Winner of the 2022 Locus Award for Best Collection, in Even greater mistakes, Charlie Jane Anders has written 19 short stories that span her writing career. The publisher’s blurb states: ‘Here are delightful upending’s of genre cliches, and heartfelt revitalisation of classic tropes. Here is social commentary with teeth, and here are scenes of pants-wettingly funny comedy. Here are characters and situations that by their very outrageousness achieve a heightened realism unlike any other. Here is one of the strongest voices in modern science fiction, the writer called by Andrew Sean Greer, 'this generation’s Le Guin.'
These stories are challenging to read and will be enjoyed by lovers of science fiction and fantasy. The first in the book As good as new, has a survivor isolated in a panic room and she turns the fairy story of the genie in a bottle upside down into a memorable tale. Rat catcher’s yellows is an intriguing take on being a carer of a life-time partner and brings all the heartbreak and diffuclties alive for the reader.
All the stories are original, unique, and often strange. Some are not easy to read but for hard core fans of science fiction and fantasy this will be a compelling collection. Some may like to try her novel Dreams bigger than heartbreak.
Themes Short stories, Science fiction, Fantasy, LGBT.
Pat Pledger
Guinness World Records 2023
Guinness World Records, 2022. ISBN: 9781913484231. (Age:8+) Highly recommended.
Guinness World Records books are borrowed constantly by students of all ages keen to catch up on a variety of quite extraordinary records achieved by individuals and groups. The latest 2023 edition will provide endless reading and browsing.
The striking cover and end papers of year’s book has a space/final frontier theme and indeed the introduction is called Missions. The Contents page this year lists ten chapters to browse through with the headings of Space, Life on earth, Human Body, Extraordinary Exploits, Around the World in 300 Records, Epic Engineering, Entertainment, Modern World and finally the ever-popular Sports. Each chapter lists the topics or people discussed with adjacent page numbers and recognises one Hall of Fame award under each main heading.
In the Around the World in 300 Records section, Australia’s list of six records includes the Lone Pine Sanctuary which is the world’s oldest koala sanctuary set up in 1927 by Claude Reid as well as the oldest rainforest, the Daintree, which dates back to around 180 million years.
Towards the end of the book is a Stop Press section where entries that came in after the closing date for submissions are added. This makes for very interesting reading. Did you know the longest time standing on one leg blindfolded goes to an Australian, 12-year-old Max Petoe who stood for 35 minutes? There is always so much to discover in the Guinness World Records book and this latest edition will fly off Library shelves.
I loved this book, and I really wasn't expecting to. As much as I like Adam Hills, I was expecting this to be another TV star writing a book and it isn't, this is a book with twists and turns that is well written and enjoyable.
The story starts with Charley and her best friend George being accused of stealing a priceless painting, the two friends are enjoying a European tour as Charley is the latest internet singing sensation and George is the one who made her videos. As they continue their tour of Europe and keep up with their schoolwork - they are only 12 after all, they now need to solve the building case against them as artefacts go missing from each place they visit.
Charley and George must face accusations from their schoolmates, principal, and international police forces all while trying to keep the tour on track and convince the adults in their lives that they can handle anything the world throws at them. The two friends work together to solve the crimes and clear their names, even when faced with jealousy and sabotage from others in their class.
This is a brilliant book and would be great as a read aloud or as a class text. It is really well written and will engage both young readers and adults alike.
Where’s Wally? Destination: Everywhere! is the 30th anniversary addition of the ever popular Where’s Wally series. As fans of Where’s Wally will know, his journeys can take him to the past, present and future. This well-presented hard cover edition contains 12 classic scenes from past books which have been given a more complex makeover! These scenes include The Great Portrait Exhibition, Jurassic Games, Cake Factory, Pirate Panorama, Dragon Flyers and finishing with The Land of Wallies. This latest book offers the reader the opportunity to find more things that Wally saw on his travels but with multiple surprises instore. Each double page has a paragraph of information explaining what might be found as well as clues to something that may be hidden, doubled, or changed. So many clever twists to each page. This book would make a wonderful gift for all fans of Where’s Wally.
Themes Where’s Wally, Travel, Activities, Clues.
