Reviews

Julius and the soulcatcher by Tim Hehir

Text Publishing, 2016. ISBN 9781925240177
(Age: 12+) Highly recommended. Charles Darwin. Orchids. Diaries. Victorian England. Steampunk. Botany. Time travel. Charles Darwin's diary holds the key to the next enthralling Watchmaker novel Julius and the soulcatcher. It is 1838 and orchid mania is sweeping across London, everyone is keen to acquire a soulcatcher orchid with its invasive tendrils and purpose to take the souls of its hosts - animals or people. Apprentice watchmaker Julius Caesar Higgins and his accomplice orphan Emily are once again embroiled in another multi-layered mystery, chased by evil body snatchers and mastermind Mr Tock. Where are the orchids being propagated and why do they need blood and bone fertiliser? Hehir brings the darker side of London to life, fast cab rides through darkened streets, a bare-knuckle fight, rooftop escapes and the frightening Animal House of Lord Bloomingbury. His close attention to detail is evident, from the shops, drawing rooms, the orphanage kitchen, everyday items to the historic events and figures, even using the vernacular of the day, all add to the richness of this narrative.
The cover draws the reader into the story, here Abigail the giant prayingmantis-like figure made from razors, kitchen knives and pocket watch casing eyes stretches as a silhouette reaching menacingly for Julius, Emily and their mentor Mr Flynn. Between the time loop and time-jump, using the special power of the pocket watch that leads to a strange sojourn in Brazil to the source of the soulcatcher orchids, there is also time for Julius to search for his lost family.
Julius and the soulcatcher delivers a rich, multilayered narrative with relatable characters, fast-paced action, 19th century technology and designs and unique alternate worlds in this science fiction fantasy. Julius and the watch-maker has also been published with a re-imaged cover, here the eye-catching silhouette of the watch-maker looms large over Julius as he escapes from the malevolent forces preparing for war.
Rhyllis Bignell

Unrivaled by Alyson Noel

A beautiful idols novel. Katherine Tegen Books, Harper Collins; 2016. ISBN 9780062496744
(Age: 15+) This is a dramatic mystery involving a number of aspirational young people who get involved in a competition because of their ambitions to get ahead. The competition arena is the Nightclub scene in Hollywood which is under the rule and authority of a somewhat questionable, yet successful owner who proves to be conniving and manipulative in subtle ways. The lives of these young aspirants get woven into the story of another young person who is already at the top of the ladder and her career as a famous Hollywood actress. Are they all just pawns in a bigger game, or are they unwittingly being used to hide a major crime? Relationships and desires get twisted and strained as the wealthy Hollywood and attention-seeking world of fame and fortune infiltrates like a snake among the grass into the motivations of the young competitors. Their lives become wrapped cruelly into the Nightclub owner's world (or is it Hollywood's world?) of using people for his own benefit. Along the journey, the young people confront the after dark pleasure-seeking and drug culture, their own moral and sexual choices are stretched, the power of social media is revealed and we see the lure of money manipulating and corrupting.
Because this is so like a television-mating between episodes of The Apprentice and a LA Crime drama, it will be enjoyed by the television generation. The blurb implies that those who have enjoyed Pretty little liars, a sexy Teen drama, will also enjoy this book. It is not something to recommend highly, but the mystery does engage the reader, even as the lifestyle of the rich and famous is revealed in all its self-centred ugliness despite the facade of beauty and pleasure. It is obviously the first of a series, as the central mystery is not solved by the end of the book, and as in a television crime drama series it leaves the reader hanging slightly unsatisfied at the end of the novel. Noel has written a novel that wears high heels and designer clothes and lines up outside Hollywood Nightclubs hoping to get attention and entry into the higher echelons of the fame world.
Carolyn Hull

