August 2012 – Page 2 – Aussie Reviews

Ten Tiny Things, by Meg McKinlay & Kyle Hughes-Odgers

Then, Tessa noticed something.

It was a red thing. It was a sparkly thing.

It was a tiny, tiny thing.

Tessa and Zachary have a shiny machine that is swift and splendiferous and takes them where they need to go in comfort. They can turn on the cooler when it is hot, and the heater when it is cold. And they travel quickly. But when the machine breaks down, Tess and Zachary are forced to walk – all the way to school. It is hot and uncomfortable and such a very long way. They hate tit – until Tess notices a tiny thing she has never noticed before. Then Zachary, too, spots a tiny thing, and before long they have noticed ten tiny things. When the machine is fixed, Tess and Zachary aren’t so sure they want to ride in it any more. There are too many secret somethings and hidden happenings for them to find if they walk.

Ten Tiny Things is far from a tiny thing. It is filled with beautiful things for young readers to discover and a poignant reminder of the wonder of the world (and the value of walking!). Author Meg McKinlay’s text is delightful to read alone or out loud, filled with poetic alliteration and repetition and words which young minds will love, like ‘splendiferous’. The illustrations are a quirky result of acrylic paint and stain on wood blocks, with the result earthy tones of browns, greens and blues. The use of geometrics adds a whimsy to the visuals which young artists will be challenged to try to replicate.

This is a beautiful picture book offering for the young and the young at heart.

Ten Tiny Things, by Meg McKinlay & Kyle Hughes-Odgers
Fremantle Press, 2012
ISBN =9781921888946

This book is available in good bookstores and online from Fishpond. Buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.

The Forgotten Pearl, by Belinda Murrell

Two days later, Poppy was asleep in her room when she was woken by a dreadful wailing. It took her a few moments to realise that the piercing sound was real and not just part of her dream.
Poppy’s heart pounded; her muoth was dry with fear. Her cotton nightdress and sheets stuck to her sweaty skin….
‘Girls,’ Cecilia hissed from the doorway, ‘get up quickly. It’s the air-raid alarm.’

When Chloe has to research the Second World War, she doesn’t think her grandmother will have a lot to share with her. After all, Nanna was in Australia during the war – and the war was fought overseas. Wasn’t it? But Nanna decides it is time to talk about her experiences.

In 1941, Poppy lives comfortably with her parents and sister in Darwin, far removed, they think, from the horrors of the war. But when Japan enters the war, suddenly Australia is at threat – and Darwin, in the north, is a target. Poppy must grow up quickly, as she witnesses firsthand the horrors of war.

The Forgotten Pearl is a wonderful dual narrative, with Chloe talking her to her Nanna in the present, and Poppy (Nanna as a child) experiencing the war in 1941. This allows the reader to see the contrast in times, and to consider the long term impact of the events of war as not just isolated in the past. The attacks on Darwin and other parts of Australia during the Second World War have often been downplayed, but author Murrell explores them in a way which makes them very real for young readers.

Recommended for readers in upper primary and lower secondary.

The Forgotten Pearl, by Belinda Murrell
Random House, 2012
ISBN 978174275369

This book is available in good bookstores or online from Fishpond. Buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.

The Mountain, by Drusilla Modjeska

‘How good you look,’ Martha says as they embrace, and Jericho sees the pleasure in her face. When he first came down from the mountain to Rika, barely five years old, she was the other mother. Rika and Martha. They were younger than he is now, and he thinks again of how it must have been for them, in a country that wasn’t theirs, suddenly presented with a small child to raise.

In 1968 when Rika travels to Papua New Guinea with her filmmaker husband Leonard, she feels a connection to the place, even whilst unsettled by its difference. She loves to explore and to capture the place and its people with her camera. But life on the university campus is confronting. It is a time of change for this emerging nation as it moves towards independence from colonial Australia, and there is friction between locals and visiting westerners. But it is meeting clan-brothers Jacob and Aaron that changes Riak – and her friends’ – lives for ever.