Kathryn Beilby
Storm Goliath by James Sellick and Craig Shuttlewood
New Frontier, 2022. ISBN: 9781922326546. (Age:5+)
Storm Goliath is a brightly illustrated picture book from the Dealing with Feeling series. The book tells the tale of one very angry gorilla called Goliath who finds it hard to manage his anger. Even the smallest things can set him off such as birds singing or the warthog whining. He is not a settled gorilla and once his anger sets in, he is destructive and very unkind. The detailed and expressive illustrations manage to convey the range of emotions that Goliath is expressing and the use of capital letters to shout the words to the reader allows the emotions to be felt.
Goliath is feeling BIG feelings as do so many children nowadays. They find it hard to self-regulate these emotions but as Goliath shows us it can happen with practice. The descriptions of hanger – anger made worse by hunger and sanger – anger expressed with sadness mixed in - are important words to share with children.
This book would be a valuable tool to share with children who are struggling to contain feelings of anger. My only personal concern is the use of the words ‘shut up’ in the first couple of pages. If I was reading it out aloud I would change it to ‘be quiet’.
One Last Secret is the latest thriller from prolific writer of popular women’s fiction, Adele Parks. The novel centres on British escort Dora, who has finally decided to leave her profession, marry her best friend and start a new life. The only issue is, Dora has received an offer too good to refuse from a long-time client. Daniel asks her to take one last trip with him, to pretend to be his girlfriend at a house party being held at a chateau in Southern France. He promises a few days of luxury, sunshine and fun and Dora reluctantly agrees. What should be a simple and straightforward job however, rapidly turns sour when she realises that Daniel’s eccentric group of friends might turn out to be downright dangerous.
Adele Parks is known for producing slick and suspenseful contemporary thrillers with a strong focus on their female protagonists. One Last Secret is no different. Every character has a hidden backstory and secret purpose. The plot is full of unexpected twists and turns and the backdrop of the luxurious chateau is an excellent contrast to the dark dealings happening within. The sense of oppression builds throughout, as both Dora and the reader try to discover who is the sinister presence moving events along. One Last Secret will keep you guessing until the end. This book is recommended for all those who enjoy a dark and sultry thriller. However, be advised of the extremely adult and at times disturbing content.
Themes Thriller, Suspense, Mystery, Secrets, Relationships, France.
Dinosaur Chew! The Iguanodon is another in the popular The World of Dinosaur Roar! series and this time explores the life of the iguanodon who loves to laze around chewing grass. After being challenged by Dinosaur Munch to try something new he decides to go on an adventure.
In rhyming text, the pre-schooler will be introduced to this grass eating dinosaur, learning about some of its habits and habitat on the way. He will meet other dinosaurs in the series and will have fun looking at the brightly coloured pictures of the land and its inhabitants.
The third in the series about Aaron Falk a federal investigator, following finds Aaron at a festival in the wine country in South Australia. A terrible discovery is made – a baby has been left by herself in a pram and her mother Kim Gillespie, has disappeared, never to be seen again. A year later Aaron is back, this time for a christening, and deep rifts and fractures appear in the tight-knit community as the community begins to remember the events of the night and the truth begins to surface.
Jane Harper is a clever author, drawing on the atmosphere of a wine growing area as she explores the relationships in the families that Aaron is close to. The festival is running again, and questions are being asked about what was really seen on that night. Aaron is also drawn to Gemma, the organiser of the festival and to her stepson Joel, who is grieving the loss of his father who had been killed by a motorist who left the scene. These two mysteries begin to fascinate Aaron as he reconstructs what has happened in the past.
I was left pondering the title Exiles and the sentence on the front cover ‘We see what we expect to see,’ as I tried to follow the clues and spot the red herrings in the plot. I was also fascinated by the relationships – Aaron’s growing feelings for Gemma and the life of the missing woman, Kim.
As always, there was depth and complexity to the story from Harper who is an outstanding author of rural noir and Exiles is a worthy successor to her other novels, The Dry, Force of Nature, The Lost Man and The Survivors.
Themes Mystery, Thriller, Australia Crime, Suspense, Family relationships.
