Ill. by Kerascoet. Puffin, 2017. ISBN 9780241322567
(Age: 5+) Highly recommended. Themes: Education. Prejudice. Women's
rights. Taliban. Nobel Peace Prize winner, Malala Yousafzai, has
made her amazing story available to younger readers in this
outstanding picture book, Malala's magic pencil. Malala came
to worldwide attention when a terrorist attempted to kill her in
2012. She had promoted the education of girls in war-torn Pakistan,
writing under an assumed name for BBC Urdu. In this book we see how
girls are imposed upon by the growing threat of the Taliban in her
city.
Malala loves watching a TV show about a boy with a magic pencil, who
when hungry would draw something and eat it. Malala wishes she had
such a pencil, and put a lock on her door, or nullify the terrible
smells from the rubbish dump. But one day taking rubbish to the dump
she sees young children scavenging for rubbish to sell. She talks to
her father and is saddened to hear that some children never go to
school, and girls in particular are kept home to work. She longs for
a magic pencil to make the world a safer place, one in which girls
can all be educated. But then men with guns appear in their streets
and impose more burdens upon women. Malala notices fewer girls
coming to class and so she begins to write. Her voice is heard all
over Pakistan and further, she gives talks around the country,
visiting remote communities and speaking to a television reporter.
She is amazed that people want to hear her story. But some people
are not happy and try to stop her. They fail.
Living now in Birmingham her voice is a constant reminder of what
oppression looks like and how important it is to stand up for
women's education.
She found her magic pencil and is using it for the promotion of
peace in our world.
This magical story is beautifully illustrated by Kerascoet, a
pseudonym for French husband and wife team, Sebastien Cosset and
Marie Pommepuy using pen and watercolour to recreate the life of
Malala. In the detailed background readers will espy lots of
information about living in Pakistan, which will both inform and
delight. Information is included at the end of the book about
Malala's life and work, while a letter from Malala to her readers is
included. I found this a moving and personable story and went back
to the first book she wrote of her experiences, Malala:
the girl who stood up for education and changed the world(Indigo,
2014) as I am sure others will. I was blown away by her understated
reference to what happened to her when she was shot, underlining the
insignificance of the Taliban against the global importance of
education and peace. In a classroom this book would make a study of
its own, involving such themes as life in Pakistan, peace and the
Nobel Peace Prize, the role of the United Nations, extremism,
women's education, amongst others.
Fran Knight
The awesome book of animals by Adam Frost
Bloomsbury, 2017. ISBN 9781408885130
(Age: 6-12) Recommended. Themes: Animals. Information book. This
small format book with full-page colour and infographics relates
well-researched facts and anecdotes that will fascinate most people
who open it. All the information is given within a context or as
part of a comparison so each fact is meaningful and relevant. There
are facts of every kind: disgusting, funny, little known and
unbelievable, many related as a short anecdote. There are animal
comparisons (how much water do animals need to drink each day?),
facts related to interaction between humans and animals (examples of
people being eaten alive and surviving) and strange but true facts
(there is a fish that climbs trees and breathes air). The snippets
might even get children curious to research further (as I felt the
need to find out about more about it raining raw meat in Kentucky,
USA!).
This will especially appeal to lovers of The Guinness book of world
records and Ripley's Believe it or not as well as
being great for visual learners and high interest, low ability
readers. Children will love exploring the book alone or as a group,
exclaiming in disbelief and then sharing these (mostly useless)
titbits with all their friends and family. A clever way to get
children excited about reading and learning.
Nicole Nelson
Bitch doctrine: Essays for dissenting adults by Laurie Penny
Bloomsbury, 2017. ISBN 9781408881613
(Age: 16 - Adult) Recommended. Themes: Feminism. Sexism. Identity.
