Ill. by John Kelly. Bloomsbury, 2016. ISBN 9781408858639
(Age: 9+) Highly recommended. Themes: Orphans and orphanages;
Jewellery; Ghosts; Supernatural stories; Mystery and suspense
stories; Ghosts; England - Social life and customs - 19th century.
Calvin Krisp's debut novel, Anyone But Ivy Pocket is a
marvellous multi-faceted gothic tale set in Victorian England. The
feisty protagonist Ivy is a twelve-year-old orphan whose work as a
lady's maid draws her into mystery and mayhem. She is a force to be
reckoned with, overbearing, opinionated and teller of tall tales,
qualities her previous employer Countess Carbuncle is happy to leave
behind as she takes a sudden trip to South America. Foisted into
service for the dying Duchess of Trinity, Ivy Pocket's new
assignment is to carry the mysterious Clock Diamond to England and
place it around the neck of Matilda Butterfield at her twelfth
birthday party. Her reward of £500 seems to be easily within reach,
enough to buy a carriage and a monkey! Unfortunately, a whole
ensemble of crazy characters, ghosts, mysterious hooded creatures
-Locks, and friends with sinister intentions, pursue her. On board
the ship sailing to England, she is befriended by Miss Always a
writer who takes a very close interest in Ivy and the mysterious
Clock Diamond.
Ivy is an enchanting protagonist, lies trip off her tongue; she is
bold, witty and can think on her feet. Krisp's fast-paced narrative
is engagingly alliterative, deliciously descriptive and attention
grabbing. Once you start, you are compelled to keep on reading,
second-guessing just how Ivy Pocket will deal with the next drama.
John Kelly's comical drawings display some of Ivy's most intense
scenes; Matilda Butterfield's cake disaster is a highlight.
With a promise of more books to come, Calvin Krisp's Ivy Pocket will
delight those readers who love mystery, adventure and feisty female
heroes.
Rhyllis Bignell
Blockbusters Guinness World Records 2016 - The Records behind the year's Smash Hits!
Guinness, 2016. ISBN 9781910561461
(Age: 8+) Highly recommended. Subjects: Reference; Encyclopaedias;
General Knowledge. Blockbusters is another amazing reference
book from the Guinness World Records team, the authority on all
things trivia. Seven fact-filled sections - Movies, Comics and
Books, Tech, Music, TV, Apps and Online, and Toys, there's something
for everyone who enjoys entertainment, reading, collecting and
Cosplay. Star Wars, Frozen, Jurassic World and The
Avengers are movie franchises that have topped the box office,
inspired millions of fans and led to an amazing array of records.
Elsa's CGI hair braid in Frozen was created from 420,00
strands. Candy Crush is the most downloaded app up to the
present day. Peruse facts, records and general knowledge related to
The Simpsons the longest running television sitcom and Doctor
Who the longest running Science-Fiction series.
Throughout the book there are suggestions for setting your own
record, rules, time-limits, recording is all clearly explained.
Individual and group challenges include book dominoes, setting the
fastest time to build a Lego Millenium Falcon Microfighter or
organising the largest crowd of Minions in one location. At the 2012
Hulkathon in Castleblayney Ireland, 574 fans set a new record
dressed up in green costumes, purple pants and black wigs. Blockbusters' use of bold graphics adds to the broad audience
appeal of the book. Bright, layered 2D boxes of facts are splashed
across the colourful backgrounds with cartoon characters playfully
placed amongst the photos of record holders and their memorabilia
collections. A great present or addition to a class or school
library.
Rhyllis Bignell
Beyond magenta: transgender kids speak out by Susan Kuklin
Candlewick Press, 2014. ISBN 9780763673680
(Age: 12+) Recommended. LGBT, Transgender, Bullying, Coming out,
Families. Interviews with six transgender and gender neutral teens
are presented in this handsomely produced, well illustrated book. I
found it most enlightening about some kids in our world who do not
feel comfortable with the role given them at birth and so do
something about it. Their bravery shines through as they go through
the steps of changing or at least adapting themselves, some through
surgery, others through drugs. Their bravery in taking these steps
is doubly impressive in allowing their stories to be told, along
with series of photographs which show their transformations. These
will create interest but it is the stories of these young people
that will captivate the reader.
