history – Page 4 – Aussie Reviews

Song of the Dove, by Errol Broome & Sonia Kretschmar

Arm in arm, they trod the cobbled streets to the city square. Bellini pointed to two birds nesting close, one white, the other speckled grey. “They are always together,” he told Maddalena …
“Doves live in pairs,” said Maddalena. “And they stay that way for life.”
“As we shall,” said Bellini.

This beautiful picture book tells the story of the Italian composer Bellini’s career and his forbidden romance. As a young man studying music in Naples he meets and falls in love with Maddalena, but when her parents refuse to allow them to marry, he vow that he will become successful and they will be together after he has written his tenth opera. Living apart, the two pine for each other, and by the time the tenth opera is written both have broken hearts. Their deaths mean that they can be together forever just as promised.

This is a sad tale, based on the true story of Vincenzo Bellini, and includes a brief back of book note on his story and his operas. The digital illustration work of Sonia Kretschmar is breathtaking, with mystic elements such as the siren beckoning from the piano as he writes to Maddalena giving the reader much to think about.

Suitable for middle primary and older readers, this is an outstanding picture book.

Song of the Dove, by Errol Broome & Sonia Kretschmar
Walker Books, 2011
ISBN 9780143305323

this book can be purchased from good bookstores, or online from Fishpond. Buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.

Fromelles, by Carole Wilkinson

The guns have been going all day long. It’s enough to drive you crazy…the waiting to see if this is the shell that is going to blow you to pieces… (Private Walter McAlister, 60th Battalion, 15th Bridgade)

The Battle of Fromelles began at 11 am on 19 July, 1916 and lasted less than 24 hours, but when it was over more than 5000 Australian soldiers were either dead, wounded or taken prisoner. More died in this died than in the Boer, Korean and Vietnam wars combined. Yet this, Australia’s bloodiest day at war, is not as well-known as campaigns such as Gallipoli. Fromelles: Australia’s Bloodiest Day at War attempts to redress this by providing young readers with both the facts of the battle and a glimpse at the human face of the battle.

Factual chapters are interspersed with fictional chapters telling the story of an underage soldier who enlists in Melbourne and finds himself fighting in Fromelles. There are also visual aids including maps, photographs and fact-boxes.

Carole Wilkinson has a wonderful knack of making history come alive for young readers.

Fromelles: Australia’s Bloodiest Day at War, by Carole Wilkinson
Black Dog, 2011
ISBN This book can be purchased from good bookstores or online from Fishpond. Buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.

Meet Grace, by Sofie Laguna

Grace screamed as men grabbed at her legs. She heard whistling and shouting and then she fainted as she fell, half-dragged, into the arms of a runner.
When she came to, the policemen hauled her into a cart. Grace didn’t need to ask where she was going. She already knew. To the gallows to be hanged.

It is 1808 and orphan girl Grace lives in London, surviving by working daily as a mudlark – scouring the muddy bottom of the Thames for things to sell. Her one joy in life is watching the horses on Fleet Street. But one day Grace’s hunger gets the better of her and she steals an apple. Even her horse friend can’t save her from being arrested, and soon she finds herself in prison facing the possibility of a death sentence.

Meet Grace is the first of four stories about this convict girl and forms part of the Our Australian Girl series from Puffin books. The series traces the lives of four girls in different periods of Australian history, with each girl the heroine of four books, and each set of four written by an eminent Australian author.

Meet Grace not only introduces Grace, enticing young readers to sek out the next instalment, but is self-contained enough to be satisfying on its own.

Meet Grace (Our Australian Girl), by Sofie Laguna
Puffin, 2011
ISBN 9780143305286

This book can be purchased from good bookstores, or online from Fishpond.