Gender issues. There are a couple of references to 'bitch' among the
quotes that introduce each section of this book, one from Bette
Davis - "When a man gives his opinion, he's a man, When a woman
gives her opinion, she's a bitch" and one from Madonna - "Sometimes
you have to be a bitch to get things done". Author Laurie Penny is
being a bitch in this sense, she is putting her opinion out there,
she is telling it how it is, and she is demanding change. Bitch doctrine begins with a diary of reflections on the rise
of Donald Trump on a wave of racism and violent popularism, and
declares that "toxic masculinity is killing the world." She goes on
to attack the patriarchal and sexist basis of Western society. Women
are still chasing the illusion of 'work-life balance' whilst finding
they are actually responsible for both work and home life. Penny
actually promotes singledom as the best option for young women -
marriage is not the happy ever after, why not take time to explore
interests, career, life? She writes that women need to get on with
saving the world and "we can't do it one man at a time".
Penny's essays target Barbie doll and James Bond films, and also the
Western fascination with the concept of the oppressed burqa-clad
Muslim woman. The oppression of women is a global phenonema,
"mysogeny knows no colour or creed", and the anger and violence
directed by western society towards the veiled woman is another
hypocrisy. To read more on this last topic, Amal Awad's Beyond
veiled cliches is an enlightenment.
But for me, the most poignant are the chapters on gender. Here,
Penny changes from strident feminist flag-bearer to revealing her
own personal teenage experience trying to understand where she
fitted in the male/female divide. This section of the book provides
an opportunity for empathy and understanding of the personal turmoil
of young people who struggle to find where they belong in a world
that insists on the identifying labels of male or female. This is
particularly relevant in the current context of Australia's vote on
recognition of gay marriage.
Penny's voice is loud and provocative, tough, forthright and also often humorous. She is launching a bitch doctrine. It's worth
reading.
Helen Eddy
Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu
Hachette, 2017. ISBN 9781444940633
(Age: 13+) Highly recommended. What a wonderful book for young women
- one that validates being a woman, takes joy in women's friendships
and speaks strongly of a woman's capacity to thrive in the modern
world.
Jennifer Mathieu has written a story that outlines how girls are
treated as second class to boys in a modern west coast United States
high school. This is a story about bravery in the face of
mistreatment, of girls facing daily damning condemnation and
feelings of isolation. Here we have a young woman in high school who
is exasperated by the constant denigration the girls receive from
the boys, and sick of the licence their society allows boys to
consider themselves superior to girls. This licence, supported by
the school, that will do nothing to redress the hierarchical
structure of boys as heroic, high-achieving sport stars, seems to
give them the right to verbally abuse girls, to demand favours from
girls and to make offensive and derogatory sexual innuendos in
class, in the schoolyard and in the outside world.
Yet this is modern America and we would think that this couldn't
happen. But it does, Poehler clearly tells us, and Vivian is
absolutely fed up with the constant abuse, verbal slights, and
denigration of girls. So she makes a 'moxie', paper slips of words
and images spread throughout the school, and the outcome is
explosive. We are so drawn in to her anger that we can't help but
hope that she can sustain the rage and build it in the other girls,
and stay safe. Good men are in evidence, and decent boys, so this is
not a man-hating novel.
What a wonderful achievement for Mathieu, in composing a
well-written modern novel that faces reality, that depicts
adolescence as school teachers know what it is like, and fearlessly
tackles that which is not only unrecognised, but ignored. Highly
recommended for high school students of all year levels, and
particularly of interest in its informative capacity for parents and
school teachers. Brilliant!
Liz Bondar
Busy builders: Airport, awesome airport action by Timothy Knapman
Walker Books, 2017. ISBN 9781925381443
(Age: 4+) Recommended. Themes: Airports, Building and construction,
STEM. A sturdy box containing a plastic bag of pieces to put
together to build an airplane, a book which explains all the facets
of life in an airport, and a group of jigsaw pieces to make the
runway, will fill in a wet afternoon for kids indoors or a small
group in a classroom. I enjoyed reading the book, which gives
information about what passengers need to do when they arrive at an
airport, then going on to security, baggage handling and getting
onto the plane through the air bridge. The book shows readers behind
the scenes, what happens to the luggage, how the plane is readied,
take off and flying then landing. It makes for an informative
read and will add to the group's knowledge about what happens in an
airport. A glossary at the end of the information pages recounts
some of the more unusual and specialised words with their meanings.
