Burning Eddy by Scot Gardner

Some people call Daniel Fairbrother Dan. Most just call him Fairy. It’s not a name that he likes.

Daniel is searching for meaning in his life. His family life is dominated by his moody and unloving father. Away from home, he has no friends and little to be happy about.

When Daniel meets a Dutch woman, Eddy, he starts to slowly see changes in his life. Eddy is eight-six. She has a tattoo, a history and can make music with her farts. She pays Dan well for the work he does in her garden, and seems to read his mind. She offers him more than work and pay – she offers him friendship. Eddy’s friendship does not prove to be an instant fix to all of Daniel’s problems – his father’s moodiness seems to escalate, the other boys pick on him and he is haunted by memories. But Eddy shows Daniel hope. Maybe there is a point to life – and maybe, just maybe, things will get better.

Burning Eddy is a poignant story about growing up, about family and about friendship. Author Scot Gardner weaves a tale which draws the reader in, caring deeply about these characters. Along the way he continues to drop bombshells that reshape the reader’s perceptions of the characters, so that the story is an ongoing surprise.

Absorbing.

Burning Eddy, by Scot Gardner
Pan Macmillan, 2003

The Black House, by Jackie French

When Barney’s Dad gets funding to conduct his special research, it means a move to the country. The house they move to is huge – and comes complete with a high-grade secruity system and a strange caretaker with a propensity to seem like a prison warder.

The new town might be pretty small, but the people are friendly and Barney quickly makes friends. Dad’s pretty happy with the set up for his research project too. So Barney figures he’d better keep quiet about his reservations. He doesn’t know what is going on, but the house is definitely concealing a secret. There are strange shudders at night, slime seeping through the walls, and other goings-on. Barney’s dreams are filled with wild images that seem real. Still, Barney is totally unprepared for what he finds out – and its ramifications for him. He will soon be the boy who talks to the alien.

The Black House, a new title for bestselling author Jackie French, is a lively combination of mystery, adventure and light humour. A Blue level title in Koala’s Tadpoles series, it is suitable for 9 to 12 year old readers.

The Black House, by Jackie French
Koala Books, 2003

Dark Victory, by David Marr and Marian Wilkinson

In the months leading up to the Australian federal election in 2001, refugees were flooding our shores in record numbers. Men, women and children from countries including Afghanistan and Iraq were fleeing their own troubled countries and spending their savings on trying to reach Australia in barely seaworthy Indonesian boats.

With Australia’s detention centres coming close to capacity and public outrage growing over these ‘queue jumpers’, the Howard governement had a problem. They needed to stop the flow, to send a message to the world that Australia was not an easy target for illegal immigration, and to prove to the Australian public that the government was heeding their concerns.

Dark Victory is the tale of the measures taken in those weeks to keep the immigrants out and to win over the Australian public. The book gives an account of the Tampa crisis, including the behind the scenes manouvering to ensure the people rescued by the crew of the Norwegian shipping vessel did not land in Australia. It tells the story of the children overboard, a scandal which will become a part of Australia’s political history. It gives a detailed account of the loss of life in the sinking of the SIEV X. With accounts from the navy and asylum seekers present at these events, Dark Victory shows the suffering of asylum seekers as they become pawns in the political minefield of illegal immigration.

As well as being the story of the fate of these boat people, this is also an expose of the failures of multiple organisations – not only the Howard government, but also the Opposition, the military, the judiciary and the press – to provide leadership and humanity in these troubled events. It also acknowledges, however, the popularity of the military blockade which stemmed the flood.

This is not an uplifting book – Australian readers will squirm as they learn of the events of these weeks and the attitudes that allowed them to happen. They will question their own attitudes and actions at that time and both prior and since.

Dark Victory is chilling but vital reading.

Dark Victory, by David Marr and Marian Wilkinson
Allen and Unwin, 2003.

Not Nits, by Lucy Treloar

Gus loves insects. He has a whole shelf full of bugs in jars – he feeds them, gives them names and adores them. When anyone accidentally kills or releases one he is devastated.

So, when Gus find a whole colony of bugs living in his hair, he thinks it’s pretty cool. No way is he going to let Mum kill them with nit shampoo. That would be cruel. But just as Gus is determined to save the nits, Mum is determined to beat them. This is a battle of wills that can have only one winner.

Not Nits is a hilarious story about insects and parents. A Red level Tadpole title from Koala Books, this junior novel is suitable for children aged seven and up, but will appeal to older children too, especially those with reading difficulties requiring easier reads.

Not Nits, by Lucy Treloar, illustrated by John Yahyeh
Koala Books, 2003

Dragon Quest, by Allan Baillie

Hey, you! Yes, you with the book
Come on! You’ll be a hero, a great warrior, an epic knight…

Through forests inhabited by dark witches, where Dragon Fighters are trapped in trees, along the whispering abyss and over the hills where lurks a double-headed troll, the reader joins the narrator on a quest to find the Last Dragon.

With text by Allan Baillie and illustrations by Wayne Harris, DragonQuest is filled with intrigue, excitement and humour, as the narrator, a slightly bumbling Knight, guides the reader towards Glass Mountain, where he will fight the last dragon. But there is a final surprise for both reader and Knight at journey’s end.

This is a picture book which will appeal to children aged 4 and over, able to intrigue much older readers as they seek out the mythical creatures on each page. An excellent introduction to the fantasy genre.