The Mountain is a moving novel, exploring both the years leading up to Papua New Guinea’s independence in 1975, and the years since, with the challenges of that independence and the impact of modernisation on this beautiful country. Having spent time in the country myself, I was struck by the familiarity of the people and the landscapes, but for those who have not visited, this will provide a wonderful perspective both of the beauty of the place and the complexities of a country finding its way. The story, too, is marvellous, with a fabulous cast of characters, and themes of grief, love and betrayal.

A beuatiful, moving and disturbing tale, spanning two generations.

The Mountain, by Drusilla Modjeska
Vintage Books, 2012
ISBN

This book is available from good bookstores or online from Fishpond. Buying through this book supports Aussiereviews.

Preloved, by Shirley Marr

Whenever my mum decided to give me advice, it often sounded like this:

‘Amy, don’t bring an open umbrella into the house, because a ghost might be hiding under it.’

‘Amy, don’t touch the sleep on a cat’s eyes and then touch your own eyes, because you will see ghosts.’

‘Amy, never tweeze the hairs off the tops of your toes, or you will see ghosts.’

If only I had listened to Mum.

Things are looking ordinary for 16 year old Amy Lee. Since her parents split up, she and her mum live in a tiny apartment above Mum’s shop, Buy Gone. Amy’s best friend Rebecca has moods that are almost impossible to fathom, or predict. It seems that boys at her school only want to talk to her if she’ll bring along the magnetic Rebecca. At school, her reputation is tipping the scale from odd to downright weird. And now there’s a ghost, Logan. With a mother who talks constantly about ghosts and how to avoid them, you’d think Amy should have been safe. But sometimes you have to make up your own mind about what is real and what just might not be. Prelovedis a novel about reality and beyond.

What do you do when you have a mother who spouts superstitions all the time? Who puts the prices up on items in her shop so they won’t be bought? And a father who seems very good at dodging his responsibilities? And a friend who seems only to need her as a prop? None of this is good for self-esteem, and therefore to being able to look objectively at what’s going on in your world. Amy is feisty and likeable. She can see a ghost, but she has more trouble seeing what’s going on in her own head, and heart. Preloved is an engaging read about a girl stuck on the precipice of yesterday and today, not sure whether to fall back or leap forward. Recommended for mid-secondary readers.

Preloved, Shirley Marr Black Dog Books 2012 ISBN: 9781742031903

review by Claire Saxby, Children’s Author

www.clairesaxby.com

The Ice-cream War by Edwina Howard

Everybody says the same thing: ‘That Jeremy Jones is one of a kind.’ That’s what everybody says. Well, everybody except for our teacher, Mr Buttsworth, who says that Jeremy is the bane of his existence and a nuisance to society. But Jeremy says two things made him the way he is: his grandpa and his mother.

Jeremy says the first piece of advice he ever got was from his grandpa who said: ‘Don’t bury your head in the sand, Jeremy, be responsible and plant yourself a money tree.’

So Jeremy did or at least he tried to. He asked his mother for two dollars which he planted, and when that didn’t grow he asked her for ten dollars. And then he got the second piece of advice: ‘Money doesn’t grow on trees.’

When Jake and his family move to a seaside town from the city, he isn’t sure it would be easy to make new friends. But he’s immediately ‘adopted’ by Jeremy, man of big ideas in need of willing labour. Or perhaps just labour. But although Jeremy’s ideas can be wild, Jake is a (mostly) willing participant and this summer holiday is no exception. Uncle Sunny, the ice-cream man at the beach has always been grumpy, but now it seems he’s serving up mouse poo in the ice-cream. So with Jeremy’s entrepreneurship, Jake’s hard work and a bit of help from friends and family, a new ice-cream business is off to a roaring start. But Uncle Sunny doesn’t take kindly to the new business and is prepared to do what it takes – fair means or foul – to run them out of town. It’s war!