When the book is finished, instructions cover the next four pages
detail how the box and the pieces in the plastic bag can be used to
construct an airport and a helicopter and several planes.
I love the way the box becomes the airport building and the pieces
extend the runway in front of and behind the box. The sturdy pieces
in the box certainly spoke to me and I itched to take it all out and
give it a go, but will be equally delighted helping someone much
younger than me have fun with it.
Fran Knight
Unicorn princesses: Sunbeam's shine by Emily Bliss
Bloomsbury Children's books, 2017. ISBN 9781681193267
(Age: 5-10) Recommended. Cressida Jenkins' favourite thing is
unicorns. Cressida's dreams come true when she finds a real live
unicorn. Can she do as the unicorn princesses ask?
The characters in the story are the unicorn princesses, Cressida and
wizard-lizard. The characters in this book are interesting and some
of them are funny.
I think the plot makes sense and it is very interesting. The big
idea of this book is finding a human girl who believes in unicorns
to find the missing gem.
The settings of this book are in the woods behind Cressida house and
rainbow realm. The settings are creative and are described well in
the story as well as the pictures.
The style of the story in imaginary, the text is big and easy to
read. I like the style of this book.
I recommend this book for 5 to 10 year olds. If you like the series
of Rainbow magic by Daisy Meadows you will enjoy these
books.
Grace, Year 6
Unicorn princesses: Flash's dash by Emily Bliss
Bloomsbury Children's Books, 2017. ISBN 9781681193304
(Age: 5-10) Recommended. Cressida is back in rainbow realm for
Flash's race the thunder dash. She is going to be the first human
girl in the thunder dash. But the silly wizard-lizard spell goes
wrong and the race track is covered in sticky pink goo.
The characters in this book are the unicorn princesses, Cressida and
the wizard-lizard. The characters are interesting and some are
funny.
The plot makes sense and is engaging.
The big idea was Cressida to run in the thunder dash and help clean
the track.
The settings are in the woods behind Cressida house and in the
rainbow realm. The setting isn't described as much as the first book
but is still really good.
The style of the book is fantasy and the text is big and easy to
read.
I recommend this book for 5 to 10 years old. If you like the series
of Rainbow magic by Daisy Meadows you will enjoy these
books.
Grace, Year 6
Dork diaries: Crush catastrophe by Rachel Renee Russell
Simon & Schuster, 2017. ISBN 9781471168017
(Age: 9+) This is the 12th instalment of Dork Diaries. In
this book we see Nikki Maxwell and her BFFs counting down until the
end of the school year. Nikki thinks she has her summer all figured
out, with lots of fun plans to hang out with her friends and her
crush, Brandon. It's going to be perfect! Squeee!
But then a new boy turns up at school and shows an interest in Nikki
and things become confusing super-quickly! The last thing Nikki
wants to do is hurt Brandon... What do you do when you
accidently crush your crush?! Crush catastrophe will be another much-loved addition to the
Dork Diaries series. It is lighthearted and as usual Nikki
is dragged through embarrassment after embarrassment so the young
reader does not have to experience it herself! It also opens the
door to experiences the girls may encounter as they approach middle
school. The cartoonish illustrations interspersed throughout the
text allow for the less confident reader to tackle the novel.
Although some children younger than 9 may be able to decode the
book, I think the content is really appropriate for children older
than this. Another must-have book to add to the collection of Dork Diaries.
Kathryn Schumacher
My side of the diamond by Sally Gardner
Hot Keys books, 2017. ISBN 9781471406430
(Age: 11+) Highly recommended. Themes: Fantasy, Science fiction,
Friendship, Anorexia, Artificial intelligence. A lone girl at
school, Becky writes in her journal constantly, so much so that
Jazmin grabs the book and reads it. She comes across an amazing
story, one she insists the girl should share online. But when
Becky's mother, Ruth reads it she gives it to a publisher and it is
published, selling millions of copies, making the family well off,
Becky retreats. Becky and Jazmin no longer see each other so when
Ruth invites Jazmin to spend the holidays at the beach with her
daughter, she is at first reluctant, but on seeing the state of
Becky relents and goes, adamant that she will make her eat.
