseen, far reaching
consequences. Themes: India, Partition, Religious conflict,
Massacre, British Raj, Migration.
Fran Knight
Inventors : Incredible stories of the world's most ingenious inventions by Robert Winston
Illus. by Jessamy Hawke. Dorling Kindersley, 2020. ISBN:
9780241412466.
(Age: 8-12) Highly recommended. Inventors looks at
over 100 inventors and the wonderful things they have brought to
society to improve our lives. Each page details one inventor and
tells a little about their lives and how they came to invent what
they did to help improve our world. Written a little as short
stories, each page contains facts and illustrations to really show
the inventions and the impact they had on people's lives.
The book is divided into four major topics - "Making things go";
which covers inventions that impacted transport and travel; "Caring
for people" is the next section which includes inventions that help
people, cure diseases, help communications and improve lives
overall. The next section is all about "Helping at home", inventions
which assist us with household tasks or just entertainment. The last
chapter is called "Bang! Whizz! Whirr!" and covers a myriad of other
inventions that have helped human beings to live in our complex
world and made our live easier and safer.
This book is a great resource because it brings the inventors to
life for the reader. A class could use the information in this book
as a springboard for further investigation into some of the
inventors and the lives they led. It contains information about
contemporary inventors that are still living, and this is something
not done by many other books on this topic in recent years. There is
also a list of inventors that were not covered at the back of the
book. The glossary and index are well executed. A great resource for
every school library. Themes: Inventors, Technology.
Gabrielle Anderson
Fabio the world's greatest flamingo detective: Peril at Lizard Lake by Laura James
Bloomsbury, 2020. ISBN: 9781408889374. 128pp., pbk.
In a small town on the banks of Lake Laloozee lives Fabio, the
world's greatest flamingo detective. He's not tall or strong, but
slight and pink. And he's very, very clever.
Most of the time. But when an unusual lapse of judgement leads Fabio
to accept a ride in his associate Gilbert's plane, little does he
know he'll be nose-diving into a new mystery!
When the tiny plane crash-lands near a remote village in the
savannah, all Fabio wants is a pink lemonade to calm his nerves. But
the town well has dried up, and the water didn't just disappear on
its own! Fabio's on the case, and it's going to take a daring sting
operation to set things right.
With its hot pink and citrus yellow colour scheme in both the
illustrations and pages, this is a series that will appeal to newly
independent readers who like something a bit wacky in their reading
diet. Flamingoes are up there with unicorns on the popularity charts
right now, so for that reason alone it will be appealing but as the
third in the series, it offers more than just offbeat characters
with a mystery to solve through an engaging storyline while still
supporting readers who are transitioning to the complexity of
novels.
Barbara Braxton
The other passenger by Louise Candlish
Simon and Schuster, 2020. ISBN: 9781471196461.
(Age: Senior secondary/Adult) Highly recommended. Louise Candlish
weaves an absorbing tale of deceit, love, greed and duplicity in
this wonderful thriller. The reader is taken on a ride where the
characters need your sympathy one minute and have your loathing the
next.
Candlish sets her narrative firmly in London, mostly around the
Thames. The commute by river boat has a large part to play. Jamie,
who has a phobia about crowds and confined spaces, finds the journey
to and from his job relaxing, comfortable and convenient. It is also
where he meets Kit, a young man with an easy, confident persona.
Interestingly Kit's partner, Melia, works for the same trendy real
estate firm that Clare, Jamie's partner, is a leading light.
The four become friends, with an invitation to Clare and Jamie's
Georgian town house on Prospect Square. Kit and Melia cannot help
but be impressed particularly as they are renting an expensive small
flat nearby, but find it difficult to make ends meet.
The Thames commute also brings in some others who form a wider
acquaintance group, where Kit seems to be the one to whom the others
defer. When Kit disappears over the Christmas festive season, Jamie
is questioned on his way to work by a couple of detectives, who seem
to believe he may have had a part to play in the disappearance.
