Month: March 2006

My Grandad Marches on Anzac Day, by Catriona Hoy

I sit on Daddy’s shoulders.
It’s a very long wait, but my grandad will come.
My grandad marches on Anzac Day.

Anzac Day is an important remembrance of the men and women who have fought and died for our country throughout our history. Whilst few would refute the import of the day, it is not always an easy concept to share with young children.

In My Grandad Marches on Anzac Day, talented new author Catriona Hoy, makes the story of Anzac Day accessible to children through a telling of one Anzac Day through the eyes of a granddaughter who goes to the Anzac Day parade to watch her grandfather march. She shares her observations of the day very realistically – from the observation of how cold it is at dawn, to the way Grandad smiles at her as he proudly marches past. She explains why her grandad marches – and what Anzac Day means – in very simple terms.

The illustrations, painted in acrylic and mixed media by Benjamin Johnson, are richly textured and present the scenes of the parade and of war in a way which does not gloss over the reality, but is still appropriate for young viewers.

This is an outstanding introduction to an important ceremony and will be invaluable as a classroom resource, but should also find a home in every family library.

Brilliant.

My Grandad Marches on Anzac Day, by Catriona Hoy and Benjamin Johnson
Lothian, 2006

Sicilian Summer, by Brian Johnston

When travel writer Brian Johnston accepted an invitation to travel to Italy with a friend, for her god-daughter’s confirmation, he imagined an opportunity to savour Italian culture and cooking, and perhaps the chance to eat a real cassata. What he didn’t expect was to be caught up in the flamboyant dramas of a Sicilian family and the village in which it resided.

Sicilian Summer is a memoir of Johnston’s summer spent staying with his friend’s family. It recounts the places they visited and the food they ate, as well as the dramas they witnessed. There are also the characters he met: the parish priest enjoying his power and refusing to confirm the goddaughter; the reclusive lady who, because of a promise she made her father, doesn’t leave the house except to go to mass; and his friend’s parents, who offer generous hospitality.

This is an interesting read with a blend of travelogue and memoir. At times it feels like watching a cooking show (Johnston, it quickly becomes apparent, loves food), at others a soap opera. There is no time for the reader to get bored.

A very readable tale.

Sicilian Summer, by Brian Johnston
Allen & Unwin, 2005

If the Shoe Fits, by Krista Bell

Cassie loves dancing. She goes to dance classes three times a week. The problem is, she doesn’t like dancing in front of people – in fact the thought of people watching her terrifies her. She wishes she could be like Jake, the most confident boy in the dance class.

When the dance school has an open day, Cassie tries desperately to stay home. How can she overcome her fear of performing? But when she arrives at the school, she discovers she’s not the only one who is worried – Jake has fears of his own. Together the pair conquer their fears and learn that they make a wonderful team.

If the Shoe Fits is a cute little read with a big message about self-confidence, expectations and friendship. Part of Lothian’s Start Ups series aimed at readers new to chapter books (junior novels), there is a high ratio of illustration to text and bite-sized chapters which make the book accessible to readers as young as six or seven.

Lovely.

If the Shoe Fits, by Krista Bell
Lothian, 2006

Much Love, Jac, by Jacki Weaver

Jacki Weaver has been entertaining Australian audiences for more than forty years, ever since scoring her first big role as Cinderella at age fifteen. Gough Whitlam once referred to her as an Australian National Treasure, Les McDonald once called her a Gay Icon and the Sydney Morning Heraldcalled her a Household Name. Whether she’s any of these, Jacki Weaver has certainly achieved wide recognition and great popularity in that time, as a star of Australian stage and screen.

In Much Love, Jac she shares her life in a frank account of her ups and downs. Through her five marriages (and numerous other relationships), her professional highs and lows, personal challenges and triumphs, Weaver speaks to the reader in a chatty, natural voice which makes the reader feel she is there talking across the kitchen table. She is honest about and unapologetic for her life – she simply tells it as she remembers it, with the disclaimer that she admits that, as a memoir, there are people and events not touched on, for various reasons.