This very unusual story takes many turns, inviting the reader to
think they are perhaps reading a supernatural novel, a mystery,
science fiction, a story about UFO's, a romance, or tale of
anorexia. It is none of these, and yet contains elements of each. So
be prepared for the unexpected.
The story centres around sessions between several of the
protagonists and a researcher, Mr Jones, who listens to each of
their stories in turn, Gardner putting us in the place of the
researcher; listening to, weighing up and judging each of the
stories, sifting through each of their perspectives on what really
happened.
Becky is transfixed by the story of Skye and Lazarus who disappeared
after jumping from the dome of St Paul's Cathedral some years
before. Their bodies never hit the ground and yet a man, Icarus, is
in prison for their murders. It is he that Becky wants to interview
while they are on holiday in Suffolk. And she does, becoming
involved with him in the oddest of ways. She and Jazmin become
involved with his story and when letting a stranger out of the
locked cupboard, must run for their lives.
Icarus must leap into the unknown and wants Becky to go with him,
and in so doing, relegates Jazmin to a life of suspicion and
rejection by her peers. The reader is hooked into reading to the end
to find out just what is going on.
Fran Knight
Katinka's tail by Judith Kerr
HarperCollins, 2017. ISBN 9780008255299
(Age: 4+) Cats, Difference, Fantasy. An older woman and her cat live
an uneventful life. Each morning the cat climbs the creeper on the
outside of the house so that when the woman opens the curtains,
there she is. They play together, then cat follows the woman to the
shops and waits for her to return, helping her unpack the groceries.
At night Katinka goes out into the forest and in the morning the
woman must clean up the dead mice on the kitchen floor. As they walk
people often stop to admire the cat, commenting on its tail. Some
are even rude about the cat.
But the two are fond of each other and do all sorts of things
together. One night the woman wakes and looks out of the window to
see her cat being chased by a number of other animals. She follows
the throng to find that Katinka's tail has become a golden beacon,
and they fly up into the clouds.
The woman eventually lands back in bed and when she wakes the next
morning, Katinka is there, outside her window with the same golden
tail that she saw during the night.
This magical tale will enchant younger readers for whom magic is
simply a part of their world. The ordinary cat becomes something
more when during the night the tail takes on magical qualities and
the group flies into the sky. The woman is easily recognised by
readers as an archetype Grandma, in her sensible shoes, fluffy
slippers, and teapot on the table. Children will be enchanted by her
as they appreciate the attributes of the woman and her companion.
Fran Knight
Last hours by Minette Walters
Allen and Unwin, 2017. ISBN 9781760294984
(Age: secondary to adult) Highly recommended. Themes: Crime, Black
Death, Medieval life and times, Murder. Long time crime fiction
writer; Minette Walters, has turned to historical fiction in this
new book, destined to be a series about the advent of the plague in
rural England in the fourteenth century. Set in the small community
of Develish, where Lord Richard rules with an iron fist, some two
hundred serfs farm the strips of land outside the manor walls, owing
allegiance to their lord in the sharing of grain and produce from
their labour. His wife, Lady Anne hates her husband and is in daily
conflict with their haughty, spoilt daughter, Eleanor, but when the
plague comes to the village, the girl's spitefulness seemingly has
no bounds. When Lord Richard leaves for the neighbouring manor
house, there to trade his daughter in marriage his entourage is
racked by the pestilence that has moved over the county of Dorset.
He and a few of his retainers make it back to Devilish, but are
stopped at the moat. Hearing of the ravages of the disease, Lady
Anne has issued orders that no one will be allowed in, lest they
spread the plague to her people, now all crowded into the manor
house and its surrounds within the wall and the moat.