As the story evolves so does the tangled web Jamie, Melia, Kit,
Clare weave for themselves. Stories change and one is never entirely
sure who can be believed. This is Jamie's story but he is an
unreliable narrator who does not allow you to know the whole truth.
Your sympathies which lie with our story teller at first, soon begin
to fall away as he lets you in to what you believe are truths but
then are blown away in the next chapter.
Louise Candlish is the author of a number of other works including Our
House a winner of the Crime and Thriller Book of the Year at
the British Book Awards. This is the first of hers that I have read
and cannot wait to read others she has published. She knows how to
twist her plots leading her readers up all sorts of garden paths
only ready to be taken on yet another false direction.
If you enjoy a good thriller look no further. Themes: Crime, London,
Riverboats, Commuters,Thriller, Unreliable narrator.
Mark Knight
You are positively awesome: Good vibes and self-care prompts for all life's ups and downs by Stacie Swift
Pavilion, 2020. ISBN: 9781911641995. 144pp., hbk.
One of the greatest concerns of this pandemic that has engulfed the
globe is the mental health of those who have been in lockdown for
some time. Humans are sociable creatures, particularly our young
folk who haven't yet developed the wherewithal to be comfortable in
their own company for long periods and who need the contact with
their peers to validate and boost their sense of self-worth. Even
though governments may have offered millions of dollars to help with
the crisis, including for organisations like Kids Helpline, not all
will reach out to such bodies and so books like this that talk
directly to them and offer positive affirmations such as the
following can be very valuable in the hands of those who can help:
* we are all in this together
* we all need a bit of TLC
* we have all survived every bad day and overcome every
obstacle we've faced
Chapters include headings such as:
* Hey, you're awesome!
* Why is this stuff important?
* We all have times when life is a bit rainy
* It's okay
* Self-love matters
* You can be a good person with a kind heart and still say
'NO'
* Say yes to self-care
Each page has an affirmation, information and often an activity that
can offer a pathway forward. For example, in chapter 7 which focuses
on self-care, the advice goes much deeper than temporary fixes like
bath bombs and candles and offers some strategies for a 5-minute
self care as well as identifying those things that matter to the
individual so they can build their own circle of self-care and make
sure they complete it each day.
As well as being an essential tool in the teacher's well-being box
so that students consciously learn the strategies of mindfulness and
taking care of their own mental health, this could also be a gift to
a young one who might be adrift because of the loss of their
immediate peer support at this time. Even as students gradually
return to school, that return is different from coming back from
school holidays because families will have had to have faced a whole
range of unprecedented experiences unique to them, some might feel
shame or anxiety about the loss of income or whatever, and so
working through the things in this book should form part of each
child's learning over the next weeks. Help them to understand that
while each has had a unique set of circumstances to deal with and
these will continue to be endured for some time to come, we are in
this together and together we can survive and thrive. That said
though, help them build the mindset and strategies that will build
resilience and help them to help themselves when those difficulties
arise.
Barbara Braxton
Cinders and Sparks series by Lindsey Kelk
Illus. by Pippa Curnick. HarperCollins, 2019-2020 Magic at midnight. ISBN: 9780008292119. Fairies
in the forest. ISBN: 9780008292140. Goblins and gold. ISBN: 9780008292171.
Cinders lives a boring life with her selfish stepsisters and mean
stepmother, doing the chores and tending to their every need, just
like her traditional counterpart. While they prefer to stay indoors
all day listening to their mother read, Cinders would dearly love to
be outside playing and although they can't see the value of that, she
is allowed to do so once her chores are completed. But something
strange happens while she is outside - her dog Sparks starts talking
to her, her wishes start coming true and her fairy godmother, Brian,
materialises. (It's been hard to track Cinders down because she is
not on social media.)