This is a highly readable memoir of a fascinating life.

Much Love, Jac, by Jacki Weaver
Allen & Unwin, 2005

Peter Brock – Living With a Legend, by Bev Brock

For almost 40 years Peter Brock has been involved in the Australian and international motor racing scene. He is Australia’s best known driver, and a household name. His fame and popularity stretches well beyond the sporting arena. In Brock: Living With a LegendPeter’s partner, Bev, who shared his professional and private life for 30 of those years, shares her insights into their life together and into what makes ‘Brocky’ tick.

Bev especially focuses on his private persona, painting Brock as a family man who is passionate in all he does. She shares the story of how they came to be together, the births of their children and the ups and downs of living with a sports star.

Following the launch of the book’s first edition, in 2004, the pair separated and so this new edition includes a foreword and new final chapter which update Bev Brock’s life with the ‘legend’.

This is an interesting read for anyone who has watched Peter Brock race, and followed his career, but more than that it is an interesting story of one couple and how they cope with the struggles of both the public and private parts of their lives. There is really no need to know who Peter Brock is, to be drawn into this story.

An honest and insightful account.

Peter Brock: Living With a Legend, by Bev Brock
Macmillan Australia, 2004, this edition 2005.

Hover Car Racer, by Matthew Reilly

The race was barely nine minutes old when Jason Chaser lost his steering rudder.
At 690 kilometres an hour….
Jason rammed back on his collective, and somehow managed to right the Argonaut with only his pedal thrusters just as–shoo!-shoom!-shoom!–three of the other top contenders whizzed by, rocketing off into the distance, kicking up geyser sprays in their wakes.

In the most important race of his life, one that could win him a place at the International Race School, Jason Chaser has an unfortunate accident. In spite of continuing on and refusing to give in, Jason comes last. But his determination has caught the eye of someone who matters and Jason soon finds himself on his way to the school and in training to become a top class hover car racer.

At the race school Jason trains with his little brother Bug, his navigator and his new friend and mech-chief Sally. The trio are determined to make their mark at the race school and in the wider world of racing, but they are up against some pretty stiff competition. They will have some pretty big battles to fight, both on and off the track.

Hover Car Racer is a fast-paced futuristic novel about a time when hover vehicles are the primary form of transport and the international sporting scene is dominated by hover car racing. There are plenty of race scenes, loads of intrigue and a plot which pits the underdog Jason against a cast of villains including a book maker intent on blowing him up and leading drivers who want to stop him from usurping them – and will stop at nothing to do just that.

Hover Car Racer was first published online in a daring venture involving sponsorship and fortnightly instalments being made available free of charge. The film rights have been optioned by Disney.

Teen boys will love the racing car action, but older readers of both sexes can appreciate the pacey plot, too.

Hover Car Racer, by Matthew Reilly
Pan Macmillan, 2004, this edition 2005

That's the Trick! by Krista Bell

it’s, it’s
It’s cool when a nasty smell escapes and does its best to stink out the classroom.

Homophones (also commonly known as homonyms) are those tricky pairs (or threes or even fours) of words which sound the same but are spelt differently and, of course, have different meanings. These pesky words lie in wait just looking for a chance to trip up young spellers (and adult ones, too). Award-winning author Krista Bell has compiled a book which explains the difference between each homophone set, by putting them into entertaining sentences.

Each set of homophones – arranged alphabetically – is included in a sentence which manages to demonstrate the differences between all the words in the set. It is then accompanied by a humorous cartoon (drawn by Sarah Dunk) that further demonstrates the meaning. At the back of the book is a dictionary which provides a definition of each word in each set, for further enlightenment.

This is a handy little book which has classroom and library appeal but which would also make an excellent at-home reference – as well as being simply an entertaining read.

Bell has a love of words which is obvious in this little offering.