DragonQuest, by Allan Baillie, illustrated by Wayne Harris
Scholastic, 1996

Daughters of Nazareth, by Patricia Hughes

For the first seven years of her life Patricia Hughes lived with her sick but loving father and her alcoholic mother. Three days before her seventh birthday her life changed forever. Her father went back to hopsital and her mother abandoned her – leaving the police to deliver her to Nazareth House, a Catholic Orphanage.

For the next eight years Patricia lived in the ophanage, cared for by seemingly loveless nuns, intermittently placed in foster care with often abusive carers. When she was fifteen she decided she’d had enough and ran away from her foster paernts to start life on her own.

Although she never stopped wondering about her parents, it wasn’t until 1997 that she began to learn more about her family. Out of the blue she received a phone call from a woman claiming to be her sister. This was just the start of a series of extraordinary discoveries about their joint and separate pasts and about the family neither woman knew they had.

Daughters of Nazareth is a moving and intirguing tale of a search for family and understanding. Patricia Hughes is inspirational in her ability to move on and to accept. Her story, although recounting events which could be seen as tragic, is overwhelmingly positive.

A moving read.

Daughters of Nazareth, by Patricia Hughes
Pan Macmillan 2002

Grave of the Roti Men, by Geoff Havel

Aaron can’t wait to get to Indonesia. He’s going to spend a whole month staying with his dad.

At first the holiday seems perfect. Playing on the beach, spending time with his dad, and making new friends. But then things start to change. First Aaron gets sick, then Dad’s new girlfriend turns up. When Aaron’s new friend, Husni, has to leave to go to work on a fishing boat, Aaron has an idea. He stows away on the boat, ready for a bit of adventure.

Aaron soon learns that sometimes adventures can have just a little too much excitement. Being on the boat when a cyclone strikes is not fun, leaving Aaron wondering if he’ll ever see his parents again.

Grave of the Roti Men combines adventure and excitement with an exploration of themes including responsibility, dealing with family break up, and understanding other cultures. Author Geoff Havel shows his versatility as a writer with a departure from some of the light-heartedness of his earlier works.

Grave of the Roti Men, for ages 10- 12 is suitable for private reading and for classroom sharing.

Grave of the Roti Men, by Geoff Havel
Fremantle Arts Centre Press, 2003

The House at Evelyn's Pond, by Wendy Orr

Ruth, an Auxilary Pilot during World War Two, struggles with identity, especially when her mother lets slip that she is adopted. She finds haven in the arms of Bill, a Canadian navigator, who guides her through this trauma and through the catastrophe of losing both her parents in a wartime bombing. Their love is Ruth’s salvation, and endures until Bill’s death fifty years later.

Following his death, Ruth returns to England for the first time since their marriage. While there, she dies and it is her daughter Jane who must escort her home.

Jane has lived in Australia for all her married life – having met an Australian dairy farmer on her first trip to England. Alone without her husband, and with the sadness of her mother’s death to contend with, Jane finds the trip a trip of memories and reflections as she discovers parts of her mother’s past and relives some of her own. Alone in her childhood home she faces uncertainty and a new awareness that troubles her.

Meanwhile, Jane’s own daughter, Megan, is a on a journey of her own. In Canada for the first time, she is on a trek with a chance acquaintance. Her mother is troubled by the thought that this could be a new beginning for her daughter, in this country which is no longer home.

The House at Evelyn’s Pond is a tale of mothers and daughters, of love and of belonging. The similarities between the generations are poignant echoes of deja vu. The differences between these same generations gives each its own story.

A beautifully written exploration of family and of self.

The House at Evelyn’s Pond, by Wendy Orr
Allen & Unwin 2001

The Dragon Man, by Garry Disher

When two young women are murdered, the previously sleepy Peninsula is on full alert – there is a serial killer on the loose. Detective Inspector Hal Challis is charged with finding the killer – before another death happens. The media want to know what’s being done, with the editor of the local paper giving him particular trouble.

As Christmas approaches the Peninsula should be brimming with holiday cheer, but this year the pall of danger hangs over the area.

The Dragon Man is the first book in the Detective Inspector Challis series. Challis is based on the Peninsula, where he moves between stations as the need arises. He has come to the Peninsula following the break up of his marriage – when his wife and her lover tried to kill him. He is at once likeable and multi-faceted, with the promise of being an intriguing character to follow through the subsequent books in the series.

The Dragon Man, by Garry Disher
Allen & Unwin. First published 1999, reissued, 2003

Journey to the Dawn of Time, by John Long

When they were children, Sarah and Peter discovered a mystical cave near Devil’s Roost – and travelled in the cave to the time of the dinosaurs. Now, they are grown up, and their lives have been influenecd by that magical experience – Sarah is a palaentologist and Peter has written a science fiction novel.

Together, the two revisit the cave, hoping to once more travel through time and learn more about prehistoric times. However, they are not expecting the journey to be a quest, where the future of the Earth rests in their hands. Accompanied by their young cousin, Maddy and Djarringa, an Aboriginal time travller and his grandson Ben, they must visit different time periods and collect the three crystals which may control their destiny – and that of all civilization.

Journey to the Dawn of Time, is a sequel to author John Long’s 1997 title Mystery of Devil’s Roost. In the six years between the two titles, Long has developed a less formal style, making this a better flowing book. Journey to the Dawn of Time will appeal to young fans of time travel tales as well as those with an interest in dinosaurs and prehistory.

Journey to the Dawn of Time, by John Long
Fremantle Arts Centre Press, 2003