The awesome body book by Adam Frost

Bloomsbury,2016. ISBN 9781408862353
(Ages: 7+) Highly recommended. Non fiction. The awesome body book is an engaging and entertaining look at the human body in a 'Believe it or Not' style text. Colourful comparative graphics with bubble-sized chunks of information make this book easy to digest and appealing to a wide variety of clientele from non-fiction fact fans to reluctant readers. A varied approach with answers to puzzling posed questions, brain teasers and quizzes mean you can delve into the book at any page and be enthralled to keep reading.
Covering almost every aspect of the body structure and functions, readers will find this book hard to put down with so many amazing facts. The optical illusions the eyes perceive and how to pick a fake smile, to a good dose of fart facts and how much poo humans create in relation to other animals over a lifetime are riveting reading for many age groups fascinated by facts about why we are like we are. A list of sources for avid fact finders is also available at the end of the book for further reading.
This highly recommended book for the 7-12 year age group, will promote fact swapping discussions and intrigue all ages, as once you have learnt some awesome facts you won't be able to keep them to yourself!
Annette Mesecke

Self-destructing Science: Space by Isabel Thomas

Ill. by Nikalas Catlow. Bloomsbury, 2016. ISBN 9781408869499
(Ages: 6+) Highly recommended. Activity Book. Self-Destructing Science: Space by Isabel Thomas is more than just the average activity book. It has quality information and an amazing array of science-based activities, covering a variety of disciplines, presented in a highly engaging manner. The book will literally self-destruct as the user is encouraged to cut up, fold, experiment and scribble on the pages in the quest for greater understanding of how space and our world interact.
Bold graphics with small chunks of relevant information and clear step by step instructions make this book user-friendly. Confident scissors skills are a must, but otherwise adult assistance is only suggested for some projects for safety reasons. Projects vary from creating a simple flip book of the Earth's tilted axis showing the seasons of a year, to making a bedroom planetarium, or creating an astrolabe to measure altitude.
Covering almost every area of science, this book will promote STEM principles.
This highly recommended book for the 6 -9 year age group will facilitate a greater understanding of space and the forces at work on our Earth while having lots of fun.
Annette Mesecke

The leaving by Tara Altebrando

Bloomsbury, 2016. ISBN 9781408877807
(Age: 14+) Recommended. Mystery. Abduction. I couldn't put this down. A very suspenseful novel with a great premise sees five teens come back years after six of them were abducted when they were attending kindergarten. They all appear in good health but none of them can remember where they have been and what has happened to Max, the sixth young child who went missing at the same time. Avery is Max's sister, and she is determined to find out what has happened to Max. Lucas and Scarlett think that they can remember each other, and gradually by following obscure clues that they seem to have left behind as reminders, strange things begin to unfold.
This was an edge of the seat thriller as Avery begins to ask the questions that the reader is thinking - have the five who returned really lost their memories and what have they done with Max? She knows that her life is impossible without discovering the truth. Lucas is also determined to find out what the camera symbol means and he and Scarlett start to follow eerie clues in an attempt to find out the truth. Told from the viewpoints of Avery, Lucas and Scarlett, each chapter often ends on a cliffhanger that ensures the reader continues on to find out what happens next. Scarlett's chapters in particular were fascinating, with print arranged in different patterns to make an impact and to get the reader thinking.
Very tightly written until the last chapter, it had me guessing until the unexpected end. A great read for those who like thrillers.
Pat Pledger

The detective dog by Julia Donaldson

Ill. by Sara Ogilvie. MacMillan Children's books, 2016. ISBN 9781509801596
(Age: 4+) Highly recommended. Dogs. Detection. School. Books. Libraries. Read aloud. I love books about books, stories that tell of people sharing books, of reading books, of borrowing books. Well, this one is someone stealing books! But it all ends happily, so don't fret.
Nell's story is told in rhyming stanzas, a tale of a dog who is born to be a detective, her nose sniffing out the places where all sorts of things lie hidden: socks, honey, a lost book, a spider in the bath, a lost ball. And she loves going to school to hear the children read, but one day when they come to school, the library has been ransacked and all the books are gone. Catastrophe! But Detective Nell to the rescue. She picks up the scent and follows it, leading the class trailing out behind her. They traverse roads and gardens, past the zoo and the take-away shop and into a wood. Here they run through a very overgrown garden and push open the messy gate. Behind the gate sits the culprit, a man with a stack of books, his nose buried in one of them. He is most apologetic, promising that he intended to return them after they had been read, and he helps the children take them all back to school. A happy relationship is established as the children show the man how to open a library account and borrow as many books as he wants.
The infectious illustrations swirl with colour and life moving quickly across the pages, inviting the readers to follow the action. The dog, Nell, is a wonderful creation, one every child would love to have, and the way Nell is depicted with her nose in everything about will have resonance with most dog owners. This is a charming homage to pets and libraries, to frazzled teachers, to those sharing books, to those who are helped in their quest to find books, and of course to skillful dogs and accommodating children. A real treat.
Fran Knight