That’s the Trick! by Krista Bell, illustrated by Sarah Dunk
Lothian Books, 2006

Lucky Clive, by Emily Rodda

Lucky Clive lives at Number Five Squeak Street. Every morning he gets up early to bake cakes for his shop and every day customers queue up to buy them. He loves his job. But on a late-night dash to buy a missing ingredient he runs into two old friends from school. Roly has written a book and Daisy is a film star. Both are rich and have very exciting lives. Poor Clive realises he hasn’t changed a bit since school and decides it is time to do something different.

Soon Clive is sitting at the Loads of Jobs agency, keen to try a new career. The agency has plenty of jobs – Clive can be a broom salesman, or a clown, or even a mouse-eating-fish feeder. But what will the other residents of Squeak Street think when they can no longer buy Clive’s delicious cakes?

Lucky Clive is the fifth book in the Squeak Street series, a chapter book spin-off from the popular Squeak Street picture book. At just 2000 words in length, with a high ratio of illustration to text, these are aimed at beginning readers making the transition from early readers and picture books to novels.

Lucky Clive is a fun tale.

Lucky Clive, by Emily Rodda, illustrated by Andrew McLean
Working Title, 2005

Odalisque, by Fiona McIntosh

Aware that all eyes in the room were trained on him, Boaz took his father’s hand. It felt dry, too cold, as if death had indeed arrived…’Boaz…You are the Chosen One. No-one else! You alone. Never forget it!’ he forced out. The stricken physicians watched the last struggling breath arrive and expel in a desperate gasp.

At fifteen, Boaz finds himself the new Zar of Percheron and surrounded by those who would manipulate him for their own ends – his mother, Herezah, the new Valide; the Vizier Tariq; and Salmeo, the Grand Master of the Eunuchs. Fortunately, he also has a handful of genuine friends, including the Spur, Lazar, head of Percheron’s security, Pez, the mad jester and Ana, an odalisque purchased to begin his new harem. As Boaz struggles to establish himself , he will need all the support these friends can give him – but they have struggles of their own to confront.

Odalisque is a breathtaking new fantasy title, the first in a trilogy. Readers will find themselves caught up in the intrigue, the drama and the treachery of the palace and its harem. There are scenes of horror which are so intense the reader is gasping for release, yet unable to put the book down. The story sweeps along through the rooms and corridors of the palace and into the surrounding landscape, visiting diverse characters and witnessing events both cruel and dramatic. There is an ending, of course, but an ending which leaves the reader desperate for the next instalment.

Brilliant.

Odalisque, by Fiona McIntosh
Harper Collins, 2005

Leon Stumble's Book of Stupid Fairytales, by Doug MacLeod

Come back when you’ve written more fairytales. But I’m warning you, they’d better be very stupid. I have the reputation of the Honeybump Publishing Company to consider. I can’t risk publishing a book that isn’t stupid. I’ll look ridiculous.

Leon Stumble is a frustrated children’s writer. Every book he has written has been rejected for being too boring. But his girlfriend Cassie has a suggestion which could change all that: she tells him to rewrite well-known fairytales with a silly twist. Soon, Leon has written five new fairytales – including Jack and the Branstalk about a vegetarian Jack who cures the giant’s constipation and Puss in Blots who diagnoses the King’s unhappiness by reading ink blots. When Leon and Cassie, who has some pretty special abilities herself, take the manuscript to Una Spooner, the publisher who has rejected all of Leon’s earlier efforts, she decides the stories are so stupid they will probably sell.

Leon Stumble’s Book of Stupid Fairytales is a hilarious offering which will appeal to kids aged 9 to 12 for its pure silliness. There are ten of Leon’s stupid tales and, of course, the interspersed story of Leon’s quest for publication, and Cassie’s quest to win Leon’s hand. Every spread has at least one illustration, with the talented Craig Smith bringing the stories to life with laugh aloud interpretations.

Lots of fun.

Leon Stumbles Book of Stupid Fairytales, by Doug MacLeod, illustrated by Craig Smith
Working Title Press, 2005