Changing Yesterday, by Sean McMullen

A prince was coming to Albury. He would not be there long; in fact, he would just be passing through, but he was heir to the British throne. One day he would become the most powerful king in the entire world. Nobody so important had ever visited Albury, so everyone wanted the town to look its best.
…
The last day of May 1901 was like the end of any other school week for Daniel Lang. He was in his second-last year at an expensive private school, and life was going very well for him. For the first time in his life he had acquired a sweetheart in the form of Muriel Baker, a beautiful classmate of his sister’s. For Daniel, this was even better than getting a medal. Muriel knew that Daniel was a hero, and for Daniel her opinion was the only one that mattered.

Changing Yesterday is set in 1901, but main character Liore has come to Melbourne and Victoria from a century in the future, determined to change history. Her co-conspirators are variously motivated but necessary to help her achieve her goal. But it seems that each time they alter the events that lead the 100 Year War, chance and Lionhearts conspire to find another way to ensure the war happens. So begins a race across Australia and beyond to Europe – a cat and mouse chase that has the protagonists jumping on and off ships, changing gender, arming and disarming fellow travellers and various weapons and just generally causing chaos. None of these diversions are listed in any of the ocean liner brochures! There’s a boy, a girl, a thief, some plotters and some work-for-whoever-pays extras. There’s adventure, fighting, flights, love, hate, pick-pocketing and lock-picking. And there’s plenty more besides.

Changing Yesterday is a riot. It’s high camp adventure and penny-dreadful pulp romance. It’s egads-melodrama with high tech weapons. Lead character Daniel is a mere schoolboy when he participates in history-altering espionage, his ideas noble and pure. His friend, Barry (the bag) has his eye on a different prize although he convinces himself of similarly pure ideals. Liore, a girl who masquerades mostly as a boy, has a mission. The action of others is often off stage (as it were) and it is the consequences that affect Daniel, Liore and a detective-in-waiting. The stakes are high – the fate of the world is dependent on their success. Most of the characters grow and mature across the novel – but not all. A few remain resolutely bad, or just plain incorrigible. There are of course, steam engines. Plenty of them. Changing Yesterday is the sequel to Before the Storm and the way forward has been flagged. It also reads well as a stand-alone novel. Recommended for early secondary readers and beyond.

Changing Yesterday, Sean McMullen
Ford St Publishing 2011
ISBN: 9781921665370

review by Claire Saxby, Children’s Author
www.clairesaxby.com

This book can be purchased in good bookstores or online from Fishpond.

The Heroes of the Kokoda Track, by Nicolas Brasch

The 1942 Kokoda campaign lasted only four months, but has become a key part of Australia’s story. Lacking equipment and supplies, and unprepared for the harsh tropical conditions, the troops who fought along the track were outnumbered, battling disease, mud and rain…

Try this
Put six bricks into a backpack, and climb the steepest hill you can find. But don’t do it until it’s been raining for days, so you keep slipping. Now don’t make a sound because in the bushes around you, there might be enemy troops, armed with rifles and bayonets, poised to pounce at the slightest sign of activity. Then imagine this is no game, this is reality, this is war – this is Kokoda.

The Heroes of the Kokoda Track, part of Black Dog Books’ Our Stories Series packs a lot into just 32 pages. In language which primary aged students will understand, author Nicolas Brasch explains the significance of the Kokoda campaign, its progress and the roles played by Australians and by Papuan locals. Historic photos support the text, and the design, with text boxes providing easily digestible slices of information, will appeal to even reluctant readers.

Excellent for classroom and school library collections, but also suitable for private reading.

The Heroes of the Kokoda Track, by Nicolas Brasch
Black Dog Books, 2011
ISBN 9781742031347

This book can be purchased online from Fishpond. Buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.

Sir Edward ‘Weary’ Dunlop, by Hazel Edwards

‘Ready, set, go.’ Ernie Dunlop heaved the sack of grain onto his shoulder. His brother, Alan, was just behind him, struggling with a second sack. The two boys ran across the dusty farmyard, staggering under the loads. The hot sun was like needles on their skin.
‘You won again Ernie,’ panted Alan, dropping his sweaty sack on the growing pile. Ernie was taller than Alan who was 20 months older. Both boys had strong shoulders from the farm work. Often they made a competition out of the jobs around the farm, but long-legged Ernie usually won.