All felt from an early age that they were not like others, and this
often meant they were different at school, leading to exclusion and
bullying from the rest of their cohort. Christina, in the second
story tells of how she was always picked last for a team, how at her
Catholic boy's school, she was teased and as a result told others
that she was gay, not transgender. Even as an adult she has been
picked out for derision by people who question her looks. She is
saving for a vagina.
Mariah in the third story, the child of an Italian migrant whom she
has never seen and a Black woman, was raised by her grandmother.
Going to kindergarten and school raised people's ire from the start,
as she only dressed as a girl. This resulted in unwelcome attention
from government agencies and she was taken from her family and
placed in care. Several placements later she developed problems
which required medication but after her mother died she tried to
stop. A placement in Philadelphia saw her being able to talk to a
supportive therapist and for the first time was able to write down
what she felt. With hormone therapy she was able to stop the male
growth spurt when she turned sixteen and is now working out how to
tell people about what she is.
Cameron the boy on the front cover tells his story next. He is
transgender and takes testosterone, but revels in his male and
femaleness. He discusses the whole issue of sexuality and gender
from his perspective, concluding that life is an adventure that he
is part of.
Each story is different and yet has similar characteristics. Each
teen feels different from a young age and struggles to cope with how
society sees them, including their parents. Each takes medication to
help, but each story is also quite different in how people and
family have reacted and certainly in how they feel in themselves.
Cameron is cool abut his sexuality from the start, whereas Christina
still goes through anxiety, and Mariah feels that she is at the
beginning of her transition, and wants to help out other people in
the same situation by telling her story.
A range of labels: trans, nonbinary, intersexual, transsexual, pan
sexual, gender neutral, gay and queer used help underline the need
some have for a label, but above all else, these kids need to be
labelled brave, and treated just as everyone else, kids coming to
terms with their sexuality.
Fran Knight
Inherit midnight by Kate Kae Myers
Bloomsbury, 2015. ISBN 9781619639362
(Age: 12+) Highly recommended. Myers brings to life a wonderful
lesson in the importance of family history. Describing a set of
challenges created to find the most worthy heir to the VanDemere
fortune, Avery's grandmother shows her cunning as her challenges
about family history not only show her who is the most worthy, but
act to draw the family together through a gruelling set of
challenges which reveal more and more about her heir's
characteristics.
After escaping from St. Frederick's, a prison-like boarding school,
Avery becomes an unwilling participant in her grandmother's heritage
and inheritance game. Being an only child and the result of a family
scandal, all Avery ever wanted was to escape the VanDemere's
constant degradation of her. With the help of Riley Tate, the
lawyer's son who came to fetch her, Avery discovers that to avoid
returning to the school she must participate in the competition. Mr.
Tate gives her the added motivation she needs by revealing that her
mother, the Croatian nanny, is alive and well. In order to get the
letters that her mother had been sending, Avery must win the
competition and retain Mr. Tate's law firm. With Riley as chaperone
Avery travels across three continents to complete seven challenges.
Together they explore diamond mines and re-enact family history to
prove she has all the treasured traits associated with the VanDemere
name. Avery has both advantages and disadvantages in the
competition; she lives in the family mansion, but she is the most
despised of all her cousins. With each determined to inherit the
fortune and knock her out if they can, the game is, for Avery, also
a test of survival.
I would highly recommend for lovers of the adventure-quest tale,
twelve and up. More than anything this is about a struggle against
the odds, will Avery come out on top, proving herself better than
her uncles and cousins? Or will she fail on the very first test and
be sent back to the horrors of St. Frederick's? The novel is well
written and completely engrossing from start to finish.