Rabbit is traumatised after watching his father die in the woods and he and his mum have moved to a caravan park near the coast which she manages. Helped by his counsellor Louise, Rabbit is no longer mute but Joe Fludd, who befriends him, says he is “quiet as a rabbit” and the nickname sticks. Joe’s family are outsiders, associated with local thefts, vandalism and fires, especially Joe’s older brother Billy, but Rabbit is irresistibly drawn to Joe, with his smile "like daytime lightning”. "Me and Joe, we’re closer than mates. Close as you can get without being brothers.” p17. Rabbit’s internal life is soaked in dreams of impending doom, often featuring a white horse, a great, beautiful creature, so when Joe asks Rabbit if he wants to see a dead horse the two set out on what proves to be a dangerous mission.
The sensitive, stilted first person narrative, with its short sentences and staccato feel cleverly communicates Rabbit’s vulnerability and the intimacy of the boys’ relationship. Rabbit’s courage and bravery in the face of trauma is somehow redemptive, helping him make sense of the world he has been thrust into. The text is beautifully supported by atmospheric ink and wash pictures and page borders, a thoughtful book with a special feel to it. This is the sequel to We were Wolves but it does stand alone successfully.
Quickly slowly day by Martin Baynton and Rob Foote
Little Steps, 2022. ISBN: 9781922678515. (Age:2+) Recommended.
Quickly slowly day is one of the Book Hungry Bears book collection from stories used in The Book Hungry Bears TV show. In this brightly coloured story the concept of the passage of time is explained to the very young. On each double page spread the little bear is involved in an activity that is slow and then fast. Scenes of events during a typical day for a toddler are show, for example catching a bus, going to the park, going shopping and playing at home. So the reader will see the bear slowly waking up in the morning, and then quickly jumping out of bed; the bears race quickly to the bus stop and go slowly into town; little bear slowly climbs the steps to the top of the slide and then quickly goes down the slide and so on. Finally it is bed time and the little bear has a story read slowly and then quickly falls asleep
The text is minimal, ‘Quickly make a big mess, Slowly clear it up’, and it reads aloud very well. The very engaging illustrations are rendered in soft water colours and I loved the happy expressions on the faces of the parent bear and little bear. The drawings complement the text and make the familiar scenes come alive, reenforcing the notion of time. Children will have fun doing some of the activities in the teacher's notes and the book would be a very useful addition to a childcare centre or home library.
Themes Time, Passage of time.
Pat Pledger
The unwinding and other dreamings by Jackie Morris
Unbound, 2021. ISBN: 9781783529353. (Age:Adult - Young adult) Highly recommended.
What a beautiful book! I was intrigued by the wonderful cover illustration of a sleeping woman nestling on a large, white polar bear and expected to find a fairy tale within. Instead, opening the book the author says in her introduction: “This book is not meant to be read from cover to cover. It is a book for dreamers. Slight of word, rich of image, its purpose is to ease the soul.” And ease the soul it does. It is intended to be a companion that can sit on the bedside table at night or be carried in a picket or bag during the day to be looked at in times of stress.
It is easy to dip into the book, with each of the fourteen lushly illustrated sections, calling to the imagination, and easing the anxieties of a busy world. Morris took me into a land where there were exotic midnight fish that flew into the sky, a fox who loved the Winter Queen, and a gorgeous white bear. The stunning illustrations are unforgettable, just so beautiful it is difficult to describe their effect on the imagination.
This is book that I will treasure and one that I intend to buy as a gift for family members. It is highly recommended for its beauty and impact.
Themes Imagination, Poetry, Fantasy, Art, Short Stories, Animals.
V.E. Schwab, the author of City of ghosts and Gallant among others, takes her story writing to memorable levels with her adult tale of Addie LaRue, a young woman living in France in 1714. Desperate not to enter a soul-destroying marriage trapped in a small country town, she makes a deal with the Devil – she will live forever, but everyone she meets will forget her. Schwab takes her readers across three centuries and continents as Addie faces many adventures and meets many people, none of whom can remember her name. Her loneliness is devastating. Then in New York Henry, a young bookseller, sees her and remembers her name and she takes desperate measures to remain seen by him.
With Addie’s adventures Schwab delves into history and art. The reader becomes immersed in Addie’s life as she tries to survive on her own, first poverty stricken and later as a muse for artists, but always isolated and lonely. When she meets Henry, she hopes that things will change and their love story resonates on many levels, with hope that this time Addie will not have to repeat the same first meeting over and over again.