And so begins a new series for young independent girls who are ready
for a solid adventure story but still believe in magic and the
characters of their childhood. Easy to read, engaging and funny in
parts, familiar characters and an ongoing quest make this a great
read but at the same time, it has an underlying message that
celebrates diversity and reaffirms that it is OK to be different.
Miss 9 asked for The worst witch series for her birthday six
weeks ago, and she is going to be thrilled when she discovers this
series in her letterbox as a follow-up because it will be perfect
for her. Thoroughly modern, thoroughly entertaining and just right
for a winter read.
Barbara Braxton
Puffin Little Cook : Snacks
Penguin Random House Australia, 2020. ISBN: 9781760897000. 96pp.
(Age: 6+) Highly recommended. A flick through this compact book
brought me to a stop with a recipe for little pea frittatas which
sounded very easy to make, and very delicious. More skimming through
found a recipe for Anzac biscuits, and I was hooked. This book, I
decided, was a keeper for me personally and one that I will use
often when grandchildren visit.
With the help of a Big Cook to turn on the oven and help with the
actual cooking process, children will have a lot of fun making these
simple but very appealing snacks for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
And some yummy, nutritious, sweet snacks like fruit slushies and
frozen banana pops are sure to be ones children make.
This is an ideal recipe book for parents and grandparents to have on
hand when budding cooks want to make something in the kitchen. The
ingredients are all simple, and the instructions are clear and easy
to follow. There is a Contents page, Glossary, and Puffin quiz. Each
recipe gives the number of items that will be made, and
illustrations brighten up the book. A little puffins prances
throughout and will be loved by little children.
A well designed, clearly presented and easy to follow book, this
will be a hit with all who use it.
Pat Pledger
Abigail and the restless raindrop by Matthew Cunningham
Illus. by Sarah Wilkins. Puffin, 2020. ISBN: 9780143774495.
(Age: 4+) Highly recommended. One rainy day Abigail has a big
question. She asks her mother where the rain comes from. She is told
it comes from the clouds, and yes she says but how does it get
there. Mum explains with the story of just one drop of water, a
restless drop of water. Floating around in the lake it sees the sky
above and wants above all else to fly. One warm day it begins its
journey, first becoming warmer and warmer, until finally changing
into a puff of steam. That puff of steam flies into the air,
wandering over hills and mountains, looking at the lake far below.
She joins many other puffs of steam and when they all join they fall
to the earth as rain, back to where she started from.
This delightful story is a wonderful read aloud on a wintry day,
involving the listeners in the story of how the rain falls to earth,
showing the weather in the background of each page, showing the
cycle of water. Abigail's questioning about her environment will be
a smart introduction to lessons about what is about us, and asking
children to think of what question they want answered. In this way
this book could be a wonderful gateway into talking about the
environment with classes, and rain in particular.
New Zealand illustrator, Sarah Wilkins has a most eye catching style
using a mix of acrylic, gouache, ink and digital techniques to
create her distinctive work. Wonderful to see a girl character in
shorts rather than the dresses so many seem to wear in children's
picture books, and see her stomping through puddles, messing about
in trees, rowing on the lake and above all, wondering. And looking
out of the window at the night sky, another question seems imminent,
and readers will ponder what that might be.
A book full of wonder and questions. Themes: Rain, Raindrops, STEM,
Science, Environment, Humour.
Fran Knight
Date me Bryson Keller by Kevin van Whye
Penguin, 2020. ISBN: 9780241435267.
(Age: 14+) Highly recommended. What starts off as a seemingly
lightweight story about a silly school dare turns into a moving
description of a teenager's gradual development into a trusted and
accepting gay relationship - a first time boyfriend-boyfriend
experience. It all starts when Bryson Keller, the handsome school
soccer star who scorns high school romances, is challenged in a dare
to date the first person to ask him out each week, for 3 months, and
if his heart is won he gives up driving his expensive white Jeep to
school and has to ride the school bus. The narrator, Kai Sheridan,
is a boy who has learnt to hide his sexuality from even his closest
friends following an early hurtful experience, but in an angry
spontaneous moment he challenges Bryson to 'date me'. Bryson is
known for being decent and fair-minded, and he takes up the
invitation. At first it is just a friendship with a shared school
project and shared music interests, but gradually as they get to
know each other better their friendship deepens into something more
meaningful.