Kayla Gaskell
Are you sitting comfortably? by Leigh Hodgkinson
Bloomsbury, 2016. ISBN 9781408864821
(Ages: 3-6) Reading. Books. Leigh Hogkinson's distinctive patterned
illustrations take centre stage in this story about a young book
lover searching for the perfect place to sit and read. On each page
he is sitting on a chair, but the chair itself and the page
background changes. The colour palette on each page also changes,
with the background and the chair showing similar patterns and
tones. The boy wants somewhere not too buzzy or too fuzzy, without
hoots or giant stomping boots, not too grimey or slimey and not too
hot or cold. Eventually he decides that it doesn't matter where he
sits, any chair is fine, because 'A book is best anywhere...
A book is best when you SHARE'
Varied fonts and font size add emphasis to the reading and makes the
words look interesting and appealing to young readers.
Overall, this is short and simple, the rhyme is pleasing to the ear
and the illustrations, featuring a cast of beautifully coloured
animals, are quite striking. Book lovers will enjoy sharing this
book about the joy of sharing a book! A perfect bedtime story.
Nicole Nelson
There is a tribe of kids by Lane Smith
Two Hoots (Pan Macmillan), 2016. ISBN 9781509812882
(Age: 4+) Recommended. Wordplay. Curiosity. Belonging. Adventure.
Readers will be introduced to the words which signify a group of
things through this imaginative and joyous book about finding where
you belong. From the title page, readers will see the plural for a
group of kid goats, tribe, and be encouraged to think about why this
word suits the animal so well, although it also suggests another
group which children may understand. As the young girl leaves the
kids, she sees a penguin and this small motif at the bottom of the
page heralds the animal that is overleaf. And sure enough, a group
of penguins is called a colony. This delightful way of introducing
the group word for many things in our plant and animal world will
encourage thought and discussion amongst the readers. So we see a
smack of jellyfish, an unkindness of ravens, a bed of clams, a turn
of turtles amongst the twenty or so phrases, coming in full circle
to a tribe of kids at the end, with not a goat in sight. Readers
will ponder too, the use of past tense on all pages except the last.
An enigma to get their teeth into.
Children will delight in seeing the words and what makes up these
groups and see for themselves where they belong. The wonderful
illustrations keep pace with the writing as each scene is depicted
using mixed media: coloured pencil, oil and acrylic paint as well as
digital imaging creating a mottled appearance to the pages. Each
page will cause sighs and wonder from the audience as the images
appear before their eyes. I can imagine a class trying out some of
the methods themselves, using different group words after reading
the book.
Fran Knight
Beetle Boy by M.G. Leonard
Chicken House, 2016. ISBN 9781910002704
(Age: 10+) Highly recommended. Darkus Cuttle's dad is missing. He
has to live with his uncle, change schools, make new friends and
work out why he can understand a huge rhinoceros beetle who has
become his friend by chance. Thanks to this beetle (he names him
Baxter) rescuing Darkus from some bullies, Darkus becomes Beetle
Boy. Darkus knows his dad would never leave him so sets out with
some help from his uncle and a lot of help from his new friends,
Virginia and Bertolt, to find out what happened. Who knew it would
lead to some amazing bugs and an amazing adventure.
Darkus encounters Lucretia Cutter, an avid bug collector and fashion
designer as well as the antagonist for this story. She is willing to
pay for the deaths of the amazing bugs Darkus has found and while he
is trying to save them, uncovers another secret or two. Who is this
Lucretia Cutter and does she know Darkus's dad? Was that a claw
instead of a foot? Did Lucretia just try and shoot him? Does
Lucretia hold the key to his dad's disappearance? Beetle Boy is a wonderful story full of hope, adventure and
total belief in one's father as well as oneself. The author has
captured the everyday issues of a young boy who dares to be
different and not conform to the expectations of the bullies while
creating a wonderful mystery and adventure for any reader who loves
bugs. It is highly recommended for readers aged 10+ but will
especially appeal to boys.
Kylie Kempster
Where's the starfish? by Barroux
Egmont, 2016. ISBN 9781405280082
(Age: 3+) Highly recommended. Hide and seek. Oceans. Fish.
