November 2011 – Page 2 – Aussie Reviews

The Boy Without a Soul, by Michael Panckridge

Gabrielle (Gabby) has no memory beyond waking up in hospital not knowing who she is or where she came from. The one things she does know is a Voice that tells her she is different, and that she is destined to help people. When she meets Michael and his little brother Jack, she knows she must help them…

Gabby’s nose twitched as the faint scent of burning timber reached her. A sudden thought flitted across her consciousness, then vanished just as quickly. She closed her eyes, and, despite the warning she’d received from the Voice, tried to will the memory back. It had been the smell of fire – but what? Nothing. Gabby’s mind was blank.
Amnesia. That’s what the people at the hospital said.

The Boy without a Soul , the second book in the Book of Gabrielle series is an exciting story of mystery and adventure, with a supernatural element. The mystery of who Gabrielle is, and where she comes from, is developed, and Jack’s story is also intriguing.

Best read by those who have read the first title, this one could also stand alone.

The Boy without a Soul (Book of Gabrielle), by Michael Panckridge
Black Dog, 2011
ISBN 978174203183

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

Darkwater, by Georgia Blain

I’m not sure who found Amanda Clarke’s body. I think it was her mother, but I may be wrong.
I imagine it was dinnertime, and she called them both – ‘Amanda, Daniel, come to the table now’ – used to receiving no answer. Putting her glass down, the ice clinking, she wiped her damp hands on the edge of a tea towel, and wandered through to the family room where Daniel lay on his stomach, the seagrass matting pressing a pattern into the pale skin on his arms, chin resting in his hands as he watched the last of Get Smart.

15-year-old Winter is as shocked as anyone in her small community when Amanda Clarke’s body is found floating in the river. Not that she is a close friend of Amanda’s, but it’s a small place and everyone is known. Besides, her brother Joe is part of a small group that hung out with Amanda. Amanda is a golden girl. She has everything, wealthy parents and strong friendships with everyone who matters. But no one seems able to tell if her death was accidental, suicide or intentional. As rumours ripple around the community, they disturb other secrets and show Winter how little is as it seems. Winter tells her story in first person, partly through diary entries where she discovers how few ‘facts’ are actually irrefutable.

Darkwater is set in the early 70’s, perhaps in a time when a small community is on the brink of change. Developers are keen to transform vacant land into housing, their eyes fixed on huge profits. Environmentalists are forging relationships with builders to keep common land available to all. Women are emerging from the kitchen to have their say. It is a time of change. And like the turning of the tide that is a daily feature of life next to this river, the same world can be a very different place depending on where you sit. There are themes of family, of ‘progress’ of women’s rights. Darkwater is a crime novel, a coming of age novel, a portrait of a period in history and a study in the impressions we create. Recommended for middle-secondary readers and beyond.

Darkwater, Georgia Blain
Random House Australia 2010
ISBN: 9781864719833

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

Beneath the Shadows, by Sara Foster

When Grace and her husband move to a cottage on the North Yorkshire moors, it is supposed to mark a new start for them. Adam has inherited the cottage and, with a new baby to care for, it seems a chance to have a home of their own could not come at a better time. But they’ve barely unpacked when Adam disappears, leaving Grace and her daughter, Millie, alone…

There was a dark shape on her doorstep. ..She headed to the front door. Once there, she twisted the key in the lock, pulled it open and stopped in shock.
In front of her was Millie’s pram. She peered inside to find her ten week old daughter fast asleep…
Grace ran her fingers gently over her daughter’s forehead, then glanced around and said , ‘Adam?’
No one answered.

A year later, Grace reruns to the cottage to seek closure. She may never know what happened to Adam, but it is time to move on. But the longer she spends in the village of Roseby the more unsettled she feels. Are the people here trying to hide something from her – and who, if anyone, can she trust?

Beneath the Shadows is an absorbing blend of mystery and self-discovery, with the character of Grace growing as she tackles the mystery of what happened to her husband. Unravelling the past, and the events of the present, will draw readers deep into author Sara Foster’s magical web, wanting to know what happened – and why and wanting to see the likeable main character find closure and happiness.

This is Foster’s second novel. Her readers will eagerly await a third.

Beneath the Shadows, by Sara Foster
Bantam, 2011
ISBN 9781741668711

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

The Dead I Know, by Scot Gardner

Aaron Rowe has a new job – training to be a funeral director. Luckily Aaron isn’t scared of death. What he is scared of is losing Mam, who grows further away from him every day. And he’s also pretty scared that his sleepwalking habit is going to land him in a lot trouble. If he can’t figure out the truth about his past, he might never get over the terrible dreams which torment his sleep…

You wake in the middle of the night, your arms and feet pinned by strong hands. As you thrash your way to consciousness, a calm voice says, ‘Steady, we’re here to help.’ Your mind registers a paramedic, a policeman, an ambulance. You are lying on the lookout at Keeper’s Point, the lookout Amanda Green supposedly threw herself off, and you have absolutely no idea how you got there.