Ernie, who became known as Weary while at university, was born 1907. He and his brother grew up on a struggling family farm near Wangaratta. He was an inquisitive, spirited and very active child who knew early on that he wanted to be a doctor. He studied pharmacy then won a scholarship to study Medicine at Melbourne University. While studying, he became a skilful rugby player. When war was declared, Weary joined up, keen to put his surgeon skills to good use. But as well as being a skilled surgeon, he was a good administrator, good at solving problems and negotiating with others. These skills were to become instrumental in his survival and the survival of others when he became a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese.

Weary Dunlop was a big man, both in stature and in ability and in terms of his achievements. Sir Edward “Weary” Dunlop is the second title in a new series from New Frontier Publishing. The first was about Dame Nellie Melba, and there are more titles on the way. Each introduces an iconic Australian and their life both before and after they became well known. Chapter headings outline stages in his life and a timeline gives an ‘at-a-glance’ summary of his life. Most openings feature a colour image. This is an accessible introduction to the life of a fascinating Australian. It covers his childhood, education, marriage, war experience and post-war life. A well-rounded summary of a remarkable man. Recommended for mid-primary readers.

Sir Edward “Weary” Dunlop, Hazel Edwards ill Pat Reynolds
New Frontier Publishing 2011

review by Claire Saxby, Children’s author
www.clairesaxby.com

The Ruby Talisman, by Belinda Murrell

Tilly pulled the mesh faceguard down and limbered up her right wrist, circling it nervously, her long, thin fencing foil drawing through the air. She was dressed all in white, with padding to protect her chest and padded gloves on her hands. She jigged up and down, adrenaline surging through her body.
‘Salut.’
Tilly lifted the foil in front of her face in a formal salute to her opponent on the other side of the narrow mat.
‘En garde.’
The foils flashed forward into the defensive position.’
‘Allez!’ The two fencers leapt forward, foils slashing. Tilly felt her hot, seething thoughts turn cold and hard as steel.

Tilly is struggling to cope with her parents marriage breakdown. She’s angry and bitter and not particularly nice to be near. When her mother takes a weekend break, Tilly stays with her aunt, Kara. Although Tilly loves her aunt, she’s not happy she’s being dumped with her for the weekend. Then Kara shows her a fabulous ruby necklace, first worn by one of their ancestors, Amelie-Mathilde, a young French aristocrat. Kara relates Amelie’s almost miraculous escape from the French court as the French revolution begins. Tilly’s dreams about her ancestor then wakes up next to her. Amelie is wearing the ruby necklace too. In a world very different to her own, with civil war erupting all around them, Tilly must think clearly and quickly if she is to help Amelie and her cousin to survive.

Tilly’s having a tough time and she has no room for the feelings of others around her. Even her friends are finding her too prickly to be any fun. She’s locked in her own world, her own suffering, and blind to the suffering of anyone else. When she is transported to the 18th century, she slowly begins to realise that others have their own problems. Her experience in the past allows her to understand her present and to look forward to the future. The ruby necklace connects past and present allowing two teenage girls to connect and understand their similarities and differences. The Ruby Talisman gently points out that the world is bigger than any one person and it’s helpful to look beyond your own experience if you are to take your place in it. Recommended for mid- secondary readers.

The Ruby Talisman, Belinda Murrell
Random House Australia 2010
ISBN: 9781864719871

Reviewed by Claire Saxby, Children’s Author www.clairesaxby.com

This book can be purchased in good bookstores or online at Fishpond. Buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.

The Encyclopaedia of Australia's Battles, by Chris Coulthard-Clark

More than just a record of the battles in which Australia and Australians have been involved, The Encycopaedia of Australia’s Battles, provides an intresting insight into Australia’s history as a whole.

As well as detailing the many battles Australians have joined on war fields overseas, the book details the many battles fought on Australian soil in the two hundred years since white settlement. These include battles fought between European settlers and Aboriginals resisting colonization and battles such as those on the goldfields, including the Eureka Stockade.