Pollution. A seemingly simple game of find the starfish, the
clownfish and the jellyfish amongst the double pages bright with
different colours, shapes and varieties of fish, soon turns into a
subtle look at the pollution in our oceans as the fish, big and
small, find that their habitat is being crowded out by the litter
clogging their world. It starts small, with a bottle and can on the
sea floor, but as each page is turned the mound of discarded rubbish
grows, the number of fish lessens, until finally most of the fish
have gone. Children will laugh at the ingenious solution reached by
the whale to rid the sea floor of human rubbish, putting it back in
their corner of the world, leaving their environment free. And they
will be made more aware of the sort of rubbish that is tipped into
the sea, or finds its way there through unthinking human activity.
They will love spotting the fish, especially the three mentioned, as
they keep turning up on most pages, and they will like looking at
the variety and scope of the rubbish found in the sea.
Barroux found inspiration for the story when on one of his dives, he
saw a plastic bag that he thought was a jellyfish. His illustrations
will enthrall younger readers, using the Where's Wally style
of search to get them hooked. A teacher could use this technique
asking the children to find the three fish, starfish, jellyfish and
clownfish, then spread the search wider to search for a telephone, a
TV set, a washing machine and so on. And what a wonderful mobile
could be made in the class using this story as its base.
Fran Knight
Nathalia Buttface and the totally embarrassing bridesmaid disaster by Nigel Smith
HarperCollins, 2016. ISBN 9780008167097
(Age: 9+) Highly recommended. If the title Nathalia Buttface and
the totally embarrassing bridesmaid disaster doesn't make you
laugh then the hilarious events in the first 50 pages will! Nathalia
doesn't want to be a bridesmaid in her stupid cousin's, who she
really doesn't know, wedding and is trying hard to be removed as a
bridesmaid. The humungous fairy dress is only one terrible part of
the whole thing but worse is yet to come - meeting the other
bridesmaids, going to the day spa, someone losing their hairpiece
and getting a promotion to 2nd bridesmaid! Nathalia Buttface is as hilarious as it is descriptive.
Highly recommended for girls aged 9+. Every word leaves a funny
image in your mind as you read about Nathalia's antics. Meet the
bridegroom and his big personality. Watch Dad, the unorganised,
organise a wedding. Can Nathalia, as the 2nd bridesmaid, uninvite
uncle Ernie without hurting his feelings? How will Darius,
Nathalia's best friend, get her out of this crazy wedding? Will
Nathalia make it to the big day?
Kylie Kempster
The butcher's hook by Janet Ellis
Two Roads Books, 2016. ISBN 9781473625129
(Age: Adult - Mature readers) Georgian England. Gender roles.
Sexual maturation. Violence. Murder. Grief.
This is not a Jane Austen-style gentle and romantic exploration of
life in Georgian England, but the voice of the central character
Anne is full of the pain of a young and intelligent girl who lives
in a patriarchal world and lives with limited opportunity - except
that offered by a man. The 'butcher's hook' catches her, whichever
way it, or she, is turned, and as we read we feel the slow and
inexpressible pain of powerlessness at the hands of others. Anne's
early family life is scarred by the repeated loss of her siblings,
either in miscarriage or early death, and there is a heaviness that
pervades her family life. In a world before good medical knowledge
and care, and even less psychological support for the grieving, we
are led into a series of overwhelming situations and potential
problems as Anne matures into a woman of marriageable age and
attempts to independently explore her growing interests. Her
intelligence was at one time fostered by a family 'friend', who
displayed interesting methods of arousing her curiosity about the
world, but his means of explaining her questions about life and
birth change her direction for the future and awaken more than
understanding. A connection to the local butcher's apprentice
rapidly escalates, and her means of clearing her path to enable her
desires to be fed reveals more than just her lust for the young lad.
The story is tragic and macabre, and displays none of the lightness
of an Austen tale.