Ah! Ice-cream and the beach. A winning combination. Add a bunch of upper primary boys with their mixture of enthusiasm and competitiveness, heedless of consequences and you have a riotous adventure that lasts all summer. Don’t forget the mad Shetland pony or the legend of the Headless Fisherman. Before Summer is over, readers will have met them all. This is a realistic (okay, hyper-realistic) romp through a small Australian seaside town. Sure to bring a chuckle, giggle or gaffaw to all mid- to upper-primary readers.

The Ice-cream War, Edwina Howard Omnibus Books 2012 ISBN: 9781862919563

review by Claire Saxby, Children’s Author

www.clairesaxby.com

Trust Me Too, edited by Paul Collins

‘Trust Me Too’ is a second collection of stories, poetry, graphic stories and illustrations from Ford Street Publishing. Stories cover all genres, and are presented in a multitude of styles: serious, light-hearted, spine-tingling and rib-tickling. Most prose stories are around 1500 words, although there is also a novelette from Isabelle Carmody that is closer to 6000 words. There is poetry too, graphic stories and illustrations.

Deb Abela, Dianne Bates, Michael Gerard Bauer, Christine Bongers, Janeen Brian, Sue Bursztynski, Isobelle Carmody, Paul Collins, Meredith Costain, Bill Condon, Gary Crew, Margaret Clark, Justin d’Ath, Hazel Edwards, Corinne Fenton, JE Fison, Pat Flynn … the list of contributors goes on all the way to Gabrielle Wang, Sean Williams and Mark Wilson. 57 of them!

From the Forward: In the stories set in a world that is entirely familiar to us, we meet people who might be just like us – if not on the outside, then in the heart, where it counts – experiencing things that many of us deal with every day … Taking us completely out of our own world and into the world of the imagination are some of Australia’s best and most highly regarded writers of science fiction and fantasy … Yet other stories prove the maxim created by the writer LP Hartley in the opening line to his novel ‘The Go-Between’: ‘The past is a foreign country – they do things differently there’.

This collection also includes horror, humour and poetry.

There is something for everyone in ‘Trust Me Too’. Short stories, longer ones, and more. The collection can be read as a whole, or dipped into, story by delicious story. No matter your favourite genre, there’s a story for you. It’s also a fabulous way to ‘taste-test’ writers whose work you don’t know, or revisit those you’ve not followed lately. Pitched at upper-primary to lower-secondary readers, there is plenty here for teachers to explore in the classroom. This collection invites readers to pop in and meet new and familiar storymakers. It will also inspire them to seek out longer and other works by many of these wonderful Australian creators.

Trust Me Too, edited Paul Collins

Ford Street Publishing 2012

ISBN: 9781921665585

review by Claire Saxby, Children’s Author

www.clairesaxby.com

Charlie Burr and the Crazy Cockroach Disaster by Sally Morgan, Ambelin, Blaze and Ezekiel Kwaymullina, ill Peter Sheehan

It wasn’t my fault. Honestly, it wasn’t!

The joke was supposed to freak out my teenage twin sisters. Not make Mum go psycho!

Lately Mum’s been bugging me to be nicer to Sharni and Tia, She’s always saying, ‘They’re teenagers, Charlie. Teenagers get upset easily. And you go out of your way to annoy them!’

But Mum doesn’t know the twins played a horrible trick on my yesterday.

They sucked me in with a can of my favourite cooldrink – Orange Fizz.

Charlie Burr can’t be blamed when a fun prank goes wrong, can he? Well, it seems he can. Even if his sisters pranked him first. And as if upsetting Mum in her birthday week isn’t enough, it seems that there is no chance of beating the school big-boasting, know-it-all, win-it-all, Tim and his cursing bird. And there’s nothing Charlie would like more than to wipe the smile from the face of the annoying Tim. Particularly if it gives him an opportunity to make Mum’s birthday special. But every idea Charlie – with and without the assistance of his best friend Johnno – comes up with, seems to make everything worse. This could be one time Charlie’s ‘can-do’ attitude might not help.