The book includes chronological entries of over 300 battles in which Australians or Australian troops have been involved – at sea, in the air and on the ground. Each entry provides the date and location, the main units and commanders involved and an account of the course of the battle. ENtries are illustrated with maps, drawings and photographs.

The author, historian Chris Coulthard-Clark is an expert in Australian defence history. A graduate of Duntroon and the Australian Dfence Force Academy, he has worked as a government policy analyst, historical consultant and a research editor.

The Encyclopaedia of Australia’s Battles is an outstanding resource for historians, writers, teachers, an anyone with an interest in Australian history. First published in 2001, it has been rereleased in 2010.

The Encyclopaedia of Australia’s Battles, by Chris Coulthard-Clark
Allen & Unwin, 2010

This title can be purchased online from Fishpond. Buying through these links supports Aussiereviews.

Tasmania's Convicts, by Alison Alexander

Convicts: hardened criminals, petty offenders, shiftless tramps, ordinary people? Ancestors to ignore, to defend, to hide, to boast about? A shameful past, or an interesting and novel one? A history to deny or sensationalise? One that had no effect on the present, or left an indelible stain?

Tasmania’s Convicts: How Felons Built a Free Society is, as the title would suggest, a nonfiction offering, exploring the role of convicts in the settlement and development of Hobart and all of Tasmania.

With 72 000 convicts transported to Van Diemen’s Land (now Tasmania) between 1803 and 1853, and approximately 74 percent of modern day Tasmanians descended from convicts, the contribution these often unwilling settlers made to shaping Tasmania is undeniable. Historian and author Dr Alison Alexander explores this contribution, peppering her text with anecdotes and examples of the convicts, the lives they left behind, and their new lives in the colony.

For anyone with an interest in Australian history, this is a very accessible offering.

Tasmania’s Convicts: How Felons Built a Free Society, by Alison Alexander
Allen & Unwin, 2010

This book can be purchased online from Fishpond, Buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.

Esty's Gold, by Mary Arrigan

Sometimes, if I close my eyes and think really hard, I imagine I can smell Mama’s old sideboard and see again the carved flowers and twisty pillars. But if I linger too long over the memories stirred by the scent of beeswax and old wood, the other smell intrudes, the one that makes me cold and turns my thoughts to cheerless grey – the front-door smell of pale, damp people and poverty.
It was always my chore to dust the sideboard’s dark oak surface and rearrange the china ornaments. I had to stand on a chair because I was small for my age and the sideboard was high. There was a mirrored back, which I’d look into and pretend the other me was part of another, brighter, magical world on the other side…

Irish Esty’s comfortable life is turned upside-down by the sudden death of her father. He is killed while trying to intervene between the tenants of an absentee lord and the troops sent to evict them. She is sent into service, a life she is ill-prepared for or suited to. It is the 1850s and Ireland is in the grip of the potato famine and Esty and her family. When there is a chance to leave Ireland, Esty and her family take it. Esty convinces them all that Australia and the goldfields is a better destination than America, where many of the Irish are going. The second half of Esty’s Gold is set on the Ballarat goldfields, living in tents, adjusting to a new land and new rules.

Esty’s Gold explores the links between Ireland and Australia through the eyes of a young girl. It was a tough period in history, both in Ireland and on the goldfields. In Australia though, Esty demonstrates that hard work and not a little luck can lead to a new life, a new future. Esty might be the youngest of her family (which includes her mother, grandfather, May, a fellow worker and John Joe, a stablehand) but it is she who binds the family together. The reader is introduced to Ireland’s woes, and goldfield dust and the spirit that helped to establish a new home. Recommended for upper-primary readers.

Esty’s Gold, Mary Arrigan
Frances Lincoln 2010
ISBN: 9781845079659

review by Claire Saxby, Children’s Author
www.clairesaxby.com

This book can be purchased online from Fishpond.