The background of the Georgian world, with its distinct social and
gender class separations and the mire of poverty always in the
background, is a fascinating setting for this absorbing tale of the
unfolding carnal and worldly sensibilities of an adolescent woman
who transforms in a way that we wish we could halt. This is not a
gentle coming-of-age book for teenagers. And for those who might be
squeamish and a little uncomfortable in a 21st century butcher's
shop, there is a raw and visceral unpleasantness in imagining the
equivalent literary dismembering of life in the 1760s. The quality
of the prose will keep you reading though, despite some
unpleasantness along the route.
Recommended for Mature readers only. (Adult text)
Carolyn Hull
Grandma wombat by Jackie French and Bruce Whatley
Wombat series. Angus and Robertson, 2016. ISBN 9780732299590
(Age: 3+) Highly recommended. Wombats. Grandparents. Each day sees
similar things happening in the lives of grandma and her grandson
wombat. Sleeping makes up much of each day, but some days there are
carrots to be had, or small naps to be made, or itches to scratch.
While grandma sleeps more soundly her grandson watches the world go
by. The kangaroo that hops over the pair sometimes wakes grandma
wombat, but one day as grandma lies sleeping, the kangaroo's joey is
replaced by the smaller wombat. He bounces away, taking a ride in
the ute on top of the bales of hay, then onto the back of a motor
bike, then into a parcel truck which delivers baby wombat to the
airport. There he joins a rather startled looking group of skydivers
and sits on one as they sail to the earth.
Once again he is back with grandma, sleeping, scratching and eating
but with a little eye that looks out at the reader, sharing what he
has done with the audience.
Grandma is impervious to her grandson's outing, saying what a well
behaved grandson she has, but the audience knows what he has done,
and laughs along with him and his loving grandma.
French's pared back text gives all that is needed, and the
illustrations by Bruce Whatley add another level of humour to an
already funny tale. This is the fifth in the series of books about
wombats by these two and will be very welcome in all libraries.
Fran Knight
A very normal man by Vincenzo Cerami
Translated by Isobel Grave. Wakefield Press, 2015. This is an
English translation of Un Borghese piccolo piccolo, 1976. ISBN
9781743053713
(Age: 17+) Highly recommended. Themes: Revenge; Italian Society;
Purpose; Hope and hopelessness. A Very Normal Man is a translation of the first novel of
Vincenzo Cerami who is also renowned for his co-authorship of the
screenplay for Life is Beautiful (La vita e bella)
with Roberto Benigni. With the same deft touch, he lightly deals
with a harsh topic as he tiptoes through the tragedy of a normal
life that sinks to extreme measures to grasp at retribution for a
terrible family disaster. At the beginning of this carefully crafted
story we enter the humble circumstances of the central character and
his less than stellar career as a civil servant. His pre-retirement
drudgery is brightened by the prospect of providing more for his son
than was possible in his own life. In order to facilitate this rise
above drudgery and relative working servitude he is enticed to
explore a position within the local Masonic charter and the reader
sees the implicit corruption that follows. On the brink of hope for
his son, tragedy falls and the 'Normal man' sinks into functioning
despondency and a whirlpool of despair that drags him down and
plants the smallest of seeds of revenge into the heart of the simple
man. From this point the black tragedy of the normal life takes on a
secret existence that is almost quirkily humourous, and yet is in
essence, darkly evil. The heart of this story is to reveal the very
easy path that a normal or average man might take in becoming the
worst kind of man. There is irony in the title that this is not a
'normal man'; even though to the world he is a small, insignificant,
'good' man. To the reader who is capable of self-examination, there
is an opportunity to consider their own hidden potential. The
characterisation within this text is subtly revealed, but incredibly
powerful.
The translation of this text has brought this cleverly crafted story
to our attention and this is worthy of study, despite its macabre
aspects, and the journey into Italy in the period post- 1969, with
its potential for corruption at even the most basic level is
intriguing.
Highly recommended for Mature readers aged 17+ (predominantly an
adult novel, but accessible by younger readers.) Note: some macabre
detail included - a 'black' text!