Wolfish stew by Suzi Moore

Ill. by Erico Salcedo. Bloomsbury, 2016. ISBN 9781408844953
(Age: 4+) Highly recommended. Humour, Wolves, Rabbits, Read aloud. Rabbit loves to forage in the forest, but is warned to beware of the blue bushy tail. This tail belongs to the blue wolf, well known for wanting a rabbit to put in his stew. This delightful tale ends a little unusually when the wolfish stew is not the one we expect to see.
In rhyming lines, the tale unfolds of rabbit roaming through the woods. He finds some carrots, and some berries, and sits for a while for a picnic on his rug with a pot of coffee. Each page exhorts the grey rabbit to watch out for the wolf, while readers will call out the name of the wolf's body part that appears hidden on the page. Great fun for young and old as we see blue bits in the shrubbery, up the tree, hidden as a stepping stone in the river. Readers will laugh out loud as the journey progresses, the grey rabbit avoiding any of the tricks the wolf may put in his way.
But wolf then has problems finding the rabbit until some of the other animals find a way to trap him instead.
All ends well with the wolfish stew being not what the wolf had in mind at all, and the grey rabbit's collection of carrots and vegetables collected on his walk go into the pot. For younger children this is a lovely hide and seek tale, a story teaching them about parts of the body, a classic tale of cat and mouse while learning about an array of vegetables for good measure.
Salcedo's illustrations reflect the humour of the story. The bold blue wolf will delight younger readers, especially the elongated snout, and the grey rabbit fixated on his errand with intrigue them. The range of things in the background begs to be identified and the end papers with their reprisal of the tablecloth with its covering of vegetables will encourage children to call out their names.
Fran Knight

This is a circle by Chrissie Krebs

Random House, 2016. ISBN 9780857988058
(Age: 3+) Recommended. Mathematics, Circles, Humour, Read a loud. In rhyming pairs of lines, the story unfolds. A fox and a bear are introduced, along with a circle and square, a ball and a box, each page inviting the reader to look at what each word represents. The next double page has four more objects, a car, a boat, a scarf and a hat, while two more animals are added: a goat and a cat. Children will by now be most intrigued about what part each will play in the story of a circle and the adult reader will ask questions along the way directing the child to give this some thought. Children will also see the rhyming possibilities of some fo the words presented.
Over the next few pages each of the animals finds a way to climb the large box, using one or more of the objects given, and children will call out with glee at what each animal might use. And with such simple rhyming stanzas the audience will be encouraged to predict the last line of each to rhyme with a word before.
At last the problem is solved, but where to now? Again, children will see the possibilities of the four animals stuck on top of the box with nowhere to go. Clear funny illustrations reflect the mood of the story adding another level of humour for children to read.
This is a treat for adult and child, as the lines are read and visual clues searched for as the two read it together.
Fran Knight