From here, Lady Anne manoeuvres her way into ruling the manor and
the villagers, nominating one of them, Thaddeus, as a steward, and
fighting the machinations of her daughter, those opposed to what she
is doing, the former steward recently hired by her husband, and
Thaddeus' lazy family. Having some two hundred people living
together, and knowing little of what is happening outside, a murder
causes intense concern and it is up to Thaddeus to unravel the
mystery. But it appears that Eleanor may be too close to the murder
for his comfort, so he takes the five young men implicated in the
affray and they leave the manor to look for food and information.
This is a wonderfully involving look at one community and its
attempts to keep the plague out of its midst. The minutiae of life
lived in such close confines, with people at once suspicious and
very fearful, struggling to fill their long days, each day seeing
the food supplies running down, and a priest who is little help,
shows readers what life for many must have been like in 1348 when
probably half of Britain's population died.
This story is a marvelous reconstruction of life in Medieval times,
recalling the harsh lives led by the serfs ad their families, owing
their lives to an insensitive, ignorant and over bearing man who
only sees them as his slaves. to do with as he bids.
A fascinating insight into the background of Walter's writing of the
book is given in this interview.
Fran Knight
The angry chef: Bad science and the truth about healthy eating by Jay Rayner
One world, 2017. ISBN 9781786072160
(Age: 16+). Recommended. Diets. Nutrition. Scientific thinking. Jay
Rayner is the angry chef - he is angry about the false claims and
misconceptions peddled by the fad diet industry. He begins the book
with the story of the Easter lapwing. He describes the spring-time
discovery of hares often alongside scraped nests of colourful eggs -
giving birth to the medieval myth of the Easter bunny. However the
eggs had not been laid by the frolicking hares but by the elusive
wetland bird, the lapwing. People were fooled by the correlation of
hares and eggs and jumped to their own conclusions. It is human
nature to see correlation and assume causation - overlooking the
many possible confounding factors.
In his explose of fad diets, Ray presents many examples of mistaken
beliefs and pseudo-science, examples of mischievous hares sat next
to a pile of colourful eggs. He exposes the false science behind
each diet: from gluten-free, alkaline, detox, sugar-free,
carbohydrate-free, paleo, to the promotion of the wonder foods of
coconut oil and antioxidants, the dangers of the facile ideas of
clean eating, GAPS diet and cancer cures, the demonisation of
processed foods, the simplistic concept of good vs bad food. He
rants with anger at the false claims, the bullshit, and the fake
gurus that people seem to blindly follow, but his anger is tempered
with a good dose of humour that often made me laugh out loud.
And if there is anywhere to lay the blame for all this - it is our
education system. Instead of teaching scientific facts, he argues
that our science courses should be teaching the scientific method -
the need to look for and respect evidence and an understanding of
what constitutes proof. Science should teach children to doubt and
to question, and to learn about concepts such as 'regression to the
mean'. He says
'We should be trying to produce children who understand that
correlation is not always causation, that anecdotes are not
evidence, that a theory is not something dreamed up in a pub, and
that interesting results are often wrong.'
If you are curious about the food theories, he lays it all bare, in
an easy to read manner. I could imagine any of the chapters being
taken as a case study for a science class to examine the theories
and test the evidence. Rayner presents the statistics, the theories
and the laughs, and above all he promotes guilt-free enjoyment of
one of the great pleasures of life - food.
Helen Eddy
The secret of Black Rock by Joe Todd-Stanton
Flying Eye Books, 2017. ISBN 9781911171256
(Age: 5+) Highly recommended. Environment, Interdependence,
Lighthouses, Shipping, Mountains. Erin Pike lives with her mother
and dog, Archie, near by a large fishing village. Here sailors tell
tales about Black Rock, stories that make people's hair curl. It is
said that the mountain in the sea could move at will, and when it
does it scratches ships as they pass by, its sides as sharp as a
swordfish. It is able to smash a ship to pieces and is something to
be feared. But Erin wants to see for herself. Often she hides on
mum's boat but Archie always sniffs her out, but one day she hides
herself so well, he misses her. When the boat passes by the rock,
Erin topples into the sea, falling straight down into the gloomy
waters by the rock. She is amazed to see such a variety of fishes
and anchors, and when a hand reaches down and lifts her back up to
the surface, and returns her to shore, no one believes Erin's story.