Carolyn Hull
Maresi by Maria Turtschaninoff
Red Abbey Chronicles. Pushkin Children's Books, 2016. ISBN
9781782690917
(Age: 12+) Highly recommended. Fantasy, Dystopian story, Women.
Maresi is sent to the Abbey when her sister dies during the
HungerWinter, her parents no longer able to feed her. Here her
thirst for knowledge comes to the fore as she is able to go to the
Knowledge House after she finishes her chores. Here she learns of
the place where she lives, the Red Abbey, first settled by the
sisters many generations ago, to protect them from the violent male
dominated world outside. And she learns of the ancient skills and
feels the power of the Crone, one of the three that make up the core
of the Abbey, the Crone, the Rose and the Mother.
Her idyllic life is interrupted by Jai, a waif brought to the Abbey
for protection, after a brutal father kills her sister. Her mother
has risked death herself to get the girl away, and she finds peace
within the walls, with Maresi to guide her.
But Jai's position within the walls attracts her father's revenge
and he and his friends come to get her back, forcing the women to
use the ancient skills to keep them all safe.
Allegorical in tone, the first in the The Red Abbey Chronicles
impels readers to see parallels in their own world, the brutal
nature of the world outside the walls similar to any regime which
aims to keep women subservient, using brute power and fear to keep
them repressed. The religious basis of the Abbey is fascinating
again encouraging readers to see parallels with religions within
their own communities. The island keeps out invaders, the walls and
gates make impregnable with magic but Jai's father is more
determined than most and the women must take greater risks in
defending their island.
This is one of those reads that grabs you and drags you along,
wondering what will happen next, all the while hoping they will
survive. The background from the arrival of the First Sisters,
setting up the Abbey and the way they live earning money from
harvesting the bloodsnails, develops a strong base for the story.
Translated from Finnish, there are two more books to be published:
one a prequel telling how the First Sisters set up the Red Abbey and
the next, a sequel, showing Maresi out in the world. The Red
Abbey Chronicles has been sold to thirteen countries, while an
American publishing house has brought the rights to the trilogy for
a six figure sum. The book has been awarded the Swedish YLE
Literature prize for Young Adult works by a Swedish-Finnish author.
Fran Knight
The gutsy girl: Escapades for your life of epic adventure by Caroline Paul
Bloomsbury, 2016. ISBN 9781632861238
(Age: 9+) Highly recommended. The gutsy girl: Escapades for your
life of epic adventure is an amazing book for all readers. The
author, Caroline Paul, describes her adventures from milk carton
making to climbing the Golden Gate Bridge, showing all readers that
their life can be an adventure. Throughout the book are quotes from
a variety of female adventurers and heroes to help promote
adventurous thinking and remind readers they can think, do and achieve
anything.
The stories are descriptive and inspiring as well as a variety of
other texts; from procedures showing readers how to tie different
knots to explanations and diagrams about clouds and tools. There are
blank journal pages for readers to add their own adventures,
procedures and favourite quotes.
This book is highly recommended to readers aged 9+. Each chapter is a
different story which means it can be picked up at anytime and read
in any order. There is also something quite appealing about the
solid and exposed cardboard cover with the orange spine and shiny
blue text. It reminds me of a journal or memoir and adds to the
overall appeal of the book
Kylie Kempster
My life and other exploding chickens by Tristan Bancks
Random House, 2016. ISBN 9780857985316
(Age: 9+) Highly recommended. My life and other exploding
chickens is about the life of our main character, Tom Weekly,
and is written from his viewpoint. Tom recounts hilarious stories of
his life, from a crazy dentist visit to funny dot points about his
cat. We find out about the crazy girl who has a crush on Tom as well
as the girl he is crushing on. Read about Tom's friend who had a
knitting needle stuck in her bum cheek and how Tom fears the library
ninjas!
This is a hilarious novel aimed at and highly recommended for boys
aged 9+. Each chapter is a short story in itself so even the most
reluctant readers will find themselves engaged in each descriptive
and 'giggle' moment! There are even a few gross moments - like the
nits that grow and grow because of tomato sauce! What child won't
like to read about that!
Kylie Kempster