This is a lovely story that reminded me of Clementine
and Rudy by Siobhan Curham, a story of a friendship and
art collaboration between two teenage girls from very different
backgrounds. Clementine and Rudy is not a LGBTQI+ story but
there is the same positive message about being non-judgemental and
open to friendship with someone different. And like Curham, van Whye
describes young people who are kind and sincere. Both Bryson and Kai
struggle with changing family relationships, but each is supported
by a sister who understands them, as well as good friends, and the
overall message is as the author says 'that, despite those trials
and tribulations, there is hope, that we have worth and deserve to
be happy'.
I can highly recommend this novel to teenage readers, regardless of
their sexuality, for its positive messages about identity,
friendship and acceptance.
Themes: LGBTQI+, Identity, Friendship, Romance.
Helen Eddy
Sneaky shadows by SC Manchild
Illus. by Sam Caldwell. Berbay Publishing, 2020. ISBN:
9780648529163.
(Age: 4+) The bright end papers will alert the reader to the play
which lies within, as two penguins stand on each other, with arms
extended up, making their shadow more like a rabbit, and underneath
they have their arms extended out, the shadow making the image of an
eagle in flight, and again the two make the shadow of a dog's face.
Berbay Publishing aims to publish imaginative books of a high
standard, enriching the reader with their playfulness. To this end
books are published from around the world, many having been
published to acclaim overseas. More about Bebay Publishing can be
found on their website.
Melbourne based author, Manchild has teamed with Glaswegian
illustrator Caldwell to produce a book which will delight and amuse
as children work out how each shadow is made. From the endpapers,
readers' imaginations will have been stirred, seeing the different
shadows made by the two penguins. The first two shadows are easy to
guess, and lure the readers into something more difficult over the
page. Each shadow from then on is an amalgam, a combination of one
animal with other things entwined somehow to make a shadow that is
nothing like the original animal. Kids will laugh at the combination
of things to make an unusual shadow, and try their own shadow play
as a result. Themes: Shadow, Shadow puppets, Humour.
Fran Knight
Camp by L.C. Rosen
Puffin. UK. 2020. ISBN: 9780241428252. 368p.
(Age: 15+ ) LGBTQ Romance. Camp Outland is a summer camp expressly
for gay teens. Subtitled, Top or bottom? It's time to bunk up,
Rosen's euphemisms are as lewd as they are plentiful. The central
problem arises when a Masc (masculine) type prefers his own type
exclusively. Unfortunately, the narrator, epitomizes the
stereotypical Femme homosexual, with his love of musical theatre and
nail polish. But not this summer. In preparation for summer camp,
Randy has: lost weight, worked out, cut his hair, changed his
wardrobe, changed his name and perfected new mannerisms to attract a
boy he has admired every summer since childhood - a masculine young
man who believes that gay men should behave straight.
To his friends' consternation, Randy drops his theatre electives for
sport in order to woo Hudson, who has a decidedly 'Masc' polemic.
Unbelievably, Hudson doesn't recognize Randy with a new persona and
a new moniker. As Del, Randy doesn't just plan to be Hudson's next
conquest. He desires the man of his dreams to be his forever
boyfriend. Much of the tension in the book comes from Hudson's
sexual frustration and Randy's guilt and betrayal of his cabin full
of old friends and theatre nerds.
The author of Jack of hearts is as determined as ever to
demystify gay sex for young queer readers. Camp is as
flirtatious as any straight romance, although verbally more
lascivious. With interesting themes of identity, friendship, family
and gay history, fans of L.C. Rosen will turn pages in anticipation
of gender equality; and the boy getting the boy by the end of
summer.
Deborah Robins