But one day the ships go out with equipment needed to destroy Black
Rock.
Erin rows out to the rock and stands on the claw that is ready to
chew up Black Rock. Suddenly all the fish that live beneath and
around Black Rock come to the surface shimmering in the moonlight.
The sight changes the fishermen's plan, and the rock is saved.
This delightful story tells of the interdependence between people
and their environment, of the duality of our relationship with the
earth on which we live
A modern folk tale, the story has a mythic quality that will be
eagerly read by younger readers, relishing being part of the
adventure undertaken by Erin to see something for herself, and then
bravely going out to save the rock.
The illustrations reflect the old movies of Saturday afternoon
cinemas in the suburbs, with the circles of pictures, the
highlighting of the action within a circle, the large bleak shots of
the ships coming with their appalling equipment to destroy the rock.
The retro appearance of the book is eye catching and will appeal to
younger readers.
Fran Knight
The Wonderling by Mira Bartok
Walker Books, 2017. ISBN 9781406370645
(Age: 10+) Highly recommended. Welcome to the home for wayward and
misbegotten creatures, run by the evil Miss Carbunkle, cunning
villainess, who believes her terrified young charges exist only to
serve and suffer. For the Wonderling, an innocent, one-eared
'groundling' - a mix of fox and boy - the Home is all he has ever
known. But when unexpected courage leads him to protect a young bird
groundling, Trinket, from being bullied, she in return gives the
Wonderling two incredible gifts: a real name - Arthur, like the good
king in the old stories - and a best friend. With the help of an
ingenious invention by Trinket, the two friends escape from the Home
and embark on an extraordinary quest into the wider world and down
the path of Arthur's true destiny.
This is a beautiful story where two very different creatures are
drawn together out of need and end up developing a strong bond where
they are searching for their destiny beyond the walls of the awful
orphanage. Bartok has cleverly incorporated humans, regular animals
and the hybrid human/animals named 'groundlings'. She uses rich
descriptive language that creates a magical mood where even the
smallest details seem important. Arthur is an extremely likeable
main character with a kind heart. He is extremely brave and
desperately searches for anything beautiful or good that he can
cling to.
The book is absolutely beautiful, with quaint pictures interspersed
throughout the pages. A true masterpiece that will be a must for the
library collection. As some of the storyline can be somewhat dark, I
would recommend the book for more mature readers, 10 years old and
up.
Kathryn Schumacher
The glow of fallen stars by Kate Ling
Little Brown Books for Young Readers, 2017. ISBN 9781510200180
(Age: 13+) Recommended for people thirteen and up who have an
interested in sci-fi/romance. Like the previous novel in the series,
The
loneliness of distant beings, The glow of fallen stars
has a slow start. Seren, Mari, Ezra, and Dom have landed on
Huxley-3, a planet with the potential for supporting human life
after escaping from Ventura, the ship on which they were all born.
Seren and Dom are celebrating their freedom, meanwhile Mari and
Ezra's thoughts turn more practical - how are they going to spend
the rest of their lives stranded on an island on an alien planet?
After an encounter with some glowing coral, both Seren and Ezra are
struck by a relentless sickness which renders them unconscious and
close to death. Having both recovered, but being rendered weak by
the sickness, lack of food, and torrential rains, the four are
driven by desperation to take the boat and make for the mainland.
Days pass, and luck brings them to a coastline where they soon find
a pioneer settlement from the ship Concordia. The people of
Concordia, like Ventura, originated from Earth. But what will come
of their lives now, living on planet for the first time? It seems as
if everything has changed, but has it really? Have Seren and Dom
achieved their goal of being together, or will Concordia's breeding
program spell disaster?
While quite a bit of Seren and Dom's relationship is portrayed as
lust, problems caused by lies, trust, and outsiders are also
explored. Friendships are formed, broken, and transformed across the
pages and the importance of forgiveness, acceptance, and talking are
all approached. I would recommend to people thirteen and up who have
an interested in sci-fi/romance.
Kayla Gaskell, 21