Captain Pug the dog who sailed the seas by Laura James

Ill. by Eglantine Ceulmanns. Bloomsbury, 2016. ISBN 9781408866368
(Age: 5-7) Recommended. A bright, bold beginning chapter book just right for the young reader who loves animals, Captain Pug the dog who sailed the seas introduces a jam-tart loving, sailor suit wearing pug dog owned by Lady Miranda. He prefers a life of luxury and his favourite breakfast tarts cooked and delivered by Wendy the maid. Lady Miranda has two footmen as well who carry her and her pampered pooch everywhere in a sedan chair. She has an extensive wardrobe with matching outfits for her pampered pet. For her birthday outing, Miranda's day involves a trip to the lake and a ride on the pedallo boats, however pug is afraid of the water.
Dressed up in a smart sailor suit and a blue captain's hat, Pug is a rather reluctant participant in the outing. While Lady Miranda and the footmen dive into the lake to rescue some children, Pug follows his nose and slips inside an abandoned picnic hamper, this leads to a big adventure for the little dog, first aboard the tourist bus, then on a racing scull and even on an ocean liner. Meanwhile poor Lady Miranda and her footman are frantically looking for her little lost dog.
Pug's antics are funny and engaging and Eglantine Ceulmanns' whimsical cartoons certainly bring these characters to life. The stylish use of bold orange and blue duotone illustrations, make this chapter book visually appealing. Captain Pug the dog who sailed the seas is just right to build a young reader's confidence or as a story to be shared as a class or bedtime story. What mischief can Pug and lady Miranda discover next in CowboyPug?
Recommended for 5-7 year olds
Rhyllis Bignell

The double axe by Philip Womack

Blood and fire Bk 1. Alma Books, 2016. ISBN 9781846883903
(Age: 11+) Minotaur. Greek mythology. Fantasy. Mythical creatures. Crete - History. Princes and princesses. Philip Womack's The double axe is an adaptation of the famous Greek legend of the Minotaur. His thirteen-year-old protagonist Prince Stephan is caught up in the evil conspiracy that threatens to kill the royal household of Crete. The author's choice to rework the narrative and change the hero is an interesting plot device. Instead of Prince Theseus of Athens defeating the Minotaur and escaping the labyrinth utilising Princess Ariadne's trail of thread, now we explore the coming of age story from Stephan the Prince regent's point of view as the royal family is exposed to the evil forces that surround them. For lovers of the original myth this can be disconcerting.
Womack's narrative shows a depth of understanding about the daily life in the palace, the structure of the royal household, the food and feasts, weapons and hunting and relationships between the masters and servants. The rituals of the priestesses, the reliance on the Mother Goddess, the importance of religious customs, even the sacrifices of six teenagers is told grippingly and brings an insight into the evil machinations of mad priestess Myrrah. The sinister forces at play demand much of Prince Stephan and his older sister, Princess Ari. The way these characters rely upon each is pivotal to the plot, each has complementary strengths the other needs to battle the evil forces.
This is a dark tale more suited to an older reader who enjoys historical fiction.
Rhyllis Bignell

The special ones by Em Bailey

Hardy Grant Egmont, 2016. ISBN 9781742976280
(Age: 13+) Highly recommended, Thriller, Cults, Imprisonment, Kidnapping, Religious fanaticism, Power. Esther is confined by the verandahs of her house, not allowed to step into the yard outside. That is Harry's space, a place where he tends the crops, chops the wood, kills the animals for meat. The younger Special, Felicity is allowed to go with him to collect the eggs. But when another girl is kidnapped to become the new Lucille, the fourth in their household, then cracks begin to appear. Esther can barely remember her life before, but knows there is no escape from the life she now leads. They are subjected to verification nights when they are measured by the photograph on the wall to see if they all still fit the image the man wants. They have nights where they confess to sins and then are punished, every nights they go into a room with a bank of computers to chat online with their followers. And above all is their book of behaviour, the codes by which they must live.
A seriously creepy read, the isolated farmhouse where they live is basic in the extreme. They are watched and monitored at all times, Esther and Lucille make all their clothes, they live off all that Harry and Felicity can produce. Esther bakes and salts and puts food away in the larder.
Narrated by Esther, she is very protective of the younger Felicity and tries hard to keep her within the image the man wants, but the new Lucille creates problems for her. One day Harry is told that he is to be renewed. He must leave, to be replaced by a new Harry but Esther fears he will be killed.
After reading, Shift, I expected this to be a different read, and was certainly not disappointed. The cult which confines the four is all powerful, dictating every aspect of their spartan lives. The first half is narrated by Esther, but once she is sent out to be renewed, the narration is split between her and the man who controls them allowing us into his crazy mind.
This is an unnerving thriller, revealing the nature of a psychopath who believes the voices he hears in his head and is persuasive enough to get Esther to follow him in the first place. Now that she is out and pursued by the media, she is a problem he must deal with. But she thinks the others sent for renewal must be alive and so keeps looking for them despite her family's inability to understand, the police avoiding her and the media derision. She is a strong character with whom readers will identify, eagerly following her journey to the gripping end.
Fran Knight