This is a very memorable fantasy (Locus Award Nominee, Best Fantasy Novel (2021), Goodreads Choice Award Nominee, Fantasy (2020)) which has been written for an older and more mature audience than her previous books. Readers who enjoyed The Time Traveler’s wife and The night mobile by Audrey Niffenegger may like this as well.
Swickley is a small town with all the features of other American small towns in the 1990s, though it has had its fair share of disasters and incidents over the years. Jess is a typical high school teen, worrying about relationships, school and family issues. She lives with her hyper organised and controlling mother and her rather detached father, and has a close relationship with her bedridden sister, Sarah, who has slowly deteriorating health. Jess’s two best friends, Amber and Kristen are always ready to dissect Jess’s life and especially so when she admits to harbouring feelings for her friend and neighbour Ty who recently seems to have been flirting with her. Music is an important part of Jess’s life; she plays keyboard in the school band and listens to all the latest songs, sharing CDs with Sarah. At one time she pestered her parents into letting her take guitar lessons but after six lessons the teacher asked her if she had ever wondered about the nature of reality and after that she was told he had some sort of breakdown and never came back, foreshadowing other dissonances in Jess’s life. When Jess becomes aware of distant chanting that people around her seem unable to hear and Amber is evasive about a strange shiny object dropped from her bag, the dissonances start to add up, culminating in the replacement of her dog Fuller with one that looks the same.
Suffused with 90’s popular culture references and well-crafted predicable characters, this enjoyable story holds up for us as well as Jess, the narrator, until it doesn’t. The second half shifts our perception and holds a mirror up to our society’s obsession with other people’s lives, influencers and marketing. A clever concept, well executed.
Themes Teen romance, Friendship, Reality TV.
Sue Speck
Sunny the shark by Remy Lai
Allen & Unwin, 2022. ISBN: 9781761065460. (Age:5-9) Recommended.
Sunny the oceanic white tip shark is just looking for a bit of peace and quiet, away from noisy seagulls, in the depths of the open ocean where it is cooler. It is not long before that peace is shattered when a school of little fish race up asking for help to escape a hungry tuna fish. On seeing Sunny, with her sharp teeth, the tuna turns tail and swims away. The little fish are very grateful and want to stay safely with Sunny saying they can offer something in return. Sunny replies “what could you have to offer? The great gift of noise?” It turns out they can remove parasites from the shark’s gills and clean her teeth. They promise to be quiet but that doesn’t last! Sunny is caught and tagged by a marine research team but then she becomes entangled in a loop of plastic attached to a discarded balloon. As she grows the plastic gets tighter around her fins and Sunny finds it harder and harder to hunt for food. Time passes and she gets weaker and slower but Sunny is encouraged by her constant companions, the noisy, but supportive, little fish and the barnacles living on the ring of plastic. It seems she will never be rid of it in spite of attempts by the researchers and a diver.
There is a happy ending and at the end of the book is the real story of a shark with a plastic ring around her neck and details about the types of shark and little pilot fish that often accompany them. There is also a section about plastic rubbish in the ocean and ways to avoid it. Described as part of an “inspiring series for young readers” the message is not overdone with the emphasis on the story. This colourful and fun graphic novel has plenty of adventures, beautifully drawn and engaging characters, equally suitable for young readers or for storytelling.
Themes Sharks, Plastic pollution.
Sue Speck
A trip to the Moon by Peppa Pig
Penguin, 2022. ISBN: 9780241610664. (Age:2+)
Peppa Pig is back again, this time going on an exciting trip to the moon. There is a show at the Museum that is all about the moon and the family goes to see it. Mr Rabbit shows them around and they blast off when they are all seated in the rocket. Even though Daddy Pig makes some Daddy jokes about the Moon being made of cheese, Mr Rabbit corrects him telling everyone that it is made of rocks and that the tour is a serious one. The children hear about gravity, space vehicles and what it would be like to jump on the Moon. Young children listening to the story will have fun learning about the Moon and space as well.
The illustrations are very familiar with the Pig family featured in their backyard, and then in space suits. All the pages are brightly coloured, with interesting details for children to look for, and the black sky against the grey of the moon is very effective.
Fans of Peppa Pig will have fun with A trip to the Moon, enjoying blasting off and defying gravity.