The Dead I Know is Scot Gardner at his finest. Managing to be funny, scary, sad and exhilarating all in the same book is hard. Doing it sometimes all on the same page is even harder. Aaron is a troubled teen with a difficult past and a ton of problems in the present, yet he is likeable and even positive in the face of some pretty tough stuff. His story is one which grips and doesn’t leave you alone.

It’s hard to put this book down, even when you’ve finished it.

The Dead I Know, by Scot Gardner
Allen & Unwin, 2011
ISBN 9781742373843

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

A Pocketful of Eyes, by Lili Wilkinson

Bee has a summer job working in the taxidermy department of the museum – and she loves it. That is until her supervisor, Gus, is found dead in the Red Rotunda. Gus has apparently committed suicide, but Bee is not convinced. Something is not right and she is going to use her sleuthing skills…

‘Most of you will already have heard that Gus, our Head Taxidermist, died last night,’ said Akiko Kobayashi, the museum Director, her knuckles white on the wooden lectern.
Bee sat next to Toby in the back row of the auditorium where the museum held public lectures and forums. The other staff members were dotted around the room, sitting in groups of two or three. Some were crying. Bee felt as if she couldn’t blink. The only other part of her body that had any feeling was the hand Toby was holding. Gus was dead?

Along the way she has the help of Toby, a handsome boy who was with her on the night Gus died, and who seems to be a font of knowledge when it comes to strange animal behaviours. As she tries to solve the mystery, Bee must also deal with her conflicting emotions about Toby, her slightly odd mother and her new boyfriend, and the fact that her best friend seems to have paired up with Bee’s boyfriend.

A Pocketful of Eyes is a funny, clever mystery book with a liberal does of romance and plenty of humour. Bee is intelligent and funny, but she also makes silly mistakes and has the self absorption typical of a teenager, and with which readers will relate. Wilkinson is a versatile author, and fans will love this dip into mystery writing .

A Pocketful of Eyes, by Lili Wilkinson
Allen & Unwin, 2011
ISBN 9781742376196

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

The Wilful Eye and The Wicked Wood, ed by Isobelle Carmody & Nan McNab

‘You are different,’ whispers the princess, almost crouched there, looking up at me. ‘You were gentle and kind before. What has happened? What has changed?’

Whilst the term fairytale may conjure up, for many readers, images of beautiful singing princesses, wicked witches and Disney-esque happy ever after endings, these ancient tales were not intended for young readers. And, says Isobelle Carmody in her introduction to this collection, when they were passed over to children they lost their gloss and their value. In The Wilful Eye and The Wicked Wood Carmody and her co-contributors attempt to rediscover this value with six retellings of six classic tales in each volume.

To label the stories retellings is really an inadequate description both of the concept of the collection and of the work it contains. Each writer has chosen a traditional fairytale and given it their own touch – sometimes set in a modern or futuristic environment , at other times telling the story from a new perspective. The reader will not necessarily easily recognise the original story, and some of the stories may even be new to the reader, but each is followed by an Afterword from the author explaining something of their process and choice.

This is not comfortable reading, but it is not meant to be. Each writer takes their story to depths which will have the reader gasping, or wondering, or pondering even long after the last word is read. Suitable for reading cover to cover, but these collections are probably best dipped into and savoured one at a time. Suitable for older teens and adults.

The Wilful Eye
ISBN 9781742374406

The Wicked Wood
ISBN 9781742374413

Both edited by Isobelle Carmody and Nan McNab
Allen & Unwin, 2011

Be Your Best, by Geoff Huegill

Geoff Huegill is one of Australia’s best known and best loved swimmers. From the age of four until he was 26, Huegill lived and breathed swimming, training daily and winning an impressive array of medals including Olympic silver and bronze, five world champion titles, eight world records and five Commonwealth Games gold medals. But in 2005, exhausted from the years of training…

What I was attempting was nothing less than rebuilding my credibility, and the only way I was going to succeed was with a mammoth effort.

Geoff Huegill (widely nicknamed Skippy by friends and fans) is one of Australia’s best known and best loved swimmers. From the age of four until he was 26, Huegill lived and breathed swimming, training daily and winning an impressive array of medals including Olympic silver and bronze, five world champion titles, eight world records and five Commonwealth Games gold medals. But in 2005, exhausted from the years of training, and suffering depression, he quit. Two years later, having gained 45 kilos in weight and hit rock bottom, Huegill returned to swimming, determined to regain his fitness and get his life back on track. In 2010 he returned to Commonwealth Games glory, with two golds and a silver. More importantly, though, he had turned his life around – proving to himself and the world that he could follow his dreams.

Be Your Best is Huegill’s story. Starting with his childhood and early involvement in swimming , through to the sudden death of his father when Huegill was 12, and he highs of his swimming career, the book then examines what went wrong before moving on to how he managed to get his life back on track. A special section in the middle of the book also details Huegill’s Be Your Best principles, which he promotes with his business partner Keith Staggers.

The text is written in Huegill’s honest, straightforward voice. He admits his failings and is honest but not boastful about his strengths. Coloured photography throughout the book also charts his story.

Fans will love this offering.

Be Your Best, by Geoff Huegill
Ebury Press, 2011
ISBN 9781742751658

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