Introducing Teddy: A story about being yourself by Jessica Walton

Ill. by Dougal MacPherson. Bloomsbury, 2016. ISBN 9781681192116
(Ages: 4-7) Recommended. Acceptance, Friendship, Gender, Transgender. This is a warm and simple story that deals with the sensitive social issue of gender identification and gender non-conformance. It cleverly uses a teddy as the character whose self-identity doesn't fit with his assigned sex, rather than a person, making it more approachable. However, it importantly uses people as the other characters, who show appropriate ways of responding to the teddy and his feelings and needs. Thomas the teddy and Errol play together every day, but Thomas is hiding a secret and is worried that if Errol knows, he won't want to be his friend anymore. When Errol assures Thomas he will always be his friend, Thomas bravely tells him that he has always felt like a girl teddy, not a boy teddy. Errol replies, 'I don't care if you're a girl teddy or a boy teddy! What matters is that you are my friend'. The book also has other subtle examples of children not conforming to traditional gender stereotypes (behaviour, play, appearance). The story implicitly emphasises, by example, that gender doesn't define who we are and that changing our name or appearance doesn't change who we are or what we like to do. It is not preachy, but encourages being easy-going and open about who we are.
This is written at an appropriate level for its target audience and will be indispensable for use with children who have transgender or gender non-conforming friends, classmates or family members, but also for reminding children that gender is just a label and reinforcing that there is not one way of being a girl or a boy. It might even be effective in getting a positive message across to parents about responding to their own child's self-identity. It is also a great springboard for classroom discussions around being a supportive, unconditional friend.
Nicole Nelson

The Tale of Elske by Cynthia Voigt

Tales of the Kingdom. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2015. ISBN 9781481421904
(Age: 13+) Highly recommended. Fantasy. Mythopoeic Fantasy Award Nominee for Children's Literature (2000). I was thrilled to pick up a book by Newbery Medalist Cynthia Voigt that I had missed when it was first published as Elske. Although part of a series, the book with a new cover and title can be read as a stand-alone and it has become a favourite for me that is sure to be reread in the future.
Elske is a wonderfully brave young woman whose grandmother has sacrificed herself so that she won't be put to death by the Wolfers. Fate brings her to work as a handmaiden to Princess Beriel, a proud and independent young woman who knows her own mind and steadfastly stands up for her rights. Here her loyalty and honesty shine through as Beriel battles to regain her throne.
Voigt has created a fantasy world that seems real, the slight romance at the end of the book will appeal to readers who enjoy love between independent characters, and many like me will want to read the others in the series, The tale of Gwyn (previously published as Jackaroo), The Tale of Oriel (previously Wings of a Falcon) and The tale of Birle (previously On fortune's wheel).
Pat Pledger

Illusions of Fate by Kiersten White

Historium activity book by Richard Wilkinson and Joy Nelson

Five Mile Press, 2015. ISBN 9781760403706
(Age: 8+) History, Museums, Civilisations. This book is an activity book designed to be a companion to the Historium book published in 2015. The original large and imposing (and heavy) book directed the reader to use it like a museum, opening pages to the great civilisations of the world, using each section to gain an overview of what is held in various museums about that civilisation. The curators (cute!) present the civilisations of Africa beginning with a group of Stone Age tools from one million years ago. The book moves on to several civilisations within the last two thousand years leaving their mark with a glorious gold leaf rhinoceros and ivory mask, before settling into the Egyptian period, better known to the audience. Each page has wonderful illustrations drawn from original photographs taken in various museums around the world, and several paragraphs of information about the artifact, its date, its importance and where it was found and is now housed. This activity book is similarly confined in what it deals with.
It offers puzzles and games, fill in the box activities, more bits of information, colouring in pages and so on. It feels like something from history lessons of the past but may have a place as a teacher reference for photocopying.
Fran Knight