‘Charlie Burr and the Crazy Cockroach Disaster’ is part of a series featuring Charlie and his friend Johnno. They are imaginative and enthusiastic young characters living in a community where there is still plenty of freedom for children to explore their own imagination. Charlie’s adventures could have been cooked-up by many a mid-primary-aged child. Children will relate well to Charlie’s ideas as well as to the things that go wrong. The story occurs over the space of a week, but text is further broken up by wandering bird prints. Text is wide-spaced. Cover art is reminiscent of several popular internationally produced contemporary fiction series and aimed at the same market. Young readers, particularly mid-primary boys will enjoy this realistic romp. Look out for other titles in the same series: Charlie Burr and the Three Stolen dollars and Charlie Burr and the Great Shed Invasion.

Charlie Burr and the Crazy Cockroach Disaster by Sally Morgan, Ambelin, Blaze and Ezekiel Kwaymullina, ill Peter Sheehan
Little Hare Books 2012
ISBN: 9781921714863

review by Claire Saxby, Children’s Author

www.clairesaxby.com

Horrible Harriet's Inheritance, by Leigh Hobbs

Dear Readers.
You are the lucky ones, and don’t forget it. For you are about to learn all about me (well, a lot – not everything, because some things must stay secret). Don’t expect rubbish like beauty tips or manners advice (yuk!) in this book, because I’m not interested in that stuff, and I’m the boss of what’s between the covers.

No one who has ever met Horrible Harriet can forget her – and here she is again in another unforgettable adventure. This time Harriet tells her story from her own perspective, complete with drawings and poems and more. In her room perched in a tower above her school, Harriet writes poetry and prepares meals for the teachers she keeps locked in the basement. She has no inkling of what is to come – the postman brings her a letter, informing her that she may be the long lost heir to a royal throne. She just needs to fill in the gaps on her family tree to stake her claim.

Horrible Harreit’s mind is filled with visions of palaces and coaches and, as she explores her history, she unearths some very surprising relatives. But if she claims her throne she may have to leave the school.

Horrible Harriet’s Inheritance is a hilarious offering for children which will make older readers giggle, too. Filled with the quirkiness that readers have come to expect from creator Leigh Hobbs, including comical line drawings on every page.

In Horrible Harriet’s own words: ‘This Book is Brilliant!’

Horrible Harriet’s Inheritance, by Leigh Hobbs
Allen & Unwin, 2012
ISBN 9781741149852

This book is available in good bookstores or online from Fishpond. Buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.

Brotherband: The Invaders, by John Flanagan

The Raven was at sea.
South of Shelter Bay, the weather had cleared several days earlier and Zavac had put to sea immediately. The Raven ws a bigger ship than the Heron, with a much larger crew to handle her, and to bail her out if necessary. So Zavac had no fears about her ability to handle the waves.
And Zavac’s hunting instincts were aroused.

Hal and his brotherband are determined to restore their name by tracking down Zavac and his spoils. First, they have to wait out the weather, which keeps them shore bound in a sheltered cove. then they have to locate the pirates aboard the mighty Raven. When they do figure out where their quarry is, the Herons have a huge challenge in front of them. The pirates are in a heavily fortified town, which they have taken over. Hal and his friends must liberate the town and defeat the pirates. But doing so will not be easy. Hal will need a foolproof plan, and lots of help from allies old and new.

The Invaders is a the second in the Brotherband series, and continues the adventures of Hal and his brotherband, and their ship, the Heron. It will be best enjoyed by those who have read the first, though would stand alone, with plenty of action and character development. There are also several threads which will keep the reader eager for the next installment, including a new female character who offers an opportunity for romance but also, importantly, seems a strong character in her own right.

Good stuff.

The Invaders (Brotherband), by John Flanaagn
Random House, 2012
ISBN 9781741664508

This book is available from good bookstores or online from Fishpond.